The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 277 Daydreams in the Pork Stew
Clearing the forests is a matter for later; what's urgent right now is to slaughter a pig and have a meal.

Today, with the howling wind and swirling snowflakes, it would be a waste not to have a traditional pork stew in this kind of weather.

Although it was snowing, it was only light snow. Liu Wangcai cursed, "God is so stingy!" As a result, the sea breeze swept up snowflakes and they got into the collar of his old cotton-padded coat, making him shiver instantly.

Qian Jin watched with delight.

He followed the old team leader home. At this moment, an unusual heat was emanating from the courtyard, and from a distance, white mist could be seen rising straight up, which actually pushed back the leaden gray chill that was pressing down on him.

Upon entering, one sees a makeshift stove hastily built in the center of the courtyard using adobe bricks. Inside the stove, firewood crackles and pops, while leaping flames arrogantly and forcefully burn the bottom of the iron pot.

Steam rose from the edge of the pot like a dragon, tumbling, entwining, and rushing upwards, silently battling with the falling cold snow. The final result was often that both sides were injured and dissolved.

The pigs had already been slaughtered. Wang Xiulan stood by the stove with her hands on her hips, her shouts carrying an undeniable and firm command to everyone.

Several nimble women worked around the clock under her direction, and the slaughtered pig's head and trotters were soaked in warm water in a large wooden basin, waiting to have their thick pig hair removed.

Several men were working together to move the plump pig carcass into the yard, where a large table had already been prepared for dividing the meat.

The money arrived just in time, and with a shout, everyone pitched in, and the big, fat pig was brought up:

"It's so heavy!"

Liu Wangcai took a satisfying puff from his pipe and chuckled, “The fattest one. We were waiting for you to come to the team when the first snow came, but you never showed up, so we’ve been feeding this pig ever since.”

Wang Xiulan added, "These pigs are raised in the mountains during the summer and autumn, where there are oak trees and such. They live a more comfortable life than people, eating acorns and rooting in wild berries. Their meat must be delicious!"

Qian Jin was very moved.

In the winter of 77, he came to the team for the first time and ate the pork stew. He said the pork was delicious. The pig was raised by the team's children using acorns and pig feed.

Then the old team leader kept this in mind and started raising several pigs for him every year.

They can eat this pork for one meal, and they'll definitely have to pay Qianjin to take the rest home.

This rule has been in place since 77.

And now it has been 80 years.

Time flies.

He was lamenting, while the other women were busy preparing the pork for cooking.

First, we need to remove the hair from this big, fat pig.

Removing hair is a delicate and physically demanding task, requiring experience in controlling the water temperature and heat. The butcher personally takes a sharp iron plane and scrapes the scalding hot pigskin, which has been thoroughly scalded by boiling water.

Instantly, the gray-black, curly bristles obediently fell away, revealing the smooth, pinkish-white flesh underneath.

Several other women followed suit, and soon the sounds of shaving rose and fell, mixed with the slightly fishy yet enticing warm aroma of oil and hot water.

At this moment, a small portion of clear, cooked oil in the large pot began to sizzle and gently roll, emitting wisps of smoke.

Wang Xiulan rolled up her sleeves and walked to the pot. She first used an iron spoon to pour hot oil around the pot, so that the entire pot wall was evenly covered with oil.

After scraping off the hair and dividing the pork, the fat was placed in a basin and brought to her.

Liu Wangcai's wife picked up the still slightly trembling pig's back fat and looked at it with great satisfaction: "Good, it must be four fingers thick. This pig is well raised. We can get it a first-class standard when we send it to the purchasing station."

"Zila!"

As large chunks of fat were added to the pot, a series of satisfying sounds filled the air.

Soon, the lard was rendered, and an extremely rich meaty aroma burst forth like a string of firecrackers being lit, hitting Qian Jin's nose head-on.

Fragrant!

The rendered fat from freshly slaughtered pigs is incredibly fragrant.

The oil undergoes a violent transformation and cracking at high temperatures, and thick, almost viscous fumes shoot into the leaden sky with tremendous force, entangle and wrestle with the fine snow, and eventually even the snow particles seem to be tainted with a strong meaty aroma.

