"Auntie, you're going to the countryside but not working in the fields, so what kind of work do you do?"
The speaker was Song Youying, the youngest daughter of the Song family.
I always felt that as the village chief's granddaughter, her life was happier than that of everyone else in the village.
Hearing Song Ziqing's words, he was stunned.
She had always envied Song Ziqing's life as a young lady in the city and had even secretly hoped to follow the Song couple into the city to be their child.
However, she only thought about it; the other person didn't lack daughters, but sons.
I heard a few days ago that the Song couple were sent to the countryside, and Song Ziqing, this city girl, can only go back to live in the village.
She assumed that Song Ziqing's quality of life would definitely deteriorate in the future.
Now she says that even if she goes to the countryside, she won't work in the fields, and she doesn't lack money.
It was only at this point that Song Youying realized that she and Song Ziqing were different after all. She had parents who loved her the most, and they were capable and left her a very solid family fortune.
Their family lived in a small rural village by the sea.
Even in the village, her living conditions were better than other families. During the off-season, she didn't have to work and went to school as usual. During the busy season, she had to take a break from farming and work in the fields.
"I heard from your brother that you're already in your first year of high school? You really need to study hard. Maybe I can give you some advice on finding a job after you graduate!"
Song Ziqing always knew that Song Youying envied her, but her envy was just that—envy—without any jealousy.
Song Ziqing decided to keep such a simple-minded junior by his side to relieve his boredom.
She never advised her to go to factory work after graduating from high school like people do nowadays, because such monotonous assembly line work would destroy people's enthusiasm and creativity.
Upon hearing Song Ziqing's words, Song Youying asked curiously, "Auntie, do you have any acquaintances in the county?"
Song Ziqing shook his head and said, "No! I just think our village is right by the sea, with unparalleled advantages. We can definitely build a factory here. All kinds of seaweed and seafood are readily available. These things are worthless on the coast, but they can fetch a lot of money in inland cities!"
"The village could easily set up a collective factory. Even if these goods can't be sold, they could be exchanged with other factories for scarce rural resources. This way, the villagers' lives would improve."
Having served as village chief for decades, Song Jingtao found Song Ziqing's words quite reasonable. However, he still revealed the reality: "Xiaoqing, our village committee has no money, no capital. How can we open a factory?!"
"If you don't have the capital, set up a small workshop first. Find an empty courtyard and let everyone work there and earn work points. Let the young people in the village go out and sell the dried seafood. If people are unwilling to spend money to buy it, you can negotiate with them to exchange it for daily necessities or other supplies needed by the village."
Song Ziqing believes that as long as the villagers gradually learn not to just bury themselves in hard work, their lives will definitely get better and better.
Village chief Song Jingtao was a smart man, and he immediately replied, "If we exchange for living supplies, our villagers can exchange them with work points. With this arrangement, our villagers will have more work, more work points, and more living supplies!"
This small workshop absolutely must be set up, and it needs to be set up as soon as possible! The drought hasn't completely passed yet. We're alright in the coastal areas; we don't lack food. If there's no food in the fields, we can always reach out to the sea. But I've heard that in many inland cities, quite a few people starved to death in the past year or two!"
Song Ziqing looked at Song Jingtao with admiration, finding that this uncle, who was over sixty years old, was still very sharp, especially when it came to daily necessities, his whole being seemed to glow.
It seems that in rural areas, the biggest shortage of people is daily necessities. By the sea, people don't lack food. Even if there isn't enough grain, they can eat seafood. Although they get tired of eating seafood year after year, at least they won't go hungry.
With no shortage of food, people are now most concerned about their quality of life. Many daily necessities require money and coupons, and rural people don't receive many coupons throughout the year.
When Song Youying heard Song Ziqing say that he wanted to send young people to be salesmen, he eagerly raised his hand to sign up: "I, I want to be a salesman. I am considered one of the most educated people in the village. I have also carefully observed how the salesmen of the supply and marketing cooperative sell things. I think I can do it too."
Song Ziqing praised, "Youying, you're not bad. You should observe the work and living conditions of the people around you more often. However, the salespersons at the supply and marketing cooperative are from state-owned enterprises with secure jobs. Their work attitude is not suitable for our village's small collective workshop. They need to be more enthusiastic."
Song Youying was a smart girl. After hearing Song Ziqing's explanation, she realized that their village was just a small workshop that had to beg people to buy their products, so they had to be more enthusiastic.
Song Ziqing continued, "Hainan is a coastal province, so there's not a shortage of seafood here. It would be great if we could get to know people in inland cities so we could trade seafood for their goods directly."
However, transportation is inconvenient now, and Hainan is an island, so just getting off the island requires a boat. Our village's best option is to contact the supply and marketing cooperative or the major factories in the city.
"Hainan is good, so it's good to do business in Hainan. If we go to other cities, we won't know anyone, and everyone will be worried! Our village is in good condition now. We can set up a small workshop in the future and be self-sufficient."
After listening to Song Ziqing's words, Song Zinan understood that their country was still short of food, but due to inconvenient transportation, it was most suitable for Shengang Village to trade within Hainan Province for its future small workshops.
Song Zinan is a conservative person. He wouldn't dare to leave the province. The young people in the village haven't seen much of the world either. Sending them to other cities would be almost like taking their lives.
Song Youjun continued, "We're only familiar with Wenchang and Haikou in Hainan Province. We haven't been to any other cities, let alone other provinces and cities. Hainan is the best place. We're considered the nation's granary, with three rice harvests a year, so everyone is generally not short of food."
However, this only ensures a food supply under favorable weather conditions. If there are torrential rains or typhoons, our harvest could be completely wiped out. This is the last thing we rural people want to see; relying on the weather for our livelihood is inherently unstable.
Therefore, Song Ziqing suggested using dried seaweed and seafood to trade for goods, which he strongly agreed with, since there was no shortage of seafood in the seaside.
He believed that no one in the village would refuse to exchange the seafood that everyone had plenty of for some daily necessities that everyone needed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
