Getting Rich In A Historical Novel

Chapter 101

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Ma Gensheng reported Ruan Ruliang's sweet potato yield data per mu to the county. The county leaders were shocked. What a shocking number!

If this yield is true, the whole Qingxi County will be famous. If the whole county has this sweet potato, there will be no need to worry about not having enough food!

The county governor called Ma Gensheng to inquire about the situation, and asked him about the work situation in Shanggou Village. He asked directly: "Is the per-acre yield of sweet potatoes in our village true?"

Ma Gensheng patted his chest and said, "I weighed these sweet potatoes with my own eyes. There is not a single drop of water in them. There is absolutely no ambiguity!"

The county governor praised Ma Gensheng highly, "The labor in our village is very well carried out. Comrade Ruan is also an activist with progressive ideas. He has done a good job. We must praise you at the year-end report meeting and strive to be rated as advanced..."

Ma Gensheng's face was flushed with embarrassment. Gou Village always ranked last at the year-end commendation meeting, but he didn't expect to be praised this year.

When the county governor filled out the report, he couldn't wait to report the good news to his superiors. But after he finished writing the report, he suddenly remembered the mistakes of the "Great Leap Forward" a few years ago. What if the 6,000 kilograms was a mistake? Wouldn't it be embarrassing? So the county governor carefully added a sentence at the end, saying that the sweet potato would be tested in the spring to verify the actual yield. If the expected effect is achieved, it will be promoted throughout the county.

After Qingxi County's work report was submitted to the provincial government, the provincial leaders could no longer sit still. The provincial party committee sent a comrade to go to Shanggou Village for an inspection with the county government.

The comrade from the provincial party committee was Zhang Ying, who was a standing committee member of the provincial party committee, and the county magistrate was Xu Aihua. Zhang Ying shook hands with Ruan Ruliang cordially and said, "Comrade Ruan, you have worked hard."

Ruan Ruliang poured tea for the two leaders. He could not describe the scene, but simply replied: "It's not hard. This is what I should do. I will show the two leaders the sweet potato fields where we usually grow sweet potatoes and the sweet potatoes in the warehouse."

Zhang Ying found that the faces beside Ruan Ruliang looked particularly familiar. He smiled and asked, "Is this... Teacher Su?"

Although it is a question, there is affirmation in the language.

Su Ye was somewhat flattered, "You know me?"

Zhang Ying was a member of the provincial standing committee. Su Ye usually had no chance to meet this level of leader. The only time she met him was when she was selecting provincial advanced figures. Zhang Ying actually mentioned her name, which surprised Su Ye.

The smile lines under Zhang Ying's eyes deepened, "Teacher Su from No. 1 Middle School is very impressive."

This year's provincial champion always left a deeper impression, and Su Ye had been named a provincial advanced figure. It was not surprising that Zhang Ying saw her again in Shanggou Village.

When the topic came up with Su Ye, Ma Gensheng opened his box, "Teacher Su helped our village a lot. It can be said that without her, our village would definitely not be like this. She even asked us for the land to grow sweet potatoes. If it weren't for her, we would definitely not give the land to Teacher Ruan. She and Teacher Ruan have always taken care of that sweet potato field with their students. Our Shanggou Village has benefited from them."

Su Ye heard Ma Gensheng's words and gave him a thumbs up in her heart! Ma Gensheng was really sleepy and handed him a pillow. While the leader was present, Su Ye wanted to seize the opportunity to ask for some "privileges". Only after the leader's back could the future work be carried out.

She immediately conducted a profound self-examination. "First of all, I made a serious mistake in this matter. I asked Ma for land. Land belongs to the state and the collective. Teacher Ruan has been studying sweet potatoes for many years. At that time, I read his research and thought that I must let him make sweet potatoes a success, so I asked Ma for land.

But this matter is inherently wrong, and we cannot ignore the mistakes just because we did a good thing. I am willing to accept the punishment from the organization!"

She and Ruan Ruliang looked at each other. Ruan Ruliang understood her intention and nodded.

Ruan Ruliang was not a truly noble and aloof person, otherwise why would he allow them to secretly raise poultry and livestock? He knew very well how much they had suffered to achieve their current achievements, and that any feelings other than material things were illusory.

It is impossible for people to live in this world without material things. What ideals can you talk about if you can’t even get enough food to eat

As soon as Su Ye finished speaking, Ruan Ruliang shook his head heavily, sighed deeply, and said: "Xiao Su... don't say that!"

"You make me feel guilty about this. It hurts my heart!"

