The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 314 - 285 Another Plan (5/5 Thanks to Guo Xiao Lin for the He Shi Bi reward)_1

Chapter 314: Chapter 285 Another Plan (5/5 Thanks to Guo Xiao Lin for the He Shi Bi reward)_1

In the afternoon, Village Chief Qi, along with Zhao Hongying and Qi Shugen, came to the He Family.

Wang Shuping brewed some tea and poured a cup for each of them.

"Tiantian, go to the yard and pick a few cucumbers," Wang Shuping instructed. Since fruit was scarce, fresh cucumbers had become their after-meal fruit.

"Sure!" He Tiantian cheerfully agreed and took a small basin for washing vegetables to pick the cucumbers.

As He Tiantian picked the cucumbers, she mused to herself that the original owner of the house must have been an expert at gardening. The vegetable garden was flourishing with produce.

On the other side, Village Chief Qi was happily chatting with He Jingyu and was very interested in the honey peaches he mentioned.

"Brother He, the meeting we have tomorrow is precisely to discuss this matter. I’ll be the first to support it and invite you and your wife to start soil collection in our village," Village Chief Qi said, determined to bring the project to Qijia Village if the land was suitable.

"Chief, won’t there be some people in the village who object?" Zhao Hongying said, knowing that there were always dissenters for every initiative in the village.

If the initiative was successful, they benefited; if not, they accused Village Chief Qi of using power for personal gain.

"Indeed, not everyone in the village is in agreement," said Qi Shugen, voicing his concern.

Village Chief Qi laughed and said, "As long as the soil is right, I’m determined to make it happen, and it’s not just about increasing the villagers’ income, I have other plans in mind!"

"What other plans do you have, Chief?" Qi Shugen curiously inquired, eager to know what Village Chief Qi had up his sleeve.

Zhao Hongying, the He couple, and He Tiantian were all very curious as well, all looking at Village Chief Qi.

Village Chief Qi laughed and said, "Building a road!"

"Gasp!" Qi Shugen inhaled sharply. "Chief, our village is dozens of miles from the county seat, that’s a major project!"

"That’s right, and it’s precisely because we are far from the county seat that it’s inconvenient for our village to travel back and forth," Village Chief Qi explained. "Especially during the rainy season; once it rains, the roads become impassable. I’m not just daydreaming, my daughter-in-law’s family’s village used to be like ours, but then they built a road to the county seat. If they can build a road for Goat Gully Village, why can’t they do a little construction for ours?"

"It’s because our village is too far!" Zhao Hongying remarked. "They are closer, a whole ten miles closer than our village!"

Village Chief Qi laughed and said, "That’s just one aspect. More importantly, their village planted hundreds of acres of apple trees. The apples are big and high-quality, but poor roads could affect their transport, so the county built them a road. Our village, on the other hand, what do we have besides grain? Nothing! Therefore, why would the commune spend a lot of money to build a road for us? If we succeed in planting honey peaches, which require even more care in transport than apples, to ship this high-quality fruit out, the commune will build a road for us too."

Hearing this, everyone suddenly realized the deeper intention.

"Chief, you’ve really thought this through!" Zhao Hongying laughed. "If we also build a road, it will be much easier to travel to the county seat in the future, halving the time needed."

"Yes, and even without bicycles, we’d be able to walk to the county seat," Qi Shugen added. Because of the distance, not many people had frequently visited the county seat. You couldn’t make a round trip in a single day, and there was nowhere to stay overnight.

Village Chief Qi laughed and said, "Exactly, once the road is built, it’ll be more convenient for us to come and go. This is something that will benefit future generations, and I’m determined to see it done."

While pouring tea for the elders, He Tiantian interjected with a smile, "To get rich, one must first build roads!"

"Haha!" Village Chief Qi laughed heartily. "Girl Tian is right. Since Goat Gully improved their roads, they can sell the dry goods they find on the mountain at the procurement station. The fruit trees they plant also earn them a good amount of money each year. Life in that village is the best in the entire Taoyuan County."

"Yeah, we’ve heard about it and have been envious," said Zhao Hongying. "It used to take four or five hours to get to the county seat from Goat Gully Village, but now it only takes two hours on foot. They’ve built bridges, so there’s no need for detours."

Taoyuan County is mountainous and full of water, with small rivers and streams everywhere. Some are shallow enough to wade through or skate over, but the deeper ones are impassable, necessitating detours.

As a result, the distance one needs to travel becomes longer.

As dinner time approached, Village Chief Qi bid his farewell, adamant about not staying for a meal. Not wanting to eat for free at the He Family’s expense when they were subsisting on rations, they felt it would be inappropriate.

Since Tiantian was the daughter of the He parents, Village Chief Qi also said to let Tiantian stay here, and they could all return to Qijia Village together the next afternoon.

Tiantian had a lot to talk about with her parents, chatting away non-stop. Eventually, the conversion turned to Huo Yingjie.

"Ah, Mom and Dad, Brother Yingjie came to see me a while ago. If I had known earlier, our family could have met more often," He Tiantian mentioned, her tone tinged with melancholy.

In that era, reuniting with family was indeed a luxury!

"Yingjie came to Huai City to see us; he was looking for Director Liao from his work unit. Hearing that we were here, he came to visit us," Wang Shuping explained. "That kid is really thoughtful, busy with work and still making time to see you. That’s great!"

"What?" He Tiantian was surprised. "Mom, Brother Yingjie came here? When was this?"

"It was that day on the train. He arrived in Huai City, had lunch with us, and then took the train back that evening," Wang Shuping said. "It was all coincidental; he had no prior knowledge of it. If he had known, he wouldn’t have failed to tell you."

"That makes sense," He Tiantian said. "If I hadn’t come to Huai City, I wouldn’t have known you were here either."

The family of three talked until late at night. He Tiantian slept in the bedroom with her mother, and He Jingyu took the guest room. Mother and daughter continued their conversation in bed until they fell asleep at some point.

Meanwhile, Village Chief Qi attended the meeting he had heard about from He Jingyu the day before.

The speculations from yesterday were not wrong; many could not appreciate the initiative, deeming it an unconventional approach and were not proactive.

Village Chief Qi did not express his opinion. He planned to speak with Niu Peng personally after the meeting and support the city’s decision. If the project was successful, it would be a feather in Niu Peng’s cap. Even if Taoyuan County was not suitable for fruit cultivation, showing enthusiasm for the city’s decision could leave a good impression on the leadership.

After the meeting, Niu Peng was very disappointed with the village secretaries from Taoyuan County; nobody stepped forward proactively.

The village secretary from Goat Gully was interested, but their village was already cultivating apples and had no extra land for other fruits.

When Village Chief Qi found Niu Peng, he was in low spirits.

Hearing Village Chief Qi’s proposal, Niu Peng’s eyes lit up. "Come on, I’ll take you there. Your village is well-known in the city, and the leaders are aware of Qijia Village. Your initiative to request and support the city’s decision is greatly beneficial for both you and Qijia Village."