Liu Wangcai's wife couldn't help but sniff hard as she watched with delight as the pieces of fatty meat rolled and shrank in the hot oil, turning from white to golden brown, and finally curling up into hot, crispy bits of fried pork cracklings.

Then she skillfully scooped them out with a long-handled iron sieve and poured them into a black glazed earthenware basin lined with a sieve next to her.

The aroma of those tiny, charred cracklings mingled with the rich, oily fragrance emanating from the bottom of the pan, making one's throat feel like it was boiling with the scalding hot oil.

Liu Wangcai went to get a bowl, scooped up a bowl of rice like he was scooping rice, and handed it to Qian Jin: "Try it quickly."

Qian Jin picked up a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

With one bite, the fragrant, piping hot oil bursts out.

There's nothing that smells better than this.

He invited the other women to try it, and they all happily grabbed a couple of pieces, their mouths filled with the delicious aroma.

Then Liu Wangcai took the jar away, sprinkled a small handful of salt inside, and called to Qian Jin: "Come on, let's go inside, sit on the kang (heated brick bed), have some tea, and eat some fried pork cracklings."

Qian Jin offered his help with great interest: "No rush. The most enjoyable part of preparing this pork stew is the work itself; the actual eating experience is less important."

He now has his sister-in-law cooking at home, and he also frequently goes out to eat for business purposes, so he can enjoy all kinds of delicious food.
But I just can't experience that atmosphere of personally slaughtering pigs and cooking.

The lard was ladled out of the pot, but the bottom of the pot was still oily. Then, large chunks of chopped pork belly were poured into the pot.

These pork belly pieces are of superior quality, each about half a finger thick, with distinct red and white marbling, and your hands will be covered in oil when you touch them.

When the pork belly is stir-fried, the fatty parts quickly shrink, curl up, and turn into an enticing golden-brown color, sizzling and releasing even more oil.

The leaner parts absorbed plenty of oil and became firm and tight.

The pure aroma of meat filled the air, aggressively stimulating everyone's taste buds.

Wang Xiulan's hands never stopped. A large basket of fresh, tender cabbage, cut into squares and angular shapes, was poured into boiling oil and stir-fried. Then, she added shredded pickled cabbage—this was the soul of this "pig-killing feast."

Half a bucket of water was poured into the pot with a "whoosh," and steam rose up. Soon, as the flames burned, the boiling sound of the iron pot continued to roar.

Finally, the pigskin was rolled up; it was to be saved for making pigskin jelly.

There is no local custom of making blood sausage. Pig's blood is steamed with water, just like steamed egg custard. It contains star anise and peppercorn water, and is sprinkled with lots of chopped green onions. It is a delicious dish when steamed.

The thoroughly cleaned pig intestines, stomach, heart, and lungs were neatly sliced ​​into evenly thick pieces with a sharp knife, and then all of them were pushed into the boiling, bubbling iron pot.

The rising steam made it even hotter. The rich soup, a mixture of sour, salty, oily, and meaty aromas, was milky white with a layer of lard floating on top. Anyone who saw it would swallow hard.

The lid fell, suppressing the intense, boiling heat that was like a stampede of horses.

However, there are inevitably gaps between the lid and the pot wall, which quickly allows milky white steam to escape.

The steam from the hot water, carrying a sour and meaty aroma, bubbled out from all directions, almost driving away the biting chill in the courtyard.

They started cooking in the kitchen.

Fresh pork goes well with everything.

Liu Wangcai's wife smiled and called to Qian Jin, "Wait here to eat something you can't get in the city."

Qian Jin asked curiously, "What?"

"Eat iron wire and iron bars." A woman pinched off a handful of thin, dark brown strips and waved them at him.

Qian Jin suddenly realized: "Oh, dried green beans!"

Wang Xiulan was quite surprised: "You can really eat anything in the city, even dried green beans?"

Qian Jin smiled and said, "I've eaten it before."

The first vegetable dish he ate after transmigrating was stir-fried dried green beans soaked in soy sauce.

