Chapter 105 Two People Elected [VIP]
"Shen Qingshan one vote, Chen Yao one vote, Chen Yao one vote, Chen Yao one more vote, Huang Songbai one vote, Huang Songbai two votes..." Zhao Xiaofu read out the names on the slips to everyone.
Chen Yao's name was called more and more frequently, and a group of men were whispering in the audience, wondering if A Yao would be the village head in the end.
Xu and the embroiderers standing nearby heard this and snorted coldly, "Why, you're not happy about A Yao being our village chief?"
"Manager Xu, we're happy. We're happy for either A-Yao or her father to be our village chief."
"That's right."
Nowadays, the women in the village can all earn money. They no longer have to sit around the stove and live under the orders of men. They speak and act with confidence.
After Zhao Xiaofu finished reading all the notes in the small dustpan, he turned his head and looked at Luo Dunzi: "Have you memorized everything?"
Luo Dunzi nodded, and at Zhao Xiaofu's signal, he read out the votes for each person: "Chen Yao has a total of 99 votes, Shen Qingshan has 35 votes, and Huang Songbai has 5 votes. Let's applaud and cheer for Chen Yao, the new head of Xiahe Village!"
Luo Dunzi picked up the drumstick and struck the gong, then pulled Chen Yao to the front from the crowd.
Chen Yao stood at the front of the crowd, her face gradually flushed and her heart pounding. She bowed to the villagers and expressed her gratitude: "Thank you all for your trust in me. I will definitely live up to your expectations and lead everyone to a more prosperous life."
"Good!" Applause broke out again in the crowd.
After Chen Yao finished speaking, she stood back next to her family, waiting for Shi Tou to announce the candidate for Shanghe Village.
The results of the election of the village head representative in Shanghe Village were very scattered. Almost every family elected the head of the family, so when the family with the highest number of votes won, everyone was dissatisfied with the result.
Yang Jizong and Zhao Xiaofu looked at each other, asked the nominees to stand in front, and asked them a question.
"If you were the head of a village, how would you lead your fellow villagers to a prosperous life?"
Among these people's answers, only Tian Baolai's was the most pragmatic.
First, he would lead his fellow villagers to cultivate the land and reclaim more wasteland, so that the villagers would have enough food at home and could pay taxes.
Secondly, he would learn from Ayao how to sow new crops, and then promote them in Shanghe Village, so that everyone could not only have food to eat but also earn some money by selling these crops;
Finally, if he became the head of a village, he would definitely not listen to the orders of the aristocratic families to oppress the people.
Isn’t what he said what the people of Shanghe Village are looking forward to day and night?
So, Tian Baolai eventually became the head of Shanghe Village.
Huang Mei stood in the crowd and listened to what her tall and strong son said. She was shocked, but also quite sad.
Her children grew up in the blink of an eye and were no longer the little kids hiding under her wings and needing her protection.
Huang Mei applauded her son and cheered loudly.
After the two village heads were elected, Chen Yao and Tian Baolai whispered to each other and made a decision while the villagers were all present.
All children in the two villages who are five years old or above and under eighteen years old can study at Shen's School for free. Shen's School will provide pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as a lunch.
As soon as the decision was made, the crowd was in an uproar and no one could believe it.
How could such a good thing happen in the world? The person who came here was really the right one to be appointed!
"Ayao, Baolai, are you telling the truth? Can my Yaya go to school? And even get food?"
Chen Yao stepped forward at the right moment and said, "You heard me right. From the age of five to eighteen, regardless of gender, as long as the children are willing to study hard, the Shen Family School is not only free, but also provides meals."
"Ayao, thank you."
"Baolai, thank you too. This has provided a new way for the children of Shanghe Village to make a living!"
Everyone was happy at first and then burst into tears. Even if the elders all went to the quarry to do hard labor during the autumn harvest this year, the children at home would not starve to death.
After the election meeting was dissolved, everyone did not disperse, but instead united to help Xiahe Village repair houses overnight.
In the following days, the people of the two villages no longer differentiated between them and helped each other. The progress of building stone houses in Xiahe Village was also accelerated a lot. If there was a shortage of manpower in the fields where insects and weeds needed to be caught, whoever had finished their work would go over to help.
During this period, the Shen Family School had to expand several more classrooms, kitchens, and warehouses. According to the decision of the two village heads, the students officially started school on September 1st.
In order to ensure that the children could go to school as scheduled, the men from the two villages worked hard day and night to chisel stones and build houses.
Looking at the empty school warehouse, Yang Jizong led the newly appointed head of the village, Shen Lichang and Tian Lichang, to the government office to handle the formalities, and then received a sum of silver from Lord Li.
Chen Yao and Tian Baolai spent all the money on the students and brought back two carts of food and some pens, ink, paper and inkstones for the school.
At the end of August.
In this time when food should be plentiful but not abundant, there is no joy on his face, only endless sorrow.
In the evening, the Shen family had dinner in the living room.
Hong Li: "In ten days, the main house will be repaired. We also need to order another batch of bricks, tiles and wood."
"Okay, I'll go tomorrow." Shen Qingshan stood up and responded.
