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

Zhang Dabiao, carrying a fertilizer purchase certificate issued by Mao Huakai, the county party secretary, sneaked into the city.

If it's simply about purchasing fertilizer, then it must be done openly and honestly.

But he also had a very important mission, one that was even more terrifying than his reconnaissance work in the army back then.

Upon arriving at the Huailin City Fertilizer Plant, Zhang Dabiao went directly to the office building and, according to his plan, found the office of Deputy Director Hong Qingyuan.

"Comrade, may I ask if you are the factory manager?" Zhang Dabiao asked, peeking in from the doorway.

"Which factory manager are you looking for?" a middle-aged man with glasses, holding a newspaper, asked indifferently.

"I'm looking for a factory manager, any factory manager will do. Liuxian County wants to purchase a few tons of phosphate fertilizer."

Zhang Dabiao entered the office with a forced smile and took out a purchase certificate from his black briefcase.

The middle-aged man put down his newspaper, glanced at the letter of introduction, and asked, "5 tons?"

"Five tons isn't enough. Our Yuetang Commune alone needs one ton. Our county has 49 communes, and the county fertilizer plant can't keep up with the demand. County Chief Mao told me to buy five tons to tide us over."

Zhang Dabiao, with a long face, talked about the difficulties of his commune.

"Just phosphate fertilizer?" the bespectacled man asked again.

"We need nitrogen fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, and potassium fertilizer, but we are most in need of phosphate fertilizer. If your organization can provide more, I will call our Secretary Mao immediately and transfer the money to your organization right away."

Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up. Fertilizer was in short supply these days, so he would take as much as the fertilizer factory was willing to provide.

The middle-aged man gave a wry smile: "Forget it, it's questionable whether you can even get those 5 tons of phosphate fertilizer."

Zhang Dabiao looked doubtful: "Your factory produces more than one million tons of phosphate fertilizer a year, and I only need 5 tons, and you don't even have any? I'm here on behalf of Liuxian County to purchase it."

"Why don't you try your luck in the factory manager's office?"

The middle-aged man returned the purchase certificate to Zhang Dabiao: "The factory manager's office is at the end of the corridor."

Zhang Dabiao asked, puzzled, "I just looked at the doorplate; you're the factory manager."

"I'm just the deputy factory director, I don't have the authority to issue you an invoice. Go find Director Li." The middle-aged man continued reading the newspaper.

"What is your surname?"

"Go ahead, there's no use in coming to me." The middle-aged man ignored Zhang Dabiao.

Zhang Dabiao didn't want to say anything more, so he said "thank you" and left.

The middle-aged man suddenly said, "Zhang Dabiao, if you really need phosphate fertilizer urgently, you can raise the price a little."

"Raise the price?"

Zhang Dabiao asked a question in return, but the middle-aged man stopped talking, waved his hand, and gestured for him to leave.

At the end of the corridor, the office door was closed. Zhang Dabiao knocked on the door, and a voice came from inside: "Come in."

Pushing open the door, you see a capable-looking man sitting behind a large desk; he is Li Zhihao, the director of the fertilizer plant.

"Who are you?" Li Zhihao asked impatiently.

"Director Li, hello. I am Zhang Dabiao, the secretary of Yuetang Commune in Liuxian County. Our county party secretary has entrusted me to purchase five tons of phosphate fertilizer from your factory."

As Zhang Dabiao spoke, he hurriedly placed the purchase certificate on his desk.

Li Zhihao didn't look at it, and asked expressionlessly, "Five tons? Your county doesn't even have five tons of phosphate fertilizer?"

"Director Li, our county not only lacks phosphate fertilizer, but also nitrogen fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, and even urea. Our village has 500 mu of farmland, and we only have one bag of phosphate fertilizer, one bag of nitrogen fertilizer, and one bag of urea. Without chemical fertilizers, crop yields are low. Tonggang County has yields of over 1,000 jin per mu, while we only get 400-500 jin," Zhang Dabiao said mournfully.

"Your county is having difficulties, but other counties are having difficulties too. But our factory has already exceeded its fertilizer quota. No matter how difficult things are for you, there's nothing I can do," Li Zhihao said, using official jargon to evade the issue.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dabiao's face fell: "Director Li, you have to help us! It's just 5 tons, we don't need any more. If we don't get the fertilizer, we won't be able to make it through the year."

