Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 160 Congress
Good morning, fellow villagers of Wangjia Village.

"After dinner, please send one representative from each household to the village office building for a family representative meeting."

"The family representative meeting will be held promptly at 7 p.m. Please do not be late, as there are extremely important matters to discuss today."

……

The familiar broadcast sounded three times in a row, almost reaching the entire Wangjia Village.

Although he was curious about what had happened, none of these things were as important to Wang Chengpeng as studying.

As Wang Chengpeng quickly reads the book in his hands, he is swimming in the ocean of knowledge.

Time flies, and soon it was time for dinner.

At the dinner table, Wang Tieshan hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke:

"Son, you will represent our family at today's family representative meeting."

“Your father is getting old, and all I can do is some manual labor. In many ways, I’m not as quick-witted as you.”

“If it’s something really important, you don’t need to come back and discuss it with me. Just make the decision directly.”

Wang Chengpeng hadn't originally planned to attend tonight's family representative meeting, but since Wang Tieshan had said so, he couldn't very well refuse.

Liu Chunhua gave Wang Chengpeng an encouraging look, silently comforting him and telling him not to be nervous.

In a sense, the family representative is equivalent to the head of the household.

Of course, Wang Tieshan probably had no intention of stepping down and handing over the reins to Wang Chengpeng, since he was still so young and it was impossible for him to put such a heavy burden on Wang Chengpeng so early.

He probably invited Wang Chengpeng to the meeting simply because he thought Wang Chengpeng was quick-witted and much better than him attending the meeting himself.

In addition, it would be a good opportunity to train young people, so Wang Tieshan was happy to give this opportunity to Wang Chengpeng.

Encouraged by his parents, Wang Chengpeng got on his bicycle after dinner and rode towards the village office building.

The village office building is usually located in the core area of ​​the village. Even though Wang Chengpeng's home is located in a remote area, it did not take him long to ride to his destination.

Among a group of elderly men and women, Wang Chengpeng, who is not yet twenty years old, stands out.

However, since today was a family representative meeting, they weren't too surprised by Wang Chengpeng's arrival.

Their attention was entirely focused on Song Zhiyuan at the top, wanting to know why he had convened this meeting.

Under normal circumstances, Wang Fucheng, the production team leader, and Wang Zhong, the militia leader, would definitely attend such a family representative meeting.

Their absence at this moment gave Wang Chengpeng some clues about the topic of today's meeting.

As expected, after most of the family representatives had arrived, Song Zhiyuan picked up the microphone and began to address today's topic:
"I'm sure you're all very curious as to why I've called this family representative meeting today."

"Don't worry, everyone, I will explain everything to you in detail."

"Before we get down to business, I'd like to know what the family representatives think of Wangjia Village's production plan for this year?"

This year's production plan is basically the same as last year, except for the large-scale planting of sugar beets.

The point of Song Zhiyuan's question is self-evident.

Sure enough, the moment he finished speaking, a villager named Song Weimin, who was standing in front, raised his hand, took the microphone from Song Zhiyuan, and began to speak eloquently:

"I think this year's production plan is great. We have production tasks every day, which makes our lives very fulfilling."

However, the next moment, Song Weimin suddenly changed the subject and said:
"The only thing that puzzles me is why so many sugar beets were planted this year."

"As we all know, beets are not expensive, taste only so-so, and don't keep very well."

"Based on my understanding, I really can't understand why we need to grow so many sugar beets."

He coughed twice and continued, "Of course, it's also possible that my understanding and awareness are insufficient, and I can't comprehend the production team leader's intentions."

"So I think we should ask the production team leader why he did that."

Song Weimin's words were extremely skillful, and his question addressed the doubts in everyone's minds, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

However, judging from the fact that the other party shared the same surname as Song Zhiyuan, Wang Chengpeng felt that the other party must be Song Zhiyuan's shill.

As expected, under Song Weimin's guidance, the next few family representatives expressed similar opinions, asking why so many sugar beets were planted.

Some people wanted to ask why they were opening up the deserted road near Wang Chengpeng's house, but considering the mysterious person's sponsorship, they eventually gave up.

