Chapter 44: A Guarantee That Blocks the Future

Lin Meiru, with her nimble hands, bled and skinned the rabbits, closing the doors and windows to deal with them. In the main room, Jiang Degui and Zhou Yinghuai were discussing the brick kiln.

Jiang Anan was very interested and listened in.

“We plan to build a small kiln first, and then expand the scale after successfully firing the bricks.” Zhou Yinghuai was very confident about this. He read a lot of books, covering a wide range of topics, and he learned about brick making from books.

“In the early stage, each educated youth will invest a small amount of money. If it’s successful, we’ll open a brick factory in the name of the team.”

Jiang Degui admired the young man’s boldness and ambition. He patted him on the shoulder: “There is no brick factory in the Red Flag Commune. If the members around here want to buy bricks, they have to go to the neighboring commune. It’s not enough to just have money, you have to get approval and wait in line. When I built my house, I waited for more than three months.

Because of the brick factory, Hongguang Commune is the richest commune in Yunzhou County. I heard that their members have white rice to eat every few days.

You are doing a good thing for the country and the people!”

“Good for the country and the people,” such official and profound words were learned recently from his little daughter. It sounded very sophisticated.

Zhou Yinghuai pursed his lips, his cheeks slightly flushed.

Actually, at first, he was looking for an excuse to go up the mountain, but he unexpectedly found clay suitable for making bricks. This clay had been exposed to the wind and sun, making it very suitable.

“Uncle Jiang, you’re flattering me. We’re just trying our best.” Zhou Yinghuai said modestly.

The more Jiang Degui looked at Zhou Yinghuai, the more he liked him. He took the opportunity to ask: “If the brick factory is really built, how many workers do you plan to hire?”

Zhou Yinghuai: “It depends on the size of the factory. We will definitely prioritize hiring workers from the team.”

Hearing this, Jiang Anan couldn’t help but speak up: “Can you also consider female comrades then? The brick factory needs physical labor, some female comrades are just as strong as male comrades, they can compete fairly. And there are also some sales and clerical positions that women can also handle.”

To change the status of women in the countryside, the first step is to raise their economic status, to make people change their backward view that women are a burden.

Perhaps Jiang Anan didn’t notice that her eyes were shining brightly when it came to women’s rights, causing Zhou Yinghuai to look at her several times.

“The brick factory will hire workers regardless of gender, fair competition.” This was the best he could offer.

Jiang Anan smiled gratefully at him.

Seeing this, Jiang Degui’s heart skipped a beat. He lowered his head and pretended to be choked, coughing violently.

Indeed, he successfully attracted Jiang Anan’s attention. She nervously reached out and patted his back repeatedly, “You’re not young anymore, you need to drink water slowly.”

Jiang Degui listened to his little daughter’s nagging voice and gave Zhou Yinghuai a triumphant look.

Zhou Yinghuai was confused: ???

“Alright, clean up the table and get ready to eat.” Lin Meiru came in with a large basin of rice. To go with the spicy rabbit meat, she had specially prepared dry rice, a luxury.

Besides the spicy rabbit meat, Wen Hao specially went back to the educated youth point and brought back a bag of white sugar. He mixed it with tomatoes to make a cold dish, which was also extremely delicious and luxurious.

Everyone ate until their stomachs were round.

Jiang Anan held a cup of bitter tea from the old mountain and suddenly said: “Mom, the Women’s Federation is going to prepare a gala at the end of the month. Does anyone in the team have any ancestral skills, like shadow puppetry or lion dancing? If they can beat the clappers and tell jokes, that’s fine too.”

Lin Meiru said proudly: “Why look for others? Your second uncle used to be in the lion dance team. Tomorrow, I’ll send a message and go see your third sister.”

Jiang’s third sister was nearing her due date. She had married into the Red Maple Team where her maternal grandparents lived, a three-hour walk at least.

Jiang Degui agreed with both hands: “Take a dozen eggs with you to see Sanniu.” Her third son-in-law worked at the meat processing plant, he wouldn’t let his mother-in-law come back empty-handed.

The couple smiled at each other in understanding.

–

The commune’s grand auditorium was very simple. There was a blackboard in front, and a row of long benches behind, accommodating a maximum of 130 people.

Yang Qing, as a member of the school’s art troupe, quickly came up with a solution: “It’s enough for the lecture, but the gala will have at least a thousand people. Why don’t we find an open space and build a stage directly? Besides the cadres, the members can bring their own small stools, they can stand or sit.”

Jiang Anan thought for a moment: “There’s a large open space in front of the commune, usually used for drying grain. If it rains, the gala can be postponed for a few days, but the stage must be built simply and grandly, easy to dismantle and assemble.”

In short, it’s cost-effective, time-saving, labor-saving, and beautiful.

Yang Qing: “…”

Although it was very difficult, she still agreed. As long as the program was good, the stage being a little rough wouldn’t matter.

“We can use a curtain to cover the buildings behind the stage. I can use my connections to get one, including the equipment needed for the stage.” Wen Hao really didn’t want to go back to farming, so he was eager to show himself.

Jiang Anan had originally planned to borrow some equipment from the art troupe through Director Gao’s connections, but now Wen Hao had taken the initiative to take on the task, and she was happy to be a hands-off manager.

The three of them discussed the details for a whole morning. In the afternoon, Jiang Anan, holding a stack of thick documents, set off for the county to report on her work.

Recently, the Women’s Federation had nothing much to do. Seeing her come, Gao Xiuhua couldn’t stop smiling: “It seems like your work in the commune is going quite smoothly.”

Jiang Anan smiled shyly: “I have to thank Director Gao for specially greeting Secretary Yang. You are so considerate of your subordinates, I dare not disappoint you.”

This expression of gratitude made Gao Xiuhua feel very flattered.

Jiang Anan unfolded the documents and began to report on her work in recent days, and invited Gao Xiuhua to be the main speaker for the first lecture.

Gao Xiuhua’s mind was buzzing. She thought that Jiang Anan would at most grab a few propaganda spaces, distribute a few hundred flyers, and handle one or two family disputes in the commune. She never expected that she would go big right away.

“Three departments are jointly holding a legal education lecture, not only inviting reporters to report, but also preparing a gala to celebrate the harvest…” These three things, no matter which one you take apart, are a big project.

“Okay, I can be the main speaker.” She was the director of the Women’s Federation, she had more qualifications than anyone else. “But how did you invite reporters?”

Jiang Anan was prepared: “We printed a few invitations, in the form of invitation letters, and sent them to major newspapers in the province. Reporters will definitely come.”

The invitation was a white card with a few plump ears of wheat drawn on it, which looked pleasing to the eye. The beginning of the card introduced the invitation to attend the lecture, followed by the program list, which already included the seals of the Red Flag Commune and the Public Security Bureau. There was also a blank space at the front, obviously reserved for the Women’s Federation.

It was clear who was the leading unit.

Gao Xiuhua looked at Jiang Anan with great appreciation. She stamped the Women’s Federation seal on the invitation and took one: “I will send this invitation to the county chief’s office. Anan, this lecture and gala are of great significance, don’t make any mistakes.”

Jiang Anan: “Guaranteed no problem.”

Who would have thought that she had just made a solemn promise, and then something went wrong.