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

in the afternoon.

Fang Wei did not return to the brigade, but went directly to the county.

Qi Haiyang and he had arranged a time in advance to listen to a work report on breeding this afternoon.

The people in the county all know very well that the key to the breeding work lies with Fang Wei. If he says there is no problem, then there is no problem. There is no need to listen to other people's opinions.

"Director Qi, the next step is rice transplanting. This work has been arranged and there are no problems. I estimate that the yield of summer rice will be roughly the same as the previous season, which will be enough to meet the rice production needs of the province, and there will even be a surplus to sell to other provinces."

Fang Wei, in his capacity as the head of the coordination team, reported to Qi Haiyang.

Qi Haiyang was moved by his calm confidence and believed that there would be no mistakes in the breeding work.

After the standardized Nanguang No. 2 rice variety is fully rolled out, the actual demand for rice seeds across the province will decrease. After all, many production teams will choose to save seeds and use a second-grade rice variety for another season, which can significantly reduce the cost of purchasing seeds.

The rice varieties produced by Yaoling Commune and the breeding center are relatively fixed each season, resulting in a surplus that provides opportunities for neighboring provinces.

"That's good! Secretary Fang, you're the authority in this area. We'll listen to you on production matters. I'm only here to get a general understanding of the situation; I won't interfere recklessly."

Qi Haiyang breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

As a major breeding county, his outstanding achievements are both his asset and his pressure. Fang Wei is now highly sought after, and even he doesn't dare to directly order her around.

Fortunately, Fang Wei is not the type to become arrogant after achieving success, and he is never careless in his work.

"Please rest assured, Director Qi, I will never let you down at this crucial moment."

Fang Wei made a promise to Qi Haiyang, and the conversation became much easier afterwards.

He sat in the office for more than half an hour before taking his leave.

So far in the breeding work, the only thing that has stumped Fang Wei is land. The lack of designated land makes it impossible to increase the supply of rice seeds, thus hindering their promotion.

In fact, he has been doing this all these years, starting from a small plot of land to cultivate seeds. There is no question of whether he can succeed, only a question of scale.

Therefore, his confidence stems from his strength; with 12 mu of designated paddy fields in hand, he can guarantee that there will be no problem with rice production throughout the province.

When Fang Wei returned home from the county town, he saw his grandfather and Guan Chongyang playing chess. The old man's chess skills had declined somewhat, and his grandfather wasn't much better; they were locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.

Sun Daoren was sitting in the courtyard preparing herbs. Fang Wei had quite a lot in stock, so he could take some from here if needed. He charged for the herbs, but he didn't charge for treatment, which made him very respected in the team.

"Old Sun, you rest, I'll take care of it."

Fang Wei greeted everyone with a smile, but the chess players didn't even look up, only responding with a single word.

He didn't disturb the two of them, washed his face, and went to help Master Sun.

After a while, Binbin came home from school. The little guy put down his schoolbag and ran over to watch the two of them busy. He stood there for a long time without moving.

"Binbin, are you interested in this?"

Sun Daoren found it strange; Binbin was usually so lively and energetic, it was rare to see him so quiet.

And this wasn't the first time; whenever he prepared herbal medicine or treated patients, the little guy liked to watch from the sidelines.

"Yes, I want to treat patients when I grow up."

The little guy's answer surprised Fang Wei. Did this kid have ambitions?

Master Sun couldn't help but laugh and said, "Alright, if you want to learn, I can teach you, but you have to be able to endure hardship. First, memorize a few basic books for me. Can you do that?"

"can!"

Binbin answered loudly, probably not quite understanding what he was about to face.

Fang Wei smiled and nodded, indicating that he did not object to Sun Daoren's suggestion.

"Alright! Go do your homework and review your lessons first. You can't neglect your studies. I can teach you in your spare time, but you must follow my instructions. If you can't, I won't teach you."

Master Sun was very happy. Although he had been away from the Sanqing Temple for so many years, he still had a good attitude.

Perhaps different stages of life bring different insights. He felt that spiritual practice doesn't necessarily have to be done in the deep mountains far from the world; one can practice spiritual practice just as well in the world.

He has saved many people over the years, so he feels this even more deeply.

Now the little guy wants to learn medicine from him, and he's willing to teach him everything he knows. As for whether the boy can actually learn it, that's beyond his control.

