The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 200 Farewell to the Mountains
The two chatted as they walked around the farmland, sometimes going uphill, sometimes downhill.

The terraced fields of the brigade are planted with a variety of vegetables: green peppers, cucumbers, chili peppers, bitter melons, loofahs, and water spinach.

Near the water source, winter melons, celery, and other vegetables are planted, and large tracts of land are used to grow potatoes and onions.

Each field is well-managed and the crops are growing well.

Qian Jin noticed that all the field ridges were straight and neat, the drainage ditches were cleaned up, and even the weeds along the field edges had been pulled out completely.

Xiping Production Brigade is indeed skilled at growing vegetables, and is also suitable for growing vegetables.

Upon reaching a platform halfway up the mountain, Zhou Tiezhen stopped and pointed to the side: "Director Qian, look over there."

Qian Jin looked in the direction Zhou Tiezhen was pointing and saw a group of villagers clearing new terraced fields on a distant hillside.

Some people were digging the soil with pickaxes, some were pushing carts to transport stones, and others were building ridges around the fields.

The collective's red flag was planted on the hillside, fluttering gently in the breeze, while work chants could be faintly heard.

Qian Jin said, "You're still reclaiming wasteland? Good, your brigade has good drive."

“We plan to develop the entire Nanshan area next year,” Zhou Tiezhen said, his eyes sparkling. “We’ll grow more vegetables, and also watermelons and cantaloupes. Nanshan has a lot of sandy soil, which is perfect for growing watermelons. They’re ten times more profitable than growing grain!”

Qian Jin stood on the platform, looking down at the terraced fields below.

The August sun was scorching, but the vibrant greenery covering the mountains and fields diluted the spiciness.

The mountain breeze was refreshing, and the aroma of various vegetable leaves mixed together gave the breeze a unique flavor.

The way down the mountain was much easier than the way up.

Qian Jin kept looking back at the vibrant terraced fields. The sunlight shone on the vegetable leaves, making them gleam, as if the whole mountain was glowing.

He has a sense of accomplishment.

Xiping Production Brigade was one of his masterpieces in poverty alleviation.

Zhou Tiezhen took him back to the brigade headquarters.

Over the course of several months, the environment at the brigade headquarters changed.

What used to be an empty lot is now completely covered with red bricks, all of which were allocated by Qian Jin after he coordinated the project.

It wasn't just given to the Xiping Production Brigade; other brigades also received some. The main purpose was for the brigade collectives to repair warehouses and main roads, as the local people couldn't afford to buy red bricks to build new houses.

The two entered the office, where watermelons were already laid out on the desk.

Upon seeing Qian Jin, Wang Xiaoying, the women's director, patted the watermelon, making a dull thud: "Director Qian, how's this watermelon?"

This watermelon is huge, it must weigh over twenty pounds.

Qian Jin had seen countless large watermelons in the 21st century, but these days, all the watermelons grown in Xiping Mountain are local varieties. A watermelon weighing over ten jin (5 kg) is considered large, and it's rare for one to grow to twenty jin (10 kg).

Zhou Tiezhen wiped his sweat and said, "What's so special about melons? Where's the pig? Has it been slaughtered yet?"

Qian Jin was surprised when he heard this: "You're going to slaughter the pig for the New Year? When did you arrange this? We've been together the whole time."

Zhou Tiezhen chuckled: "We've been together all along, but aren't there plenty of people in the fields? When you go to check on the vegetables, it'll be a piece of cake for me to say a few words!"

“Our brigade raised three black-haired pigs on the back mountain.” Sweat beaded on his bronze neck, and he couldn’t help but wipe it with a towel again. “They were specially saved for you, but you never stay for dinner, so the pigs have been left until now.”

Qian Jin stopped him: "You should go and see what's going on with this hot weather. Eating pork will cause internal heat."

"Besides, what does your brigade have in abundance? Fresh vegetables, and as you just said, these vegetables are all high-quality, you can't get them in the city."

"What's wrong? I'm about to go back to the city. Aren't you going to let me try some of your team's vegetables?"