At that time, a pot of rice was served with the meal, and the four children ate until their bellies were round, and he ate very comfortably.

That meal gave him a sense of security about 1977.

Looking back now.

Suddenly a world away.

One by one, the vegetables left the kitchen stove and entered the house. Finally, the heavy pot lid was lifted.

"Dinner's ready!" Wang Xiulan's signature loud voice, capable of piercing through the biting cold wind, rang out like the striking of a gong.

The pork stew doesn't taste good when there are few people around.

Today, as usual, is another opportunity for a get-together.

The courtyard was already packed with people.

Liu Wangcai called over the Party representatives and commune member representatives who were attending the meeting, as well as the newly formed chicken-raising team.

With the addition of the team cadres, his family could fit two tables.

There's a table on the kang (heated brick bed) and another table on the living room table.

A large barrel of liquor was brought to the table, and the dry, rough faces were now flushed and shiny from the steam. Their eyes shone brightly as they stared unabashedly at the dishes being served.

Several large bowls of main dishes were the first to be served.

The stew in the large bowl has a thick, sour broth, with oil droplets on the surface swaying with the soup, bringing out a delicious sour and fragrant aroma that makes your mouth water.

The large piece of pork belly trembled and swayed as Wang Xiulan placed the cutting board on the kang (a heated brick bed), picked up the pork belly, and sliced ​​it open with a knife.

The pork belly is so tender and piping hot that it can't be sliced ​​thinly. To enjoy it to the fullest, it can't be sliced ​​thinly either, so it has to be cut into thick slices and placed on top of the pickled cabbage.

The pig liver also needs to be thickly sliced. Qian Jin told Wang Xiulan not to use the knife: "Actually, it's better to break it apart with your hands to eat. I heard that in Northeast China, when people make 'pig slaughtering feast,' they break the pig liver apart to eat. This is called 'hand-broken liver.'"

"What about the pig's heart?" Wang Xiulan asked.

Qian Jin said, "You can tear a pig's heart by hand, but you can also slice it."

Sliced ​​pork heart and pork belly are served together, with a large bowl of minced garlic on the side; these two are a perfect match.

There were also several plates of stir-fried dishes.

Every dish was glistening with oil and exuded a rich aroma.

Steam rose from the center of the bowls and plates, mingling with the breath of the men at the table and the lingering warmth in the pot, filling the cold air and making the mud-brick house cozy.

"Come on, Chief Qian, start eating. Don't stretch your chopsticks!" Liu Wangcai's call had barely faded when the chopsticks fell to the ground in a flurry.

"Yes, Chief Qian, start eating. We'll drink later."

"Fill your stomach with a couple of bites first, eat something before drinking..."

Wang Dashuan and Erjiao, these rough men, had their eyes on the liquor in the enamel mug for a while. They wanted to take a sip, but since everyone else had started eating, they had to follow suit.

Suddenly, a series of chopsticks clattered against bowls and plates, followed by a satisfied sigh as the first bite of fatty meat went down the throat.

The sounds were short and dense, like the first patter of a rainstorm hitting a basin lid.

Wang Dashuan is a big eater and a hard worker, and so is everyone in his family. As a result, they don't even have enough coarse grains to eat, and they can't even have a pig-killing feast once a year.

Now that he finally got his chance, he grabbed two pieces of fatty meat with his chopsticks.

His large Adam's apple bobbed violently up and down, and with each thrust, a chunk of fat would disappear.
"It smells so good, it smells so good it's gone all the way to Grandma's house!"

He eagerly reached for the next trembling piece of pork belly.

Liu Wangfu, who was standing next to him, stopped him with his chopsticks: "Have a piece of pig liver. You have no sense of propriety. Save the pork belly for Chief Qian."

Qian Jin raised his glass and smiled: "Take a sip, take a sip. There are no leaders at the table, so everyone can eat whatever they like."

He doesn't like to eat fatty meat.

But pork belly dishes made with freshly slaughtered and cooked pork belly are an exception.

It smells so good.

It has no gamey or fishy smell, only a delicious aroma. One bite and your appetite will be whetted!

This is the kind of meat you can't get in the city.

