The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 558 - 529: Many Children, School _1

Chapter 558: Chapter 529: Many Children, School _1

Just as Third Grandma Qi had said, when He Tiantian saw Village Chief Qi and Aunt Liang the next day, their spirits had improved significantly, they were beaming with joy and full of vigor.

Qijia Village had returned to its former tranquility and liveliness, everyone striving for a good harvest.

In the village, there were only a few people with whom Village Chief Qi could share his heartfelt thoughts. If you have something on your mind, you need to talk it out with someone; otherwise, keeping it bottled up inside is uncomfortable.

Seeing that He Jingyu was at home, Village Chief Qi brought some sunflower seeds and came over to chat with him.

However, on his way from home, he ran into several groups of children who asked him for sunflower seeds.

Before he even reached Third Grandma Qi’s house, the more than a pound of sunflower seeds he had brought was all gone, claimed by the children.

Secretary Qi felt both happy and worried, particularly when he saw young women and young wives carrying basins to take a bath behind the mountains.

Alas, he supposed that after the New Year, there would be many more pregnant women and by this time next year, there would be a lot more twins.

Seeing all this, by the time Secretary Qi arrived at Third Grandma Qi’s house, his good mood had vanished.

"What’s wrong?" He Jingyu poured tea for Secretary Qi, "It’s a bit hard to part with a daughter on her wedding, but your son-in-law is a good man, what else are you worried about? Your daughter is already married, you can’t bring her back!"

Secretary Qi took a sip of the hot tea and said, "Ah, I’m not thinking about my daughter! Xiao Yan got married well, I have nothing to worry about. Just listen, those kids outside, chirping non-stop, never peaceful. And there are so many of them, it’s maddening!"

He Jingyu listened and couldn’t help but laugh, saying, "Haha, yes, the village has indeed seen quite a few newborns in the past two or three years."

"Those little troublemakers, it will take many years until they grow up!" Secretary Qi lamented, "Right now there isn’t much work in the village, but come next spring, not only will there be more kids, but also more pregnant women. Our village’s labor force will be even less."

He Jingyu looked up at his wife who was reading a book and felt happy, knowing he would also have two children someday.

Having a son would be good, someone to back up his sister in the future; having a little padded coat like Tiantian would be even better, so the two sisters could keep each other company.

"Haha, that’s a good thing, there will be more labor in the future!" He Jingyu said, "Many children, much blessing," a belief deeply ingrained in people’s hearts.

It was 1975 now, and in a few more years, family planning would start. Then, even if one wanted to have more children, it would not be possible.

Village Chief Qi gave a wry smile and shook his head, "Fortunately, our village has had good harvests these past few years; otherwise, where would we get the resources to support all these children? The farmland in the village is limited, and the grain is fixed. When these children grow up and need to get married, to split the farmland, to divide the homestead plots, the land in the village will become even scarcer."

"That’s true," He Jingyu said, "there are only so many resources, and the more people there are, the less each person gets."

"That’s why I’m planning to develop several other barren hills and plant more peach trees," said Village Chief Qi, "It might make the price of peaches go down, but with the increased quantity, we will earn more."

"That’s great!" He Jingyu said, "As long as we’re careful during the development, it shouldn’t have too much impact on Qijia Village’s environment."

"Hmm, I’ll need to trouble you again next spring then," Village Chief Qi said. "By the way, I attended a meeting in the county a few days ago and heard that many middle and elementary schools have started classes in Huai City. It’s just that our Qijia Village doesn’t have a school, and to go to school, one has to go to the county town."

He Jingyu smiled and said, "Look at all the children in the village, in two or three years they’ll be of school age. Even now, there are quite a few children of the right age in the village. Given that, why don’t you start a school yourselves?"

"Start our own school?" Secretary Qi was startled; he’d never before considered starting a school.

Starting a school was a significant endeavor.

For one, it was because of the lingering shadow of past experiences; for another, it was because starting a school required both human and material resources.

"Yes, look, even now, there are over three hundred children under ten in the village all going to the county town for school. Think about how much human and material resources that wastes," He Jingyu said. "Furthermore, the road is long, and they have to leave early and return late. It’s not safe!"

Secretary Qi thought it over and felt He Jingyu made sense, saying, "That’s true, starting a school is a major event, but if we succeed, it would be of great benefit not just to Qijia Village, but also to the surrounding villages."

"Yes!" He Jingyu said, "The state can’t possibly continue to ignore education forever, that’s why schools have now started teaching. The specifics, I’m not very clear on, you should take some time to ask your in-laws next time you’re in the county town."

Village Chief Qi agreed deeply, "Exactly, not to mention the literacy classes in the village, they have allowed the young people to learn a few characters. They’re no longer completely in the dark."

"Yes!" He Jingyu spoke, "As you said, when there are many children, the village’s resources are just so limited. For the children to have a better future, we should let them read more. Just take Er Gou who went to the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University, after a few years of studying and coming back, he was directly placed in the Huai City Tractor Factory."

"Right, right," Secretary Qi nodded repeatedly—the issue of his daughter’s job placement, despite so many connections, was still not settled.

After graduating from university, Er Gou, who studied mechanical design, was directly assigned to the Huai City Tractor Factory.

After all, there were too few university graduates these days, and although there was a lot of land, it was even harder to place cultural workers.

"There are young people from the city in the village, we can get these literate young people to be teachers," He Jingyu said. "Actually, it’s just a formal literacy class; we have a venue, we have manpower, and if we also get policy support, that would be even better."

"That’s right!" On leaving He Jingyu’s house, Village Chief Qi returned home and immediately summoned Qi Shugen, Qi Shuming, Qi Shuli, and others to the village branch for a meeting.

At every meeting, there were those who agreed and those who disagreed, but this time, even Qi Shuli, who always opposed Secretary Qi, was very much in favor.

This was because Qi Shuli’s daughter, Qi Fenfen, and Li Mingkai had twins of mixed sex, finally giving his family a future generation.

Knowing the importance of education, Qi Shuli naturally hoped his grandson and granddaughter could receive a good education.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Village Chief Qi decided to wait for his daughter’s return-home ceremony before heading to the county town to inquire and clarify various situations.

Three days after the return-home ceremony, Niu Dajun arrived with Qi Xiaoyan, bringing along four types of gifts to Qijia Village.

Transformed from a young girl into a new bride, Qi Xiaoyan’s face was tinged with shyness, and Niu Dajun had a beaming smile, full of vigor and vitality!

With the son-in-law visiting, Village Chief Qi invited familiar people from the village to keep him company, including He Jingyu.

On the son-in-law’s first official visit, the father-in-law and older brothers-in-law had to set rules for the new family member.

Since they couldn’t hit or scold him, they went with drinking.

Niu Dajun was plied with so much drink that he became utterly drunk and was carried straight to Qi Xiaoyan’s room.