Chapter 141
Another year passed, and the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee was convened.
On this day, Deputy Director Qiao of the Revolutionary Committee came to work, dressed in a way that made everyone’s eyes light up.
Actually, over the past two years, the once ubiquitous green military uniforms had gradually become less common, but people’s clothing remained monotonous.
Especially in the government, everyone wore either black or gray—very bureaucratic and stiff.
When Deputy Director Qiao suddenly appeared in a vibrant color, everyone’s eyes lit up.
Director Meng smiled, and after laughing, he sighed, “Back in the day, young girls all dressed so beautifully.”
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. Those vibrant dresses from back then were nowhere to be found.
The new newspapers arrived, with the front-page headlines all reporting on the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee.
This session re-established the ideological line, halted the ideological slogan of “taking class struggle as the key link,” and shifted the focus of the country’s work to socialist modernization.
Everyone let out a long sigh of relief, and looking at Deputy Director Qiao in her bright colors, there was truly a dizzying sense that the world had changed.
In the first year after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, the First Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress amended the constitution.
It stipulated that local Revolutionary Committees at all levels were to be changed into People’s Governments at all levels, and the Revolutionary Committee, a product of that special era, was finally declared at an end.
The Residential Compound hung up a newly made sign: Bocheng County People’s Government.
Director Meng became Secretary Meng once again.
Deputy Director Qiao became a Standing Committee member and one of the deputy county magistrates.
Those who had been rehabilitated with the help of Meng Zuoyi gradually returned to their posts, once again commanding the scene.
That year, Secretary Meng was promoted to the city, becoming the Municipal Party Secretary of Lin City.
Personnel in Bocheng County changed again, and County Standing Committee member Qiao Wei outperformed everyone else, promoted to Party Secretary of Bocheng County, becoming the top leader in charge of everything.
But that year, she received a letter from Yan Xiang.
He told her that he would be entering a unit with a higher security clearance, and after going there, he might have to cut off contact with the family.
He told them not to worry about her.
He told her that his dream was to let truth soar in the sky, with the sword’s edge pointing straight to the clouds.
“Mom, I was born to make this world a better place.”
Yan Lei told Qiao Wei, “I can’t find out where he went.”
The place he went to was beyond even the clearance level that Yan Lei had access to.
Qiao Wei nodded.
She asked Yan Fu, “Do you remember your brother?”
Yan Fu shook her head.
Her brother had left before she was old enough to remember. How could she possibly remember?
“Your brother loved you the most,” Qiao Wei told her. “When you were little, your brother would carry you around to show off, letting everyone know his little sister was the prettiest.”
Yan Fu giggled.
She thought her brother sounded very interesting.
There was a photo of her brother in the family picture frame, and Yan Fu said, “My brother is also good-looking.”
But she didn’t understand: “Where did my brother go?”
Qiao Wei stroked her head: “He went to a place that belongs to him, to be with some very smart people.”
Yan Fu actually thought she was quite smart too; her grades were always excellent.
She said, “When I grow up, I will go find him.”
Qiao Wei smiled, “Okay.”
The development plan Qiao Wei created for Bocheng County was deeply appreciated by Meng Zuoyi. He was also very gratified; the person he had mentored clearly had a train of thought that followed in his footsteps.
In fact, this was the development path Bocheng was supposed to have. In her previous life, Qiao Wei had visited several times and given special reports for Bocheng.
Therefore, she was very familiar with Bocheng’s development. She not only understood the development path but also knew about many mistakes Bocheng had made and the pitfalls it had fallen into.
In the eyes of others, Secretary Qiao had a long-term vision and great strategic depth.
The tide of reform and opening up swept across the land, changing people’s lives like sweet rain.
The old Party Secretary of Yan Village retired, and the new Party Secretary was his son.
The new Party Secretary Yan brought several people to Bocheng County to find Yan Lei and Qiao Wei, who were high-ranking officials outside, to seek help for the development of their hometown.
Party Secretary Yan’s original intention was to ask Yan Lei for help, but who knew Yan Lei would say, “In this regard, Qiao Wei has more experience.”
Hearing that Qiao Wei was already the County Party Secretary, the people from Yan Village clicked their tongues in amazement, worried that Qiao Wei was now a local despot who would look down on them.
However, Qiao Wei did not. She arranged for the people from the village to stay at the guesthouse and specifically set aside time to listen to their requests and talk with them.
Finally, the suggestion she gave was: “Contracting production to households.”
