Wang Zhong trotted all the way back home. The bamboo hat and raincoat he was wearing were of little use. He was already soaked when he climbed on the roof of his second grandfather's house.
As soon as he entered the door, Wang Zhong untied his bamboo hat and coir raincoat and said, "The rain is coming down like a pour. I can't stop it for a while. Wait a moment..." Halfway through his words, Wang Zhong noticed that there was someone else beside the stove.
"Han Meili? President Han?" Wang Zhong was surprised when he saw Han Meili.
"Secretary Wang!" Han Meili was sitting next to the stove, her hair was wet and simply tied into a ponytail, and her clothes were all from Jiang Hongguo.
"Why are you here?" Wang Zhong took the towel handed over by Jiang Hongguo and wiped his face and head. Han Meili said: "I came to your village specially to study!" Jiang Hongguo said: "Look at you, you are all wet. If you have something to do, you two will talk about it later. Go wash up and change clothes first. Don't Caught a cold."
"Yes, yes, the weather is getting cold now, but don't catch a cold." Han Meili also said quickly. As we enter late autumn, it's okay if it doesn't rain. Once it rains, the weather starts to get cooler, especially if it rains again, it's easy to catch a cold.
"Okay! I'm going to wash up first!" Wang Zhong gave an awkward smile and said to Jiang Hongguo: "Make some ginger tea soup!"
"Stay with it!" As she spoke, Jiang Hongguo had already rummaged through a set of clothes from the back room and brought them to Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong hurriedly got into the bathroom with the clothes.
After a conversation at the dinner table, Wang Zhong learned that Han Meili came here specifically to learn from the experience because Maixiang Village was the only village in Maixiangling District that did not harvest early this year, and it was also the only village in the county that had a bumper harvest.
"There's nothing to learn from this. It's just luck. We just gritted our teeth and took a gamble. It's just good luck that we made the right bet." Wang Zhong explained.
"Gamble?" Han Meili was very surprised. Wang Zhongdao: "The meteorological station said there will be rain in some areas, but it did not say everything. In addition, in recent decades, the microclimate in our Maixiangling area is different from that of the whole province. I made this decision after discussing with several presidents of the village. The decision not to harvest early.”
"We thought, we are going to lose money anyway, it's just a question of how much, but the wheat in the field is growing so well, and we are looking at another good harvest year. If we just harvest like this, everyone will not be able to do it." We are willing to think about it, discussed it for several days, and finally decided to give it a try." Han Meili said sincerely: "There will be losses in harvesting early, but if you don't harvest in advance, if it is really flooded by heavy rain, the losses will be even greater. The fact that you can make such a decision and have such courage is not something that ordinary people can have." Wang Zhong asked: "By the way, how much has your village reduced production this year compared with last year?"
"About 30%!" Han Meili said with a look of regret and remorse: "When we harvested, it was when the wheat grains were ripe. Most of the wheat was not yet ripe, and many of them were just shriveled and empty shells. If When it comes time, the 30% is even less. Wang Zhongdao: "It's just an occasional reduction in production, it's no big deal. Summarizing experience, learning lessons, taking a long-term view, wholeheartedly, and working together to improve production is better than anything else." Han Meili nodded with deep approval and said: "As expected of Party Secretary Wang, he is awesome." "
"It's time to eat." Jiang Hongguo brought the cooked vegetable dumplings to the table and called to Han Meili: "President Han, you must be hungry after it's so late. Let's eat first."
"President Han, let's fill our stomachs first." Wang Zhong also said with a smile: "Let's chat slowly after we're full." After dinner, it was still raining outside and it was getting dark, so we couldn't lead Han When Meili went to visit the village, the two of them sat on the kang and discussed. For every question Han Meili asked, Wang Zhong could always give a lot of straightforward answers and give vivid examples. They talked for more than an hour. , Wang Zhong even drank a tank of water, and Jiang Hongguo helped Wang Zhong refill another tank. Only then did Han Meili realize the passage of time and hurriedly ended the conversation.
