boyutpedia Chapter 54 was praised by the county!
Chapter 54 was praised by the county!
"Shh, tell your sister quietly tonight, okay?"
The eldest sister put her index finger to her youngest sister's lips, interrupting her from saying what she was about to say.
"Refresh the book."
It was Aunt Xu who called out from outside:
"Come out quickly, it's getting dark. Let's go back while it's still light."
"Yes, right away."
Cheng Runshu responded, put down the knife in his hand, and said to them:
"Auntie, sister, Auntie is calling me, so I'll head back now. There's still some pig feed left; you can slaughter it a little later."
Although Xu Chunsheng's family had accumulated a considerable amount of savings, they would occasionally carry pig feed to the kitchen to chop it, so that they could use only one kerosene lamp and save some oil. After all, oil still required coupons, so every little bit saved counted.
As for the grain purchased to hire people to do chores, it's all "negotiated grain," which costs almost twice as much.
Xu's mother wiped her hands on her apron twice, walked over to Cheng Runshu's side, and patted one of her hands:
"My dear, I wanted you to stay here and play a little longer, but you couldn't stay still and did so many things for me."
"It's nothing, Auntie. I'm happy to be able to help you."
Mother Xu held Cheng Runshu's hand affectionately and saw her out the door:
"Runshu, next time you come to visit, you can't be as polite as you were today."
"Okay, Auntie, please go inside and rest. We'll head back now."
Xu's mother verbally agreed, but only went back into the house to find Xu Chunsheng after watching Xu's uncle's family walk away with Cheng Runshu.
"Erwa, I think Runshu is quite good. Pay attention to him and don't upset him."
Xu Chunsheng responded without even lifting his eyelids:
"I know, I know, you don't need to worry about these things, I understand."
Xu Yaomei overheard this and exclaimed loudly:
"No, brother can't have other sisters!"
"My brother can only have one sister, me!"
Xu's mother poked Xu Yaomei's head:
"You little rascal, go wash your feet and go to bed. Your brother definitely only has you as his sister."
Xu Yaomei covered her forehead, which her mother had poked, with both hands, and then she cheered up:
"Hehe, my brother is the best, he won't have any other sisters."
He slept soundly without any dreams. The next day, Xu Chunsheng ate breakfast early as usual and went to work at the pig farm with his father.
Xu Chunsheng uncovered the film that had been placed on the foundation yesterday. He could see that the surface mortar had begun to solidify, and there were some uneven, semi-dry marks.
The purpose of covering it with plastic film is to prevent rain from soaking and washing away the mortar that has been spread evenly in the middle of the night. If you are lazy and don't cover it with plastic film, you will definitely have to redo it the next day.
"Old Xu, Chunsheng, you're here pretty early."
The old craftsman, who had just arrived, glanced at the foundation he had built yesterday through the thin film that Xu Chunsheng had peeled back. He gently ran his finger along the edge, his expression slightly relaxed.
"Although it hasn't been very warm these past few days, it didn't rain yesterday, so we can continue building the wall today."
Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, the old craftsman began to speak, assigning tasks to everyone:
"Today, don't use large stones for the mortar. Use a lighter mortar. We're going to lay bricks today, unlike yesterday when we filled the foundation. We need to use fine mortar."
"Please send someone else to help carry the bricks to the wall and place them here so that everyone can easily access them."
"Those who dug the latrines, keep working. After you finish digging, you'll have to apply cement."
……
The old craftsman then assigned Xu Chunsheng another task: passing bricks.
"Chunsheng, you don't know how to lay bricks, so you can help pass the bricks and learn how to lay them. When we can't do it anymore, these jobs will be yours."
Xu Chunsheng found a spot to stand, a position where he could pick up bricks from the ground without blocking the bricklayer's work.
The bricklayer deftly scooped a clump of mortar from the bucket with his trowel, flicked his wrist, and spread the mortar onto the brick. Then, he scraped off the excess mortar by running the trowel along the edge of the brick.
Then pick up the red brick, place it gently on the foundation, press down firmly with your palm, and gently align and level the brick from left to right. Finally, use a trowel to tap the brick from top to bottom, and tap the center of the brick lightly with the handle of the trowel twice. If there is any mortar that has overflowed, wipe it away. In this way, a brick is laid.
Xu Chunsheng followed the bricklayer's movements, passing bricks along. Occasionally, he would also have to change the mortar bucket, going back and forth between the two. This meant that sometimes Xu Chunsheng's brick-passing speed was not as fast as the bricklayer's laying speed.
……
"Mr. Xu, are you busy?"
Following the sound, everyone looked over and saw that the person was wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit that had been washed to a slightly faded color. The buttons were neatly fastened, revealing a bit of a white inner layer, and a black fountain pen was pinned to his chest. It was the most common attire for cadres these days.
The noisy sounds quieted down considerably, and everyone looked surprised.
Because they quickly recognized the cadre as Party Secretary Li!
Secretary Li rarely comes to the village, let alone to the homes of ordinary villagers.
Everyone subconsciously stopped gossiping and glanced at Xu Chunsheng, none of them expecting that the Xu family's pig farm construction would alarm Secretary Li.
Mr. and Mrs. Xu were at a loss.
Faced with this situation, the eldest sister was at a loss.
Xu Chunsheng calmly poured a bowl of tea from the pot and handed it to Secretary Li, who had already walked over:
"Secretary Li, come and have some tea. What brings you here today?"
Party Secretary Li stopped and glanced at the pig farm, which was already taking shape. He then handed Xu Chunsheng a cup of tea and said:
"The village attaches great importance to your pig farm construction project. They've been too busy to come and see for the past few days, but they had some free time today, so they wanted to come and see how it's going."
"After all, this is the first pig farm in the village. Everyone is hoping that it can be completed soon so that it can help the villagers in the future."
"While you're at it, let's ask if you're facing any difficulties that might require the village's assistance."
"In addition, I also brought you a certificate of merit issued by the county. The county has heard about your story of leading the villagers to get rich by selling Ophiopogon japonicus. They said that you are a model of responding to the call and actively adapting to the market economy. They have also issued a policy to encourage rural self-employed individuals like you to get rich first. The credit union can provide you with an interest-free loan of 10,000 yuan."
As he spoke, Party Secretary Li actually took out a certificate of merit and a copy of the document and gave them to Xu Chunsheng.
Xu Chunsheng was quite surprised and immediately expressed his gratitude. Amidst the envious gazes of the crowd and the proud looks of his parents, he accepted the certificate and also picked up the document to take a look.
Party Secretary Li cleared his throat and looked at everyone: "Everyone can see now, right? The government supports your development of individual businesses and encourages you to work hard to get rich, so you don't need to worry. You should learn from Xu Chunsheng and dare to start your own business to get rich. The village will do everything possible to help you."
The villagers laughed and echoed his sentiments, their eyes filled with even more admiration as they looked at Xu Chunsheng, praising him for his success in being valued by higher-ups.
Cheng Runshu, who had come with his aunt, looked at Xu Chunsheng with even greater admiration.