Chapter 57
Zhang Laosi analyzed Zhou Jiani's previous words to Zhang Baosheng, and Zhang Baosheng fell silent after listening.
Zhang Baosheng just had limited thinking, and the sudden rise of his thousand-year-old Zhongbutuliao confused his judgment. Actually, he was not stupid. Now he understood why Comrade Xiao Zhou "bragged" in front of Director Zhai.
The young comrade reacted immediately.
I sighed again: "Young people have quick minds."
Zhang Baosheng looked a little solemn.
To be honest, their forward brigade was just about to leave, and they really didn't want to get mixed up with other brigades.
In the past, when they were exploited by the commodity stores, the brigades never said a word to help them.
People in my team were privately complaining that if they allowed their costs to be suppressed, it might turn out that those big teams would be participating in the profit sharing.
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt. After giving Zhang Laosi a few instructions to focus on production and quality, he got up and went to Zhang Kaishan's house.
When Zhao Mei was not at home, and if the educated youth who were staying with her did not go to work, Zhang Kaishan would basically stay in the shed and not come out.
He has some low self-esteem because of his illness.
After Zhou Jiani finished washing the clothes and hung them up, she went into the house, closed the door and sorted the luggage she brought with her. After sorting the luggage, she started to sort through the scraps of cloth, so there was no one in the yard at this time.
Zhang Baosheng peered out of the doorway for a long time. He saw a patient who was out of breath after just a few steps, and he wasn't sure if Comrade Zhou was resting. He didn't dare shout. He slowly walked into the yard and then, tentatively, said to the shed, "Open the mountain!"
Zhang Kaishan's voice echoed from the shed. It sounded weak, and Zhang Baosheng sighed inwardly. He pulled aside the curtain and went in. He took in his complexion and asked with concern, "Are you all right lately?"
It’s okay now. If it gets any colder, Zhang Kaishan’s condition will be a little serious.
But after taking a few more glances, he saw that his expression wasn't as ugly as last time, and there was even some flesh on his thin cheeks.
"Ahem, Sixth Uncle, I'm fine. Can you come and find Comrade Xiao Zhou?" Zhang Kaishan asked clearly while coughing slightly.
His family was quite distant from Zhang Baosheng's branch, and according to seniority and Zhang Baosheng's ranking in his branch, he called Zhang Baosheng "Sixth Uncle." However, they didn't interact much, so Zhang Kaishan knew the captain wasn't looking for him.
Zhang Baosheng wanted to light his pipe, but when he saw Zhang Kaishan's noticeable breathing, he suppressed his urge to smoke and said, "I came to ask Comrade Xiao Zhou some questions, and came to see you. You look better than a few days ago."
Zhang Kaishan lowered his eyes, with a cloud of worry in his eyes. He was a burden to his wife and children, and the family depended on Zhao Mei alone to support them.
With the educated youth living in the house these days, helping with cooking and other things, Zhao Mei hadn't sold eggs anymore, and instead cooked one for him every day to nourish him. On August 15th, the two educated youths pooled their money to buy a pound of meat. Their family contributed flour and vegetables, and Zhao Mei chopped the filling and made dumplings.
The food was better than usual. Zhao Mei used to exchange anything that could be exchanged for money to buy medicine for him.
Zhao Mei made things for Comrade Xiao Zhou, and Comrade Xiao Zhou did not let her work in vain. He thought of ways to help them, and he was grateful in his heart.
Zhang Kaishan raised his head. The dim light made the red circles under his eyes less obvious. He said in a deep voice, "Sixth Uncle, I have a favor to ask of you. When I am no longer able to live, please help Zhao Mei find a family to take care of her. Please take good care of her and don't let my family bully her and her mother."
Zhang Baosheng felt heavy-hearted when he heard this and said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? Our brigade is on the verge of success. Maybe in a few days we can even run a factory. When the village collective income is high, there will be money to distribute to everyone. Then we can arrange for someone to take you to the provincial capital for proper treatment. If we can't get treatment in this small place, we can definitely get it in that big place."
He didn't know how to comfort people, so he could only say in a fierce voice: "Don't be a wimp, stand up straight, even if you are sick and lying on the bed and can't get up, you are still supported by him and his mother."
Coming out of the room with her hands behind her back, Zhou Jiani also opened the door. She had just opened the door once, just like the captain, and when she saw Zhang Baosheng go to the next door, she retreated again. Just now, she heard his voice and hurriedly opened the door and came out, saying, "Captain, didn't you take a break?"
"Girl, sit down and let's talk." Zhang Baosheng dragged two stools over and sat in the yard.
Zhou Jiani still held the unfinished hairband in her hands. She planned to make a few more to see if she could sell them in the group chat. She'd also make three more samples and have Zhao Mei take them to the women at the state-owned restaurant in town tomorrow to gauge their reactions and approval, and then determine if there was a market for this little thing.
Seeing that Zhang Baosheng looked a little sad, he glanced at the shed and guessed that he was probably worried about Zhang Kaishan's illness.
In her previous life, she had rarely come into contact with people here after leaving the Forward Brigade, so she was not very clear about Zhang Kaishan's later condition. However, if he could go to a big hospital for treatment for a while at this stage, his condition should be much better than it is now.
Sitting in the yard, Zhang Baosheng began to fill his pipe with tobacco and said, "Zhang Laosi, do you think our company should divide up the work of our brigade?"
Even if Zhang Baosheng hadn't come to ask her today, Zhou Jiani had planned to call Qiu Zeming to discuss the matter in the evening. Now that the topic had come to this, she expressed her thoughts: "If we can really open up this path, it will be an inevitable development trend. Besides, even if the commune doesn't participate, once we use up the raw materials on hand, won't we have to find other brigades to cooperate with?"
