Chapter 113
The meeting officially began. Zhai Xiangqiang summarized the progress of each brigade this year and delivered an important speech on grain production. He then mentioned the Qianjin Brigade, changing his tone and saying, "... Let's especially praise the Qianjin Brigade. I'm sure you've all witnessed its progress this year. Weaving is a skill—which village doesn't have skilled weavers? At the annual market, woven baskets, baskets, large and small baskets are commonplace. But the Qianjin Brigade has taken a different path. They're thoughtful and dedicated, creating their own achievements."
"Do you think that's the end of it? You're wrong. Besides the weaving business, they also started experimenting with plastic greenhouses. They were also feeling their way forward back then... Plastic greenhouses are familiar to everyone here now, right? But a few months ago, who would have thought of this? Who would have dared to start this? Many people hadn't even heard of it back then, right? But this experiment began several years ago. According to the information I've learned..."
At this year's meeting, the overall atmosphere in the room was more lively than in previous years. The meeting process, speech content, and commendation recipients were almost the same every year. Most of the people sitting in the back row had numb faces and unfocused eyes. They listened with their ears, but no one knew what was going on in their minds.
This year is different. They have been talking about several major moves of the Forward Brigade privately all winter, but it still feels fresh and shocking to listen to them at the meeting.
Everyone listened intently, their hearts filled with awe. The Qianjin Brigade's luck had truly soared this year. That autumn, when they welcomed the educated youth, they weren't just educated youth; they were clearly lucky stars.
That batch of educated youth was also assigned to their brigade, so why wasn’t Fuxing assigned to their brigade?
This is not just about making money. People sell their products to department stores in the city and province, and also have established relationships with the Provincial Friendship Store. Just this honor alone can make Zhang Baosheng wake up with joy in the middle of the night, sit up and laugh for a while before lying down to sleep.
Everyone was envious and jealous.
Just when everyone was feeling sad, the leader finished his speech. Amidst warm applause, they saw Zhang Baosheng walking up with a manuscript in his hand and a grin on his face. Everyone felt like the sadness in their hearts was about to burst out of their heads.
Several brigade cadres who were keeping pace with the Qianjin Brigade half a year ago are now envious.
Zhang Baosheng also gave a very beautiful speech. After taking the stage, he bowed and said, "Dear leaders, team leaders, and fellow villagers, good morning. Today we gather in Xihe Commune to summarize the year that is about to end. In the past year, we..."
There was a very subtle discussion in the back row of the audience.
"Wow, Zhang Baosheng is quite the chatterbox, haha."
"Oh, he's quite good at talking."
"This old guy has made a comeback this year. Look how happy he is."
Although he spoke in a low voice, it did not affect the intonation of Zhang Baosheng on the stage at all. He had practiced it specially for this purpose.
The speech has come to an end.
"...We will also face new challenges and opportunities with a more composed attitude and strive to make greater contributions under the leadership of the Party and the people. Thank you all."
Zhou Jiani took the lead and was the first to applaud. Zhang Laosi and others who came to attend the meeting from the Qianjin Brigade also applauded enthusiastically.
It's not easy. This year they can come to the commune for meetings. Although they won't speak on the stage, just sitting here makes the Zhang family's ancestral graves feel happy.
Watching the cadres of his own brigade speaking on the stage, Zhang Laosi felt so proud that his eyes were swollen with excitement. No, the Zhang family's ancestral grave was not just emitting smoke, it was about to catch fire.
Next, Li Jingdang went up to give a work report on the weaving factory.
Then Qiu Zeming, the main person in charge of the plastic greenhouse, took the stage to speak.
He had been giving instructions in rotation to various brigades some time ago. When he took the stage, the leaders of the brigades were quite supportive.
Moreover, the people they sent to study were mainly taught by Comrade Qiu, so the applause for Qiu Zeming was even louder than that for Zhang Baosheng.
Zhou Jiani was the last to go on stage, and everyone's expressions and attitudes were different again.
She is the lucky star of the Qianjin Brigade. As we all know, it was this female comrade who initially proposed the plastic greenhouse. We should all give her a big round of applause and share in the blessing of this lucky star.
Zhou Jiani's speech mainly focused on the development prospects of the weaving factory and the work plan for the coming year. When the people below heard her say that the goal for next year was to export and earn foreign exchange, they couldn't help but take a deep breath. This is a big goal, can it be achieved?
