Chapter 270 Discussion
These days, no one has it easy, but can the regimental commander's family be compared to ordinary people like them?
The regimental commander is getting married, and we can't even get a piece of meat. Is that acceptable?
Seeing everyone's grimaces, Wei Zhao said, "My brother said that according to the regulations, the land behind belongs to our regiment, and it is definitely not allowed for private individuals to grow anything there."
The neighbors' attention was instantly diverted, and they all panicked.
"What do we do then? If everything is destroyed, oh dear, what will we eat then?"
Wei Zhao said, "Don't be in a hurry, let me finish speaking first."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt there was still a chance, and they all looked at Wei Zhao expectantly.
“We are residents of the regimental headquarters, unlike the people in the companies below. The companies have vegetable gardens to supply the whole company, but we who live in the regimental headquarters can only buy vegetables from the supply and marketing cooperative according to our allocation. However, the supply is not enough, so we all try to cultivate our own land to grow vegetables.”
Everyone nodded.
If there were enough land, who would bother to clear the land, fetch water, and grow vegetables?
“My brother gave me some information, and judging from his attitude, I think that if we want to save the vegetable garden, we still have to rely on everyone else.”
Everyone looked at each other and asked, "What about us?"
Wei Zhao said, "The land originally belonged to the group, so the group must take it back. From now on, the vegetables will be harvested and distributed by the group."
Everyone objected as soon as they heard that.
Before the vegetable garden was planted, the soil was completely unsuitable for growing vegetables. They worked hard to improve it, and although the yield was not high, it was enough for their own family to eat.
They worked so hard to grow those crops, but the troupe took them and distributed them to so many people. Would they even get a turn? And even if they did, how much would they get?
The crowd discussed the matter animatedly, expressing their dissatisfaction.
Song Lubai said, "Sister, I knew no one would agree. How can we hand over all the vegetables we grow ourselves? Let's just destroy them. My husband came up with this idea because everyone has a hard time. Even if the troupe agrees, the vegetable growers won't. Why should he risk doing something that won't bring any good results? It's really not worth it."
People didn't like hearing this, but what the regimental commander's wife said was true, and for a moment, many people felt embarrassed.
Wei Zhao chimed in, "I think destroying it is the simplest solution. Wei Yang doesn't need to go against the group and take that risk."
"You can't say that. You've planted vegetables in the back, so your family can eat them too. If it weren't for the vegetable garden in the back, we wouldn't have any vegetables to cook today."
Wei Zhao said, "If there are no vegetables, we won't eat. At worst, we won't hold the event. My family can manage on cornbread every day. Everyone has to go through hard times. During the famine years, my children even ate grass, but we still survived."
Everyone: "..."
It turns out that the families of officials, like theirs, all came from humble beginnings.
The three children tilted their heads, looking puzzled.
Chen Shaohua and his two companions were wondering when they had ever eaten grass.
Song Lubai nodded, "We can live our lives no matter what. We still have to follow the Party and the policies above. Even without vegetables, we can still get by. It's not a big deal."
"Well, it's a bit of a pity. I took a walk around our regimental headquarters yesterday and saw that there are still quite a few places where vegetables are grown. If we harvest them all at once in the future, there will definitely be enough for everyone in our regimental headquarters to eat."
"But there's nothing we can do. I guess everyone's just like you guys; nobody wants to hand over the fruits of their labor."
The neighbors started plotting their own schemes.
That's right, how could they forget that? There are more vegetable growers than just them in the regiment. If you add them all up, the supply and marketing cooperative will definitely distribute the produce, and each family will get a share.
The neighbors were making their own plans, and so was Song Lubai.
She was figuring out how to divide the vegetable plots after they were reclaimed so as not to have any negative impact on Wei Yang, the person making the decisions.
A vegetable plot group should be set up in the supply and marketing cooperative to manage the vegetable plots that each household in the production and marketing cooperative had privately cultivated. There should be no problems with planting, harvesting and distribution of vegetables.
In the blink of an eye, a whole bunch of thoughts came to mind. Song Lubai wanted to work at the supply and marketing cooperative in the regiment.
As Song Lubai pondered this in her heart, Wei Zhao nodded, "That's right, I'll tell Wei Yang when he comes back. Nobody wants this, so let's not let him cause trouble for himself."
The neighbors objected.
“That won’t do. We didn’t say we disagreed. We’ll talk to him when he gets back.”
Wei Zhao pouted and said, "You think I'm easy to talk to? You think my brother is the same as me? You're just making things difficult for my brother. We're having a wedding banquet at noon today, and the leaders of the regiment will be there too. Hurry up and stop talking nonsense. I need to get the food ready."
Everyone's thoughts were racing.
So the group leaders are coming!
"Xiao Wei, the leaders of the regiment are all here today, how can we only serve these leafy green vegetables? I still have a few eggs at home, I'll go back and get them for you now."
“I still have a small piece of smoked meat at home. Next time the group slaughters a pig, you can buy it and return it to my family.”
Wei Zhao stopped them and said, "What are you going to bring? Do you want to show off how well you're doing? Even if you lend it to me, I can't pay it back, so I don't want it."
The man looked at him with disbelief and said, "Your brother is a regimental commander, how come you can't even afford a few eggs?"
The person who had just said they would send some smoked meat didn't dare to say anything, secretly relieved that their own piece of old cured meat, which had been stored away for a long time, had been saved.
Wei Zhao lied without batting an eye, saying, "My brother's money is my brother's money. Now that he's married, how can he give me all his money and tickets to spend? I'm currently living off my brother, and I won't accept your things to cause him any trouble in the future."
After she finished speaking, everyone looked at Song Lubai.
Someone in the crowd said, "What a terrible sister-in-law you are! Your sister-in-law is really unlucky; she can't even cook an egg for you after she comes into the family."
Wei Zhao thought Song Lubai wouldn't hold it against him, after all, the two of them had just acted in perfect unison.
The vegetables are for the guests who came today. Once the doors are closed, there will be meat on the table, even though it's their own family's cooking.
When Wei Zhao looked at Song Lubai, Song Lubai said to the person who had spoken earlier, "What bad luck? My sister is a thrifty person. The family isn't rich, so we have to be frugal, right?"
No one believed that Song Lubai didn't care at all, but if she continued to say such unpleasant things today, what was the difference between her and a fool?
Wei Zhao and the neighbor who was helping were busy at the stove. Wei Yang officially returned to work today and immediately issued a notice to hold a meeting.
He had already memorized the documents issued from above. Since the documents didn't explicitly say anything, it depended on how the decision-makers defined it. He felt that this matter still had potential.
Once everyone had arrived, he proposed that the vegetable garden be taken over by the group and then harvested and distributed uniformly.
Secretary Feng didn't speak immediately. Instead, Political Commissar Li glanced at Secretary Feng and said hesitantly, "Last week, while you were away, the decision to destroy the entire vegetable garden was made unanimously after discussion. This repeated..."
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