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

Fang Wei didn't go to the meeting in the township. He guessed that there was only one topic to be discussed at this meeting: public security.

He didn't want to do anything right now; he just wanted to stay home quietly.

"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

Zhao Jinsheng then left and sent a director to a meeting.

After having lunch, Fang Wei took a short nap. When he woke up, he went straight to find Master Sun.

"Old Master Sun, I'm planning to visit Sanqing Temple soon. Is there anything you need to bring with you?"

Sun Daoren was busy in the clinic at the moment, organizing the herbs in the medicine cabinet. Hearing this, he stopped what he was doing.

"There's no need to bring them anything. The higher authorities have allocated funds for maintenance, and the temple is thriving with worshippers. They won't go hungry."

He had received a letter from his disciple a few days ago, so he knew quite well about the situation at Sanqing Temple.

In the past two years, temples across the country have begun emergency protection efforts. Although the maintenance funds allocated by the central government are not large, they still demonstrate an attitude.

Sanqing Temple has also begun to open to the public, and tourists or believers will occasionally go up the mountain to burn incense and draw lots. Naturally, some people will donate money and goods to the temple.

Sun Daoren's two disciples finally saw their hardships end, at least they no longer had to worry about making a living.

"Wow, you've completely turned things around. Okay, if you don't have anything to bring, just write it in an envelope and I'll take it over for you."

Fang Wei couldn't help but chuckle, thinking about how the old Taoist's two apprentices had really had it tough, finally making it through all these years.

As Sun Daoren grew older, he found it increasingly difficult to trek through mountains and rivers.

"No need. I just replied to them a few days ago. You can go and take a look."

Since Master Sun had no intention of going up the mountain or bringing anything with him, Fang Wei left the infirmary.

During dinner that evening, he told Pan Lianhua that he was going to visit Sanqing Temple and would leave first thing the next morning.

"Third Brother, how many days are you going to be gone?"

"I'll be back in about a day or two. I'm just going up the mountain to take a look. What, you want to go too?"

"Yes, if it's a short trip, I'll go with you, but if it's too long, I can't leave the factory."

Pan Lianhua also wanted to visit the Taoist temple, so she told a deputy factory director and set off with Fang Wei early the next morning.

The two continued along the ancient post road, and when they arrived at the foot of the mountain where Sanqing Temple was located, they were suddenly shocked by the bustling scene in the area.

This place has practically turned into a huge construction site. The mountain path leading down from the Taoist temple gate is being paved with stone steps, while a highway is being built on the other side.

Fang Wei had never heard Sun Daoren mention this matter before, or perhaps even Sun Daoren was unaware of it.

The two quickly went up the mountain and arrived at the Taoist temple.

"Secretary Fang, it's been a long time since you've been here! Please come in!"

Sun Daoren's disciple respectfully welcomed the couple inside and then explained the current situation.

The previous government funding was used to build stone steps, while the road leading to Sanqing Temple was built with government investment. In the future, cars will be able to drive up to the mountainside, where some infrastructure will be built.

For example, parking lots, places for tourists to rest, and so on.

Fang Wei also thought it was great. He could drive here next time. According to the project's progress, it should be completed by the end of this year or the beginning of next year at the latest.

It was already afternoon, and there weren't many tourists in the Taoist temple, so the couple strolled around and looked around at their leisure.

"Oh? Daoist priest, you've increased your manpower? Are they disciples you two have taken in?"

"No, no, we haven't taken on any apprentices. We didn't hire many of them to help out. Sometimes when there are a lot of tourists, even the two of us can't keep up."

Fang Wei saw other Taoist priests in the Taoist temple and was quite curious.

Only after Sun Daoren's disciple explained did he understand that they had come to help, and were not real Taoist priests.

Actually, the two of them also wanted to take on disciples, but since Master Sun was not on the mountain, the matter was put on hold. They planned to bring their master up the mountain after the road was repaired, and then hold a formal disciple-acceptance ceremony.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua walked around for about an hour, then went inside to sit down and have some tea.

night.

The temple prepared a feast, a complete upgrade from what it used to be.

This was partly due to the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Fang, and partly because it showed that the Taoist temple was doing well.

“We also have plans to renovate the Taoist temple, but we need to wait for Master’s approval. We have everything we need on the mountain now, thanks to the care of Secretary Fang. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to hold on until now.”

The two Taoist priests expressed their gratitude to Fang Wei by offering him tea instead of wine.