"Okay, okay! I'll go do my homework now."

Fang Hongbin responded happily, then dashed into the house to do his homework.

Sun Daoren and Fang Wei exchanged a smile. Neither of them knew whether the child's interest was just a passing fad or if he genuinely wanted to learn medicine.

When Pan Lianhua came home from get off work later, she was quite puzzled to see her son concentrating on his homework. Had the boy suddenly become enlightened? Later, Fang Wei explained the whole story to her, and she suddenly realized what had happened.

Provided it doesn't interfere with his studies, she doesn't object to Binbin learning something from Master Sun.

The next day.

After having breakfast, Fang Wei went to inspect the old homesteads cleared out by various production teams.

All the old houses in each team have been demolished and cleared, leaving only open spaces. The cleanup work took a long time and has only just been completed.

"Secretary, Team Two plans to cultivate vegetable seeds on the cleared land, Team One wants to build a fishpond, and each team has a different idea."

Zhao Jinsheng accompanied Fang Wei on a tour of the various production teams and explained the relevant information to him.

The cleared land isn't ideal for farmland; it would likely take years of cultivation to restore its fertility. Actually, fishponds would be a good option. The production team has abundant water resources; a short irrigation ditch would be sufficient to meet production needs.

"We need to call a meeting with all the team leaders later and come up with a solution as soon as possible."

Fang Wei did not make a decision immediately, but instead prepared to hold a meeting to discuss it with everyone.

Finally, a choice will be made based on everyone's opinions; there won't be everyone acting independently, just choosing one option. Since they were already there, Fang Wei took the opportunity to visit the dormitories of the educated youth in each team and chat with them. The vast majority of the educated youth were content with their current situation; in the previous college entrance examination, only three people from the entire brigade left, and most stayed.

In the past two years, recruitment of educated youth to return to the city has basically stalled. Some educated youth with ideas went to bamboo ware factories and hardware factories, while others took root in the front line of agricultural and forestry production and have become the backbone of the team.

The team's policy was to provide housing for those who got married, whether it was a marriage between an educated youth and a local or between educated youths themselves.

After the completion of the new housing project for educated youth, there are still many vacant houses, which are intended for young people. If there are not enough houses to go around in the future, the team will invest funds for small-scale renovations.

“Secretary Fang, we’ve actually come to terms with it. What’s the point of going back to the city? If we don’t have good jobs and our income is far less than what we earn in the team, then I’d rather stay here.”

During the Spring Festival, Fang Wei granted leave to all the educated youth in the team to visit their families and reunite with them.

Last year, the team's dividends set a record, with each person receiving an average of 1200 yuan in cash. Which educated youth didn't return home carrying large bags and small packages?
The reason why educated youth in other places were clamoring to return to the city was because the living conditions there were too harsh, and even basic needs such as food, housing, and medical care could not be met.

On the contrary, in Xiatang Brigade, apart from the fact that the infrastructure cannot compare with that of the city, the per capita income, living standards and happiness are in no way inferior to those in the city.

For example, some of the educated youth who were recruited to work in the mines regretted it. Not only were they stuck in the wilderness all day, but the work was also very strenuous and dangerous. It was much better to stay in Xiatang Brigade.

Good and bad are relative. After visiting relatives during the Spring Festival, many educated youth were not so eager to go back.

“Don’t overthink it. In a year or two, everyone will be able to return to the city. I’m just worried that some of you won’t want to go back then. Actually, there’s nothing wrong with staying in the countryside. The key is that the team’s economy can be improved so that everyone can benefit.”

Fang Wei felt very gratified. The only unstable factor at present was this group of educated youth. As long as they could settle down, there would be no trouble in the team.

Furthermore, some of the educated youth who were sent to the countryside are quite old, and they have all found partners among themselves. Some of them even have grown children, yet they still haven't gotten married.

Fang Wei didn't know what to do. Anyway, attending nursery and primary school in the team wouldn't be affected, but going to middle school would definitely cause trouble.

He could only entrust this matter to the women's director to work on the female educated youth. He didn't need to worry about the results, since it wouldn't be long before the educated youth returned to the city on a large scale.

night.

Yu Hao and his wife brought their child to Fang Wei's house for dinner, and Guan Chongyang and Sun Daoren also came.

