After working with Wang Zhong for so many years, Ma Renli also knew that although Wang Zhong was strict, he not only did not discriminate against him, but also gave him enough respect. He would take the initiative to discuss many things with him. Although he usually didn't have a good face, Ma Renli felt that Understand that Wang Zhong has never been prejudiced against him like other people in the village because of his origin and status.
Under the dim candlelight, amidst the faint smell of kerosene, Ma Renli picked up the wine bottle and prepared to add another bowl. However, remembering what Wang Zhong said just now, the hand holding the wine bottle froze in mid-air. After a while, Then he capped the wine bottle again, put the wine in the cupboard, and almost packed away the bowls.
After turning off the lights and lying on the warm kang, Ma Renli tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep. His mind was in a mess, with Qiao Yue at one moment, Niu Budao at another, and Wang Zhong at another.
At the same time, on the other side, Lao Yang's family was performing a tragic drama.
"Dad! Why didn't you tell me after all these years!" Yang Deng'er knelt at his father's knees with tears streaming down his face and a look of grief on his face.
Yang Deng'er came home smelling of alcohol, crying and asking whether Old Donkey Tou had been whipped by Niu San to become a eunuch.
Old Donutou was confused by Yang Deng'er's direct question. Even Yang's mother was shocked. Old Donkeyou's face was flushed with embarrassment at first, and blood rushed to his brain. Then his face turned from red to blue, and he clenched his teeth. The veins popped out, so he turned over and lay down on the kang, turning his back. No matter how Yang Deng'er asked, he didn't say a word.
In front of his own daughter, it is such a humiliation to admit that he is no longer a man. How can the old donkey head do this as he is a face-saving person.
Yang Deng'er was not stupid. Seeing his father's reaction, he couldn't figure it out. Tears immediately flowed out of his eyes like spring water.
Thinking of all these years, Fei Shang was rushing to marry Niu DaDou and be the daughter-in-law of the person who made his father a eunuch. Time and time again, he poured salt on his father's wounds and stabbed his heart.
Speaking of the past, Yang's mother was also full of grievances and depression. She was not able to give birth to a son for the old Yang family to carry on the family line. It was her lifelong regret. She obviously had a husband, but she had been a widow for most of her life. The pain in her heart was also Who knows?
The only daughter who was born fell in love with Niu Sanbian's son Niu Budao, and even if he refused to marry her, Yang's mother could only swallow the broken teeth in her stomach, holding all her frustration and anguish in her heart.
Looking at his father who turned away without saying a word, looking at his mother who kept wiping her tears, thinking of Wang Zhong's words that struck a chord in his heart, and thinking of his willfulness over the years, Yang Deng'er felt filled with shame and regret. .
"Deng'er, don't blame your father. Your father is feeling miserable!" Yang's mother held her daughter's hand and expressed her feelings while shedding tears.
"Mom! Ooooh!"
"I, the daughter, am sorry for you..." Yang Deng'er burst into tears.
The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried together. The old donkey head lay with his back to the two of them with a pale face. The grief in his heart was once again aroused, and the corners of his eyes were not wet.
No one knew what happened to the old Yang family that night. After that night, Yang Deng'er seemed to be a different person. There seemed to be something going on in her heart, and there seemed to be a lingering sadness between her brows.
Besides, this Qiao Yue is married to Niu Budao, the president of the first society. As the saying goes, if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, if you marry a dog, follow the dog. Naturally, she is no longer from the second society.
Wang Zhong didn't care, he just hoped that during the six months in the second group, he could really change Qiao Yue!
Wang Wanchun was transferred to Maixiangling District as the deputy district chief, and officially took office, responsible for production work. Wang Zhong also officially took over as the village party secretary of Maixiang Village, and Ma Renlian took over as the village chief.
Although he became the village party secretary, Wang Zhong was still the same as before. When the farming was slack, he would go hunting in the mountains with his bow and arrows. When the farming was busy, he would lead the members to work in the fields. The trivial matters in the village and the docking with the district were all Ma Renlian's fault. In charge.
As time passed and the weather became colder and colder, the two brothers Wang Ziping and Wang Zian also looked the same day by day. They gradually grew longer and cuter.
Sister-in-law Jin Hua and Han Chunmei ran to Wang Zhong's house to look for Jiang Hong Guolagua and tease the two brothers Ziping and Zi'an.
