Rebirth in 1998 is also a kind of life

"1998 was really a magical year. Apart from the once-in-a-century flood and the aftermath of the financial turmoil in Southeast Asia, there were many other things that quietly changed in that year;"

"As the first year of being merged into the Shuangqing area, 1998 can also be regarded as a dividing line for the development of Chengkou, although the current situation of Chengkou has been greatly improved compared with the previous desperate situation. , but in Chengkou three years ago, if you hadn’t seen some things with your own eyes, you would never be able to imagine what kind of life the farmers in the various villages lived in Chengkou at that time!” As a witness of history, Old Wen’s voice was somewhat muffled.

........................

"In 1998, together with a group of scholars, I made a rough survey of various places in the city; it was in that year, in Diliping Village, Liaozi Township, that I learned for the first time...it turns out that our country There are still people living in the cave." Speaking of that experience, Elder Wen seemed to be lost in memory.

"I clearly remember that it had just rained that day, and the mountain road leading to Liping Village, which only allowed one person to pass, was extremely narrow and muddy. Under the leadership of the village accountant, several colleagues and I walked It took more than two hours and fell five or six times before arriving at Feng Qiaoan's cave."

Speaking of this, Mr. Wen explained: "Feng Qiao'an is the name of the caveman. There are many naturally formed limestone caves near Liping Village. Some poor villagers have no money to build their own houses, so they can only live in these caves. ——In fact, this kind of phenomenon is not uncommon in the former city, and some people have even lived here since the 50s;”

"Those gray and gray caves look pretty from a distance, but when you really get close, you will find that it is not the case at all!"

"In short, the four of us spent a lot of effort. When we climbed to the cave where Feng Qiaoan lived, we were almost stunned!"

Speaking of this, Mr. Wen didn't know how to describe it, he could only say: "I don't know if you have ever seen the kind of cement foundation, just finished the first floor, it was unfinished, and then it was abandoned More than ten years of real estate——sorry, I can only think of this word to describe Feng Qiaoan’s cave;”

"In short, when I stood at the entrance of the cave at the bottom of the cliff, the cave was about three meters wide, three or four meters deep, and five meters high, the first thing I saw was the uneven cave full of dust and debris. Scattered sundries, a thin piece of wood is placed across the hole, and a few pieces of cloth, whether it is rags or clothes and trousers, are hanging on it to dry. On the crooked ladder, there is also a space separated by some logs above, which is their bedroom!"

Taking a bite of the old bacon lightly, Wen Lao said with a smile: "Did you know that Feng Qiaoan also has a wife who gave birth to a son and a daughter. When he saw us, his son, who was only about ten years old, was completely dumbfounded." , the little mud monkey with its upper body bare was leaning tightly on the ladder, as if it was afraid that we would enter their prison - Feng Qiaoan's living conditions were able to find a wife, which also explained from the side what the difficulties at the city entrance were like before. "

After shaking his head with some amusement, Elder Wen continued: "At that time, Feng Qiaoan went out to farm, and only his guest was preparing lunch for the two children. After the village accountant introduced us to her, this person who seemed a bit shy The woman first moved a few stones, wiped them vigorously with her sleeves, and then invited us to sit by the firepit in the cave—it was very cold in the cave at night, and if there was no fire below, people would not be able to bear it. .”

"Even the cave space is not small and airy, but there is still an old musty smell coming from the floor, and it's filled with a strong smell of feces - next to the wooden shelf used as a bedroom on the second floor , there is a wooden barrel, where the whole family defecates and urinates, and the yellow and white things in the barrel are also their precious assets, and they are the most important source of fertilizer for the half-acre vegetable garden under the ruined wall outside their cave;”

Seeing that Hua Hua's expression was a little uncomfortable, Mr. Wen didn't continue the topic, and continued: "Didn't I ask you before, have you ever seen someone who is reluctant to put oil in the cooking... Feng Qiaoan's family is it!"

"Their lunch is a pot of yam batter—the so-called yam batter is to cook a pot of yams and put a handful of cornmeal in it. After cooking, stir it and eat it directly. Don't put a drop of oil in it, even if it is salt. , and only let it go a little bit."

"The taste... my old man can still accept it, but if you young people eat it, I'm afraid you won't even be able to dig a bite into it-not to say how unpalatable it is, but the puddle of it. It's yellow and mushy, it looks like hogwash for pigs."