Zhou Tiezhen sneered: "No matter how good the vegetables are, they can't compare to meat. Who would use a table full of greens to entertain distinguished guests?"

"Besides, this is a farewell banquet for you," Wang Xiaoying added. "Our brigade must bring out all the good stuff."

Qian Jin's attitude was firm: "The best thing about your brigade is vegetables!"

"If you're going to stew meat today, I'll find it boring. I just want to try your stir-fries."

Wang Xiaoying saw his resolute attitude and was immediately caught in a dilemma.

She looked at Zhou Tiezhen: "Captain, this..."

“If we don’t listen to Director Qian today, and we don’t slaughter the pig, we’ll feel terrible even if outsiders criticize us behind our backs,” Zhou Tiezhen shouted.

Qian Jin said, "What's wrong? Are you worried that I won't be able to afford pork in the city?"

"Let me tell you, I really don't want to eat pork. I want to eat something you have here but not in the city, like wild rabbit. You have rabbits here, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tiezhen was stunned: "Damn, you want to eat rabbit? I should have kept those rabbits I caught yesterday and braised them for you!"

There are indeed rabbits in the mountains, but the problem is that there aren't many of them, and they're not easy to catch.

Otherwise, if the commune members just tried to catch rabbits in the mountains, how could they go months without eating meat?

Qian Jin quickly corrected himself: "No, I was just giving an example, I didn't really want to eat rabbit..."

Wang Xiaoying realized what was going on and said, "What about other things? How about cicada nymphs? The cicadas the kids caught? Or the little silver fish from our mountain spring, or the big grasshoppers from the haystack? Would those work?"

Qian Jin slapped his thigh upon hearing this: "That's wonderful!"

Zhou Tiezhen is a simple-minded and easily fooled person; otherwise, he wouldn't have done something like this: Ma Defu said, "I just want a drink of water," and Zhou Tiezhen actually only prepared tea for Ma Defu but didn't prepare lunch.

Now that he heard Qian Jin loves to eat wild game from the mountains, he immediately took action: "No more slaughtering pigs!"

"Go, Erhu, Damin, you two go to the pickle jar and find cicadas. If that's not enough, let those bastards catch some cicadas so that Director Qian can have a fresh one."

"You good-for-nothing, you good-for-nothing, go to the second team and find someone to quickly catch silverfish, and also find someone to collect grasshoppers. Oh dear, our brigade has plenty of these things. Director Qian loves to eat them, so make sure he eats his fill!"

The young man nicknamed "Straw Bag" asked, "Does Director Qian like to eat bean worms? I saw my second sister-in-law and the others go to the soybean field to pick bean worms today. They smell so good when they're roasted."

Zhou Tiezhen waved his hand and said, "Yes, definitely!"

Qian Jin sat inside, munching on a watermelon, looking utterly helpless.

I originally wanted to reduce their burden.

The result was that it added to the burden.

He had a good reputation, prestige, and popularity in the brigade, and the members genuinely loved and respected him.

Upon learning that he was being transferred, the old men who hadn't gone to work all came looking for him, holding his hands with teary eyes.

Upon learning that he wanted to eat vegetables and wild game, all the spare hands in the team were mobilized, and many children with nothing to do shouted that they wanted to go catch cicadas, fish, and grasshoppers...

Seven or eight other children, being bolder, ran up to Qian Jin and said, "Director Qian, we'll take you to play in the back mountain, it'll be so much fun!"

"That's right, Director Qian, you're going to the city. If you go to the city, then there will be no back mountain."

"Uncle Qian, let's go to the back mountain together."

Zhou Tiezhen came out and waved people away: "Get out of here, get out of here, can't you see Director Qian needs to rest?"

Qian Jin stopped him and said, "I've been to your brigade several times and climbed the mountain several times, but every time I go it's for business or official business. I've never actually gone out to play."

"The children were so kind to invite me today, and they're right. Once I go back to the city, I won't have the chance to go up the mountain anymore. So I'll go with them today, broaden my horizons, and learn something new!"

The main reason was that he couldn't bear the sight of the old men holding his hands with teary eyes.