I don’t know whether it’s Jiang Hongguo’s abundant milk supply or Wang Zhong’s good genes. Although the brothers were not as big as a single child when they were born, their growth rate was no slower than that of a single child. They raised their heads in two months and turned over in three months. Five The moon can sit.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, two brothers who were seven months old were placed on the kang. Wang Zhong and Jiang Hongguo were sitting at the kang table making dumplings, but they didn't want to wrap them. The second brother Zian sat up on his own, and then used his hands and feet. He crawled towards the couple.
Seeing this, the eldest son Ping Ping seemed not to lag behind his younger brother and climbed up too. Jiang Hongguo was extremely happy. If his hands were not covered with flour, he would have hugged his two sons and kissed them properly.
The brothers crawled for a while and then lay down again.
Wang Zhong smiled and said to Jiang Hongguo: "In the future, don't just feed them milk, make some porridge, water and vegetable juice to feed them."
"Is it too early?" Jiang Hongguo hesitated.
"It's already seven months old. It's getting late. Usually, a child of six months old can start feeding thin food. Just make it softer and thicker."
Jiang Hongguo never questioned her husband. She nodded and said, "Then I will try to cook some porridge for them at noon."
The couple made hundreds of dumplings and put them all in a dustpan with gauze underneath. There was no refrigerator at the moment, and there was no need for a refrigerator. They simply left them in the yard to let the cold wind blow overnight, and the dumplings were frozen.
As time passed, the two children climbed more and more efficiently. Wang Zhong added a movable fence on the edge of the kang. If Jiang Hongguo was busy, he would put up the fence and let the two brothers climb on the kang.
As winter turned to spring, the two brothers grew up day by day. When Zi'an was ten months old, he was already staggering to stand up holding things on his own, and the crops in the field were growing very gratifyingly.
It's the summer harvest season again, and Maixiang Village once again ushered in a bumper harvest. Thanks to concerted efforts in planting and fertilizing, as well as abundant water resources, the village's yield per mu has basically exceeded 200 kilograms.
Taking advantage of this good harvest, Wang Zhong, the village party secretary, after discussing with Ma Renlian, called all the villagers to the village committee. Wang Zhong and Ma Renlian sat at one end of the long table, like the second grandfather and other elderly people. The presidents of several junior societies gathered around the square table, and other villagers sat or stood around them.
Ma Renli took a pen and paper and prepared to record.
"I called everyone here today. There are a few things I want to discuss with you." Wang Zhong, as the village party secretary, took the lead in speaking.
"It has been six years since we distributed farmland to each household in 1948. The land reform work in our village has basically been completed. God has rewarded us these days. Our seven cooperatives in Maixiang Village are basically doing it every year. The harvest is good, the output is gradually increasing, and everyone’s life is getting more and more prosperous.”
"This is all your fault, Brother Big Chong!"
"That's right! Thanks to Brother Big Chong for taking us to build water trucks, dig canals, and teach us scientific farming methods, otherwise we wouldn't be able to harvest so much food!"
"right!"
The villagers are in high spirits.
"Brother Big Chong, if you have anything to do, just say it, we will all listen to you!"
"Yes, we all listen to Brother Chong!"
A smile appeared on Wang Zhong's face and he said: "Since everyone is willing to believe me, then I won't beat around the bush and tell everyone directly."
Wang Zhong straightened his voice and said loudly: "I'm calling the big guys here today. There are two main things. Let's talk about the first one first."
"In recent years, the planting of peanuts and soybeans in our village has gradually become large-scale, and the combination of intercropping and crop rotation has also increased the yield a lot. I won't go into detail here, but in our Maixiangling area, now basically Every village in the world cultivates land according to our methods, and the output is quite large every year."
"Although everyone can basically eat enough now, most of them eat whole grains, stick noodles, steamed buns, yellow steamed buns, dumplings during the Chinese New Year, and white-flour steamed buns only during festivals. Don't you want to eat white-flour steamed buns? A meal of meat and egg dumplings every three days?"
"Of course I do!"
“Who doesn’t want to eat meat and egg dumplings!”
"I also want to eat seventy or eighty meat and egg dumplings in one meal!"
"You're not full, but you still have seventy or eighty meat and egg dumplings. When have you ever had enough?"
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After everyone said something to each other, Wang Zhong raised his hand and everyone stopped talking. Wang Zhong continued: "We are not short of water now, and the planting methods are more advanced and scientific than before, but the increase in yield is limited. Everyone is Farmers, is there any way to increase production?"
"Brother Big Chong, there's nothing you can do, what can we do?"
"that is."
