Chapter 38: Director Zhao follows the rules in handling affairs.

Zhao Ke became the head of the cooperative. The topic returned to the involvement of women in the livestock operation. Her attitude was very straightforward: “Since this work is not easy, if the women are not afraid of hardship and can do it well, I request the same pay as Uncle Ban’er, at most slightly less work points for relatively easier tasks like raising chickens.”

Zhao Xinshan turned the cigarette in his hand but neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, he said, “You need to know that if there’s mismanagement causing losses to the Production Team, you’ll have to take responsibility for it.”

“Of course.” Zhao Ke agreed without hesitation and then added, “The cooperative should also have requirements for participating members. Supporting the Production Team’s work should be the first condition. I will sort out the details for further discussion.”

“For example?”

“School-age children must attend school, regardless of gender.”

The three immediately understood her intention, as not long ago, they were teasing Yu Xiulan about her enthusiasm.

After all this effort and putting up such a large sum of money, was it just to ensure children could attend school?

The three felt it was impossible.

However, literacy campaigns were also tasks assigned by the commune, so Zhao Xinshan did not oppose it.

He watched Zhao Ke record in her notebook and said, “It’s already June. If the plan is to sell the pigs before the New Year or to breed them and raise them longer, we need to act quickly to get piglets. Everything else also needs to be prepared.”

Deputy Team Leader Xu and Accountant Niu nodded in agreement.

Zhao Xinshan continued, “The old livestock pen at Lao Ban’er’s house to the east of the yard is just enough for one cow and two pigs. If we add more livestock and poultry, it will need to be expanded. I’m also worried about the location—it’s on the edge of the village and a bit remote. If someone steals chickens or something, it might not be easy to guard.”

Accountant Niu said, “But it can’t be in the village. First, there’s no suitable space. Second, the smell would be too strong.”

Previously, pig waste wasn’t cleaned up. They just threw straw and hay into the pigsty, which piled up thickly and smelled awful.

This was an area Zhao Ke lacked knowledge in, so she didn’t participate and only recorded notes in her notebook.

Deputy Team Leader Xu looked up, his gaze crossing the drying yard and landing on the vacant space near the old locust tree. “Why not build it at the village entrance?”

Accountant Niu turned his head to look. “The women in the village who like to sit there and chat would complain to the Team about the smell.”

But Zhao Xinshan felt it was a good location. “There are always people around the drying yard, and under the locust tree. At most, we could build a separate composting pit and clean up the pen frequently so the smell wouldn’t be too strong.”

This would increase the workload for the caretakers, but it would indeed be more organized.

Zhao Ke made a separate note in her notebook.

The three men then discussed the costs of building the pigsty and the work points to be given to members.

Zhao Ke, like a recorder, wrote down all the key points in her notebook.

The four of them sat under the eaves, discussing the cooperative all morning. The only break was when Zhao Ke needed to refill ink for her pen. The other three took the chance to smoke a cigarette nearby.

The main points were mostly covered, and the details would need to be gradually worked out later.

Before the noon break, Accountant Niu suddenly asked, “Isn’t Zhao Ke also responsible for helping Fu Zhiqing with building a house? Will she have enough time?”

This is also an issue.

Zhao Ke declined: “I want to personally go out for a trip, so I probably won’t be able to handle Fu Zhiqing’s house.”

Accountant Niu said: “How about letting Yun Yun be in charge of Fu Zhiqing’s house?”

“No.” Zhao Xinshan and Zhao Ke both rejected it simultaneously.

The two exchanged glances; neither of them wanted Zhao Yunyun to have too much contact with Fu Zhiqing.

But the reason the production team assigned someone to oversee the construction of Fu Zhiqing’s house was to avoid anyone taking advantage and causing trouble.

Zhao Xinshan shifted his gaze to Deputy Team Leader Xu. “Let Xu Cheng handle it. If he wants to take over your position in the future, this is a good opportunity to show his capabilities in front of the members.”

This was to appease Deputy Team Leader Xu for not letting Xu Cheng take charge of the cooperative earlier. Deputy Team Leader Xu had no objections and agreed on behalf of his son.

Zhao Ke flipped to an earlier page in her notebook, tore off the arrangements she had written, and handed it to Deputy Team Leader Xu.

Deputy Team Leader Xu didn’t make things difficult for Zhao Ke because of their earlier disagreement and accepted it.

Before Zhao Ke went home for lunch, she planned to inform Fu Zhiqing.

Zhao Xinshan called her to go together.

“You can buy piglets in the county. Carrying that much money, take Zhao Rui and Zhao Feng with you for safety.”

Zhao Rui was Zhao Xinshan’s eldest son, 25 years old this year. When Zhao Xinshan was busy, Zhao Rui would help him out, but most of the time, he worked to earn wages.

Everyone has their own selfish motives. Just like Deputy Team Leader Xu wanted to give his son a chance to prove himself, Zhao Xinshan also wanted to nurture his son.

Zhao Ke had no objections, especially since she would also have Zhao Feng accompanying her.

After discussing business, Zhao Xinshan said to Zhao Ke: “Yun Yun is close to you. You should keep an eye on her and discourage her from being too interested in that Fu Zhiqing.”

