Rebirth in a Book: The Road to Breakthrough

"It's temporary, so does the formal one involve transferring people in from outside the mountain?" Tiezhu continued to ask curiously.

"It shouldn't happen. Our place is so remote, no one would want to come here. Besides, the villagers know the situation better!" Yu Congcong made a clear analysis.

"CongCong, where did you go? I've been looking for you for a long time." Xiaocao was carrying a small bamboo basket with a cloth covering it. It could be seen that there was a bowl underneath. There were a few beads of sweat on her forehead, and it was obvious that she had been looking for a long time.

"Grandma." Yu Congcong and Tiezhu greeted in unison.

"Hey, drink the medicine quickly. It's getting cold." Xiaocao took out a bowl of medicine from a small bamboo basket and carefully handed it to Yu Congcong. Many people had come to the yard at this time, probably because they were called for the election of cadres. The children gathered around and looked at Yu Congcong curiously, wanting to know what she was eating. When they learned that it was medicine, they scattered again and ran to the side to play.

Xiao Liang brought a table and prepared to put it on the steps at the front door of the front hall. Xiao Cao quickly pulled the iron pillar aside.

After drinking the medicine, Xiaocao put the bowl back into the bamboo basket, took out a bamboo tube from his waist, and let Yu Congcong drink some water.

"Okay, grandma is going to the yard downstairs. You two just play here by yourselves, but don't leave the yard." Xiaocao slowly took back the bamboo tube, gently hung it around her waist, and then whispered.

"Well, grandma, you go!" Yu Congcong responded obediently, with a very gentle tone.

"Little Cao, here!" Jinhua, who was standing in the shade of the east wall, waved and called out to Xiaocao. After hearing the voice, Xiaocao turned her head and looked over there, then said to Yu Congcong and the others, "Grandma is over there. When the meeting is over, remember to come and find grandma and go back together." Yu Congcong nodded obediently, and Xiaocao walked towards Jinhua.

"Tiezhu, let's find a shady place to stay!" Yu Congcong said happily with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Everyone, please be quiet. Has anyone arrived from every household?" Fu Youtian stood in front of the table, straightened his body, raised his voice and called out loudly.

"We're here, we're here." Everyone responded in unison, their voices loud and uniform.

"We're all here, so let's be quiet for a while. Everyone knows that these years in the village have been like years, with not a single peaceful day. In the past, there was a war outside the mountain, and we could only muddle along. Now that a new China has been established outside the mountain, our good days are finally coming. As the saying goes, there is no order without rules. With the establishment of the new China and the formulation of new policies, we have missed several years of good times. Today, we will take the first step to follow the policy and elect village cadres. Now, Section Chief Yang will preside over the election of cadres." After Fu Youtian finished speaking, he walked towards the crowd at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning, everyone. I am Section Chief Yang from the public security department of our county. Because our village is too remote, the township has not yet arranged for anyone to come here. Moreover, there are many and complicated things to do in the village, and we are short of manpower, so we are simply unable to carry out work. Today, I will preside over the election of temporary village cadres to preside over the work of the village." Section Chief Yang's voice was loud and steady.

"It's temporary, it means you're doing voluntary work, there's no benefit at all, right?" Widow Wang pouted and muttered.

"It's temporary, but it's good to be able to do something for the village." Someone agreed.

"Then by then, they won't officially send people in from outside the mountain, right?"

"Oh, who knows! I don't know if the people coming in from outside are good or bad. I don't think we're going to go back to the same situation as before!"

"Yes, our fourth uncle and his friends just left. If another group of bad guys come and stop us from going out, we won't be able to find anyone to ask for help!"

"What's there to look forward to these days? It's just jumping from one fire pit into another. The latter may not be as good as the former."

Everyone was talking about it below, and the mood seemed very low.

"Chief, what should we do? The public is in a bad mood." Someone said anxiously.

"Everyone be quiet! The village cadres we elect now can be reported to the township, and these cadres must be capable of performing their duties. The township will not send people to interfere in the work of the village. Everyone, rest assured, the freedom of the villagers will never be controlled." Section Chief Yang faced everyone and explained and assured in a firm tone.

Everyone gradually quieted down.

"That's good."

"What's good? They said you have to be capable."

"Then why don't we just choose someone who is capable?"

"Now, if anyone thinks they can be a good village chief and wants to serve the villagers, they can come up and compete for the position of village leader, and the villagers will vote to decide in the end." Chief Yang said loudly in a high-pitched voice. After that, he ordered two police officers to distribute the cut wooden sticks to the people below.

"Chief, you go." The members of the Fu family pushed Fu Youtian to go up.

