Chapter 72 He's been talking far too much all day...
Zhong Ying parked her bicycle under a poplar tree outside the commune compound gate, locked the front wheel, and then walked inside with Yu Jing.
After hearing their purpose, the gatekeeper couldn't help but look the two young girls up and down with suspicion. He carefully examined their letters of introduction before finally letting them through. "In that case, go to the Party Committee office and talk to Secretary Cai."
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing were "kicked" like a football to a male colleague who was idling in the office.
There was only one secretary for the commune's Party committee, but there were more than one person in the office. The man in his forties or fifties who had some free time was clearly not Secretary Cai, who was supposed to be "one person full-time with many people assisting." Zhong Ying and Yu Jing exchanged a glance. They were not stupid, but even knowing this, they still carefully explained their purpose.
Zhang Lianyi is 49 years old this year and is the oldest staff member in the office. Right now, everyone else is either busy drafting notices for the commune or busy receiving and sending documents issued by the county revolutionary committee. This old man is idle and has been pushed to deal with people. He is not annoyed, since this is not the first or second time this has happened.
"You two are new educated youth who have come to the production team, right?" Zhang Lianyi looked kindly at the two young girls in front of him. He himself had a daughter. "I understand. Everyone who comes to the countryside wants to use their abilities to make the grassroots villages better and the country better. You want to build hydropower in the production team, that's great, that should be encouraged!"
"Water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture," the state encourages the masses to undertake large-scale small-scale hydropower construction, and encourages production teams with the capacity to build their own hydropower projects to solve their electricity problems. However…
Zhang Lianyi then shifted the focus, saying, "When we first arrived in the countryside, ambition was important, but being down-to-earth was equally important. We needed to consider the local conditions. You wanted to build a hydroelectric power station, but you also needed to consider whether the production team was willing to build it and whether they had the capacity to do so—"
As he spoke, he looked through the things the two women had brought, then suddenly stopped.
Zhong Ying finally got a chance to speak and quickly said, "I'm not an educated youth. I'm the women's team leader of the Tonggan production team. The decision to build the hydroelectric power station was made by all the members of our production team after careful discussion and with the full assistance of the educated youth in planning and calculation."
Yu Jing quickly chimed in, "Yes, I'm a university graduate majoring in water conservancy engineering. Tonggan Production Team has inherent geographical advantages, and building a hydroelectric power station is a good thing that makes full use of local natural resources and improves production and living conditions..."
Officer Zhang stopped talking, his smile and the slight disdain on his face vanished, and his expression became increasingly serious as he reviewed the materials.
"You two sit here for a bit, I'll go talk to Secretary Cai." Officer Zhang said hastily, feeling this was no longer something he could handle.
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing followed the older leader across most of the office with synchronized movements, until they reached a man who looked to be around forty years old and had a capable demeanor. He held a stack of documents and talked to the man for a while.
Then, the person who sat down in front of Zhong Ying and Yu Jing became Secretary Cai.
The two of them had to start all over again.
Secretary Cai listened calmly and attentively, nodding occasionally and flipping through the materials in her hands.
The application form, stamped with the red fingerprints of all commune members, exuded a seriousness. The site selection, design sketches, and measurement data for the hydroelectric power station were all prepared in full. Even though the representatives who came to the commune to apply were only two very young women, it was enough to show that this production team truly wanted to make the hydroelectric project a success. In that case, this matter was beyond his direct control.
"Please wait a moment, I need to report this." Secretary Cai adjusted his glasses and got up to leave as well.
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing were kept behind again.
"If I had known, I would have let Captain Li come with us." Yu Jing lowered her voice and bowed her head, clearly aware of the fact that women's voices were often disregarded and taken for granted.
Yu Jing felt somewhat frustrated. In the production team, she was an educated youth and a professional, so the members naturally listened to what she said. But here, no one knew her and Zhong Ying. They only treated them as naive young girls, and their attitudes naturally became indifferent.
Zhong Ying understood that the limitations of the times were there; if it were two young men now, even if they were very young, they probably wouldn't be looked down upon like this.
Yes, things would definitely go more smoothly if Captain Li were here, but why? Why must women always be relegated to the background and have others speak for them? If they are being looked down upon, they should use their abilities to make people take them seriously again.
Zhong Ying didn't lecture Yu Jing; she simply took her hand and whispered, "Where do you want Captain Li to sit? On the crossbar of the bicycle?"