Although classmate Huahua is extremely sensitive to yellow and white things, she didn't have any overreactions to pig food like hogwash, but looked at Mr. Wen with some doubts: "Could it be...they actually wanted to put oil, but see Now that you big men are here, so you don’t want to let go, and play miserable to win sympathy, and get some for yourself by the way?"

Hearing what classmate Huahua said, Yang Zhu couldn't help but look at his old classmate, thinking that once a law student enters the state, there really is nothing in the world that is not black.

And Mr. Wen just smiled and shook his head: "No, the cast iron pot for cooking batter is the most valuable possession of Feng Qiaoan's family. I can see that they take good care of it on weekdays, but even so, There is also an obvious light yellow rust on the edge of the inside of the pot-it is a natural phenomenon that has not been touched with oil for a long time, and it cannot be faked; "

"Besides, all the kitchen utensils and seasonings of their family are placed in the basket made of bamboo strips on the wall. You can see at a glance whether there is cooking oil. How can it be hidden from others? ——In fact, if you At the scene, seeing the eyes of the two siblings staring at the handful of lettuce leaves specially picked from the garden by the mother in order to entertain us, I knew how difficult the family was going through."

"Actually, apart from the extreme shortage of food and clothing, the most unbearable thing is...the 12-year-old sister and the 10-year-old brother are also very eager for knowledge, but due to the family's difficulties, they have not been in class for a day. I haven’t used it before, my favorite thing on weekdays is to take some charcoal pencils to write and draw on waste paper or the ground.”

Thinking of the pair of sisters who were delayed, Mr. Wen's expression inevitably became gloomy when he said this.

Hua Hua was a little distracted: "How could this be... As the head of the family, Feng Qiao An can't bear to see his wife and children live like this?"

Seeing the resentment in Huahua's tone, Mr. Wen shook his head: "You are wrong to blame Feng Qiaoan. In fact, that thin man who is far older than his real age is really a hardworking man - he planted three acres of land by himself and opened An acre of yellow, at the mouth of a city full of cliffs, without the help of modern tools, this is really the limit of a person;”

"It's just that the land at the entrance of the city is very barren, and Feng Qiao'an can't afford chemical fertilizers, so the food he harvests is still only enough for half a year after a busy year - in fact, although the food for his family is already economical, Feng Qiaoan also cuts firewood or burns charcoal and sells them in the countryside or county towns during the slack season, but there is still a food shortage of two or three months a year; therefore, for them who can’t even fill their stomachs, how can Eligible to send a pair of children to school?"

Hearing Mr. Wen's explanation, Huahua fell silent, glanced at Yang Zhu who was still calm, and cheered up: "Then what about the man who can't speak and the village of fools?"

Mr. Wen, who took Yang Zhu's reaction into his eyes, was not discouraged at all, and smiled slightly at Yu Xiaohua: "Actually, these two stories both happened in the same place - Cangfang Village, Longtian Township."

"Cangfang Village is a small village with scattered villagers. There are 6 villager groups with a total of more than 500 people. In 98, with an area of ​​only 12 square kilometers, the village cadres visited the farthest farmers. It takes a full 1 hours to go back and forth without delaying even one minute on the road, and if we want to visit every household, it will take at least a week;”

"The reason why this place is called the Fool's Village is that in 1989, a Bashu Daily reporter named Meng Mingguo visited Cangfang Village after all kinds of hardships, and finally published an article in the newspaper. As the article spread slowly, Cangfang Village gradually gained this title;”

"Let me tell you a real story... At the beginning, there was a villager named Li Qi'an in the second team of Cangfang Village. Some, so his wife is usually in charge at home;”

"One day he was going to carry charcoal to sell in the county town, and his wife explained the price in advance - this large pile of charcoal cannot be sold for less than 8 yuan;"

"So, when he took all the hard work to carry the charcoal to the county seat, he was asked if the charcoal would be sold for [-] yuan, but he said... he would take it for [-] yuan, but not for [-] yuan! "

"As a result... After he came back, he was naturally scolded by his wife for a whole day, and this matter was also regarded as a joke by people in other villages, and gradually spread."

Speaking of this, Elder Wen sighed: "Actually, this kind of situation can be regarded as a joke in other villages, but it was almost normal in Cangfang Village at that time;"

"Because of the steep terrain and the over-dispersion of the population, the nearly blank basic education there has always been a serious problem. Li Qi'an is far more than the only villager who can't read and write. In fact, there are many more ignorant and backward phenomena there. .”