Even though Fu Zhiqing’s good qualities were already well-known in the production team, Zhao Xinshan still held an indiscriminate dislike for Zhiqing.

Zhao Ke didn’t give a definitive answer. “I’ll try.”

The two stopped outside Zhao Xinshan’s house. Zhao Yunyun saw them, ran out from inside, and greeted Zhao Ke: “Zhao Ke, come in and sit for a bit!”

Zhao Ke smiled and waved her hand. “I still have something to do. I’ll come find you this afternoon.”

“Then it’s settled. If you don’t come, you’re a puppy.”

Zhao Xinshan entered the courtyard, frowning as he scolded her: “Look at yourself. You’re a few months older than Zhao Ke, yet she’s already the Women’s Director and about to run a cooperative, while you’re still so careless.”

Zhao Yunyun pouted and said discontentedly: “If I weren’t so carefree, wouldn’t your words affect our relationship?”

Li Cuihua heard this, came out while wiping her hands on her apron, and defended her daughter. “Zhao Ke has always been good at studying since she was a child, but hasn’t she also been bringing Yunyun along to play? They’re close, so if there’s anything good, how could she forget Yunyun?”

Zhao Yunyun raised her chin. “Exactly.”

Zhao Xinshan glared at her. “She won’t forget the good things, but she’ll bring you into all the bad things too.”

This referred to the incident with Shu Gen’er. Zhao Yunyun showed no guilt, even acting proud as if she were some hero who saved the day.

Zhao Xinshan had no way to deal with his spoiled daughter.

·

The team committee was in the center of Zhao Village. Zhao Xinshan’s house was on the west side of the courtyard, and the educated youth point was in the southeast. Zhao Ke, walking from Zhao Xinshan’s house to the educated youth point, passed by Tian Guizhi’s house.

Bao Xiaoyu was in the courtyard peeling and washing onions, but her slow speed earned her a round of scolding and beating from Tian Guizhi: “Useless girl, can’t do anything right. What’s the point of keeping you?”

The two boys of the Bao family were playing in the yard, unfazed by the scene, even laughing.

Even on the road, Zhao Ke could hear the sound of slaps. Unable to watch any longer, she stopped outside the courtyard and intervened: “Aunt Tian, be gentler. Don’t hurt the child.”

Tian Guizhi, holding Bao Xiaoyu’s arm, responded impatiently, “Go away, girl. It’s my child I’m hitting. Why do you care so much? Really annoying.”

There was no need to argue with her. Just interrupting her anger and sparing Bao Xiaoyu a few more hits was enough.

Zhao Ke ignored her words and walked away.

Tian Guizhi, realizing Zhao Ke didn’t react, felt like she had punched cotton, which left her feeling off balance.

When Zhao Ke reached the educated youth point, she called for Fu Zhiqing to come out and directly informed him about the change in supervision.

Fu Hang: “…”

Mood slightly complicated.

These past two days have been like the dirt roads in the countryside, bumpy and uneven, full of ups and downs.

After Zhao Ke left, Lin Haiyang came out, “Why does Comrade Zhao come looking for you every day? Could it be she’s taken a liking to you too?”

The possibility that Zhao Ke might like him made Fu Hang’s heart skip a beat, but he quickly emphasized seriously, “Don’t casually make comments like that about female comrades. She came for the matter of my house construction.”

“Oh? Starting the construction now?”

Fu Hang said, “She mentioned that from now on, the monitoring will be handed over to Deputy Team Leader Xu’s son.”

Lin Haiyang was more interested in gossip about men and women’s ambiguous interactions and had little reaction to the change in supervisors.

———————

In the afternoon, Zhao Ke reorganized the discussion points from the morning in her office and presented them to the three team leaders.

The four of them pulled out the agricultural cooperative demonstration charter that had been stored away, compared it with the current regulations, and referenced the propaganda and documents encouraging pig farming issued by the commune over the past two years. They deliberated carefully again.

Last year, it had been advocated that every household in the production team should raise pigs, and the production team itself should have a pig farm. There were even policies rewarding pigs with grain. However, Zhao Village’s production team had no funds, and no member wanted to spend a large portion of their family savings to buy pigs.

Pig farming indeed had prospects.

After some thought, Zhao Xinshan said, “Since it’s the team taking the lead, forget about raising chickens and ducks; let’s focus on raising pigs.”

Zhao Ke and the others had no objections.

Following further discussion and revisions, the four of them found nothing problematic. Without waiting for the next day, in the evening, the team’s loudspeaker sounded. Zhao Xinshan instructed each household to send a member to gather at the courtyard for a meeting.

Although it was said that one family member would suffice, many families showed up in full to join the excitement.

Standing on a square stool and seeing the crowd mostly assembled, Zhao Xinshan used the loudspeaker to announce the establishment of the production cooperative.

The team members started murmuring, whispering to one another.

“What kind of cooperative is this?”

“What’s it all about?”

“I have no idea…”

“Quiet!”

Zhao Xinshan raised his voice to stop their discussions and explained the production cooperative.