Zhang Baosheng slapped his thigh. Why didn’t he think of this?
"I'm afraid if word gets out about our situation here, other brigades will already be eyeing it," Zhou Jiani said with a smile. "That's why I suggest opening a factory, and quickly. We must start planning now, so that when the commune asks for our assistance or proposes joint development, we'll have a response plan."
"Once we open the factory, we can recruit members from other brigades and have priority in purchasing their raw materials. Moreover, we have the management rights in our hands, so we don't have to worry about other brigades competing with us for this market."
"That's why I didn't follow the pricing you agreed on from the beginning. Instead, I tried to raise the price a bit. Besides the shipping costs, I also planned to prepare for the increased costs of purchasing raw materials later."
Zhang Baosheng even forgot to smoke and stood up to pace back and forth. He couldn't describe the feeling, but his heart was burning and his blood was boiling. He wanted to roll up his sleeves and get to work right away, but he also had an inexplicable feeling of powerlessness.
After a moment he understood. Yes, he was good at managing the brigade's production. He could seize the opportunity to harvest, look up at the sky to judge when was the right time to sow, or compete with the educated youth who did not work honestly at the beginning. He felt that there was no problem and he could handle it.
But when it comes to setting up a factory and starting a business with the team, he is completely clueless about all the aspects involved.
To put it bluntly, your knowledge is not broad enough.
Just imagine that half a month ago he couldn't even organize a complete sentence when reporting on his work in the commune. Now he couldn't even find his direction when he was asked to take charge of such a big business.
So, Director Zhai suggested sending Secretary Li over, probably because he saw that he didn't have the talent, right?
But would he hold back his knitting business just because he has a weakness? Obviously not!
Zhang Baosheng sat down again, lit his pipe, took two puffs, calmed himself down, and then told him what Director Zhai had mentioned to him.
It is said that Secretary Li is arranged to come to study, but in fact, he is here to preside over the work while keeping an eye on their development, and then see when he can help to divide up their work, right?
"Only the Niu Village Brigade has on-site cadres. Our village hasn't had any on-site cadres in recent years. Li Jingdang is probably just that title. But we can find a way out on our own, so why send a leader here now?"
A few years ago, when their village was particularly poor, the county sent cadres to stay there to help with production. Later, when the team became self-sufficient and production increased, they no longer sent people to stay there.
Anyway, I can’t say how good it is now, but at least it’s not as poor as Niucun Brigade.
In the winter two years ago, someone in Niu Village Brigade died of starvation and freezing. Later investigations showed that the son deliberately ignored the old man and starved his father to death.
It's really poor.
But it was also the dereliction of duty of the village cadres. At that time, that group of village cadres were demoted and new cadres were elected. The county sent people down and they have been staying in their brigade ever since.
Zhang Baosheng felt a little uncomfortable. No one likes to let others reap the benefits of their achievements.
Zhou Jiani felt that Li Jingdang should not be sent down to be a cadre on the ground. Cadres on the ground need to eat and work with the villagers, take turns eating at each house, work in the fields every day, and carry out the work on the ground effectively.
She felt that if Director Zhai was not joking with Zhang Baosheng, then he should have asked Li Jingdang to keep an eye on the processing workshop and help them get it started, which would make it easier to deal with them when they were transferred to other brigades in the future.
But this arrangement is actually a double-edged sword. Anyone who can serve as a secretary for a leader, not to mention being an expert in the commune, must have better interpersonal relationships than them in all aspects.
I also know a lot about the situation of other brigades.
If he could come down, when they decided to open the factory, with Li Jingdang there, wouldn't it save a lot of effort whether it was running around with connections or arguing with other brigades about materials?
It’s not certain who will be recruited!
"Open it. We must open this factory." Zhang Baosheng was holding back his anger and decided to take a chance.
Comrade Xiao Zhou has already helped them to start a good team. If he slacks off and hinders the team's development, he will not only let down the team members, but also the ancestors of the Zhang family.
"Comrade Xiao Zhou, from now on, you don't have to worry about other work in the village. Just focus on helping us build the factory. The village will give you a full work point salary. It doesn't conflict with the compensation the state will give you this year. This salary belongs to the village."
But what position should be assigned to Comrade Xiao Zhou?
Zhou Jiani was certainly willing. She had initially been preparing to take the teacher qualification exam the following year, hoping to find a different path in her life, striving to be at the top.
It is also the same to help the village to develop side businesses, so that it doesn’t matter whether you fight for the teaching position after the new year or not.
Zhang Baosheng decided to go back and think about it carefully, then call other cadres and Zhang Laosi and others to hold a meeting to discuss and decide on a title, and then go to the commune to help Zhou Jiani.
But what name should it be? He really had no idea.
Zhou Jiani smiled and argued for herself, "There's no need to limit myself to this. If things don't work out, I'll just be a salesperson for our village's sideline business, and help the village with its strategies. Next, I'll have to work with Comrade Xiao Qiu on the preliminary preparations for the plastic greenhouse, and lead our village's farmers to get the experimental fields up and running."
I don’t have to get up early to go to work, so I have more freedom in my schedule, and I can go out as often as I want. It’s perfect.
Although the traffic experience is not good at this time, there are many people and things to come into contact with when going out. If it is done well, it will become her network in the future. If it is not done well... It’s not bad. If this one doesn’t work, there is still the next one.
"Yes, yes, we still have greenhouse matters to take care of." Zhang Baosheng was very happy that the Qianjin Brigade would undergo a drastic change during his management, so that even if he retired in the future, it would be an honor.
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