Chapter 328: Growing Up Liu Erdai

In mid-July, five natural villages located in the impoverished mountainous areas in the northwest and southwest of Beijing - Tangjiawa, Dawangzhuang, Xiaowangzhuang, Mengjiay and Wangye Temple - were merged with Liujiazhuang.

This change caused quite a stir in the western part of Beijing. Some villages were overjoyed, while others were in an uproar, because everyone wanted to be a member of Liujiazhuang and live a good life from then on.

After the merger, Liujiazhuang has a vast territory, covering hundreds of square kilometers, spanning the Yanshan Mountains in the northwest of Beijing and the Taihang Mountains in the southwest of Beijing. It is shaped like a willow leaf and is spectacular.

At this point, some areas in western Beijing have been effectively integrated in terms of resources and population, and the living conditions of the surrounding mountain people have also been significantly improved.

After several village mergers, the population of Liujiazhuang has grown significantly. The original small village of only a few thousand people has now developed into a large family with nearly 20,000 local residents.

Although the cultural quality of the newly added population has yet to be improved, it undoubtedly brings a glimmer of hope to Liujiazhuang's labor shortage problem.

Of course, merging villages and towns is not an easy task. The first priority is to solve the problem of food and accommodation for the villagers.

They must be ensured to be able to live and work well in their new environment, have stable housing and adequate food.

Secondly, the employment issue cannot be ignored. It is necessary to provide villagers with suitable jobs so that they can be self-sufficient and realize their self-worth in the new community.

Finally, the welfare of the villagers must also be properly addressed. Only in this way can the merger of villages and towns truly take root and the villagers can live a happy and stable life in their new homes.

Therefore, the reorganized village committee (including the newly joined cadres) reached a consensus. Drawing on the experience of previous village mergers, they decided to adopt a three-step strategy.

The first step is to add some of the able-bodied laborers from these villages to the industrial and agricultural production center of Liujiazhuang, while the remaining population will continue to maintain their original agricultural production for the time being.

The second step is to build a unified residential community to provide a comfortable living environment for people who move there.

At the same time, we actively implement literacy knowledge re-education and vocational training to help new villagers better integrate into Liujiazhuang and start a new life.

The third step is to complete the relocation of the population, which is expected to be completed before the beginning of next year.

The newly influx of population, limited by their cultural literacy, first engaged in hard work in agriculture, animal husbandry, and planting, taking over the villagers who had been educated and trained for many years in Liujiazhuang, and solving the problem of insufficient labor force in industrial production.

In the future, Liujiazhuang will present a new and different scene. Except for the elderly and children, the rest of the aborigines are actively engaged in industrial production.

Every household, whether it is a family with two, three, four or five employees, has become the new normal in this small town.

The remaining villagers in Liujiazhuang who are not workers have mostly taken up management and technical positions, such as managers and technicians in industries such as Chinese herbal medicine cultivation, fruit cultivation, greenhouse cultivation, animal husbandry, and rice field cultivation.

Liu Zhiye's uncle is such a role model. Today, he has become a leader in the village's breeding industry, leading a professional breeding team of 500 people.

"An egg and a glass of milk every day." Liu Yuansheng made this bold statement at the work plan report meeting at the beginning of the year.

Uncle, you're not exaggerating. The breeding industry in Liujiazhuang really has hope of achieving this goal this year.

Let every villager enjoy an egg and a glass of milk every day. From the perspective of modern society, this is a very easy wish to achieve.

In fact, this is not the case. In fact, it contains huge challenges. Under the current production level, this is still a remarkable achievement.

In Liujiazhuang, the pace of life is obviously much faster than in other places, which makes it a little difficult for the villagers who joined later to adapt at first.

They may have thought that the lifestyle here was similar to their original one, with only much better conditions at most. But when they actually set foot on this land, they discovered that the hustle and bustle here was far beyond their imagination.

Every morning in this village, people start to get busy from around 7 o'clock. Students rush to school, and workers ride bicycles to call friends to go to the factory together.

At this moment, they gathered into streams like trickles, shuttling through the streets and alleys of the village.

