Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Is there really a subsidy for Chapter 46?

2*30年6月6日，倒计时9天。

The weather is overcast.

Xinfu City.

Old Li's house is located at the entrance of Lijia Village. Several elderly farmers are squatting or sitting here, chatting.

Those who are a little younger have all participated in militia training exercises; those who remain here are those whose bodies simply can't take it anymore.

While chatting idly, Old Man Li glanced at the gray, overcast sky and couldn't help but sigh.

The weather these days has been quite abnormal. In Li Laohan's memory, decades ago, there were always sunny days after the Dragon Boat Festival, but recently the weather forecast shows that there will be more cloudy and rainy days.

This has caused concern among many people, as it is now the winter wheat harvest season, and the harvested wheat needs ample sunshine to dry.

"Old Li, when are you going to harvest your wheat?"

"Just wait a little longer..."

"Still waiting?"

"We have to wait, otherwise we won't be able to dry the wheat after we bring it in. If it rains, the pile will get damp and hot, and this year's wheat will be ruined."

Old Li's words drew sighs from many people.

"Anyway, my family plans to collect it tomorrow. Didn't the old Party Secretary say that it must be collected before the 10th? We'll figure out a solution together then."

"Can you find someone? Who should we ask to collect it?"

This question stumped the old men. In this day and age, no one would use a sickle to cut wheat anymore, but a harvester still needs someone to operate it, and in the current situation, they couldn't even find someone to operate a harvester.

As they were talking, someone saw a minivan driving up in the distance.

"Hey, isn't that your kid's car? Wasn't he supposed to be a militiaman? Why is he back?"

Old Man Li craned his neck to take a look, but due to his advanced age, his vision was blurry and he couldn't see clearly.

"Maybe so, but they didn't tell me?"

Old Wang from the same village touched his shiny bald head: "Could it be that you couldn't stand the hardship of training and ran back?"

Old Li's face immediately fell. Someone couldn't stand it and retorted on his behalf: "How can you talk like that? Old Li's son has always been honest. How could he be a deserter?"

Old Wang chuckled and didn't take it seriously, watching the van drive up to them.

It wasn't just Li Laohan's son who got out of the car; there was also a man who looked like an officer and several soldiers. The group walked up to the old men in the village.

They instinctively stood up. Old Man Li looked at them somewhat nervously and asked his son, "What's going on? Is something the matter?"

Li Zhiwei laughed and said, "It's alright, Dad. This is our platoon leader. We've been worried about the wheat harvest, and our division said they could help coordinate it. That's why I brought people here to count how much wheat each village has to harvest."

"Oh, oh, oh, hello leader, hello leader, you've worked hard, did my child cause you any trouble?"

"Hey, grandpa, don't call me that. I'm about the same age as your son. Just call me Xiao Zhang."

The platoon leader smiled warmly and asked, "Grandpa, do you know roughly how much land our village has? We'll write it down, and someone will come to help you harvest it this afternoon."

Old Li frowned: "Leaders, I know you mean well, but the main problem isn't harvesting the grain, it's drying it, which is difficult in this weather..."

"It's alright, sir, don't worry about that. The division has found several factories with large dryers, so the crops can be harvested from the fields and stored overnight."

The old men exchanged glances, greatly surprised.

"How much will it cost?" "The government provides subsidies, so it doesn't charge money. But there's a requirement: the harvested wheat must be ground into flour immediately and then stored by each of you."

The platoon leader explained to the elderly farmers, "This needs to be stored for at least ten days before it can be sold. If it can't be sold, the division can provide a minimum guarantee."

"Of course, grinding the flour and round-trip transportation costs are also free. If you need help, we can also help you press some noodles, but the amount is limited."

"besides……"

The old men listened to the platoon leader surnamed Zhang for a while and were quite surprised. With such good conditions, there was no reason for any of them to refuse.

Old Wang, shamelessly squeezing in, said, "Boss, boss, please write this down for me. My family has five mu of wheat. How much of this noodle can we make?"

"No rush, no rush. Each family has 20 jin of noodles. Please write down your names and contact information. A truck will come to collect them this afternoon."

"I have some tickets here. Please keep them safe. We're making a lot of noodles, and they'll all be delivered together. Use these tickets to exchange for them. Don't lose them, or it'll be a hassle and you'll have to replace them."

While the platoon leader was explaining, Li Zhiwei had already gone to find the village's old Party Secretary and broadcast the news over the loudspeaker. In no time, a long queue formed at the village entrance, and several soldiers unloaded tables and benches from a van and registered the information of each household.

"When the convoy arrives, remember to have someone guide them, and make sure no one is left behind. If anyone is left behind, call this number..."

After registration was completed, seeing several soldiers packing up to get on the vehicle, Old Man Li brought out a large basin of mulberries from the house and handed it to the platoon leader.

"Boss, please try some mulberries. These are the perfect time to eat them, they're very sweet!"

"Oh no, no, we're in a hurry to get to the next village. You should keep it for yourself, sir."

"Boss, you don't know, there's always more of this stuff than we can finish. Take some!"

Seeing that the other party really wouldn't take it, Old Man Li turned to his son: "Lai Zhiwei, you take it!"

"Goodbye, Dad. There are rules in the army; I really can't take it!"

"Aren't you a militia member?"

“Militiamen are soldiers too!” Li Zhiwei closed the car door, saw that his comrades had already gotten in, stepped on the gas and drove off.

"Dad, we're leaving now. You can eat by yourself!"

"Sigh, they're all good kids." Old Man Li carried the basin back home. Old Wang, who was squatting to the side, exchanged glances with him. The other man chuckled twice, but Old Man Li ignored him and went back into the house on his own.

On the bus, a group of soldiers were joking with each other.

"Hey platoon leader, I heard you own those factories? You're giving away the dryers for free, aren't you losing a lot of money?"

“What loss? The government provides subsidies.” Zhang Wei shook his head indifferently: “Besides, it’s not just me. My scale is so small. The bulk of the profits are still from the grain storage group.”

"Even with subsidies, you must have lost a lot. Platoon leader, you were really generous this time."

"It's all the same. If the collective needs a car, you provide a car; if the collective needs a factory, I provide a factory. We're just making contributions."

"That's why the platoon leader is so conscientious," a few soldiers chuckled. "He's already a platoon leader right after arriving; he'll probably be a company commander in a couple of days."

"That's because he's capable. Didn't the regimental commander say that Comrade Zhang Wei has strong overall coordination skills and high personal awareness? What's that saying again?"

"We can add more loads!"

Zhang Wei rolled his eyes and kicked him, saying, "I've been too polite to you guys, always stirring up trouble."

After countless bursts of laughter and chatter, countless harvesters, under unified command, quickly sprang into action across North China, while countless dryers roared day and night. Thanks to the efforts of so many people, tens of millions of tons of new grain were harvested and stored, and then quickly distributed to every farmer.

(End of this chapter)