Rebirth 78: Hunting for Treasure in the Mountains, Spoiling My Wife and Daughter to the Heavens

"Pah! You stinking capitalists! You look nothing like people! What's the point of me talking to people like you?!"

"And you, what are you wearing? This stuff is only for nouveau riche!"

"..."

Lu Weiguo and the other man had just finished introducing themselves.

He went to find the village chief in the middle of summer, wearing a faded Zhongshan suit.

He pointed at their noses and started cursing.

They keep calling people capitalists and nouveau riche.

They were practically calling the two of them animals.

Lu Weiguo listened and took notes, and reached out to stop Zhao Jiahuan, who tried to explain herself, several times.

Wait until the stubborn old man got tired of cursing.

Then he said quietly, "I must say, your village's ideological education is quite good. The village secretary must be an educated person."

"You!! Who are you calling uncultured?!"

Village Chief Zhao was tired of scolding and was about to take a sip of water.

Lu Weiguo's words made him burst out laughing.

"Look at you, getting excited again."

"Me! Me!!"

Village Chief Zhao was so angry that his hands began to tremble. Zhao Jia Huan saw that this would not do.

This isn't a plea for advice; it's clearly an attempt to infuriate people!

He rushed over to comfort her.

This time, Village Chief Zhao wasn't too agitated. In contrast to the contrast between the strict and lenient approach, he actually accepted the assessment that Zhao Jiahuan was a good comrade.

"Find the village chief. Comrade Weiguo is a good comrade. He's from Fendou Village. He didn't mean to upset you. Please calm down, sir. We've really come here to talk to you about the reform."

Zhao Jiahuan comforted him for a long time.

But the moment Lu Weiguo was mentioned, Old Master Zhao would get angry again.

"A good comrade? Dressed like that, you can't be a good comrade! Good comrades used to cross snow-capped mountains and grasslands! Their spirit, their hearts filled with the people—those were the real good comrades!"

"Yes! Yes! Those weren't just good comrades, they were heroes, but Comrade Weiguo..." Zhao Jiahuan wanted to explain for Lu Weiguo.

But Lu Weiguo waved his hand, stood up, went to the window, and opened it.

The reason he did this was actually to test whether this stubborn old man would listen to him.

How could they possibly listen to what I said?

The most basic thing to do to communicate with him is to have a give-and-take approach.

If the old man is really too stubborn, he won't listen to anything you say.

Then the only option left is to resort to threats and intimidation, the lowest form of coercion.

Although this method is rather old-fashioned, it is indeed quite effective.

Including later generations, in the 1990s, it was believed that most rural areas had already implemented the household responsibility system, and there was no longer any work or constraint from the public contribution system.

Some policies are becoming increasingly difficult to implement.

Many soft modes are not used.

On the contrary, the tougher the approach, the more likely the policy will be to be implemented.

Of course, the most representative examples are "only child" and "not allowing burial".

In forestry and factories, job threats can be used to enforce policies.

However, agriculture does not have this concern, so in the end, only harsh measures can be used.

After this test, Lu Weiguo...

We discovered that this old man Zhao not only listened to us, but also had a better understanding of theory than many young people.

They kept spouting Marxism-Leninism and its theories.

The reason why there is such a resistant mentality towards ensuring production reaches every household is because of this.

This is all because these theories offer relatively little discussion of commodity economy and market mechanisms.

The lack of theoretical guidance hinders institutional reform.

That's why there's such resistance; people believe this model goes against the path of collectivization.

"Old man, do you know what a pilot program is?"

Lu Weiguo pointed to the land outside and spoke calmly.

"Nothing you say will work, you capitalist! Everything you say is bullshit, it's all useless!"

"Old man, judging from your demeanor, you must have been a war hero in the past."

Lu Weiguo turned around, his expression serious, and bowed deeply to the old man with great respect.

"This... what combat hero? I was just a reconnaissance soldier back then. Later, my squad leader said I was fast, so he transferred me to the communications corps."

When talking about the past, Mr. Zhao's tone became noticeably gentler.

"Old man, what you did on the battlefield is similar to what this pilot program is all about."

Old Master Zhao wanted to say something, but Lu Weiguo stopped him by raising his hand.

"When you were a scout, didn't you also not know what the road ahead looked like? You didn't know the enemy's formation or how many weapons they had!"

But at the time, you believed we would definitely win the battle. Reconnaissance was the key to victory; the more information we gathered, the better it would be for the main force's subsequent battle.

Lu Weiguo slowly squatted down next to the old man.

He picked up the old cigarette and rolled one for himself.

I lit a match, and a strong smell of tobacco hit my throat.

His voice was hoarse, tinged with doubt: "After going through so much hardship back then, you still insisted on believing that victory was possible. Have you gotten used to the good life now?"

"They don't want to change anymore, they don't want to follow orders, they don't want to make sacrifices, and they think we can't win?"

These words were spoken.

Village Chief Zhao stared blankly at Lu Weiguo.

My throat kept bobbing up and down, and I tried to open my mouth several times, but I didn't know how to refute it.

indeed.

His idea was right, as Lu Weiguo had predicted.

Good days are so hard to come by.

The past was incredibly difficult.

Thirty or forty years ago, of the team that went out from Northeast China, he was the only one who came back alive.

When they returned, the entire village was deserted except for a few children who had fled from who-knows-where.

None of the original villagers can be found.

The village was in ruins; all the houses had collapsed, the land was barren, and as far as the eye could see, there were only traces of burning, killing, and looting.

It was he, alone, with just his two hands, who rebuilt Zhao Family Village.

Nowadays, there aren't that many villagers who have connections with the trainees.

There were just many people with the surname Zhao, and whenever someone with the surname Zhao went to Northeast China or was starving, he would lend a helping hand.

Those who weren't surnamed Zhao changed their names out of gratitude.

That's how Zhao Family Village came to be, and now every household can eat their fill and stay warm.

But....

The household responsibility system might change the village's appearance.

He's old and can't manage anymore; he can't watch the village become poor again.

He didn't want to watch the village head towards the ditch before he died.

After all, he really couldn't pull it anymore.

"Old village chief, you are a good village chief and a hero we should respect the most. Therefore, we cannot back down, but should set an example for the younger generation."

Set a good example. I know your concerns, but I have even more faith in our country!

Although the previous propagandists said that we can only cross the river by feeling the stones, discover problems and solve them, and give the whole country an opportunity to discover problems in reform.

But on the other hand, isn't this an example we Northeasterners, the eldest sons of the Republic, are setting for our younger brothers and sisters?!