Wang Zhongdao: "We all work equally hard and serve the crops just like we serve our own father and mother. In this case, if we want to increase the yield, we can only improve the water, fertilizer, plant density, planting methods, and seeds." Work hard in every aspect.”
"We are not short of water, and the planting methods and plant density have also been improved. If we want to increase the yield, the only way is to work on fertilizers and seeds."
"No matter how hard we work on fertilizer, we can't go to the county to dig out manure pits!" Zhao Youtian said.
Niu boldly said: "All the cesspits in the county are owned by their owners. Even if we want to pay, they won't pay for us!"
However, Niu Daandao felt a little guilty when he said this. In the winter of May 1st, when the mutual aid group had not yet been transformed into a cooperative, he led a group of members into the city to collect manure. He did not want to be hit by the real owner later. He was beaten severely and hung up.
"Then we can only work on the seeds!" Second Grandfather Niu Zhonggui said.
"But where can we get improved seeds?" The speaker was Niu Youshui, the president of Wushe.
Everyone shook their heads.
Wang Zhong looked at Ma Renli: "Ma Renli, you went to the Agricultural College in Beiping. Do you know how to cultivate improved seeds?"
"I don't know!" Ma Renli shook his head and said: "Cultivation of improved seeds is a high-tech technology. It cannot be done by reading a few books. It not only requires a wealth of knowledge to support it, but also requires several years or even ten years. It’s all about painstaking experiments and comparisons. Although I have been a librarian and have read a lot of books, I only have a partial understanding of this aspect."
Wang Zhong knocked on the table and said: "Ma Renli is a man who went to university. I believe what he says, but cultivating improved seeds requires technology and time. None of us know when we will be able to cultivate improved seeds that can really be promoted. , maybe three years, maybe five years, maybe ten years, I can’t tell.”
“It’s too difficult to increase production on the current basis!”
"But right now, I have an idea. We can't increase food production, so can we make the food from the fields more valuable?"
"Make food more valuable?" Everyone was puzzled.
Niu DaDang looked at Wang Zhong: "Big Chong, we can't do anything illegal."
"Brother Bold, what are you talking about?" Wang Zhong said: "What I mean is that we don't sell food directly."
"Not selling food directly?" Everyone was confused by Wang Zhong's words, mainly because they had not changed their fixed thinking.
But he was bold, his eyes lit up, he looked at Wang Zhong curiously, and asked expectantly: "What good idea do you have?"
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Let's not talk about anything else. Our fields produce so many soybeans and peanuts every year. Can we sell them at a higher price if we just sell them directly?"
Everyone shook their heads. They were all farmers, so they naturally knew the price of food every year.
"But if we can have an oil pressing workshop in Maixiang Village, we can use all the peanuts and soybeans collected in the fields to press oil, and then sell the extracted oil. Wouldn't it be more efficient than selling soybeans and peanuts directly? Is it a good deal?"
"A pound of oil costs 70 to 80 cents. If we can squeeze the oil, it will definitely be more cost-effective than selling peanuts and soybeans directly!" Niu boldly said.
Zhao Youtian retorted: "But the key is that we don't know how to extract oil!"
The villagers also started discussing it in a lively manner.
"Brother Big Chong said so, there must be a way." The three monkeys blurted out without thinking, trusting Wang Zhong immensely.
Everyone looked at Wang Zhong with expectation in their eyes.
Niu boldly said: "Big insect, do you know how to squeeze oil?"
"When I was young, I worked with my master in an oil pressing workshop in my hometown."
Wang Zhongdao: "Actually, there are already oil-extracting machines abroad. Electric machines are used to press oil, and the oil yield rate is higher. But we are still far from having electricity here, and even if there is electricity, we can't afford that expensive one." machine.
The method passed down by our ancestors to extract oil is a bit primitive and the oil yield rate cannot keep up with the oil press, but it is not difficult to implement. "
"Are you really good at pressing oil?" Niu stood up boldly and excitedly, his eyes as wide as bells, with a look of shock on his face.
"Brother Wang Zhong, are you kidding me?" Niu Dadan even changed his name to Wang Zhong.
"When have I, Wang Zhong, ever joked with everyone about this kind of thing?" Wang Zhong looked at everyone and said loudly.
Lao Ganbang said: "Big Chong can even make difficult things like waterwheels and threshing machines. What's so strange about making oil-extracting equipment?"