The old men were genuinely kind, which moved him deeply, and he kept trying to give them money.

But he didn't bring much money with him today.

So, I decided to take the children for a walk in the back hills to relax.

The children were well-prepared; some carried bamboo poles, some held tin cans, and others carried small bamboo baskets, chattering like a nest of little sparrows.

Qian Jin mingled with them, and their laughter grew even louder as they skipped and hopped into the gullies behind the mountain.

The mountain breeze was exceptionally refreshing in the morning, carrying the scents of spring water and green grass.

A boy named Tiedan handed his long bamboo pole to Qian Jin: "Uncle Qian, you can catch cicadas later. It's so much fun! They chirp as soon as you catch them, and they pee as soon as you catch them!"

The stone next to him, like a treasure, pulled a lump of wet gluten from his pocket: "My grandma knew that Director Qian wanted to eat cicadas, so she specially used live ones from home. They're the best for catching cicadas!"

Qian Jin took the sticky gluten ball, smelled it, and noticed the fresh scent of wheat.

This is a good thing; even the elderly person probably wouldn't use it to steam buns.

He sighed as he wrapped the gluten around the top of the bamboo pole and pressed it firmly to make sure it was stuck.

The children burst into laughter upon seeing this.

Erniu pointed at his bamboo pole: "Uncle Qian, you've wrapped too much! It's such a big clump, the cicadas can see it from far away and run away!"

Qian Jin scratched his head sheepishly.

When he was a child, there were special sticky balls for catching cicadas; he never used gluten to catch cicadas.

So when I saw the stone hand me a piece, I thought I'd have to use them all.

Qian Jin's eyes lit up when he thought of the special adhesive.

He said, "You wait here, I have a cicada-catching device that a scientist from the city just invented."

The children didn't understand what the magical artifact meant and kept scratching their heads.

Qian Jin quickly found a secluded spot behind a house.

The cicada-catching device was a small thing; the smallest gold box hanging around his neck was enough.

I bought five at a time, and after a few times I bought some small green hands. This stuff is very sticky. Whether it's a cicada or a mosquito, once it touches it, it can't escape!
He took it and distributed it to the children.

Every summer and autumn, children catch cicadas, so they understand the importance of tools.

As Qian Jin handed the little green hand to them, they tried its stickiness and immediately shouted with joy:
"This works great! Look, this is amazing!"

“It’s better than gluten, Stone, take the gluten back to your grandma.”

"Look, if we stick this on the top of the pole, we're definitely going to make a fortune today..."

Qian Jin did not let Shi Tou return the gluten.

The gluten was no longer suitable for cooking, so with the children's guidance, he readjusted the size of the gluten and chose to use it himself.

"Let's go!" Tie Dan waved his hand.

He was the leader of these friends, and he loved to give orders like a general.

The children cheered and headed towards the back of the mountain. Qian Jin followed behind, watching their skipping and jumping figures, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart.

It's a pity I didn't bring a camera, otherwise I would have captured this scene, and it would have been very moving to see it in the 21st century.

The mountain path became narrower and narrower, and the bushes on both sides gradually grew taller than a person's head.

The wild grass grew thicker, obscuring the shallow mountain spring stream on the ground.

The children were used to hiking barefoot in the mountains, and despite the jagged rocks, they didn't care and continued to move forward happily.

Qian Jin's canvas shoes were quickly soaked by the stream, feeling cool and comfortable.

"Shh!" Tie Dan, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and put a finger to his lips.

Everyone held their breath.

Qian Jin looked in the direction Tie Dan pointed and saw a dark brown cicada perched on the trunk of an old locust tree, chirping "squeak-squeak-".

Tie Dan crept closer and slowly raised the bamboo pole.

The other children watched nervously, while Erniu tightly gripped Qian Jin's clothes.

The bamboo pole slowly approached the unsuspecting cicada. Suddenly, Tie Dan flicked his wrist, and the little green hand at the tip of the bamboo pole accurately stuck to the cicada's wings.

"We caught them!" the children cheered.

The little boy proudly picked up the struggling cicada and put it into the canned food he had brought.