The villagers of Shanggou Village were all shocked. In their eyes, Teacher Su was a person who cared about them wholeheartedly, and had done many good things for them. He was doing good to them from the bottom of his heart. Such people were to be punished. Wasn't that injustice

Although the villagers had some complaints at first, now everyone is glad that they got the sweet potatoes. Even the second team that rejected them is regretting it. When spring comes, let alone two acres of land, even if two hundred acres are planted with sweet potatoes, they will be happy to give it to them!

Without Teacher Su’s foresight, how could there be a good harvest

"Teacher Su, please don't say that. It really embarrasses us. We collectively discussed and decided to grow sweet potatoes on the field. How can it be said that we marked out the land privately?" Ma Zhi said with a sullen face.

Ma Gensheng nodded. "This is not the decision of one person. It is something we all agreed on after discussion. If it's wrong, we all have to agree to it!"

Others echoed, "Yes! So many acres of land in our village are used to grow sweet potatoes. Those two plots of land were also meant to be used to grow sweet potatoes."

Farmers’ thinking was simple and naive. No matter how the land was cultivated, the grain would eventually return to the state and the collective. To be honest, this group of student educated youth made them look at them in a new light. They were much better than the old educated youth who only ate grain. They could work and contribute a lot of grain. How could they do anything wrong

Zhang Ying looked at Su Ye approvingly. The fact that she could get support from so many people in such a short period of time showed that she was a person who could get things done.

"Comrade Su, don't say that. We can't be too fussy about details when conducting research. You did the right thing!" County Mayor Xu Aihua said encouragingly.

Who would say that it was not glorious to double the yield of sweet potatoes per mu by themselves? Agricultural research cannot be done without land, equipment and funds, but Su Ye and Ruan Ruliang relied solely on themselves, which was really difficult for them.

Next year, the Red Star No. 1 will start experiments, which will first be carried out in Qingxi County before being promoted nationwide. By then, it will not only be a matter of one or two villages, but the entire county and the entire province will be used as pilot research. If you want to achieve results, it will not be a matter of paper talk. How can you carry out reforms without taking action

Since this achievement was made in Qingxi County, as the county magistrate Xu Aihua supports it from the bottom of his heart, so what's a small matter

Zhang Ying saw the two enthusiastic faces of Su Ye and Ruan Ruliang, which were filled with expressions of willingness to sacrifice everything. The gaze in the dark eyes of the old and the young was so scorching that it was almost impossible to look directly at.

Zhang Ying understood what Su Ye meant. He pondered for a moment and said, "It is always necessary to carry out special experiments. The provincial leaders are very concerned about the food problem. If Shanggou Village can produce high-yield sweet potatoes, the organization will definitely give it some support. Comrade Ruan, Comrade Su, just focus on the research. If you have any difficulties, you can come to me."

Su Ye suddenly became more energetic and said in a crisp voice, "Thank you for the organization's trust and understanding!"

The dormitory for the educated youths was packed with people, and many villagers came to see the provincial leaders, all with silly smiles on their faces. They had never seen such a big leader in their lives, and they were very happy to see the leaders praising Ruan Ruliang and Su Ye, as if they were being praised themselves.

After some pleasantries, Ruan Ruliang showed them the sweet potato fields and the sweet potatoes in the warehouse. The sweet potatoes were twice as big as others. Zhang Ying held a large piece of sweet potato in his hand and nodded frequently.

The two leaders inspected the entire morning and left after having a simple lunch at noon.

After they left, Su Ye and Ruan Ruliang exchanged glances. As soon as they entered the room, they began to praise each other: "Teacher Ruan responded very well just now."

Ruan Ruliang smiled and said, "No, no, this is all thanks to Teacher Su."

"Everything from now on is up to you."

Teacher He was completely convinced by Su Ye. How could an ordinary person understand her mind? What she did just now was equivalent to asking the leader to carry her on his back. If they had done something like Zhang Ying and Xu Aihua, would they still worry about being investigated in the future? After all, if they encountered difficulties in the future, they would have to find leaders and organizations to solve them.

After the winter solstice, the production team distributed the year-end grain to each household according to work points.

Ma Gensheng read, "Liang Dazhu, you get 310 work points for the whole year, each work point is 50 cents, and you get 389 kilograms of food!"

Many villagers were envious of this strong laborer who had almost full work points, and at the same time, one work point was worth 10 cents, which made people even more excited. This meant that they could get more money!

Because they had paid enough grain to the government, and their tea was selling well, their work points were valuable! In the past, their work points were only worth nine cents, not enough to buy grain, so they had to borrow money to buy grain on credit. Many people often owed money to the production team from the beginning to the end of the year. This year, they can pay off the famine and have a good year.

