Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 74 Homemade, not very strong

What should I do?

Xu Chunsheng knew that Secretary Li's question, though seemingly asking for his thoughts, was actually out of consideration for the feelings of the people in the brigade.

What I just said was merely an attempt to use Secretary Li's words as a starting point to exert a strong deterrent and suppress the matter.

If this matter were to be blown up and investigated, some clues would surely be found. However, this would not only cause a rift between neighbors, but also damage the reputation of the brigade. Secretary Li would certainly not allow such a thing to happen.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Chunsheng replied:

"Secretary, you've considered everything carefully, taking into account the reputation of the village and the brigade. I understand all of that."

"I am also willing to cooperate with the team to handle the matter leniently and give the person who lost the item a chance to admit their mistake."

"But I also want to make it clear that the reason this matter can be dropped is because there were no problems at the pig farm."

"If there's a next time, or if that person is still sabotaging things behind the scenes, I will absolutely not consider any sentimentality anymore. I will pursue the responsibility that needs to be pursued and compensate for the losses that need to be compensated—I will not let them off in the slightest!"

Xu Chunsheng's words not only revealed his bottom line but also gave Secretary Li ample face.

After hearing this, Party Secretary Li secretly admired Xu Chunsheng's insightful nature, unlike some impulsive young people in their twenties.

He solemnly assured Xu Chunsheng:

"Don't worry, this matter has been clarified in front of everyone in the village today. If anyone continues to cause trouble afterward, you won't even need to say a word; the village committee will be the first to deal with them and give you justice!"

After saying all this, Secretary Li had someone bring the record written today to Xu Chunsheng. The first part was about the pig farm, and the second part was the signatures and fingerprints of the people present today.

"We will issue another announcement, along with this record, and post it on the brigade's bulletin board."

The reason for doing this is twofold: first, to clearly explain the whole story to everyone and dispel rumors.

Secondly, the consequences of intentionally dumping dirty things to harm people should be written down to establish clear rules and make everyone aware of the seriousness of the matter.

The two exchanged a few more words, and then Xu Chunsheng called the others to go eat:

"Secretary Li, thanks to you and the two cadres, we were able to clarify things in front of everyone today. Otherwise, I might not be able to sell the pigs from my pig farm in the future."

"Everyone has been busy all day, so come to my house for lunch. It's a small token of my appreciation."

Party Secretary Li waved his hand, "We won't go; it wouldn't have a good impact."

Xu Chunsheng continued:

"I've invited everyone in the village. Just think of it as having a home-cooked meal with everyone. It's not like I'm treating you to a private meal, so there's nothing wrong with it."

At Xu Chunsheng's repeated invitations, and since it was indeed lunchtime and everyone was hungry after a busy morning, they decided to eat.

Only then did Party Secretary Li agree to go together.

When the group arrived, they saw that villagers were already helping to set up tables, chairs, and benches in the Xu family's courtyard, and others were helping to set up plastic sheeting for shade.

Xu's mother placed some peanuts and fruit-flavored candies on each table.

These days, candy is expensive and a rare commodity. Ordinary families usually can't afford to buy it. Everyone present knew that the price was not low, so no one dared to take more than their share.

If you have children at home, you can pick up a couple (just a few) and put them in your pocket for the kids to take home and sweeten their mouths.

Everyone is concerned about appearances. If someone takes too much, they will be talked about and looked down upon for no reason.

So everyone is very good at maintaining boundaries. If there are many children in the family, they will even say something like:

"I have a lot of kids at home, so I shamelessly picked up a couple more. Don't laugh at me, okay?"

As soon as he said this, everyone around him laughed and agreed. No one said anything more, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

With so many people coming, both stoves in the kitchen were in use, and even the earthen stove outside the bamboo shed was busy.

During the meal, Xu Chunsheng led Secretary Li and the other two to sit in the main room with Veterinarian Zhang, and also invited the village chief and several elders to join them.

Xu Chunsheng expressed his gratitude for today's events, took a sip of his homemade wine, and after a few drinks, everyone started chatting.

The elders at the table all praised Xu Chunsheng for being down-to-earth and hardworking, and for his family working from dawn till dusk cutting pig feed in the fields. They also praised him for being kind to people and for having good judgment, saying that everything they did was successful.

When the rumors about the pig farm came up again, the group shook their heads, feeling that the gossip was outrageous. Even though it had been clarified that day, people were still making wild guesses.

Zhang, the veterinarian, doesn't drink alcohol, but was persuaded by Xu's father to take a sip, and his tongue became slurred.

"Such a large pig farm is spotless, cleaned and sterilized in every way, yet it was somehow dumped with dirty things and maliciously smeared. The people who did these things are really despicable."

This drew frequent nods from the people at the table.

And the older generation, even more frankly, said:

"If I hear anyone talking nonsense again, I'll be the first to teach them a lesson."

Party Secretary Li took a bite of food and offered his support:

"Seeing is believing. No matter who is spreading rumors and talking nonsense, everyone should stop them. We must not let these evil practices ruin the reputation of our village."

Another round of agreement erupted at the table.

Xu Chunsheng walked around the table pouring wine for everyone:

"Drink as much as you like, it's homemade wine, so it doesn't have much alcohol."

……

Since no one at the table dared to urge Secretary Li and the two cadres to drink, except for Xu Chunsheng who offered a toast at the beginning, they stopped drinking afterward, citing other matters they had to attend to in the afternoon. As a result, they were all still sober after the meal.

After the meal, the group was in a hurry to leave. Xu Chunsheng drove his tricycle to take the two cadres and Zhang the veterinarian back home. As for Secretary Li, he rode his motorcycle back to his office.

After the meal, apart from those who had work to do in the afternoon and left, there were still quite a few people chatting together in the Xu family courtyard.

"The food at Xu Hongjun's house is really good. Look at that plate of twice-cooked pork just now. It's so fatty. I haven't eaten such a filling amount of meat in a long time. It's really delicious."

"I'd only heard the workers say how good the food was before, and today I finally got to eat there myself. The portions were really generous."

"When will we be able to eat meat every meal? Not just enough to fill us up, but also to eat well!"

"You're dreaming! In this day and age, we're lucky if we can even get enough to eat."

……

After Xu Chunsheng took Zhang the veterinarian back to the livestock station, he kept thinking on the way back what to do if someone else threw dirty things away? How could he catch the person?

This incident has taught me a lesson; I can no longer take shortcuts when it comes to things like collecting pig feed.

We still have to collect the pigs at home. We'd rather have our own people work harder and then transport them from home to the pig farm, in order to reduce the flow of people to the pig farm.

While Xu Chunsheng was still on the road, he encountered Cheng Runshu heading towards Xujia Village.

He stopped the car and asked:

"Runshu, what are you doing here?"