Yu Jing couldn't help but imagine what she was saying: the serious and steady Captain Li would have to curl up like a child to sit on the crossbar in front of the bicycle... She couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand, amused by the comical scene she had imagined.
“That’s right, what was I thinking? How could three people ride a bicycle to the commune? If they walked, it would probably take until noon to get here.” Yu Jing said, unaware that she was no longer trapped in those negative emotions of frustration and defeat.
Zhong Ying fell silent. Three... that's not impossible.
There were only two chairs that Officer Zhang brought, one for the two female comrades, and Li Linshi stood next to Zhong Ying, mainly to keep her company.
Li Linshi gently touched Zhong Ying's hair and prompted, "Secretary Cai is back again."
Zhong Ying looked up and saw that Secretary Cai had returned. This time, however, he did not sit down. Instead, he walked over to Zhong Ying and Yu Jing and said, "Please come with me. The leaders have just finished a meeting. I went over to report on your production team's plan to build a hydroelectric power station. They were very interested and would like to hear more from you."
There was a greater sense of respect in their words.
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing couldn't help but exchange a glance.
Secretary Cai led the two out of the office, through a corridor with half the walls painted green, turned left and right, pushed open the door of a room, and stood at the door to invite them in first.
Yu Jing had just stepped one foot in when she stopped abruptly.
Zhong Ying looked closely and saw that there were five people in the conference room, each of them exuding the aura of a leader. No wonder Yu Jing was intimidated.
Despite her youthful appearance, Zhong Ying is a seasoned veteran. During work hours, she can calmly report to five people, or even fifty people, whether it's weekly reports, weekly meetings, or development discussions for new game events.
Zhong Ying took a quick step forward, passed by Yu Jing, and subtly tugged at her arm.
Yu Jing regained her composure, calmed herself down, and followed Zhong Ying into the conference room.
One of the five looked at Zhong Ying in surprise and called out her name, "Comrade Zhong Ying?"
Another middle-aged man sitting next to him turned his head and asked in surprise, "Old Ding, do you know this woman?"
Ding Bingrui nodded. "I met this young comrade when I was supervising the grain collection work. She helped resolve a small dispute and handled it very well."
Zhong Ying managed to glean some information from their conversation: the deputy director, whose surname she had completely forgotten, was actually surnamed Ding. Zhong Ying secretly rejoiced; otherwise, wouldn't it have been embarrassing if the other person recognized her in front of so many people while she couldn't even remember his surname?
"Hello, Deputy Director Ding and other leaders, I am Zhong Ying, the women's team leader of the Tonggan production team. The woman next to me is a former educated youth from our production team," Zhong Ying introduced calmly. "She is from the capital and is a college graduate majoring in water conservancy engineering."
Inspired by Zhong Ying's composure, Yu Jing's pounding heart gradually calmed down. Meeting the gazes of everyone looking at her, she nodded calmly, "Hello, leaders."
Among the seated people, some exchanged silent glances. These two young girls were quite something; they had the aura of commanding the room the moment they arrived.
Secretary Cai stood at the door and waited for a man and a woman to hurriedly enter the conference room before gently closing the door and finding a seat with practiced ease.
Deputy Director Ding knew Zhong Ying and took the initiative to introduce them: "This is Director Ji, the head of the commune administration, who is in charge of overall production and construction work; this is Secretary Sun, the party secretary of the commune, who is in charge of grasping the political direction and ideological work; and sitting next to him is Deputy Secretary Zhao."
He then looked at the man sitting opposite him. "Team Leader Yao is the head of the agricultural team. The entire commune's agricultural production and water conservancy construction are under the management of their agricultural team. Sitting on either side of him are his assistants, Lao Cao and Xiao Zheng."
Old Cao was a middle-aged woman in her forties. She had a stern face, but her gaze towards Zhong Ying and Yu Jing contained expectation and encouragement.
Xiao Zheng looked younger, probably under thirty, and he just nodded shyly in acknowledgment.
After a brief introduction, Zhong Ying and Yu Jing began their third presentation of the day.
After listening, the people below began to ask very detailed questions.
Zhong Ying's spirits lifted, knowing that what followed was crucial to the success of today's trip, so she put in even more effort to prepare.
"Director Ji, regarding your question, 'Besides solving the electricity problems for members' homes and public facilities after the hydropower station is built, what other plans does the production team have?' We do plan to connect milling machines, threshing machines, etc., in the future to carry out grain processing as a collective sideline to generate revenue," Zhong Ying said fluently.
