Chapter 163: Poor Mountains and Bad Waters, I am Completely Despairing
Chen Fei's work officially began the next day. She woke early, and because the bedroom curtains had almost no light-blocking effect, the room was already bright as if it had been lit by a flash bomb at just after six o'clock.
After getting up, she felt sore all over. The wooden bed was too hard and narrow. After sleeping for a whole night, her waist was almost broken.
Seeing her pounding her waist, Zhu Yingning asked while washing her face, "Don't you live in the university dormitory?"
"No." Chen Fei answered honestly, then said with some surprise, "Can you tell?"
"Because schools generally have beds of this size." She pointed to the hard wooden bed and the thin sheet Shen Fei had spread on top, which was better than nothing. "There are folding mattresses for 0.9-meter beds available online. If you're not used to sleeping on one, you can buy a cushion to put on top. It's both easy to store and comfortable to sleep on."
"Can we receive express delivery here?"
"Yes, the packages are usually placed at the Fulai Convenience Supermarket in the town. They send someone to the village every Monday to deliver the packages. You can wait for them to deliver them, or if it's urgent, you can go to the town and pick it up yourself. Can you drive?"
“I’ve learned it, but I rarely use it.”
"If you want to drive later, you can ask Wen Wenxu to teach you. He drives that Wuling...very steadily. But you need to file a report before using it. The service center only has this one car, and sometimes other people need it for work."
Shen Fei wrote them down one by one and nodded while brushing his teeth.
In a small place, there are naturally no welcome parties, team-building activities or ice-breaking ceremonies. You can start working directly when you arrive at the service center.
Zhu Yingning explained the shift system here to Chen Fei: "We need to rotate shifts on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure that there is at least one person on duty here, so that people can find someone when they need help. I'll add it to your schedule later. Reprint this form and post it on the desk and the bulletin board outside. Please look at it frequently and remember your shift schedule."
Chen Fei took out his small notebook and started taking notes.
After explaining the various trivial matters, Zhu Yingning gave her a detailed introduction to the recent main tasks of their village team. In short, it was divided into two parts: accounting and in-depth visits.
The need for accounting came about because the village's accounts were in disarray. Before the campaign against poverty began, village officials had been using their old methods, and the disarray was evident. After the campaign, the state dispatched a resident team to the village to carry out poverty alleviation work. The team came and went in a hurry, without timely handovers. Furthermore, with the large amount of state funding and the diverse projects involved, a careful review of the accounts revealed numerous gaps.
"Wen Wenxu is in charge of auditing and managing the accounts now. He studied accounting, so his major is relevant to you. He's currently working on the electronic ledger, so he might ask you questions from time to time."
Shen Fei nodded: "I will do my best to help."
“In addition to assisting with accounting, our work mainly involves visiting people.”
Zhu Yingning explained that when she first arrived, she obtained files and other materials related to the poverty-stricken households from the village committee to understand the current situation. However, after visiting two or three households, she discovered that much of the information was outdated. To more accurately understand each household's current situation, investigate the causes of poverty, and identify industries that could lead to prosperity, she created a questionnaire and decided to conduct in-depth household research.
Chen Fei flipped through the questionnaire she handed over.
The questionnaire was very detailed, covering basic family information and income and expenditure. Several of them had already been filled out, by Zhu Yingning and Wen Wenxu before she reported to school.
"If you visit, you'll understand why this place isn't getting rich anymore." Before sending them off, Wen Wenxu sighed and said to Shen Fei, "Other places at least have Chinese medicinal herbs, agricultural products, and other specialty products. Here we are, a land of truly impoverished mountains and desolate waters. We have nothing. The climate isn't suitable for growing unique agricultural and forestry crops, there aren't any intangible cultural heritage projects, and the scenery isn't beautiful enough to develop tourism. In short, there's nothing we want, and even crying out to the heavens won't do any good. I'm completely desperate."