“The foundation of our production team is still agriculture. This production cooperative will primarily focus on breeding as a sideline business, aiming to expand the scale of breeding and generate income for the production team.”

“The initial funding for the cooperative is as follows: Zhao Ke’s family jointly lent the cooperative three hundred yuan. I, as the team leader, lent the cooperative one hundred and fifty yuan. Additionally, I contributed fifty yuan as an equity share, Deputy Team Leader Xu contributed fifty yuan, Accountant Niu contributed fifty yuan, and Zhao Ke’s family contributed fifty yuan. The total is six hundred and fifty yuan.”

“The four hundred and fifty yuan loaned by me and Zhao Ke’s family to the cooperative will, after deducting repayment and the cooperative’s operational costs, have its profits shared among all production team members through annual dividends.”

“Team members can also individually contribute to the cooperative, and profits will be distributed accordingly during dividends.”

At noon, Zhao Ke went home, returned the money box to Comrade Yu Xiulan, and, after a family discussion, decided to individually contribute an additional fifty yuan to the cooperative.

Accountant Niu originally intended to contribute eighty yuan but reduced it to fifty yuan after the rest of the team leaders confirmed their fifty-yuan contributions.

As Zhao Xinshan explained, the members’ discussions grew louder, as the matter was of great significance and there was much they didn’t understand.

After letting them discuss for a while, Zhao Xinshan called for quiet and continued, “The team committee unanimously decided by vote that the first-year person in charge of the cooperative will be the Women’s Director, Zhao Ke. Now, let Zhao Ke explain the cooperative details. Questions can be raised afterward.”

Zhao Ke is the person in charge?!

And there are conditions?!

The members’ expressions varied, resembling hundreds of buzzing mosquitoes.

Zhao Ke took the loudspeaker, stood on the square stool, and raised her notebook to read aloud the provisional cooperative charter.

When she read the clause stating, “Members with school-age children must ensure they attend school,” many people exchanged glances, especially Tian Guizhi, whose face alternated between red and white.

After Zhao Ke finished reading the conditions, she announced, “In addition, while Uncle Ban’er will continue to manage the cattle, other caretakers and labor resulting from the pig farm will be paid based on labor, with initial arrangements assigning the task to some of the women in the production team. Given the workload, they will receive equal pay as Uncle Ban’er. Selection criteria are referenced in the cooperative charter.”

The women were not afraid of hardship. Being able to earn two or even more additional work points daily was something they were more than happy to do. They loudly asked Zhao Ke when the selection process would begin.

It had already been agreed beforehand that after Zhao Xinshan finished announcing the cooperative, the rest would be answered by Zhao Ke.

Zhao Ke raised the loudspeaker: “Everything will proceed in an orderly manner. All members can go home first and discuss whether to join the cooperative.”

“The first year will definitely have some shortcomings due to inexperience, and risks certainly exist. However, with the team committee providing a safety net, each household can have more confidence in joining.”

“I emphasize again, the proposal for members to join the cooperative is to reduce the burden on members and create more income for them. The funds for joining can also be understood as being guaranteed by the production team. Several households jointly buy one or more pigs, managed collectively by the commune. Written proof will be provided at that time.”

“The principle of the cooperative is voluntary mutual assistance. It is not mandatory, and you can wait and observe. You can also join next year. Members who join can choose to withdraw later, and the production materials and funds contributed can be reclaimed, but only after the annual settlement. At the same time, if members want to raise pigs independently and choose not to place them under the cooperative’s unified management, the team will still assist when selling pigs to the commune food station.”

“Finally, members participating in the cooperative must abide by the cooperative charter. If any member repeatedly violates the charter or engages in illegal activities, they can be expelled from the cooperative with the unanimous agreement of the team leader and the members.”

“The specific cooperative charter still needs to be discussed further and will be made public to the members. Suggestions and feedback from members are welcome.”

When it comes to spending money, having a threshold certainly puts people more at ease compared to having none.

Many members were tempted, but they couldn’t make a decision immediately and needed to go home to discuss whether to join and how much to contribute.

The overall atmosphere among the members was one of excitement and enthusiasm, except for two families, who remained silent in the crowd and were deeply distressed.

One was Liu Guangzhi and his wife. They had had conflicts with Zhao Ke, and Liu Guangzhi had even reported Zhao Ke before. They felt that Zhao Ke would not let them profit from this, and she might even secretly make things difficult for them.

The thought that other members could earn more money while only they could not made them feel miserable and filled with regret.

The other was Tian Guizhi. Earlier, when others were asking questions, she was already extremely anxious, and as time went on, her anxiety only grew worse.

At noon, she had spoken poorly of Zhao Ke.

Who could have thought such a big announcement would be made in the afternoon?

After the meeting ended, Liu Guangzhi and his wife didn’t dare to approach Zhao Ke but were reluctant to leave. They lingered on the outskirts, eavesdropping on the members surrounding Zhao Ke and chattering away.

Tian Guizhi, fearing she would get nothing out of it, could no longer care about losing face in front of Zhao Ke. She forced her way through the crowd, put on a smile, and said, “Director Zhao, you see, I…”

Zhao Ke had only one sentence: “Follow the rules.”