Chapter 320: Hear Me Out!
Once the surprise over the usefulness of this contraption passed, the village chief continued, “The reason I called you all here today is to announce a very important matter. First, allow me to introduce the man beside me—this is Clerk Meng from the yamen. From today onward, Clerk Meng will be in charge of all matters related to the collective industries in our Gutong Village.”
As the village chief finished speaking, a stir rippled through the crowd below. Even though most of them had caught wind of a few rumors long ago, now that the moment was truly upon them, many were still left thoroughly bewildered.
The village chief quickly raised his hand to calm everyone down and added, “Some of you might not know what a collective industry is yet. Calling you all here today is precisely to explain it properly to everyone…”
And so, standing atop the makeshift platform built from tables, the village chief rattled on continuously, laying out all the details of the production teams and collective industries for the village to hear, speaking with eloquent fluency.
The members of the Wen family were already well aware of this matter. Being here was merely a matter of listening to it once more. Unable to stop herself from yawning, Wen Yao whispered under her breath to Wen Xiuyi, “This village chief truly has a silver tongue. With him painting a picture like this, I doubt a single person in our village will object.”
The village chief’s skill at painting a grand vision could almost match that of modern leaders; the immense, tantalizing vision flowing from his lips was enough to stuff a person to bursting.
In particular, the village chief placed heavy emphasis on the benefits of the collective industries. Hearing that every household would be able to receive money in the future, who wouldn’t grow excited? Who wouldn’t be overjoyed?
As for how that money would be divided or what standard would be used, not a single word was mentioned!
“What do you know? Only by letting them see the benefits first can things proceed smoothly afterward. Otherwise, do you think if we started off by telling every household to contribute labor for collective work right from the get-go, they would be willing?” Old Madam Luo chimed in upon overhearing the father and daughter. After speaking, she scanned her surroundings, and seeing her granddaughter’s complete lack of interest, she waved her large hand.
“Yao Yao, Wen Di, Wen Ying—let’s go home! You two stay here and continue. I’ll take the three of them back first.” With that, disregarding whatever the village chief was saying on the platform, Old Madam Luo led her three granddaughters around the back and departed silently.
Looking back after walking a distance away, the dense, black mass of people made quite a grand spectacle. For a brief moment, the sight gave Wen Yao an illusion—as if she had returned to the days when she went down to the countryside with Professor Wen.
“Second Sister, what are you looking at?” Following her gaze, Wen Ying saw nothing but a massive crowd of people.
Wen Yao smiled faintly: “I am looking at hope.”
Such a sentimental sentence drew an instant wave of sharp criticism from Old Madam Luo: “Hope, indeed! As long as it doesn’t turn out to be a disaster, that’ll be enough. This method your father came up with is good, but just you watch—once it gets implemented later on, there will be endless problems.”
Wen Yao stepped forward to link arms with the old lady, saying, “The more problems, the better! Roads are paved by people walking them, and experience is built up over time. If a problem pops up, we fix it—there will always be a day when it reaches perfection.”
“Sigh, I’ll leave you all to it. I can’t control you anyway. But if anyone dares jump out at a time like this to sing a different tune and block your father’s path, just watch if I don’t tear him apart,” Old Madam Luo grunted. If anyone dared obstruct her eldest son’s highway to success, she would handle them until they could only walk narrow side paths from then on.
The village chief exerted every ounce of his strength, talking until his throat was dry and drinking refills of tea countless times, before he finally broke down the matter of the collective industries and explained it crystal clear to the villagers.
Seeing the sun high in the sky and feeling his stomach rumbling loudly, the village chief could no longer hold out either, unwilling to waste any more breath.
“I’ve said everything that needs to be said. It’s noon now, and we can’t make Clerk Meng stay here with us to waste time. All of you go home and think it over! Once you’ve thought it through and understood it, register with Clerk Meng. In a few days, the new land planning from the county yamen will come down, and we’ll know where our village’s collective land is located. Once work begins, work points will start being recorded. Whether you get more or less directly affects how much money you can receive in the future! Go home and ponder it yourselves!”
With that, the village chief and Clerk Meng stepped down from the platform, walking up to the members of the Wen family, entirely disregarding the noisy clamor of the villagers behind them as they set off.
All they wanted right now was to head home and eat a meal.
To entertain Clerk Meng, the meal was eaten at the Wen residence, and the village chief tagged along to score a meal as well.
Clerk Meng had long heard that the food at Lord Wen’s house was delicious, and today he finally had the chance to feast to his heart’s content.
During the meal, Wen Xiuyi asked the village chief, “Village Chief, now that Little Meng has been assigned to our village, is there a place in the village for him to stay?”
Magistrate Chen and Wen Xiuyi had handpicked the clerks from the county yamen and assigned them to various villages. This clerk named Meng was actually recommended to Wen Xiuyi by Magistrate Chen, who said the young man was quite young, yet steady and reliable in handling affairs. Naturally, the best candidate was prioritized to be kept for Gutong Village.
Clerk Meng’s full name was Meng Chengguang, a shy young man of merely twenty. Hearing this, he looked toward the village chief with burning eyes. In truth, he preferred staying at Lord Wen’s house in his heart!
The village chief nodded hurriedly: “It’s all arranged, all arranged! My family happens to have a vacant room, which I reserved for Little Lord Meng. My wife has already cleaned it up, so Little Lord Meng can move in anytime.”
A surge of disappointment washed over Clerk Meng’s heart. Ah…
Yet his mood quickly brightened again—they were all living in the same village anyway, and in the future, he would inevitably have to consult Lord Wen on many matters. Hehehe…
At this thought, the young man cheered up, hurriedly offering his thanks to the village chief while promising that he would certainly work with all his heart and mind in the future. Only then did everyone continue eating.
After finishing the meal, the village chief led Clerk Meng to his house to look at the room, while the members of the Wen family sat in the courtyard to digest their food, chatting and resting along the way. After all, they each had their own chores to attend to in the afternoon.
Wen Yao couldn’t help asking, “Dad, can Clerk Meng handle everything on his own?” A standard production team back then had various team leaders, sub-captains, accountants, and a whole crowd of people. Now, with no extra hands available, most of the work would fall squarely onto this young fellow Meng alone.
Wen Xiuyi didn’t want it to be this way either, but: “The yamen ran out of people! Your Uncle Chen is almost stressing himself bald over this. Recruiting new people isn’t easy either—can just anyone be hired into the yamen? Sigh, and hardly anyone in the village can read or write.” The few people in the village who were literate were all in his family, but they couldn’t possibly make several children do this work, could they?
Carrying her small wooden stool, Wen Yao shuffled closer bit by bit and whispered, “If you want to get rich, build roads first; education changes destiny, and culture crafts the future. Dad, now that production has caught up, education certainly can’t be left behind!”
Whenever Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo saw the father and daughter huddled together whispering nowadays, their eyelids would twitch incessantly.
“What are you two whispering about again?” Old Man Wen asked.
Wen Yao shot a sly smile at Wen Xiuyi, calling back loudly in response, “Grandpa, my dad asked if our village ought to build a school!”
Wen Xiuyi was left flabbergasted.
When on earth did I say that?!
Old Man Wen gasped sharply, his eyes glaring straight at Wen Xiuyi after a moment of stunned silence.
Seeing the hand holding his pipe gradually tighten, Wen Xiuyi suddenly felt a wave of numbness wash over his scalp, hurriedly leaning closer to explain, “Dad! Dad, hear me out! Hear me out! Actually… what Yao Yao said isn’t entirely without reason…”
