Chapter 178: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 178: Convening the Village Committee

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

That evening, Zhang Zhongtian gathered everyone still living in the Village at the Village Committee Office.

At this time, most young and middle-aged people in the Rural Area had already gone to the City to make a living; those remaining in Shanggou Village were either middle-aged or elderly people like him and Wang Zhanggen, or women and children.

The permanent population of the Village had decreased by nearly two-thirds compared to before.

Around seven o'clock in the evening, people arrived at the Village Committee Office one after another.

By around eight o'clock, everyone who could come had arrived.

Zhang Zhongtian looked at the square in front of the large Village Committee Office, where only twenty or thirty people stood sparsely, most of them middle-aged or elderly, with very few young people, and he couldn't help but feel a thousand emotions in his heart.

Thinking back to more than ten years ago, when the Village Committee held collective meetings, that square was packed with people, so crowded there wasn't enough room to stand.

Back then, Shanggou Village was truly lively.

In any corner of the Village, you could see children playing and hear their laughter.

There were also many young people farming in the Village, and the whole Shanggou Village was full of vitality.

But now, everyone had gone to the City.

Those who remained living in Shanggou Village were only twenty or thirty households.

And most of those who stayed were elderly people.

The Village was desolate; during the day, few people could be seen in the Village's small lanes, and at night it was even quieter.

Zhang Zhongtian felt a thousand emotions in his heart; if another ten or so years passed, and this batch of old people gradually passed away, what would Shanggou Village look like?

Would it be like Shanggou Village Primary School, going from prosperity to decline, and finally abandoned outright?

"Since everyone has arrived, I'll start speaking."

Zhang Zhongtian quickly pulled his thoughts back.

Although he felt a thousand emotions, he knew he still had to do serious business.

This time he actively participated in the New Rural Construction led by the Country in order to reverse the decline of Shanggou Village.

He felt that only by building Shanggou Village beautifully and making life in the Village convenient would young people working outside be willing to return home more often.

"Shanggou Village is about to launch New Rural Construction, needing Road Hardening, installation of tap water, and construction of a Cultural Room; these three are all Big Projects, but they are all funded by the Government. Now we will hold a vote. First, Road Hardening: those in favor, stand on the left; those opposed, stand on the right."

Zhang Zhongtian began having everyone align into factions to vote.

"Party Secretary Zhang, what does Road Hardening mean?"

An old villager raised his hand to ask; he hadn't even attended Primary School, so he didn't even know what Road Hardening meant.

"It means paving all the roads in front of and behind houses in the Village with cement, making them cement roads."

Zhang Zhongtian said so.

The old villager immediately disagreed:

"If all the roads in front of and behind houses are paved with cement, how can my chickens scratch the dirt and forage for food?"

It is well known that rural domestic chickens will go into the muddy ground in front of and behind houses to dig for earthworms and insects to eat; the old villager felt this was not conducive to his raising chickens, so he disagreed.

Zhang Zhongtian immediately felt both laughter and tears:

"Uncle Chen, your chickens can go to the fields to find food; besides, don't you feed your chickens Rice Bran? Are you afraid they'll starve?"

Uncle Chen smiled foolishly on his old face; he was nearly seventy years old, his children had all gone to live in the City, and only he remained at home. He was old and confused, and sometimes he would feed other people's chickens as if they were his own.

"I feed them, I feed them; I give them Congee and Bran every day, and sometimes I even feed them Corn!"

Uncle Chen said so.

Zhang Zhongtian then persuaded him:

"Paving cement in front of and behind your house for free is you getting a big bargain. Let me tell you, if you paved cement yourself, it would cost a lot of money—at least several thousand!"

Zhang Zhongtian said this, and Uncle Chen immediately changed his attitude:

"Is that so? Then I agree!"

And he hurriedly stood on the left.

Poor people of the older generation in the Rural Area are just like this; they love getting bargains.

No matter how well or badly you talk to them, it's useless; analyzing various Pros and Cons is also useless.

But as long as you tell them there's a bargain to be had, even if it's just a small bargain, they will all swarm up like a Nest.

Zhang Zhongtian had been a Village Cadre for so many years that he had long since grasped their human nature firmly, so he could persuade an old fogey like Uncle Chen with just a few words.

Liang Yuanchao, standing to the side, couldn't help but secretly admire him.

Asking himself, if it were him handling such a matter, he definitely could not have handled it so efficiently.

For example, back when he handled Li Xiulan's ten-acre Cassava Field reclamation, he accidentally didn't handle it well, causing the subsequent Demolition work to be obstructed by Li Xiulan in every way; she refused to demolish no matter how well or badly he talked to her, and it eventually led him to voluntarily resign from his Village Cadre position.

That was many years ago, but now it was still vivid in his mind, as if it had happened yesterday.

That was a pain Liang Yuanchao could never erase in his lifetime.

"Fellow villagers, let me put it this way: this New Rural Construction is a good opportunity for us to get a big bargain. Any household that disagrees, I won't force, but once this Village passes, there's no such shop. If you want to pave cement in front of and behind your own house in the future, you'll have to pay for it yourself!"

Zhang Zhongtian shouted loudly.

Soon everyone stood on the left.

All the villagers agreed to Road Hardening.

After all, when getting a bargain like this, it really was once this Village passed, there's no such shop.

"Next is the tap water installation vote. Those who want to install tap water, stand on the left; those who don't want to install tap water, stand on the right."

Wang Zhanggen raised his hand at this moment and asked:

"Where does this tap water come from?"

Zhang Zhongtian, however, said:

"That's a question for later; right now let's first tally who wants it installed and who doesn't."

Another person raised their hand:

"Does installing tap water cost money?"

Zhang Zhongtian then said:

"Installing now costs no money; adding it later will require a separate fee."

As soon as these words came out, everyone crowded over to the left side.

Zhong Jianguo asked at this point:

"Installation is free, but does using the water cost money? We'll be using water long-term — whether using water costs money is the key point."

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling that Old Village Doctor Zhong Jianguo was right.

If using tap water costs money, spending ten-plus yuan up to over a hundred yuan a month, many villagers would be reluctant; they'd rather keep using their own wells.

Although it's not that convenient, the most important thing is that it doesn't cost money.

Zhang Zhongtian then said:

"This touches on the question Changgen just asked — where the water comes from. If we connect to the tap water company designated by the Town Government, it'll definitely cost money; but we could also tap the mountain spring water in our mountains, and then using water wouldn't cost money. However, piping mountain spring water means we'd have to build a water storage pool and a purification pool up in the mountains, and run water pipes down from there — that requires not a small cost. Most importantly, if we don't connect to the Town Government's designated tap water company, the Town Government won't allocate funds for this tap water project; we'd have to pay for it ourselves, and the money would have to be pooled together by everyone. So what does everyone think — better to connect to the tap water company's water, or to the mountain spring water?"

As soon as Zhang Zhongtian said this, people began whispering to each other, discussing heatedly.

This is indeed a major issue.

Connect to the tap water company's water, and every day's water use will cost money from now on.

Connect to the mountain spring water, and although later water use won't cost money, it costs money now.

Either way it takes money!