Although storage stools have entered the Friendship Store and started to earn foreign exchange, the quantity is not large, and it is completely incomparable to the lace baskets and ingot baskets that are sold in large quantities.
Moreover, foreigners buy storage stools simply because they are strange and weird and they want to try something new.
Baskets are different. They look better than ordinary baskets, but in most people's eyes, they are not as practical as ordinary baskets.
Besides, everyone is kind of used to it now, and after getting used to it, they think the style is just so-so. Why would foreigners care about it?
Just as I was doubting this, Zhou Jiani mentioned that other regions had already started using knitting products to generate foreign exchange. She said, "If they can do it, so can we. If they can do it, I believe we can do it through our own efforts..."
Many people only then realized that weaving baskets could be exported to earn foreign exchange, and there were already precedents. However, many people still had doubts in their minds as to whether the Qianjin Brigade could develop to that level.
Zhou Jiani ended with a sentence in Mandarin and everyone applauded warmly.
Zhai Xiangqiang took over the topic again and proposed to commend and reward the Qianjin Brigade: build roads!
At this moment, the whole hall suddenly became lively.
Many village officials were getting really impatient. Which village wouldn't want a smooth road? But the commune wouldn't allocate funds, and the village had no money, so building a road became just a dream.
It would have been fine if the Qianjin Brigade had installed telephones some time ago, but now the commune wanted to build a road, and there was a sudden uproar from the audience.
Someone grumbled, "Their baskets are selling well this year, but who knows what will happen next year? They're just wasting time building a road, what if it doesn't work next year?"
"I thought so too. We can wait at least another year, right? If the export problem that the educated youth woman just mentioned is solved next year, then they can build the road. Isn't it still a possibility?"
"Did the money from selling baskets cover the cost of repairing the road?"
"They're still paying for the road repairs... Doesn't that factory still owe money? They haven't even paid off their debts with the money they've earned. They're using this as an excuse to get the commune to cover the costs."
Zhai Xiangqiang knocked on the table and said, "Are you dissatisfied? Then why don't you start a side business? If you succeed, the commune will approve your road construction."
Everyone choked and thought, aren't Zhang Baosheng and his team holding back on their technology and not letting others use it? If they did, they would have built a factory too.
Zhai Xiangqiang added, "Let the Qianjin Brigade develop first. Once it develops well and firmly establishes this path, it can lead to the development of more brother brigades. How can you be eyeing their jobs before they have even established a solid foundation?"
"Didn't everyone share their plastic greenhouses? So you should work hard to learn and use this technology effectively. If you can create a vegetable town and make money from growing vegetables, the commune will also approve the construction of roads for you."
The cadres of each brigade shrank their necks at this point. They had been so blinded by jealousy that they had forgotten that they were still learning vegetable greenhouse technology from the Qianjin Brigade. An awkward atmosphere instantly filled the room.
The road construction issue was immediately settled.
Zhang Baosheng had to grab his clothes tightly to calm his excitement. He even couldn't help but want to touch his pipe and light it up to take a few puffs. This honor was no less important than building a factory in the village.
Then various awards were given out. The Forward Brigade received a certificate, four enamel pots, four towels, and four notebooks.
Leave these to Zhang Baosheng and ask him to go back and arrange them.
Zhou Jiani and Qiu Zeming received individual awards separately, each of which was an enamel pot, a towel, and a notebook. Zhou Jiani also received an additional certificate for outstanding worker.
The Anyong Brigade was also rewarded for growing good crops. The Xigou Brigade, which ranked second in grain production, also received a teacup as a reward.
After the meeting, the brigade cadres came over to congratulate Zhang Baosheng, covering up the embarrassment caused by jealousy over the road construction issue.
Zhai Xiangqiang kept the people from the Qianjin Brigade alone to talk and set a date for them to go to the county to make a report.
After returning to the Qianjin Brigade, Zhang Baosheng first went to the factory to hold a meeting with everyone, focusing on conveying the spirit of the meeting and the road construction matter, and finally arranged the rewards given by the team.