As soon as the outsiders left, Tian Baolai started to discuss with Chen Yao: "Ayao, this year's autumn harvest taxes will certainly require a number of villagers to be levied. I want to lend our mules and oxen to those villagers who have no labor at home. In this way, together with the government oxen, those tenant farmers will not let their fields fallow."
"Cousin, your idea is feasible." Chen Yao agreed.
Huang Mei cleared the dishes and served the cut fruits to the children. She picked up a palm-leaf fan and sat aside to fan herself: "Songbai should be home in two days."
Miao brought a stool and sat with her elder sister, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan. "It's only been two days. He must have brought back a letter."
Huang Songbai, who was being missed by everyone, had already followed the team out of Baihe Town.
Thanks to his cleverness, he went to the traction building when he was in Baihe Town. On the way, he took home the dividends earned from A Yao and the others' velvet flower business, and also received a new velvet flower order.
Shopkeeper Lu also learned from Huang Songbai that this velvet flower was very popular in Jiangnan, and the price she sold it for was still too low.
Huang Songbai had no control over how the price was set. He was now on the road with a huge sum of money, more than a hundred taels, so he had to sleep with one eye open, and no one on the road looked like a good person to him.
He was homesick, so when he followed the team to the gate of Qingfeng Town, even though he was strictly interrogated by the guards, he felt that these guards were friendly.
After entering the city, Huang Songbai couldn't wait to drive a mule cart to his own supply and marketing cooperative to see his son.
But at this time, Chang Wei stopped him. He patted his shoulder and said to him, "After we finish our work in a few days, we will go to your Huangji Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy things. Can you give us a discount?"
Even though they have become close friends along the way, business is business. How can they give their caravan a discount just because of their friendship? If this gets out, their supply and marketing cooperative will lose its credibility.
"No, Huang's isn't just mine. I can't make the decision. What's more, as you know, Team Leader Chang, we buy all our Huang's ingredients from our fellow villagers. The price is already the most affordable..."
Before Huang Songbai could finish his words, Chang Wei raised his hand and pushed him out. "Alright, stop talking. I understand. Go home quickly."
Huang Songbai bowed to him and apologized, "Team Leader Chang, when you are done, come to Xiahe Village and I will treat everyone to a meal."
"Okay, then we'll take it seriously!" Chang Weiwu waved at him and led the team to the inn.
Huang Songbai also turned around and drove the mule cart to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Inside Huangji Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Huang Dongsheng was chopping rabbit meat for a customer when a man suddenly stood in front of the butcher's stall. Without looking up, he asked as he chopped the meat, "What would you like to order, sir?"
"Dongsheng!" Huang Songbai suppressed his surging emotions and called out to his son.
Huang Dongsheng suddenly heard a familiar voice and looked up to see his father, who was tanned and thin, coming back. Tears started to fall from his eyes.
"Dad." Huang Dong stopped chopping the raw meat, opened the baffle, ran to Huang Songbai, and hugged his father, "Dad, you're finally back."
Huang Songbai hugged his son back, then pulled him away, saying with the same nasal tone, "You go ahead and do your work. Dad will sit behind the counter for a while. We'll go home when you're done."
"What are you busy with? Let's go home now." Huang Dongsheng wrapped the rabbit meat on the chopping board and put it in the guest's basket.
The customer looked at the half-chopped meat and before he had time to complain, he heard Huang Dongsheng say, "I'm giving it to you for free." He was so happy that he left the supply and marketing cooperative quickly, fearing that the father and son would change their minds later.
"Son, are you just going to give away eighty-five cents like that for nothing?"
"Dad, this money will be deducted from my account. The rabbit house won't suffer any loss. Let's go home now. Everyone misses you." Huang Dongsheng packed up the cash box and locked the shop door.
When he came out, he was shocked by the cargo on his mule cart. "Dad, what did you bring back? Why did you bring back a tree?"
Huang Songbai patted his son on the back of the head and said, "What are you yelling about? Go back and tell him."
"Okay, Dad."
The father and son sat together in the front of the mule cart. Along the way, Huang Dongsheng told them all the big and small things that happened in the family, including the disaster, the reconstruction of everyone's home, and the re-election of the village head.
Huang Songbai, who was originally feeling a little sad, was left with only worry after listening to his son's chatter.
"What about the crops in our fields? How much was lost?"
"Dad, the wheat fields of our three families weren't seriously damaged. You forgot that we used the new seeds given by A Yao when we planted the seeds."
Huang Songbai breathed a sigh of relief, but when he thought about the food of other villagers, he still felt sad.
"Dad, guess who our new village chief is?"
"He's just another lackey sent by those people. What's there to guess?"
"Wrong, the new head of our village is my cousin, and the new head of Shanghe Village is my cousin."
"What? Are you lying to me again, you little brat?"
"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go and ask yourself when we get back to the village." Huang Dongsheng snatched the reins from his father's hands and drove the cart for him.
Huang Songbai looked at his son's familiar driving experience and asked, "Has your family bought another mule cart?"
"Dad, not long after you left, my cousin and I bought an ox cart and a mule cart to facilitate the collection and delivery of goods. After the autumn harvest, the supply and marketing cooperative really needs to recruit a clerk. I plan to visit other towns and open another supply and marketing cooperative."
Huang Songbai couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard what his son said. How come so many things happened at home when he had only been away for a short time?
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