Back to 1978

Chapter 209: Cursing in public

Zuo Jing, wearing a cotton hat with the brim lifted up and blowing on his hands, walked around the village chatting with Yin Qianfeng, Han Laogou, Yang Liming and others.

Xie Hushan was only fit to follow far behind, because Zuo Jing was annoying him, so Yin Qianfeng arranged for him to stay away from the leader. He wanted to say three sentences, and two of them were to ask the leader why he came down empty-handed...

Chen Damazi, like a bullied young wife, followed behind nervously from a distance, and from time to time whispered to Yang Shuangxi, the discipline committee member of the Zhongping Brigade Party Branch who was accompanying the reception:
"Shuangxi, you said I can't be retaliated against, right? After all, Hu Saner's aunt is still my eldest sister. Even if he doesn't call me uncle because of Daxi, he still has to call me uncle."

"I don't know. No one can guess what this kid can do. Why don't you ask Secretary Han to open a letter of introduction for you? You can hide in Yunnan and Guizhou for ten or eight years, right?" Yang Shuangxi joked from the side.

Zuo Jing looked up at the sun, then looked at the roadside and saw no one. He turned to look at Yin Qianfeng and Han Laogou:

"When I went into Zhongping Village to scout early in the morning, there were people chatting outside every household. But now that the sun is out, no one is basking in the sun. What's going on?"

"Understood, Xie Hushan, come here!" Yin Qianfeng turned his head and waved at Xie Hushan, who was smoking a cigarette and threatening Chen Damazi in the distance.

Xie Hushan bowed and trotted over like Captain Jia, "Secretary Yin."

"Tell Secretary Zuo why there is no one in every household. In the morning, everyone was standing at the doorstep chatting, but when the sun came out, they all hid away?" Yin Qianfeng asked.

Zuo Jing watched with a smile on his face from the side.

"I am in charge of the production of the brigade. How can I control when everyone can bask in the sun? They must have heard that the leaders are coming, and the villagers are shy and embarrassed to see people." Xie Hushan said with a smile, and then pointed to the distance:
"There are people there."

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw two big dogs, one black and one white, and five small black and white dogs in the distance, all wearing bridles and pulling a wooden cart forward.

Xie Qifeng's little baby cried anxiously and ran after the car. Daxiu sat on the wooden cart and directed the seven dogs to run wild on the road, not forgetting to teach the little baby a lesson:

"You can't play with this, the dog won't listen to you! Let me play with it first, and when you grow up to be as big as me and the dog listens to you, I'll let you play with it."

The second uncle was squatting at the door of his house, watching his niece snatch his son's toy without getting angry. He was laughing, but then he saw a group of leaders looking at him from a distance. He immediately stood up, picked up his son and quickly went into the house.

Only seven dogs were left pulling the big show along the way, disappearing into the winter.

"You are so afraid of everyone talking to me. You should trust the masses and have confidence in yourself." Zuo Jing asked Xie Hushan: "If you have no problem being the captain, why are you afraid of me chatting with everyone?"

Xie Hushan sighed, "I'm afraid they will send me to jail. Leader, you don't know the people of Zhongping. These old idiots are just like Chen Damazi. If they get excited, they dare to talk to people about anything."

"If the masses want to send you to jail, then the country also believes in the masses. There must be something wrong with you and you should go to jail." Zuo Jing smiled and looked at every household around him: "Besides, if I don't go to each household to lift the pot lids, touch the kangs, and look at the grain jars, then won't I let you open your mouth and cry poor to me?"

Han Laogou glanced at Xie Hushan, who immediately took a deep breath, stood in the middle of the village road, and shouted to the families:

"Fellow villagers, come out, the lady said that we won't steal food... Damn, why does this word sound so familiar? Sorry, leader, I've watched too many movies, so I just say it!"

He slapped himself in the face and said, "Come out, stop pretending. I've sold you the hemp seeds. The leaders are here to distribute food!"