The village will also reward Zhou Jiani and Qiu Zeming, but the prizes that Zhang Baosheng brought back will not be shared with them. When the New Year pig is slaughtered, each of them will be given two more pounds of meat, and each of them will be rewarded with one month's food rations.
At present, these prizes are given to the best craftsmen among Zhang Laosi, Sheng Manliang and others, one each.
He, Li Jingdang, Liu Tong and several other cadres did not have it.
After all, the idea was proposed by Comrade Xiao Zhou, and the hard work was borne by Zhang Laosi and others. He has already benefited a lot from it, and it would be too difficult for him to get any other rewards.
Now that he has earned a certificate of merit for the team, he will secretly burn paper to report to his ancestors this year.
In fact, Li Jingdang worked very hard and made great contributions to the factory, but there were too few things and not enough to share. Finally, Zhang Baosheng said that he would give him a month's worth of food and give him an extra pound of pork when the pork was distributed.
Zhou Jiani only kept the enamel pot, towel and notebook and distributed them to outstanding craftsmen from other brigades.
The enamel pot was kept not for the purpose of selling it, but because her name and the words "Excellent Worker" were written on it, which represented the honor for her hard work. In this era, this is valued. No matter where she takes it out in the future, people will look at it with more respect and pay more attention to it.
You can't just hold the certificate, right?
Qiu Zeming followed his partner's steps and gave up the towel and notebook.
Bai Haoyang has not officially taken up the position yet, and Qiu Zeming is still the leader of the production department. Although he has not been in charge of much, at this time, the leader has to make more efforts to let everyone know that as long as they perform well and work hard, they will have the opportunity to get rewards.
The rest of the day was still busy. Zhang Baosheng took Zhou Jiani and Qiu Zeming to the county to make another report. Because of the weaving factory, they also earned a certificate for the commune, which Zhai Xiangqiang took back and put up.
After the report work to the county was completed, the village handed over the task pigs and began to distribute the meat to everyone.
There are no new educated youth. They are still receiving subsidies from the state, including monthly food rations, soap, toothpaste, oil, and a few dollars of resettlement fees, so this year's excitement has nothing to do with them.
If things had gone according to plan, Zhou Jiani would not have been able to get the meat this year, but she did win two pounds of meat. Yu Wanxia readily paid for the meat coupons and money, as she also wanted to eat.
Sun Ping brought over half a chicken and had a meal with them.
The excitement of distributing meat in the village had not yet passed when Zhang Baosheng received a call at the village committee. Zhai Xiangqiang told him to notify Zhou Jiani and get ready to go to the city to make a report.
This time there is no Zhang Baosheng and no Qiu Zeming. In the city, the impact of plastic greenhouse vegetables is not as great as that of the weaving factory.
Zhang Baosheng happily called Zhou Jiani over a loudspeaker and announced directly: "Comrade Zhou Jiani, Comrade Zhou Jiani, please come to the village committee after hearing the announcement. The commune has arranged for you to go to the city to give a report and speech. The commune has arranged for you to go to the city to give a report and speech."
Now no one bothers her about posting on social media anymore. Zhou Jiani occasionally takes a break. Today she was slacking off at home and didn't go to the factory, but she was yelled at by a loudspeaker.
She reluctantly put down the half-eaten roast chicken leg, wiped the oil off her mouth, wrapped herself tightly, and went to the village committee.
Every villager who saw her along the way smiled and said, "Jiani, you're going to the city to give a report!"
It was okay when they went to the county town to give a report, as it was not so widely publicized. The villagers only knew about it after they came back from the report. When they saw her, they all smiled and asked a few questions, but they were not as shocked as they were now.
Zhou Jiani accepted the warm greetings along the way. When she arrived at the village committee, Zhang Baosheng's smile was still on his face. Seeing her, he said cheerfully, "You'll go alone this time. Prepare well and then take a car with Director Zhai."
Zhou Jiani asked in detail about the specific situation and time, and it was a week later, so she could just go back to the provincial capital for another business trip.
A few days ago, Wang Qianjin's brother-in-law delivered frozen fish as promised. She kept about ten pounds of it and buried it in the snow pile in the yard to freeze. She planned to take it back and let her mother process it so that she could eat it during the Chinese New Year.
After waiting for the city's report to be completed, it was time for the educated youth to return home for the New Year.