This is a time of vitality and vigor, and everyone is working hard for their lives.

An uninformed bystander might mistakenly think they are in a bustling city when seeing the spectacular sight of such a huge flow of people.

However, this is only a scene seen in Liujiazhuang. People get up early and start a new day busily, going to school or work, and striding to their respective posts with their heads held high.

In this era of change, although the new villagers felt a little uncomfortable as they had just arrived, they saw the dawn of poverty alleviation and prosperity, as if the door to a new world had been opened for them.

With the advancement of the policy of merging villages and towns, and the continued prosperity of industry and agriculture, the population of 40,000 originally expected at the beginning of the year has been exceeded in just seven months, indicating that it is expected to climb to 50,000 by the end of the year.

The population of this village is expected to reach more than 22,000 people, mainly from new residents of villages and towns that have been merged, as well as skilled immigrants from factories and schools.

In addition, there are employees from more than 30 factories and enterprises, as well as teachers and students from various schools, and the total number of floating population is close to 30,000.

In fact, the task of managing tens of thousands of people is completely different from that of managing only a few hundred or a few thousand people. The pressure on the village committee is increasing year by year, like a huge rock pressing down on their heads.

The third uncle Liu Yuanhai expressed his helplessness in front of Liu Zhiye many times: "Zhiye, my old bones are really a bit powerless. I sincerely hope that the young people can grow up quickly, so that I can retire and enjoy my life!"

Liu Zhiye also knew that this was indeed asking too much. Although the third uncle was capable, he only had a primary school diploma. He later taught himself junior high school education because he was too old to continue studying.

This was the limit of his ability. Uncle Sanye was born into a peasant family. He was able to manage a village of several thousand people with ease.

Under the leadership of Liu Yuanhai in recent years, all aspects of the village have been thriving and the living standards of the villagers have undergone tremendous changes. Although Liu Zhiye has contributed most of the credit, he is still qualified as a leader.

However, with the changing times, Liujiazhuang is gradually moving towards industrialization. The population is increasing and the pace of urbanization is accelerating year by year.

This made Liu Yuanhai feel unprecedented pressure. He was well aware that his abilities and experience were limited. He might be able to cope with managing an agricultural village of a few thousand people, but faced with the urbanization of tens of thousands of people and the increasingly complex industrialization process, he was really unable to cope.

Although Liu Zhiye was well aware of the Third Uncle's situation, he still tried hard to persuade him to hold on for a few more years.

If Liu Yuanhai chooses to let go at this moment, the person who replaces him may no longer be a local who is familiar with Liujiazhuang, but more likely an outsider cadre.

Liu Zhiye would never allow such a thing to happen. Everything he had carefully planned for many years might go to waste because of a temporary policy change.

He firmly believes that as long as they are given enough time, the young people whom he has devoted his efforts to train will surely emerge and become the backbone of Liujiazhuang.

By then, the Third Uncle can retire behind the scenes and enjoy his life. But before that, he must stick to his post and firmly grasp the right to speak.

After Liu Zhiye's repeated and earnest persuasion, Liu Yuanhai finally realized his importance.

He understood that for the future of the Liu family and the prosperity of Liujiazhuang, he had to grit his teeth and hold on for a few more years. He also understood that this was his responsibility and his glorious mission.

In order to ensure that Liujiazhuang remains under the control of the Liu family in the future, Liu Yuanhai adopted Liu Zhiye's suggestion and decided to add multiple functional departments to the management of the village committee.

In this way, people of the Liu family will have more opportunities to occupy these key positions, thus ensuring the long-term stability of the Liu family's interests.

For example, in Liujiazhuang, Uncle Liu Yuansheng is a very influential person.

He is not only a member of the village committee, but also serves as the animal husbandry committee member, responsible for presiding over the development of animal husbandry in the village.

Uncle Liu Yuansheng also enjoys a high reputation among the villagers, and his decision-making and leadership abilities are widely recognized by the villagers.

Liu Zhiye's elder sister, Liu Cuiyu, is the new general manager of the village's transportation company. She holds important responsibilities and also serves as the transportation committee member of the village committee.