"I didn't say anything about distributing food." Zuo Jing immediately said:

"I've lived in the countryside before, and I can't blackmail people like this. I'm saying that I might be able to help Zhongping solve some problems, but I'm definitely not here to give out money or food."

Following Xie Hushan's call, people from every household began to stick their heads out from behind their doors to look outside, but no one came out. Everyone looked at Zuo Jing and others with a curious look.

"How come...there are different steps to go out and bask in the sun?" Zuo Jing asked in confusion as he saw a head sticking out of the door of each house, but no one came out.

"Let me count to three, don't let me give you any black marks!" Xie Hushan shouted loudly.

Everyone remained unmoved, with only their heads sticking out.

Zuo Jing heard what Xie Hushan said, and imitated Xie Hushan's tone and smiled at everyone: "Every family who is willing to invite me to their home to talk will be given a red dot. I promise that if the team does not implement it, you can complain to me and I will deal with them."

As soon as he finished speaking, figures suddenly appeared at the doorsteps of more than a dozen nearby houses. They all stood at the door, looking at Zuo Jing with bright smiles, and vying with each other to invite him.

"Is it true, boss? Then come on, follow me home!"

"Leader, come to my house. I have a newly heated kang!"

"Leader, what position do you hold? If you really don't implement it, how can I complain to you?"

"Leader, I have a problem to report! Our team leader is too good at bragging. He brags without limit! Can I learn from you?"

Seeing that the crowd had finally extended an enthusiastic invitation to him, Zuo Jing smiled and turned around to wave at Yin Qianfeng and the others:

"Okay, you guys go to the steel mill or the commune to take a break. I'll go talk to everyone. Xiao Liao will stay and help me write down the questions."

With such a high-ranking leader coming to visit, how could Yin Qianfeng really take his people to the steel mill to rest? Zuo Jing took his secretary to chat and visit each family. They watched Daxiu training the dog to pull the cart outside for a long time. In the end, it was Han Laogou who gave his evaluation of Daxiu's behavior:

"Hu San'er, next time let your sister go to the field to discipline the dog. The dog Lala's urine is all over the road. Dahei from Chengsong's family can really urinate... With this energy, one dog can fertilize an acre of land."

Over there, Zuo Jing visited six or seven houses. After about an hour, he said goodbye to the crowd with a smile, walked out, and looked at Han Laogou and Xie Hushan with a different look in his eyes.

The previous attitude was that when the prefectural party committee cadres went to the grassroots, they could not help but speak deliberately, lowering their status and getting along with the grassroots comrades. Now their eyes are full of appreciation:
“The public thinks highly of you.”

Han Laogou didn't react much, but Xie Hushan had a smug smile on his face:

"Leader, did they really say that?"

"That's not the case. They don't have anything good to say about you. They are mostly negative." Zuo Jing poured a bucket of cold water on Xie Hushan's head, and then gave him a sweet date:

"But as a state cadre, I still have some ability to distinguish. The people have higher expectations of you, which can also prove the ability of the Party branch and the team of Zhongping Brigade. After all, when many farmers in the production brigade meet their superiors, the most talked about issue of having enough to eat. No one in Zhongping pays attention to this issue anymore. I think it is the highest evaluation of grassroots cadres in rural areas that people who make a living by farming no longer have to worry about survival and food, and have other material pursuits."

Zuo Jing didn't want to praise the Zhongping Brigade. This was what he thought in his mind after the visit.

There are still many rural areas in Yaoshan that have to consider the food problem. They have to rely on the state to allocate returned grain and relief grain to maintain food and clothing. However, when Zhongping visited the homes of the people, no matter whether their family conditions were good or bad, everyone was not interested in the food problem. They had money in their hands and grain in their jars, and the questions they asked were no longer the timid and insignificant ones that were asked in other rural brigades.

What a bold question! The masses raised the issue that was bothering them, but Zuo Jingyi didn't say a word.

Because there are some issues that farmers can only start to think about after they have eaten their fill.

