1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 1 Back to 1980

evening.

Qiaojiawan, Hongshan Brigade, Cenhe Commune.

Qiao Erhe, with a hoe slung over his shoulder, stared blankly at the incredibly familiar tiled house before him. He truly never imagined that after just having a drink with his daughter and son-in-law, who rarely came back, he would wake up back in 1980, having traveled through 45 years of time—it was nothing short of a miracle.

He transformed from a man in his sixties into a vibrant young man of only 22 (by Chinese reckoning), and even possessed a mysterious spiritual spring—it was truly amazing.

Just as Qiao Erhe was feeling excited, a little girl of eleven or twelve years old poked her head out of the house and called out, "Second Brother, dinner is ready."

Qiao Erhe snapped out of his daze and replied with a smile, "Coming."

He immediately put down the hoe he was carrying and walked into the tiled house from his memory.

This tiled house has three rooms, one bright and two dark, as well as a separate kitchen. The pigsty is built behind the main house to form a courtyard. The layout is very reasonable and is the most common type of house in Cenhe area at that time.

When Qiao Erhe washed his hands and came to the kitchen, everyone else in the family had already started eating.

For dinner tonight, they had sweet potato rice.

Sitting in the main seat was a plump middle-aged woman, none other than Qiao Erhe's mother, Huang Hongmei.

Upon seeing his mother, Qiao Erhe's feelings were extremely complex, to be precise, a mixture of surprise and helplessness. The surprise was self-evident; being able to see his mother, who had been dead for more than ten years, was naturally a joy for him as her son.

The reason for his helplessness was that his mother was simply outrageous. Not only was she lazy and gluttonous, but she was also extremely selfish. In her entire life, she only had a little sincerity towards her youngest son who took care of her in her old age and saw her off in death. She didn't care about her husband, her sons, daughters, or daughters-in-law at all.

In the eyes of Qiao Erhe and his siblings, their mother was the culprit behind their father's death three years ago. They believed that their mother did no work after marrying into the family and made all sorts of demands on their father, which led to their hardworking father suffering from various illnesses and eventually passing away in his forties.

Thinking of his deceased father, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but feel a little regretful. Why didn't he travel back a few more years so that he could see his father again?

While lost in thought, Qiao Erhe's hands were not idle. He ladled out a bowl of sweet potato rice and ate it with some side dishes.

The family ate quietly. When they had almost finished eating, the mother, Huang Hongmei, suddenly said, "Eldest son, you are already 24 years old this year. If it weren't for the fact that your father died at such an inopportune time, you would be a father by now. Now that the three-year mourning period for you and your siblings is over, I'm going to arrange a marriage for you. What do you think?"

Qiao Dajiang put down his empty bowl, glanced at his mother, and said blankly, "Given our family's current situation, how could I dare to have any other ideas? Being able to get a wife is a blessing from our ancestors."

Qiao Erhe naturally understood why his older brother said that. The Qiao family was indeed in a bad situation. Their father, who was the pillar of the family, had passed away three years ago, and their mother was known in the village for being lazy and good-for-nothing, while also having to support several younger siblings in their studies.

As the eldest son in the family, the eldest brother certainly bears a lot of pressure.

In his past life, it was also his elder brother who took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of the family, sacrificing his own marriage and marrying a random woman to save money.

As a result, the marriage did not last three years, and the elder brother and sister-in-law divorced.

After his divorce, the eldest brother not only became much more irritable, but more importantly, without the ties of his own small family, he devoted all his attention to the extended family. This was originally a good thing, as apart from Qiao Erhe, who was not much younger than him, the other younger siblings had all received care from the eldest brother in various ways.

However, the eldest brother's long-term dedication to this family has not only brought benefits to his younger siblings, but also caused them a lot of trouble.

What troubles the younger siblings the most is that the eldest brother has unknowingly developed a patriarchal style, likes to control everything they do, and even when they reach marriageable age, he still interferes in their marriages in a forceful manner like a parent, and likes to give advice on their marriages from the perspective of an "experienced person".

He even forcibly broke up the couple because he was dissatisfied.

This patriarchal style continued until the eldest brother was in his fifties or sixties, which made his younger siblings suffer greatly. This led to conflicts; whenever the brothers gathered together, they would inevitably start arguing after only a few words.

Recalling his past life, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but chime in, "Brother, you can't say that. Marriage is no child's play. If you're going to get a wife, you have to choose carefully. Our family's conditions aren't great right now, but isn't the village going to distribute land? Once the land is distributed to individual households, our family's life will definitely be ten or a hundred times better than it is now. You can choose whatever kind you want."

Qiao Dajiang frowned and said, "Second brother, although everyone thinks that life will be better after the land is divided, it's not as exaggerated as you say."

Huang Hongmei chimed in, "What the second brother said is indeed an exaggeration. We don't even know if distributing land to individual households is a good thing or a bad thing!" "What I said is not an exaggeration at all."

