Sister Guihua’s eyes rolled, and she immediately understood. “All members of the Civilization Group, take out your notebooks, sit on the presidium, and ask for records.”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Sister Guihua’s mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and daughters-in-law responded loudly, seizing an opportunity to save face.
Some children looked back at their departing parents.
They were afraid that if their parents were punished, they would be beaten further by them.
Zhang Shitou, covering half of his swollen face, said to the scared children, “Look at me, I’m eighteen, and I still can’t be independent.”
“It’s such an honor to be the secretary for Village Chief Li, yet they still don’t agree.”
“This is the tyranny and control of parents. The more you are afraid, the more they will control you.”
The children hesitated, “But if our families are fined and lose income, they will still beat us.”
“If they beat you, you just shout. If all their income is fined to the village, they will behave. Heh heh, I’m really looking forward to Village Chief Li’s grand plan.”
A child whispered in Zhang Shitou’s ear, “What do you mean?”
Zhang Shitou whispered back, “Village Chief Li didn’t answer, which means I asked the right question, and he doesn’t want to reveal it in advance.”
“The back mountain, who hasn’t yearned for it? Village Chief Li is short of money, and our parents are too selfish. If it’s fined to the village, Village Chief Li will have money for his grand plan.”
“He just needs to borrow it now because he doesn’t have the money. When he has money, he will definitely return it. We are all contributors, and even if he doesn’t return it to our parents, he will return it to us.”
“If he doesn’t say it, it’s because he doesn’t want to indulge our parents’ foolishness.”
“Our parents are too foolish. Village Chief Li even said that after working all year, they only earned four thousand yuan, which is more than in previous years. So what if they are taxed eight thousand yuan every year?”
“Once the grand plan is implemented, they will earn even more. What if they are all collected by Village Chief Li in the future? Isn’t taking a small portion enough?”
A child clapped his hands, “Great! We believe you. We are the new generation of Kushan.”
Zhang Shitou nodded, “Yes! That’s the principle. We can’t be controlled by them and become like them.”
The sound of applause rang out.
The two boys, who were talking animatedly with their heads together, looked up.
“Village Chief Li?”
“Village Chief Li.”
“Mm,” Li Zhengguo responded. “Zhang Shitou spoke very well. Just now, I was so disappointed that I thought about withdrawing people to plant watermelons separately and earn money for the village alone.”
“After all, my loan has a term, but in you, I see hope again.”
Zhang Shitou touched his swollen face. “Village Chief Li, will you still hire me as your assistant?”
“Hired!”
Li Zhengguo nodded. “Three months internship, with an internship salary of twenty. After passing the internship, you will be officially employed with a monthly salary of forty.”
Zhang Shitou asked, “Then as your assistant, I can make suggestions, right?”
“Yes, what suggestions do you have?”
Zhang Shitou pointed to the children queuing up to be interviewed by the Civilization Group.
“When they go home, they will definitely be beaten again. Can we select those over ten years old to plant watermelons separately?”
“We are no worse than Li Weikang. We all helped plant watermelons, but our parents still don’t share the money with us, not even our New Year’s money.”
“We will work independently and earn money for the village independently. It’s just to prove to our parents that we are no worse than them.”
“Without them, we can still support ourselves. It’s just that we are attached to home, we need a home, we need the warmth of home, we need their care, but they only recognize money.”
Li Zhengguo agreed. “Good! I will give you a chance to try to challenge your parents.”
“All the children selected, no matter how much income you earn for the village, you will receive a thousand yuan bonus each year, with a monthly salary of twenty. Do you want to do it?”
“We’ll do it, we’ll do it.”
“We’ll do it.”
The children queuing up were all shouting.
From the moment Village Chief Li walked over and spoke to Zhang Shitou, they had heard everything clearly.
Zhang Shitou was speaking up for them, and they were indeed wronged.
When their parents asked them to do things, they were treated as people. When it came to distributing money, they were not treated as people.
“What about us?”
“What about us?”
The little children queuing up walked over hand in hand. “We can work too.”
Li Zhengguo raised an eyebrow. “What can you do?”