"How long have you been here and you're already completely desperate?" Zhu Yingning didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She sent him back to sort out the accounts, and she took Chen Fei and the information to the village.
After a few days of visits, Shen Fei quickly understood why Wen Wenxu was desperate.
To be honest, she was also quite desperate.
The aging of the permanent population has become a common topic, and the most serious problem is that the employment structure in the village is very loose.
Some rely on money sent by their children working away from home, some grow their own cabbage, some keep chickens and ducks, some take simple manual labor home from rural towns, and some frankly say, "I don't need to work. I'm supported by the government my whole life. Volunteers come every year, and the government pays me. I just stay home and they send me food and daily necessities. Why should I work?"
Shen Fei didn't know what to say.
When asked how the elderly in the village made their living before poverty alleviation, everyone said the same thing: "We just raised pigs and grew vegetables."
"Raise it and sell it to others?"
"I raise them for my own consumption, and then sell the leftovers in town, but they won't fetch much."
A typical small peasant economy that is self-sufficient.
The current situation was dire, but what truly despaired Chen Fei was the villagers' low level of awareness. In her imagination, as they visited every household, the villagers would welcome them with simple warmth and enthusiasm. In reality, they were indeed quite welcoming, but not in the way she had imagined.
After welcoming them into his home with great joy, he would change the subject before they had even started chatting for a few words and ask:
"Comrade Xiao Zhu, when will our country distribute oil again? Look, I only have two barrels of oil left at home, and I want to stock up on a few more."
"Xiao Zhu, why does Old Li, the village chief, get more subsidies than me? My family is also poor, why does he get more money than me? Can you help me apply for more?"
Chen Fei was tired of listening, but she saw Zhu Yingning patiently explain to the other party: "Grandpa Li receives more subsidies than you because he is disabled, a serious disability, and he receives disability subsidies."
"I am disabled too, look at my fingers." The old woman stretched out her five fingers.
Chen Fei looked left and right but couldn't see where the disability was. Zhu Yingning was obviously confused as well and said, "Your fingers are fine."
"I was born with six fingers, and later I cut off the extra one. Look, there's still a scar next to my little finger! How can this not be considered a disability?"
Chen Fei: “…”
Greed is one thing, and love is another that sends people to do things.
Chen Fei thought this might be a habit left over from the previous work team, because when they finished their investigation and were about to leave, many villagers would smile and say, "Xiao Zhu, Xiao Shen, are you leaving now? The people who came before us would help us sweep the floor and ferment the manure."
"The people who came before" should refer to the previous village work team.
Chen Fei’s idea is, I can take the initiative to help you, but you can’t take the initiative to ask for it. I can do the work that you can’t do for you, but you can’t ask us to do the work that you can do yourself.
Although the essence of this profession is to be a public servant of the people, she always believed that public servants are meant to work for the interests of the people, rather than acting as nannies for the people from door to door. Not to mention that they have serious work to do, these people have hands and feet, and they are not so old that they cannot even hold a broom. Why can't they sweep the floor and make compost by themselves?
She was angry, but Zhu Yingning was like a lump of mud without temper. She said to the villagers who made such a request: "Okay, where is the land to sweep?"
Instead, the villagers cracked melon seeds and said considerately, "No need, go ahead and do your work."
Chen Fei could only attribute this to the villagers being too bored and using them as entertainment to relieve boredom.
What's more, halfway through the visit, he suddenly grabbed her hand and asked, "How old are you, Xiao Shen? I think you're a good girl, with delicate skin, fair complexion, and a pretty face. But your butt is a little small, so I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to have children in the future... Are you dating?"
Shen Fei was shocked. She grew up in the city, where people generally have a sense of propriety. They wouldn't grab a stranger's hand without saying anything, let alone say such offensive words. She endured it again and again, and finally didn't shake off the hand of the old woman in front of her, named Zhen Yuhua: "Grandma, let's talk about business."
