Chapter 40: Begging for Help

The second plenary meeting for Suxi Township's electricity plan was held, and I explained the county's project approval at the meeting. Everyone was very excited, the atmosphere in the venue was high, and everyone seemed to see hope, as if thousands of households were already brightly lit.

Liu Quan arranged new work at the meeting, all group members should work hard, everyone must complete a sponsorship task of 50,000, hoping everyone will show their magical powers, those who fail to complete the task will be deducted directly from their wages, and will not be included in the list of excellent and advanced evaluations at the end of the year.

Liu Quan's new task made everyone excited, and Old Zhao from the Finance Office first expressed that he couldn't do it. He said that two people in his family were in the township government, and the sponsorship task would have to be 100,000. 100,000, Old Zhao sighed, even if he sold the house, he couldn't make it up.

Old Zhao's opposition was agreed by most people, who all expressed that they couldn't do it. Since wages were to be deducted, it would be two years at most. In these two years, are we all going to beg for food? Besides, electricity doesn't cost that much money, the county has approved the project, and there is money allocated, why sponsor so much money?

Liu Quan frowned and let them discuss, saying nothing.

I hadn't heard his new work plan in advance, although the sponsorship of 50,000 didn't stump me, the sudden change still made me rush.

To do big things, the most needed is to work together. If everyone gave up at this time, relying solely on Liu Quan and me, we would be unable to turn the tide.

I peeked at him, he was sitting upright, his face full of frost.

When the discussion gradually lowered and the venue was silent, Liu Quan swept across the audience and said earnestly: "A sponsorship of 50,000 per person is difficult, as a cadre, one should have a spirit of dedication."

He paused, cleared his throat and said: "If there were no difficulties, Suxi Township should have had electricity fifteen years ago. Look for yourselves, how many rural areas in the country still don't have electricity? Not to mention the old, young, border, and poor areas, just in our Hengyue City, I'm afraid it's our Suxi, right?"

It's been more than forty years since Liberation, and Suxi is still in the state before Liberation, how will the people think? New China, new society, should have a new style. As a cadre, one should seek welfare for the people, sacrifice the small family for the big family, is that wrong?

Think about it, how long does it take us to go to the county town now? How long does it take to go to the city? I remember once when there was a meeting in the county, Hao Township Head and I rushed, and when we arrived at the county, the meeting was half over. The County Magistrate asked me, if we had a sudden illness in Suxi Township to send to the county hospital, what would be the result of such speed? I answered very straightforwardly, waiting for death!"

He took a sip of water and said with a heavy face: "For more than forty years, we are still slash-and-burn farming, what is the difference from primitive society? If we can't change the status quo, what are we cadres for? Everyone must understand, who are we relying on to support us, it's the people, the public grain and retention money they pay, that is your salary."

Indeed, electricity doesn't cost that much money. Everyone calculate, even if you each pull in a sponsorship of 50,000, how much money is there in total? With electricity, don't you hope the road is easy to walk? If the time from Suxi to the county town is shortened from the original one day to a few hours, I think, there will be no more patients crying, and no more things that can't be sold."

Liu Quan's words had already explained his new work, he wanted to complete the road project while the electricity project was being carried out.

Suxi Township is sixty kilometers away from the county town, there is no road that can allow two cars to pass, sixty kilometers of mountain road, except for more than ten kilometers of stone official road, the rest are all mud and sand roads, sunny days are full of dust and sharp as knives, rainy days are muddy and difficult to walk. There are several places where you walk on the edge of a cliff, falling rocks are scary, and cars from outside have fallen into the valley, and their bones are hard to save.

Two major projects started at the same time, without sufficient financial support, it is simply a fantasy.

Is Liu Quan impulsive?

He has been the Party Committee Secretary for nearly ten years, worked in Suxi Township all his life, he is familiar with every grass and tree in this place, he knows the existence of some unchangeable status quo in Suxi Township. What's wrong with him?