“Planting vegetables, crouching to plant seedlings and pull weeds, we’ve done it all.”
Li Zhengguo felt sorry for these children. “Alright, those aged five to nine will plant vegetables, and those aged ten to eighteen will plant watermelons. Those who plant vegetables will also have a salary of twenty and a bonus of three hundred.”
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
The children jumped and cheered, they could all earn money now.
Li Zhengguo smiled. “Go and queue up obediently. When you report your parents’ situation, you must be truthful and not talk nonsense.”
“Sometimes, some parents don’t know how to express themselves and can only use their hands, because they themselves came from under the hands.”
“I will lead you to organize a small planting team, not to encourage you to go against your parents.”
“It’s to give you a chance to prove to your parents that your labor deserves respect and reward.”
Mm, mm, mm, mm.
The children nodded. “We still want a home, we still want our parents.”
“Yes, that’s the principle. Remember some things you don’t understand for now, and when you grow up, you’ll understand when you think back on them.”
…
The village loudspeaker sounded again.
The village was organizing a youth planting team and a children's planting team.
Teenagers and children between the ages of five and eighteen were to be selected from each household.
The selected youths and children would receive a monthly salary of twenty.
After the watermelons and vegetables planted were sold, the watermelon team would receive a bonus of one thousand yuan per person, and the vegetable team would receive a bonus of three hundred yuan per person.
The planting sheds did not require them to stand guard or carry water; they only needed to plant and weed.
The workday was nine hours, from seven to eleven in the morning, and from two to seven in the afternoon.
No household was allowed to excuse their children from being selected by the village for any reason.
Nor were they allowed to arrange for the children to do household chores during their off-work hours.
You parents say that raising children is hard, right?
Now that the children are self-reliant, you shouldn’t order them around anymore.
As soon as the notice was issued, the village erupted in an uproar. Children were to be selected to work for the village?
Who would do the miscellaneous chores at home?
The villagers dared not approach Li Zhengguo and all ran to Secretary Yang.
Secretary Yang slammed the table. “What’s wrong? The village is leading you to make money, and you’re willing, but you’re not willing to have the children make money?”
“Aren’t children people? Haven’t children worked at home?”
The villagers quickly explained, “If the children have money, will they still obey our discipline as parents?”
Secretary Yang slammed the table even harder. “Isn’t that what you want? When they have no money, they obey. Now that they’ve got over ten thousand yuan, they won’t obey?”
“You’ve forgotten about the incident at the East courtyard, haven’t you? If we hired people from other villages to do the planting, we wouldn’t have to share any money with them, only pay their wages.”
“From April to January, a total of nine months, how much wages would be paid? Let me calculate it for you.”
“To hire people, one person can manage four or five large sheds. For 1360 large sheds, three hundred people are enough.”
“Fifty yuan per person for nine months is only 135,000 yuan. The village earns 1.5 million yuan, so where is the problem? Why should over 800,000 yuan be distributed to you? Huh?”
“Village Chief Li said at the meeting that if he doesn’t bring you to make money, you have complaints. If he brings you to make money, you have too many issues.”
“You are truly like mud, you can’t even plaster a wall. Get out!”
Secretary Yang’s outburst startled the villagers, who quickly ran out of the office.
When they looked up, they saw the two-story courtyard behind them.
Thinking of the scene when outsiders came to work and took their wages, they shivered.
No! Absolutely not!
They could not be foolish again.
What’s wrong with only four thousand yuan a year? Ten years would be forty thousand yuan.
Moreover, wasn’t the money spent an investment in the village’s development?
The village roads had already been built, and soon bridges and rural roads would be built, rural roads that belonged exclusively to Kushan and could collect money from other villages.
In the future, there would also be a primary school, and uniform housing.
And that so-called grand plan.
Right, Village Chief Li never answered Zhang Shitou’s question.
If the grand plan really was the back mountain…
Holy shit, could it be Eagle Beak?
The legendary place!
The villagers looked at each other, then hurried home.
No, no, no, they had to go home and get their money, and invest it in the village.