The big, fat pig that had been carefully raised for a year was slaughtered, and its fat was cooked in a pot in less than ten minutes.

All things considered, this piece of pork belly was still alive an hour ago.

The table was filled with the sounds of chewing.

In the freezing cold, after finishing a bowl of piping hot pork and sauerkraut soup, beads of sweat, hot and oily, immediately began to seep from their rough faces.

If not wiped off, it will roll down, gather at the tip of the chin, and then drip onto the front of the old cotton-padded jacket.

No one spoke at this moment; everyone's attention was focused on the long-awaited abundance.

Soon, both the kang table and the octagonal table on the floor were in a mess.

The oil in the broth in the flaky, rough bowl had congealed, revealing the cabbage stalks and sediment underneath.

Half of the vegetables and soup in the bowl were quickly emptied, leaving only a few pieces of meat, and the ribs were completely picked clean.

Scattered bone fragments lay on the muddy ground, attracting several scruffy, mixed-colored stray dogs to squeeze and fight among the table legs.

Everyone ate until their foreheads were sweating and their cheeks were shiny with oil. Most of their cotton-padded jackets were unbuttoned, and they exhaled a satisfied breath that carried a strong smell of alcohol and greasy food.

Erjiao squinted, using the tip of a chopstick as thick as his little finger to pick at the bits of gum stuck between his back molars, and let out a satisfied burp:
"Tsk...that's about right!"

"A few years ago at this time, my stomach was so hungry it was practically bulging, as thin as a lamp wick. The sea breeze smelled salty and bitter. I never dared to think about the oil and fat in this pork stew."

His indigo-blue patched coarse cotton-padded jacket had dark stains from oil stains on the cuffs and front. But the hero didn't care much; he only felt a warm and comfortable feeling all over his body, a warmth that came from his belly, and even more so from a vague sense of anticipation.

After listening to Qian Jin's explanation this morning, I have high expectations for the future.

He's in his thirties, which is a good age. Once he takes on a big contract business and contracts a boat, as long as he works hard and puts in extra effort, his family won't have to worry about not having enough pork stew!

"I wouldn't dare to talk nonsense!" Veteran Party representative Liu Wangfu slowly slurped the last bit of oily sour soup from his bowl into his mouth.

After drinking the sour and fragrant soup, his deeply lined old face relaxed a little:
"Without the foundation we laid by tightening our belts before, would we be sitting here comfortably? We also have to thank Chief Qian for his help; otherwise, if there's no oil in the pot, no matter how high you lift the lid, the oil won't come out!"

"Think back to the big boats in the team a few years ago, how many kilograms of fish did they catch in a year? Even if the work points were filled up, it wouldn't be enough to feed a family of five. And this year? The fish caught in the fall alone are more than in the entire previous year!"

“Our team is doing well,” someone said contentedly. “At least the brigade has money to guide us, and we’re well-fed and clothed. My sister and brother-in-law live in Dujiagou, which is only ten or twenty miles away from here. Their place is much worse off.”

"My nephews haven't even bought themselves a new pair of pants in years. This has been weighing on my sister and brother-in-law's minds for years!"

“Dujia Gou? My classmate is from Dujia Gou. I heard they’re going to split up their households and start a household contract responsibility system this month,” Liu Erzhu said subconsciously.

Erjiao, Wang Dashuan, and the others were eager to join the conversation, but Wang Xiulan quickly brought over a basket of golden cornbread.

"Stop talking, come on, eat this pancake. It's good stuff, made with millet flour and bean flour, it tastes sweet!"

Wang Dashuan, looking bewildered, said, "We haven't finished the wine or the food, why are you in such a hurry to bring out the flatbread?"

"What are you doing? Shutting your mouth shut." Wang Xiulan glanced at him coldly.

It's a strong warning.

Wang Dashuan realized what was happening, and with an embarrassed smile, took a pancake.
We had a meeting this morning, and the team leader just said that no one was allowed to reveal the upcoming implementation of the household responsibility system!
When the flatbread is served, the tangy and delicious vegetable broth becomes a treasure.