The group received food and dividends from the production team, and everyone had a smile on their face.

Each of them received a dividend of more than 100 yuan. Shanggou Village could afford to pay out this much money simply because after selling tea leaves, there was still about 2,000 yuan left after buying grain. After the village committee had calculated the accounts, the village committee cadres decided to simply distribute the money to everyone so that everyone could have a good New Year. This resulted in a dividend of four times that of previous years.

It was the first time for the educated youth to encounter such an occasion. They received their first "salary" for a job in their lives, about 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes and about 100 yuan. They saw the villagers' happy smiles, which were full of hope, and for the first time they felt that their going to the countryside was meaningful.

Su Ye made some preparations before the New Year. She went to the black market several times to buy food, meat, fruits and vegetables for the New Year. Once she hit the "big luck" and brought back 100 kilograms of pork belly at one time. Even Liu Gang was amazed, her luck was too good to encounter such a good thing!

Liu Gang usually went to the county town seven or eight times, and every time he bought pork, he was lucky. Liu Gang thought: Maybe it was because Teacher Su had a wide network of contacts.

How could he know that his dear teacher Su had simply taken a trip around the county and the back seat of the car was filled with grain and pork belly. Could he take as much grain and meat as he wanted

Su Ye distributed the fine grains she bought to the students to take back for the New Year. They bought a total of 250 kilograms of rice and 200 kilograms of flour, and each person got 1 kilogram of rice and 1 kilogram of flour.

The fine grains in the dormitory were bought with the money they paid for the chickens, ducks and rabbits they raised. He Meimei and other teachers who came late also ordered fine grains. When Niu Cuihua received the fine grains, she was shocked. They had only been here for less than a month, but they were able to get fine grains.

Su Ye nodded with a smile and reminded them: "Everyone, remember one thing in your heart, don't show off your wealth. These grains were bought on the black market at that time, so you should be cautious. Otherwise, it will not be a good thing if you are caught by the police during the New Year."

Everyone remembered it firmly in their hearts. Holding the fine grains in their arms, the students thought happily: I wonder how happy my parents will be when I return home with this pile of grains!

Although they didn't have to worry about food in the countryside, they never sent food back home because they were cautious. Their parents probably hadn't eaten fine grains for two years, and they might have forgotten what noodles, rice, and dumplings tasted like!

Su Ye asked Liu Gang to make bacon from the pork belly, and before leaving, everyone was given a pound of bacon to take back to the city.

As the Chinese New Year was approaching, Liu Gang didn't have to take a vacation or work, so he made the bacon with extra care this time, adding plenty of spices, fresh pork belly, thick fat, and good ingredients. The bacon was so delicious that it was heart-warming just by smelling it. He held the bacon in his arms, feeling his heart melting.

"You have done a great job in the past six months and have worked very hard. I hope everyone will go home and have a good New Year!"

The students were so moved that they burst into tears. It turned out that they could not only get fine grains during the Chinese New Year, but also pork belly! Teacher Su was so kind to them. The welfare benefits during the Chinese New Year were several times better than those of the workers in the factory!

Su Ye watched the big dog excitedly turning over his food, his eyes were watery and wet, and he was so moved that he looked like he was about to cry, just like some small animal. She coughed lightly.

She thought: What a loser! What's so little about this? They will have more money by next year's New Year. What will she do then? Will she burst into tears

After the Little New Year, these students left Shanggou Village one after another.

There were still people in the educated youth dormitory who had not left, including Su Ye, Ruan Ruliang, Liu Gang, Li Ming, Lin Yuan... Su Ye had not left because Gu Xiangqian had not taken his vacation yet. She wrote to him, asking him to take his vacation and come to the countryside to celebrate the New Year.

Ruan Ruliang was completely unable to let go as the research he was doing required help, but he took his wife and children to the countryside to celebrate the New Year.

Before the Lunar New Year, Liu Gang and his friends asked their classmates to send the fine grains back home. They did not plan to return to the city for the Lunar New Year. They had to take care of the piglets and poultry in the back mountain. Feeding and cleaning them every day was a tough job. They also wanted to seize the time to learn more knowledge. After the Lunar New Year, they would take the college entrance examination in a few months.

Before the Chinese New Year, the students who were admitted to university sent letters to Shanggou Village, making others envious.

