Chapter 215

Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t been to the country in a long time. The last visit was a few years ago when Liang Hongmei’s mother caused some trouble. Now, returning, she felt a sense of nostalgia, as if revisiting her hometown.

The small county exuded a strong sense of life, devoid of the gloominess it had years ago. It seemed vibrant and thriving.

The small county town is located beside a river, where two different colors meet at the intersection of two river branches: one is emerald green, and the other is orange-yellow. The confluence directly faces the tallest building, housing the county government compound. The organization of departments in the town is somewhat ambiguous, with most government personnel squeezed into these buildings for work. Adjacent to these offices is the government dormitory compound, alongside dormitories for banks, hospitals, and other institutions.

Every year during the typhoon or rainy season, the Hejiang River experiences high tides, causing annual flooding on Yanjiang Road. The most severe flooding has even reached the second floor. As a result, it is common for families to squeeze into tube buildings that are only a few dozen square meters in size. The vacant first-floor houses on Yanjiang Road, uninhabitable due to the flooding, have become a distinctive feature of this small southern county.

It was Su Xiaoxiao’s first time at the government compound, though her father, Su Weimin, often attended meetings here. Perhaps the county head and other officials didn’t remember him, a mere village secretary, but Su Weimin was familiar with the place.

After registration, the purpose of the visit was explained. After the security guard sent someone to report, Su Weimin took Su Xiaoxiao to the fourth floor, where the highest leadership team in the county worked.

“Daughter, everyone you’ll meet here is a big shot. Don’t be nervous, and don’t speak out of turn, lest you offend someone unknowingly,” Su Weimin advised, though he himself felt a bit anxious. After a moment’s thought, he realized his words were unnecessary. His daughter had lived with Han Cheng in the military district and the capital for so long; what hadn’t she seen? Why would she be nervous?

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and said, “Dad, don’t worry, just treat me as your secretary. I came here to boost your confidence.”

Su Weimin arrived at the door of the county magistrate’s office with his daughter, feeling uneasy. Secretary Zhang happened to have something to do with County Mayor Li and met him at the door.

Su Weimin quickly greeted, “Hello Secretary Zhang, I am Su Weimin from Sujia Village. This is my daughter. We need to see County Mayor Li for something.”

Secretary Zhang raised his eyebrows and glanced at Su Xiaoxiao again. After pausing for two seconds, he withdrew his gaze and looked at Su Weimin, saying, “The village branch secretary of Sujia Village? Is this your daughter, Su Xiaoxiao? She was the top scorer in the college entrance examination in the neighboring province last year.”

Su Weimin nodded and said, “Yes.”

Secretary Zhang glanced at the father and daughter again, his eyes somewhat complicated. Su Xiaoxiao was supposed to be the top scorer in the college entrance examination in their province, but unfortunately, she married in the neighboring province. If she hadn’t married far away, it would have been a great honor for the county to have a provincial top scorer. Instead, she was recognized by the neighboring province, which was truly a pity.

“Nice to meet you. Comrade Su Xiaoxiao should be studying at Peking University now, right?” Secretary Zhang casually asked.

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and answered, “Yes, I brought my children back to visit my parents during the summer vacation.”

Secretary Zhang nodded and said, “Good.”

Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know whether to mention attending university in the capital or bringing her children back to see their parents, so she remained silent.

Secretary Zhang added, “Your cooperation with Head Chen in the village for the grain collection work has been commendable.”

Su Xiaoxiao and Su Weimin exchanged a glance; did they cooperate with Head Chen? Where did this start?

Inside the office, County Mayor Li, who was on the phone, finished his conversation with, “Then come over later,” before hanging up.

County Mayor Li had always thought of Su Weimin as a simple and honest village cadre, low-key and unassuming. He seemed reliable and dependable, not one to seek the limelight. However, due to some rumors circulating in the county about Su Weimin, the county head’s impression of him had soured a bit.

When he put down the phone and saw Su Xiaoxiao, he was still a bit surprised and said, “Who is this?”

Secretary Zhang introduced them: “This is Comrade Su Xiaoxiao, the daughter of Secretary Su, who should have been the top scorer in the college entrance examination in our province.”

County Magistrate Li suddenly realized and stood up to shake hands with Su Xiaoxiao, saying, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“It should be me who’s heard of County Mayor Li,” Su Xiaoxiao replied, gently releasing his hand.

With Su Xiaoxiao’s presence, County Mayor Li decided to hold off on questioning Su Weimin. He didn’t want to waste any time and got straight to the point: “I wonder what brings the two of you here this time?”

Su Weimin was a practical man, not one for pleasantries. He briefly explained their purpose, handing over a rough plan he had prepared. Finally, he said, “That’s about it. I’ve also made a draft plan for your review.”

The two highest leaders of the county were shocked to the point where they were speechless and stared at each other. Secretary Zhang took the “plan” and carefully read each word before handing it to County Mayor Li.

Secretary Zhang confirmed again, “Are you saying you want to divide the paddy fields according to the number of people and implement a household contract system?”

Su Weimin nodded. “Yes, that’s the idea. Our members’ enthusiasm for work has always been low. Tasks that could be completed in a day often take two or three days. No amount of coercion seems to work, and the yield has been stagnant. At the end of the year, they barely make enough to get by. If we want to increase productivity, I believe we should assign responsibility to individuals. Implementing a household contracting system where more work means more rewards could boost their enthusiasm and increase yield.”

County Magistrate Li has finished reading the “plan book.” He felt that he had underestimated this grassroots cadre before. Despite only assisting Head Chen in a rice rescue operation, Su Weimin dared to dream big.