While the two were discussing, Jiang Hongguo had already packed up the wing and immediately led Han Chunmei to the wing.
At present, the only room in the house that can be occupied by people is the east wing. Fortunately, there are no books in the east wing. The books that Wang Zhong bought before, such as geographical miscellaneous journals, zhiguai, etc., were all put into the box by Wang Zhong. It is not placed openly on the bookshelf.
Otherwise, Wang Zhong would really not dare to let Han Meili live in the east wing.
"Sister-in-law, the decoration of this wing of your house is really exquisite!" Han Meili curiously looked at the exquisitely decorated east wing, her eyes filled with sparkle.
"There are also desks and bookshelves!"
"My boss usually doesn't have any hobbies. I just like to write a few words and read books. Every New Year's couplets in the village are written by my boss." Jiang Hongguo didn't think too much about it.
"Are these things hanging on the wall written by Wang Zhi?" Han Meili curiously walked to the front of a set of words and read them from beginning to end.
"Yes, it's all written blindly by my boss." Jiang Hongguo said with a smile. Han Meili's voice then sounded: "Qinyuan Chunxue!"
"The scenery of the North, thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting, looking inside and outside the Great Wall, only..." But I stopped as I read it.
"The poem you recited is one of my favorite poems. It talks about having the world in mind, being majestic, swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger, etc. I am a farmer, so I don't understand it very well, and I don't remember it very clearly." Jiang Hongguo was a little confused. Said awkwardly.
"The writing is really good, the words are good, the words are nice, the words are good, and the words are beautiful." Han Chunmei also praised with a smile. Jiang Hongguo said: "President Han, the bedding is here. If you are still missing anything, just say hello to me and don't see me outside. It's getting late, so I won't disturb your rest!"
"Sister-in-law, I'm really sorry to trouble you!" Han Meili said politely.
"The visitor is a guest, so if you say this, you are out of sight!" After a few words of greeting, Jiang Hongguo returned to the main room. Han Meili held an oil lamp and looked at the poems and couplets hanging on the wall. Although Han Meili couldn't recognize more than half of the words, this did not prevent her from appreciating Wang Zhong's calligraphy that was both physical and spiritual.
In the main room, Wang Zhong was telling a bedtime story to Ziping and Zian. The two little guys were lying side by side, listening intently. Jiang Hongguo smiled slightly and got into the bathroom.
At night, the two little guys were sleeping soundly. Jiang Hongguo's body was limp and she was lying on Wang Zhong's chest, breathing heavily. She was very tired.
"Keep your voice down, don't wake up Zi Ping and Zian." Wang Zhong's voice rang in his ears. Jiang Hongguo raised his head and rolled his eyes angrily, and whispered: "You still have the nerve to say it." Wang Zhong chuckled and said: "I'm thick-skinned, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about." Jiang Hongguo was immediately choked by this sentence. I was speechless and didn't know how to reply.
"By the way, there are a lot of things going on in the oil pressing workshop recently, and it will be autumn harvest and autumn sowing soon. I will have to work hard on you at home." Wang Zhong said with some emotion.
"Why are you so hard? There are just a few things at home. Don't worry, I can take care of them." Jiang Hongguo lay in Wang Zhong's arms and said with concern: "But you, you are as busy as a spinning top every day, and you never have time to rest. You have to take care of yourself."
"It's okay. I'm in good health and energetic. Besides, I'm a doctor myself. I know what's going on. You don't have to worry."
"No matter how good your health is, you can't withstand such constant torment." Wang Chong smiled and did not answer. After being silent for a while, he said again: "I may not bother to go hunting in the mountains recently. After the autumn sowing is over, , I’m not so busy anymore, I’ll go into the mountains to hunt some game and come back to replenish the health of you and your sons.”
"Yeah!" The couple said, their voices getting lower and lower. The next day, Wang Zhong handed Han Meili to Ma Renlian to entertain him, then he went to the oil pressing workshop and watched the villagers working.
