Era: I was a farmer at the foot of Yaoling Mountain

Time flies.

The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner.

Fang Tao and his two colleagues returned to Xiatang Brigade from the provincial capital to continue their research project.

"Third Brother, do we need to slaughter a pig for the Dragon Boat Festival this year?"

Last year's meat supply was relatively low, and Zheng Hu was thinking of distributing more to everyone this year. However, he didn't know what Fang Wei was thinking, so after hesitating for a moment, he didn't make a decision on his own but went to Fang Wei's office to ask for advice.

It wasn't that Zheng Hu was incapable of handling things; it was simply that Fang Wei's authority intimidated everyone, preventing them from acting recklessly.

"Why are you asking me about this? Why don't you make the decision yourself? If you want me to say it, then kill 100 pigs, and then give everyone a chicken, a duck, and 5 catties of eggs."

"Oh, right, I also need to talk to you about something. Tiger, we've worked together for so many years, and you've always been so hardworking and dedicated. Now there's an opportunity to go to the commune, would you like to go?"

Since Huang Zhigang went to the county, no deputy has been assigned to Zheng Xianfa.

Recently, news spread in the county that the deputy director of Yaoling Commune was to select rural cadres from the grassroots level, and Fang Wei felt that he could try to help Zheng Hu.

Having been together for so many years, he knew his partner was trustworthy. Although he was a bit slow on the uptake in some ways, he was perfectly capable of being a commune cadre.

But this requires his own willingness first.

"Third Brother, this all came as a surprise, didn't it? Let me think about it; my mind is a bit of a mess right now."

Zheng Hu was indeed taken aback and was completely unprepared.

Staying in the brigade or going to the commune each has its advantages and disadvantages, and he finds it difficult to make a decision in the short term.

"Think it over and give me an answer tomorrow. This isn't a done deal. Do you know how many people are eyeing that position? If you want to go, you have to act quickly. If you drag it out, it'll be too late."

Fang Wei gave the other party a day to consider, and then got up and went to the team.

Zhang Chu was incredibly enthusiastic when he saw him. The two first went to check out the fields and then returned to the team headquarters. Fang Wei barely said anything; Zhang Chu did most of the talking, giving a detailed introduction to all aspects of the team's work.

Fang Wei nodded. The team had always done a good job, and there was nothing wrong with it.

However, Zhang Chu's personality is somewhat impulsive, unlike Zheng Hu's steady and reliable nature, which is his Achilles' heel.

It's approaching noon.

Fang Wei declined Zhang Chu's invitation and went straight home for lunch.

Today's lunch includes fish; Tian Bingyi sent someone to deliver three grass carp and some crucian carp.

Before they had finished eating, Zheng Hu walked in from outside and said, "Grandpa, sister, third brother, sister-in-law, I'm sorry to disturb your meal."

"Has Tiger eaten? If not, I'll go get him some rice."

Grandpa and Grandma responded with a smile, and Pan Lianhua got up to get Zheng Hu a bowl and chopsticks.

"I've already eaten at home. Don't worry about me, I'll sit down for a bit."

Zheng Hu knew the way well; he took a teacup, poured himself a bowl of cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

Fang Wei knew the other person must have something to do, so she quickly finished her meal and went with them to the brigade headquarters office.

"Third Brother, I went back at noon and discussed it with Yan Hong. We still think it's better to go to the commune. If it were just me, I would definitely prefer to stay in the team, but considering my wife and children, I'm afraid it's better to go to the commune."

Zheng Hu didn't beat around the bush with Fang Wei and directly stated his thoughts.

When he went home for lunch, he told Tie Yanhong about it. Tie Yanhong immediately scolded him for being stubborn, saying that he was still considering such a good opportunity. What was there to consider? He should just go and try to get it.

This is because she has a good relationship with her third brother. If it were someone else, they might have been eliminated just because of the "consideration" excuse.

Zheng Hu was a little afraid of his wife, so he hurriedly ate a few bites of food and came to find Fang Wei.

"Okay! I'll go to the county right now."

Looking at Zheng Hu's cowardly appearance, Fang Wei knew that the guy must have been dealt with by his wife at noon.

He pretended not to know and then rode his bicycle to the county.

"Director Qi, I heard that the county is planning to promote someone from among the grassroots rural cadres to serve as the deputy director of Yaoling Commune. If that's true, then I recommend Zheng Hu."

Upon arriving in the county, Fang Wei went directly to Qi Haiyang's office.