After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Wang Zhongdao: "My idea is that this oil-pressing workshop should be opened in the name of our village collective. After it is completed, each of our communities will have a young and strong person to enter the oil-pressing workshop. After the wheat harvest and double robbery, When the farmers are busy, I will teach them how to press oil. Of course, we can’t work in vain. We will discuss the specific remuneration after the oil pressing workshop is actually built.
And in addition to extracting oil for ourselves, we can also extract oil for the folks from all over the country. We all grow soybeans and peanuts. Can they be used to extract oil? Of course, our oil-extracting workshop also needs to be in operation. Yes, we will charge some fees and labor costs for the use and maintenance of the equipment. You can give money, which can be converted into grain, or directly converted into oil.
The income from the workshop belongs to the collective, and part of it can be used to pay wages to the folks who press the oil. If the profits are high and the surplus is relatively large, the money can be used to provide benefits to everyone at the end of the year. "
"If we can squeeze the oil ourselves, it's not much more cost-effective than going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy oil."
"Brother Big Chong, I support you!" Three Monkeys immediately expressed their stance.
"Yes! Brother Big Chong, we also support you!" The first ones to express their stance were some young people in the village.
"Big Chong, are you really sure?" Second Grandpa looked at Wang Zhong and asked again.
Wang Zhong took out a few drawings and handed them to Second Grandpa: "This is the design drawing of the oil press. Second Grandpa, please take a look at it first. I will explain the principles of the oil press to everyone later."
"Just tell me!" Second Grandpa did not take the drawings, but asked Wang Zhong to explain them to everyone.
"Okay!" Wang Zhong said: "Then let me tell you guys first. To extract oil, you have to fry soybeans or peanuts first, dry them, and then crush them..."
Wang Zhong kept explaining the principles and steps of oil extraction to everyone step by step.
Although the villagers didn't understand the principle, they could all understand Wang Zhong's detailed explanation. After the explanation, everyone was already full of confidence in Wang Zhong.
Wang Zhong took advantage of the situation and asked everyone to vote by show of hands. As expected, it was unanimously passed.
"That being the case, after this summer planting is over, President Niu, you and Renlian will be responsible for taking people into the mountains to cut trees. Ma Renli and I will survey the terrain, select a suitable location, and use our water conservancy project. .”
"No problem!" Niu boldly agreed.
"Dachong, didn't you just say there were two things? The first one was mentioned, but what is the second one?" The speaker was Zhao Youtian, the president of Sanshe.
Wang Zhongdao: "This second item is about the preparation for the construction of our collective grain depot in Maixiang Village."
"Planning to build a grain depot?" Niu DaDang asked doubtfully, "Isn't the original big warehouse of the Ma family ready-made? Why build a grain depot?"
Wang Zhong smiled and said: "As farmers, food and land are our lifeblood. Now that we have land, there is no shortage of food."
"But there is an old saying that goes well, you should be prepared for danger when you are in peace. Now our life is indeed much better than before, and everyone can often eat fine food. But what will happen next year or the year after that? Who are you? Can you know?"
"Let's not talk about the distant places, let's just talk about the year 1950. There were a few light snowfalls throughout the winter of that year. After the spring of the next year, the weather continued to be dry. If we hadn't set up a waterwheel long ago, Once the ditches are dug, will the wheat seedlings in the ground grow so well?"
"That means no!" Niu Dadan is an honest person.
"The weather has been good these past few years, with bumper harvests every year, and everyone's life has been better. But what will happen in the next few years? Who can say for sure?"
"What if there's a drought? What if there's a flood?"
Wang Zhong said with some regret: "Everyone knows that I am not a native of Maixiang Village, but I came here to escape from famine. My wife also fled from famine. If there is no reason, why should my wife and I flee from famine?"
"There must be a disaster at home and I can't survive!" The person who spoke said that he didn't have enough to eat.
Wang Zhongdao: "You're right about not having enough to eat! It's because there was a disaster in my wife's hometown and we couldn't survive at home. All the bark, grass roots, and leaves were dug up, and there was no food left. If we stay at home, we will starve to death. We are so impatient that we can only go out and beg for food, just to find a way to survive."
"The face of God is not up to us at all. It means that it will change. If there is a big flood or a continuous drought, the food production in the fields will be reduced, or even the harvest will be extinct, and the food stored at home will be eaten up. , what should we do, big guys? Should we also go out to escape and beg for food? "
Wang Zhong's words directly silenced everyone.
"Brother Big Chong, just tell us what to do. We all will listen to you!" The Three Monkeys were the first group of people to follow Wang Zhong and taste the benefits.