The autumn harvest will soon arrive.
"President Niu, where is the president's wife?" The villagers gathered in the field, holding various tools in their hands. Xiao Zhuan was a person who just watched the excitement and did not take it too seriously. When he saw Niu Da DaDa coming over alone, Qiao Yue was nowhere to be seen. He immediately asked six questions.
"Madam president, don't talk nonsense!" Niu boldly scolded.
"Ouch, President Niu, you are so humble with us..."
"Xiao Zhuan!" As soon as Xiao Zhuan's sarcastic words came out, he was interrupted by Ma Renlian: "Bold wife is not feeling well and has already asked for leave from me. Don't be so sarcastic here. If you have this skill, you might as well break up with me more." A few bags of rice.”
"Village Chief, I was just joking with Brother Daring." Xiao Zhuan explained. Niu DaDang also helped explain, and Ma Renlian had no intention of pursuing it.
"Okay, everyone is here, don't delay, let's start quickly and finish the work early." Ma Renlian said.
"Okay!" Niu DaDang looked at everyone, his old face a little confused, but he still gave the order loudly: "Everyone is in your position, start working." Niu DaDang gave the order, and all the members of the East Club of the village started to move.
Although Ma Renlian is the village chief, he must obey Niu Budao's management in terms of production, without exception.
The work point system in Maixiang Village is a bit complicated. In addition to attendance, it also depends on work efficiency. When farming, there is a scoring method for farming. There is also a scoring method for harvesting. When working in the oil pressing workshop, There is also a set of scoring rules that vary according to the division of labor.
The two large cooperatives in the east and west of the village are divided into eight groups. The group leaders change every quarter. While working, they are responsible for counting the attendance rate and work efficiency of the group members. Finally, they are summarized to the two club leaders, and then the two club leaders The chief reported to the village chief Ma Renlian.
Ma Renlian calculated the work points, and then Ma Renli, the vice president of the village west club who also served as the village accountant, distributed the grain harvested in the village one by one based on the calculated work points and the annual output, and then uniformly distributed it to the villagers.
Nowadays, except for the private land of each family, all the land in the village is collectively owned, and all the farm tools and livestock in the village have been transferred to the cooperative at a discount and belong to the collective.
The work point system in Maixiang Village is based on the principle of fairness and justice, based on distribution according to work, and the purpose of the strong taking care of the weak. It also fully takes into account the old, weak, sick and disabled in the village, such as the elderly over sixty and children under ten years old. , disabled, paralyzed, and those who are too sick to get out of bed, even if they do not participate in labor every day, they will still receive a basic work point subsidy.
In the evening, when he was going home, Ma Renlian caught up with Niu DaDang who was walking in front. After exchanging a few words, he got straight to the point: "Dang DaDang, it is the busy time for farming. Since your Qiao Yue has taken leave, her work points will be lost. !" Niu Bold said: "I know! Thank you, Caibaozi." Ma Renlian advised: "Bold, it's not that I'm too talkative. It's okay when I'm not busy, but now it's the busy time of farming. Even the elderly and children in the village They are all working together. My second grandfather is already in his sixties and he goes to the fields with us every day. He has never asked for leave. Your wife is so young. It is a bit shameful to find excuses to avoid being lazy every day." Niu Dangdang Her face was not very pretty, and she reluctantly explained: "She is really not feeling well today." Ma Renlian sighed, and continued to speak seriously: "It's okay to talk about these things to others, what's going on with your Qiao Yue? , we all know it by heart. You heard what Xiao Zhuan said just now. You have high prestige in the village. Although other people in the village didn't say anything in front of you, they talked about it in private. However, everyone gave you face. I didn’t say much, but you are the president of the Village East Club, and you and your family members must serve as role models.”
"I won't talk about those who are far away. Let's talk about Brother Da Chong. He is the party secretary of our village. His family members Ping Ping and Zian are at the age when they are noisy, but they both still go to the fields." Niu Bingdao's face turned dark. It was as if he had just crawled out from under the stove, and he was too embarrassed to reply to Ma Renlian's words.