"We're all family here, no need to be so polite. We're mainly here to visit everyone and relax a bit. We'll be leaving in the next day or two."

Fang Wei didn't care about the past. He helped the Taoist temple not only because of Sun Daoren, but also because he didn't want this Taoist temple with a long history to be completely destroyed.

Since it's not for personal gain, there's no need for thanks from others.

Afterwards, the two Taoist priests chatted about the current situation of the Taoist temple, which was indeed much better than before.

Had a meal.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua went to bed early. The Taoist temple did not allow tourists to stay overnight, so it was very quiet at night.

Get up early in the morning.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua went to the back mountain to exercise and saw that the reclaimed fields were planted with rice and all kinds of vegetables.

"Third Brother, the two Taoist priests have arrived."

Fang Wei walked around the edge of the field and saw that all kinds of crops were growing well.

At this moment, Pan Lianhua gave a reminder, and Fang Wei turned his head and saw two Taoist priests hopping over with buckets of water.

"Good morning, two Daoist masters!"

"Good morning, Secretary Fang and Ms. Pan."

The two were there to water the vegetable garden, and judging from how quickly they worked, they must have done a lot of farm work.

"Master, given the current situation at the temple, it seems unnecessary for you to continue farming yourself, right?"

Fang Wei was very curious. The temple should be quite wealthy now, so it was impossible for Sun Daoren's two disciples to still need to be self-sufficient.

"Yes, yes, Master said this is also part of cultivation."

The Taoist priest responded with a smile, saying that his master's teachings were still ringing in his ears and he dared not forget them for a moment.

Moreover, they did not see it as a chore, but rather as part of their spiritual practice.

Fang Wei nodded, thinking that the two of them were worthy of being disciples of Master Sun, as they had not forgotten their roots.

After breakfast, he and Pan Lianhua went to the main hall where Guan Chongyang's memorial tablet was enshrined and lit three incense sticks to express their grief for the old man.

Every year during the Qingming Festival, Fang Wei would visit his parents' graves and also visit Grandpa Guan's grave. This had become a tradition in the Fang family, without exception.

“Secretary Fang, there’s a flying stone on a mountain peak ten miles from the Taoist temple. It’s worth seeing. The scenery there is also quite nice. Would you and your wife like to go and take a look?” Fang Wei was quite comfortable on the mountain and planned to go back tomorrow.

One of the Taoist priests pointed them to a good place with beautiful scenery, where tourists often go.

Fang Wei asked Pan Lianhua, who said she wanted to see it, so the two headed southwest. And indeed, the scenery there was quite beautiful, especially the enormous flying rock, perched alone on the mountain peak—it was magnificent.

Around noon, Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua returned to the Taoist temple.

At this hour, there are quite a few tourists in the Taoist temple, with people coming and going, making it very lively.

Early the next morning.

Fang Wei and Pan Lianhua left the Taoist temple and walked along the back mountain into the forest, taking a shortcut back home.

"Sister, we picked some wild mushrooms along the way, we'll stew them with chicken tonight."

There are still some mushrooms to be found in the mountains at this time of year, and the two picked some along the way. It just so happened that the older sister had bought two chickens today, so Pan Lianhua asked her to stew them.

It's still late afternoon, there's plenty of time.

After her sister finished stewing the chicken, Pan Lianhua took Fang Wei to deliver a thermos of stewed chicken to her son. Only after they returned did the family begin to eat dinner.

"Master Sun, the Taoist temple is bustling with tourists now, so you can rest assured, right? Also, your two disciples want to take on apprentices; they'd like to know if you agree?"

During the meal, Fang Wei explained the situation of the Taoist temple to Sun Daoren in detail.

I specifically mentioned the construction of roads and stone steps on the mountain, and told them that the road would be open to traffic around the end of the year, making it much more convenient to visit Sanqing Temple.

"These two lads have finally made something of themselves; they did both things quite well."

Sun Daoren was very pleased and planned to return to Daoren to take a look once the road was repaired.

Many people don't understand why he doesn't return to the Sanqing Temple, but Fang Wei understands. This is a path of cultivation he has chosen; he may eventually return, but not now.

The next day.

Fang Wei sent the lotus flower to the township early in the morning, and then went to the office to look at the documents.

There hasn't been much going on at the commune these past few days, but the entire county has launched a "Clear Sky Campaign" to maintain social order, eliminating a large number of bad apples. According to the briefing statistics, the results are quite significant.

