60s: I have a store

Chapter 510 The Difference Between the Two Villages

Zhou Yimin rode a motorcycle, braving the morning breeze, and returned to Zhoujiazhuang from the commune feed factory.

After parking the motorcycle, he walked straight towards the old branch secretary's house.

When he met the old branch secretary, Zhou Yimin didn't beat around the bush and told him directly about the quota given to him by Secretary Huang at the feed factory.

After hearing this, the old branch secretary's eyes suddenly lit up. In that era when job opportunities were scarce, these ten vacancies were simply a godsend.

After some discussion, the two decided to hold a village meeting to inform the villagers about this and see if anyone is interested in purchasing these places.

The news of the meeting quickly spread in the village. Although the villagers were full of doubts, they all knew that unless there was an important matter, the old branch secretary would never convene a village meeting for no reason.

So everyone put down their work and walked towards the threshing ground in the center of the village.

For a moment, the threshing ground was crowded with people. The villagers gathered in groups of two or three, talking among themselves, all trying to find out the purpose of this meeting from others.

Uncle Zhang frowned and asked Uncle Li next to him, "Old Li, what's the big deal that the old branch secretary suddenly called everyone together?"

Uncle Li shook his head and sighed, "How would I know? I'm really nervous. I hope it's nothing bad."

Not far away, several young men gathered together. One of them scratched his head and said, "Could it be that there is another big project for us to do so that we can earn more work points?"

Another one curled his lips and responded: "I don't think so. If it was really that, the old branch secretary wouldn't have made such a big fuss."

Just as everyone was discussing heatedly, the old branch secretary and Zhou Yimin walked over side by side.

The old Party secretary was always decisive in his actions. He stood on a high place, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "I believe that everyone will be surprised this time as to why we have to hold this village meeting.

Yimin came to me. He got ten job openings from the commune and wanted to ask if anyone is interested. "

The old branch secretary then added that if there were many people who signed up, they would have to decide by drawing lots; if there were few people, it wouldn't be so troublesome.

In his expectation, this time would be just like last time, the villagers would definitely fight for these ten places.

At that time, it can only be decided by drawing lots.

When the villagers heard the old branch secretary's words, they were instantly in an uproar.

At the beginning, everyone was very excited. In everyone's perception, as long as they had a job, they could change the fate of a family. They no longer had to work hard every day for meager work points like in the countryside.

Brother Zhao's eyes lit up and he waved his arms excitedly: "This is a great thing! Working in a factory is much better than digging for food in the fields. Maybe we can even get some food!"

His wife also nodded hurriedly, her face full of longing.

But after a while, as everyone chatted, their ideas gradually changed.

Aunt Qian sat aside and spoke slowly: "In Zhoujia Village, although we earn work points, but during this period, thanks to the good ideas brought by Yimin, our life is not bad. We can eat full meals every day and save some surplus food."

Grandpa Sun also agreed, "Yes, and working in the village is so comfortable. We are all from the same village, and we can see each other every day. As long as we are not lazy, we can take care of each other. If we go to the factory, we are unfamiliar with the place and have to be managed by others."

The old branch secretary looked at the villagers' reactions and couldn't help but wonder in his heart, this was completely different from what he had expected.

He raised his voice again and asked, "Everyone, is there anyone who wants to sign up?"

But the villagers still looked at each other, some lowered their heads and thought silently, some whispered to people around them, but no one stood up to sign up.

The old branch secretary was a little suspicious, wondering if there was something wrong with the ears of all the villagers in the village, as why no one signed up.

Zhou Yimin was very happy when he saw this scene.

He knew in his heart that there was no problem selling these jobs.

It seems that the villagers of Zhoujiazhuang have truly felt the tremendous changes that have taken place in the village during this period, so no one is willing to leave their familiar hometown and go out to explore the world.

In the minds of Chinese people, who would be willing to leave their hometown if there was no other choice?

The old branch secretary repeated it again, but still no one signed up.

In desperation, the old branch secretary could only announce: "Since no one has signed up, this matter is over. Everyone go back and have a rest!"

When the villagers had dispersed, the old Party secretary saw that Zhou Yimin was not unhappy but smiling. He was puzzled and asked, "Yimin, we can't even sell the job quota, why are you still smiling?"

