Chapter 10 Cooperative Farming
Wang Youtian, the leader of Wangjia Village, was under great pressure as the leader of the entire village. There was no other way. Although the entire village was large, with a population of about 40 households, there seemed to be a lot of land, but it was all mountainous land with limited output. After paying the public grain, there was not much food left. It seemed that there would be a famine this year, and in the end they had to rely on the state's emergency grain to save their lives.

The corn has been harvested, and there is no farm work to do in the fields for now, but the villagers can't just sit there and rest! In previous years, the villagers would go to pick some mountain products and sell them to the supply and marketing cooperatives. But this year, the supply and marketing cooperatives have raised their standards, and they won't accept anything below this standard, so they are in a dilemma.

In previous years, after paying the public grain tax, we could barely have enough food to eat. We could also sell some mountain products to supplement our family income and buy some daily necessities. But this year, it was not possible. The standards of the supply and marketing cooperatives were raised, and many mountain products could not be sold. Even if they were sold, the prices were very low.

The village is already very poor. If the mountain products cannot be sold, the villagers often cannot even get enough to eat, let alone some daily necessities.

"Three years new, three years old, three years of mending." Nowadays, children's clothes are what the older ones have left over from the younger ones. The clothes are patched up again and again. Some two or three-year-old children don't even have clothes and can only run around naked.

Ordinary people are the most hardworking and brave, but people of this era always have some limitations and cannot find solutions.

Today, Wang Youtian suddenly heard the news that Wang Jianfeng, who had been studying away from home, had not only returned, but Wang Jianfeng's aunt was also using the money to exchange things in the village, and all the family was still having dinner in the evening.

He had an idea instantly. He himself had no way, but Wang Jianfeng had read a lot of books and had seen the world, so he would definitely be able to find a way. After all, they were all family. Wang Youtian's grandfather and Wang Jianfeng's ancestor were brothers, so they were relatives within three generations. What's more, the people in this village actually descended from the same ancestor.

In the evening, the uncle arranged for someone to inform the villagers. He didn't say anything specific, just said that Wang Jianfeng had something to ask for help. Today, the villagers knew that Wang Jianfeng had returned. They didn't expect that he would come to ask for help in the evening. They were all curious about what the matter was.

Early the next morning, many people came to Wang Jianfeng's house.

"Uncle, uncles and aunts, I asked you to come here today because I have two things to do and I want your help." After seeing that everyone had gathered, Wang Jianfeng said straight to the point.

"The first thing is that I just came back and no one has been home for the past few years. I would like to ask everyone to help repair the house and the courtyard wall. I don't want your help to be in vain. I will give everyone a bag of salt as a thank you."

Nowadays, salt is still very important to many people in rural areas. In many places, salt can be exchanged for other things, and it is more useful than money.

"Huzi, you're welcome. You're being too formal. We're all family, so why are you thanking me?"

"Yes, they are all from the same village."

"Yes, we are all family, why be polite?"

"My dear uncles, this is a small gift from my nephew, please don't refuse it."

"The second thing is, I'm doing purchasing at the Sijiucheng Steel Mill right now, and I need to buy meat. If you have any bacon, chicken, or something like that at home, you can give me some. The price is guaranteed to be fair. If you have a live rooster or old hen, you can also bring it over."

"Huzi, life is hard for everyone right now, and there probably aren't many of these things left."

“Yes, there will probably be famine this year.”

"Huzi, this is difficult. Now that you have made some progress, you can help us."

"Yes, Tigers are all one family."

"Don't worry, everyone. I also know the situation in the village. You can't write two Wang characters with one stroke. My purchase is long-term, which means I will come to purchase every month." "My idea is that everyone can raise more pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, rabbits and the like. It is too risky to go up the mountain to hunt. If you raise them, I can come and buy them. Then all the uncles and aunts can have some income. However, they can only be raised in the name of the village collective," said Wang Jianfeng
“Can we keep the fish after breeding them?”

"We still have some rabbits and chickens to raise, but we don't have any seedlings for pigs, sheep, and ducks."

