Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn
Chapter 128 - 83: The Road to Prosperity for the Small Mountain Village

Chapter 128: Chapter 83: The Road to Prosperity for the Small Mountain Village

Secretary Qian’s funeral was quickly forgotten by the people of Ge Village. After the autumn rice dried, the village chief began to busily discuss the selling of the harvest. The entire village was looking forward to the good news the village chief would bring from down the mountain.

The news came, but it wasn’t very good.

"The people at the Agricultural Grain Station are too bullying," the village chief said after making two trips down the mountain. His face, already darkened by the sun from shouting orders during the harvest, had turned even darker with anger. When he went down the mountain, the village chief brought over fifty kilograms of rice to show the people at the grain station the quality of the rice, and to negotiate a good price.

"They first claimed they didn’t recognize our rice variety. After we had it hulled to confirm the type, and when we put it on the scale, a full load was said to weigh only forty-three kilograms. Isn’t this cheating us?" The village chief was incredibly agitated, feeling as if he was about to erupt like a chimney spewing black smoke.

"The grain station always operates like this," Zhu Shijun had already braced himself for this. Local grain stations, with their monopoly, frequently shortchange farmers on the weight. Ge Village had always had poor harvests in previous years and had never experienced such exploitation when selling grain. This year, with the sudden abundant harvest, it was hard to accept.

"What do we do now? The whole village has worked hard for a year, and that’s all we’ve got. Some families in the village that were severely affected by disasters are all waiting to sell their grain to build houses." The village chief was clearly worried. The village had no connections with the town’s Agricultural Grain Station. In the past, Qian Duoduo used Secretary Qian’s influence, a bribe of a few hundred yuan, some cigarettes, and liquor would do the trick. But now, with Secretary Qian having become nothing but bones in the mountains, Qian Duoduo blames the village for not taking good care of his father, only instructing his mother to keep the door shut and not to interact with anyone from the village.

But the villagers didn’t know the village chief had run into trouble selling the grain. As soon as they heard the village chief had returned, they followed one after another, entering his home to ask when the grain could be transported down the mountain.

San Gouzi, who accompanied the village chief down the mountain and realized his difficulties, took a harsh drag of his cigarette. "Uncle Jin, why not just sell it to them for a little less if necessary? Worst comes to worst, I won’t charge for the transportation."

"That won’t do," the village chief knew San Gouzi was warm-hearted, but last time, after San Gouzi’s truck carried Secretary Qian’s corpse up the mountain, others avoided it for being unlucky, impacting his transport business. Letting him take a loss on transporting the grain this time would make his life even harder.

"Old man, you’re sensible. Please advise the village chief. I’ve been away all year long due to transportation work, causing trouble at home with my wife and child. If the village’s grain sells for a good price, I can stay and farm at home. If our village gets wealthy, we can pay to have the government pave a cement road to the edge of the village, and like in the town, set up electric poles, so every household can use electric lights and watch TV." San Gouzi, in his thirties, showed a child-like longing on his face when he spoke about these things.

Zhu Shijun was deeply moved when he listened, as if seeing once again the passionate expressions of the old workers at the cigarette factory that had been on the brink of bankruptcy under his leadership.

"Village chief, ever since Qian Yongfu died, the position of the village’s party secretary has been vacant. You alone are busy with all the village’s affairs and are overwhelmed. San Gouzi’s idea isn’t bad. Why don’t you write a letter? Let San Gouzi fill the secretary vacancy. As for the rice issue, there’s no rush. I’ll think about it." Zhu Shijun had become the village chief’s mainstay. After listening to his suggestion, the village chief gave it some thought. San Gouzi was a genuine Ge Village person, experienced in the ways of the world, more eloquent than he was himself. If the village had a strong man like him as a role model, perhaps the young people working away from home would come back when they saw him, and then the village would truly prosper.

That evening, Zhu Shijun was still pondering over the over ten thousand kilograms of rice in the village as he ate his dinner. Selling to the Agricultural Grain Station was out of the question; it would only reinforce the practice of cheating the farmers of their grain. He had to give serious thought to the transportation costs too; going up and down the mountain without using San Gouzi’s truck would be a significant expense, and it would cost each family a lot if the fee was spread among them.

Zhu Shijun instantly rejected the idea of selling the grain to the Agricultural Grain Station. Yet although the government didn’t currently force farmers to sell their grain to the Agricultural Grain Station, privately selling such a large quantity of rice could attract unwanted attention from the relevant departments and cause trouble.

"Grandpa, a few days ago, Sister-in-law Lian fried a pound of red-skinned peanuts with vegetable oil and said it was for you to enjoy with your drink. I’ll go get you some wine." After finishing a bowl of rice, Xiao Xian saw that Zhu Shijun was troubled about village affairs again and eagerly went to the cabinet to fetch a bag of fried peanuts.