His brother-in-law Liu Fusheng holds several positions. He is not only a member of the village committee, but also the armed forces minister, the commander of the militia, and the head of the public security department, holding great power.

The other management of Liujiazhuang is Liu Yuanqi, the chief financial officer. He is in charge of the village’s financial power and every expenditure must be strictly reviewed by him.

The village director is Liu Yuanbin, Liu Yuanhai's deputy, who is responsible for the daily operation and management of the entire village. The women's director is Liu Hongshen's wife Ma Cuiling, who is usually carefree, enthusiastic and generous, never offending anyone, and always caring about the lives and rights of women in the village.

Liu Shulei, the head of the Environmental Sanitation Section, is the leader of the "Eight Vajras" under Liu Zhiye. He is now in charge of the village's environmental health and will be one of the main forces of the Liu family in the political arena in the future.

Liu Shuming, the head of the Industrial Section, is well-educated and is the third of the "Eight Vajras" under Liu Zhiye. He is mainly responsible for developing the village's industry.

Liu Shujia, the chief of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Section, will be known as one of the Liu family's "Four Generals" in the future. He is also one of the talents carefully cultivated by Liu Zhiye and will be trained as a leader in agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery in the future.

The head of the commerce section, Liu Shulin, the second of the "Eight Vajras", is smart and good at communication. He is in charge of the commercial exchanges and cooperation between Liujiazhuang and the outside world.

They are currently members of the Liujiazhuang Village Committee and are the reserve force that Liu Zhiye has carefully cultivated for the future.

In addition, there are my younger brothers Liu Zhitai, Liu Tielin, my younger sister Liu Zhiruo who is in college, and my younger sisters-in-law He Hongmei and Guo Lin.

The development of these people is what Liu Zhiye cares most about.

After graduating from Medical University, Liu Zhitai and his wife He Hongmei joined hands in entering the gate of Union Hospital and began their medical career.

He is a gifted medical genius who has a great passion for medicine.

Even in the midst of his busy work, Liu Zhitai still demonstrated amazing learning ability and successfully obtained a master's degree in Western medicine in just two years.

Today, Liu Zhitai continues to carry his infinite love and pursuit for medicine, and is preparing to embark on a study abroad journey to East Germany to challenge a higher level of medical doctorate.

Liu Zhitai decided to study abroad, a decision that was firmly supported by his wife He Hongmei.

Not only that, his parents, siblings, and even father-in-law all lent a hand and helped.

His father-in-law, He Zhiyan, is now a leader in the domestic medical community. He studied in Europe and the United States and has accumulated rich academic experience and network resources. In the East German medical community, his network of contacts should not be underestimated.

He Zhiyan regarded Liu Zhitai as his successor and devoted all his efforts to his training.

Liu Zhiye also had high hopes for him and regarded him as the future leader in the field of Liu's medicine and health. This poor family with a rich road was deeply afraid that Liu Zhitai would suffer in a foreign country.

So Liu Zhiye silently prepared twenty large yellow croakers for him, because only hard currency was useful abroad.

Therefore, in this future journey of life, Liu Zhitai is not alone, and the support of his family has become his most solid backing.

Although Liu Zhitai's progress is surprising, his family members have long been accustomed to it.

He has been studious since he was young, with no distractions and full concentration. His path to success had long been expected by his family, but they did not expect him to be so amazing.

However, Liu Tielin's changes brought the most unexpected surprise to his family.

Liu Tielin was naughty and playful since he was young. Although he was smart, he was not good at studying. After graduating from junior high school until Liu Zhiye returned home, he just lived in the village. People in the village said that he was like Liu Zhiye.

However, he is still different from his brother Liu Zhiye. Although Liu Zhiye is wild, he is also smart and studious. When he was a student, he was concerned about the country and the people and had great ambitions for revenge.

Later, Liu Zhitai successfully became a security guard with his outstanding performance. His talents and courage were further demonstrated in the special police team and he stood out.

But when he met his lover Guo Lin, it was as if he suddenly became enlightened, and his life began to shine with new brilliance.