Zhou Yimin smiled and asked, "Old Party Secretary, if this situation happened in Zhoujiazhuang in the past, how do you think the reaction would be?"

Although the old Party branch secretary was somewhat puzzled, he still answered truthfully: "Then everyone in the village must be rushing to sign up, fearing that if they are slow, they will miss out on being selected."

He really didn't understand what the connection was between the two.

Seeing that the old branch secretary hadn't reacted yet, Zhou Yimin continued to guide him: "Since this is the former Zhoujiazhuang, everyone would definitely rush to sign up. Why is no one signing up now?"

After Zhou Yimin's reminder, the old branch secretary suddenly realized: "Ha... Good! No wonder you are laughing, Yimin. Although the changes in Zhoujiazhuang are a good thing, but if this happens, won't no one buy your job quota?"

Zhou Yimin explained: "Old Party Secretary, when have you ever seen a job quota being worried about not being sold? Even if no one wants to buy in Zhoujiazhuang, there are countless people in other villages and cities who are unemployed and can only do odd jobs."

The old branch secretary nodded and thought to himself that he had been only thinking about the development of Zhoujiazhuang for some time, and he was really blinded by one thing. It might be because Zhou Yimin always thought of Zhoujiazhuang first whenever there was something good in the past year, which gave him this illusion.

It was as if Zhou Yimin had only one option, Zhoujiazhuang, for the things he took out. In fact, it was not the case. Apart from Zhoujiazhuang, any of the surrounding villages would be fine, but Zhou Yimin chose Zhoujiazhuang.

Zhou Yimin thought to himself, since no one in Zhoujiazhuang wanted these places, he might as well try somewhere else.

He suddenly thought of Shangshui Village, because the village he was most familiar with was Shangshui Village. If no one wanted him in Shangshui Village, he would have to move to the city.

However, it was already dark by then, so they could only wait until the next day. Zhou Yimin was not in a hurry anyway, so it was okay to go a few days later.

The next morning, around eight o'clock, Zhou Yimin simply washed up and drove his motorcycle to Sheungshui Village at lightning speed.

The security team members at the entrance of the village recognized Zhou Yimin at a glance. Instead of stopping him, they greeted him with a smile on their faces and let him pass.

They knew that the village’s current good life with no worries about food and clothing was all thanks to Zhou Yimin.

If the village chief knew that they had stopped Zhou Yimin at the entrance of the village, it would be a disaster. Being scolded was a minor matter. The worst thing was being expelled from the ancestral hall. In the countryside, returning to one's roots is a big deal. If one is expelled from the family tree, then one will have no hometown and will not know where his soul will go after death.

Zhou Yimin found Village Chief Wang with familiarity.

When Village Chief Wang saw that it was Zhou Yimin, he smiled and quickly stepped forward: "Yimin, what brings you here?"

Zhou Yimin then told everything that happened in Zhoujiazhuang last night.

After hearing this, Village Chief Wang was so shocked that he was stunned. It took him a while to recover.

He thought about it calmly and understood the thoughts of the villagers in Zhoujiazhuang. The villagers in Zhoujiazhuang can now eat enough every day, but even the workers cannot guarantee that they can have enough meals every day in this era of food shortage. After all, even if they have money, they may not be able to buy food.

Village Chief Wang said quickly: "Of course our village is interested. Yimin, please wait a moment. I will go and gather the villagers together."

Zhou Yimin hurriedly stopped him and said, "Village Chief Wang, don't be so anxious. Collect the money first."

As he spoke, he handed over the money that Shangshui Village had earned from selling vegetables to the steel plant a few days ago.

Village chief Wang finally realized it. If Zhou Yimin hadn't reminded him, he would have almost forgotten about it.

He took the money and without even counting it, he hurried to call a meeting of the villagers.

Although the villagers of Shangshui Village were surprised by the village chief's sudden call for a meeting, they still put down their work and arrived at the designated location on time.

Village Chief Wang stood in front of the crowd and said bluntly: "Yimin, there are ten job quotas in the commune feed factory that can be given to our village, but they are not free. Each quota costs 500 yuan."

When the villagers heard this, they were immediately excited and began to discuss heatedly.

Some people's eyes are shining and they are already thinking about how to register, fearing that if they are a step late, their spots will be snatched away by others.