“Do you know what you’re talking about? Not to mention land and grain; even a needle and thread belong to the state, collectively owned. And now you’re saying you want to distribute land to each household? Su Weimin, do you realize that if you said this a couple of years ago, you would’ve been taken away to be re-educated? Do you know that?”

Before Su Weimin could respond, Su Xiaoxiao tugged at his sleeve. County Mayor Li, as a figure of this era, stood his ground from his perspective. While the new leadership had implemented many progressive policies promoting social progress and development, the old system had been entrenched for so many years. It wouldn’t be easy for them to change their mindset all at once.

Reform has never been something that can be completed in a day or two, or even a month or two.

“County Mayor Li, what have you seen since the new leadership took office? Restoration of the college entrance exam? Rectification of intellectuals? Return of educated youth to cities? Or the proliferation of street vendors? I see forty million mouths waiting to be fed, people wanting to replace their clothes that have been patched up for three years with new ones. I see them abandoning the ration tickets that limit their purchases and buying things from all sorts of profiteers with money. These profiteers, once hidden, are now bold, and in the future, they might even be licensed, and legitimate. It might take some time, but this is definitely the trend of future development.

What I’m saying might sound rebellious to you now. I even told my father that if we wanted to work, we could do it secretly without informing them. As long as we pay enough public grain every year, it won’t affect the interests of the country or the collective. This way, hardworking farmers can eat white rice, and even the average hardworking farmer can eat sweet potato rice. As for the lazy ones who have been leeching off others, they can drink congee water, eat sweet potatoes, or even starve—it makes no difference. But my father insisted that we could only proceed with the county leaders’ consent. Without their approval, we must follow their instructions.

Today, we presented our ideas to the leaders, aiming for their agreement to implement them for two years. We’ll try it for two years, and even if there’s a crop failure, the state won’t subsidize us a single penny. Who knows? Maybe after two years, the policy will come down. The country might even commend us as pioneers of reform. Of course, if the leaders do not agree, then we will wait for a few years. I believe this is the direction for future development. Leaders might consider this seriously and let time verify everything.

County Mayor Li and Secretary Zhang exchanged glances, finding these words too radical. Could it be that being a university student from the capital brought Su Xiaoxiao closer to the top leaders? Did she sense something? Otherwise, how could she dare to say such things? They shouldn’t even think about it that way!

An eerie silence settled in the room, with everyone seemingly frozen in place.

As the knocking sound echoed, they were “released” from their trance-like state. County Mayor Li cleared his throat and said, “Come in.”

Head Chen pushed the door open from outside, and seeing Su Weimin and Su Xiaoxiao, he felt a thumping in his temples.

But he quickly regained his composure, deciding to take the initiative and control the situation. His tone was familiar and relaxed: “Su Village Secretary and Comrade Su Xiaoxiao are also here? County Mayor Li, are you looking for me regarding the previous grain collection matter? As I said before, Comrade Su Weimin deserves the most credit. You mentioned earlier about commending them, and now is the perfect time.”

County Magistrate Li suddenly remembered this incident and shifted the topic along the steps, pointing to a seat for Head Chen to sit down. “Head Chen doesn’t need to be humble. If it weren’t for your foresight and good leadership, Sujia Village wouldn’t have avoided this natural disaster.”

Su Xiaoxiao blinked, her expression puzzled. Foresight? Leadership?

Head Chen looked at the expression on the Su family’s father and daughter and secretly said that it was bad, but it was too late to make amends. What are they doing here?

Sure enough, the next moment, he heard Su Xiaoxiao ask, “County Mayor Li, I don’t quite understand. Which aspect are you referring to with foresight and leadership? Are you saying that it was foresight for Head Chen to receive a report claiming that I instigated my father to prematurely harvest rice for my own benefit? Or was it leadership to ordered us to stop the premature rice harvesting? By the way, Head Chen, I really want to ask, who reported me to you?”

Su Xiaoxiao’s voice was gentle and charming, devoid of any accusation, more like that of a diligent student humbly seeking advice from her leaders.

In reality, Su Xiaoxiao smirked inwardly. What wasn’t clear about what County Mayor Li just said? It was obvious someone was trying to take credit.

Before Head Chen could respond, Su Xiaoxiao continued, “In my opinion, Head Chen should be most grateful to the person who reported me. If it weren’t for the report, you wouldn’t have thought of visiting our Su Village, Head Chen. You also wouldn’t have seen my father predict the early arrival of the typhoon and rally everyone to harvest rice before your arrival.

You wouldn’t have promptly consulted meteorological experts and veteran farmers to confirm the possible time of the typhoon’s landfall, nor would you have reported the weather news the next day, urging other communes to harvest rice early. Although it only bought us an extra day and a half, I heard that the atmosphere was intense, and everyone worked through the night to harvest about forty to fifty percent of the rice, right? “

Head Chen’s turned red, and it took him a while to say, “No, it’s not like that.”

This time, Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t as gentle. Her words were incisive: “If it’s not like that, then how is it? Let’s not forget that if it weren’t for my husband Han Cheng’s quick decision to request reinforcements from the army, our Sujia Village wouldn’t have been able to retrieve all the rice. The leaders wouldn’t have thought this was also Head Chen’s credit, right? Other communes should indeed thank Head Chen. What our Sujia Village should be most grateful for are the soldiers who came tirelessly to help us harvest the rice from morning to 9 o’clock in the evening, as well as Head Chen’s non-interference.”

Su Xiaoxiao paused for a moment, thirsting for knowledge, circling back to the initial question, “So, Head Chen, I’m really curious. Who reported me?” 

If the people in the county head’s office were under some sort of spell earlier, this time it was like setting off fireworks. County Mayor Li almost shouted, “Head Chen, what’s the truth behind this matter?!!”