As if he felt that it was impolite to discuss some real and real things about women in front of a young girl, Mr. Wen did not continue to unfold other stories about Fool's Village, but changed the topic: "In that mountain with steep slopes, vast land and sparsely populated In a place where a family lives alone in a remote corner of the mountain, it is quite normal;”

"There are many villagers who have lost their language ability because they have no chance to communicate with others since they were young. When I visited and investigated, I met a villager named Wan Guoan in Cangfang Village. He was in his 30s. He is already married and has children, and looks healthy, but he can’t speak a word—from what I’ve communicated with him, he can understand some of my words, but he just can’t open his mouth or utter a word. Make a sound, frightened like a child;"

"Afterwards, the result of my verification with the village cadres also confirmed this point. Because Wan Guoan was trapped in the mountains and had no chance to communicate with people for a long time, he lost his language function and became a dumb who is not dumb—— At the entrance of the city, they call this kind of person."

"And what's sad is that everyone knows that not speaking for a long time will cause the brain to shrink. Under the chain reaction, it will also cause various physical and mental diseases. Like this kind of widow, the life expectancy is generally longer than that of normal people. Short—in fact, I learned from the village cadres that five or six widows of this kind have died in Guang Wan Guoan’s team in recent years.”

"The most embarrassing thing is that the widows caused by the acquired environment are often the loss of language function of the whole family, so it often occurs that the interval is not long, and the family dies one after another-such as the previous few days. This is the case of the three members of the Yuan family in Cangfang Village who passed away in [-]."

With a heavy sigh, Wen Laoqiang cheered up and said with a smile: "Fortunately, after being merged into Shuangqing, the government has made various plans to improve the living conditions of villagers in various places at the entrance of the city - this is one of them, After the new houses are built and all the villagers are moved from the depths of the mountains to the foot of the mountain or the side of the mountain with relatively convenient transportation, this kind of tragedy of widowhood will never happen again.”

Yu Xiaohua outlined the images of those widows in his mind, frowned a little unbearably, put down the chopsticks in his hand, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Since the county has known about this situation for a long time, why didn't they do it before? You have to wait until now to plan—even if Chengkou is poor, but as far as I know, just a few years ago, Chengkou still adopted the work point system, so is it so difficult to mobilize the masses to build a few houses!?"

Elder Wen felt a little helpless on his face: "Small, things are not that simple. In this kind of place where nine parts of the landscape and one part of the field, not to mention the lack of industrial planning, what do the villagers do to make a living after moving down? As far as building a house is concerned, it was also a big problem for the former Chengkou County government;”

"The former Chengkou county government... was poor!" Elder Wen exclaimed.

"If I remember correctly, not far from here is the Chengkou County Procuratorate. I wonder if you have visited it?" Elder Wen suddenly asked.

Procuratorate?

Yang Zhu and classmate Huahua looked at each other, then shook their heads - what are they doing wandering around the procuratorate if they have nothing to do?

Gu Jianwen nodded his head: "I think you can take a look at the procuratorate before it's refurbished, and see how poor Chengkou County was in the past."

Speaking of this, Mr. Wen chuckled: "You know, when the leader Shuangqing came down with jet lag, he personally wrote a comment to the Chengkou County Procuratorate;"

"If you go inside, you will find that a large gray brick factory building that looks like decades ago, except for the potholes on the walls and the ground, the various facilities are even more rudimentary and dilapidated - the entire procuratorate, the most valuable The object I own is the field car with a history of nearly 20 years, but the car is tattered and full of rust, and even the anti-skid marks on the tires are almost invisible, so it can be thrown into the waste disposal station ;"

"In addition to the dilapidated appearance, walking inside also makes people feel like entering a refugee camp!"

"The offices there don't have majestic desks and sofas. Even the roofs are in disrepair. Many offices have to be supported by bamboo poles. Otherwise, the roofs are likely to collapse and injure people. On rainy days, it is even more necessary to take a few pots to catch the rainwater that leaks from the top, otherwise it will flood Jinshan—according to their Director Yuan Yongju, there are leaks everywhere in their place.”

"So... think about it, in Chengkou County at that time, even the solemn and sacred judiciary like the Procuratorate was in such a state of embarrassment. How far is the county's finances? How can there be money to build so many new houses?"

Hearing what Mr. Wen said, Hua Hua curled her lips in disapproval: "Customers don't repair shops, officials don't repair government offices... This doesn't explain anything."

Hearing this black and extremely serious words, Elder Wen's expression became serious: "No, less than, you don't know that the city entrance at that time was not just the procuratorate and county-level institutions; I visited most of the towns and towns in the city entrance, The financial situation of every township government and even village-level institutions is extremely difficult. This is not an example-as we all know, township and village-level administrative institutions are the most likely to show their flaws. If they are in this distressed state, it can only mean that In the past, Chengkou County’s finances were really stretched.”

