PCJ – Chapter 651 Moving Hearts (Part 2)

Zhang Jiaohua spoke with great emotion. For the elderly left behind in Yingpan Village, this topic struck a painful chord. After all, which family’s child hadn’t gone an entire year without seeing their parents even once?

The men and women from Yingpan Village who went out to work generally had little education and took on hard, low-paying jobs. During the Spring Festival travel rush, ticket prices doubled or tripled—amounting to a month or two’s wages—so some simply chose not to return home. There were children in the village who hadn’t seen their parents in years. Some had been left behind at such a young age that they couldn’t even remember what their parents looked like.

“Cadre Zhang, can you guarantee that we’ll definitely become wealthy?” Gu Taitian asked.

“Well, there’s always some risk in everything we do. I can’t guarantee the plan will be 100% successful. But I can guarantee that even if it fails, the villagers won’t lose a single penny. In that case, the land is still yours. At worst, it would be as if nothing ever happened. But just think: even the youngest among you left in the village are in your fifties or sixties. In ten more years, many of you may still be able to farm. But in twenty or thirty years, when the elderly can’t work anymore, the fields will go to waste anyway. So why not give it a try now?” Zhang Jiaohua looked around at the crowd in Yingpan Village. They were all elders and children. Not a single young person. The youngest was at least around fifty.

The village lacked everything—even basic food. Anyone who could still work would never choose to stay at home and starve.

“If you can guarantee we won’t suffer any losses, then I’ll take the gamble with you!” Gu Taitian declared loudly.

“Count me in too!” Gu Runshu quickly chimed in, then turned to the surrounding villagers and said, “Look, everyone, why would Cadre Zhang come all the way to our village? Is it for the good food or comfortable life? He’s a university graduate. He could easily get a good job anywhere. Why would he come to our poor Yingpan Village? You think he’s after the few scraps of money we have?”

Gu Yongyi arrived carrying buckets of water and also shouted, “I’ve thought long and hard about this. Cadre Zhang is a university student. He sees further and clearer than us farmers. His ideas are innovative and practical. Take our village’s small reservoir, for instance. Without Cadre Zhang, we wouldn’t have had any hope of fixing it in our lifetime. But once he arrived, even the county officials were impressed. They were willing to invest a lot of money. Didn’t you all see? Even the agricultural machinery officers from the county had to follow Cadre Zhang’s lead.”

“That’s true. Every time I go to the town, Mayor Zhu always says we’re lucky in Yingpan Village to have such a good village official. The cadre who went to Wanyao Tree Village only stayed one night before he ran away. But Cadre Zhang? He never once complained about our harsh conditions and is doing everything he can to solve our village’s biggest problems.” Gu Baishui stood with one hand on his waist and the other waving passionately.

“Then there’s nothing more to say. Count me in too.” Gu Zhuansheng squeezed out of the crowd carrying a pair of water buckets and spoke loudly.

One by one, the villagers voiced their support. In the end, only the households involved in the wife-buying case, like Gu Quansuo’s family, remained silent.

“This land-for-equity plan is entirely voluntary,” Zhang Jiaohua emphasized. “We won’t force anyone who doesn’t want to join. But remember, once the manor is up and running, trying to buy in later will be a different story. What we’re offering now are original shares. Once the manor grows, these shares will rise in value. If you try to join later, you won’t get the same deal. So I ask everyone to think carefully. We’re about to launch this project. If you agree to participate, register with Secretary Gu in the next few days. I’ll also reach out to investors as soon as possible.”

Zhang Jiaohua glanced at those few households. Their expressions were complicated. He understood what they were thinking. But if they continued being so obstinate, he wouldn’t waste time on them. Once the manor was built, they’d have to follow the rules if they wanted in. Giving them an inch now would only cause problems later. Some people simply couldn’t be indulged.

That day, Yingpan Village felt like it was celebrating a festival. Zhang Jiaohua even caught a rare whiff of meat in the air—clearly, some families had slaughtered chickens or ducks to celebrate.

He set up a new lounge chair in the courtyard, lay back, and watched as dusk slowly descended. The wind rustled through the poplar trees surrounding the school, their leaves fluttering down. One leaf, slightly yellowed, spun through the air and landed on Zhang Jiaohua’s head. He reached up and caught it. Autumn had arrived quietly.

From a distance, Gu Chuangui’s voice called out, “Uncle Zhang! Uncle Zhang!”

“Here,” Zhang Jiaohua responded, sitting up from the lounge chair.

Gu Chuangui came over carrying a bowl filled to the brim with chicken.

“Uncle Zhang, we killed a chicken at home today. Grandpa told me to bring some for you. Eat it while it’s hot,” he said, handing over the large bowl. The boy couldn’t help swallowing his saliva several times—he was clearly tempted.

Zhang Jiaohua chuckled. “Come on, have some with me. There’s no way I can finish all this on my own.”

Half that chicken must have come from their family’s portion. Normally, Zhang Jiaohua wouldn’t accept such a gift. But since Gu Chuangui had eaten at his place many times before, if he refused this time, Gu Yongyi might never let his grandson come over again.

Chuangui hesitated but waved his hand, “No, no, we still have a big bowl left at home.”

“I’m telling you to eat, so eat. I can’t finish it alone, and it’ll go bad by tomorrow. You three eat one bowl. I eat one bowl. Help me out, will you?” Zhang Jiaohua said as he pulled the boy closer.

Gu Chuangui swallowed again and grinned, “Then I’ll help you finish it!”

Neither of them used chopsticks. They simply grabbed the meat with their hands. The two of them finished the whole bowl, after which Zhang Jiaohua told Chuangui to take the empty bowl back home. In truth, the boy had eaten more than half of it. He hadn’t tasted anything oily for a long time. If they had let him, he probably could’ve eaten the whole chicken. The chickens in Yingpan Village were all free-range and usually weighed about two jin (1 kg). Once cleaned, there’d only be about two jin of meat. For a boy like Chuangui, it would disappear in no time.

The next day, Gu Baishui brought good news: except for a few families not currently at home, only Gu Quansuo’s household had refused to join the land-share plan.

“That family’s decision mostly depends on Wang Lalian—Gu Quansuo’s mother. She’s the one who makes all the decisions. Gu Baoxing doesn’t dare speak up. I’ve tried again and again to talk to her, but she refuses. She even said that as long as you’re the one leading something, their family won’t agree to it,” Gu Baishui reported.

Zhang Jiaohua laughed, “Then don’t bother persuading them anymore. Just exclude their fields from the manor. Their house is far from the rest anyway.”

“But there’s one problem. Most of their land is salinized. If we give them only that, we’ll have to take some good land elsewhere to make up for it. The rest of the villagers won’t agree,” Gu Baishui said worriedly.

“That’s not an issue. We’re going to improve all the farmland anyway. Just allocate them a continuous patch of fields near their home. Try to keep their land separate from the manor’s,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“That’s easy. They don’t have much good land left anyway. If they don’t want to exchange, then let them keep those salinized fields,” Gu Baishui said with a grin.

Exchanging their salty wasteland for fertile fields nearby would’ve made Wang Lalian and Gu Baoxing thrilled—of course they wouldn’t object. But they didn’t know about Zhang Jiaohua’s full plan. If they had, Wang Lalian might have tried to deliberately obstruct it. That could’ve made things a lot harder.