Yang Chenxing was admitted to a key university. In his letter, he described in detail the wonderful university campus life, where his teachers were kind and knowledgeable, and his classmates were friendly and united. In addition to a living allowance of 5 yuan per month, he also received a scholarship. The university's scholarship was more than 100 yuan, which was so generous that it was enviable.

Yang Chenxing said: "I recently joined the laboratory to help out and took on a very important task, so I can't go back to City C for the New Year, although I really want to go to the countryside and see with my own eyes where you guys are struggling. Next summer vacation I must go to Shanggou Village to see you guys!"

This letter really stimulated Liu Gang and other students, and they started to study hard with the review manual of No. 1 Middle School.

Li Ming‌.

"Hello, Li Ming's mother. Li Ming is staying in Shanggou Village and will not be coming back. He asked us to bring these things to you."

Li Ming's mother shouted to them enthusiastically, "I know! Li Ming has written a letter to me."

She took the things from her son's classmate and muttered to her husband, "Hey, he should just take care of himself in the country instead of sending things here."

What good things can be produced in the remote countryside? Do they need him to squeeze out food to support them? As a result, when Li Ming's mother opened the package, she saw a bag of crystal clear and plump rice and dazzling white rice flour. What was even more incredible was that Li Ming's mother slowly shook out the last small bag tightly wrapped in oil paper in the stunned eyes of everyone.

Her hands were frozen in their movements. It was a package of bacon that smelled of oil. It was dried perfectly, with firm lean meat and a slightly oily sheen on the fat.

Everyone felt as if they had experienced a tsunami or an earthquake, which was even more incredible than that. During the Chinese New Year, the grain and oil and non-staple food stores in the city only supplied a small amount of Fuqiang flour. As soon as the news came out, people lined up in the early morning, and the street was crowded. However, after queuing for several days, Li Ming's mother didn't even get one or two taels of fine grains, but instead bought a large cabbage.

After all the twists and turns, my son actually sent back two kilograms of fine grains and one kilogram of bacon. How could I not be surprised? How could I not be excited

Li Ming's mother held the bag of food in her hands, her smile gradually widening and deepening. "Oh, this child is really something, always thinking about home! Dad, this year we will make dumplings, eat rice, and eat bacon for the New Year!"

No wonder the child was vague in the last letter, emphasizing not to tell relatives and neighbors about the food in her house. She was puzzled. She only had a few pounds of rotten sweet potato in the jar. Who would care about it? Now... she looked at the white and fragrant food in her arms. Wouldn't that make people jealous

Of course, you have to be low-key and cautious when dealing with precious food, and enjoy it slowly and quietly!

Li Ming had a happy Spring Festival because of the fine grains and bacon sent from the countryside.

Northwest, Jiuquan City.

Professor Ning Xian unexpectedly ran into Gu Xiangqian, and the director of the Fifth Research Institute introduced him to Gu Xiangqian, "Ning Qian, Professor Ning Xian is the person in charge of the fuel group for this mission."

"This is Comrade Gu Xiangqian. He is a talent recruited by our military. He graduated from Tsinghua University and studied in the Soviet Union after graduation. He is a top student at Moscow State University—"

Ning Qian smiled and waved his hand, "Old Yu, stop it. Haha, no need to introduce yourself. Xiao Gu and I are old acquaintances."

Gu Xiangqian smiled slightly and nodded.

Ning Qian waved at Gu Xiangqian and said, "My wife sent me some dried rabbit meat, salted duck, and some Chinese sausage a few days ago. Come to my dormitory after work and I'll share some of it with you."

Everyone in the hospital knows that Ning Qian is a filial "daughter-in-law", and Gu Xiangqian turns out to be the "godson" envied by many people

Suddenly, Gu Xiangqian felt that he was being stared at by others.

In the evening, Ning Qian brought Gu Xiangqian back home, "Su Ye, I don't know you are here, I didn't send you anything during the New Year, luckily you ran into me."

To welcome Gu Xiangqian, two other clever researchers in the same dormitory made a meal of two meats and one vegetable for the first time, including cold rabbit meat, carrots fried with bacon, fried shallots, and a bowl of highland barley noodles. They ate rice and flour, and only ate highland barley noodles occasionally to change their taste.

In addition to sending food to Ning Qian, Su Ye would occasionally send some seasonings and lard, trying his best to improve his meals. Ning Qian once wrote in a letter that they were short of vegetables, and a comrade often had nosebleeds due to lack of certain vitamins.

A few months later, she sent dried carrot slices, potato slices, lettuce, and tomatoes, which could be eaten after soaking in water for half an hour. Although a lot of nutrients were lost during the drying process, it was better than nothing. Ning Qian relied on them to supplement vitamins throughout the fall and winter, and used them to soak in water to drink, which also benefited the other two researchers in the dormitory.

