Back to 1978

Chapter 53: Cadres on the Spot

At the headquarters of the Zhongping Production Brigade, all the captains of the 19 production teams under the brigade were present, and the two rooms of the headquarters were packed.

People looked outside from time to time while they were busy with their work.

The autumn harvest is approaching, and each team is busy counting or repairing means of production. Therefore, during this period you can always see production team leaders either sharpening farm tools with grindstones or mending sacks with needles and thread.

Ma Laowu squatted in the most inconspicuous corner, his pipe tucked into his waist, and his pair of experienced hands skillfully twisted and braided the hemp rope.

Only the brigade accountant Yang Shuangxi was present in the team headquarters, chatting and laughing with everyone. As for the brigade secretary Han Laogou, he went to the commune compound early in the morning to lead the young cadres from the county who were staying in Zhongping Brigade.

In this era, it was very common for county officials, staff from various units, and agricultural technicians to go to the countryside and work at the grassroots level. Especially during the autumn harvest and planting period in rural areas, almost every production brigade would have comrades from the county working in the production team, eating and sleeping in the homes of the team members.

They did not come down to collect money, but autumn harvest in rural areas was a top priority for Bingyang County. During this period, the people who came to the production brigade to stay would not be just one person, but would include multiple government agencies such as the county party committee, agricultural technology, agricultural machinery, animal husbandry, and medical care.

This means that during the period before and after the autumn harvest, the county used cadres from various units to build a temporary and simple autumn harvest support command center in the production brigade to ensure that if any problems encountered during labor production, there would be corresponding cadres on site to respond promptly and report to the higher authorities.

Basically all employees are involved in the autumn harvest. Even the sideline groups have to join the labor group to work together. With nearly three thousand people working together at a high intensity, any emergency may occur.

How to prevent temporary natural disasters that may reduce production, determine whether recent weather problems require early harvest, coordinate disputes over plowing and harvesting at agricultural machinery stations, and situations where members are accidentally injured during the autumn harvest and need first aid, etc.

If a similar situation occurs, these cadres who have been stationed on the ground can quickly contact their own units in the county and request support to minimize the losses in the autumn harvest as much as possible.

They solved these problems in the production team much faster than if the production team simply relied on the commune to report to the higher authorities. After all, the commune was only an administrative unit and was not as clear about the specific work of each unit as these cadres who were specifically assigned to the field.

"Accountant Yang, how many people are coming to our team this time?" asked a production team leader, mending pockets with needle and thread in his hand.

Yang Shuangxi shook his head: "I'm the same as you. I won't know the number of people until Secretary Han comes back."

The other party was just looking for a topic to talk about. After Yang Shuangxi finished speaking, he began to tell his own plan:

"Let's make it clear first. No matter how many people come, our team arranged two people last time the county sent people to stay here. We can't assign them to our team again this time."

Seeing the first person express his opinion, the production team leaders of other teams also began to express their ideas. Ma Laowu hesitated for a moment, then followed suit and said:
"Our three teams can't share the responsibility this time. We were also shared last time. We can't keep taking the blame from our team."

"Your team three has been very prosperous recently, with more than 30 truckloads of pure manure, and a sideline business in cooperation with the veterinary station canteen. You have opened two stewed pork stalls. I have already calculated for you. Together, the two stalls can earn at least 20 to 30 yuan a day, which is enough to buy a calf in two days. Why are you still pretending to be poor?" A production team leader nearby heard Ma Laowu's statement that he did not want to accept the cadres stationed on the spot, and joked:

"I'm so jealous that I want to go to the commune to report and cut off your team's capitalist tail!"

The other production team leaders also nodded repeatedly. Production Team 3 has been too enthusiastic recently. There are more than 30 truckloads of pure manure fermenting in the manure pit. If they are applied to the fields before autumn planting, how much more wheat will be harvested next year.

That’s not all. Ma Laowu, this cunning guy, somehow suddenly came to his senses and went to the veterinary station.

The veterinary station opened a small canteen, and he went there flatteringly and helped build a house for them. He also arranged for people to cook for him without asking for any wages. He also gave them baskets of vegetables that the team themselves were reluctant to eat, in exchange for them supplying sewage to the sideline group of their third team.

Two braised pork stalls were opened, one for market day and the other was set up every day on the roadside between the veterinary station and the commune compound, selling to people from various brigades who went to the commune and the veterinary station for business.

