Chapter 477 Recalling the Bitter Past and Thinking of the Sweet Past

Zhang Jianlin led the two people to walk in the alleys of the village.

The village was very quiet, with mostly adobe houses, and occasionally some brick houses. Most of the people they met were old people, basking in the sun at the door, looking at these "uninvited guests".

"Why are they all old people? Where are the young people?"

"Many of them have gone out to work." Zhang Jianlin explained as he walked:

"You also know that the land in our area is barren and the grain output is low. We can only barely fill our stomachs after working hard all year round, but we can't make much money. The children need to go to school, the elderly need to see a doctor, and we have to pay the "three increases and five unified" taxes. How can we not go out to work?"

The three of them talked and came to the village committee in the center of the village.

That is, the former brigade committee. The adobe houses in the courtyard have not changed much from more than ten years ago. Even the slogan "Agriculture Learns from Dazhai" painted on the wall before is clearly visible, but there are more slogans of this era:

"If you want to be rich, build roads first" and "Family planning is the responsibility of the husband".

"Uncle Guisheng, someone is here to see you." Zhang Jianlin shouted in the yard.

Soon, an old man with gray hair, wearing a blue Zhongshan suit, holding a dry pipe in his hand walked out of the house with the sign of the village committee.

He saw Zhang Jianlin and asked, "Didn't you go to the county? Why are you back? Who is looking for me?"

"Zhang Zhishi, do you still recognize us?" Zhao Hongjun asked with a smile.

The old Zhishi smoked his dry pipe, squinted his eyes and looked up and down at Zhao Hongjun, then looked at Fang Minghua next to him and immediately remembered something.

"You are the educated youth Fang Minghua!"

"Are you Zhao Hongjun?"

"Yes, Zhang Zhishi, I am Zhao Hongjun."

"Hey, I haven't seen you for more than ten years. You are so fat. Come in and talk."

Fang Minghua and the other person followed Zhang Guisheng into the room. There were still old tables and chairs from more than ten years ago. Of course, the six standard portraits of great men that were originally hung on the wall had disappeared.

"Zhang Zhishi, I remember that you were the Zhishi when we were sent to work in the countryside here. I didn't expect that you are still the same now." Zhao Hongjun said with a smile.

"No one wants to do it. I once wanted to train Jianlin to succeed me as the Party Secretary. Do you want to ask him if he wants to do it?"

Zhang Jianlin smiled and shook his head.

"Our Bandeng Village is a poor village, and there are no collective enterprises. Unlike those village Party secretaries near the county town, they are all rich. There are still a lot of things to do in the village: family planning, three recommendations and five unifications, petitions and stability maintenance. Which one is easy to do?" Zhang Guisheng sighed.

"Uncle, the Red Army came from afar to see our village, not to listen to your complaints. If you want to complain, you should go to Secretary Liu in the township."

Zhang Jianlin is Zhang Guisheng's nephew, and he speaks casually.

"You're right," Zhang Guisheng laughed, "Hongjun, you two come and see if our Bandeng Village has changed from before?"

"It has changed. Look at Jianlin, he's become a boss." Zhao Hongjun laughed, "Also, we just walked in the village and found that the houses are better than before, and there are no houses with half of them collapsed."

"Of course, it has been more than ten years since the reform and opening up. At least I am not like before, always asking farmers to write letters of introduction from the brigade for begging." Zhang Guisheng laughed.

This is still in Fang Minghua's memory.

Before the land was distributed to households, when the season of harvest was short, like now, the brigade secretary had to do one thing, which was to write letters of introduction from the brigade for farmers who went out to beg, otherwise they would be sent back.

At the worst time, half of the 200 households in the village had to go out to beg. Usually they went to Baiyin, or Lanzhou if they were farther away.

Every beggar was leaning on a stick to make steamed buns. Men carried two baskets, women carried cloth bags, and some adults brought their children to beg together, crying and pitiful.

The state provided them with food rations, 44 kilograms of raw grain per person per month, all wheat. Although it was still not enough to eat, they could barely survive.

Now recalling those scenes, I feel a little sad.

"It's just that the village is not as lively as before." Zhao Hongjun said again: "We just walked all the way, it was very quiet."

"Yes. Before the land was divided, the masses worked collectively, and you educated youth, the red flags fluttered in the fields, which was exciting." Zhang Guisheng sighed, as if immersed in those fiery years.

"Secretary Zhang, then are you willing to go back to that era?" Fang Minghua suddenly asked.

Zhang Guisheng didn't even think about it and replied, "Even a fool wouldn't want to go back, right? It looked hot back then, but everyone couldn't eat enough, and they all tightened their belts to work. Now, as long as you are willing to work, a family of more than ten acres of land, as long as there is no major disaster throughout the year, there is no problem to have enough food. Of course, if you want to get rich, it's still not possible."

"To get rich, you still have to be like Jianlin." Zhao Hongjun added.

"Yes, it's my nephew, who got rich himself, but didn't want to help others get rich first, and he didn't have the consciousness of a party member!" Zhang Guisheng glanced at Zhang Jianlin and said.

Zhang Jianlin got anxious when he heard it.

"Uncle Guisheng, why wouldn't I want to help others? Look at my construction team of more than 20 people, most of them are from our village. After a project, each person can earn three to five hundred, which is much better than growing crops! Isn't this called leading others? I just didn't agree to let you be the branch secretary. I'm really too busy."

Fuck!

It seems that this uncle and nephew have quarreled over this matter more than once.

Fortunately, with outsiders around, the two didn't quarrel again.

At this time, there was a "dangdangdang" sound outside, like the sound of hitting metal.

"Is it the sound of the school bell? I remember it used to be a piece of scrap metal, is it still the same now?" Zhao Hongjun asked.

"Yes, nothing has changed. I'll take you to see it."

Everyone followed Secretary Zhang out of the village committee and walked towards the school.

In fact, the school is next to the village committee. After a few steps, a few people went in and saw a group of children running out with schoolbags on their backs. It turned out that the school was over.

"This, the school has really not changed." Zhao Hongjun sighed.

Yes, nothing has changed.

This primary school was originally a temple. After liberation, the clay statues inside were demolished to become a school. After decades, the school has been dilapidated, and only the withered yellow tiles on the roof rustle in the wind. The roof of the ruined temple is very high, but the windows are very small, which makes the light in the room dim.

The walls in the room are gray, and the wall skin has peeled off in some places, revealing the soil and wheat straw inside.

There is a small blackboard on the wall, which is made of cement. There is no podium or desk in the classroom, and the children do not have wooden desks. In the middle of the room, there are several cement boards supported by bricks, which are the so-called "desks".

Fang Minghua remembered that it was like this when he was sent to work in the countryside more than ten years ago, and it is still like this now.

"Secretary Zhang, I remember that before we returned to the city, you said you wanted to build a school. More than ten years have passed, why is it still the same?" Zhao Hongjun couldn't help asking.

Zhang Guisheng suddenly became embarrassed.

After a while, he smiled bitterly and said, "No money."