"Leader, why does the government give retirement money to city workers when they get old, but we farmers pay taxes to the government all our lives, so why doesn't the government give us retirement money when we get old? Working in a factory is glorious, but farming is shameful for farmers?"

"Boss, my son is getting married and wants to buy a sewing machine. I can only find a way to buy a second-hand one because second-hand goods do not require a ticket. But I can obviously afford a new one, so why doesn't the government allow me to buy one?"

"Leader, I wanted to take my wife to a restaurant in the city for dinner. I didn't have food coupons, so I brought food to buy it. After visiting three restaurants, no one would accept the noodles I brought, saying that they had black noodles and wanted finely ground white noodles. Why can't we buy white noodles?"

If the family is not well fed, they would never ask such questions. Zuo Jing believed that such questions were not taught by the commune or brigade cadres. This cannot be taught. Only when the people's material needs are indeed no longer met in the existing environment will they ask such questions themselves.

In fact, if he is really asked to answer these questions, he can answer them, but his explanation may be difficult for the public to understand. Answering and explaining are two different concepts.

Later, Zuo Jing visited the steel rolling mill, pipe manufacturing plant, and offset printing plant, and even had dinner together without revealing whether there were any benefits that could be brought to Zhongping. After dinner, he and his secretary Xiao Liao rode their bicycles away, and declined Secretary Yin's suggestion to arrange a car to take them back.

"Solder Chen Damazi's name on the blacklist!" Xie Hushan sat in the team headquarters, with the brigade's loudspeaker in front of him. At this time, he broadcast to the brigade members in a tone of regret:

"What did I say? Ah! A dog's stomach can't hold two ounces of sesame oil! The leader came here and got nothing. It's a wasted meal!"

"Don't tell your boss the truth just because he seems easy to talk to! And your son wants to buy a sewing machine! And you eat white flour in a restaurant! What did I teach you?"

"Don't even mention you have a son. You should say you don't even have a wife! Don't even mention you've eaten white flour. You've never even seen what white flour looks like!"

"What I taught you is that you should always tell the leaders that we farmers have a higher sense of honor than the workers! Don't compare us in terms of status. You should say that we farmers work hard in farming, but it is very glorious, because our first grain of food is collected for the central government, the second grain of food is collected for the provincial and prefectural committees, the third grain of food is collected for the county, the fourth grain of food is collected for the commune, the fifth grain of food is collected for the worker big brother, and the sixth grain of food is our own! If you want to starve, we will go hungry first! If you want to eat your fill, let the workers eat first!"

"You put it this way, and the leaders will be moved. Zhongping can no longer accommodate you. Are you so inflated that you dare to compete with the workers for retirement money when you get the money distributed at the end of the year?"

Originally, Xie Hushan thought that the matter was over, but the commune notified him to go to the Yaoshan Prefectural Committee on the day of the Little New Year to attend a meeting on rural economic system reform, and it was a temporary notice.

Xie Hushan had just brought Taozi home to celebrate the New Year with his grandmother, but after leaving Taozi at home, he hurriedly drove to Yaoshan with the deputy director of the commune in charge of agriculture.

The meeting was small, with more than 100 people, 70% of whom were commune and brigade cadres, and 30% were state-owned enterprise cadres.
To Xie Hushan, the leaders' speeches at the meeting actually sounded like the leaders of the Yaoshan Prefectural Committee were setting the tone for the economic development of Yaoshan rural areas.

In the past, the state-owned factories called the cooperative-run enterprises and the team-run enterprises "digging into the corners of the state-owned economy". Although the state allowed the cooperative-run and team-run enterprises, in general, the state-owned enterprises were very dissatisfied with these grassroots workshops of mixed workers and farmers, believing that these workshops used low-priced and low-quality goods to rob the state-owned factories of their business and damaged state property. This conference defined the cooperative-run and team-run enterprises as the new reform direction for rural economic development.

