The accountant, Mr. Yang, finished tidying up and prepared to leave for the day, only to be surrounded by villagers.
The villagers held up their deposit books.
"Accountant Yang, we've come to make payments."
"That's right, we're here to pay. My household is paying nine thousand."
"Your household is paying nine thousand? Mine is paying ten thousand."
"Only ten thousand? My family has already paid twelve thousand."
The villagers pushed forward noisily, causing Mr. Yang to become flustered. He shouted, "Quiet!"
Once the villagers quieted down, he said, "Go back, everyone. I haven't received any notification from Village Chief Li. This means he hasn't told me to collect money yet, and I can't collect it arbitrarily."
The villagers outside the door turned and ran.
The villagers inside who had just realized the situation also rushed towards the exit.
Li Zhengguo grabbed his car keys, preparing to drive to the county to make phone calls, order materials, workers, and experts to help him build the greenhouses.
He had been too confident, believing he could subdue the villagers with strong-arm tactics.
Reality had taught him that once the money was in the villagers' hands, there was no way to get it back.
Last year, he should have built some greenhouses specifically for the village. The village could have had its own income. Why did he have to rely on the meager amount of money he schemed from the villagers?
Seeing the car keys in Li Zhengguo's hand, the villagers grew more anxious and rushed to stop him.
"Village Chief Li, we've come to pay. Please don't hire outsiders for the work. We were momentarily confused. Please forgive us this once."
"We'll work hard, and we'll pay you ten thousand yuan every year. We'll just keep the remainder."
"Once the village is completely built up and has an income, we'll get it all back."
"It's like a bank's installment savings account. The village will manage it for us, and we'll get a lump sum."
"This way, it won't be spent impulsively, and it won't be borrowed by relatives and friends."
The villagers who had chased after them echoed their sentiments.
"Yes, yes, that's exactly right. We might not be able to keep it safe in our hands, so it's better to invest it in the village's development."
"Indeed, indeed. If relatives and friends ask to borrow, refusing them offends them. If we lend it, we don't know when we'll get it back, and we offend our father-in-law and brothers-in-law. Investing in our village's development is so much more respectable! Our village is built through our collective efforts."
"Yes, yes..."
"Indeed, indeed..."
Li Zhengguo raised his hand to signal them to be quiet. "Have you all thought this through? Aren't you afraid I'll squander all your money?"
The villagers shook their heads.
"No fear, no fear. We still have two thousand yuan each, don't we? That's more than enough. And look at our village roads, and soon there will be a primary school and buildings, and the Ku River Bridge."
"With so much development, even if we don't get the funds back, we've gained more than we could in several lifetimes, something that generations wouldn't even dare to dream of."
"Yes, yes."
"That's right, that's right. We're uneducated and our minds don't work well. It's better to let the children study."
Li Zhengguo asked, "What are your opinions on the children's planting team and the youth planting team?"
"Support! As long as the children dare to go, they'll be better than us, with courage and foresight."
"Exactly, as long as the children dare to strive and work hard, we support them going, so they don't end up as useless as us."
Li Zhengguo nodded. "Alright then. Starting tomorrow, you'll pay ten thousand yuan per household. Starting this year, ten thousand will be deducted directly."
"For the future grand plan, your household's proportion will be calculated based on the total investment amount, and then shares will be determined."
"Excellent, excellent!"
The villagers cheered excitedly, knowing their shares would definitely be more than one-thousandth.
Li Zhengguo waved his hand. "You can go back now. I'm going to procure materials to build greenhouses for the children's planting team and the youth planting team."
"Alright, alright, go ahead and busy yourself. We won't disturb you."
Only after Li Zhengguo had left did the villagers breathe a sigh of relief, glad they had arrived in time.
...
Steel bars, cement, and plastic sheeting were then transported to the west of the village.
Word was that five hundred greenhouses were to be built this time.
The villagers watched, not daring to speak, because these five hundred greenhouses belonged to the collective village.
Accountant Yang spent two busy days between the village and the county, finally transferring the 680,000 yuan into the village committee's account.
The remaining 1.7 million yuan was still in hand. After a year, he was no longer afraid. What was there to fear about numbers?
With money in the village's accounts, Li Zhengguo continued to procure materials for building the bridge and roads.
The village's three public and private trucks made constant trips for a month, and piles of materials were stacked on the opposite bank of the Ku River.
Even the materials for road construction were piled there, under the watchful eye of Village Chief Ou, ensuring their safety.
As for the labor for bridge construction, that required hiring villagers from outside the village.
He explained this through the loudspeaker, stating that the villagers of their own village were busy making big money, and the manual labor would be handled by villagers from other villages.
The villagers stood taller, proud that they could now afford to hire laborers from outside the village.
The first stop, of course, was Wang'er Village. The old village chief of Wang'er Village congratulated Li Zhengguo profusely upon hearing that Kushanli Village was planning to build a bridge.
Li Zhengguo smiled and said, "Congratulations to you too. I've come to invite villagers from your esteemed village to dig the river and build the bridge. The daily wage is two yuan. Are you interested?"
"We're interested!"
The old village chief readily agreed. Two yuan a day meant sixty yuan a month – where else could they find such an offer?
Li Zhengguo was cautious. "Old Village Chief, it would be best to ask them first. This is heavy work, and they need to be quick and nimble. If they don't follow instructions and get injured, I won't be responsible, and I will blame them for delaying my project."
The old village chief nodded. "Of course, we'll find young, strong, and reliable individuals. How many people do you need?"
"The more, the better. We need to finish as soon as possible, as we still need to repair the township road."
Speaking of the township road, the old village chief asked, "Where exactly do you plan to build the new township road?"
"Of course, we'll build a new road next to the old one. However, we can't avoid the bend at Wuli Slope. I plan to widen the side facing the mountain."
"With so much work, the more people the better. If you don't have enough hands, I'll hire from the town. I won't be using those three villages."
Upon hearing Li Zhengguo's words, the old village chief understood that Li Zhengguo was concerned about the progress being deliberately delayed by the villagers of those three villages.
"Yes, yes. We have about two to three hundred strong laborers here."
Li Zhengguo pondered and asked, "How many people are capable of sawing trees, digging soil, and pushing stones to build the roadbed?"
"At most one person per household, as we still need to tend to our crops."
Li Zhengguo waved his hand. "During the busy farming season, we'll have a break."
The old village chief was relieved. "Then we'll assign two people per household. We have one hundred and thirty-six households in our village."
Li Zhengguo envied them. "That's exactly double our village's number."
The old village chief sighed. "We're all separated by the Wuli Slope bend. Those three villages each have over two hundred households."
Over two hundred households?
Li Zhengguo was no longer envious. Even with sixty-eight households, it was difficult enough.
With two hundred households, wouldn't he be shouting into the loudspeaker every day?
"Then we'll use all your village's people for now. If the progress isn't satisfactory, I'll hire from outside."
"In three days, bring everyone to the Ku River bank to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony hosted by Mayor Ji."
"Immediately after the bridge's groundbreaking ceremony, there will be the township road's groundbreaking ceremony. You must organize your people well."
"For the roadbed construction, I'll have you act as supervisor, also for two yuan a day."
The old village chief beamed, his face blooming into a smile. Mayor Ji himself was coming to preside over the groundbreaking ceremony? Was Li Zhengguo affiliated with Mayor Ji?
"Alright, alright! Building roads, I have experience with that."