Liu Zhitai has been a police officer for five years. He is brave and hardworking, and has made outstanding contributions. He has won three third-class merits and one second-class merit. He has been awarded many honors and commendations. He has been commended by the public security system every year, and his heroic deeds have been praised in the Beijing Branch.

In the second year of serving as a public security special police, he studied on his own and was admitted to the Beijing Police College, where he received non-stop professional training.

This year, with the encouragement of his father-in-law, Liu Zhitai embarked on the road of studying again. He chose the University of Political Science and Law to continue his studies, determined to improve his resume and lay a solid foundation for his future development in the police industry.

Compared with Liu Zhitai, Liu Tielin's changes are particularly significant, which is closely related to his family environment.

My elder brother Liu Zhiye was a top student in high school. Although he joined the army after graduation, he applied to the China University of Political Science and Law after he was demobilized. He would now graduate with a master's degree, which was called a Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty.

The second elder brother, Liu Zhitai, was a medical genius and was about to go abroad to study for a doctorate in medicine. This was equivalent to winning the top three places in the imperial examinations and becoming an academician of the Hanlin Academy.

Not to mention the younger sister Liu Zhiruo, who was a top student among top students. She stood out from many students as the top scorer in the college entrance examination in Beijing and became a top student at Beijing University.

Her future is destined to be extraordinary. She may become a university professor, or enter politics and become a high-ranking official.

The old man in the family was a scholar at a young age, but after becoming disappointed with the Qing Dynasty, he chose to become a doctor.

My father, Liu Yuansheng, of the previous generation, was only a junior high school student, but that was a junior high school in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, which was even rarer than today's high school students.

My second uncle Liu Jingzhai was even more amazing. He graduated from high school during the Beiyang period and was considered a talented person of his time.

However, due to the turbulent times, he had to give up the opportunity to continue his studies. Even so, he still insisted on his teaching position and worked as a Chinese teacher at the famous No. 22 High School in Beijing for more than ten years.

Other family members are also outstanding. My eldest sister-in-law, Gan Ning, is a talented woman from Beijing University. She is now the secretary of the Youth League Committee at the section level. She is talented and admired by everyone.

My second sister-in-law, He Hongmei, graduated from a medical university and is now the attending physician in the Department of Gynecology at Union Hospital. She has superb medical skills and is highly trusted by patients.

Although my elder sister Liu Cuiyu also graduated from junior high school, she not only successfully entered the adult education program of Beijing Business College, but also became the head of a transportation company, holding great power and managing hundreds of vehicles and hundreds of employees.

Even Liu Tielin's girlfriend, Guo Lin, graduated from a regular police academy. She is the deputy captain of the female special police team. She is very skilled and full of sense of justice.

Even the two mothers graduated from primary school. Now they have passed the village night school education and obtained adult junior high school employment.

So in Liu Tielin's big family, there are so many talented people, each with their own strengths.

In such a family environment with profound cultural heritage, the influence Liu Tielin received was undoubtedly profound.

In the whole family, Liu Tielin had the lowest educational level, so he learned from his mistakes and made up his mind to embark on a new journey of learning with more determined steps.

The youngest of Liu Zhiye's generation is his sister Liu Zhiruo.

However, Liu Zhiye never had any worries about her studies and career.

But he knew that although Liu Zhiruo was the youngest, he was smart and had perseverance and wisdom beyond ordinary people.

However, Liu Zhiruo's emotional problems have always been a stone in his heart, making it difficult for him to let go.

To be honest, Liu Zhiye didn't think from the bottom of his heart that Li Shengli was the ideal destination for Liu Zhiruo.

He felt that a high-ranking official family like Li Shengli had too many rules, which was undoubtedly a cage for the innocent and free-spirited Liu Zhiruo.

Liu Zhiye was worried that she would feel wronged and depressed in such an environment and would live an unhappy life in the future.

Moreover, Liu Zhiye did not want to have a close relationship with his family too soon. He did not want to continue the marriage with the Li family, fearing that he would be implicated.

Besides, with the current financial resources of the Liu family, no matter what kind of family Liu Zhiruo chooses, Liu Zhiye has the ability to let her live a carefree life, so there is really no need to take this risk.

(End of this chapter)