Colorful years

In the spring of 1984, the sunlight was as bright as gold, scattering freely across the earth, its golden rays seemingly containing endless vitality and hope.

A gentle breeze caresses the earth like a mother's hand, bringing vibrant energy and boundless possibilities to all things.

In this beautiful, picturesque season, the county publicity department received a significant notice from the prefectural publicity department: "Notice on Convening a Prefectural Conference for the Exchange of Experiences in Rural Ideological and Political Work."

This notice was like a ray of brilliant dawn, instantly illuminating the hearts of everyone in the county propaganda department and igniting a flame of hope within them.

The prefectural party committee decided to convene a prefectural conference on exchanging experiences in rural ideological and political work in August of that year. The purpose of this conference was to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive discussion and exchange of successful experiences in the field of rural ideological and political work, hoping to use this as an opportunity to promote the flourishing of various undertakings in rural areas and move towards a more prosperous future.

The notice specifically emphasized that each county should go deep into the vast rural fields, step into the fields where farmers work hard, and carefully explore and discover outstanding experiences and typical examples that can fully demonstrate the village party branches' active ideological and political work.

Furthermore, these valuable experiences and examples need to be carefully compiled into one or two detailed and well-organized documents and submitted to the Propaganda Department of the State Party Committee in a timely manner, so that the Propaganda Department can carefully select the most representative and widely applicable outstanding examples.

Upon receiving this urgent and significant notification, Minister Hou felt a strong sense of responsibility. Knowing the gravity of the matter, he dared not slacken in the slightest. He quickly convened an emergency meeting of all department members to jointly study and discuss specific measures for implementation.

During the meeting, participants engaged in a lively and in-depth discussion on two key issues: how to accurately select representative cases and how to assign suitable personnel to be responsible for writing relevant materials.

Everyone actively participated and shared their opinions, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere. After careful consideration and thorough deliberation, the key focus areas were identified, and it was determined who would undertake this challenging yet honorable task.

With a solemn and serious heart, Zhang Cong strode into the conference room. He knew full well the importance of this meeting, as it would have a profound impact on a series of key decisions and development directions.

After in-depth discussion and research, two prominent examples were finally identified: Shenjiaping Village in Xinqiao Township and Sanping Village in Sanping Township.

The reason these two villages stood out among many villages and were selected as typical examples is that after implementing the land division and individual farming system, they not only completed the overall planning and reporting tasks excellently, demonstrating a high sense of responsibility and execution, but also achieved remarkable results in family planning, laying a solid foundation for the sustainable development of rural areas.

However, policies and systems alone are clearly insufficient to successfully accomplish these two arduous and crucial tasks. In practice, people have come to a profound realization that strong ideological and political work is the indispensable source of strength supporting all of this.

Therefore, the important task of writing relevant materials to promote these successful experiences and further advance the work naturally fell on the shoulders of Zhang Cong and Lao Yang.

The division of labor was clear and detailed. Zhang Cong was responsible for carefully writing detailed materials about Shenjiaping Village in Xinqiao. He will use his words to showcase the unique charm and successful experience of this village.

Meanwhile, Lao Yang, the publicity officer, took on the important responsibility of depicting the glorious deeds of Sanping Village. After completing the first draft, Lao Yang had to hand the manuscript over to Zhang Cong for final polishing and strict review to ensure that the quality and standard of the manuscript reached the highest level.

At this time, the rural areas had only recently implemented the policy of dividing land among farmers and cultivating individual land. Various liberal ideologies surged forth like a tidal wave, posing a significant challenge to rural governance. The already complex and volatile rural governance situation became even more difficult and intractable under the impact of these ideologies.

In general, the current predicament facing rural areas can be summarized into three insurmountable obstacles:

The first hurdle is family planning. The growing conflict between traditional fertility concepts and modern family planning policies makes this work exceptionally difficult to advance.

The second hurdle is the difficulty in submitting the required levies. The financial burden on some villagers and their lack of understanding of the intended use of the funds have resulted in the inability to deposit the required levies on time and in full.

The third hurdle is the difficulty in carrying out public welfare activities. Village committees and village officials often encounter various obstacles when organizing public welfare activities, with very few people responding.

Ultimately, the root cause of this situation lies in the fact that after farmers were divided up and allowed to work individually, their personal desires gradually swelled, their awareness of the nation and the collective weakened, and they lacked a sense of the whole and a sense of the big picture.

Upon receiving the assignment, Zhang Cong felt a great sense of responsibility. He dared not delay and immediately set off for Xinqiao Township.

Throughout the journey, he constantly pondered how to conduct this significant and crucial interview. Whether he could successfully complete this challenging task would not only directly impact the county's standing in the overall prefecture's rural ideological and political work, but also his personal reputation and career development.

Therefore, he pays special attention to every detail and will never allow himself to be careless or perfunctory.

Before officially setting off for Xinqiao Township, Zhang Cong had already begun meticulously planning the interview trip. After repeated consideration and deliberation, he decided to organize three targeted seminars in an orderly manner.

First, the initial symposium will be attended by the township party secretary, township head, propaganda committee member, and township office secretary. Through in-depth communication with these key figures who play important roles in township work, Zhang Cong hopes to obtain some valuable and important clues.

These clues will act as guiding lights, pointing him in the right direction for subsequent interviews and helping him pinpoint those key points worthy of in-depth exploration.