"Be careful with how you address me." Su Nan's face turned cold and she looked at him with her arms folded.
Xiao Fuqiang thought of the gossipy women who were taken away by the police not long ago. He knew that the woman in front of him was not someone he could mess with. He curled his lips and decided not to argue with her, so he turned his attention to Xiao Heguo.
"Today, you must give us an explanation. If you really don't, write a letter of guarantee. If those two guys can't get fertilizer and seeds, you will step down and give your position to someone who is capable and has a big heart."
"You're not talking about yourself, are you?" Gao Zhongbin said calmly, directly pointing out Xiao Fuqiang's little thoughts.
Xiao Fuqiang didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement, adding, "Hiding the truth from the masses—is that what a cadre should do? Now that we've discovered it and can no longer conceal it, they're telling us. It's truly laughable."
"If I were the captain, I would definitely not do such a thing. I would definitely tell everyone and then we would all work together to find a solution."
As soon as this statement was made, it received support from a large number of people, because no one wanted to be kept in the dark, but hoped to know the truth from the beginning.
"It's not that I didn't tell you, but this is an order from the commune to avoid causing panic and to prevent some people from desperately trying to find some folk remedies to solve the problem. This is not right."
Xiao Heguo and Xiao Hejun tried to persuade them earnestly for a long time, but no one was willing to listen.
"Even though I'm uneducated, I know we must respect the interests of the masses. Every little detail matters. We ordinary people have lived most of our lives just to have enough food and clothing, right? Now that the rice seedlings have become like this during your tenure, no matter what, you can't shirk your responsibility."
Xiao Fuqiang ignored everything else and just grabbed hold of one point and refused to let go, as if he would not give up until he brought Xiao Heguo down.
"Of course the masses are important, but why do cadres and leaders exist in large countries, small communes, and villages? It's so that when things go wrong, big or small, there are people who understand science and reason to help make decisions, so that things don't become a mess."
Su Nan couldn't bear it anymore, so he stood up and spoke loudly.
Seeing no one respond, Su Nan continued, "None of us want to see the rice seedlings become like this, but since it has already happened, we need to find a way to solve it instead of arguing here about whose fault it is and why the higher-ups are hiding this from us."
Still silence.
"Uncle, you're the most emotional so far. Do you have any ideas for solving this rice seedling problem? If you do, I'm sure no one will challenge you for the position of team leader."
Seeing Xiao Fuqiang keeping his head down and not saying anything, Su Nan threw the conversation to him without any warning.
"I……"
Before Xiao Fuqiang could finish his words, Xiao Heguo interrupted him: "Su Zhiqing is right. As long as you can find a way to restore the rice seedlings, I will give you my position as team leader."
Hearing this, Xiao Fuqiang's eyes lit up and his eyeballs rolled rapidly in his sockets, but as a farmer, he had never encountered such a situation in his life. How would he know how to save the rice seedlings?
After thinking for a while, Xiao Fuqiang hesitated and said, "Are you serious?"
"Of course I take it seriously. The villagers are all watching here. How can I lie to you?" Xiao Heguo patted his chest with a serious face.
"That's right, we all testify for you."
"Even if Xiao Heguo had a hundred guts, he wouldn't dare break his promise."
"Fuqiang, if you have a solution, tell me now."
The villagers kept urging.
Seeing Xiao Fuqiang like this, Village Chief Xiao was a little unsure whether he really had a solution, so he also said: "Fuqiang, do you have any solution?"
"Of course I do." Xiao Fuqiang said with a stiff face, thinking to himself: If I miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I don't know if I can become the team leader next time.
"That means we can pull out all the rice seedlings in the fields and plant new ones."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with sneer from Xiao Fangchi.
"Uncle Fuqiang, you're talking lightly. Don't you think about how long it would take to pull out this batch of seedlings, how long it would take to cultivate a new batch of seedlings, and how long it would take to arrange for people to plant them? Not to mention the time and effort involved, can you guarantee that the new rice seedlings won't have the same problem as now?"
"Then tell me, what can we do?" Xiao Fuqiang's face flushed red and he raised his neck to retort.
"The commune has already provided a scientific method, and now we just have to wait for its implementation." Xiao Heguo's expression had long since changed from its original gentleness to expressionless, even a little angry, and his hands were clenched tightly.
"The commune chose to conceal the information because they didn't want to cause panic or make everyone live in fear every day. They had already immediately invited experts to look at the rice seedlings and arranged for people to go to the county town to buy fertilizer and seeds.
All we ordinary people need to do is trust the commune, the country, and the party, and quietly wait for news. Even if we fail in the end, the higher-ups won't watch us starve to death."
Su Nan then expressed her views. After she finished speaking, many educated youth nodded in agreement, and many villagers also chattered, thinking that what they said was right.
Seeing that the situation was turning to one side, Xiao Fuqiang and Village Chief Xiao could no longer sit still. The atmosphere that they had worked so hard to stir up could not be destroyed by just a few words.
"These are two different things. What we are talking about is who will bear this responsibility? Buying fertilizers and seeds costs money, and that has to come from us ordinary people." Xiao Fuqiang was relentless, and the muscles on his face trembled up and down with his excitement.
"Natural disasters and man-made disasters, who could have predicted how this would turn out? Don't make a fuss here. Everyone knows what Sima Zhao is thinking." Su Nan's charming face was now filled with disgust for the man that was hard to conceal.
"Little girl, you are the one stirring up trouble here all day, right? Let me tell you, it is not your turn as a newly arrived educated youth to meddle in the affairs of our Xiaojia Village." Village Chief Xiao was so angry that his whole body was shaking. He pointed at Su Nan and almost lost his breath.
The people around him immediately surrounded him, fearing that something might happen to him.
"I didn't interfere. I just told the truth. Why don't educated youth have the right to speak?" Su Nan curled his lips and waited until Village Chief Xiao had recovered and realized that nothing serious had happened before he started to speak.
Before they could think of any words to reply, they heard a deafening noise coming from the road not far away, and at the same time two beams of dazzling light shone over.
It's a big truck!
A child immediately ran over curiously, exclaiming, "Wow, a big car, a big car!"
The most luxurious car the villagers had ever seen was the tractor they had bought at great expense, so when they saw this huge truck they had never seen before, their faces were filled with surprise and curiosity.
"Let's go take a look first."
"What a great guy! What are you doing in our village?"
"Just ask and you'll know."
Everyone now just wants to go to the village entrance to watch the excitement, and no one cares about anything else.
Liu Yu and Xiao Fangyun helped Su Nan up and ran towards the village entrance. Along the way, Su Nan felt that his feet had never touched the ground and he was completely carried.
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