Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 161 Returning to the Village for the New Year, the Secretary Asks for Advice (Subscription Request)
Although Hongjia Village is in the countryside, the mountain roads are well built, so at least there are no problems for cars to drive on them.

The car Zhou Fengnian rode in also broadened the horizons of the farmers passing by in the countryside. It was rare for a car to come to their area.

After driving to the intersection near Hongjia Village, Zhao Qiang turned around and said, "Mr. Zhou, we can't drive up this slope. Is the rest of the way far? Let me help you carry your things back."

"It's not far. We'll reach Hongjia Village after we go up the hill. We can just walk back."

Zhou Fengnian got out of the car and said that the things they brought back weighed more than 100 kilograms, and he could definitely carry it.

Zhao Qiang quickly got out of the car and said, "Mr. Zhou, let me help you."

"It's okay. Can't I lift it? It's just two big sacks. One person can do it."

Zhou Fengnian picked up the big sack and said to Zhao Qiang that the ability of the art of sex can improve physical fitness.

In the past, carrying more than 100 kilograms of things might make Zhou Fengnian gasp for breath, but now he just feels a little tired and can totally hold on.

"Go back, Comrade Zhao Qiang. I'm sorry to bother you today."

Zhou Fengnian urged, and seeing this, Zhao Qiang had no choice but to obediently get in the car and return.

Afterwards, Zhou Fengnian and his wife walked towards Hongjia Village. However, before they had walked up the slope for long, they saw a group of people from the village running out.

Leading the group was a young man from the Ma family in the village, and following behind him was Zhou Fengnian’s eldest brother Zhou Weitian.

When they got closer, Ma Siwu pointed at Zhou Fengnian and said, "Boss Zhou, I told you that you are my brother. Give me a cigarette."

"Okay, okay, thank you for the news."

Zhou Weitian took out half a pack of cigarettes and stuffed it directly into Ma Siwu's hand: "The remaining half pack is all yours."

"Okay, Boss Zhou, you are really generous. Do you want me to help you carry your things?"

Ma Siwu immediately grinned and asked, although it was just an economy brand cigarette, it was very rare in the village.

"No need, I'm here as the eldest brother."

Zhou Weitian sent away the four or five horses, then said with a smile: "Old Three, give it to me. How long have you been carrying it?"

"Not long, just at the downhill entrance, less than a mile away."

After Zhou Fengnian gave Zhou Weitian a sack, they walked home together. On the way, his elder brother told him about the changes at home. He felt a sense of unfamiliarity because he had not been home for a while.

Zhou's father applied to the village to build another room, which was right next to the main house and even had a kang, specifically for Zhou Fengnian and his wife.

The wall was demolished and rebuilt using red bricks. The family also raised eight chickens and a pig, and only two hens that laid eggs.

This is also the reason why Zhou's mother rarely goes to work, as she has to take care of the livestock at home.

Zhou Weitian said with a smile: "This year my mother was generous and said she would kill two chickens for the New Year. With what we brought back, we can eat meat every day during this holiday.
It's a pity that the pigs have to be handed over to the commune, but we have enough meat to eat at home."

If you raise three pigs, you can keep one. Unfortunately, most families cannot afford to raise three pigs, as they consume a lot of pig grass and feed every day.

The three of them chatted as they walked and soon returned home.

Moreover, Zhou Fengnian's journey back attracted a lot of villagers to watch him, and some even greeted him.

Although Zhou Fengnian didn't know their names, he responded with a smile.

The entire Hongjia Village knew that Zhou Fengnian had become a high-ranking official in the city, in charge of several thousand people, even more powerful than their commune secretary.

A few years ago, he was the target of warnings for children in their Hongjia Village. At that time, no villager thought that the third son of the Zhou family would have the status he has today.

When Zhou Weitian got home, he shouted loudly after entering the yard: "Mom, the third child is back!"

Not long after Zhou Weitian finished shouting, Zhou's mother came out of the house and hurriedly walked up to Zhou Fengnian and said, "San'er, why did you come back just now? Did you have lunch?"

Zhou's mother goes to the city very rarely, only three or four times a year, and the last time she went to the city was several months ago.

"We've eaten, Mom. Let's put some food away first. Here's some rice, flour, and more than ten pounds of meat."

"Put it in the kitchen, Yingzi, help the third brother put it there."

Zhou's mother immediately called her eldest daughter-in-law to put away all the flour and rice that Zhou Fengnian had brought back, and also put away the meat.

The supplies the Zhou family prepared for the New Year were so abundant that the kitchen was almost full; if other villagers saw it, they would probably all be jealous.

In the six-worker family, those with the lowest salary have all been regularized.

Zhou's mother also called Zhou Yan to go into the house quickly as it was cold outside so as not to freeze her grandson.