The cicadas fluttered around inside the tin box, making a "fluttering" sound.

The others went to look at the little green hand, and Tie Dan said proudly, "Uncle Qian is right, this is a cicada-catching magic tool, it's amazing! Actually, I just stuck a little cicada wing on it, and the cicada couldn't escape!"

"Uncle Qian, it's your turn!" Erniu pushed Qian Jin forward.

The cicadas chirped incessantly from the bushes, and the children eagerly pointed out their locations.

Qian Jin tried to imitate Tie Dan, carefully lifting the bamboo pole, but his hand trembled and the pole hit a nearby tree branch.

With a "splash," the cicada was startled and flew away, leaving behind a puddle of urine.

"Oh dear!" the children exclaimed regretfully, but they didn't care at all, since there were plenty of cicadas in the mountains anyway.

On his third attempt, Qian Jin finally succeeded in catching a cicada.

When he carefully placed his prize into the tin can, the children were even happier than if they had caught it themselves, jumping and skipping around him.

As the sun rose higher, it began to get hot in the mountains.

The children's food cans were already filled with more than a dozen cicadas, their fluttering and chirping filling the air. Tie Dan said excitedly, "Today we have this cicada-catching magic tool, let's catch as many cicadas as we can!"

Every child knows that cicadas are salted and then fried in oil, and they smell delicious.

The people of Xiping were poor and could not afford to eat meat all year round. So in the summer and autumn, they would look for cicadas and catch them, then use the oil they had saved to fry them for their children. The result was fragrant, crispy and delicious meat, a rare treat for the children in the mountains.

A group of children split up, each with a bamboo pole, and almost every time they reached out, they caught something.

The jar was stuffed full of cicadas.

They then found slender and tough thatch grass, threaded the cicadas through it, and tied them into a string.

By the time the little green hands on the bamboo poles lost their stickiness, they had caught three or four hundred cicadas.

"Let's go catch some small fish!" Tie Dan suggested. "Didn't Uncle Qian want to eat small fish?"

Qian Jin explained, "I just said that offhand..."

Ignoring the children, they led them towards a small mountain stream.

The mountain stream was crystal clear, splashing water droplets on the rocks.

Tie Dan was the first to take off his patched-up cloth shoes, roll up his trousers, and wade into the water.

"Old Qian, hurry up and get in the water, it's cool here!" He grinned and waved to Qian Jin.

Qian Jin smiled helplessly.

Well, the relationship has progressed; he's gone from Director Qian to Uncle Qian and now to Old Qian.

Other children also took off their shoes and went into the water, some even taking off their shirts and splashing around shirtless.

Qian Jin followed the children's example, taking off his canvas shoes, rolling up the legs of his dark blue polyester trousers, and carefully stepping into the stream.

The mountain spring water was still icy cold in August, making him shiver.

The pebbles at the bottom of the water have been smoothed by the water flow, and they feel ticklish when you step on them.

"Uncle Qian, look here!" Erniu pointed to a small puddle where the water flow was relatively slow.

Qian Jin bent down to look and sure enough, there were several small silver fish, about an inch long, swimming in the water. Their scales shimmered in the sunlight, like silver needles.

The children immediately sprang into action.

This is their specialty.

Tie Dan and another boy built a temporary dam with stones upstream, while Er Niu led several girls downstream to spread out nets made from old mosquito nets.

Qian Jin was tall and loud, so he was assigned to stand by the puddle to scare away the fish.

"I'll count to three," Tie Dan commanded in a low voice, "One, two, three!"

Qian Jin stirred the puddle with his hand, startling the small fish, which swam downstream and ended up in the net that Er Niu and the others had opened.

The children cheered and hurriedly put the small fish they had caught into the bamboo baskets they had brought.

The bottom of the bamboo basket was lined with damp moss, and small fish were splashing around on it, their silvery surface shimmering.

"Uncle Qian, do you remember that year of severe drought?" Tie Dan suddenly asked, picking small fish out of the net with his hands. "It was this stream that almost dried up."

Qian Jin, of course, didn't remember.

He had never been to Zidian Commune before.