Qiao Erhe explained to them, "If the land isn't distributed, no matter how hard you work, it's useless. At most, you'll only get full work points, which aren't worth much. But it's different after the land is distributed to individual households. After paying the state and keeping enough for the collective, the rest is all yours. As long as you're not lazy, you'll most likely harvest more grain."

Moreover, after the land was distributed to individual households, they had more control over how they worked and their schedules were more flexible. They no longer had to follow the team leader's orders every day like they do now. This allowed them to dedicate more time to side jobs, and their family income was definitely much higher than it is now.

Huang Hongmei was stunned. She glanced at her second son, who seemed different from usual, and asked, "Second son, how come you know so much all of a sudden?"

People always grow up.

Qiao Erhe casually offered an explanation before changing the subject: "Back to the original topic, elder brother is not young anymore and should indeed get married, but I still maintain that marriage is not a game. You must find a virtuous wife, otherwise there will be endless troubles in the future."

Qiao Dajiang had originally planned to sacrifice his own marriage to save more money for his younger siblings' education, but after hearing what his second brother said, he couldn't help but waver. He said, "Second brother, getting married these days costs a lot of money. You know our family's situation. Do you really think our family can turn our lives around after the village distributes the land?"

Qiao Erhe said confidently, "Brother, I have a lot of ideas for getting rich. As long as the village distributes the land, I guarantee that within a year, our family will be the richest family in the entire Qiaojiawan and even the entire Hongshan Brigade."

"At that time, you can choose any girl from the surrounding villages; there won't be any problem."

Huang Hongmei couldn't help but pour cold water on his enthusiasm, saying, "Second brother, stop bragging. Getting rich isn't as easy as you make it sound."

Qiao Dajiang also shook his head and said, "Second brother, it's not that we don't believe you, it's just that what you said is too outrageous. Our family will become the richest family in the entire Hongshan Brigade in less than a year? How is that possible?"

Qiao Erhe said confidently, "Whether it's bragging or not, you'll know once the village distributes the land. As long as you're willing to follow my instructions, getting rich quickly will be absolutely no problem."

Looking at his confident second brother, Qiao Dajiang thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible for us to follow your orders, but you have to tell us first what your quick way to get rich is."

Upon hearing this, Huang Hongmei, the mother, and her younger siblings Qiao Sanduo, Qiao Sihai, Qiao Wuhu, Qiao Liuduo, and Qiao Qitan all focused their attention on Qiao Erhe, eager to hear his methods for getting rich.

Without even thinking, Qiao Erhe blurted out, "There are many ways to get rich quickly. First, we need to optimize our planting methods. Right now, our production team's fields only grow one season of rice and one season of wheat. After the fields are divided, we can add a season of watermelon, which will greatly increase our income."

In a previous life, after the land was distributed to individual households, a farmer surnamed Chen in Zhangchang Village created the "wheat-watermelon-rice" model on his contracted land. In the first year of trying this planting model, he had a bumper harvest. The average income per mu of wheat was as high as 110 yuan, the average income per mu of watermelon was as high as 480 yuan, and the average income per mu of rice was as high as 140 yuan.

In just one year, this type of three-dimensional planting yielded an average income of 730 yuan per mu. Such considerable economic benefits instantly caused a huge sensation throughout the Cenhe area.

(Cenhe Town Chronicle)
In the following years, countless farmers followed suit and even innovated, creating more than ten optimized agricultural planting models such as "wheat-melon-cotton", "wheat-pepper-cotton", "vegetable-pepper-cotton", and "wheat-corn-bean-rice". This attracted great attention from the news media, and reporters from many media organizations, including the Economic Daily, China Farmers' Daily, Hubei Daily, Hubei TV, Hubei Radio, Jingzhou Daily, and Jingzhou TV, came to Cenhe for interviews.

The documentary "The Light of Pinghu," which focuses on the Cenhe agricultural optimization model, has generated a strong response after being broadcast on CCTV. Leaders from other provinces, cities, and counties have flocked to Cenhe to learn from its experience.

Qiao Erhe witnessed all of this firsthand, so he naturally understands the value of this optimized planting model.

Once the land is distributed to individual households, they should immediately adopt this optimized planting model; they're sure to make a fortune.

"Plant another season of watermelons?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Dajiang's heart stirred. While thinking, he asked, "Second brother, how do we plant an extra season of watermelons? Tell me in detail."

Qiao Erhe nodded and then recounted the "wheat-melon-rice" planting model created by the Chen family farmer in his previous life.

Qiao Dajiang has been earning full work points in the production team for the past few years, and he is definitely a master at farming. After listening to Lao Er's explanation of the "wheat-melon-rice" planting model, he understood that this planting model was indeed feasible.

"Second brother, the planting model you mentioned really has potential. Let's give it a try once the village distributes the land."

……

P.S.: Hello everyone, we meet again! The new book is still set in the familiar 1980s, but this time the starting village isn't in Bobai, Guangxi, but in Jingzhou, Hubei. I hope you all like it. During the new book period, there will be one chapter at 9 AM and one chapter at 7 PM. Please read and support me every day, thank you!

(End of this chapter)