The unleavened yellow flatbread was broken into pieces and soaked in the rich broth. Once it was thoroughly soaked, it became an incredibly delicious and satisfying meal.

Although the freshly caught meat was delicious, everyone was too hungry to eat much meat, and each and every one of them was quite bloated.

A pot of meat looks like a lot, but with more than ten people at the table, it's not enough for everyone.

At this time, they still had to rely on yellow cakes to fill their stomachs.

The thick, flavorful flatbread absorbs all the concentrated essence of the broth, and one bite brings pure bliss.

Especially Wang Dashuan, who had just finished drinking, swept up a bowl of pork stew with flatbread with a flick of his chopsticks and a lick of his tongue.

Finally, the rumbling in my stomach subsided, and my hungry belly was violently filled with high-calorie food. The satisfaction and sense of peace that came after a long drought began to spread and linger in my body like warm wine.

"That's great! Now this is what it means to get through the twelfth lunar month!" Liu Erzhu exhaled a long, pleasant puff of white air.

He wiped his oily forehead with his sleeve; a thin layer of sweat had accumulated on his forehead.

"Yes, life is good." Liu Xiaoyan carefully chewed the last piece of fatty meat in her bowl, her oily lips curving upwards.

Very satisfied.

Another party representative, Liu Jinhai, sighed and took a puff of his cigarette, saying, "If we think back to this time a few years ago, in the freezing cold, let alone such a big basin of pork stew, we would have been lucky to even get a bowl of radish strips with meat on it."

"What Erjiao said is right. One or two of us in our team are starving, and we're living a miserable life."

His words elicited another round of vague agreement beyond mere chewing.

Then someone seized the opportunity to interject: "We still need the household responsibility system; if we had it, life would be completely different..."

This statement caused a stir of astonishment.

Erjiao, who was sitting cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) and was dealing with the last big bone, immediately raised his head upon hearing this and echoed in a muffled but resolute voice:
"Yes, our collective has become a stuffy container. We used to be able to eat pork stew just by shouting work songs? We have to implement the household responsibility system—that's called opening the lid and letting life breathe!"

Wang Xiulan was now at a loss.

The main dishes have all been served; there's nothing left to eat.

Another character is simple-minded and speaks too quickly; no one can stop him.

Wang Dashuan's mind wasn't much more complex than his; the combined protein in their brains didn't even amount to the amount in an egg white.

Erjiao spoke up, and Wang Dashuan chimed in: "That's for sure. If it's a contracted system, then I, Wang Dashuan, will contract a fish pond. I'll risk my life to take good care of it."

"It's our duty to raise fat and healthy fish and shrimp. If we lose money or they get thin, it's my own fault for not being capable enough. My wife and kids can just keep eating cornbread and pickled vegetables with me. As long as I don't become a burden to the other guys in the team!"

Erjiao nodded and spat out the cleanly gnawed bone fragments with a "pui" sound.

The sound was crisp and loud, carrying a fierce determination that had been building up for a long time and was now ready to fight back.

Liu Erzhu, not understanding what was going on, joined in the commotion: "Uncle Dashuan is right, the same applies to us at sea."

"In the past, there were big groups of people, with twenty or so on a single boat. It was all a waste of time. How many nets could they actually cast out in a day? Everyone was just watching and playing around. Who would really put in the effort to do any real work?"

"So I thought it would be good to contract out the boat to my second uncle and those old sea monsters. They'd definitely be willing to put their effort into the best fishing spots. With fewer people but a united team, how could the boat possibly draft deeper? It would all depend on the catch piling up..."

"You go ahead and eat yours," Liu Youyu glared at his nephew.

Liu Erzhu chuckled awkwardly, still rambling on, but his voice grew weaker and weaker:
"Fourth Uncle, I heard from my Second Uncle that if they contract the fishing boats of the team, they'll definitely be able to bring out a whole boatload of top-quality fresh catch next fishing season. They can then give the team a larger share of the profits, and the rest will be enough to help my two cousins ​​with their wedding money..."

Liu Wangcai's wife looked at her silent husband; she was still unaware of the outcome of the morning's meeting.