In the span of about half a year, the atmosphere in the county was rectified. Who would dare to play the game of feigning compliance with Huang Zhigang?
Fang Wei's impression of Huang Zhigang changed drastically. Huang Zhigang had encountered setbacks at the time and couldn't even handle the Wu brothers' case, but he didn't say anything.

Then, over a long period of time, they gradually and subtly defeated the enemy one by one, and only then did they turn the tide in one fell swoop.

Fang Wei was amazed by the other party's forbearance, restraint, skill, and determination.

"Secretary, are you looking at the documents?"

At this moment, Zhao Jinsheng walked in and greeted him with a smile.

"Old Zhao, come and sit down."

Fang Wei then got up, made the other person a cup of tea, and waited quietly for them to speak.

"The county is calling on everyone to actively plant rapeseed, and mobilization has already begun in various villages. How should we respond?"

Zhao Jinsheng's biggest headache right now is dealing with the relationship with the township, and the township's biggest headache is dealing with the cooperative.

The cooperatives are self-contained systems, and it's no use for the township to go door-to-door to mobilize them, since they haven't had their land distributed to individual households. However, the township always seems a bit hesitant when dealing with the cooperatives, and often the cooperatives are uncooperative.

This project, spearheaded by the county's agricultural bureau, was actually a requirement from the region, but the actual work is proving to be quite challenging.

“Don’t we have a production plan? We will plant one crop of rapeseed for winter this year, but it’s uncertain next year. You should report this idea to the township.”

Fang Wei didn't care much about this. The township didn't have much power to control farmers, at least not enough to force them to plant anything.

The cooperative has its own development plan and will not accept this so-called "mobilization." It will simply follow the production plan.

"Okay, I know what to do. I'll give the township an answer later."

Zhao Jinsheng thought so too; his main purpose in coming here was to give Fang Wei a heads-up.

After chatting for a while, Zhao Jinsheng got up and left. As the vice chairman, he was like a former brigade leader, personally overseeing every detail, much busier than Fang Weike.

After he left, several other directors came in one after another to talk to Fang Wei about work, and the morning passed by in a hurry.

It's approaching noon.

Fang Wei was about to leave the office when Zhang Wenyuan suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

"Wen Yuan? When did you get back?"

"I arrived last night. I'm back to report to the council, and I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

"Have you gone home? I saw your parents a few days ago, and they looked to be in good spirits."

“I came from home, Party Secretary. Are you free at noon? Come over to my place for a couple of drinks.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhang Wenyuan invited Fang Wei to his home for dinner. He also invited Zhao Jinsheng, Zheng Bao, and others, but omitted any unfamiliar council members.

Fang Wei nodded in agreement, but he still needed to go back and tell his sister and grandfather so they wouldn't wait for him to eat together.

noon.

Fang Wei, Zhao Jinsheng, and others were drinking at Zhang Wenyuan's house, during which they talked about things in Xiangshan.

It wasn't a business discussion; we talked more about interesting local stories. Work wasn't urgent, since Zhang Wenyuan had to report to the council tomorrow anyway.

"Old Zhang, I have a nephew from my maternal side who wants to go out to work. How about you arrange for him to work in an air conditioner factory?"

As they were chatting, Zheng Hu suddenly said to Zhang Wenyuan.

"It's a small matter. Just let him go to Xiangshan to find me himself. But once he gets to the factory, he'll have to earn his living through his own abilities and start as a worker on the production line."

"Thanks then. I'll have him go to Fragrant Hills to find you later."

Arranging for people to work in the factory was a piece of cake for Zhang Wenyuan.

Now that the household responsibility system has been implemented, the contradiction between labor and land has become increasingly prominent. What to do when there are too many people and too little land? Young people have chosen to go out to work.

Since cooperative members have good incomes, few of them go out to work on their own; they are usually arranged by the cooperative to go to Xiangshan.

Zheng Bao's maternal nephew is from Taoling Township, where the average income is not very high. He mainly heard that people could earn more money in Xiangshan.

Everyone chatted and laughed, but no one drank freely, since many of them had other things to do in the afternoon.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they all dispersed. Fang Wei, seeing that it was still early, went back to sleep for a while. He slept for about half an hour before his older sister woke him up.

"Third brother, someone is looking for you. They say it's urgent and you need to go to the commune right away."

Fang Wei quickly got up and went to the office.

"What happened?"

At this moment, Zhao Jinsheng and others were waiting for him. He didn't even go into his office before going to the conference room with everyone.

After sitting down, Fang Wei quickly asked a question. (End of Chapter)