"Besides, I don't deny that in China's 5000-year history, there are many situations like this... But this definitely does not include the entrance of the city!"

"It is true that a few years ago, the city entrance was still based on the work-point system, and the county could indeed squeeze out some budget from its not-so-rich finances to organize the villagers to build hundreds of relocation houses. However, compared with these relocation houses, The Chengkou County government must spend these extremely limited budgets on more urgent and valuable things, that is... road construction!"

road?

Yu Xiaohua looked at Elder Wen with some doubts.

She was deeply touched by the road conditions in Chengkou County. With such a steep terrain, how could such a daunting task of building roads be something that the government of a poor county dared to think about! ?

You know, according to the information she got from the County Transportation Bureau, let alone the city entrance, even if it is calculated from a relatively flat area like Wanyuan, a secondary road will be built to the city entrance. The bridge-to-tunnel ratio has also reached a terrifying 55%—and there are many giant peaks in the middle that cannot be avoided no matter what. If you want to get through these two peaks, you must dig several ultra-long tunnels of more than 5 kilometers. The difficulty of this kind of construction is even more desperate.

The terrain in Chengkou is even more intricate and steep than the "Wancheng Line" that was planned to be reported. Due to the reality, the difficulty of construction in many places has even increased exponentially—how can a small county government dare to put this Invest in this kind of "crazy" plan with a limited budget?

Seeing the disbelief on Huahua's face, Mr. Wen smiled slightly: "If the market account is only based on the return on investment, the Chengkou County Government will never dare to take any action in this area-otherwise, Regardless of the benefits, the labor cost of the construction alone is enough to bankrupt the finances!"

"But you have to remember that some things can't just be calculated economically. In fact, the desire of the villagers in Chengkou County for a road is far beyond what you can imagine... in order to have a road leading to the outside world. They can even engage in long-term and high-intensity operations without asking for any rewards, and this is the reason why the Chengkou County Government dares to invest in the construction of roads in the territory with such a pitiful budget!"

Speaking of this, Mr. Wen looked at Yang Zhu who had been smiling all the time, and his anger rose inexplicably: "Xiao Yang, have you seen that the narrowest cliff of hundreds of meters in Biandan Gorge in Zhongxi Township can only accommodate one person?" Is it possible to pass the plank road that has swallowed 34 lives in more than ten years!?—I have seen it, and I will tell you responsibly, that 34 of the 11 people hit were our cadres and grain station staff! "

"You have seen that there are only three steep paths with the outside world. So far, there is no telephone. If you get sick, you need to walk three to five days to register in the county. All daily necessities and fertilizers are brought in by people. where?—I tell you, I've seen it!"

"You have seen people in the village take a subsidy of 4 cents and 2 cents per person, go out to dig a road 60 kilometers away before dawn, and return home after dark. After finishing the assigned work, take the initiative A simple man who helps villagers in other villages to work for free?—I tell you, I have seen it!"

"Have you ever seen dozens of people, like trackers, pulling dozens of tons of stone rollers, holding a horn on a slope of dozens of degrees, flattening the earth and rocks step by step, even if the skin on their shoulders is bruised? Hum?—I tell you, I've seen it!"

"You have seen that because of the disaster in the county, even the meager subsidy can't be paid out, but nearly a thousand people don't want a penny, and they still work ten hours a day with high intensity, risking their lives to open the mountain without complaint The shocking scene of road construction?—I tell you, I have seen it!"

Recalling the scenes he had seen, Mr. Wen couldn't control the agitation in his heart. He put his bowl on the ground heavily and stared at Yang Zhu sharply: "There are more than 20 people in the entire city, from the county leaders to the Villagers in each village who can't even write have struggled for decades, digging out roads with great difficulty with their hands... in order to exchange for a hopeful life for themselves and future generations. Bright future, instead of paying a huge price to create a suitable business environment, let you greedy capitalists continue to suck the bones!"

"I'm telling you, Yang Zhu!"

"The trust of the 20 villagers in Chengkou County in the party was built by the efforts of countless party members regardless of returns, and it was bought back with the lives of hundreds of cadres who died in the line of duty—we absolutely do not allow this This trust is sullied and exploited by anyone!"

"The Party and the government have worked tirelessly to bring the villagers of Chengkou County down the mountain and into the city, and they have the responsibility and obligation to give them a bright future!"