"I won't go. I'm old and don't have the energy. Let's choose someone of the same age and ability. I'll just take care of the tribe. If you think you can do it, go ahead!" Fu Youtian waved his hands, helplessly saying that he couldn't do it. After hearing this, the tribe members didn't force him to be elected.

People were promoted one after another, and the first one to go up was Fu Xing. This person rarely stood out in the village, and was not active in doing anything the clan leader asked him to do. Because he was of the same generation as the clan leader, the younger generations could not say anything. I didn't expect him to be so enthusiastic about becoming a cadre. Then it was Fu Jun from the third uncle's family, who was pushed up by his wife. The clan leader looked at these two people and sighed. Those who were capable did not go up, and those who were incapable all went up.

"Gangzi, you go up!" The clan leader said helplessly, looking at Gangzi beside him. He had not originally planned to let Gangzi participate. Gangzi had many children and his wife was useless. The burden on the family was already heavy enough. Being the team leader would definitely be even busier. The village was poor and there was not much to gain. But looking at the two not-so-good ones above, he decided to let Gangzi go up! It was better to help them out than to let outsiders interfere in the village affairs.

"Uncle, can I do it?" Fu Gang asked without confidence. He also wanted to do something for the village like his uncle, but he didn't know if he was capable of doing it.

"You can do it. If you can't, your uncle will help you." The patriarch said as he pushed Fu Gang up.

"Tiezhu, grandpa doesn't want to be the team leader? Why don't you go up?" Yu Congcong asked Tiezhu.

"Grandpa may feel that he is old and should train the younger generation," Tiezhu replied.

"Are there any other comrades who want to come up?" asked Section Chief Yang.

Everyone below was silent for a moment.

"No more, let's start voting." After saying that, three police officers each held a bamboo basket with the names of Fu Xing, Fu Jun and Fu Gang on them.

"Put the sticks in the basket of the person you like." The three police officers walked around the crowd and walked up the stairs carrying baskets. The number of sticks in the three baskets was very different. Fu Gang's basket obviously had several times more sticks than the other two baskets.

"Xiao Liang, count the votes." Section Chief Yang ordered.

"Okay." Xiao Liang walked to the table.

"Comrade Fu Xing, one vote, two votes... seven votes. Comrade Fu Xing has seven votes in total. Comrade Fu Jun, one vote... eleven votes. Comrade Fu Jun has eleven votes. Comrade Fu Gang, one vote, two votes, three votes, four votes... forty-one votes. Comrade Fu Gang has forty-one votes, the vote counting is completed." After saying that, Xiao Liang stepped back.

"Okay, Comrade Fu Gang will be the team leader of our village. Now Fu Gang will preside over the selection of the village accountant, cashier, women's director, and custodian. The other two can go down." said Section Chief Yang.

Fu Xing and Fu Jun walked down quickly like shooting stars. Fu Gang stood in front of the table, his expression slightly nervous, but he quickly adjusted his mood and said, "Thank you very much for your trust in me and your affirmation of my ability. Next, let's talk about the requirements for the position of accountant and cashier. Specifically, you need to be able to read and do arithmetic. As for the exam corresponding to this requirement, Section Chief Yang has already prepared the test paper, which is posted on the wall over there." As Fu Gang spoke, he pointed to the white paper on the east wall.

At that time, Yu Congcong and Tiezhu were standing there. They slowly turned around and took a look. Yu Congcong was so surprised that he shouted: "Wow, Tiezhu, look, it's really the test paper. We didn't see it before."

"Hey, let's take a look at the question." Tiezhu walked forward and looked at it carefully. "Oh, it's quite difficult." Tiezhu exclaimed sincerely.

Yu Congcong kept silent, thinking to herself, this is just addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with big numbers, but Tiezhu still finds it difficult. Oh my god! She suddenly realized that Tiezhu is only 12 years old, but she has lived a lifetime longer than him, so she can't compare like this. Then what did she do when she was 12 years old? She couldn't remember it no matter how hard she tried.

"Congcong, here is another one for the cashier." Tiezhu shouted at the top of his voice. Yu Congcong was startled and turned back to take a look. Hmm, the questions were similar.

"Everyone, take a look at the questions first. If you think you can do it, come over and get paper and pen to answer the questions." Fu Gang said loudly.

No need to answer the question, let's talk about the position of Women's Director now." Fu Gang looked at everyone calmly, and continued in a calm tone, "For this position, female comrades should have the most say. Female comrades who are willing to take on this position can come up and talk about how you will provide services for the women in the village." As soon as Fu Gang finished speaking, Widow Wang couldn't wait to run up like a gust of wind.

"As for me, I don't have much to say. We all know each other pretty well. If you vote for me, I will never let those men bully us female comrades." As soon as Widow Wang finished speaking, the men of the Fu family immediately became unhappy.