My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 196 I really don’t want to be the lord!

It was past nine o'clock in the evening. As everyone knows, there were no taxis in the prefecture-level cities at this time. Shangzhou even had only a few bus routes. Fortunately, the city was not big, and there were quite a few people from the dock who were there to lead the way and accompany the cameras.

I chose the nearest Yanjiang Road.

After walking for about half an hour, we suddenly passed by an old European-style building block with a sudden change of style.

When passing by a large construction site, they pointed it out to the reporters and the people from Jiangzhou: "That's Weidong's food factory, they're already selling it all over the country!"

"Every day, at a very cheap price of fifty cents per pound, every household can afford to eat oily food."

"Look, it's very organized, right? I heard it was Weidong's request that the streets be kept clean during construction."

They neatly used bamboo boards to fence off the street side of the construction site so as not to affect the cityscape. This was a rule that the old security guard was familiar with.

Compared with the current haphazard construction, it is very stylish.

Only the two-meter-four-high bamboo boards blocked the inside, so no one could see. He even called out to his friends along the way, “Reporters from Jiangzhou, come and take pictures of Rang Weidong!”

"You might be a little blind. That's the Brick Platform logo. Have you ever seen that logo on a machine so often that you've watched it on TV and it's gone into the river?"

"Oh my, everyone from Zhuan'ertai came to take pictures of Weidong!"

"How rare! Isn't his product advertisement on the brick platform every day? It was even in yesterday's newspaper!"

"Today too..."

That’s right, the next day’s Sunshine Daily was still publishing a series of analytical commentary articles and readers’ letters, emphasizing that this was a common stubborn problem in all places during the process of reform and opening up, and it must be tackled and eliminated!
Then the crowd of people talking became larger and larger.

The camera was originally intended to capture this rare footage, but when I turned around while walking on the bridge, I saw the glass house next to it!
Brightly lit machines and busy workers are in the air, and the aroma of soy sauce and salt-baked food wafts through the air.

In this backward and dim urban-rural fringe of a prefecture-level city, even the stone bridge has railings made of stone slabs on both sides. It looks so old, but there is such a building as brightly lit as a palace.

The reporters from Pingjing were all amazed: "Was that also done by Weidong?" They subconsciously concluded that it could only be him.

Everyone was so proud: "Yes! The building under construction in front is also this kind of glass house. Didn't you see the construction notice posted on the bamboo wall?"

"Let Weidong do things in an organized way..."

The photographer wanted to stay and take more photos, but everyone was already packed and hurried to cross the bridge, otherwise they would miss it if they were any later.

Suddenly, there was a clean and tidy street intersection, a gravel sidewalk, flower beds and trees beside the road, and a neatly surrounded brand new "free market" with its doors open.

There was a lot of noise and bustle inside.

It is in stark contrast to the deserted and old streets outside.

Of course, it is also possible that everyone was sucked in.

A basketball court was built in the open space in the side corner, and countless people crowded there to cheer, but the crowd was mainly concentrated in the center of the trading market.

The cement platforms that were used by farmers to sell agricultural products during the day are now filled with barbecue, fried tofu, cold noodles, rice noodles, iced sour plum soup, ice jelly and cold shrimp, and the famous Sichuan jelly.

Before Wei Dong left, he started to mobilize people everywhere. He went to Jiangzhou and sent some people back to lead the movement.

In fact, in the prefecture-level city with a population of more than 100,000, there are still various small vendors selling dandan noodles and tofu pudding on the road. Now they are all invited to come and do business with free admission, which is very popular.

It seemed that the citizens who had gathered with the reporters before dispersed like fish in water when they entered the free market. They watched the game, ate, and drank a bowl of iced mung bean soup. The heat of the whole day disappeared without a trace.

Food streets, carnivals, flea markets, and night markets with stalls, which are very common in later generations, were extremely rare in the 1980s.

It can be said to be zero.

But this rich atmosphere of fireworks and the beautiful smiles on everyone's face will still be touching even decades later.

Isn’t this kind of wonderful life for everyone what countless ancestors fought so hard for?

Video cameras and professional SLR cameras were held high to capture the surrounding scenes.

Fortunately, someone was diligently leading the way: "This way, let Weidong stay here. He likes playing basketball... Hey, who's playing with him today?"

The old leader, who was in his early sixties, had gray hair and wore a vest. His lean and dark figure looked neat and unrestrained. He brought several cadres from government agencies and looked full of energy.

Most of the guys on Weidong's side were street guys, and they were more wild, but they were able to fight on equal terms with these opponents, most of whom had retired military personnel or even professional backgrounds.

Weidong was quite surprised when his old leader came to inspect in the evening.

But no matter whether ZZ has a keen sense of smell, is well-informed, or sincerely thinks that this is the scene he wants, at least at this time he clearly expressed his support for Rang Weidong.

Even protecting him.

I also fully immersed myself in this somewhat advanced scene.

In fact, it can be seen from Director Cheng of the Xishan Factory that this type of leader who cares more about whether the local people live a better life agrees with the kind of down-to-earth atmosphere that Rang Weidong likes to promote.

Of course, many of them had come with their old bosses, and Weidong's subordinates quickly noticed these reporters carrying cameras and video cameras, their equipment bearing the BrickTai Chemical logo.

The smart ones quickly came over and discussed it inconspicuously: "Old leader, you played really well..."

"Weidong is okay, I think he's been playing for an hour or two."