Liu Erhu's face flushed with excitement, and he shouted loudly: "I'm signing up! I want this spot, so my family can live a good life in the future!"

Zhang Tiedan next to him was not to be outdone: "Erhu, don't shout so loudly, it's still uncertain who will get it!"

Although 500 yuan is a huge sum of money in rural areas, Village Chief Wang saw everyone's concerns and quickly added: "You don't have to pay 500 yuan at once. You can pay a little bit every month before you get a job, but you must pay it back within three years."

The last sentence was added by Village Chief Wang himself. He was afraid that some people would not return the wages to Zhou Yimin after receiving them, which would be troublesome.

He also hopes to establish a good relationship with Zhou Yimin so that Shangshui Village can become better and better like Zhoujiazhuang.

Seeing the villagers' enthusiastic response, Village Chief Wang couldn't help but wonder when Shangshui Village would be like Zhoujiazhuang, where everyone would be able to remain calm even when there were good jobs in front of them.

He went on to say, "Since everyone wants it, let's draw lots! This is fair and just."

After hearing this, the villagers felt helpless but had no choice but to agree.

Some villagers began to worry. After all, so many people in the village were eyeing these ten places, and the chance of winning was less than one in ten.

In order to ensure fairness and justice, Village Chief Wang arranged everything in advance.

He specially brought a sturdy table and placed it in the center of the threshing ground, and placed a lottery box covered tightly with red paper steadily on the table.

Before those who had gone to work in Zhoujiazhuang returned, he paced back and forth around the threshing ground, carefully inspecting the area to make sure there was no debris that might affect the drawing of lots.

He also arranged several young, strong and upright villagers to stand around to help maintain order, and told them to keep their eyes open in all directions to prevent any chaos.

After finally making it to the evening, those who went to work in Zhoujiazhuang came back and rushed to participate in the lottery without even having time to eat.

The draw officially began, and the atmosphere was so tense that it seemed to ignite the air.

Villagers came from all directions, surrounding the threshing ground tightly, and their eyes were fixed on the lottery box that would decide their fate.

At the beginning, there was some commotion among the crowd. A few impatient people wanted to cut in line, hoping to get in front so that they could draw lots earlier, lest their spots were drawn before it was their turn.

Village Chief Wang was sharp-eyed. He immediately strode up to those people, his face darkened, and he shouted, "Everyone line up! Those who cut in line will be disqualified! This is a matter that concerns everyone, we must be fair and just, no one is allowed to get special treatment!"

Those people were frightened by the majesty of Village Chief Wang. Their faces turned red and white. They could only return to the team in shame and line up obediently.

Under the nervous gaze of the crowd, the first villager slowly stretched out his hand and drew a piece of paper from the lottery box.

He was so nervous that his hands were shaking slightly and his forehead was covered with sweat. The moment he opened the note, his eyes widened and his face was filled with ecstasy. Then he shouted, "I won! I won!"

Some of the surrounding villagers looked at them with envy, while others sighed inwardly.

Village chief Wang immediately stepped forward, patted the winner on the shoulder to congratulate him, and loudly reminded everyone to maintain order and avoid crowding.

Then, the second villager stepped forward. He took a deep breath, as if to let out all his tension, and tremblingly pulled out the note. After opening it, his face turned pale in an instant. He silently stepped aside, his eyes full of loss.

Village chief Wang noticed his emotions, whispered a few words of comfort, and then continued to supervise the drawing process.

The third and fourth villagers drew lots in turn... During the whole process, Village Chief Wang always stood beside the table, keeping a close eye on every villager who came forward to draw lots to prevent anyone from cheating.

The threshing ground was so quiet that the only sounds could be heard were people's nervous breathing and the rustling of papers being opened.

Occasionally, some villagers would make some noises due to their excitement, and Village Chief Wang would promptly remind everyone to keep quiet.

After a tense and exciting draw, the ten places were finally decided.

The villagers who got the places cheered and jumped for joy, their faces filled with happy and excited smiles, as if they saw a better life in the future beckoning to them.

Although the villagers who didn't get a chance were disappointed, they had no choice but to accept the reality and congratulated those who got a chance.

After all, if you build good relationships, maybe it will be easier to ask others for help next time.

Village chief Wang looked at all this and felt deeply moved. It seemed that the gap between him and Zhoujiazhuang was still too big.

(End of this chapter)