However, he knew that the prefecture and county had been hit by typhoons and floods the year before last.

The children's memories were also somewhat confused, and they all talked at once to him, saying that the drought Tiedan mentioned was something that happened several years ago.

At that time, it hadn't rained for three or four months, and the mountain streams had almost dried up. The whole village had to ration water, and even washing their faces required them to use it sparingly.

Tie Dan proudly told Qian Jin, "I was only this tall back then, and I followed the adults around carrying water every day."

"I probably would have done it back then! My dad said I was worth half a laborer!"

The children chattered away as they continued to work in the stream.

Not only small silver fish, but also some small crucian carp, grass carp, black carp, and sand bream were caught in the net.

Erniu said that she would take these small fish home, coat them in flour, and deep-fry them until even the bones were crispy. It was her grandmother's specialty dish.

The stream was stirred up and became muddy, making it difficult to catch small fish later.

So they switched to catching grasshoppers.

The children clearly had planned the activities in the mountains in advance, so there was no need for consultation; someone made the arrangements, and the others responded.

Qian Jin followed them away from the stream, wiped his wet feet on his trousers, and put his liberation shoes back on.

The mountain road became steeper and the bushes became denser.

The children, like a flock of nimble little goats, moved freely through the woods.

Although Qian Jin often went to the countryside, he was not as familiar with the terrain as these children who grew up in the mountains, and soon he was panting.

"Uncle Qian, come quick!" Erniu's voice came from behind a bush.

Qian Jin thought he had encountered a swarm of grasshoppers, but when he parted the branches and walked over, he saw the children gathered around a clump of low bushes covered with bright red berries.

"This is a mountain jujube, it's so sweet!" Tie Dan picked one and handed it to Qian Jin.

Qian Jin took the bright red berry and put it in his mouth. Instantly, a sweet taste filled his mouth, along with a hint of the unique fragrance of the mountains and fields.

The children skillfully picked the berries, some stuffing them directly into their mouths, while others carefully placed them into the small cloth bags they carried with them.

Qian Jin also joined the picking, and soon tasted several different wild fruits—sweet and sour wild grapes, slightly astringent wild strawberries, and sweet raspberries…

These are all gifts from nature, the most natural snacks for children in the mountains.

It's practically their only snack in the summer.

Actually, if you have enough of this, it's a real game-changer for making jam.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them, and the sources are unstable.

The berries in the mountains are small and thin, and have a very short fruiting period, which means that even the children in the mountain villages who are familiar with their habits can't eat many of them in a year.

Qian Jin got to enjoy it this time.

He was enjoying his meal.

Erniu suddenly asked, "Uncle Qian, I heard you're going to the city? Is it true?"

"Yes." Qian Jin nodded, trying to keep his tone light. "The organization arranged for me to work in the city. My uncle's home is there too, so I have to go back to my own home."

The children immediately quieted down, even the most mischievous Tie Dan fell silent.

Qian Jin chuckled upon seeing this: "What's wrong? You're still reluctant to part with me?"

Tie Dan shouted, "Of course I'm reluctant! My parents say you're the best cadre. If you become a cadre in the commune, life will be much better for our brigade!"

The eldest child spoke up, and the other children followed suit:

"You're the best person ever. You brought grain, biscuits, and candy to my grandfather's house. What other leader would do that?"

"Uncle Qian, you approved the dual-agent store for our brigade. Without you, how could our brigade have a dual-agent store?"

Qian Jin said, "It's alright. Although I've been transferred, the new director of the supply and marketing cooperative is still an acquaintance of your parents and a very good person."

"When are you leaving?" Tie Dan asked.

"Let's wait a few days," Qian Jin said.

He wasn't very familiar with these children; to be precise, he only knew the names of two or three before today.

But he didn't expect that the children were so familiar with him and had such deep feelings for him.

visible.

Ordinary people are very simple.

As long as leading cadres wholeheartedly care about them and serve them wholeheartedly, they will keep the leading cadres in their hearts!
Qian Jin was thinking of comforting the children, but just as he was about to speak to Tie Dan, Tie Dan broke free of his iron feet and disappeared into the bushes.

