Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

Xiao Ma from Mengyu Commune rode his bicycle back to the commune. After parking the bike, Xiao Ma went straight into the office of Cao Qiulie, the commune secretary. "Secretary, I delivered the documents, but the village collective in Hongping Village does not agree with the land expropriation compensation offered by the county land bureau and has not signed the documents."

Cao Qiulie glanced at Xiao Ma and asked, "What's going on? Why didn't you agree? This compensation is a reasonable price given by the county after considering many factors. Why don't you agree?"

"What did Hua Zhenhong say?" Cao Qiulie asked, frowning.

"Hua Zhenhong said that the village collective disagreed, believing that the compensation offered by the county was too low, and they needed to hold a meeting to discuss the specific compensation," Xiao Ma replied.

"This Hua Zhenhong is simply outrageous! This is a project that County Party Secretary Hong is paying close attention to. If he says he disagrees, he doesn't mean it. Go to Hongping right now and bring Hua Zhenhong here. I want to ask him face to face how much he really wants!"

Xiao Ma had a miserable look on his face. He had just ridden his bike back from Hongping Village. The round trip of more than 20 miles of mountain road had already exhausted him. And now he was going to do it again!

But since Secretary Cao Qiulie had spoken, he had no choice but to go. He could only say "okay" and leave the commune with his bicycle. He first found a place to rest, and when the sun cooled down a bit, he slowly rode towards Hongping Village.

Hua Zhenhong wasn't surprised by Xiao Ma's return. Smiling, he followed Xiao Ma down the mountain on his bicycle. Upon arriving at the commune, Hua Zhenhong walked into Cao Qiulie's office with a smile. "Secretary Cao, did you need something?"

"Old Hua, what's wrong with you?"

"Secretary Cao, what's wrong with me? You're rambling on and on, I don't know how to answer," Hua Zhenhong said with a smile as he sat on the bench.

"Stop trying to fool me. Why does the Hongping Village collective disagree with the land requisition? Who disagrees?" Cao Qiulie asked loudly.

Hua Zhenhong was not intimidated by Cao Qiulie's loud voice as the commune secretary. His smile vanished, and he said to Cao Qiulie, "Secretary, the compensation offered by the county for the land expropriation is far too low. It's not just one or two people who disagree; all the members of the Hongping Village collective have voted against it!"

After listening, Cao Qiulie tapped his fingers on the desk, took out a pack of Hongmei cigarettes, tossed one to Hua Zhenhong across from him, lit it himself, took a puff, and then spoke, "Old Hua, you've been the village secretary in Hongping for quite a few years now, haven't you?"

"Ten years, that's quite a while," Hua Zhenhong answered Cao Qiulie's question casually, puffing on his cigarette.

Cao Qiulie walked around the desk and sat down next to Hua Zhenhong. He said to him, "The road that Guangdong Company is going to build this time is related to the future development of our Zhaoyang County. County Party Secretary Hong attaches great importance to it. Go back and do some ideological work with the villagers. If they really think that seven hundred yuan is too little, they can bring it up."

"I'll raise the issue with the county and see if they'll raise it a little, so the villagers won't have too much of a problem. Road construction is also a benefit to the villagers of Hongping Village."

Cao Qiulie patiently explained, "Once the road is repaired, a power plant will be built over Lianzhai. Then, electricity can be piped to Hongping. With electricity and a road, Hongping will be accessible."

"No more walking over 20 miles round trip to buy things like before, it saves a lot of trouble!"

"Secretary Cao, to tell you the truth, this road was built with money from foreign investors, not from the county's finances. It's a road built by a foreign company, not the state. Hongping will not be shortchanged on the money it's owed!"

"I know that," Cao Qiulie continued to reassure them. "You should go back and do some work on the villagers' mindset. If this matter is resolved, I'll try to pull some strings and see if I can get you transferred to another village."

"You've been in Hongping for ten years now, and you have a wealth of local work experience. It's time to give you more responsibility!"

Hua Zhenhong is not like he was when he was young, easily pleased by empty promises. Back then, when he had just graduated from school and was assigned to Mengyu Commune, the old commune secretary, Cao Qiulie, would casually offer a few promises, and Hua Zhenhong would volunteer to go to Hongping, this remote mountain village.

I stayed there for ten years!

How many decades are there in a lifetime!

Those who were assigned here with him are now deputy secretaries of the commune. Some of them have been transferred back to the county or city through connections. But Hua Zhenhong was young when he was assigned to Hongping. It was as if a stone had sunk to the ground. No one came to move him.

"Secretary Cao, when I arrived, Captain Lü of the village brigade, representing the villagers, told me that the compensation for the land requisition for this road construction project would be at least 3,000 yuan per mu before the Hongping Village collective would agree to sign the land requisition documents!"

"What?!"

Cao Qiulie thought Hua Zhenhong was crazy for money. Three thousand yuan per mu, eighteen mu would cost fifty-four thousand yuan. This was not just asking for the moon, it was outrageous!

"Old Hua, do you think that's funny?"

"Three thousand yuan per mu! Do you know that if I reported your asking price to the county government, Secretary Hong would be furious with me," Cao Qiulie slammed his fist on the table and shouted. "This is utter nonsense!"

"Secretary Cao, this is a decision made by the Hongping Village collective. I'm just relaying a message to the villagers. As the village secretary, I can't force the entire village to drink water, can I?"

"That's outrageous! Three thousand yuan! I can't even imagine it. Go back and ask those villagers if they've ever seen a one thousand yuan bill before. Do they even know what one thousand yuan means?"

Hua Zhenhong didn't say anything more, just kept smoking. He had already made up the demands of the villagers of Hongping Village, which was to have Cao Qiulie, the commune secretary, report it to the county.

The compensation for the land acquisition is exactly what Hongping Village wants. If they are willing to pay, then they will sign the papers and the road can be repaired.

If they're unwilling, then let's put this aside and continue the discussions as they should.

Cao Qiulie pressed his temples, feeling his head throbbing. He didn't dare call Secretary Hong of the county party committee. If he asked for a subsidy of three thousand yuan per mu, Secretary Hong would probably think he, Cao Qiulie, had lost his mind.

Seeing Cao Qiulie rubbing his forehead, Hua Zhenhong said, "Secretary Cao, it's not your money, why are you having such a headache? Just report it to the county truthfully, and when the county people come, you can lead them to Hongping Village."

"I naturally have ways to persuade the people in the county. The foreign investment is the money, and the land belongs to Hongping. If it's requisitioned, the village collective will lose eighteen mu of fertile land. Three thousand yuan really isn't much!"

"Otherwise, if the harvest is bad in the future, the villagers will go hungry because they've lost these eighteen mu of fertile land, and they'll definitely curse me, the village secretary!"

Cao Qiulie didn't answer Hua Zhenhong's question, but just kept shaking his head and saying, "This is outrageous! It's really outrageous!"

That's outrageous! What's so outrageous about it? It's a hundred million, and they only want three thousand per mu. He thinks that's too little!