Everyone fell silent.
Qiao Wei said, “Actually, some people are already doing this. The higher-ups are not unaware. It’s just that the higher-ups haven’t finalized the plan yet. But the general direction is definitely towards opening up.”
She said, “It just depends on whether you dare to do it.”
The bold get fed, the timid starve.
The new Party Secretary smoked half a pack of cigarettes and made up his mind: “Let’s do it!”
They returned to the village, gathered the commune members, and held a secret meeting.
The commune members all pressed their fingerprints, promising that if the cadres went to jail because of this, everyone would collectively raise the cadres’ children until they were eighteen.
That year, Yan Village had a bumper harvest.
Fortunately, the cadres did not go to jail because of this.
Time continued to move forward, and the first year finally stepped into the eighties.
That elder affirmed the practice of the rural household contract responsibility system in an important speech, signaling that rural reform was imperative.
The hearts of the cadres in Yan Village were finally at ease.
Party Secretary Yan exclaimed, “Qiao Wei has a razor-sharp grasp of policy.”
Others also exclaimed, “As expected of a high-ranking official.”
“County Party Secretary!”
“Incredible. What kind of incense did our Yan Village burn? That couple—one is a division-level officer, the other is a County Party Secretary.”
“It’s truly a sign of good fortune from our ancestors.”
Cadres who had been to Bocheng County and met Yan Lei and Qiao Wei were naturally pestered with questions about what a high-ranking official’s home was really like.
“A one-story building!”
“There are orderlies and nannies.”
“Geez~ So Lei’s wife doesn’t have to do anything?”
“Do what? What do you want the County Party Secretary to do? Huh? Come back from a meeting with county cadres, tie on an apron, and wash your pots and dishes?”
Some people couldn’t help but get tempted.
The youngest son of the Yan family’s third brother was three years younger than Yan Xiang; he was fifteen now and only in the first year of junior high school.
This was only because in the letters Yan Lei sent back home, he repeatedly and strictly demanded that the family must ensure the Yan children attended school properly and received an education.
He couldn’t study at all and was forced to go to school by his grandfather.
Every day he went to school, he just slept, and was egged on by his little friends: “Your Great Uncle is so powerful, why are you still going to school?”
“If I were you, I’d go find your Great Uncle.”
“Once you go, you’ll be eating and drinking well, the orderly will cook for you, and you’ll ride in a small car when you go out.”
Teenagers are easily impulsive.
Then hearing his family discuss, saying, “Xiangyang can’t study, how about we find him a wife?”
By this time, the introduction letter system had begun to relax and was not as strict as before. One could travel far away even without an introduction letter.
He didn’t want to get married yet, so in a moment of impulse, he stole money from his parents, bought a train ticket, and went to rely on his Great Uncle who was a high-ranking official.
When Qiao Wei came home from work that day and entered the courtyard, she felt the atmosphere was off.
The auntie was standing in the yard, peering into the house. Seeing her return, she hurried over and whispered to her, “The Division Commander’s nephew is here. The Division Commander is losing his temper.”
Qiao Wei: “…”
Qiao Wei entered the house and indeed saw a teenager standing there, dejected, being lectured.
Qiao Wei smiled and said, “Oh, who is this?”
Yan Xiangyang knew this aunt was very powerful; she was the biggest official in the county. He hurriedly said, “Great Aunt, I’m Xiangyang, do you remember me?”
Although she knew that the children over there had to call her that according to their generation, Qiao Wei still felt her scalp tingle every time she heard the address “Great Aunt.”
Qiao Wei asked Yan Lei, “How come Xiangyang is here?”
Yan Lei had a foul look on his face, “You ask him.”
It turned out that Yan Xiangyang didn’t know the exact address of Yan Lei’s house; he had run here in a moment of impulse and was completely lost after getting off the train.
He wandered around everywhere, was spotted by the police, and was locked up as a vagrant.
This silly kid kept saying “My Great Uncle is a high-ranking official,” but ended up getting beaten inside and was too scared to make a sound.
Until the police came to patrol, he shouted, “My Great Uncle is a Division Commander! My Great Uncle is a Division Commander!” The police thought he was talking nonsense and ignored him completely.
The silly kid wasn’t completely stupid after all, and he remembered to say, “My Great Aunt is the County Party Secretary! My Great Uncle is a Division Commander!”
People within the system basically knew that the spouse of County Secretary Qiao was a high-ranking military officer. This finally caught the police’s attention.
