Chapter 41

Xia Zhu became excited all of a sudden. Her face turned bright red, and her breathing became rapid. She bowed to Su Xinghui suddenly and said, "Thank you, Cadre Little Su!"

Su Xinghui said, "Don't call me that, just call me by my name."

Xia Zhu nodded, then said to Xia Lan, "Sister Lan, then I'll go tell my parents this news."

After saying that, Xia Zhu turned around and ran away quickly, which made Su Xinghui feel a bit stunned.

Seeing Su Xinghui's confusion, Xia Lan sighed and said, "Su Xinghui, you may not know yet what the news you brought means to Xia Zhu."

Xia Lan told Xia Zhu's story. It turned out that Xia Zhu's father, who was Xia Lan's uncle, had fallen off a cliff while picking medicinal herbs on the mountain last year and was now paralyzed. The family relied entirely on her mother farming a few mu of thin fields to support the family. She also had a younger brother and a younger sister, one in high school and one in junior high school, and life was very difficult.

This year, Xia Zhu graduated from high school. Her mother wanted to marry her off, and a matchmaker introduced her to a marriage. It was the son of a village accountant in the neighboring Luling Township. The natural conditions in Luling Township were better than in Menghuling, and the village cadre's family conditions were good. This marriage made Xia Zhu's mother very satisfied.

When the village accountant's son came to visit, everyone discovered that he was actually a disabled person. He had sequelae of polio and was a cripple, and he hadn't even graduated from elementary school. With Xia Zhu's excellent conditions, how could she be willing to marry a cripple? She immediately expressed her disagreement.

But her mother begged her daughter bitterly, saying it with tears. She said that the family's situation was like this now. If her father's illness was treated quickly, it might be cured, and the schooling of her two younger siblings could not be delayed. Relying on her alone to farm would definitely not be able to support them.

She said that the village accountant had said that as long as the two were engaged, he would immediately send a bride price of two thousand yuan. After they got married, his family would often help the Xia family. In this way, the family's life would be much better, and her father's illness could be treated. She begged Xia Zhu to agree to this marriage for the sake of her father and the family.

Her mother's words made Xia Zhu silent. She was prepared to agree to this marriage, but Xia Lan heard about this and went to do work on Xia Zhu's mother, saying that she must not agree to this marriage. If she really agreed, it would be equivalent to Xia Zhu entering a fire pit.

Xia Zhu's mother cried and said, how could she not know that this was sending her daughter into a fire pit? But with the family's situation, what other way was there?

Xia Lan promised to definitely find a way for Xia Zhu and told her mother not to be in a hurry to agree to this marriage. Xia Zhu's mother agreed to delay for two months.

Actually, Xia Lan was just a small village Women's Director. What way could she find? Her family's economic conditions were also very average, and she was powerless to help the Xia family. This was just her delaying tactic.

Xia Lan had once advised Xia Zhu to just go out to work and not come back, but how could Xia Zhu be willing to do that? She could still help her mother do some work at home. If she went out, her mother really wouldn't be able to hold on alone.

Just when the sisters were worried, Su Xinghui appeared. He said that bamboo weaving could be sold for money. Wasn't that Xia Zhu's best skill? This was also why Xia Lan was so excited after hearing Su Xinghui say this that day. If a bamboo weaving factory could be set up at their doorstep, then Xia Zhu would be saved.

During the few days Su Xinghui went to Jiangcheng, the sisters could be said to be looking forward to it every day, hoping that Su Xinghui would return quickly and bring them good news. Now, Su Xinghui had really brought back good news. One could imagine what Xia Zhu's mood was.

Speaking of this, Xia Lan wiped her tears secretly.

Hearing the story of Xia Zhu's family, Su Xinghui was silent. He didn't expect that such a small action of his would change a girl's destiny. No, it should be said that it changed the destiny of many people. If Yezhugou remained so poor, who knew how many people would encounter such an unfair destiny?

This afternoon, after listening to the aquaculture techniques taught by Professor Rao and the market situation mentioned by Yu Gaoshan, the village cadres of Yezhugou decided to set up a special aquaculture farm. Dong Jianshu promised to help them find the credit union to coordinate the loan, and this matter could start immediately.

The village cadres wanted to keep the township cadres and the two honored guests, Professor Rao and Yu Gaoshan, here for dinner, but Chen Hongfu said he was afraid that it would be unsafe to walk on the mountain road if it was too late, so they went back to the township government for dinner. Professor Rao said he would come to Yezhugou again the next morning to continue teaching them aquaculture techniques and guide the construction of the farm.

Returning to the township government, the group still ate at Zhang the Fatty's restaurant. During the banquet, Professor Rao said that the climate and geographical environment of Yezhugou Village were very suitable for special aquaculture, especially bamboo rats, which could only be raised here.

He said that bamboo rats could only live in temperatures between minus eight degrees and thirty-five degrees, and the most suitable living temperature was eight degrees to twenty-eight degrees. If the temperature was too low or too high, bamboo rats could not survive.

And the climate here in Yezhugou was very suitable for the life of bamboo rats. The altitude of Yezhugou was neither high nor low, and it was a small basin. The temperature of the four seasons would not be too high or too low, generally between ten and twenty degrees, which was the temperature that made bamboo rats feel most comfortable.

Dong Jianshu laughed, "Then according to Professor Rao, we can't raise bamboo rats in Shangjun County. It's hot enough to die there now, and people can't stand it, so how can bamboo rats stand it?"

Chen Hongfu nodded and said, "I've been in Menghuling for so long, and I only think it has this one benefit, which is that it's not hot when sleeping at night, and people are comfortable. I didn't expect this to be beneficial for aquaculture."

Professor Rao said, "It's not that you can't raise them in Shangjun County. As long as you install air conditioning in the farm and keep the temperature at twenty degrees, you can raise them. However, an artificially created environment is always not as good as a natural environment. Besides, the cost would increase."

Li Maofare clicked his tongue and said, "We people can't even afford air conditioning, and you want to give air conditioning to animals? It seems that Yezhugou is really a treasure land for aquaculture."

Professor Rao said, "Speaking of which, it's a coincidence. Our department just conquered the artificial breeding technology of bamboo rats last year, and it just so happened that you came to us this year. We were just worrying about not having a particularly suitable aquaculture base. Your farm can just serve as our department's experimental base."

Dong Jianshu asked, "Are there any benefits to making our farm your department's experimental base? Or what do we need to do?"