Ning Qian counted them all and said to Gu Xiangqian, "Xiangqian, you definitely don't have these dried vegetables."

Gu Xiangqian smiled slightly, "Indeed, it's not."

But he loved pickled pork dishes, and he brought all the pickled pork dishes that Su Ye sent to the northwest.

Ning Qian was even more satisfied. It turned out that Su Ye cared more about him. Even Gu Xiangqian didn't have this honor. So Ning Qian asked Gu Xiangqian to eat at his place whenever he was free. But they were so busy that even eating was like a battle. How could they have time to cook? Ning Qian's duck in soy sauce was useless.

Fortunately, the braised meat dish that Gu Xiangqian brought was ready to eat, and it was especially delicious when mixed with pasta or rice.

Ning Qian said that eating meat and vegetables with sauces was "as happy as a god!"

A few years ago, the heavy workload finally came to an end, but we still need people for the time being.

Ning Qian looked at Gu Xiangqian and said, "You came at the right time. Now is the busiest period. Don't think about going home for the New Year this year. I will write a letter to Su Ye later to let her know. Young people have heavy responsibilities, so you should take care of your health."

It was New Year's Eve when Su Ye received the letter. He wrote in the letter that he could not return this year and asked for Su Ye's forgiveness.

After reading the letter, Su Ye had guessed that Gu Xiangqian was in the same place as Professor Ning. Ning's mother sent a telegram asking Su Ye to return to City C to spend the New Year with them. The telegram said that Professor Ning had a heavy workload this year and would not be back soon.

Gu Xiangqian quoted a short poem in the letter. It was the poem by Ai Qing that Su Ye had read to him in the ward.

Su Ye knew that he was serving the motherland and doing a great cause, and he felt warm in his heart and forgave him for breaking his promise.

Liu Gang yelled, "Teacher Su, come and have the New Year's Eve dinner! It's cold, it will get cold if you don't come!"

The New Year's Eve dinner in the countryside was incredibly sumptuous, because this was the first time that Ruan Ruliang took his wife and children to the countryside to celebrate the New Year. Lin Yuan killed a chicken for the first time, and Su Ye contributed five pounds of pork belly and a fish.

Liu Gang and several students started spending the morning in the woodshed preparing the New Year's Eve dinner. They were chattering happily all early in the morning and it was very lively.

He cooked Dongpo pork, four-happiness meatballs, pearl rice balls, and red dates and wolfberry stewed chicken soup. The Dongpo pork was soft and delicious, and the four-happiness meatballs were chewy. The most surprising thing was the pearl rice balls. It was steamed rice wrapped with chopped pork and mushrooms, and then stewed in chicken soup. The first bite was full of deliciousness and richness.

In addition, there were two cakes for the New Year's Eve dinner. Ruan Ruliang's daughter loved them very much. All night long, the only sound you could hear was her biting the cakes, which made a rustling sound like a squirrel.

Liu Gang made a lot of cakes to welcome the New Year, wasting a lot of flour, so Li Ming complained about wasting food when he saw him. But after everyone ate the cakes, they no longer complained about his wastefulness. The cakes he made were so delicious, the radish cakes were sweet and soft, and the peach cakes were so delicious that they left a sweet taste in every mouthful.

Ruan Ruliang's wife never stopped eating, her eyes narrowed, revealing a lot of happiness. She praised "it's delicious", "this is good", "that is also good" while eating. Without a doubt, this is the best New Year's Eve dinner she has ever had in her life.

Liu Gang's presence has enhanced everyone's sense of happiness, and everyone feels like they are having a Chinese New Year meal. State-owned restaurants are closed during the Chinese New Year!

This New Year's Eve dinner diluted everyone's regret of not being able to go back home for the New Year. A classmate asked in a daze: "Hey, do you think Teacher Su knew about Liu Gang's craftsmanship and brought him to the countryside on purpose?"

Su Ye opened his eyes innocently and spread his hands to show that he was fine.

But suddenly it seemed to be true. After the junior high school graduation exam results came out, Su Ye had to make a lot of steamed buns to reward students. So she found a master to make steamed buns. At that time, the master brought his son to help. That person was Liu Gang.

At that time, there were more than just these few students who wanted to follow Su Ye to the countryside. A rough count showed that there were quite a few of them. Liu Gang was chosen by Su Ye because he was familiar with him during that work. To put it in a round number, wasn't it because he could make steamed buns