"Even if we don't care about these, the number of our work points is closely related to the amount of food we are allocated. You are really good at work, but can you support two people by yourself? The work points you earn in one day can support two or three people in other people's families. People and horses? There is only so much food recovered in the field. If others get more, you will get less. You can't calculate such a simple account, right?"
"..." In the evening, smoke rose from the chimneys of every house in the village, but Niu Dadan's house started to crackle again. The noise was so loud that even Wang Zhong's family in the inner courtyard could hear it.
"Dad, Uncle Bold and Aunt Qiao are quarreling again!" A family of four was eating around the Eight Immortals table. Ziping, who was standing on the small table, heard the quarrel and turned to look in the direction of Uncle Bold, and then pointed at that Said the side.
"Eat your food quickly!" Jiang Hongguo hurriedly pulled her son's hand back. Zian also wanted to say something, but when he caught Wang Zhong's glance, he immediately started eating again.
The quarrel lasted for a while, and they stopped after the family finished eating.
"What's going on again?" Jiang Hongguo asked with a frown while clearing the table. Wang Zhong said: "What else could it be because of? It must be because of Qiao Yue's request for leave today. When I came back just now, Ren Lian told me that he had discussed this matter with Zhao Bingdao today." Jiang Hongguo reacted immediately and looked at Looking at the direction of the Niu family's yard, he sighed with emotion: "It's not a big deal for these two people to live their lives and quarrel every day!" Wang Zhong thought for a while and said: "Look at the two of them, I'll go to Renlian to discuss it, we can't let it go. Niu DaDa and his wife are so noisy every day." Jiang Hongguo said with a serious face: "Go quickly!" Wang Zhong walked to the front yard, where Ma Renlian was also standing in the yard, with his hands behind his back, tiptoeing and looking at Niu DaDa Home direction.
"Big insect!" Seeing Wang Zhong coming out, he quickly greeted him.
"Have you eaten?" Wang Zhong asked.
"just eaten!"
"Let's go for a walk!" Ma Renlian heard the hidden meaning of Wang Zhong's words and nodded: "Okay!" The two walked around outside, and after discussing it, they went directly to Niu DaDa's house.
A kerosene lamp was lit in the main room. Niu DaDa was sitting on the steps at the door of the main house, holding a cigarette rod in his hand and puffing away at it, his brows furrowed and his face not very pretty.
"Bold, why are you sitting here?"
"Da Chong, Ren Lian?" Niu DaDang stood up immediately: "I'm going to have a rest, why are you two here?"
"Where is Qiao Yue?" Wang Zhong asked as the two looked at each other without answering.
"Inside the house!"
"Shall we go inside and chat for a while?"
"Please, please, please!" Niu Dadan hurriedly welcomed the two of them into the room. Qiao Yue, who heard the voice, had already stood up and stood by the kang, a little embarrassed, but managed to squeeze out a smile on her face.
"Secretary Wang, Village Chief Ma, you are here!"
"Sit down, sit down!" Looking at Qiao Yue's warm look, she didn't look like she was having a big argument with Niu DaDang just now.
The four of them sat on the kang, Niu DaDang and Qiao Yue sat inside, and Wang Zhong and Ma Renlian leaned outside.
"Brother Bold, sister-in-law, let's stop playing tricks. Renlian and I are here just for the sake of you two." Wang Zhong said.
Ma Renlian said: "Brother Bold, sister-in-law, these two are living together. Although it is said that they are fighting at the head of the bed and at the end of the bed, we have never seen such an open quarrel with you two. How can you survive this day?" Niu Bold He and Qiao Yue looked at each other and immediately turned their heads in unison.