It's still the idea of ​​encouraging the development of side businesses in rural areas. I feel like it's not very thoughtful and not worth the trip. It's better to stay at home and make dumplings with Taozi and grandma.

It seems that the benefit of Zuo Jing's visit to Zhongping is that Xie Hushan can speak at the meeting as a grassroots production brigade cadre and talk about Zhongping's recent development.

He also specially arranged for his secretary Xiao Liao to sit next to Xie Hushan, so that when it was Xie Hushan's turn to speak, Xiao Liao could take him to the stage.

Xiao Liao kindly handed Xie Hushan a speech draft and said, "I have marked the pinyin for all the unfamiliar characters. You only have an elementary school education, so you should have learned pinyin, right? Secretary Zuo originally wanted you to speak casually, but considering that you were notified at the last minute, I still prepared a copy privately to avoid being passive. The data are all reported by Zhongping Commune. If there are any discrepancies, you can modify them yourself..."

"Leader, why don't you talk to the senior leaders and ask them not to let me speak... No one is allowed to speak at the last minute." Xie Hushan felt a headache when he looked at the speech that Xiao Liao handed to him.

"According to the grapevine, Secretary Zuo just secured an opportunity for you to attend the meeting this morning, so it can only be a temporary notice." Xiao Liao said with a smile.

Xie Hushan said, "Do I need Secretary Zuo to fight for me now? It's not worth it. It doesn't matter if I don't fight for it."

"After this leader finishes speaking, you can follow me to the stage. Don't be nervous, just relax, keep your eyes on the manuscript, and your mouth to the microphone. Just treat it as a broadcast at the brigade headquarters." Xiao Liao smiled and did not explain. He just introduced the arrangements and told Xie Hushan not to be nervous.

When Xie Hushan was looking through the speech that the other party had helped prepare, a conflict broke out in the meeting room.

Meetings these days are not as silent as they were in 2024. If the speaker on the stage says something unpleasant, there are people in the audience who dare to question it. So when a prefectural party committee leader said that he would vigorously encourage rural enterprises, representatives of state-owned factories in the audience immediately interrupted his speech to express their dissatisfaction.

Several senior factory managers even pointed at the prefectural party committee leaders on the stage and angrily shouted:

"The so-called reforms you've come up with are nothing but capitalism! Rural areas should focus on developing agriculture! If farmers are encouraged by you to not do their jobs properly, there will be big trouble! I'm going to report your stance to the ministry!"

"Since the reform and opening up, all kinds of monsters and demons dare to impose their own ideas on the state-owned factories! You are destroying the state-owned factory system! We should investigate your background!"

"I was named a national model worker in 63, and great men have met me! What is your intention in carrying out so-called economic reforms in Yaoshan, a key national industrial city? If you can't explain it clearly, let's go to the central government departments to talk!"

"That's right! If farmers run a business, isn't that absurd? Do they know how to run a business?"

The leaders of the prefectural committee who were presiding over the meeting on the stage were not angry yet, but Xie Hushan, who was almost dozing off while reading the speech, suddenly became furious.

A bunch of old idiots, why are farmers only fit to farm? Why is it that the country's foundation is shaken when farmers earn a little money? Is it the shaking of the country's foundation that you are afraid of?

Seeing the leader stop speaking, Xie Hushan urged Xiao Liao, who was frowning and observing the situation at the meeting, "Is it my turn? Let's go?"

Xiao Liao pushed his glasses up: "In this situation, let's wait a little longer..."

"Follow the procedure." Xie Hushan stood up and walked towards the podium: "I've been waiting for a long time..."

Then Xiao Liao saw that Xie Hushan did not take a speech manuscript, but rushed directly to the podium. He did not take a seat before speaking, but directly picked up the desktop megaphone from the table, stood on the podium and shouted at the people who were expressing their dissatisfaction in the audience:
"Old Deng! Stop bragging like your mother! Can you brag better than me, your father?"