The other children also quietly dispersed, each disappearing into the bushes. All that could be heard was the rustling of leaves, but no one could be seen.

"Uncle Qian!" Tie Dan's voice suddenly came from deep within the bushes, "Try this, it's guaranteed to be sweet!"

What he was holding was a yellow berry that Qian Jin had never seen before. It was shaped like a small lantern, with a skin so thin it was transparent, and you could see the seeds inside.

"These are mountain lanterns, they grow in shady places, they're really hard to find." Tie Dan shoved them all at him.

The other children had also gone inside to search for the mountain lanterns, and now they came out one after another, handing over the mountain lanterns they had been reluctant to eat to Qian Jin.

Qian Jin accepted the wild fruits offered to him by the children like treasures and put them into his mouth one by one.

It's not just mountain lanterns, but also other fruits.

The mountain lanterns were indeed very sweet, but some of the fruits were so sour that he squinted his eyes.

The taste is just as great.

Seeing that he was eating with relish, Shi Tou asked, "Uncle Qian, do you have these kinds of fruits in your city?"

“They sell fruit in the city too, my aunt lives there,” a girl whispered, “but it’s not as sweet as the fruit from our mountains, is it, Uncle Qian?”

Qian Jin nodded: "Yes, the fruit bought in the city can't compare to the freshly picked fruit we get."

"Is the city very big? Are there many cars?" a little boy who was usually quiet asked timidly.

"Do city people eat white flour buns every day?" another child interjected.

The children bombarded each other with questions about the city, and Qian Jin patiently answered them one by one.

They sat on a large rock by the stream, sharing the wild fruits they had picked. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Tie Dan looked up at the sun through the leaves, then quickly stood up and patted the grass clippings off his bottom: "Uncle Qian, we should go back, it's noon."

He directed the other children to tidy up their things like a little adult, saying, "Take the fish and cicadas with you, don't spill them."

The way down the mountain was much easier than the way up.

Qian Jin walked at the back, watching the children skipping and jumping in front of him.

Tie Dan and Er Niu walked in front, glancing back at him every now and then, as if afraid he would get lost.

As they passed an open area, the children suddenly stopped and pointed to the terraced fields in the distance, asking Qian Jin to look.

Under the sunlight, the vegetables in the terraced fields gleamed with a vibrant green, tomatoes hung from the branches like little red lanterns, eggplants shone with a deep purple hue, and bean trellises were neatly arranged...

"Uncle Qian," Tiedan said earnestly, "when you go to the city, don't forget about Xiping. When the vegetables are harvested, I'll have Dad send some to you."

Qian Jin couldn't help but laugh.

This kid speaks and acts like an adult, but he's not quite an adult.

That's why it looks so adorable.

He bent down and looked Tie Dan straight in the eyes: "I will never forget."

"You must also remember Uncle Qian's words, study hard, and I will come back after autumn. I will ask your brigade leader to take you all with me, and we will go to the city to play in a big truck."

"Go eat at state-run restaurants, go swing in the park, go to the cinema, and go to the children's palace to read books!"

The children cried out, "Let's go to the city! Let's go to the city!"

"Uncle Qian, I will definitely study hard. I'm the top student in the second grade at Xiping Elementary School..."

"Uncle Qian, let's pinky swear. A pinky promise means no lying. We really have to go to the city..."

The sun was high in the sky, and wisps of smoke rose from the villages below the mountain.

Qian Jin and the children slowly walked down the hillside, the chirping of cicadas and the laughter of the children echoing in the valley.

He sensed that something was changing.

Conditions in the mountains are changing.

The farmland in Xiping is changing.

He is changing too.

Qian Jin figured he would be starting work in the foreign business office, and he wanted to work hard and climb the ranks.

It is now 1978, and soon it will be the 1980s.

He hoped to become a higher-ranking cadre in the supply and marketing cooperative in the 1980s, and at that time he would take the initiative to apply for a transfer to a department that serves farmers and rural areas.

He knew he had a way to lead the farmers to a better life sooner.

This was a pursuit that suddenly arose in his mind...

(End of this chapter)