The venue was terribly silent, and the sound of a needle dropping could be heard clearly.

"That's it, everyone think of a way separately. Meeting adjourned." After Liu Quan announced, he didn't move, watched everyone leave, stood up, hammered his waist, swept across the empty venue, and his eyes became moist.

He knew that some of these township cadres followed him from clerks to today, and now they are still in Suxi where they only see the sky the size of a palm when they look up, because they all grew up in this land, they are reluctant to leave.

Not leaving doesn't mean accepting fate, if people want to change their destiny, they must change their strength.

From the oil mill not having electricity to start work to the township government's electricity plan, from electricity to road, half a month passed, as if half a century had passed. Compared with the two major projects now, my oil mill seemed insignificant.

Thinking that I hadn't contacted Xi Meizhu and the others during this time, and I didn't know how they were doing, so I took out my phone and called.

It was Pan Xiaoqin who answered the phone, and hearing my voice, she happily told me: "Manager, the market oil price has risen by three yuan, and it's not authentic tea oil, we have also risen."

I asked: "How much?"

"We rose by five yuan. Business is even better than before. It's just that we are almost out of stock. When are you sending goods?"

I smiled bitterly and said: "I don't have time to send goods, you call Secretary Liu, ask her to solve it."

Xiaoqin said angrily: "You are the manager, you don't care?"

I said: "Secretary Liu is the deputy manager, she can manage it too."

"You don't want us anymore?" Xiaoqin said pitifully: "The Linyin Restaurant now has a sign saying Suxi original ecological tea oil life era, and wants to sign a permanent supply contract with us."

I said: "That's a good thing, it shows our business is on the right track."

"What is this, several famous hotels and restaurants in the city have come to the door." Xiaoqin shouted on the other side of the phone: "Meizhu, which ones are they?"

Meizhu's voice came from the receiver: "The big hotels and restaurants have all come. You tell Manager Chen, his mother wants him to go back and see."

I heard it, my mother, what did you say to Meizhu again?

"I know." I said: "You guys work hard, I'll go over in a while." I didn't tell them about the township's plan to get electricity and roads, these things might not all be good things for them.

After hanging up, I remembered that I still had to complete the sponsorship of 50,000, so I called my aunt directly.

My uncle is an army cadre, not a big official, but in the boat bridge unit, maybe he can help me.

I told my aunt the whole plan of the township, and my aunt laughed at me on the phone: "You are really a cadre now, thinking about the people in everything."

I said: "Are you helping me or not?"

My aunt asked me: "How to help?"

I said: "Help me pull sponsorship, 50,000."

"Can money solve the problem?" My aunt asked me back: "Who will do the project? Just heavy machinery, I'm afraid your little money isn't even enough for their fuel."

"Then what to do?"

"How do I know what to do? Your secretary is hot-headed and letting off satellites." My aunt teased me on the phone: "There are what kind of leaders, there are what kind of subordinates. Your secretary is hot-headed, and your head is not necessarily calm."

I laughed and said: "You are my aunt, you must help me."

"Can't help." My aunt said righteously on the phone: "Do you think sponsorship is easy to pull?"

I reminded: "Can't my uncle help either?"

"What do you want to do?" My aunt asked me vigilantly.

I said: "What can I do? Isn't it a peaceful era now? The army has no wars to fight, if they have time, help our local economic construction."

My aunt pondered for a moment and said: "The army is not a place, it's not what you want, they have discipline."

I said: "I don't want them to pay."

"What do you want them to pay?"

"My uncle is a boat bridge unit, right?"

"Yes."

"Lots of heavy machinery, right?"

My aunt didn't speak, pondered for a moment and said: "I'll visit relatives next month, we'll talk when I come back."

After hanging up, a big stone in my heart was removed. As long as my aunt comes out, my uncle who loves my aunt so much that he can even give up his life, won't want to find a way! ===== CHAPTER 41 =====