But she knew how intense the debate in the production team was about the household responsibility system, and she also knew her husband's opinion, so she wanted to take the opportunity to say something on his behalf.

She drew upon her political wisdom honed over two decades as a captain's wife, saying meaningfully:

"Today's guests are all tough guys who have contributed to the team. From now on, let's work together with all our might to make the team like the soup in our pot, getting richer and more delicious, and full of hope!"

Her words were loaded with meaning, and she looked at Qian Jin with expectant eyes.

As a result, Qian Jin was in an awkward situation.

Liu Wangcai was also embarrassed.

She quickly realized something was wrong, because as soon as she finished speaking, the lively atmosphere at the dinner table froze.

Wang Dashuan got anxious.

He thought something else had happened half a day after the meeting, and he immediately became excited.

He glared at me, as if he had choked on a piece of meat, his face turning red and his neck bulging.

"Endure? Auntie, just enduring won't do! If it weren't for the money from the brigade, how many of us could survive half a year on that meager grain ration distributed in December? That little bit of food would barely be enough to fill our stomachs!"

"If you ask me, this communal cooking will boil dry if we keep cooking it like this. What flavor will it have left? Chief Qian, don't you agree?"

He was so emotional that his voice was loud, and his spittle almost flew into the bowl in the opposite corner.

Erjiao, who was a bit more intelligent than him, looked nervously at Qian Jin: "Chief Qian? Why are we changing our minds?"

Qian Jin glanced at him sideways: "You should think twice before you act or speak. Make sure you understand the situation before you speak or act, or you'll make a fool of yourself!"

Then he picked up the pork belly from the bowl and showed it to everyone:
"This piece of meat is good, plump and thick, and cleaned very neatly. It tastes really good. But good meat needs to be paired with good vegetables. If it's stewed, it'll be so fragrant that it's hard to swallow. It needs to be paired with pickled cabbage, star anise, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, right?"

Liu Wangcai and Liu Youyu understood what he meant and couldn't help but nod: "No matter what, we must all unite as one."

"A good meal can only be made by cooking all the ingredients together in one pot, and a good production team can only be made by the whole team working together as one."

Erjiao and the others were confused and looked at each other, bewildered: "What does that mean?"

"Should we still have the household contract responsibility system?"

Upon hearing this, the young people in the chicken-raising group perked up their ears.

They analyzed the sentence carefully.

I felt there was a hidden meaning in what he said.

The word "still" is the key point. Does this mean that the team leaders and member representatives had previously decided to implement a system of contracted responsibilities?

Qian Jin said to Liu Wangcai, "Do you expect these people to keep the news a secret? They can't. Even if they can keep quiet, someone with brains can trick them into revealing the truth."

Liu Wangcai nodded heavily.

He understands his own people better than Qian Jin does.

His arrangements in the morning were purely wishful thinking and did nothing to silence these people.

He sighed and said, "Of course we'll make it happen. Didn't we agree to gather all the members together for a general meeting on a good day before announcing it?"

Wang Dashuan breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "You scared me just now by calling me 'auntie'."

Liu Wangcai's wife stared blankly at them.

Bag?
The young people were filled with fighting spirit and excitement upon hearing this.

Looking at the expressions of her elders, Liu Xiaomei secretly tugged at Liu Tiechui's sleeve, her face beaming with barely suppressed excitement as she asked, "Brother Tiechui, did you hear me clearly? It's supposed to be wrapped, right?"

Liu Tiechui just kept his head down and picked at the oily soup-soaked flatbread in his bowl.

He didn't speak, but he ate faster, clearly in high spirits.

One of the girls in the chicken-raising group, being observant, asked anxiously, "Huh? The team is going to implement a contract responsibility system? What about the chicken farm? Will it also be contracted out?"

Liu Wangcai slammed his hand on the table: "What nonsense are you thinking? Do you think the household responsibility system means tearing down your homes?"

"The chicken farm is a collective asset supported by the Qian brigade for our production team, as are the tofu workshop and fish ball workshop. Those are collective assets, and no one is allowed to touch them!"

