A professor's rebirth: I entered Tsinghua University in 1977.

Liu Hongyi and his team enjoyed a "sumptuous" dinner at the captain's home.

There were chickens, ducks, and eggs. This was the most dignified banquet the mountain people could offer.

Wei Yinghong paid the money as required.

The captain was so terrified that he didn't dare to accept it no matter what.

He had never seen such a high-ranking official in his life.

How great an honor it is for the county party secretary to have a meal at his house?

How dare I take money?

After Wei Yinghong's repeated explanations, the captain finally accepted the meal expenses with trepidation.

In the evening, Liu Hongyi followed his old habit and asked the team leader to invite the members of the production team to his home for a "gathering". Liu Hongyi asked many questions.

At first, the members were all very nervous and no one dared to speak. After Wei Yinghong's repeated counseling and seeing that Liu Hongyi was very friendly and had no official airs, some people finally dared to speak up.

It should be said that after the implementation of the responsibility system, the production team's grain production was indeed better than before. Everyone could barely get enough to eat. What made the members particularly happy was that now there was no need to cut off the tail, every household could raise chickens, ducks, and pigs, and they could eat meat during festivals.

The problems raised by the masses are concentrated on two aspects: it is difficult to run a side job and it is inconvenient for children to go to school.

As for the inconvenience of transportation, no one mentioned it.

In their opinion, isn't this what the mountains are like?

For thousands of years, people have walked on narrow paths.

In fact, they say that side jobs are difficult to do, and the main constraint is inconvenient transportation.

Zhuangan himself does not have many opportunities to engage in side jobs.

Most of the mountain dwellers have no education or skills, and their side jobs are mostly manual labor. With few major infrastructure projects underway in the county in recent years, they must make the long journey to Ningzhou to pursue their side jobs.

Even if they went to Ningzhou, they would still face huge competition.

There are far more people who go to Ningzhou to do side jobs than just members of Zhuang'an County.

As for places further than Ningzhou, they had never heard of them, dared not go, and did not know how to get there. Moreover, going to a place further away would cost money for transportation, accommodation, meals, etc.

This is a huge expense for people living in the mountains.

There are two reasons why it is inconvenient for children to study. The first one is the inconvenience of transportation.

In the entire mountainous area, there is only one central primary school in Erdaoguai.

Yidaoguai is quite close to Erdaoguai, but still requires a four or five li mountain road to reach it. As for the even farther Mashi Brigade, even a child would have to walk ten li of mountain road to reach Erdaoguai.

The most remote production team in Mashi Brigade has to walk more than 20 miles to reach Erdaoguai Central Primary School.

Therefore, almost all the children in that production team were illiterate.

Oh, it should be said that the entire production team was illiterate.

Those who can recognize some common characters are called "intellectuals".

The second reason is that it is "too expensive". A family can only afford to send one child to school. More than that, it is unaffordable.

This is unaffordable, and it’s not just about the book and miscellaneous expenses, but more about the “loss of labor costs”.

Children in mountainous areas have to work at a young age.

It is impossible for them to be like city kids, who can stay at home and do nothing at the age of 20.

When they are in their teens, they are considered half of the labor force.

If a family has three or more children and all of them go to school, relying solely on farming to support them is simply unrealistic. Parents who can send one child to school are already considered very open-minded and have a "developmental vision."

And generally speaking, even if they go to school, they only finish elementary school.

I have to go to town to attend junior high school.

This burden is very heavy.

According to the team leader, over the years, their entire three teams, with twenty-one households, have only produced three junior high school students.

There wasn't a single high school student.

And they are the production team closest to the town.

At this time, the guide, Old Yang, spoke up, "Secretary Liu, I'm the only one in Team 1 of Mashi Brigade who has attended high school. It's mainly because my father can fluff cotton and make quilts, so he's considered a craftsman. Our family has a little savings..."

There is another point that Lao Yang didn’t mention.

That was because his father had been around the streets and had some experience, and he knew that if a mountain kid wanted to have a bright future, he had to study.

As a result, Lao Yang became the only staff member in the entire mountainous area who was paid by the government.

After hearing this, Liu Hongyi's expression was heavy. But he was a very pragmatic man, never one to make promises lightly. He simply said, "Comrades, the county is currently engaged in construction and needs a lot of workers. You can start side jobs here, and the wages won't be too low."

Then he turned to Chen Jiefang and said, "Jiefang, this work needs to be organized by your district and commune. We don't necessarily have to wait until the slack season. Try to organize some of the people in the mountainous areas to go to the towns and counties to do side jobs."

It is hard work to do odd jobs as a side job and the wages are not much, but compared to digging for food in the soil, it is "living money" after all.

"Yes, Secretary!"

Chen Jiefang nodded hurriedly and wrote down Secretary Liu's instructions carefully in his small notebook.

This work attitude is very satisfying.

"Secretary Liu, I have another question..."

The captain observed the county party secretary's expression and spoke carefully.

"please say."

"Even if we all go it alone now, what will happen to the orphans and widows in the team?"

"The team was poor before, but as long as a family contributed labor, they would receive work points and receive some food at the end of the year, which was enough to survive on wild vegetables. Life was really hard... Now we work on our own, and families with more laborers can eat their fill. But orphans and widows can't even get enough to eat... We don't have work points anymore, and the team won't distribute food anymore. What should we do?"

The captain's wife, who had been listening obediently, suddenly stared at him fiercely.

Liu Hongyi was so smart that he could tell at a glance that the captain's wife was jealous. However, he didn't care whether the captain had any relationship with the "widow". He cared about the question raised by the captain.

"Jiefang, please take note of this situation. We'll have a meeting to discuss it after we get back."

"The ultimate goal of our reform and opening up is common prosperity, not widening the gap between the rich and the poor. The policy of reform and opening up must be implemented unwaveringly. However, this special situation must also be taken into consideration."

"A team might only have one orphan or widow or two families, but if you expand it to the entire district or county, that's a huge number."

"If this problem is not properly addressed, it will become a social problem."

"Yes, Secretary, we will hold a meeting right after we return and come up with a proper solution."

Liu Hongyi nodded slightly.

Whenever it comes to issues of global significance, he will not express his views easily and must listen more to the opinions of his comrades.