"You're a national model! You're so outstanding, why didn't the great man take you with him when he passed away? You're so shameless, flattering yourself! Even if you were buried with him, you'd be unworthy of being honored!"

The venue suddenly fell silent! Everyone on and off the stage was buzzing because of this sentence.

"You're always checking ingredients. Are those who say this the ones who got their job in the factory by playing tricks on people? You can't do that, you can only play tricks on people, right?"

"You're still talking about the ministry? What? Is the ministry owned by your family? Why are you keeping such a powerful person on the stage? Why don't you get someone to hold the egg with a rope and fly it up for us to see?"

"Destroy the state-owned factory system? What? If we don't destroy it, the farmers will have to farm for generations to feed you bastards? Do you really think you are the grandfather of the workers just because someone calls you that?"

"Can't you tell the difference between the two? Times have changed, old Deng'er!"

"How can you talk like that, comrade? Who are you, trespassing on the rostrum without permission? I..." An old man came to his senses and pointed at Xie Hushan and cursed.

Xie Hushan said, "I am your peasant ancestor, the leader of the Zhongping Production Brigade in Bingyang County, Xie Hushan."

"Originally, the leader arranged for me to speak, but I didn't want to speak because I knew I was uneducated and of poor quality, and I was afraid that I would be laughed at by everyone if I spoke on stage. But when I heard that you old fools dared to lick your faces and curse, then what else should I not dare to say? Since you are disrespectful to the elderly, you should be prepared to be kicked by the younger generation."

"We, the Zhongping Brigade, firmly support the decision made by the leadership of Yaoshan. Rural economic reform is to develop various industries while ensuring agricultural development. I also believe that enterprises should not only be run by cooperatives and teams, but also by households and individuals, and they should be more diversified. Agriculture, industry, commerce, construction, transportation and service should work together to let farmers teach these old men who say they are afraid that farmers will damage the interests of state-owned enterprises a lesson! Let's compare! Who is the one who is damaging the interests of state-owned enterprises!"

"There are many grassroots production brigade cadres in the audience. I am Xie Hushan, the brigade leader of Zhongping Brigade. Don't listen to others who oppose our production brigade's sideline business. I will just tell you one thing. The Zhongping Brigade has a steel rolling mill. It has been six months since the factory was established. Every month, 20% of the profits are handed over to the team, except for the first two months when the profits were relatively low, only about 12,000 yuan."

When they heard the number of 12,000 yuan, there was a gasp of shock from the audience!
"In the next four months, each month was around 18,000 to 2,000 yuan. In half a year, our brigade repaired the road and bought five tractors, two crawler tractors, and a bunch of farm machinery."

“Can you afford it by farming?”

"This is just a steel rolling mill. Our brigade also has a pipe-making plant and an offset printing plant jointly established with Hong Kong businessmen. Next year, we will also have a dairy farm and a horse farm!"

"Now that the team has money, it will be more confident. We plan to start from next year and slowly realize three things!"

"Exempt members from their contributions, exempt members from medical expenses for hospitalization, and provide pensions to members who have their household registration in Zhongping and have reached retirement age!"

"I think this is the farmers' awareness of not causing trouble to the country! What's shameful about relying on our own hands to make a living? We don't need others to tell us what to do!"

"The government doesn't object to farmers running businesses, so why are they against it?"

"Whether it's the leaders on the stage or the brigade cadres below, just treat them as farts and ignore them. Think carefully, are they able to sit here because of their own abilities? They are all rough and uncouth, they don't know anything, they got to the top by screwing screws, reciting quotations, and even bullying people, and now they are pretending to be the superiors! It's because the country needs stability now and doesn't want to be liquidated that they are so arrogant, aren't they afraid of being exposed later!"

"You are showing off your seniority here. When the farmers respect you, you are the big brother. When the farmers want to fuck you, you are a Der!"

"What's wrong with being senior? If a foreigner comes to do business with you while you're sitting there, can you understand what he's saying?"