"He's very sneaky, occasionally making a dash for help from the periphery."

Only the dumber ones would make a fuss and quickly want to report it to their superiors.

Let Weidong know that he must cooperate with the old leader to play with the people and have fun together. He often plays like this and dares to concentrate on blocking and playing the business ball to a high-end level.

When they finally came off the court, drenched in sweat, they gestured deliberately as if they were seriously discussing a game of basketball: "Then tomorrow I'll borrow the space at the hemp spinning mill to start recruiting workers and resume production. At the same time, I'll tear down all the buildings at the match factory and rebuild a new one."

The old boss looked at the big picture: "If you can immediately create jobs and wages for one or two thousand people, that's certainly a great thing, but isn't that too decisive? Are you really going to move all the equipment here?"

Wei Dong said frankly, "There's no barrier to entry for this thing. You can find a machinery factory and assemble a machine just by following the instructions. The raw materials are just a little harder to come by. If everyone in the country sets up a small factory without restrictions to produce and sell the products for their own use, Shangzhou will only produce around 4,000 packs a day, and eventually it will be like this match factory, half-dead. I have to warn everyone that if you mess around, I won't be with you..."

Reporters had already gathered around and were trying to put microphones in Weidong's hands, asking him to introduce himself quickly.

The old leader still had a sense of responsibility, sweating all over, his hands on his hips, "We are concerned about the people's concerns and think about what the people want. Comrade Weidong, as a young reform pioneer from Shangzhou, has made obvious contributions to Shangzhou. Our city will continue to support him and his team in forging ahead in the wave of reform..."

It's all just gibberish, but the attitude is very clear.

Not to mention the image.

The microphone was passed to Weidong, who was in charge of the main topic. "That's right. We've transferred all the machinery and equipment in Jiangzhou to Shangzhou. Shangzhou has over 600 communes and a population of over 7 million. It's a notoriously impoverished mountainous area. We hope to use more industrial production to encourage the masses to work and improve productivity. We hope to transform the large number of rural laborers who can only grow enough food each year into a strong industrial production force."

Weidong couldn't even remember whether there was any proposal to encourage migrant workers at that time, but the urbanization process certainly had not started.

He very much agreed with the old leader's attitude. The country is so big, there are all kinds of situations, and special situations must be treated specially.

At least in the areas around Shangzhou, which is full of impoverished counties, a large number of laborers are locked up in the barren and fragmented mountain farmlands. They earn meager incomes and are not allowed to plant cash crops at will. This is a huge waste of labor. If these people were employed in factories, wouldn't the value created and wages be much higher?

You don't even have to go to the coast.

The old leader was a little surprised, but he kept his expression steady and nodded slowly.

The reporters weren't actually there to trick Weidong. In fact, their biggest concern wasn't what was happening in Shangzhou, but how it was going to end. "So what do you want to say to Jiangzhou City?"

Rang Weidong wasn't stupid. "I definitely believe that Jiangzhou, as a separately planned city, will make rapid progress during the reform and opening up process. We have the Jiangzhou Industrial Products Trade Center and a solid industrial production foundation. When our sanitary napkin factory was established in Jiangzhou, it received full support from the Commerce Bureau and other units, achieving a record of supplying 300,000 packs per day to the national market. But..."

As soon as the topic changed, the old leaders became serious.

The camera locked onto the two of them steadily.

Rang Weidong said, "Jiangzhou's geographical location is excellent. It's like it's right at the intersection of the Yangtze River, which radiates to the whole country. That's why we decided to rebuild a large factory in Jiangzhou with a daily output of over one million units. We're moving the branch to Shangzhou first. This will take advantage of Shangzhou's strategic location at the mouth of the Three Gorges, allowing us to go downstream and enjoy the water advantages along the Yangtze River, so we can develop together."

The old leader's eyes clearly showed something like, "You really know how to talk!"
The newspapers said that they were all forced to evacuate, but you make it seem like you came to Shangzhou just to eliminate production capacity.

Are we in Shangzhou just second-married widows?

But from Rang Weidong's perspective, Old Feng, I gave you the news, a little push and knock would have been enough, who knew you would make such a big fuss and even bring the brick platform to Shangzhou, isn't this putting me in a fire?

No matter who you are roasting, or what the atmosphere or situation is.

Don't burn me.

I'm sure I can't offend anyone.

The reporter almost sprained his waist. Zhuan'ertai must have planned to strike hard and give the whole place a brand new look to show how powerful the uncrowned king is.

Who could have expected this guy to be so cunning.

It happened that someone from Jiangzhou arrived at the same time and squeezed in nearby.

She might have been hesitant to say anything before, fearing that she would anger the reporters or let Weidong, that young man, say something harsh, which would be caught on camera and ruin her completely.

Now I find out that this guy has prepared such a big step.

The way he speaks is not at all the careless way that a twenty-year-old would.

He immediately appeared and shook hands warmly: "Yes, thank you Comrade Rang Weidong for your trust in our Jiangzhou City. We will find out the shortcomings and use a more down-to-earth and pragmatic work style to promote the economic work of reform and opening up!"

That's right. Once the sedan chair is lifted up, it's time to get into the sedan chair with the beating of gongs and drums.

But now that we are here, Shangzhou, an originally inconspicuous riverside city, naturally has to show its new style of reform through the lens of Zhuanertai.

That would completely put Weidong on the throne of a young reform pioneer.

Hey, I don’t want to be the lord!

(End of this chapter)