After Zhou Fengnian put his things away, he followed into the house, but he went to the new house that his father and mother had built for him.

Apart from anything else, Zhou Fugui really took great pains to build a house just for him to come back once a year.

Moreover, the kangs on both sides are connected. When the kang is burning on one side, Zhou Fengnian's side will also be warm, saving firewood and he doesn't have to work hard.

After a while, Zhou Fugui came back.

Seeing Zhou Fengnian and Zhou Yan and their son had returned, he immediately grinned and said, "Good, it's good that you're back. Let me see Xian Yang."

Zhou's mother pushed Zhou Fugui away unhappily and said, "Don't look at it. You reek of cigarettes and might choke your grandson."

"I didn't smoke this either. Those shameless people took my cigarette and smoked it. It took me no time to finish it."

Zhou Fugui got angry when talking about cigarettes. The pack he brought was just opened, but it was gone.

"Luckily it was just Daqianmen. If it was Fengnian who gave me the cigarettes, I would have never forgiven them."

Zhou Weitian interrupted, "Dad, Daqianmen is not cheap either. You only have 30 cents to hold a meeting. It's too expensive for you to be the captain."

"Stop talking, you bastard!"

Zhou Fugui immediately got angry and cursed. It would have been better if he hadn’t said it. He felt even more distressed when he heard it.

However, Zhou Weitian was too far away from him at the moment, and his eldest son had to cook dinner, so he would just keep a record of it for now.

"Third brother, come with me to the village collective meeting tomorrow."

Zhou Fengnian asked, "You want me to go? What's the matter, Dad? Tell me what's going on first?"

Zhou Fugui said with a smile: "I'll let you say a few words casually. After all, you are the most powerful official that Hongjia Village has ever produced."

"Dad, I am a cadre, not an official. And I serve the people. I won't talk about it, or people will say that I am a cadre who came back to the village to show off."

When Zhou Fengnian heard this, he quickly shook his head. He was very unwilling to do this kind of thing, as it was meaningless.

"Not only a speech, but I also want you to talk about the development of the village next year. Didn't we just build a greenhouse this year? I hope you can encourage me."

Zhou Fugui explained that the mushroom income in Hongjia Village has exploded this year, but the money distributed is about the same as last year.

The village collective used part of the money to build greenhouses, so there was much less to share.

"What's so encouraging about this? Okay, I'll go there." Zhou Fengnian said after thinking about it. It was nothing more than asking him for some advice. However, there would definitely be no loss after the greenhouse was built, unless there was a natural disaster that even the greenhouse could not withstand.

Otherwise, given the amount of agricultural and sideline products needed in the city, we basically just grow as much as we can eat.

"Okay, just agree to it, and then you can tell me what's going on. If they dare to embarrass you, I'll scold them to death!"

Zhou Fugui said with a smile that it was his son who suggested and helped to find the solutions for the betterment of Hongjia Village; otherwise, the New Year's Eve dinner of Hongjia Village this year would have been different if they had added meat.

If he dares to embarrass his son again, don't blame him, the production team leader, for being angry.

Zhou Fengnian suddenly asked, "By the way, Dad, what did you plant in the greenhouse this year? It should be harvested soon, right?"

"It's already been collected. We have it at home. Didn't you see it?"

After Zhou Fugui finished speaking, he went to the kitchen and came back with two cucumbers and a tomato.

"The cucumbers were harvested last month, and the persimmons were harvested a few days ago. However, the first batch was not sold in the village. Instead, it was distributed to the villagers as an extra vegetable."

"Then why are you worried? They're all planted. And if you plant cucumbers in winter, you can at least get two crops, right?"

Zhou Fengnian looked at the cucumbers in his hand. These could not be bought in the farmers' markets in the old city. There were a small number of them, but they were all sold out in less than ten minutes after they were put on the shelves.

And the delivery time is not certain yet.

Cucumbers are very cheap in the summer, only four cents a pound, but in the winter, you can’t even get one at twenty cents a pound.

The same goes for tomatoes. The price of any green vegetable will increase several times in winter in Beijing.

"There are a lot of people who are making a fuss because they gave the food but didn't pay for it. Actually, there are a lot of people who are short-sighted and only care about the money."

Zhou Fugui smiled and said, "We got 40 kilograms of cucumbers and 20 kilograms of persimmons. You won't be short of green vegetables this year. Eat as much as you want."

Zhou Fengnian asked, "I'm sure many households sold the vegetables they received for money, right?"

"Yes, there are quite a few. Most of them have gone. We don't need that little money, so we'll keep it for you to eat when you come back."

If you sell the vegetables distributed in the village, you can get about ten yuan.

Moreover, the winter before the greenhouse was built was not suitable for growing mushrooms, which directly cut off a season's income; but after the greenhouse was built, there is income in the winter.