"Don't be unconvinced, I, a farmer, understand! If a foreigner comes to Zhongping Steel Rolling Mill to discuss business one day, they don't have to spend money to hire an interpreter like you do, they can do it themselves! Can you do it? The interpreter called you a stupid idiot, and took your kickbacks without even understanding you! And you're still talking to me about your farmers destroying the national economy!"

"Finally, if any brigade wants to start a sideline business, you are welcome to come to Zhongping for inspection. We are all brothers, and we will definitely help you out! We have money and people!"

"Thank you, leaders. Thank you, everyone. My speech is over."

Xie Hushan put the loudspeaker back on the stage, bowed to everyone, and jumped directly off the podium.

Xiao Liao quickly sent Xie Hushan to an office to rest. After more than two hours, Zuo Jing came in from outside and saw Xie Hushan sitting on a chair reading a book. He smiled and said:

"You scolded seven senior worker representatives. Four of them are in hospital. The remaining three are preparing to write a letter to sue you. Half of the dozen district party committee leaders have remembered your name and are asking me where the brigade cadre came from. You must protect him and make sure he is not retaliated by angry workers."

"I'm sorry, leader. You gave me a chance to perform, but I didn't seize it. I got excited and started swearing." Xie Hushan's apology was obviously insincere.

Zuo Jing waved his hand: "No need to apologize, I think your speech was very effective. When you spoke, I think some leaders of the prefectural committee might have been very happy."

"From the looks of it, it seems that the leader has also been bullied? Then the leader can just scold himself. The position is still there, and even if the leader scolds them directly, they probably won't dare to get angry." Xie Hushan said from the side.

Zuo Jing picked up the teacup and took a sip of water:

"During the previous visit, the leaders of the prefectural committee found that there was a production brigade in the Huiyue mining area. Because part of the land in the mining area was a subsidence area, they received compensation from a state-owned mining company. They wanted to use the money to set up a factory, but some state-owned enterprises wrote letters and held sit-ins, and finally forced the brigade's factory to be jointly run with the state-owned factory. However, they are responsible for the machines, arrange the workers, and manage the accounts of the enterprise. The brigade has no power and doesn't even know whether it has made any money. So when they heard you scolding them, they felt relieved. The factory in Yaoshan has been too overbearing over the past few decades."

"Next time there is such a good thing, leader, please introduce it to Zhongping. I am willing to run it jointly with them. Otherwise, I will be unworthy of the glorious title of poor peasants inherited from my ancestors if I don't emptied that state-owned enterprise." Xie Hushan immediately patted his chest and said when he heard Zuo Jing talking about the experience of an unlucky team.

Zuo Jing did not continue the conversation, but changed the subject: "You didn't hear the content of the meeting later, actually, the Yaoshan Prefectural Committee responded to the national and provincial governments and decided to carry out several rural reform pilot projects in Yaoshan. I want to include Zhongping in the list. Don't be happy yet, this reform pilot project is not poverty alleviation, nor does it have preferential policies. It is..."

Secretary Xiao Liao pushed the door open and whispered a few words in Zuo Jing's ear. Zuo Jing looked at Xie Hushan and nodded slightly. Xiao Liao then said to Xie Hushan:
"Captain Xie, Zhongping Commune called and asked you to pick it up right now."

Xie Hushan's heart trembled slightly. The commune knew that he was coming for the meeting, and Secretary Liao must have told him that Zuo Jingzheng was talking to him. The other party also wanted him to answer the phone now. Something must have happened.

"You go ahead and do your work. The relevant documents for this pilot project will be sent to Zhongping Commune. The brigade and the commune will also have to consider it before deciding whether they are willing to accept it." Zuo Jing said to Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan stood up and said goodbye to Zuo Jing, followed Xiao Liao to the phone in another office, picked up the receiver and said, "Hello, this is Xie Hushan."

"Third brother, something happened to Tiesheng." Taozi said in a crying voice on the phone.

(End of this chapter)