"What's a serious matter? What's a bad matter? This is a serious matter!" Zhen Yuhua smiled and touched her face with her rough hands. "I have a grandson who is the same age as you this year. He looks very energetic, honest and obedient..."
"Mother-in-law!" She interrupted the other person, her expression already somewhat angry.
Zhen Yuhua does have a grandson named Li Hengyu, but Li Hengyu is a fool. It is said that he was born with congenital deficiencies and could not speak until he was four or five years old. His parents worked away from home and did not intervene in time, nor did they know that they should intervene in time. Zhen Yuhua was the only one who raised the foolish grandson until he was in his twenties.
Afraid that her silly grandson would go out and get into trouble, Zhen Yuhua usually locked him in the house during the day, and only let him out for a walk by himself after the sun went down and it was not so hot.
Now Zhen Yuhua not only did not respect her position and status, but even wanted to introduce her silly grandson to her. Shen Fei was furious.
Zhu Yingning helped her refuse, saying, "Mother-in-law, Xiao Shen and I are both civil servants. We are here to work, not to find a date."
Zhen Yuhua muttered something, but Chen Fei didn't hear it clearly.
It was past four in the afternoon when they left Zhen Yuhua's house. It was almost time to get off work. Zhu Yingning led Shen Fei back to the Party and Mass Service Center. On the way, he comforted her, "Don't take it personally. When I first came here, Grandma Zhen also introduced me to a matchmaker. She said that I looked like an honest and hardworking woman, suitable to be married home to her grandson as a good wife."
Chen Fei was holding a thick stack of research reports, feeling both angry and amused: "Nonsense."
When they returned home in the evening, it was Wen Wenxu's turn to cook dinner. He was busy in the kitchen while Zhu Yingning moved a small stool and sat at the coffee table in the living room to sort out documents. Chen Fei walked over and admired her hard work. She wanted to help, but she said no: "You go and rest."
It was dusk, and although the lights were on in the room, there was no dedicated desk lamp. Zhu Yingning squinted her eyes and wrote furiously. Chen Fei watched with fear, "You'll easily become nearsighted this way."
"It's okay, I'll just write for a while and then stop."
Shen Fei had no choice but to take her clothes and go to the bathroom to take a shower.
The bathroom was a combination of wet and dry areas, and was incredibly narrow. Standing in front of the toilet to shower, one couldn't even stretch their arms. Even though she'd showered here several times, Shen Fei still felt uncomfortable. Every time she did, she couldn't help but wonder how Wen Wenxu, a large man, could manage to shower in such a cramped space. The thought made her want to laugh.
The bathroom had a window but no curtains. Zhu Yingning had taped it tightly with old newspapers, which served as curtains. The window was locked, and Chen Fei reached for the shampoo on the shelf below.
As she stretched out her hand, she noticed that the newspaper in the corner of the window was soaked by water, and there was a small black hole as big as a longan seed. She reached out and touched the hole, thinking that she would use newspaper or some other draft paper to fill the hole later. Otherwise, there was an alley outside. Although the alley was rarely visited, she still didn't feel safe.
Just as I was thinking about it, the "longan core" suddenly moved through a layer of fluorescent green window glass.
The longan core moved back a little, and Chen Fei discovered that it was a man's eye.
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The author has something to say: The focus of these chapters is to explain Ning's career line. Three will not appear immediately. He will have a direct role only after this part is finished. But he will be omnipresent like a ghost (?). I won't spoil the specific way he is omnipresent.
Many people have asked why the time span is so long. This is because this is the third volume, and it is connected to the first two volumes, but it does not directly follow the narrative structure of the first two volumes. It should be a book per volume, but I was too lazy to divide it up and only divided it by chapter titles, so readers who read it all in one go may find it a little confusing. Anyway, this is a separate volume.
The third volume focuses on work after graduation from university. Events during college will be written in a flashback and interspersed manner, and will no longer be written in chronological order from beginning to end.
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