"Your chicken-raising team, you'd better focus on raising the chickens properly. Nobody is allowed to touch any of the team's chickens!"

Liu Tiechui said in a low voice, "But once we start the household contract responsibility system, there will be no more work points. How will our chicken-raising team be counted for labor? How will we get work points?"

Liu Wangcai was about to speak, but he hadn't thought about this matter before, so he froze and could only look at Qian Jin.

Qian Jin said, "It's a simple matter. The small collective enterprise is profitable, so of course we'll pay you wages. From now on, you'll be workers working for the team!"

These words made the young men grin: "Wow, so we've become workers now?"

"Does that mean they also have labor insurance and benefits?"

"Make sure we get a set of blue overalls and a pair of work gloves too—this team has plenty..."

Qian Jin nodded.

Liu Wangcai waved his hand dismissively, "Yes, yes, yes, we have everything, we have everything. Just do a good job!"

"Let me tell you, these chickens are very important. They're for our production team to lay the foundation for development, thanks to Chief Qian. You must raise them well!"

“No problem,” Liu Erzhu said readily. “We’ll follow the scientific method taught by Chief Qian.”

"If you know how to feed them, when to administer the medicine, and how to control the temperature, you're guaranteed to raise healthy chickens."

As he spoke, he waved his arms as if the flock of fat chickens and the baskets full of eggs were within easy reach.

The topic of the household responsibility system stirred emotions among the young people, and also prompted other representatives of the commune members and party members who supported it to speak out:

“Erzhu is right. Farmland can be managed like that too. My brother’s family started a contracting pilot program a year ago. My brother contracted ten acres of dry land to grow peanuts and then cultivated it intensively.”

"Last winter the ground was frozen solid, but this spring we started deep plowing it with hoes, digging up all the dead clods of soil that were harder than iron plates in the fields in previous years."

"The compost was thoroughly fermented, and the watering was excellent. When it rained and the fields were flooded, he would carry the water out in buckets. And what was the result? This year's peanut harvest was bountiful! One acre was equivalent to two or three acres of the old field. There were so many peanut shells left over to feed the pigs and sheep!"

Most of the conversation revolved around the Liu family production team and its surroundings:

"If we put in some effort to clean up that saline-alkali land on the mudflats and turn it into several flat shrimp ponds, that's not something we can't think of!"

"Where are the kelp seedlings? Could we consider planting a few rows in the deeper water? I heard that this aquaculture technology has been around for a while now. Let others grow corn, peanuts, and wheat, and we'll grow kelp!"

"I heard on the radio that, not to mention seaweed, some places in the south have even leased out sea areas and are raising fish in boxes there..."

Seeing the youths' energetic appearance, Liu Wangcai put down his bowl and picked up his pipe.

He squinted as he watched the young men speaking with great enthusiasm, and watched Erjiao Wang Dashuan and others talking animatedly.

This passion is genuine and completely genuine, without any trace of acting.

How long has it been since the production team has seen such passion from its young people?

This is what an excellent production team should be like!

Liu Wangcai exhaled a smoke ring and began to realize that the household responsibility system was the right direction for development.

He shouldn't have hesitated; he should have firmly chosen this path!
The swirling smoke drifted and intertwined, seemingly forming some abstract scenes:

It's as if the vast wheat field in the distance has been re-divided into neat, lush green squares, with golden, heavy ears of wheat.

It looked like several fishing boats with red flags and engines gliding swiftly across the sea, casting their nets, their sides shimmering with silvery scales.

It looked as if several neat, shimmering shrimp ponds had appeared on the mudflats, reflecting the blue sky...

He unconsciously picked up the chopsticks on the table and started slicing them across the greasy, mottled surface.

At first, there were aimless lines, but gradually, several horizontal and vertical lines emerged.

Dry!
Liu Wangfu also noticed this scene. He had mixed feelings and didn't participate in the conversation. He also scribbled on the table with the end of his chopsticks.

At first he was just scribbling randomly, but when he saw the words written by Liu Wangcai next to him, he knew there was no way out.

So he added a character before the character "干".

Big.

Let's implement a comprehensive contract system!

(End of this chapter)