Chapter 369: Deciding by Drawing Lots

Village Chief Liang knew that Secretary Zhou had seen he wanted to speak with Zhou Yimin privately, which was why he’d sent the brigade leader away. He felt quite grateful toward his fellow official.

“Village Chief Liang, is there something you need? Feel free to get straight to the point,” said Zhou Yimin.

He’d already noticed Village Chief Liang’s hesitant expression earlier and knew there was definitely something on his mind.

“Yimin, is it alright if I call you that?” Village Chief Liang asked cautiously.

He was afraid of offending the man—if things went wrong, the food exchange might fall through.

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Of course.”

It was just a form of address, and Village Chief Liang was older than him. Calling him Yimin was no issue at all.

“Yimin, our village has some cured meat. I wonder if you could help us exchange it for grain?” Village Chief Liang asked earnestly.

He truly couldn’t think of any other way and had no choice but to seek Zhou Yimin’s help.

He had deliberately looked into Zhou Yimin’s background, and the more he learned, the more he realized just how capable the man was.

Zhou Yimin put on a troubled expression. “Village Chief Liang, about how much cured meat do you have, and how much grain are you hoping to get in exchange? If it’s a large amount, I may not be able to manage it.”

He wasn’t too familiar with Shuangtian Village yet, so he didn’t dare trade too much grain at once in case it stirred up trouble.

“Not much. The village has about a hundred jin of cured meat. We’re not sure how much grain it can be exchanged for,” Village Chief Liang said in a soft voice.

Zhou Yimin did some quick thinking. One hundred jin of cured meat currently sold for about 1.5 yuan per jin—that’d be 150 yuan. He couldn’t use the old exchange rate anymore.

“You can exchange it for 3,500 jin of sweet potatoes or potatoes. Would that work?”

Village Chief Liang’s face lit up at once. “Of course! We’ll take the sweet potatoes.”

That amount far exceeded his expectations. He’d thought getting even 1,000 or 2,000 jin would be good. He hadn’t expected to get 3,500 jin of grain—almost double.

“Yimin, when do you think the grain could arrive?”

He didn’t want to push, but the village’s grain stores were running dangerously low—there was no other choice.

“In a few days. I can’t get away at the moment,” Zhou Yimin replied after a moment’s thought.

He wanted to finish setting up the greenhouse before delivering the grain. Plus, he didn’t want Shuangtian Village folks to know that he could so easily obtain so much grain.

“Alright, thank you so much. Without you, we wouldn’t even know what to do,” Village Chief Liang said gratefully.

With heartfelt thanks, he didn’t even stay for a meal and rushed back to share the good news with the village.

After Village Chief Liang left, the old Party Secretary came over and asked, “Yimin, did Village Chief Liang just come to ask you for grain?”

He didn’t even need to think—it was obvious.

“Yeah. He exchanged 100 jin of cured meat for 3,500 jin of sweet potatoes,” Zhou Yimin answered truthfully.

One hundred jin of cured meat only got 3,500 jin of sweet potatoes. Before, Shangshui Village had traded 100 jin of fresh meat for the same amount. It seemed the price of grain was rising again.

He started wondering if he should buy more grain now, just in case prices rose further. After last year’s experience, he was practically traumatized by the idea of running out of food.

Once back in Shuangtian Village, Village Chief Liang immediately held a village-wide meeting.

Though many people were currently away working on the reservoir project at the commune, the situation was urgent. They needed to finalize the labor list quickly so they could start work at the commune and Zhoujia Village the next day.

When the villagers heard there was going to be a full village meeting, some were reluctant. But once they heard it had to do with grain, that reluctance vanished into thin air.

In the cold wind, everyone huddled together to keep warm.

Village Chief Liang didn’t waste words. “I went to Zhoujia Village today to try to borrow grain. When the old secretary there heard, he gave us twenty spots for reservoir work at the commune.

“And Zhoujia Village has a new project starting up. They need fifty people to help. We’ll be drawing lots now. Families already working at the reservoir don’t need to participate.”

Because no drawing was required, everyone wanted to go work at Zhoujia Village. The meals there were even better than at the commune, and after finishing the project, each person got several jin of grain. Even the commune didn’t offer such benefits.

With such a good deal, who’d want to go somewhere worse?

Some people had been disgruntled, but once they heard the allocation would be done fairly by drawing lots, all complaints died down.

“I don’t think this is fair. We should redraw for everyone,” someone protested.

Her husband was already working on the reservoir. She’d been envious of those who went to Zhoujia Village before, and now there was another chance—she couldn’t miss it. Who knew when their family’s turn would come again?

Other families with someone already at the reservoir also started agreeing. Why not do a fresh draw for everyone?

“When Zhoujia Village didn’t have any jobs before, none of you said we should redraw.

“Now that there are benefits, you all want to go to Zhoujia. And what about those already working at the commune? They signed in and have been working for days. Do you think they wouldn’t notice if someone switched out?” Village Chief Liang snapped.

It was the first time the villagers had seen the chief this angry. The crowd immediately fell silent.

The ones who had been grumbling just moments ago quickly lost their nerve.

“Families without anyone currently working on the reservoir, come draw lots.”

“Red stick means the commune. No color means Zhoujia Village.”

Families without anyone at the reservoir sent their representatives to draw.

Everyone hoped to get picked for Zhoujia Village—this way, they could even bring back food at night to share with their families.

As each person went up, luck played its part. Some were thrilled, like they’d won the lottery when they drew Zhoujia. Others, who got the commune, looked like the life had been sucked out of them.

Soon, it was Liang Zan’s turn. Only one spot for the commune and one for Zhoujia Village remained. It all depended on his luck.

He stepped up nervously, hoping to draw Zhoujia.

This time, there was no “fool” to swap with him like last time. Everyone now knew Zhoujia had better food—no one would trade.

He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and drew. When he opened them and saw a splash of red at the bottom, he was deeply disappointed.

A fifty-fifty chance—and he’d missed it.

Guess he just wasn’t meant to go to Zhoujia.

Only Liang Liang remained, and since there was only one stick left, it meant he’d be going to Zhoujia Village.

With everyone watching, he looked like a triumphant general returning from war.

Those assigned to the commune looked at Liang Liang with envy. If they could have, they’d have snatched that last stick right out of his hand.

“Alright, the drawing is complete. Wherever you were assigned, report to work tomorrow!”

Both places were familiar to the villagers, so he didn’t need to personally take them over this time.

(End of Chapter)