When it comes to the issue of educated youth sent to the countryside, Yu Hao has his own thoughts:

“I’m not leaving. The policies are getting better and better. I’ll stay and work at the bamboo ware factory. I’ll definitely earn more than if I went back to the city to work in a factory.”

"The problem isn't with you, it's with the child. The biggest differences between the city and the countryside are in the convenience of life, opportunities, education, healthcare, and so on. You need to be careful about this. Even if you register your household in the city, you can still work in the bamboo ware factory, right?"

Liang Xueqin has her own ideas. She even had a second child in the first two years, and now she focuses almost all her attention on her children.

Fang Wei smiled without saying anything. He couldn't offer his opinion on this matter; he could only let the couple make the decision. Household registration is important in some ways, but not in others; it all depends on where your household registration is located.

Of course, from a realistic point of view, he still felt that Liang Xueqin was right.

Yu Hao clearly lacked confidence in front of his wife and, not daring to argue with her, abruptly changed the subject.

at night.

Pan Lianhua whispered in Fang Wei's ear, "Third Brother, have you thought about the future of our two children?"

She said that because she was influenced by Liang Xueqin's words.

"How could I not have thought of that? It would be best if Binbin and Xiaojie could study hard and go to university so they could go wherever they want. It doesn't matter if they're not cut out for it; the flow of people will gradually change in the future."

They'll have many options in the future. If they want to become city dwellers, I'll help them register their residency there. In short, no matter how well they do, they have a safety net—they can always come back. I can guarantee they'll be well-off for the rest of their lives.

Fang Wei talked a lot with his wife, saying that there were countless possibilities for their children's future and that he hoped they would be successful.

It doesn't matter if she's really useless; she can always come back and inherit the family fortune. Will Fang Wei ever lack money again?
Pan Lianhua laughed uncontrollably after hearing this. She liked men with such an optimistic personality, and since she wasn't the type to overthink things, she fell asleep soon after.

Starting the next day, Binbin began to learn medicine from Sun Daoren in his spare time. At the beginning, he definitely had to memorize a lot of things, from the identification of medicinal materials to the compatibility of medicinal materials, as well as some classic works of traditional Chinese medicine.

Fang Wei also wanted to see if her son had the perseverance, so she didn't interfere with him, as long as it didn't interfere with his studies.

morning.

The team leaders from each production team came to the brigade headquarters to discuss how to use the vacant old residential land.

These open spaces together cover an area of ​​about 300 acres, which is neither too much nor too little, and enough to do some things.

Some suggested using it to cultivate vegetable seeds, others suggested incorporating it into dry, sloping land, and still others suggested building fish ponds to address the team's shortcomings in aquaculture.

The meat people usually talk about is "chicken, duck, fish and meat". The team raised chickens, ducks and pigs, but the only thing they lacked was fish.

Of course, you can still buy them from time to time now, and skilled members can also catch fish from the river, but it's still not very stable.

It's no wonder that people have this "self-sufficient" small-farmer mentality; they're just too afraid of poverty. Who knows if there will be problems with the supply of goods in the future?
City dwellers have rations, but they don't; being self-sufficient is the best option.

After discussions, everyone was inclined to build fish ponds, which would not only benefit the members but also generate good economic returns.

For example, in Tianbingyi Brigade, the freshwater fish produced are in short supply, and people often can't buy them even if they want to.

Fang Wei himself doesn't lack fish to eat; Tian Bingyi often sends people to deliver live fish to his home, but he has to consider everyone's opinions.

"Alright! Let's set up the fishpond then. Old Zhao, I'm leaving this to you. Now let's get to work and hopefully we can reap some rewards soon."

Fang Wei made the final decision: the team would prepare to build a fishpond.

The technique for raising freshwater fish isn't very complicated; most people have some experience, since some production teams used to raise fish. It's just that later, due to food shortages, the fishponds were filled in to grow rice.

After the meeting, Zhao Jinsheng immediately led his team to take action.

He figured he could do the 300-mu fishpond project himself, and since he wasn't too busy at the time, he organized the commune members and educated youth to work together to dig the fishpond.

In the local area, fish farming in fishponds is an old tradition and not a big deal.

Fang Wei took some time to visit her second sister's house, told Tian Bingyi about the team's plans to raise fish, and asked for his help.

Tian Bingyi readily agreed, after all, he had gone ahead and accumulated some valuable experience. (End of Chapter)