60s: I have a store

Chapter 550 The Old Party Secretary's Dilemma
The summer sun is like boiling molten iron, pouring down on the land of Zhoujiazhuang without reservation.

The loess road was softened by the sun. Zhou Yimin rode over it on his motorcycle. The dust raised by the wheels was wrapped in heat and hit his sweaty neck.

The corn stalks on the roadside were drooping, and their leaves were rolled into dry brown tubes. Even the sparrows that usually chirped were hiding among the tallest branches and leaves of the old locust tree, occasionally uttering a weak cry or two.

When Zhou Yimin saw the old branch secretary's hunched back from afar, his heart skipped a beat.

I saw the old branch secretary sitting alone on a stone pier at the entrance of the village. His faded blue cloth shirt was stained with dark spots by sweat, and his bamboo straw hat was crookedly buckled on his knees. The copper pipe in his mouth had long been extinguished, and ashes were falling on his Liberation shoes that were stained with straw crumbs, but he was completely unaware.

The roar of the motorcycle engine was getting closer and closer, but it did not wake up the old branch secretary. Seeing this, Zhou Yimin thought something had happened to the old branch secretary, so he quickly stopped the motorcycle, walked to the old branch secretary and patted him on the shoulder.

When the old branch secretary came to his senses, he wanted to see who was so bold as to interrupt him when he was thinking. He turned around and saw it was Zhou Yimin. His mood immediately turned from gloomy to cheerful.

Suddenly, his calloused hands tightly grasped Zhou Yimin's arm. Maybe it was because the weather was too hot, causing the old secretary's hands to be very hot as well: "I've finally got you back!"

Zhou Yimin was dragged so hard that he staggered half a step. He subconsciously shrank back: "Old Party Secretary, I suddenly remembered that I didn't collect the cups at home. I'm afraid it will rain later. What's the matter? Let's talk after I collect the cups."

"Stop talking to me about this!" The old branch secretary suddenly raised his voice, startling the sparrows on the locust tree and making them fly around.

He suddenly pulled off his straw hat to fan himself, revealing the sparse white hair on his head standing up, "You are smart, kid. If you don't figure this out today, don't even think about leaving this village!"

As he said this, he pushed Zhou Yimin back onto the stone pier, and the pipe made a "bang bang" sound on the stone surface.

Zhou Yimin was thinking, if he had known this was the case, he would have stayed in the city for a while longer.

He returned to the village just to take a rest. Zhou Yimin has been very busy recently.

During this period, I spent most of my time following Wang Weimin, learning how to manage a department of people. Add to that the trivial matters in the courtyard, and I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

I thought I was finally done with my work and could go back to the village to rest for a while, but before I even got home, I was pulled over by the old branch secretary to solve a problem.

And from the old branch secretary's expression, we can tell that this is definitely not an easy problem to solve, otherwise it wouldn't make him so troubled.

Zhou Yimin stared at the old man's hands as he reloaded the tobacco leaves. There was still unwashed dirt embedded in the cracks between his fingernails.

"You talk, I'm listening." He sighed, took out a lighter from his pocket and lit it for the old man.

Green smoke rose up, forming a hazy barrier between the two people.

"If I count on my fingers, there are seventeen young men in our village who are over twenty years old!" The old branch secretary stretched out his rough palm.

He raised four fingers again and said, "Since last month, the thresholds of every household have been trampled by matchmakers."

The sparks in the pipe flickered, "But those old foxes in the neighboring village heard the news from somewhere and collectively raised the bride price to 30 kilograms of grain!"

Zhou Yimin stood up suddenly, and the stone pillar dragged on the ground with a harsh sound: "Thirty kilograms? Isn't this going to kill me?"

Even when there is no famine, there is no need for 30 kilograms of grain. Although it is not specified whether it is coarse grain or fine grain, the price of grain changes every day. Even coarse grains cost a few cents per kilogram on the black market, and it is not uncommon to even cost one dollar.

The old Party Secretary pulled his clothes and sat down again, his cloudy eyes bloodshot: "Yimin, do you think I don't want to curse? But now our village is the only one in the surrounding area that still has surplus food. They are sure they will take advantage of us!"

He got angry when he thought of this, but even though he was angry there was nothing he could do because the problem still had to be solved.