They pulled him out to question him and realized, oh my, this kid might actually be the nephew of County Secretary Qiao’s spouse.
After clarifying things, they called to contact Yan Lei and brought him to the house.
Qiao Wei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
That night, they cooked a few extra dishes. Yan Xiangyang had suffered in the detention center and ate ravenously.
After eating, they had the orderly take him to the Residential Compound bathhouse to wash up, get clean, and change into clean clothes.
They let him stay for the night.
Yan Xiangyang was feeling great, thinking that coming to rely on his Great Uncle was indeed the right choice. With a Great Uncle who was a high-ranking official and a Great Aunt who was also a high-ranking official, he wouldn’t have to go to school or work in the fields in the future. Every day he would just live in a one-story building, eating and drinking well—how wonderful.
Sure enough, the first day he ate and drank well, and his Great Uncle even had the orderly take him around to see the sights and broaden his horizons.
His Great Aunt even gave him pocket money.
Yan Xiangyang felt completely comfortable and blissful.
Qiao Wei asked Yan Lei, “What do you plan to do about Xiangyang?”
Yan Lei said, “Don’t worry about it. Leave it to me.”
The nephew from home had arrived, so the proper hospitality a senior should provide had to be given. After letting Yan Xiangyang be comfortable for three days, Yan Lei grabbed him: “What do you plan to do in the future?”
Yan Xiangyang: “Huh?”
He scratched his head.
Yan Lei was speechless: “You have to do something.”
You can’t just lie on my sofa every day.
Yan Xiangyang said, “Great Uncle, you are such a big official, I can do anything; just arrange for me to be a small official.”
Yan Lei sighed up to the sky.
Every time he corresponded with his family, he emphasized education, education, education.
Unfortunately, the adults at home had no vision themselves, and the rural environment was just like that. Instead of going to school, the children wanted to run to the city to rely on their uncle who was a high-ranking official.
If all the children in the family were like this, the ancestral grave had already smoked once for him, and it probably wouldn’t smoke a second time.
“Being an official is impossible,” Yan Lei said. “There are no officials here; cadres are all servants of the people. Military cadres all fought their way up with blood. Your Great Uncle I relied on taking bullets and killing enemies to get promoted back then.”
“I cannot let you be an official. You know what I do; I am a soldier. Since you are my nephew and have come to rely on me, I won’t say anything else. I’ll send you to be a soldier.”
Yan Lei threw his own nephew into the military camp.
Yan Xiangyang’s dream was to enter the city and be the young master of a high-ranking official’s family; his dream was shattered.
Three days, three days of training in the military camp, and Yan Xiangyang begged the squad leader to take him to see his Great Uncle, crying, “I want to go home…”
In fact, at this time, the country was carrying out the fifth reorganization and downsizing of the military, referred to as disarmament.
When Yan Lei told Yan Xiangyang to be a soldier and threw him into the military camp, he didn’t actually enlist him. Instead, he signaled to the people below to let the grassroots personnel train Yan Xiangyang hard.
Yan Xiangyang clearly wasn’t cut out for studying; if he could endure and withstand hardship, Yan Lei could let him truly enlist.
Unfortunately, the old Yan family’s ancestral grave wouldn’t smoke a second time; this kid was lazy and gluttonous, and he just wasn’t the material for a soldier.
In the end, Yan Lei bought his nephew two new outfits and put him on the train home.
He drank with Regimental Commander Zhao and kept sighing, “Jun Jun is still better.”
Jun Jun had enlisted.
Although he was a bit of a brat when he was little, he had become much more steady as he grew up and was a good soldier.
Regimental Commander Zhao said, “I’ll entrust Jun Jun to you in the future.”
Yan Lei said, “Don’t worry.”
With the country downsizing the military, Zhao Dongsheng was getting older and was demobilized and transferred to civilian work.
Yan Lei and Army Commander Pan pulled strings for him, and in the end, he was assigned to a decent unit.
All good things must come to an end.
Qiao Wei went with them to the train station to see off Zhao Dongsheng’s family.
Different people have different lives; everyone is different, with different outlooks on life and values, but that didn’t prevent them from being close and warm neighbors for so many years.
Before high-rise buildings rose, for those families living in one-story houses with courtyards, a close neighbor was truly better than a distant relative.
Everyone’s eyes were moist, holding hands.
“Sister-in-law Zhao, take care.”
“Wei, you take care too.”
Thus they parted, each to their own life.
