I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

As Xia Lei's true master, Zhao Jintao invited him to dinner for the first time.

One serving of braised pork, one serving of fried small fish, and one serving of stir-fried eggs with chives.

Three meat dishes, a level higher than Zhou Zhonghai's.

Zhao Jintao could only afford to treat people to meals at the cafeteria, which was the only place he could afford to eat.

Normally, he would have a steamed bun and a side dish, which cost him two cents in total.

These three dishes, plus rice, cost a total of 1.7 yuan, enough for Zhao Jintao to eat for a week.

Zhao Jintao couldn't bear to eat meat alone; he preferred to go back and eat with Fenglin that night.

"The cafeteria has a nice environment; no wonder Vice Governor Zhou likes to eat there."

Xia Lei is a teacher at an agricultural university and rarely eats in the cafeteria. He eats at home to save money.

Occasionally, students would eat in the cafeteria, but they would also bring the food to the research institute.

Sitting in the cafeteria, watching the spirited students come and go, I felt young at heart.

"Uncle Zhou treats the students like treasures. He says the country lacks talent, and once these college students enter society, our country will become better and better." Zhao Jintao handed a meal to Xia Lei.

"Yes, the country hasn't had a college entrance examination for ten years. In the past six months, there have been two consecutive exams, and the whole society has become very active. In the past, there was a belief that studying was useless. But since the imperial examinations have been used to select talent since ancient times, how could they be useless?"

Back when we were taking the college entrance exams, only children from well-off families had the opportunity to study. Now, regardless of family background, as long as someone gets accepted, the government supports them—we're truly fortunate.

Xia Lei sighed, realizing that he was already over fifty years old in the blink of an eye, having spent the best years of his life in a chaotic era.

I hope to seize the last days of middle age and accomplish something tangible, so as not to let down the arrogant ideals of my youth.

"Master, taking over as Minister of Agriculture all at once must be very stressful, right?" Zhao Jintao asked with concern.

"Outsiders say that Zhou Zhonghai promoted me, and I suspect that he is retaliating against me for asking him for money every day. Only after I got to this position did I realize that Zhou Zhonghai really had a tough time. Everything was built from scratch. No one in the country dared to start the household contracting system, but he did, and he did it very well."

"As the vice governor, Uncle Zhou faces far greater pressure than the Minister of Agriculture. The industrial reform is also unprecedented. Just a few days ago, during a phone call, he mentioned that he has begun contracting out some of the loss-making subsidiary enterprises to individual businesses."

"This...this is allowed? How can state assets be privatized? That's the capitalist road!" Xia Lei was very worried.

"Actually, it's the same as the farmers contracting land to individual households. I give you a factory, and you pay rent. The collective loses money, while the individual profits. Didn't Chairman Deng say last year, 'It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat'?"

"Zhou Zhonghai is really bold. If a document from the central government were to be issued, he would go to jail."

"Master, the era of turning black into white is over. You can be bolder now."

"I wouldn't dare. Many insightful and talented people couldn't withstand criticism and ended up hanging or jumping into the river. Your master is alive today because he is cautious in his words and actions. Zhou Zhonghai is different; he has military merits, so if he goes a little too far, he'll only get verbal criticism at most."

"Then you should follow Uncle Zhou and walk forward. The peanuts in Tonggang County will soon be ready for harvest. We will send them to Shanghai and Beijing to earn some profit from the price difference, which will also help ease your financial burden."

"Yes, Zhou Zhonghai used to be greedy and wouldn't let go of even the smallest profit, and I used to laugh at him. Now it's my turn. Gu Quan went with Zhou Zhonghai, and from now on you and Qiu Zhongyou will escort the truck together."

"Oh, and could you contact the supply and marketing cooperative to see if they need any supplies and ask them to cover the round-trip transportation costs? Also, make sure they bring extra cash so they don't have to borrow from us again."

"Okay, Master, don't worry, I'll set off as soon as the peanuts are harvested."

"Hehe, I must say, Zhou Zhonghai's training of you has saved me a lot of trouble."

