The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 429: Chapter 429: The Power of the Mass Line

Han Xiaorui hadn’t thought they would move so fast. She figured they would wait until after her postpartum confinement to start making trouble.

But on the twenty-third day of her confinement, Cao Xuewen called a village committee meeting.

”The leasing fees for those islands are too low. This infringes upon the interests of the village and the country. Now, I’ve brought in investment. The new leasing fee is five times the previous one, which means our village and the villagers can get five times the money.”

Cao Xuewen explained to everyone the benefits of a new contract.

Director Song voiced his opposition. ”Village Chief Cao, those islands were already leased to Xiao Han last year. Breaking the contract now would involve a penalty fee. It’s not right.”

Cao Xuewen smiled. ”Director Song, I know you’re on good terms with Yang Zhigang, but you’re a village official. You need to consider the big picture for the village and act in the villagers’ best interests. You can’t take what belongs to the village and gift it to Yang Zhigang’s family.”

Hearing this, Director Song was immediately displeased. ”Don’t talk nonsense. The previous contract was based on the market rate. The money went to the village and was used for its development.”

”Now you’re bringing in a bunch of Japanese, letting the wolf in the door. You’re tearing up the contract to let those devils come build here. I think you’ve lost your mind! When Xiao Han develops something, she’s one of us. She’ll prioritize hiring our own villagers. Do you think those devils will give a damn about who you are?”

”Then again, that’s not quite right. You’re a collaborator. Your family has a tradition of it, after all. Your father and your grandfather were both collaborators for Jinshan Bay back in the day. At least you’ll get to sip some soup with the devils. The rest of us villagers can only watch helplessly as those islands fall into their hands.”

There were still many elderly people in the village who of course knew about the Cao family’s history. The crowd, which had originally been stirred up by Cao Xuewen, now recalled the years of oppression under the collaborators and the devils.

They were never treated as human beings.

Cao Xuewen stomped his foot in anger. ”What nonsense are you spouting? My family has been reformed! I’m a Party member now, and the village chief. Of course I’m doing this for the good of the village!”

”Anyone knows you don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Jinshan Bay is about to become the personal fiefdom of Yang Zhigang, Yang Jianguo, and Han Xiaorui’s family. This can’t go on.”

Just then, an elderly man stood up. ”And why not? Xiao Han has made money, yes, but she also built a kindergarten in the village, built new campuses for the elementary and middle schools, and hired good teachers from the city.”

”She may not have handed out cash to the villagers, but every one of our families has children, and now those children can study in spacious, bright classrooms. And who built the roads and bridges in our village?”

”The investment company put in so much money. Our village didn’t contribute any cash, just land, and we got a 15% stake. Even before it’s turned a profit, that’s like being gifted several million. Once it’s profitable, we’ll get dividends.”

”Putting all that aside, just compare Jinshan Bay to the next village over. Aren’t we much more prosperous? Aren’t our lives much better? Even if the village could get more money by tearing up the contract, wouldn’t that just break Xiao Rui’s heart?”

”In any case, as for tearing up the lease, my family of ten, the family of Song Liansheng, will not agree to it, and we will not put our thumbprints on it. A person has to have a conscience. We won’t be traitors.”

The old man’s words instantly reminded everyone of all the good Han Xiaorui had done.

Granny Cai quickly added, ”My family of six disagrees! We won’t do something so short-sighted and go back on our word.”

Han Xiaorui was her goddaughter. Whether it was a matter of principle or loyalty, she stood with Han Xiaorui.

”My family of four won’t agree either,” Eldest Sister-in-law Lin, Zhao Jing’s mother-in-law, stood up. Her daughter-in-law was now a junior manager at the Jinshan Bay ornamental fish farm.

She made several hundred yuan a month, with generous bonuses for the New Year and other holidays. From the New Year until now, her daughter-in-law had already earned more than eight thousand yuan.

Her son was over there building houses. Even though he was just a laborer, he was learning new skills and his income wasn’t bad either.

She also worked at Wu Lingling’s nearby clothing factory, where the wages were also high. The entire family now relied on Han Xiaorui and Yang Zhigang’s family to make a living.

She wasn’t about to get mixed up in this mess.

Grandma Chen San stood up. ”The twenty-four members of my Chen family, across three branches, all disagree with tearing up the lease.”

Song Sixth also stated his position, ”My family of six disagrees with tearing up the lease.”

...

Yang Zhigang and Han Xiaorui owned four large boats. They had hired all the former fishermen in the village at high salaries to go fishing again.

Any family with at least one person working on Han Xiaorui and Yang Zhigang’s boats, or in their related businesses, disagreed with tearing up the lease.

Working for Han Xiaorui meant high wages. Who would be short-sighted enough to trade that for a one-time payout?

Almost sixty percent of the people clearly disagreed. Some of the neutral parties, seeing so many dissenters, went with the flow and disagreed as well.

And just like that, eighty percent of the village was against it.

Even though Cao Xuewen was the village chief, it was useless. The contract remained in effect.

Cao Xuewen was furious and exasperated, and went to report to the Japanese inspection team. They thought he was completely useless and started ignoring him.

Han Xiaorui was quite astonished when she heard Granny Cai’s vivid account of the village committee meeting.

”The whole village disagreed? If they had agreed, every household could have gotten an extra two thousand-plus yuan this year.”

Granny Cai rolled her eyes. ”Two thousand-plus yuan is a decent amount, but it’s not that much. And it’s a one-time deal. How can that compare to a steady stream of income? Besides, a lot of people in Jinshan Bay died at the hands of those devils back in the day. There’s ancestral hatred there!”

”Look at the Cao Xuewen family. They were traitors before, and it runs in the family. We’re simple folk, not stupid. How could we fall for his tricks? Anyway, this scheme of his won’t succeed.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”The villagers are so good to me. I can promise you this: there won’t be any payouts this year, but next year, the village will definitely get dividends from the investment company.”

Granny Cai smiled back. ”Xiao Rui, don’t you worry. That commercial street the investment company is building is changing every day. We all see it. When something’s under construction, it’s all about spending money, not making it.”

”The villagers might not be educated, but we’re really not stupid. We understand how things work. You just focus on building things up steadily, and the village will have your back. We may not be able to help in a big way, but we definitely won’t hold you back.”

Even though Granny Cai said that, Han Xiaorui was still very grateful.

Yang Zhigang had told her before to hire people from their own village whenever possible.

While it might be a bit more complicated to manage, with personal relationships involved, those same people could really come through when it counted.

You could say that it was the power of the villagers that saved the leases for those islands.

On the other hand, if Han Xiaorui hadn’t employed so many villagers, the outcome would have been the complete opposite.

The grassroots approach was never wrong.

”Yes, I’ve had someone create a special development plan for our Jinshan Bay. As long as we stick to the plan, Jinshan Bay will be booming for not just ten, but twenty, even thirty years.”

Granny Cai nodded eagerly. ”Right, we can see that. It’s better to have one of our own investing in the village than to let some strangers come in.”

”Not to mention, you’ve donated a lot of money to the village’s needy and the lonely elderly. You also support poor families whose children get into university.”

Han Xiaorui said humbly, ”Respecting the old and cherishing the young is a traditional virtue of our Hua Country. Just because we have money now doesn’t mean we can throw that tradition away.”