They genuinely benefited from those several hundred yuan in sponsorship fees.

After going around in circles, the microphone somehow ended up near Wang Chengpeng.

Wang Jinshan took the microphone from Wang Chengpeng without saying a word, and instead shoved it into Wang Chengpeng's hand, saying:
“Nephew, this is a rare opportunity to speak, please share your opinion.”

As Wang Degong's eldest son, if he himself doesn't attend, Wang Jinshan is qualified to represent the family at the meeting.

Wang Chengpeng initially thought the other person was standing silently beside him because they were family, but he never expected that the other person would betray him at a crucial moment under the guise of training him.

However, Wang Jinshan's wishful thinking was destined to fail. Wang Chengpeng was not one of those naive young people in the village, so how could he feel embarrassed in the slightest at this little scene?

Taking the microphone, and under everyone's gaze, Wang Chengpeng spoke frankly and openly:

"I have no objection to this year's production plan."

“Since the production team leader has not made any mistakes for so many years and has successfully led our Wangjia Village to develop rapidly, he must have his own reasons for saying that this time.”

"The only thing I'm curious about is why the production team leader wasn't there when the family representative meeting was held. We could have just asked him directly, why make it so complicated?"

At this point, Wang Chengpeng shoved the microphone into Wang Jinshan's hand and said:
"Thank you for handing me the microphone, Uncle."

It's not a problem to secretly engage in underhanded tactics; the trouble is that Wang Chengpeng pointed it out so directly.

Wang Jinshan was a little embarrassed for a moment, and after saying some nonsense along with the crowd, he handed the microphone to the next person.

Although his eyes revealed his dissatisfaction with Wang Chengpeng's sudden sabotage, Wang Chengpeng paid no attention to the thoughts of such a clown.

Moreover, if Wang Jinshan hadn't offered the microphone, he wouldn't have bothered to return it; doing so was essentially returning it to its rightful owner.

After all the family representatives who wanted to speak had shared their thoughts, Song Zhiyuan took the microphone, cleared his throat, and began to speak, suppressing all other noises:

"In fact, I initially thought the same as everyone else, that the production team leader must have had his reasons for doing so."

"That's why I didn't get involved directly, but waited for the production team leader to give everyone an explanation." "But as I waited, I discovered that the production team leader didn't have any other plans at all, and seemed to simply intend to lead us to plant sugar beets."

"You have to understand that everyone's energy is limited, and the village's labor force is also limited."

"It may seem like we've just planted a little more sugar beets, but it has affected other production plans, causing us to plant less of what we should have planted more of."

"As a result, by the end of the year, the same work points can be exchanged for far fewer things, so this is definitely a major event that will affect the entire Wangjia Village!"

"Captain Wang has worked hard in Wangjia Village for so many years, so it's impossible that he would intentionally want to harm everyone."

"But he is getting old after all, and given the serious mistakes he made in production decisions, I have reason to doubt that he is no longer suitable for this job."

What do you all think?

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent. Only then did everyone belatedly realize that Song Zhiyuan had called them to a family representative meeting.

But these family representatives aren't fools; they wouldn't possibly make a statement at a time like this.

Even if Wang Fucheng's production plan was flawed, given how many years he had led Wangjia Village in production, it was absolutely impossible for him to be dismissed for such a trivial matter.

However, Song Zhiyuan didn't seem to intend to let them off so easily. He subtly gave Song Weimin a look, and the latter understood immediately, quickly speaking according to the prepared words:

"Captain Wang has led us in production for so many years. Even if he hasn't made any great contributions, he has certainly worked hard. So we can't negate all his previous achievements because of this one incident."

"But the production plan also determines the fate of our Wangjia Village. Whether we eat rice or bran at the end of the year is all determined by the production plan."

"Therefore, I proposed that we jointly submit a petition to the commune to suspend Captain Wang's work so that he can rest and relax more."

Frowning at Song Weimin's shameless face, which pretended to care about the villagers, Wang Chengpeng thought to himself that these people really didn't care about the lives of the villagers.