No wonder Zhou Zhonghai liked eating in the canteen with Zhao Jintao and talking to him; it was very stress-relieving. Moreover, he could even help the Ministry of Agriculture save money by paying attention to details.

After finishing his meal, Xia Lei rushed back to school, only to find that Qiu Zhongyou was gone, and his car was also missing.

"Teacher, Secretary Qiu went home for dinner. He said he'll come pick you up after he finishes eating," Yuan Ruyi quickly explained.

"Why did he go back to eat? Didn't we tell him to eat in the cafeteria?" Xia Lei complained unhappily.

He said the cafeteria food was too expensive and he didn't have the money.

Yuan Ruyi smiled ingratiatingly, blaming him for not treating Secretary Qiu to lunch, but mainly because he didn't have the money.

Xia Lei waited helplessly at the research institute. He was poor, the research institute was poor, and even the secretary was poor.

When Gu Quan was with Zhou Zhonghai, how did he manage to eat?

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Qiu Zhongyou drove over to pick up Xia Lei at a leisurely pace. Xia Lei was full of complaints, and Qiu Zhongyou opened the car door and thoughtfully offered him tea, leaving Xia Lei with a bellyful of anger that he couldn't vent.

Back in the office, I immediately called Xu Zhengtai of Tonggang County.

"County Chief Xu, Tonggang County has had a bumper harvest this year. Vice Governor Zhou has put in a lot of effort for your county. Now, the whole province is going to implement the household contract responsibility system, and the situation in each county is the same as Tonggang County last year—poor. The people can't afford to buy new wheat seeds. Could your county pay part of the cost for next year's wheat and corn seeds in advance?"

Xia Lei was filled with unease. Tonggang County was the richest place now, and if Tonggang didn't help him, he would be unable to move an inch.

"Minister Xia, you're right. The province values ​​our county, and our county should reciprocate. I'll transfer 20 yuan to the provincial agricultural department first."

"County Chief Xu, thank you so much!" Xia Lei was so excited he was about to cry.

"No need to thank me, thank Vice Governor Zhou. Our county was featured in the Central Daily News, and the effect was fantastic. We received calls from Beijing and Shanghai, and they placed orders for a lot of peanuts, soybeans, potatoes, and new wheat."

And our county's pigs are in high demand; vegetable shops in every city are scrambling to buy them. I can still squeeze out some money for you in the winter. If 200,000 isn't enough, just tell me, and I'll give you another 200,000 by the end of the year.”

Xu Zhengtai looked exactly like a nouveau riche, laughing very heartily.

"County Magistrate Xu, could you repay this 200,000 yuan the year after next?"

"Alright, you've given me a peach, I'll repay you with a precious jade. The province has helped our county a lot, and I have a responsibility and obligation to help the Ministry of Agriculture with its difficulties."

"Thank you so much. Next year, industry and commerce will be reformed. You can keep the rest of the money; I only need two hundred thousand."

Given Zhou Zhonghai's personality, once the Huailin City commercial market was established, every county should build a commercial market.

Tonggang County still needs development, so being able to borrow 200,000 yuan is already quite good.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Lei felt relieved, experiencing for the first time the thrill of success.

It's been a long time since I've felt this sense of accomplishment. Although County Chief Xu was willing to take the money, it was purely out of respect for Zhou Zhonghai.

The next step was to distribute wheat seeds to counties throughout the province. In order to ensure that the wheat seeds could be distributed to farmers smoothly, Xia Lei decided to learn from Zhou Zhonghai and go down to the fields himself to do the work personally.

As for broiler chickens, pigs, potato seeds, and soybean seeds, Xia Lei was truly powerless to help with these sideline businesses. If the counties had money, they would come to the province to buy them; if they didn't, there was nothing he could do.

If the whole county were like Tonggang County, where you could buy anything on credit, Xia Lei would owe the research institute millions.

The Minister of Agriculture, who couldn't even afford to eat at the canteen for two yuan, was thinking about big issues involving hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan.