Chapter 349 Snowman
In China in 1995, the spring breeze was still blowing.

Marked by the designer's important speech and the 57600th National Congress, reform and opening up and the "four modernizations" entered a new stage of development. The main tasks of the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" were overfulfilled, and the gross national product reached 12 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 2000%. The original goal of doubling the GDP by 1980 compared with was achieved five years ahead of schedule.

Behind these boring data is the most powerful proof that the lives of the Chinese people are getting better day by day. However, we have to admit that this is indeed an era full of contradictions.

In the cities, private enterprises flourished, individual industrial and commercial households increased rapidly, and countless business giants of later generations went into business to try to find new businesses. Speculation in stocks, land, and real estate, and the construction of economic development zones were in full swing. However, the older generation of workers were faced with a wave of layoffs, and their iron rice bowls were completely smashed. The reform of state-owned enterprises, which was carried out by feeling their way forward, was always faced with the problem of loss of state-owned assets.

In rural areas, the small peasant economy experienced a recovery in the 80s due to the implementation of the household contract responsibility system. However, after entering the 90s, under the policy of "three increases and five unifications", the burden on farmers became increasingly heavier, farming became less and less profitable, and farmers' lives became increasingly difficult. The three rural issues began to emerge and, like the wave of layoffs in cities, became the collective memory of the Chinese people at the end of the last century.

However, at the beginning of the 21st century, after my country joined the WTO, it embarked on the grand journey of becoming the world's factory. Thousands of people rushed to coastal areas to work, the tertiary industry developed rapidly, and the urbanization process was rapidly promoted. In such a context, the three rural issues had to give way.

Because most of the young and middle-aged people in rural areas flowed into cities, rural areas gradually withered and rural issues gradually faded from people's sight. Until when external demand was blocked and the beacon country on the other side of the ocean stopped playing with us and stopped letting us drink soup, we realized that we needed to boost domestic demand, revitalize rural areas and vigorously develop internal circulation, but rural hollowing out was already quite serious.

Young and strong laborers in rural areas have rushed to cities and other places to work and do business, resulting in the rapid transfer of young and strong people. The countryside has become a 993861 army, that is, 99 elderly people, 38 women, and 61 children. According to the series of reports on "Class and Strata Changes in Contemporary China", 67.91% of pure farmers were employees or wage earners, that is, they worked and finally returned to the countryside to farm. Most of them had worked outside for several years and returned to their hometowns to farm because they could no longer continue to work due to age and other reasons.

Some people think that traditional rural China has collapsed because of this; others think that this is a historical opportunity and a new era of agricultural and rural modernization will begin. In fact, no matter which answer is true, rural China is no longer what it used to be. It has reached a crossroads that will determine its future destiny.

However, in China in the mid-1990s, not many people would have noticed this. Apart from Zhang Yunqi, not many people would have thought that while reform and opening up had promoted great strides in social and economic development, the peasant group was quickly submerged by the huge waves of history.

Of course, Zhang Yunqi's foresight may not be of much use to his country and his family. Many times, he really wants to say more about these hidden structural problems, but he is just an ordinary person among the masses. Who should he tell such a grand narrative to? Who will believe it and use it?
Reality is often more powerful than what he says.

In fact, what he can do and think about is how Yunxi Village should go in the future, and how his hometown can avoid the three rural issues in the future. As for the world, the hidden ills of overspeed development are like a long scroll of metaphors deliberately written by the times, and there will always be a day when the truth will be revealed.

Zhang Yunqi spent this year's Spring Festival in his hometown.

On the day after the Little New Year, he drove his family back to Yunxi.

Starting from the Little New Year, the Zhang family must stay in their hometown for at least ten days, and they must have a place to live. The old yard at home was renovated last year and was temporarily used as the office space of the Yunxi Village Cooperative. Now the cooperative has moved to the village committee, and the old yard has been vacant, but it needs to be sorted and cleaned.

These matters were taken care of by Zhang's parents, so it was not Zhang Yunqi's turn to worry about them. They just told him to go to the town to buy some things tomorrow. He arrived in the village for less than half an hour and, accompanied by Zhang Haijun, chairman of the cooperative, and Niu Fen, manager of the supply chain division of Longjingyuan, went to the agricultural industrial park at the entrance of the village.

The Longjingyuan Agricultural Industrial Park was launched less than two months ago, and the current conditions are relatively difficult. The first phase of the project was completed not long ago, and only the staff apartments and office buildings were built. The rest are large flat factories, including food preparation workshops, freezing workshops, canning workshops, bulk auxiliary material warehouses, material warehouses, finished product warehouses, cold storage and screening workshop greenhouses, boiler rooms, etc.

At present, all three production lines have been pulled over, which can accommodate thousands of assembly line workers. Due to the snowstorm, the production line is currently suspended. As for the second phase of construction, it will have to wait until the spring to start.

The Longjingyuan Agricultural Industrial Park is very large, with a processing park of 150 mu and two production bases totaling 4000 mu. Zhang Haijun told Zhang Yunqi that all the more than 4000 mu of arable land has been transferred in a centralized manner, with a transfer period of 20 years. Zhang Haijun said, "Now there is a problem. People in our village do not want land transfer fees, but take land as shares. What do you think?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled. He still remembered how he had gone to great lengths to get villagers to take out loans and buy shares in the cooperative in order to carry out the agricultural and commercial cooperation project at the beginning of last year. Now, enjoying the dividends from the cooperative shares and the income from the underwriting contract, they have set their sights on the long-term and want to increase capital and expand shares in the Yunxi Village Cooperative. However, without his approval, it would be difficult for the people below to carry out this matter.

Currently, in the equity structure of Yunxi Village Cooperative, Liansheng holds 60% and the villagers of Yunxi Village hold 40%. Zhang Yunqi believes that the villagers in his hometown used the land as the price to increase the capital and expand the shares of Yunxi Village Cooperative simply because they are optimistic about the future development of Longjingyuan Agricultural Industrial Park and want to get long-term benefits through dividends, rather than for the controlling rights of the cooperative. Of course, even if this is not the case, Liansheng has a way to deal with it.

Zhang Yunqi said, "Uncle, you should talk to Mr. Li Jilin about this matter. Our village needs huge funds for its development. Liansheng can just increase its capital in the form of cash investment according to the shareholding ratio."

On the way back, Zhang Yunqi saw a row of sheds selling Japanese goods, night snack stalls, and bungalows that were laying foundations on the roadside outside the industrial park. He said to Zhang Haijun, "Uncle, are there many people from our village working outside the village now?" Zhang Haijun said, "There are quite a lot this year, but I estimate there will be fewer next year. Now young people have something to do in the village and have a future. They can work in the industrial park and planting base, or they can set up stalls outside the industrial park to sell things. There are so many workers in Longjingyuan who have to eat, drink, defecate and urinate every day, which also brings business opportunities to the villagers. Anyway, everyone can make money at home now, so who would be willing to go out of town to suffer?"

Everybody laughed.

We had lunch at Zhang Haijun's house.

Ji Ling is here too. She has been in Yunxi Village recently.

Shortly after the winter vacation, Ji Ling stayed in the provincial capital Lijin for a while, and then returned to Jiangchuan. She happened to attend the wedding of Zhang Xiaonan and Zhang Yunfeng. She also went back to Yunxi Village, but because of the snowstorm, she has been stranded here ever since.

Zhang Yunqi was very busy and had not seen Ji Ling much during this winter vacation. After having lunch at Zhang Haijun's house, Zhang Xiaoxiao, who was not willing to be quiet for a moment, took Ji Ling to build a snowman in the threshing ground not far from the door.

Zhang Yunqi also went there.

It was a windless afternoon. The earth and the village were covered with thick snow. There were no birds or animals in the fields. Everything was quiet. In the vast wilderness, the grass and trees were withered, the mountains were cold and the water was thin.

Deep inside Yunxi Village, every household opened their doors, pasted Spring Festival couplets, shook glutinous rice cakes, and slaughtered pigs for the New Year. Pillars of smoke filled with the flavor of the New Year rose from the chimneys of the mud houses. Mud dogs spit out blood-red tongues and spew white mist from their mouths as they ran across the snow. Sparrows with nowhere to find food crowded under the eaves, chirping non-stop out of hunger...

Ji Ling was making a snowman with Xiao Xiao. Xiao Xiao's little face was flushed. She was a child at heart, clapping her hands and jumping around with great joy.

Ji Ling saw Zhang Yunqi standing aside smoking, his eyes looking at the vast wilderness, as if he was thinking about life. She picked up a handful of snowballs and threw them over, hitting Zhang Yunqi right on the face. Then she smiled so hard that her big eyes narrowed: "Xiao Zhang, why didn't you bring Chu Jian back?"

Zhang Yunqi didn't quite know how to answer.

He patted the snow off his face and looked at Ji Ling. Ji Ling was wearing a white spotted sweater with a black windbreaker, navy blue jeans, and pure white Nikes. Her short hair was delicate and clean in the sun, and her clear little face seemed nonchalant, but this girl always gave people a simple, pure and peaceful feeling.

Zhang Yunqi said: "I will stay in the village until the New Year, and Chu Jian will celebrate the New Year with his family. Will you celebrate the New Year in the village this year?"

Ji Ling nodded: "Yes, Comrade Ji will come in a few days."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "I haven't seen your father for a long time." After a pause, he said, "Ji Ling, there is something I want to tell you, but I don't know if you know it."

"what?"

"I'm with Chu Jian."

"I know. Everyone in the school knows about it, how could I not know?" Ji Ling paused for a moment while pinching the snowman, and a smile quickly appeared on her delicate little face.

Seeing Zhang Yunqi standing there motionless and silent, she stood up, tiptoed and reached out to mess up his hair, then took a step back, put her hands behind her back, and smiled: "It's a good first meeting. She is a sensitive girl, Xiao Zhang, you must treat her well in the future, at least better than you treat me."

(End of this chapter)