Colorful years

In fact, during that special period—the Spring Festival holiday—every government agency operated in an orderly manner as usual, and one of the essential tasks was to arrange staff on duty.

Even on the two most festive days of Lunar New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year's Day, when families reunite, government agencies will still make careful arrangements to ensure that someone stays at their post.

Generally speaking, from 8 a.m. until midnight, staff members are working silently throughout this period.

For key departments such as the county party committee and county government offices, as well as the people's armed forces department and the political and legal affairs commission, it is required to be on duty 24 hours a day to ensure social order and the smooth progress of various affairs.

As one of the core departments of the county party committee, the publicity department naturally couldn't stand aside. As is customary, four staff members were assigned to each shift. Besides their regular duties, they could pass the time in some relaxed and enjoyable ways. For example, they would gather together to play cards, chatting and laughing, and the originally long and arduous shift would pass by unnoticed.

Because there was an urgent need to write materials for the three-level cadre expansion meeting, Zhang Cong volunteered to take on the heavy responsibility of being on duty for both Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. This was something the department leaders and other cadres had been eager to do, and they all expressed their gratitude to him.

He was well aware of the difficulty of the task, but he had no complaints and only wanted to finish the work at hand as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the canteen, as an important logistical support unit, did not slack off in the slightest. Even during the Spring Festival holiday, they still reasonably arranged for a cook to be on duty, cooking on time every day to provide delicious meals for those who worked hard, allowing everyone to feel warmth and care amidst their busy schedules.

With the Spring Festival approaching, the canteen is busy preparing a sumptuous meal for the staff on duty during the holiday.

They prepared a series of delicious dishes in advance, such as those round and cute pearl meatballs, each one exuding an enticing aroma;

There's also braised pork belly, with its bright red color and rich but not greasy texture, which is mouthwatering just to look at; and tender, soft, and fragrant pig's trotters that melt in your mouth, leaving you with an unforgettable aftertaste.

And the rich and delicious pork bone and radish stew, with its thick and nutritious broth; plus the carefully simmered beef, which is tender, juicy, and flavorful.

All these dishes only need to be heated slightly before serving to the staff on duty.

In this way, not only can the staff on duty enjoy festive food, but the workload of the cooks on duty is also greatly reduced. After all, everyone hopes to spend this time of family reunion in a relaxed and enjoyable manner.

Moreover, each unit was extremely thoughtful, providing not only the sumptuous meals offered in the canteen, but also a variety of rice cakes and local snacks for the staff on duty.

The sweet and soft rice cakes symbolize rising step by step, bringing good wishes to the staff on duty; while the unique local snacks allow them to truly feel the strong festive atmosphere and the deep care and warmth from the organization while sticking to their posts.

This people-oriented approach and care for employees is undoubtedly a very humane one, making people feel warm and cared for.

However, it is regrettable that as society has developed to this day, these practices, once considered fine traditions, have become increasingly rare. Perhaps it is because of the fast pace of society that people have gradually overlooked the humanistic care contained in these details. But in any case, those times accompanied by delicious food and full of love will always remain deep in the memories of many people, becoming unforgettable and beautiful memories.

Back then, the relationships between colleagues were incredibly simple and harmonious. There was no custom of giving or receiving gifts, and even during the Spring Festival, people didn't bother with the traditional New Year's greetings.

However, this place has a unique custom during the first month of the lunar calendar—eating "rotating rice".

What exactly is this "rotating meal"? Actually, it means that all married people, regardless of whether they are high-ranking leaders or ordinary low-level cadres, must invite all their colleagues from their workplace to their home for a sumptuous meal.

In this way, they took turns hosting meals in a certain order, one after another, until everyone had had their turn.

Back in January 1983, this "rotating meal" started quite early! It began as early as the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. And the first to start was the home of Minister Wu from our workplace.

For her husband's colleagues' gathering, Ms. Chang made careful preparations. In addition to the three main dishes of Tujia cuisine—pig's head meat, stewed chicken with rock ear fungus, and stewed pig's feet with kelp—two more hearty dishes were served: wild boar meat and stone frog.

This is genuine wild game, something people rarely get to eat normally.

The wild boar meat was brought to us by a relative of Minister Wu who hunts in the mountains. It was a whole wild boar. Apart from keeping some fresh meat for our own family, the rest was cured into bacon and hung on the roof beam of the hearth room. It was enough for the family to eat for a whole year.

The stone frogs were obtained by Minister Wu from a fishing friend. Knowing that Minister Wu was hospitable, the friend specially sent him a bag of stone frogs.

In addition, the Chang family also specially bought several bottles of good wine from the food company, intending to let everyone drink to their heart's content.

On the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, colleagues from the unit came to Minister Wu's home one after another at his invitation.

Minister Wu lived on the third floor of a municipal party committee dormitory building. It was a three-bedroom, one-living room house. At that time, there were fewer than ten people in the entire county who could live in such a house. They were all leading cadres at the county party committee standing committee level or above and from a large population.

The Chang family had made some preparations as early as the third day of the Lunar New Year. In addition, they were efficient and quick in their work, and soon a sumptuous meal was ready.

Minister Wu's unit was small, with only twelve people including the driver.

As soon as everyone entered, seeing Chang busy running around, they all came forward to greet her. Some helped set the table, while others helped serve the dishes. Chang kept urging everyone to sit down and rest, saying, "I can do all this by myself. Please sit down, please sit down!"