Chapter 234 – Cooperation

“Isn’t the commune planning to send people to work on the canal project? Our Zhoujiazhuang has twenty slots—we can give them to you. Just fill in our villagers’ names when the time comes; they’ll be the ones on record,” the old Party Secretary said.

Building a canal was no task to be finished in a few days. At the shortest, it might take two to three months; at the longest, more than a year was possible.

And since the commune would be providing meals, it essentially meant food for twenty people over an extended period—this would significantly ease the burden on Shuangtian Village.

Village Chief Liang of Shuangtian’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Would I lie about something like this? You saw it yourself when you came in—our Zhoujiazhuang still has other things to do, and manpower is tight.” The old Party Secretary made his stance clear.

Village Chief Liang was deeply grateful. “Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

Even though he hadn’t managed to borrow any grain, being able to solve the food issue for twenty villagers made this trip worthwhile.

He had also noticed the riverbed as he came into Zhoujiazhuang—covered with plastic sheeting. He didn’t even need to guess: there were definitely crops growing underneath, and they wouldn’t be part of the mandatory handover to the state.

He couldn’t help but feel envious.

That river didn’t pass through their Shuangtian Village, so they didn’t have a dry riverbed to make use of.

But Zhoujiazhuang’s approach wasn’t unique. Plenty of villages in the Hongxing Commune were doing the same thing. The commune authorities turned a blind eye—they knew better than to keep pushing people to the edge. Folks needed a way to survive.

So, it had become something of an open secret. Everyone knew, but no one said a word.

Village Chief Liang was ready to take his leave.

It was obvious that Zhoujiazhuang was cautious toward outsiders. Besides, it was almost mealtime. Waiting around for an invitation to stay for dinner would be rather impolite.

“Well then, we’ll take our leave.” If Shuangtian Village ever became prosperous, they would never forget today’s kindness.

“Since you’re already here, why not stay for a meal?”

Feeding four guests was well within Zhoujiazhuang’s means. They couldn’t offer much help, but this small act of courtesy was something they ought to do.

Otherwise, word might spread that Zhoujiazhuang didn’t know how to treat guests.

“No need, really. We already ate before coming. We’re not hungry.”

No sooner had Village Chief Liang finished speaking than someone beside him let out a loud stomach growl.

He turned and shot that man a glare.

The man looked wronged. How could he control a growling stomach? He had been holding back, but the moment he heard the old Secretary invite them for a meal, his willpower collapsed.

“Come eat! It’s no trouble at all.”

Zhou Yimin, standing beside the old Secretary, nodded as well. “That’s right! And there’s something else we wanted to discuss with you, Village Chief Liang.”

Something to discuss?

Village Chief Liang was confused, and even the old Party Secretary didn’t know what was going on. “Something else? Why didn’t I hear about this?”

But he trusted Zhou Yimin unconditionally, so he didn’t press the issue.

“Oh? What is it? Comrade, you are…?”

He didn’t recognize Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin hadn’t been present when they delivered the public grain, and given the distance between their two villages, it wasn’t strange they hadn’t met before.

He had been curious earlier about Zhou Yimin’s identity—how could someone who seemed so poised and important be from Zhoujiazhuang? He had even suspected Zhou Yimin might be a guest of honor.

Now the old Secretary gave a proper introduction. “This is Zhou Yimin of our Zhoujiazhuang. You know about the water pumps and solar stoves, right? He’s the one who invented them.”

Village Chief Liang was stunned.

Of course he knew about them!

Water pumps and solar stoves had become widespread in the countryside. Who wouldn’t know? Without the water pumps, many villages might’ve suffered crop failures this year—they wouldn’t have fared much better than Shuangtian.

And not just the water pumps and solar stoves! He’d heard that the threshing machine was his invention too.

These tools were incredibly useful for farmers. And farmers, too, knew to be grateful. Even if most hadn’t met Zhou Yimin, they remembered his name.

Village Chief Liang had long heard that Zhoujiazhuang had a talented individual.

He hadn’t expected that person to be standing right in front of him.

He felt a little awed and quickly said, “So it’s Comrade Zhou Yimin in person! Hello! A pleasure to meet you!”

“Village Chief Liang, you’re too kind. Come on, let’s have a meal together. We really do have a matter to discuss with Shuangtian Village,” Zhou Yimin said with a smile.

As he spoke, he shot a glance at the old Party Secretary.

The old Secretary and Zhou Yimin shared a good understanding.

“Let’s go. You think we’d try to take advantage of Shuangtian Village?” the old Secretary added.

Village Chief Liang nodded. “Then I’ll respectfully accept your invitation.”

The old Secretary sent someone to lead them to the dining hall, then stayed behind to speak with Zhou Yimin. He had understood Zhou Yimin’s look just now.

“Yimin, what kind of cooperation are we talking about between our Zhoujiazhuang and Shuangtian? What’s the plan?” he asked.

He knew Zhou Yimin had slowed down just to bring this up.

“Our village is short on labor, right? I was thinking, maybe we can hire some people—so long as there’s food to eat. The reservoir on the back hill may not be large, but if we rely solely on our own strength, it’s going to take a long time to finish,” Zhou Yimin said.

Cheap labor—who wouldn’t want that?

It was a win-win situation, and they’d earn Shuangtian Village’s goodwill too.

Besides, Zhoujiazhuang still had a lot of projects coming up. With only a hundred or so households in the village, their strength was spread thin.

The old Secretary thought it over and agreed.

All they had to provide was food—Shuangtian would surely be willing.

“Secretary, I won’t go in.”

The old Secretary nodded. “Alright! Go home and eat. I’ll handle the rest.”

With that, Zhou Yimin turned and headed home. Tonight, they were having guobaorou—sweet and sour pork, with Grandma cooking. She didn’t cook often anymore, but if Zhou Yimin was home for dinner, he usually did the cooking.

Guobaorou was a dish adapted to suit foreign tastes, transformed from the salty-savoury “crispy fried pork strips” into a sweet and sour dish. Pork tenderloin was sliced and marinated, coated in batter, deep-fried until golden, then stir-fried with a glossy sauce.

Because foreigners preferred sweet-and-sour flavors and couldn’t handle the rich, salty Northern taste, the provincial governor Du Xueying had his chefs change the flavors of their dishes.

So, master chef Zheng Xingwen reworked the original into this sweet-and-sour version—thus, Harbin became the birthplace of guobaorou.

In his past life, Zhou Yimin had tasted the authentic version in the Northeast, and it had been excellent.

He didn’t have particularly high expectations for Grandma’s cooking, though.

Authentic or not, if Grandma made it with her own hands, he was going to enjoy it.

In the village canteen, the old Secretary ate with Village Chief Liang and his people alongside the villagers.

Since they had just harvested grain, supplies were still decent, so the meal was pretty good—steamed white buns and a few stir-fried dishes. Even that was enough to make the three villagers from Shuangtian gulp down their saliva.

“Come, everyone eat—don’t be shy,” the old Secretary said, even opening a bottle of baijiu to share a few drinks with Village Chief Liang.

“Secretary Zhou, let’s talk about the cooperation first,” said Village Chief Liang.

Though he was eager to eat, he still knew how to prioritize.

(End of chapter)