If they really thought there was a problem with Wang Fucheng's production plan, why didn't they say so when it was being implemented? Now that everything has been settled, they're just using the guise of righteousness to try and get rid of Wang Fucheng.

Rest? Some people, once they start resting, rest until retirement, with no possibility of continuing to work.

Through Song Weimin's words, these family representatives realized that Wangjia Village might be about to undergo a major change.

To be honest, this kind of thing has nothing to do with these villagers. As long as the infighting among village officials doesn't affect their production and lives, it's fine.

However, the root cause of this struggle was precisely because Wang Fucheng formulated a seemingly failed production plan.

In this situation, he naturally found himself in opposition to all the villagers.

Sure enough, not long after Song Weimin opened his mouth, a second person immediately chimed in.

If there's a second person, there will naturally be a third, and then a fourth.

It's unclear how many of these people are shills and how many have been misled.

However, the ringleaders are definitely problematic and have close ties with Song Zhiyuan.

Looking at Song Zhiyuan, whose smug smile was starting to spread across his face, Wang Chengpeng shook his head slightly, thinking to himself that some people are so close to death that they don't even realize it.

If this matter were reported to the commune, there would be no possibility of downplaying it.

This was also the opportunity Wang Fucheng had been waiting for—the opportunity to completely bring down Song Zhiyuan.

"I know everyone gets agitated when it comes to something that concerns their own interests, but please calm down for a moment."

Picking up the microphone again, Song Zhiyuan began his speech:

“Since everyone thinks this way, I, as the village head, cannot go against it.”

"If it's just me speaking, my voice will seem insignificant."

"How about this, let's sign a joint petition and ask the commune for approval on behalf of all the villagers of Wangjia Village. I believe we will be able to get a result that satisfies everyone."

"Here is a joint statement; everyone just needs to sign and affix their fingerprints."

"It doesn't matter if you can't write. Just follow the example and put your handprint on it at the end."

"As the village head, it is my duty to take the lead. I will sign this joint petition first!"

After saying this, Song Zhiyuan signed his name and pressed his fingerprint under everyone's gaze, looking like a righteous official petitioning for the people.

It wasn't that he was particularly righteous; he simply knew that if he didn't take the lead, no one else would likely sign.

Led by several accomplices, a petition filled with names and handprints was thus created.

Amidst the public outcry, only a very small number of people present did not sign the petition.

They were either die-hard fans of Wang Fucheng, wavering individuals, or people who felt the situation was still unclear.

Only Wang Chengpeng saw through everything, which is why he did not choose to sign.

However, since 90% of the people present had already signed, the joint statement already carried enough weight, so whether they signed it or not was no longer important.

Now that the main purpose of this village representative meeting has been achieved, the rest of the time is just wasted time.

After touting his own sense of justice and his advocacy for the people, Song Zhiyuan finally left with the petition, completely satisfied.

It is believed that this joint petition will soon appear on the desk of one of the leaders in the commune, becoming the main basis for changing the political landscape of Wangjia Village.

However, for Wang Chengpeng, this was nothing more than a farce, and he rode his bicycle back home.

As soon as he got home, his parents eagerly grabbed Wang Chengpeng and asked him about what had happened that day.

Upon hearing that Wang Chengpeng had not signed, Liu Chunhua frowned and said:
"Son, what you did seems a little wrong."

"Whether you sign or not won't change the outcome of the joint petition, Director Song will definitely pay special attention to those who didn't sign."

In Liu Chunhua's view, following the crowd is the truly correct approach, since the law does not punish the masses.

On the contrary, if you choose to be unconventional, you must bear the consequences of it.

This is why so many people like to be opportunistic; it's true that it minimizes the risks.

On the contrary, Wang Tieshan said nothing. Just as he had said before going to the meeting, he was about to send Wang Chengpeng, so he would naturally fully agree with Wang Chengpeng's decision.

With a mysterious smile, Wang Chengpeng shook his head and said, "The truth is still out, so how can you be so sure that Director Song has won?"

(End of this chapter)