"I'm not... I'm..." Ma Laowu took a few puffs of his pipe with a bitter taste in his mouth, and hesitated to speak. Finally, he sighed and lowered his head again:

"Anyway, we have already apportioned the money last time, so our team cannot do it again this time. We can't always pick on the weak." Xie Hushan's sideline business did make money, but this guy only handed in the accounts every day without paying the money. He just told him and Accountant Zhao every day how much money was sold today and how much money was earned after deducting the cost, and asked the two to record it in the production team's account book. As for cash, Ma Laowu and Accountant Zhao didn't see a penny.

Although Ma Laowu was not afraid that Xie Hushan would run away with the money, he couldn't really not pay a penny and wait until the end of the year to pay the money in one lump sum. He was mainly afraid that this guy would run around all day and lose the money again.

But when it came to asking him to pay, this grandson acted like a rich landlord, saying that he had other plans for the money. If paying the money now would disrupt the plans for the sideline business, he would quit and let Ma Laowu find other people and ways to get the water himself, while he would go back to farming.

The two side stalls this kid runs can bring in at least 20 yuan a day, and even more than 30 yuan a day. Ma Laowu is reluctant to let him quit and go back to farming.

Outsiders may think that his Team 3 is doing well, but in fact, he has not received any money from the sideline group. He wanted to buy some wood parts to repair two old trucks in the team before the autumn harvest, but he did not want to use the reserved funds and reserve funds, so he asked the other party to pay some money first. His production team leader had to look at Xie Hushan's face for a long time before he got the money to buy parts and wood.

There's no logic in this. The production team leader asked the members to pay money to the team to support the autumn harvest, and they had to discuss it with him in a nice tone. This guy acts like the boss.

If we want to recruit a few more cadres back to our team, we may have to use up the little levy that the team has saved through thrifty means.

Although the cadres would pay some money and food coupons for meals, they came to help the team, so it was not appropriate to charge them too much, nor could it make things difficult for the families of the members who hosted the cadres. The team could only find ways to subsidize the hosting families with some food rations and vegetables. Where would the money come from?

It’s hard enough to spend money on the team, so how can we expect that guy to pay for things that cost money to outsiders?
He was cursing Xie Hushan in his heart when a production team leader suddenly stood up, looked outside and shouted:
"Here they come! Here they come! The people are brought back! Wow! There are seven of them this time!"

Everyone in the team stopped what they were doing, stood up and went out to greet them.

Han Laogou was pushing a bicycle, and behind him were seven young men who were also pushing bicycles. They were obviously cadres from the county who had been stationed there. They stood behind Han Laogou shyly.

Seeing that everyone had come out to greet them, and the team room was not very big, Han Laogou stood directly at the door and spoke:
"These seven comrades are all leaders arranged by the county to stay in our brigade during this period to help us with the autumn harvest. Let's applaud and welcome them!"

A group of production team leaders in their forties and fifties applauded loudly for the seven young leaders in their early twenties, while the seven young cadres smiled shyly and occasionally looked at their companions. They could see the embarrassment in each other's eyes.

They know their own situation. They are not leaders. In fact, they are just young clerks in various units.

When the applause stopped, Han Laogou cleared his throat and began to talk about the specific distribution:
"I won't waste any more time talking nonsense. If you want to chat on the kang, drink tea and smoke, you can go back to your respective teams after the arrangements are made. I will take this opportunity to tell you about the specific food and accommodation arrangements for the seven leaders during their stay in our brigade. Those whose names are called, come and pick them up."

"Team One, Lao Zhang, our commune health center is in your area, and you are responsible for the leadership of the health bureau."

After Han Laogou finished speaking, the leader of Production Team 1 came out, shook hands with one of the seven people, and cordially invited the other person to follow him back to the team.

"Team Four, the leader of the county agricultural committee is in your team for the time being, raising winter wheat seeds and sweet potato seedlings. You should ask them how to deal with it and try to steal some of the knowledge that the leader has."

"Team Six, make arrangements for this leader. He is in charge of the deployment of agricultural machinery. If I knew that our team's autumn harvest agricultural machinery had problems because of your failure to make arrangements, the entire team would go to your house for a New Year's dinner."

……

Han Laogou always did things in a swift and decisive manner. In just a few moments, six of the seven cadres on the spot were taken away, leaving only a young comrade who wore glasses and looked gentle.

Ma Laowu was originally feeling lucky that Han Laogou didn't call out the name of Team 3, thinking that his team would have nothing to do with it this time, but Han Laogou looked directly at him:
"Team Three, Lao Wu, this is Yang Limin, the leader of the county party committee. He is responsible for coordinating the other six comrades during the autumn harvest. He is staying in your team three during this period."

(End of this chapter)