Wang Zhongdao: "Comrade Qiao Yue, although Brother Bold is very capable and can support the two of you with the work points he earns, he can only barely support you. You all know how much wealth your family has. We can't just look at the present, but also Looking at the future, when you have children, how will you make a living with only Brother DaDa?" Niu DaDa kept his head down and said nothing, but the slight change in his expression showed that he had obviously listened. Qiao Yue forced a smile and explained. : "We don't have a child yet!" Wang Zhong glanced at Qiao Yue and said, "If we don't have one now, it doesn't mean we won't have one in the future. These two couples can't always live together, nor can they always be alone. Accommodating the other person, what a couple pays attention to is that you accommodate me, and I accommodate you, you give in a little today, and I take a step back tomorrow, so that life can go on."
"Aren't we living a good life? It's just our tempers..." Qiao Yue wanted to explain, but was interrupted sharply by Wang Zhong.
"Qiao Yue!" After a scolding, Wang Zhong said sternly with a straight face: "I am saving face for you now. Taking care of Brother Bold's face, I didn't point it out and told you properly, don't step on me. Nose and face, everyone has seen your performance during this period, and we all know it in our hearts. Your words are just Hu Nong Hu Nong Wanchun District Chief, do you still want to make fun of us? "
"It was you who cried and insisted on staying in the village, so the head of Wanchun District approved the land and allocated a house to you. Since you took the initiative to apply to stay, you should correct your position. You are now a farmer. , she is no longer some rich young lady who has no fingers in the spring water."
"Out of the ten days you work in the fields, you take leave for seven or eight days. You don't even cook at home, and you don't feed the pigs. You wait for Brother Da Dao to come back before you can do anything. Da Dao works hard outside all day long. I have to work hard, and I have to serve you when I come back. We live so close together, do you think we are all blind? We ordinary people finally turned over and became the masters of the house, but you are here and pretending to be outside. Xianhui, at home, you use other methods to oppress us, President Niu, are you planning to go back to the past and follow the example of those landlords and rich people who exploited and oppressed us farmers?"
"I didn't! I didn't!" Qiao Yue immediately panicked: "Zhishu Wang, I really didn't."
"Don't you listen to what you say, but watch what you do?" Wang Zhong said coldly: "Since you married Brother Bold, your performance has been getting worse and worse in the past few years. Originally, Ren Lian even advised me , saying that you are confused for a while, let me give you some time to change slowly, but I see your sophistry, you don't seem to realize your mistake at all. "
"We work together to set up cooperatives to improve the labor force and promote production, but your performance is clearly just to hold us all back and the country back."
"Zhishu Wang, I don't. I really don't mean it. I'm not feeling well. I really am not feeling well!" Qiao Yue was completely panicked: "I didn't want to hold everyone back. I really was. Physical discomfort······"
"Okay!" Wang Zhong interrupted Qiao Yue's words: "Don't say these Hu Nongren's last words. You look so full and bold that you are not as good as you. You still have the nerve to tell me that you are not feeling well. If you don’t want to live with Da Dao anymore, that’s fine. I’ll report your matter to the district and the county, and ask District Chief Wang and Secretary Zhou to come and see what happened to the people they left behind. What kind of virtue is that? You see how Secretary Zhou and District Chief Wang will deal with you." Qiao Yue was frightened and was stunned for a while before she hurriedly got up, knelt on the kang, and grabbed Wang Zhong's arm. Shi Xiu: "Secretary Wang, I beg you, please don't report it. I promise to change it. I promise I won't be lazy in the future. Just give me another chance." As he spoke, tears started to flow on his face. Full of fear and panic.
Niu DaDang looked at Wang Zhong blankly and even forgot to smoke the cigarette in his mouth. He didn't expect that Wang Zhong's matter would become so serious when Wang Zhong said it.
"Niu DaDa!" Wang Zhong shook off Qiao Yue's hand with a face as cold as ice. He didn't care about Qiao Yue's cry and begged. Instead, he pointed at Niu DaDa and cursed: "And you, how do you care about you?" My wife, when she was in our second company, she performed very well, competing for all the work, but after marrying you, she asked for leave all the time, and tried her best to avoid being lazy and not working. "
"I..." Niu DaDang wanted to explain, but he had a long mouth and didn't know what to say.