In the long run, it is profitable. The work points for the previous year were at most a dozen or twenty yuan, but next year's work points may be sixty or seventy yuan, or even more than a hundred yuan.

It's not a big deal in the city, but it's enough in the countryside.

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The next day, Zhou Fengnian followed his father to the village greenhouse.

After seeing it, Zhou Fengnian was quite surprised. The greenhouse in the village cost a lot of money and covered an area of ​​almost three acres.

If we plant only cucumbers, even if the yield is slightly lower, we can still earn more than 2,000 yuan, and if it is distributed to each household, there will be 20 to 30 yuan.

The second crop of winter vegetables has now been planted and will be ready for harvest in two months; by then the cold weather will still be there and cucumbers will still be popular.

If this continues, Hongjia Village will truly become a rich village; not counting the grain allocated to each household, work points can still be exchanged for more than 100 points.

This can be promoted as a model in the newspaper, especially since greenhouse cultivation has only been around for a few years and it has turned Hongjia Village from poor to rich. Other rural areas can learn from it.

After visiting the greenhouse, Zhou Fengnian followed his father to attend the village collective meeting.

It was similar to a collective meeting at the factory, summarizing last year's income and expenditure, as well as the village's collective industries.

When Zhou Fengnian was speaking, he just said a few words to encourage everyone to continue to delve into greenhouse planting, and that next year's income would definitely exceed this year's, and would exceed the previous year.

The words of the cadre Zhou Fengnian were like a shot in the arm for the villagers. Even the simple encouragement made them excited and applaud.

After the collective meeting was over, Zhou Fengnian was called to attend a small meeting of village leaders.

"Feng Nian, Hongjia Village is what it is today, thanks to your advice."

Hong Changshan said with a smile, handed Zhou Fengnian a cigarette, and then continued to ask: "Will we do the same thing next year as this year?"

"There's no need to make any changes for now. It's better to keep quiet than to make any changes. Besides, isn't the village's income increasing? It's not decreasing."

Zhou Fengnian thought for a while and said, "You can try peppers and mushrooms. If greenhouse vegetables don't make enough money, you can open a hot sauce factory.

I know a recipe for spicy mushroom sauce, and the village can just buy a canning machine."

There are many methods, but we need to proceed slowly. Hongjia Village does not have much money in its accounts, and all the money earned has been distributed to the villagers.

"Uncle Changshan, you can leave some money on the village collective account next year, unless the villagers are satisfied with the status quo. If there is money on the account, they can also develop other industries."

After hearing this, Hong Changshan nodded excitedly and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. Good harvest year. Next year, I will discuss with the villagers. If we can build a factory in the village, who wouldn't be happy!"

Zhou Fengnian said: "There is no rush to open the mushroom chili sauce factory. We can still grow it for two years and save money for two years."

It is not difficult to open this kind of factory. Just like a canning factory, the main thing is whether the food tastes good.

The recipe Zhou Fengnian gave definitely tastes good, and it will definitely be popular once it is produced.

By then, Hongjia Village will have the recipe and can make a lot of money every year; after achieving this, Zhou Fengnian will have fulfilled his responsibility.

After the meeting, Zhou Fengnian encouraged the cadres of Hongjia Village again before going home with his father.

These few days back in the village are just pure relaxation.

When he opened his eyes, there was prepared food and boiled water. Zhou Fengnian was almost like a rich young master at home.

With nothing to do, Zhou Fengnian followed his elder and second brothers to travel around and even went to the mountains twice.

I used a condom again this time, but nothing came of it.

There was no prey in the nearby mountains, and the distant mountains were dangerous. I didn't want to run away, so I ended up going to the river to fish for small fish.

The three grown men fished for two hours, and Zhou Weitian, who was bored, almost fell asleep by the river. The final catch was not enough for the Zhou family to share per head, so they could only fry small crispy fish to eat.

There wasn't much to do in the village, but it gave Zhou Fengnian a good rest. This time he also took Zhou Yan and his son to the commune fair and had a good experience.

During the spring break, preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner is the most lively time.

The eldest brother Zhou Weitian wanted to challenge Zhou Fengnian, so he cooked seven dishes by himself. After they were served on the table, almost everyone could tell which ones were made by Zhou Fengnian.

Zhou Weitian is still far from being a level 7 or 8 cook who wants to challenge Zhou Fengnian's level 3 cook.

During the meal, Zhou Weitian brought up the issue of his fourth sister's marriage. He talked for a long time, making Zhou Chunhua feel embarrassed.

Finally, Zhou's father made the final decision and asked Song Weinan to come to his house before May to discuss the marriage proposal.

We can’t let the Zhou couple go to the city, otherwise Song Weinan will most likely become their son-in-law.

(End of this chapter)