Hard times: I worked as a truck driver in the county town

The person who greeted Jiang Cheng was Yang Wenbin, the director of the supply and marketing cooperative. He seemed to be in good condition now, but in reality, he had many old ailments, especially joint pain during the rainy season, as well as some other complications.

Yesterday, Jiang Cheng sold some apples belonging to Deputy Director Liu Kaihong, and also gave some to Yang Wenbin. Liu Kaihong didn't hide how he got the apples.

The first stop for inspecting the commune canteens was Jinlong Commune, which was far from the county seat. This was not a surprise inspection; the commune had been notified in advance.

The car doesn't need to go too fast; a steady pace is best. But Jinlong Commune is close; even driving slowly, it only takes about twenty minutes to get there.

When they arrived at the commune, the commune secretary, the brigade leader, and the branch secretary were already waiting to greet them.

"Xiao Jiang, park the car properly and follow the group later," Wang Xuebing said to Jiang Cheng.

"Okay, Brother Wang," Jiang Cheng replied, following the instructions.

We'd both served in the military, and we clicked during our conversation. Since we both felt the other was someone worth befriending, we didn't stand on ceremony and started making friends in the military style. We didn't need to be so formal with each other when we were alone.

Jiang Cheng could have stayed in the car and waited, but Wang Xuebing made him follow along, which was in his own interest.

Jiang Cheng reversed the car slightly, then turned it around, parked it, and immediately turned off the engine. He then followed behind the inspection team.

It was indeed advantageous to be with the inspection team; the commune staff would offer them cigarettes, and even if Jiang Cheng didn't smoke, he could take some back for his family to smoke, especially since he was learning to smoke.

The inspecting leaders first spoke with the commune cadres, listening to their reports on the situation since the establishment of the collective canteen. After the reports, the commune cadres led them to visit the commune office canteen.

The commune's canteen was the best canteen in every commune because the canteen had made preparations in advance, including hygiene and food supplies, after receiving the inspection notice in advance.

The briefing and visit to the canteen took about half an hour. Then everyone got on the bus and went to see the brigade canteen.

Jinlong Commune had eleven production brigades, which meant there were eleven brigade canteens.

If they were to inspect every brigade's canteen, they wouldn't be able to visit an entire commune. Instead, commune cadres would lead the inspections to the canteens with easier access.

Furthermore, the canteens shown to the inspection team were all "model canteens." The meaning of these model canteens is simple: they were specifically designed to deal with inspections from above.

The county leaders were aware of this situation, but the key issue was the remoteness, poor roads, and the impoverished canteen, which they were unwilling to inspect.

The inspection lasted about two hours, during which the staff visited the canteens of the three brigades. The main tasks were to check the hygiene and ask some questions.

After 10:30, everyone took a bus back to the canteen of the Jinlong Commune.

When the leader spoke to the commune cadres, he first positively affirmed their efforts in managing the canteen, then emphasized the importance of the public canteen, and finally stressed the need to work harder to improve the canteen and oppose waste.

To put it bluntly, if we don't say these things, we can't just sit around waiting to eat.

The commune's canteen prepared special meals for the visiting officials, serving four dishes and a soup according to the standards for receiving leaders.

When receiving leaders, one should not be too frugal, but neither should one be extravagant; one must strike a balance.

Braised pork belly, scrambled eggs, stir-fried tofu, and maybe some stir-fried cabbage and radish soup. With meat and eggs, that's good enough.

Jiang Cheng simply followed the group. Now, in the commune's canteen, he didn't say a word, just listened to the commune cadres report on their work and the county leaders give guidance on follow-up work, which he found quite interesting. He was actually just sitting in the canteen waiting for his meal.

Once the commune canteen had prepared the meals, work ceased.

Four dishes and a soup, served on two tables. It wasn't just Jiang Cheng's group who came to inspect the area who were eating; at least the commune cadres were also expected to be there. Perhaps the commune cadres were also looking forward to this free and lucrative meal.

Jiang Cheng sat at a table with cadres from the Health Department, Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Ministry of Industry and Agriculture, and Grain Bureau. These county cadres were leaders in the commune, and the commune also arranged for people to accompany them at the dinner table.

Whether they were leaders or cadres, everyone present was very informal during the meal. A lack of enthusiasm for the meal suggests a problem with one's thinking.

However, even when entertaining county officials and leaders, the commune would not provide enough rice; each person would only be given about half a bowl.

After lunch, the inspection team rested here for an hour before heading to another commune in the afternoon. They set off at 1 p.m. and finished their inspection between 3:30 and 4 p.m. before taking a bus back to the county town.

When everyone had rested and was about to leave, Jiang Cheng finally saw the main event.

Before the inspecting leader got into the car, the commune cadres brought some local specialties. The commune cadres didn't dare to give gifts to only one leader, because even if the gifts were small, it would be like putting the leader on the hot seat.

These local specialties were given to all the comrades who came to inspect the area. The commune cadres said they had a hard journey, but the commune didn't have anything good to offer, only some local specialties and side dishes.

These days, giving gifts of cigarettes, alcohol, and meat is practically suicide; what I gave were truly local specialties. Everyone was properly arranged, including Jiang Cheng, who was driving.

Jiang Cheng would definitely know that the supplies from the commune were all on the truck; how could he not give him a share?

Eggs, small jars of dried radish, sweet potatoes, garlic, and dried chili peppers, etc. The quantity of each item is small, but it's a token of my appreciation.

In the afternoon, we drove to Dinghu Commune. The inspection process was basically the same as everyone else's. We visited model canteens, but even among model canteens, there were good and bad examples to compare between the communes.

After inspecting all the communes, a summary and comparison must be made, praising which commune did well and which did poorly.

The reality is that most of the canteens are struggling to stay afloat, except when they first opened as public canteens, when everyone was indeed eating well and getting their fill.

Many canteens now substitute vegetables for grains; when there isn't enough grain, they use pumpkin, winter melon, sweet potato, radish, wild vegetables, etc. These things don't keep you full for long, and you get hungry again soon after eating them.

The county leaders inspected Dinghu Commune until around 3:40 PM, when they prepared to leave and return to the county. As the inspection team was about to depart, the commune cadres presented them with local produce.

They didn't give us eggs, but they did give us peanuts. It seems they knew Jinlong Commune gave us dried radishes, so they gave us some pickled vegetables. There were also sweet potatoes, chili peppers, and things like that.

These two communes are close to the county seat; other communes further away are either near mountains or rivers. During an inspection there, the local products would likely be mountain goods and fish.

Jiang Cheng returned to the county government office with the leading cadres. It was already past four o'clock, and his work was still not finished. He needed to collect the forms to record addresses and transportation costs.

You can overstate the distance, but you can't be too greedy. Just estimate an extra five to eight kilometers, which will only cost you two or three yuan more than the actual distance.

The over-reported money goes to the transport station, but the over-reported gasoline can be used by Jiang Cheng to take on some side jobs. He can't use the transport station's cars exclusively for private work, but he can detour to other places to deliver goods or purchase items. That's how he offsets the cost of the extra gasoline.

(Did I touch on some sensitive topics again? If you see this, I'll remove it from my favorites list~~.)