Zhou Yimin couldn't understand it. Many people in the city were like this now. They didn't care about dowry. As long as they could marry their daughters off, they didn't need any dowry. But now in Zhoujiazhuang, the situation was reversed.

At this time, every household has little food, and if you can marry off your daughter, you can save a lot of food.

"How about... mobilize everyone to get together?" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Zhou Yimin denied it himself.

There are seventeen households. Even if each household contributes two kilograms, it is still far from the total. Besides, who would be willing to give away their food rations for no reason?

You can't ask the whole village to donate! Although Zhoujiazhuang is not short of food, no one is willing to donate.

The old branch secretary took a deep puff of his cigarette, not even noticing the ash falling on the back of his hand. "Cou? There was a village meeting the other day, and there was almost a fight over this. Some people said that if you can't afford the bride price, then don't get married. You can wait until this disaster year is over, and then think of a way."

"Old Party Secretary, don't worry." Zhou Yimin squatted down and looked the old man in the eye. "Let me go back and think about it. I'm sure I can come up with a solution for you!" His voice rose unconsciously, as if he was cheering himself up.

The old branch secretary's hand, which was as dry as tree bark, suddenly grabbed his arm: "Yimin, you can't fool me! Those kids block my door every day, I..."

Zhou Yimin suddenly remembered something, broke free from the old man's hand, and got on the motorcycle.

Amid the roar of the engine, he heard the old branch secretary shouting something behind him, but he didn't bother to turn around.

Now it’s the old branch secretary’s turn to be dumbfounded?

Didn’t you just say that you would come up with a solution? Now you’re nowhere to be seen?

Was this request of his too much? But seeing how anxious Zhou Yimin was, he must have thought of a solution, but just didn't have time to say it.

The old branch secretary could only comfort himself.

Zhou Yimin was driving a motorcycle, the wind blew into his collar, carrying the fishy smell of loess, but his thoughts became clearer and clearer - the betrothal gift of thirty kilograms of grain must not become a shackle that traps the young people of Zhoujiazhuang.

Although he could help purchase 30 kilograms of food, he couldn't start this process. Otherwise, people in the surrounding area would definitely blame Zhoujiazhuang.

After all, a precedent has been set, and it will not be easy to reduce the bride price later.

Others would say, look who gave 30 kilograms of food, my daughter is better off than his family, why is it more than 30 kilograms?
The motorcycle sped towards the street office at lightning speed, and Zhou Yimin's heartbeat quickened as the wheels turned.

He kept thinking about the bold plan in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Soon, the familiar gray brick house on the street appeared before him.

He didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with the security guard. He just said hello quickly and ran towards Director Li's office in two steps.

There was a hurried knock on the door, and Director Li's crisp voice "Come in!" came from inside.

Zhou Yimin pushed open the door and saw Director Li, who was sorting documents at his desk. When he looked up and saw Zhou Yimin, his eyes suddenly lit up.

She thought Zhou Yimin was here to deliver milk powder, and her eyes were full of anticipation. However, Zhou Yimin's mind was full of the village's problems at the moment, and he didn't notice Director Li's look at all.

Zhou Yimin sat down on the chair and asked directly, "Aunt Li, is the population pressure in Sijiu City high now?"

Upon hearing this, Director Li's face instantly turned serious. He put down the pen in his hand and said seriously, "The pressure is too great! Recently, more and more people have poured into the city, most of them are refugees. The food gap is getting bigger and bigger. The higher-ups have issued a death order, asking us to find a way to solve it, but it's easier said than done!"

At this point, a glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes, "Yimin, if you ask this, is there any solution?"

Director Li probably knew that since Zhou Yimin could get meat, even the more difficult meat, then there would definitely be no problem with food.

If this problem can be handled well, maybe I can move up a level. Thinking of this, my originally calm heart suddenly became agitated.

Zhou Yimin organized his words and said slowly, "Aunt Li, I have come up with a solution, but I don't know if it will work. I want to discuss it with you."

Upon hearing this, Director Li immediately perked up, leaned forward, and said anxiously, "Yimin, it's already this late, why are you still keeping us in suspense! Just say what you want to say!"

She knew that the ideas proposed by Zhou Yimin always played a good role. Even the last time the processing plant shined at the Canton Fair, Zhou Yimin's contribution was indispensable.

