Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 1514: Prosperity 3

Chapter 1514: Chapter 1514: Prosperity 3

A manual flatbed cart can carry a little over a thousand catties of goods. Mule and horse-drawn carts are larger, so they can carry double the weight. Compared to mule and horse-drawn carts, tractors can carry yet another double.

Xibao was good at arithmetic; one trip with a tractor was equivalent to seven or eight trips with a manual flatbed cart.

Most importantly, it saved people from tiring labor.

Xibao was too young to think of this, but Father Lu had. The turmoil outside hadn’t ceased, and if the Lu Family wanted to establish a solid foothold, they needed to make sure that everyone in the Wanglou Brigade became beneficiaries.

The words Xibao spoke were taught by Father Lu, and it was also Father Lu who persuaded him to request a tractor within the framework of national rewards.

In fact, Huaibei City always had quotas for agricultural machinery, but they were very limited and never made it to the Wanglou Brigade.

In situations like this, it all came down to who had stronger connections—those with influence could secure benefits for their commune or brigade. Cheng Baoguo had considered getting a single-axle tractor for the Wanglou Brigade to change the reliance on manpower and animals for farming, but he’d failed several times.

Huaibei City wasn’t solely under his control.

Some believed that since the Wanglou Brigade was already performing well and had gained recognition from the senior leaders, they should be given support to develop further and bring even more glory to Huaibei City. However, others felt that precisely because the Wanglou Brigade was doing so well, they didn’t need assistance from the state, and the support should go instead to other underdeveloped production brigades.

Now, when Xibao requested a tractor, Wang Zhenguo, who was present, was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected Xibao to speak up like that, but when he thought of Father Lu, it all made sense again.

Seeing Xibao’s bright, expectant eyes, the two older officials accompanying Cheng Baoguo could only say one thing—words of praise. They commended him for being so young but already thinking of the collective, for his advanced mindset and selflessness. On the spot, they applied for the latest model of a handheld tractor for the Wanglou Brigade. It came fully equipped for plowing and transportation.

Considering the massive contribution of handing over tens of millions’ worth of gold to the state, the assembly voted to find a way to secure an additional threshing machine for the Wanglou Brigade, which could be driven by the tractor.

So, while the relevant departments wrote reports and filed applications, they also sent people to the site where Xibao had discovered the gold to continue digging, checking if there was more beneath the ground. After digging for many days and leaving the land pitted with holes, they ultimately found nothing. Meanwhile, the tractor and threshing machine were delivered.

The tractor and threshing machine, adorned with large red flowers, were sent to the Wanglou Brigade with a ceremony just shy of drum beats and gongs.

Xibao instantly became a rising star—so popular it was almost unbelievable.

Cheng Baoguo was very considerate and specially arranged for experts to teach the brigade how to operate the tractor and threshing machine. The Wanglou Brigade’s first tractor operator was Wang Zhenguo’s eldest grandson, Wang Chengkun. The young man learned quickly, was bold, and soon mastered the skill.

Of course, this was also because Cheng Baoguo, at the request of Lu Jiang and Feng Qingxue, planned to arrange work for Lu Tianzhi and Guan Yu after the busy farming season.

Lu Tianzhi and Guan Yu knew more than Wang Chengkun, so they didn’t make a big show of it.

Once Cheng Baoguo and the experts had left, the journalists who had come to take photos also departed. The men, women, and children of the Wanglou Brigade surrounded the tractor and threshing machine, forming an impenetrable crowd, creating an atmosphere as festive as celebrating the New Year with a feast of pork.

"Build a shed, build a shed—we need to build a shed for the tractor and threshing machine so they won’t get beaten by wind, rained on, or baked by the sun!"

Someone casually suggested this, and it was met with enthusiastic approval from the crowd.

"Yes, yes, yes! These things are precious; we need to take good care of them. If livestock are like our fathers, then these two machines are like our grandfathers!"