The head of the agricultural group, Yao, then followed up, "Won't the hydropower station, built on the upper reaches of the Ganlin River, affect the irrigation of the downstream production teams?"
Yu Jing answered this question: "What we plan to build is a water diversion type hydroelectric power station, which utilizes the original river channel and places a simple power generation device in it, rather than building a dam and reservoir, so it will have less impact on downstream water use."
Deputy Director Ding also raised questions: "Have you calculated how many laborers you'll need to build the hydroelectric power station? Will your team provide that? What about funding and materials? What are your plans?"
Then Zhong Ying took over, saying, "Regarding labor, our production team organizes its members to contribute work points and receive payment based on work points; as for funds, the production team has nearly 500 yuan in public funds in its public account. We hope that the higher authorities can provide some financial and equipment support. For the remaining shortfall, we can take out a loan from the commune's credit union..."
The meeting room door didn't open again until the afternoon. Everyone skipped lunch, asking more and more detailed questions until they had all the details cleared up before letting Zhong Ying and Yu Jing go.
Deputy Director Ding personally escorted the two out of the commune.
“Secretary Sun has been encouraging all production teams to try building small hydropower stations, but no one dared to do it, all feeling they didn’t have the technology. Now that you’re willing to be the first to ‘take the plunge,’ his attitude just now was encouraging you,” Deputy Director Ding said gently. “His political stance is very important; with his support, the matter is basically half done.”
Deputy Director Ding continued, "You answered the questions from the agricultural team very well, and they probably won't raise any objections..."
Zhong Ying and Yu Jing nodded repeatedly, feeling excited. They hadn't expected things to take such a turn for the better and go so smoothly.
“I will discuss the support you mentioned at the subsequent agenda-reporting meeting,” said Deputy Director Ding. “There shouldn’t be any major problems. Director Ji should do his best to help your production team build this hydroelectric power station.”
Yu Jing's face showed an unbelievable surprise, and even her cheeks flushed with excitement.
While Zhong Ying was pleasantly surprised, her expression showed some hesitation. "Why..."
If we're talking about Secretary Sun's support, we can explain it by the fact that building a hydropower station aligns with current social trends and has certain political significance; but why would Director Ji go to such lengths to promote the construction of the hydropower station?
Ding Bingrui was pleased that he hadn't misjudged the person, but he only gave Zhong Ying a meaningful look and said, "'Director Ji' has been called that for almost ten years."
He said it as if it were just a casual remark, then smiled at the two girls and said, "Alright, I'll see you off here. Be careful on your way back, you two girls. Come back in four days, and I'll give you a proper answer then."
"Thank you so much," Zhong Ying and Yu Jing said in unison.
After saying goodbye, Deputy Director Ding returned to the commune office building, while Zhong Ying and Yu Jing left the courtyard.
"What did Deputy Director Ding mean by what he just said?" Yu Jing couldn't help but ask Zhong Ying curiously. "Did you understand it? It was like a riddle."
Zhong Ying laughed, "I feel like I've been given a reassuring pill."
Yu Jing couldn't understand it at all.
Zhong Ying unlocked the front wheel of the bicycle, kicked away the kickstand standing on the ground, and, holding the handlebars, kindly explained, "After being called that for ten years, I naturally want to change to another title, like Director Ji of the County Party Committee Office."
Yu Jing suddenly realized, "If Director Ji wants to be promoted to the county party committee, he must make some achievements."
She looked at the papers she was holding in her arms. "Grades?"
“That’s right, our hydropower station is his future achievement.” Zhong Ying pushed her bicycle forward. “Let’s not talk about anything else. I’m hungry and thirsty right now. Let’s go to that state-run restaurant in town to eat something before we head back. I brought food coupons, and I really won’t have the strength to pedal my bicycle if I don’t eat something.”
Yu Jing then realized that she was also thirsty and hungry, and her throat was practically on fire. She had talked too much all day.
"It's my treat! I brought meal tickets too, let's have noodles, there's soup and noodles!" Yu Jing quickened her pace, walked to the other side of the bicycle, and helped Zhong Ying push the bike.
As long as Li Linshi doesn't want to, no one can touch him; they will only pass through his ethereal figure. At this moment, seeing Yu Jing rushing over and about to overlap with him, and the other party being unaware, Li Linshi could only make him retreat to the side.
Li Linshi looked at Zhong Ying with displeasure, feeling that he had less and less of a place for her.
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Author's Note: Li Linshi: Who is whose love rival?
Three people... that means there are many possible combinations.
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