"What are you, Comrade Niu Dangdang, is this how you become the president of the club? How can someone who can't even manage his own wife manage dozens of people in our village east club! I seriously doubt your ability now!"
"I..." Niu Dadar opened his mouth, but then lowered his head. There was really no way to explain, because every word Wang Zhong said was true.
Hard facts.
"Big bug, big bug!" Ma Renlian immediately sang and blushed: "It's not as serious as you said."
"There are so many things going on in the village recently, including the oil press workshop and the autumn harvest. There are a lot of things. Da Dao is the president of the village's east club. He is busy organizing members, counting work points, and busy with work in the fields. Son, it’s inevitable that you won’t be able to take care of it for a while!”
"Besides, how hard you work boldly? As the president, he has done a good job in the past few years. These are all obvious to all of us. We cannot deny his credit just because of his temporary negligence." Wang Zhong said with a straight face: "Gong is merit, fault is fault, he is the president of the society, doesn't the village give him more food?"
"The country has national laws, and every family has its own rules. When we were in the high-end society in the city, we all said it well. If you have merit, you will be rewarded, and if you make mistakes, you will be punished. How can merit and fault be confused."
"If you make a mistake, you must be punished. No one is exempt, including me as the branch secretary, and you as the village chief."
"Yes, you are right. Da Dao and Qiao Yue did make mistakes, but this is their first time. We don't need to go online like this. We have to report this matter to the district or county!" Ma Renlian persuaded with earnest words.
"We have to give them both a chance to correct themselves first!"
"Besides, the bold couple have just been interviewed by the county reporter and published in the newspaper. After all, this is not a glorious thing. If they are really exposed, not only will our Maixiang Village look bad, but also the district. The county is not comfortable either, so we will handle this matter internally."
"I did make a mistake, and I accept the punishment!" Niu Dadan said with a frown on his neck: "I was too spoiled to Qiao Yue and didn't properly advise her." Qiao Yue was now too frightened to speak, lowering her head His head looked pitiful with lowered eyebrows and tears in his eyes.
"You are indeed at fault!" Wang Zhong still said sternly with a cold face.
"Secretary of the Party Committee, you see that Da DaDa is the president of the East Club of our village. Now is the busy farming season. If we make a big show of it, it might hurt our morale." Wang Zhong hesitated for a moment, then frowned and glanced at Niu coldly. Da Dao and Qiao Yue still spoke coldly: "Then what good idea do you have?" Ma Renlian said: "Do you think we can do this? Da Dao is not a big mistake after all. Let's deduct ten days of work points from him and let him He has a good memory. As for Qiao Yue! Her recent performance has been really bad. She doesn’t get many work points every day at school. Let’s give her a demerit first and deduct one month’s work points so that she can have a good memory. ! But let’s not announce it yet. We’ll announce it after the busy farming season is over. What do you think?”
"What you said makes some sense." Wang Zhong nodded and finally relaxed. Then he looked at Niu Dangda and his wife sitting opposite and said, "Do you two have any opinions on the handling method Ren Lian said? "
"I have no objection!" Niu Dadan wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl in directly, so he wouldn't have any objections.
"I don't have any objection either!" Qiao Yue quickly expressed her stance.
"Punishment alone is not enough, you two have to show your attitude to me!" Wang Zhong said, looking at Qiao Yue: "Especially you, Qiao Yue, you have read the book, but you should understand that once you can't do it again, now This is the time when we are working together to produce, if you continue to be so passive and slow down work and hold back our Maixiang Village, next time it won’t be as simple as deducting one month’s work points.”
"Party Secretary Wang, Village Chief Ma, I promise, there will never be a next time. I will definitely change." Qiao Yue hurriedly promised again and again, for fear that Wang Zhong would regret it.
"Okay, the punishment will be the same as what Ren Lian said, but in order to stabilize the morale of the army, this matter will be announced after the autumn broadcast is over. You two will have a good memory!"
