At eleven o'clock, Sister-in-law Niu and her three team members carried two baskets of vegetables to the new comrades' dormitory.
They said they were going to cook for the new comrades.
The men refused, saying they could cook themselves.
Sister-in-law Niu placed a basket of vegetables in each dormitory.
"It's fine if you can cook. Just let us know if you need anything."
"Even if we don't hear you, the kids will. They're always playing with scooters on the village road."
The men nodded. "Thank you, Sister."
Sister-in-law Niu patted her chest. "My husband's surname is Niu, so everyone calls me Sister-in-law Niu. We're all from the hygiene team."
"The village has strict hygiene requirements. Please sort your household waste into categories."
"Items that can be fed to pigs, such as vegetable peels, fruit cores, and leftovers, should be put in one container."
"Items that can decompose into soil, such as leaves and paper, should be put in one basket."
"Items that cannot decompose into soil, such as wine bottles, plastic bags, old clothes, and torn shoes, should be put in another basket."
"Just leave them outside your main gate. We have special garbage collectors who will empty the trash from house to house every morning and evening."
The men nodded. "Alright, we understand."
Sister-in-law Niu and her team members returned to their work on the south road.
"Tian Jing, those new comrades look quite pitiful, but they speak with confidence and are kind."
Tian Jing nodded. "People who have served in the army have a certain presence. They don't want pity; they want normal interaction."
"If you want to help them, always ask if they need it first."
"Each of them has two scooters, which can act as their hands and feet."
"Even without hands, with their physique, using their feet to do things is no worse than using hands."
"As long as their hearts are firm, they will find ways to replace their hands and feet."
"Some people, after losing their limbs, can even write beautiful calligraphy with their mouths, which we ordinary people cannot achieve."
"So, don't look at them with pity; if you truly compare, they are stronger than us."
"Really?"
The team members paused their work. "No limbs, and they can still use their mouths?"
"Yes!"
Tian Jing nodded emphatically. "This is the strength of the heart. They are called physically disabled but mentally strong. We ordinary people, like mud that can't be plastered onto a wall, are called physically complete but mentally disabled."
The team members were stunned for a moment, then silently resumed their work.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Village Chief Li and Deputy Village Chief Ou came to the dormitory to ask if the new comrades had rested well.
He wanted to take them to see their future work posts.
The men all said they had rested well, the beds were comfortable, and the village was very quiet during the afternoon break.
Village Chief Li took those with good legs to the patrol group of the security team in the east.
Deputy Village Chief Ou took those with good arms to the greenhouses in the far west.
Deputy Village Chief Ou was also using a scooter.
Since the advent of scooters, the village had gradually built cement roads to each greenhouse, saving a lot of time for daily commutes.
The men used sticks to push off the ground, and the scooters moved faster than them.
He smacked his forehead. "Ah, my brain is just not working. I never thought of using sticks to push."
"No wonder I was in charge for over a decade, and I couldn't bring Kushanli forward."
These two sentences revealed Deputy Village Chief Ou's personality.
The men joked, "The waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead."
Deputy Village Chief Ou shook his head. "I don't want to be washed ashore and die."
"Hahaha."
The men burst into laughter.
A man close to him handed him two sticks. "Try it."
Deputy Village Chief Ou was stunned. "Aren't you..."
Seeing that the man handing him the sticks still had two sticks in his hands, he took them.
"I understand. You people, like Li Zhengguo, like to plan ahead. You prepare for everything and have backup plans for everything."
Saying this, he used the sticks to push off the ground and swiveled, accelerating the scooter.
No wonder the children always liked to ride their scooters on the village roads; it was quite thrilling when moving fast.
They stopped at the five hundred greenhouses in the far west.
Deputy Village Chief Ou called the leaders of the migrant workers who had come to learn.
He asked them to select twenty people to take these new comrades into the greenhouses to learn basic knowledge.
See if they get along well today, and if they do, the person leading today will continue to teach the new comrades greenhouse cultivation techniques in the following days.
Seeing these men, the foreman's expression remained unchanged; they had all been warned by Village Chief Li.
"Don't worry, I'll arrange it. New comrades, please follow me."
After handing them over to the foreman, Deputy Village Chief Ou did not leave.
Village Chief Li had said that accepting this group of disabled veterans was, on a larger scale, a show of respect for soldiers and a way to solve national problems.
On a smaller scale, it was about enhancing the image of the entire village.
The people who had given him instructions were from the Ministry of Public Security.
Once this matter was settled, the whole country would pay attention to Kushanli.
Events where these disabled veterans were looked down upon due to ignorance and foolishness were absolutely forbidden.
Anyone found doing so would be expelled from Kushanli.
Kushanli did not want villagers who lacked quality.
They were confident in the villagers; they were afraid of being punished.
However, they were not confident in these people who came to learn cultivation techniques.
They were all selected from villages across the county, and they had little contact with the villagers normally, so their temperaments were unknown.
Therefore, he not only followed today, but he would also follow for the next few days.
This was why he was assigned to lead the new comrades in greenhouse cultivation.
Village Chief Li did not have time to follow them like this.
Li Zhengguo took twenty people to the security team.
The work here was easy to arrange; veterans were inherently more organized than village-formed security teams.
Familiarize each other, and intersperse assignments.
After handing the men over to the security team, Li Zhengguo took away twenty villagers from Wang'er Village.
The villagers of Wang'er Village were nervous, were they going to be rejected?
"Among you, who can cook? How good is it?"
Cook?
The villagers of Wang'er Village looked at each other; they were used to being the men of the house.
Li Zhengguo was disappointed. "In your families, who cooks the best? It doesn't matter if they are men, women, old, or young."
Who in their families didn't know how to cook?
Twenty villagers raised their hands.
Li Zhengguo eliminated them with questions. "Can the dishes cooked by your family members rival those of a restaurant chef?"
Several villagers lowered their hands.
Li Zhengguo continued, "When served, do the dishes cooked by your family members make people salivate just by looking at them?"
Several more villagers lowered their hands.
"When your family members cook, does the aroma make the neighbors unable to resist asking what delicious food is being made?"
More villagers lowered their hands.
Only five villagers remained.
Li Zhengguo pointed to these five villagers. "Go to the security team and find someone to help you write letters to ask your family members to pack their bags and move in. I'll hire them as cooks."
"However, once they are here, I will need to taste their dishes. Those who don't pass will stay as dishwashers; they will still get paid."
"If you are confident, you can contract a courtyard with your family members who can cook and open a farmhouse restaurant to entertain guests who come to the village for business or sightseeing."
Contract a courtyard? Open a farmhouse restaurant?
The eyes of the five Wang'er Village villagers sparkled.
"Can the three mu of land outside the courtyard be contracted? Freshly picked vegetables have the best taste."
Li Zhengguo nodded. "Yes, it can be contracted. Each family is allowed to bring only three people. One cook, one assistant, and one general laborer. You can count yourselves as one."
"Each courtyard will have three main rooms and four or six side rooms."
"You will live in the side rooms, and the main rooms will be used for dining tables."
"The courtyard must be kept clean and tidy, otherwise, we will revoke the contract qualification."
The five Wang'er Village villagers nodded repeatedly, vowing to meet the requirements of hygiene and civilization, as their village also emphasized these aspects.