This was also my last business trip before returning home for the New Year. At the same time, I was going to deliver the vegetables that I had promised to the Second Spinning Factory.
But at this moment, my mind started to work.
It's okay without Zhang Baosheng, but without her partner...
Zhou Jiani sat down next to him and said, "Captain, let's hold a ceremony for the second phase of vegetables!"
Zhang Baosheng was stunned: "What ceremony?"
Zhou Jiani said, "Look, aren't we a little careless in picking the fruits from that half-acre of land?"
Zhang Baosheng thought about it and decided it wasn't a hasty move. Hadn't the county leaders come to visit him at the time? He felt it was quite an honor.
Zhou Jiani said, "We only had half an acre of land back then, so we couldn't even ask the leaders for a ceremony. But our second phase of greenhouses covers three acres, and it's been very successful. The vegetables are growing very vigorously, unlike the first phase where we could only reach the end in a few steps. So we're going to make a big deal about it. We can invite leaders from the commune, county, and city to come pick the fruits together, and arrange for reporters from the newspaper to come along and take pictures of the leaders and our greenhouses, and publish them in the newspaper."
Zhang Baosheng slapped his thigh. Before he could say anything, Zhou Jiani continued, "Also, have some of the seeds in the newly expanded and planted area next to us sprouted? The overall situation is very positive. The leaders can see that the harvest period and the seedling stage are two different stages, separated by only a wall. We've also been invited to learn from their professional team. Liu Yan and the others haven't returned yet, so we can write their names in the newspaper when the time comes."
"At the same time, we can also make it clear that no matter which district, county, or brigade, we welcome everyone who is willing to come and learn, and drive the development of the entire city."
Zhang Baosheng's blood boiled with enthusiasm, but at the end he asked tentatively, "If the whole city does this, can our commune still come out on top?"
He thought everything else was fine, but he had to ask the commune leaders about the final one.
Of course Zhou Jiani would not object to this, and she had no intention of hiding it from the commune. For some of their work, the commune could provide the most direct support.
However, once the news comes out next year, it will be nationwide, but nationwide coverage won’t have much of an impact on them, as not everyone is willing to try it.
Just like in later generations, only a few areas eventually became vegetable towns, not the entire country.
"Combining everyone's strength for development is much better than just a few of us," Zhou Jiani said. "When the city and county governments have higher incomes, they'll pay more attention. And once they pay attention, they'll provide strong support. For example, well-connected roads and transportation will all receive support from above."
Zhou Jiani said, "How about we go to the commune right now and hear what Director Zhai has to say?"
"Let's go!" Zhang Baosheng now has a very clear positioning for himself. He doesn't have that kind of brain, so he shouldn't deny the young people's more progressive proposals and ideas, but should actively support them.
Zhai Xiangqiang's vision certainly didn't make him worry like Zhang Baosheng. He almost instantly followed Zhou Jiani's ideas and realized that overall development was much better than jumping on one leg.
If someone else can snatch this project away, it is because of their team's own poor development and has nothing to do with the public information.
Moreover, even if they do not develop as well as other districts, counties, or communes after publicly sharing their technology, other regions will still remember the good things of Xihe Commune and Qianjin Brigade.
It also helps with his reputation.
Zhai Xiangqiang also wants to advance his career. The better his resume is and the better his reputation is among his superiors, the more beneficial it will be for his development.
After a brief meeting to agree on the process, he began to call the county and city.
It’s just that at the end of the year, the leaders above have one meeting after another, and their schedules are full. If something like this comes in at the last minute, we have to choose a time based on the schedule.
But no one rejected it, which means they agreed with the proposal, but it was a bit rushed.
Zhou Jiani's suggestion is to hold it before the city-wide meeting, and it would be best if the manuscript can be published in the newspaper. This will not only provide more topics for conversation during the meeting, but will also be an honor for the leaders when they report on their work.
She also knew that she was a bit rushed, but when she went to the city to report on her work, Comrade Xiao Qiu was not there. This meant that her boyfriend's resume was missing a piece of information, so she had to try her best.
If it is really impossible to adjust it before reporting on the work, there is nothing we can do. It would be ok to just let Qiu Zeming be present for a while longer when appearing in the newspaper.
Until noon, there was no call back from the county or city, so Zhai Xiangqiang invited the two of them to the cafeteria for a meal.
He had a meeting to attend in the afternoon, so he told the operator. Zhai Xiangqiang went to the meeting, and Zhou Jiani and Zhang Baosheng returned to the village to wait for notification.
But I told them the content of the upcoming meeting: to expand the primary school, we need to recruit several teachers from each brigade. The Qianjin Brigade can be notified so that everyone can prepare.
Zhang Baosheng was thinking about Comrade Xiao Zhou's proposal, so he was not very enthusiastic about recruiting teachers for the expansion of the primary school. He responded calmly, but still regretted not receiving the call from his superiors.
But his superiors didn't believe him, so it was useless for him to worry. He even comforted himself that they had already received enough honors this year, but they were not conspicuous enough. Even if this thing failed, it didn't matter. They would wait until next year when they worked hard to open up the export route, and they would still be the conspicuous ones in the entire commune.
Thinking of this, I felt much calmer. On the way back, I asked Zhou Jiani, "Xiao Qiu said he wanted to go see your parents during the New Year?"
People are more interested in talking about this than talking about the commune's plan to expand the primary school and recruit teachers.
"Well, he's going to the provincial capital for the New Year. When spring comes and they're not busy anymore, I'll go to the capital to meet his parents and finalize this matter." Zhou Jiani was thinking about the expansion of the primary school in the commune.
Zhang Baosheng shrunk his neck as he pedaled along, feeling genuinely happy for them. He said, "Very good, very good. Xiao Qiu is very steady and this kid is really thoughtful about this matter."
It has been a while since the educated youth went to the countryside. There has been no trouble in their village for the time being, but there are people in other brigades who got married in the countryside and disappeared after returning to the city.
Well, Zhang Baosheng felt that he had understood something again. He didn't care about the other brigades. From now on, as long as the educated youth in their village wanted to marry a local, they would have to go and see the situation of the man's or woman's family in the city before getting married. At least they would know where to live, so that they could go there if there were any accidents in the future.
He also reminded those who were already married that male educated youth should take their wives and children back home to visit during the Chinese New Year; and female educated youth who were married in the village should take their husbands and children to visit their parents' home.
Anyone who complains will not be allowed to return to the city in the future.
"Captain, Director Zhai just mentioned that the commune should expand the primary school. What do you think?" Zhou Jiani asked.
Zhou Jiani is no longer so eager for that teaching position. Her treatment now is better than when she was a teacher.
She also thought that the trajectory of this life might also affect Qiu Zeming. Now he has a heavy burden on his shoulders, and he is the main person in charge of the plastic greenhouse. He probably won't compete for the teaching position.
Zhou Jiani sighed softly. She didn't know whether it was good or bad for Comrade Xiao Qiu.
Zhang Baosheng was just thinking about something when he heard Comrade Xiao Zhou ask this question. He was puzzled and asked, "What do we think? What can we think? We'll just do whatever the commune arranges."
In Xihe Commune, only the town had primary and middle schools, and none of the brigades had primary schools yet.
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "If we can win the export quota next year, the factory will definitely continue to expand. When the time comes, we'll find a suitable opportunity and apply to the commune to build a primary school to make it more convenient for the children in the village to go to school."
Students from nearby brigades can also come to study, which is closer than going to the commune.
Zhang Baosheng's handlebars slipped, but luckily he managed to stabilize them. He gasped in surprise: "Building a primary school?"
"Yes, building a primary school," Zhou Jiani said. "We can't start construction right now, but we can think about it in advance and make some careful plans. We can find an opportunity to bring it up with our superiors. They'll also have to hold a meeting to discuss it."
Zhang Baosheng had been chilled by the cold wind, but now his blood was boiling and his body felt warm again.
He had not dared to even think about this before, but now he was pushed forward step by step by Comrade Xiao Zhou. He even received a certificate of honor and made a report for the county. What else was there to be afraid of?
He even shouted into the cold wind, "I think if we want to bring it up, we should tell the leaders in advance. Why not just give us the expansion permit for the commune? This way, they won't waste materials."
If he waited until the commune was expanded before discussing it, what if the approval wasn't granted? Or if they approved the construction of the primary school, and the buildings used for the commune expansion were vacant, wouldn't that be a waste of materials?
Speak up earlier and let the leaders re-plan.
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