"The key is that pigs and sheep need a lot of food. People are hungry now, so where can we get the food?"

"Here's what I think. Let's take it step by step. Let's raise some chickens and rabbits first. As for ducks, pigs, and sheep, I'll try to find a way to buy seedlings."

As for chickens and rabbits, we will raise them in the name of the brigade, and then assign them to different households for task raising. I will then purchase them in the name of the steel mill. As for pigs and sheep, I remember that Laolingou should be a good place. We can fence off both sides of Laolingou and raise them freely inside. As long as we don't raise too many in any place, there should be no problem. Then we can come in the name of hunting wild boars. However, this can only be a short-term strategy. In the future, I will see if I can find a way to contact the street office or the steel mill to set up a cooperative breeding. Mainly, I have just started working, so this is the only way."

"Hu Zi, is this okay? There won't be any trouble, right?"

"Yeah, this is skirting the line."

"That's why I asked everyone to come here to discuss this. Those who are here now are the heads of each family, and all the people who have a say in the village are here. This matter must be kept strictly confidential at this stage. I have already thought of a solution, and it's up to everyone whether to do it or not."

Then, everyone's eyes turned to Wang Youtian and Wang Xuewen, the two leaders of the village.

Seeing everyone eager to try, the two thought for a long time and decided to give it a try.

"Then let's give it a try first," Wang Youtian said
Now everyone is afraid of being poor. All they have to do is work hard, and the thing they have the most at this time is strength.

"But since we are going to do it, let's write a document and have everyone put their fingerprints on it. If anything goes wrong, we will all bear the responsibility together. And remember, this matter has nothing to do with Hu Zi. This is a decision made by everyone. We must all keep it strictly confidential and don't let the wives at home reveal it. Just let them do as they are told." Wang Youtian also knew that Wang Jianfeng had to be expelled from this matter.

"Uncle, how about this, you ask everyone to count the amount of fruits and vegetables in the village, and I will collect some of them and bring them back to the factory. This amount is not too much, and it can be considered as my contribution to the village. However, you have to arrange for people to help me transport them out of the mountain and to the roadside. Also, see if you can build a house on the roadside so that we can rest. Otherwise, I can't transport them all by myself."

"From now on, you will deliver the supplies over there every Monday, and I will come to take them away. I will also find a way to get you some daily necessities and food that you need."

"You guys should also organize people to dig some traps in the mountains these days to see if you can catch wild boars and pheasants, but you must tell them to be careful and safe."

"Okay, everyone go back and prepare. If you have meat, go home and bring it over. I will arrange for everyone to go to work tomorrow." Wang Youtian then said to everyone.

Afterwards, everyone went back to their own place. Soon, some bacon, chicken and rabbit were brought to Wang Jianfeng. Wang Jianfeng also bought all the bacon at the price. One person had 55 catties of bacon for 38 yuan, 5 chickens with more than 10 catties for 45 yuan, 27 rabbits with 14 catties for 69 yuan, and 48 old hens with 3 catties for 8 yuan. In total, he spent 58 million yuan, all of which were last year's inventory.

The supply and marketing cooperatives may not buy some of the fruits and vegetables grown in the village because they supply a lot and cannot sell them at a high price, but the factories will buy some of them. Although Wang Jianfeng did not have the task of purchasing fruits and vegetables, he thought it should not be a problem to purchase some for the factory.

Wang Jianfeng stayed in Wangjia Village for another two days, during which time the villagers came to help him repair the house. He then went to Laolingou to repair the fence and used the 154.8 million yuan of purchase money given by Wang Jianfeng to purchase a batch of rabbit and chicken seedlings.

Wang Jianfeng also took two chickens, a piece of bacon and three bacon rabbits and started to go back to the city. The rest were stored at his uncle's house. He couldn't carry too many things, and the key point was that he didn't have to take the assessment this month, so he asked the villagers to help deliver most of the supplies to the intersection on the first of next month, and he would come to pick them up.

(End of this chapter)