"So... don't blame me for saying ugly words first;"

"If some people dare to use their own resources and influence to play tricks and live up to the trust of these 20 villagers in the party, I will definitely let them suffer!!"

Looking at the originally modest Wen Lao's expression of choosing someone to devour, Yang Zhu wanted to say something, but he looked at the crab-shaped evening cloud in the sky, and could only smile helplessly and shut up.

"Okay, Mr. Wen, I'm a businessman, and I'm used to being straightforward about everything, so...you can just say it if you have anything to say?" To be honest, Yang Zhu is not used to Mr. Wen's literati-like persuasion method. What can I say? Why don't you just put it out there and talk about it, wasting so much energy going around the old ones before?

"I ask you to take the initiative to make concessions in the share conversion of the central kitchen. In any case, this project must allow the village collective and the county to obtain a relative controlling stake!" Wen Lao said word by word.

"That's impossible!" Yang Zhu immediately refused on the spot, what a joke, there is no such thing as being taken advantage of in this world.

"You must agree! Otherwise, I will immediately write an internal reference and submit it... Every time you invest in the economic field of people's livelihood, I will make an internal reference until the higher-ups are willing to seriously face up to your extremely confusing Zhutou Trading. As far as the large economies!" Mr. Wen refused to give an inch, with a look of generosity to die.

Yang Zhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He never thought that this extremely respected old man would be so wary of himself: "Old Wen...why are you doing this? It's just a medium-sized kitchen project, why are you so persistent?"

Mr. Wen shook his head: "The embankment of a thousand miles was destroyed by an ant's nest; I am confident that I can see some things more clearly than most people... There are some things that cannot give you a bad start for investment and business!"

After finishing speaking, Mr. Wen didn't hide it, and directly repeated the words that he had analyzed with Zheng Rong before. By now, he had already discovered that the young man in front of him was terribly rational and wanted to use righteousness to move him. It's purely a joke to show affection, it's better to put all the pros and cons on the table and let him make his own choice.

After all, at Yang Zhu's current level, the only thing he can play is Yangmou—and in the mall, whether it is conspiracy or Yangmou, the most important thing is the foreshadowing used to "confuse" in the first half. Lifting the curtain, Yang Zhu naturally has nothing to rely on.

Sure enough, after hearing Mr. Wen's analysis, Yang Zhu smiled helplessly in Xiaohua's horrified eyes: "Okay, Mr. Wen, as long as An Dongzhen is willing to convert more fixed assets into shares... …I agree to your share distribution agreement;”

"It's just that there is a premise for all of this, and it must also be written into the contract... In the absence of special major circumstances, we must guarantee the absolute decision-making power of Zhutou Trading!"

Mr. Wen frowned. The difference between "special circumstances" and "special major circumstances" seems to be the same, but the scale of them is not the same. Natural disasters, major policy changes, or major epidemics and social events, otherwise it would be impossible for the county to deprive Zhutou Trading of its decision-making power.

However, I want to weaken Zhutou Trading's shares in this project. To put it bluntly, I don't want them to do whatever they want, and then it will be hard to get back. If the conditions mentioned by Yang Zhu are written into the contract, it will be better than the original share plan. improvement, but the difference in the middle is not that big-you know, the county already has the audit right for this kind of ppp project involving state-owned assets and collective assets, and the share adjustment plan he proposed was originally aimed at the management decision-making power And the right to appoint and remove.

As if understanding what Wen Lao thought, Yang Zhu smiled slightly: "Wen Lao, I am very aware of some of your concerns, but don't worry, if I, Yang, are really what you think, I have plenty of ways to infiltrate quietly—to the worst , I will not open the core data of Zhutou Trading to you, your insight may not be clear to others, can I not know?"

Speaking of this, Yang Zhu shrugged his shoulders: "It's really impossible... I'll write you a letter of guarantee? To put it bluntly, at my level, a letter of guarantee in my own name is more binding than those seemingly formal contract documents More strength!"

This is true. At a certain level, whether it is a businessman or an official, some things on the surface are really not as binding and deterrent as you imagined. Instead, it is this kind of written commitment with a personal nature. More valuable--in addition to personal reputation, it is more about its invisible value in the social network. Once it is shattered, the chain reaction will be disastrous.

Hearing that Yang Zhu was willing to write a letter of guarantee, although Mr. Wen didn't understand why this young big boss gave him such a green light, he still couldn't help but brows happily: "Success! Just do as Xiao Yang said!"