The commune secretary, a dignified soldier and demobilized soldier, was so humble that he had to kneel down.

"Every cadre who comes to ask for fertilizer says the same thing: our little bit of fertilizer has already been distributed to various counties and cities. Let alone five tons, I don't even have an ounce."

Li Zhihao didn't look at the purchase certificate, returned it to Zhang Dabiao, and got up to see the guest out.

"Director Li, our county really needs phosphate fertilizer. Please help us out. I... I'm willing to pay a little more."

In his haste, Zhang Dabiao uttered a crucial sentence.

"Raise prices? Do you think we're individual businesses? Prices are set by the government; raising prices would be illegal for us."

Li Zhihao sternly reprimanded Zhang Dabiao, but his tone softened.

"Director Li, you can't just watch the farmers in our county starve to death! Please help us! We beg you. We don't ask for fancy food, we just want to be able to eat our fill." Zhang Dabiao looked sorrowful, on the verge of tears.

"Look at you, a grown man crying," Li Zhihao said sympathetically.

"Director Li, I'm not afraid of being scolded by the county party secretary if I fail to complete the task. As long as the people can have enough to eat, I'm willing to be removed from my post as the commune secretary."

This was the only truth Zhang Dabiao said today.

He thought of his brigade. In the past, Li Bo controlled the fertilizer in Yuetang Commune. Since the brigade did not pay much grain tax, it did not have fertilizer.

Zhang Dabiao, a former soldier, was intolerant of injustice and was unwilling to submit.

As a result, their brigade didn't have a single ounce of chemical fertilizer. They relied entirely on chicken manure, pig manure, and human excrement from their own homes for fertilization. If they saw a piece of cow dung on the road, they would be happier than seeing a relative, and they would do everything they could to take it back to their own vegetable garden.

Now that Li Bo has been arrested, Vice Governor Zhou appointed him as the secretary of Yuetang Commune, and only then did their brigade receive fertilizer.

Although the amount of fertilizer was far from enough, the yield per acre increased by at least several tens of kilograms.

The fertilizer distributed by the Huailin City Fertilizer Plant to the various counties was based on quotas. Zhang Dabiao knew that he couldn't buy fertilizer. Vice Governor Zhou sent him, but he didn't know the purpose of his visit.

"Look at you, it's just a little fertilizer, how can you be dismissed? Zhang Dabiao, we all serve the people, we all want the people to have enough to eat and wear, but there's only so much fertilizer, how am I supposed to manage?" Li Zhihao helplessly spread his hands.

"Director Li, please help me. Secretary Mao said that as long as we can get fertilizer, we'll pay an extra 20 yuan per ton."

"What's the point of adding 20 yuan to five tons of phosphate fertilizer?"

Five tons for a little over a hundred yuan was nothing to Li Zhihao.

"If we have nitrogen fertilizer and urea, we can buy more of them." Zhang Dabiao's eyes lit up, sensing that there was hope.

"To be honest, I don't have any, but I heard that Huailin Agricultural Technology Station has fertilizer."

"Are they willing to sell to us?" Zhang Dabiao was overjoyed.

Li Zhihao walked to the desk, took out a note, wrote a few words, handed it to Zhang Dabiao, and said, "Go find Li Jinlong, the head of the Huailin Agricultural Technology Station. If he still has fertilizer, he might give you a few tons for my sake. Zhang Dabiao, this is all the help I can give you. Go now."

Li Zhihao handed the note to Zhang Dabiao, who thanked him profusely and left with it.

In the corridor, Zhang Dabiao glanced at the note, which read: "A friend's request."

After leaving the note, Zhang Dabiao headed to the agricultural technology station. Passing the deputy factory director's office, a middle-aged man stood at the door and asked, "Is it done?"

Zhang Dabiao smiled broadly: "There should be hope. Look, this is a note from Director Li."

The middle-aged man glanced at the note and asked, "20 yuan extra per ton?"

Zhang Dabiao was somewhat taken aback: "How...how did you know?"

The middle-aged man gave a wry smile: "Go ahead, hopefully it will solve your immediate problem. Farmers have it so tough."

Zhang Dabiao chuckled and bowed slightly to express his gratitude.