Qi Haiyang was talking to an official when he heard that Fang Wei had arrived, so he sent the official away and let Fang Wei in.

After Fang Wei sat down, he stated his purpose directly, praising Zheng Hu to the skies.

“Secretary Fang, I didn’t expect you to speak up for others. Let me tell you the truth, there is such a thing. The county is also considering Zheng Hu as a candidate. It’s not that he is the most outstanding among the candidates, but that he and Zheng Xianfa are the most suitable partners.”

Qi Haiyang couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.

Yaoling Commune is now a very special entity in the entire county. The most crucial aspect is breeding; once this work is done well, everything else will fall into place.

Fang Wei is the key figure in the breeding work, so all work must revolve around this theme.

Therefore, the rural grassroots cadres promoted this time do not necessarily need to be highly capable, but they must be able to cooperate well with Fang Wei's breeding work.

"Oh? It seems I shouldn't have come here. Thank you, Director Qi and all the leaders. I will definitely do a good job in breeding and strive to produce better rice varieties in the next two years."

With the county providing such support for his work, Fang Wei had no choice but to reciprocate.

Anyway, the [Nanguang No. 3] experiment is currently underway, and he will bring it out when the time is right. He doesn't mind expressing his determination in front of Qi Haiyang; face is mutual, after all.

Qi Haiyang was overjoyed upon hearing this, certain that the new rice variety developed by Fang Wei would be extraordinary.

He's ambitious too, you know? If what the other party says can be fulfilled, then it will be a significant addition to his resume.

Fang Wei stayed with Qi Haiyang for more than twenty minutes before getting up to say goodbye. After leaving, he went to the cigarette factory, met with Tingting, and offered her a few words of encouragement before returning to his team.

the next day.

The team started slaughtering pigs and distributing the meat. A total of 100 pigs were slaughtered, and chickens, ducks, and eggs were also distributed to everyone.

The pig farm still had 4523 pigs left. Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua took the pork, chicken, duck, and eggs home. After discussing it, the family decided to go back to the Yao village to celebrate the festival.

Deng Yuanen personally drove the family up the mountain in a tractor, and then left in a hurry.

"Third Brother, the house looks much prettier and brighter after all this tidying up. I just saw the whole village looks brand new, isn't the project almost finished?"

Pan Lianhua was very excited when she returned to the village, mainly because her home had become more beautiful, which made her very happy.

Fang Wei told the other party that although the project was almost finished, there were still some supporting projects that had not been completed, and the entire project would probably be completed by the end of the year.

Time will pass quickly. The other 16 brigades in the commune are going to carry out the "new housing" project, which will begin in full swing after the autumn harvest this year. At that time, the construction unit will definitely do its best to ensure the new project is completed, so the renovation and reconstruction project of the Yao village will be completed at that point.

night.

Families brought their prepared delicacies to the village square.

Everyone gathered together, singing and dancing, and the festive atmosphere filled the air.

Fang Wei, Wang Songlin, and others drank heartily, setting aside business for the day and freely expressing their joy.

Grandpa looked at everything with a smile. Although he was old, he was still sharp of hearing and sight and could feel everyone's happy mood.

The two little ones were having a blast, and Fang Wei didn't bother them, letting them do whatever they wanted.

The next morning.

The family then returned to the team.

On the third day after the holiday, the county issued a document appointing Zheng Hu as the deputy director of Yaoling Commune, and asked him to take office immediately.

In Xiatang Brigade, after careful consideration, Fang Wei ultimately chose Zhao Jinsheng as the brigade leader. Zhang Chu actually had a chance, but during the holiday, he got drunk and got into a fight, causing quite a scene.

Fang Wei called him to the brigade headquarters and gave him a good scolding, telling him to pay attention to his image in the future and to learn to be more composed.

As a result, Zhao Jinsheng got the position, and Zhang Chu missed out on the captain's post. However, Zhang Chu is more than ten years younger than Zhao Jinsheng, so he might have a chance in the future.

After a busy period, production and daily life in the commune and brigade returned to normal.

Fang Wei felt that this transition period was very oppressive, as if everyone was holding their breath, but just hadn't found a place to release it. Currently, some extreme measures have been eliminated, but the general direction still follows some of the past strategies.

However, people's hearts change; to put it bluntly, it's about yearning for a better life.

In their leisure time, people talk about household appliances they've heard about, such as the washing machine from Xiaorizi, which automatically washes dirty clothes after you throw them in, and when they're done, they're not only clean as new, but also dried.

Having an upstairs and downstairs apartment, electric lights and telephones, is the dream of most people.

Fang Wei, as the brigade party secretary, still needs to guide everyone's thinking correctly. The Four Modernizations cannot be achieved immediately; it requires a process of arduous effort.

This period is also a time of intense clash between old and new ideas. Since the advent of "Dacron," the colors of people's clothes have gradually become more diverse.

Fortunately, everyone can still focus on agricultural production, so Fang Wei isn't under too much pressure.

With some time still remaining before the summer harvest, Fang Wei planned to take her family on a trip. Pan Lianhua specifically took leave and handed over her work to Lin Hanyang.

Fang Wei, along with his family, Guan Chongyang, and Sun Daoren, headed straight for the most industrially developed city in the country.

Traveling these days is a big problem; trains are crowded and slow. Fortunately, the two places aren't too far apart, so Fang Wei used his position as a representative to buy sleeper tickets for the two elderly people, while everyone else had to sit in hard seats.

We spent a week in Shanghai, experiencing the vibrancy of the big city and even taking the two little ones to the zoo.

When we came back, we naturally brought back a lot of things, some of which we couldn't buy locally.

Even Guan Chongyang felt very satisfied with this trip. He had been to many places when he was young, but he had never been to Shanghai. This trip fulfilled a long-cherished wish, and he had no regrets in this life.

The two little ones also broadened their horizons, especially after seeing so many wild animals; they'll have plenty to brag about when they get back.

Fang Wei bought a Seagull camera in Shanghai, leaving many precious images for his family. This camera was probably the only luxury item in the family; at least, no one else in the entire brigade owned one.

It cost several hundred yuan, but it was worth it.

Before long, the team ushered in the summer harvest. The summer harvest was followed by the summer planting, which is also the busiest time of the year.

The time had come to test the team's breeding achievements, and Fang Wei dared not slack off, spending every day working in the fields.

Besides the Xiatang brigade, he also had to worry about the harvest situation in other brigades. In addition to the commune dispatching agricultural machinery to support the summer harvest, he also had to coordinate the order of use of agricultural machinery.

After harvesting the rice, the land must be plowed and sown. We must seize the time and the farming season, and not a moment can be wasted.

Everyone was so busy they barely had time to breathe. Fang Wei didn't even care about the electricity bill. After the rice was threshed, it was dried directly. It was only sun-dried for one more day before being stored in the warehouse, taking advantage of the good weather. The double harvest in Xiatang Brigade finally came to an end.

During this process, wave after wave of leaders came to Yaoling Commune to inspect the double-cropping work. They valued the yield of rice seeds, which was related to the grain output of the entire province.

This year, with favorable weather, the entire commune achieved a bumper rice harvest as expected. The 17 production brigades produced a total of 88 million jin of "Nanguang No. 2" graded rice seeds, which brought a sigh of relief to many leaders.

Putting everything else aside, the province's rice production is definitely on track next year.

"Old Zhao, you're in charge of the rest of the work, such as the verification of public grain quotas, the sale of rice seeds, and the purchase of grain. If you can't handle it, come to me. If you can, then handle it yourself."

Zhao Jinsheng performed his duties as the brigade leader with competence and efficiency, and Fang Wei gradually became more at ease.

He delegated all the administrative work to the other party and went to the Yao village and then to the breeding base. The breeding base is now also called the "Joint Breeding Center," operating under two names but with the same staff. Fang Wei is responsible for production and technical matters.

He didn't care about the previous secondary rice seed production; the next priority was to cultivate the [Nanguang No. 2] standardized rice seed.

The summer planting time at the breeding center is slightly later than that of the Xiatang brigade, but this will not affect anything. Fang Wei can simply adjust the attribute values ​​slightly to ensure that the autumn harvest will not be delayed.

"Director Guo, these 4 mu of farmland are really excellent. The terrain is flat and the soil is fertile. It was a wise decision to choose this place to build the breeding base."

The technicians sent by Fang Wei are guiding the center's employees in summer planting.

The team had stockpiled seeds and allocated them to the breeding center in advance to avoid delaying the planting season. However, the center didn't have enough agricultural machinery and staff, so sowing only started now.

"I'm sorry, Secretary Fang, for causing us delay. The center will purchase a large amount of agricultural machinery to improve labor productivity, and I guarantee that this will not happen again."

Guo Wenxian was a little embarrassed. The base didn't have much money left in its accounts, and they wouldn't have enough to buy agricultural machinery until they sold the second-grade rice seeds. (End of Chapter)