Zhou Yimin nodded, and then told him the details of the village's predicament.

When Director Li heard about the 30-jin grain gift, he opened his mouth in surprise: "This is too outrageous! Nowadays, many families are willing to pay a dowry to marry their daughters off, just to have less food to eat, but they are actually raising the gift price!"

Zhou Yimin went on to say, "Aunt Li, this is what I think. Since the surrounding villages are deliberately making things difficult for us, why don't we try to find a solution elsewhere? You see, there are so many refugees in the city, there must be many girls of marriageable age; plus there must be other villages with similar situations to ours. If we combine these resources, maybe we can solve the problem."

Director Li frowned slightly, thought for a moment and said, "Yimin, even if we can find a suitable girl, how can we match them up if they are from different villages and cities? And even if it works out, how can we solve the subsequent resettlement and living problems?"

Zhou Yimin was well prepared and said confidently: "Aunt Li, we can organize a large-scale blind date event, gather all the young people of marriageable age from villages and cities, and let them get to know each other.

As for the resettlement issue, our village can provide some idle houses to solve the housing problem first.

Moreover, we can cooperate with other villages and sub-district offices to provide mutual assistance. For example, our village can help other places solve some agricultural technical problems in exchange for their support for farming.”

Director Li's eyes lit up as he listened, and he slammed the table excitedly: "What a great idea! Yimin, you have a great brain! This will not only solve the problem in your village, but may also ease the population pressure in the city. It's really killing two birds with one stone!"

She stood up and paced back and forth in the office. "However, this matter involves too many aspects. We still need to communicate and coordinate with other street offices and villages to formulate a specific plan."

Zhou Yimin was a little anxious at this time: "Aunt Li, don't worry, I want to discuss something with you?"

Director Li thought Zhou Yimin had some good ideas, so he sat down quickly and asked, "Yimin, what do you think?"

After saying this, he looked at Zhou Yimin with joy.

Zhou Yimin looked at Director Li and was a little embarrassed to speak: "Aunt Li, this is the case. Can we try it out in our village before holding the blind date meeting?"

Then he added: "After all, with the experience of the experiment, we can know how to implement it later."

After hearing this, Director Li looked at Zhou Yimin meaningfully, then smiled and joked: "Yimin, is this really the case?"

The purpose was not hidden and was stated directly.

Zhou Yimin then smiled awkwardly: "Aunt Li, this is just to help the village get some benefits first."

Director Li said, "Yimin, you can just wait until the matchmaking conference is held and then bring the people of marriageable age from your village here. There's no need to go through so much trouble."

Zhou Yimin could only explain: "Aunt Li, if we wait until the blind date conference is held, then there will be competition from people in the city, and then the boys in our village will still be much inferior."

After all, in the perception of most people today, city dwellers are definitely many times better off than rural dwellers.

There is no need to get up early and go to bed late every day to earn those few insignificant centimeters, and sometimes the centimeters earned are not even enough for the family to eat.

Especially now, most of the large canteens in rural areas have been closed and people can only cook for themselves.

Back in the days of the canteen, as long as you worked you could have a full meal, no matter whether you could eat well or not.

In the early days, people in the canteen could indeed eat well, and eat better than people in the city. However, this situation did not last long. After a large amount of food was wasted, the quality of the canteen plummeted and became worse and worse. In the end, people could not even get enough to eat, and the canteen had to withdraw from the stage.

But it is different for city dwellers, who can eat food at a negotiated price. If they have a worker at home, the monthly salary they earn is comparable to that of rural residents, who may not earn that much in several months.

Director Li thought about it and decided to give face to Zhou Yimin. She could have refused, but this idea was proposed by Zhou Yimin. If she discarded him, she would probably not be able to get any good ideas from Zhou Yimin in the future.

"Okay, then let's do as you say!"

Zhou Yimin also stood up: "Aunt Li, thank you, then I will go back and discuss it with the old branch secretary. I will definitely not treat the female comrades who marry into the family unfairly."

Director Li nodded and patted Zhou Yimin on the shoulder: "Okay! You go back first, I will start contacting all parties immediately. If there is any situation, we can communicate at any time!"

Zhou Yimin said goodbye to Director Li, got on his motorcycle and rushed to Zhoujiazhuang.

(End of this chapter)