Nowadays, in the entire Maixiang Village, only a few members of the Second Society are living the most prosperous lives. Even Niu Bingdao, who has always been known for his ability and has high prestige in the village, cannot keep up with them.
Let’s not talk about men like Wang Zhong and Lao Ganbang, let’s talk about Jinhua Sister-in-law. Jinhua Sister-in-law is a widow. Although she has joined a cooperative, she is still just a widow. She has no parents-in-law to advise her, and no uncles from her sisters-in-law to help her, but she still makes the most of her life. Life was extremely prosperous. There were so many men in their prime in the village, but none of them had a better life than Mrs. Jinhua.
"Three Monkeys are right, Brother Big Chong, you are the party secretary of the village, and we all listen to you."
"I have discussed with Renlian whether we can use the name of our village collective to build a grain depot to store public grains. Starting from the next summer harvest, every autumn harvest, the presidents of each community will come forward and we will Each household pays 5% of the rice, soybeans and peanuts produced. The corn is stored and used as a reserve grain. We use the peanuts and soybeans to extract oil, exchange the oil for rice and store it in our public treasury."
"These grains still belong to everyone. Every three years, we replace the expired grains with new grains, and then return the replaced old grains to everyone."
"Then why are we going to all this trouble? Why don't we just let each family save their own food?" The voice that suddenly appeared was in a low voice.
"It's all saved anyway, isn't it the same if we save it ourselves!" Hateful agreed.
"Yes!" Everyone was confused.
Ma Renli shook his head and said, "This is different."
"What's the difference?" Xiao Zhan turned out to be a sharp-tongued person.
"The doorways here are very different." Wang Zhongdao: "The public grain we pay every year and the low-priced grain we sell, part of it goes to the army, part of it flows to the market, and part of it goes to the national grain depot. We Even the little devils have been beaten away, and the people's lives are getting better day by day, but why does the country still build so many grain stocks?"
"Of course it is to prevent famine!" Niu boldly said.
"Yes, even the country has to build grain depots to prepare for famines. We are responding to the national policy."
"If we really encounter a disaster, we can have a way out!"
"Isn't there still a government?" Xiao Zhuan's voice came again, but the words were whispered and not spoken out loud.
"Let me say something!" Second Grandpa Niu Zhonggui put his hands on the table, glanced at everyone, and said angrily: "I am an old man who has lived for more than sixty years. Although I have not seen much of the world, I Age is here. Although our Maixiang Village is close to the Maixiang River, it has not been without disasters.
I remember when I was young, there was a severe drought one year. Even the Maixiang River dried up and the crops in the fields were sunburned to death. Some families with better conditions could barely survive, but those with worse conditions could not survive. The only option is to sell the land. "
Wang Jian nodded and added: "Let's do this. Let's vote with a show of hands. If you agree to build a grain depot, please raise your hands."
Wang Zhong was the first to raise his hand, and several members of the second society responded one after another. Niu Dangdang and Ma Renlian followed closely. The second grandfather raised his right hand in no hurry. The villagers also raised their hands one after another, more than four people. Three-thirds of the villagers agreed without much hesitation, and the remaining ones, seeing everyone raising their hands, also raised their hands in agreement after hesitating for a while.
"In this case, this matter is settled!"
"Let's just deal with this. It's called the development plan of Maixiang Village in the next three years! As for the specific plans and regulations, Renlian will write a notice and post it later. President Ji will have to work harder by then. After the seed rush is over, we This is the beginning of the implementation of our Maixiang Village development plan for the next three years."
"no problem!"
“Maixiang Village’s development plan for the next three years will start as soon as I hear it.”
The villagers had strange expressions on their faces, and they were all looking forward to it.
"By the way, I am announcing an appointment through this meeting." Wang Zhong looked at Ma Renli standing in the crowd and shouted: "Ma Renli."
"Here!" Ma Renli raised his hands and walked forward with a smile on his face.
"When we build oil mills and grain depots, we need statistical data and calculations."
"Comrade Ma Renli is the only person in our Maixiang Village who has gone to college. He is still a teacher at the village school. I have discussed it with Renlian. In view of his good performance over the years, let him do the accounting work concurrently. Everyone Let's supervise together, and if he doesn't do well, we'll replace him."
"Ma Renli, how are you? Are you confident?"
Ma Renli smiled and said: "Since you guys are willing to believe me, then I'll do it."
"What does it mean to do it? If you want to do it, do it well!"
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