I Got Rich in Period Fiction
Chapter 426 Returning to One’s Roots

Chapter 426: Chapter 426 Returning to One’s Roots

Su Laoqi naturally had brothers and sisters, but two of them hadn’t survived, and another had passed away the year before last.

He was the youngest in the family.

He was over thirty now, and his parents had passed away long ago.

He had two children, and the level of poverty in the village was much the same.

But last year, when his eldest son went to school, the school was hosting a sports day, and naturally, sports day required wearing sneakers. His straw sandals would not allow him to run alongside the other students, and he would also be laughed at.

The school sports day was held once every three years, and for their commune, it was considered quite a large event. The teacher required all competing students to buy sneakers.

However, if one genuinely could not afford to buy them, then they would have to forgo participation and give their place to another student. His eldest son was particularly athletically gifted; as soon as he could walk, he would run through the fields every day, and he was the fastest – just like a monkey. During the school selection, he was the fastest runner too.

Even so, the entire village couldn’t scrape together enough money to buy a pair of sneakers for the boy.

It was only later, when relatives visited his second eldest brother, that they loaned him two yuan, which he added to the pot to buy his son a pair of sneakers.

At the middle school sports day, his son ran first.

The teacher said he should let his son study sports and become an athlete, or at least a sports teacher, but where would he find the money for that? Not to mention tuition, even the money for buying shoes for sports in the future would be non-existent – even this small amount of money had been collected from more than a dozen households.

It was autumn at that time, and as the year turned, he went to look for work with his relatives, then worked under Wang Laogen, just as an ordinary farmer working the land.

The work was half mechanized and half manual, but it was all scientific farming, which also made him realize that poor soil wasn’t unchangeable.

In West River Region, places where crops couldn’t grow were planted with Barley Grass.

With Barley Grass, you could raise sheep, and in places where the grass thrived, you could feed pigs and cattle according to the commune’s regulations.

Nowadays, individuals didn’t raise many pigs or cattle; it was all managed collectively by the commune and was done through scientific breeding.

Moreover, it was especially strict, with very high standards. The living conditions for the pigs and cattle were as clean as those for people.

There were also doctors specifically for treating these pigs and cattle.

Everyone working here was a member of the commune, and they all received a basic living allowance monthly. Plus, the land they owned was leased out, so they would receive a lump sum of lease payments in the autumn.

Thus, seemingly in the blink of an eye, the people of Xiaxi Commune had become prosperous.

It was said that Wang Laogen’s home used to be as impoverished as his.

Now, Wang Laogen was beyond their reach.

He lived in a big red-brick, tile-roofed house. The walls inside were painted with lime, with cement floors inside, and the outer courtyard was all paved with red bricks. The windows were bright and clean. His household furniture was all newly made; they even had a tape recorder, a radio...

Other than the eldest brother who worked with him, his other four children were all at school.

Truly, once one person rose up, then the whole family would rise with them.

And here, including the children, more than a dozen people in total couldn’t earn more than another family with just one person.

His eldest brother was still the small team leader of Longquan Village.

After taking a drag from his cigarette, Su Laoqi said with a heavy tone, "Big Brother, when can our place also plant Barley Grass like Xiaxi Commune, on all our barren land? Even if our fields still can’t grow crops, at least we could get by..."

Brother Su sighed, squatted down, and scratched his head, "Our place can’t compare to West River Region. We’re just waiting for the instructions from above. Our words don’t carry much weight."

That was true; a small team leader didn’t have much say.

And at this time on the desk of the leaders of Gelle State Autonomous Region, there was a pile of documents, all about West River Region’s sandstorm prevention and control, scientific farming, sideline development, centralized management, tree planting, and afforestation efforts.

West River Region had been operating for three years, so much of the data were very mature. They had been time-tested and proven.

Their place was really too poor, so poor that they were at a loss, not knowing what to do.

That was the stark reality – people say, live off the mountains if you have mountains, live off the waters if you have waters. But here, the mountains were barren, not a blade of grass in sight, and there was no water, only drought and desolation.

Every year, they had to rely on relief food.

Their region was also a burden on the country’s development path.

But what could anyone do when the arable land was so scarce?

But now these leaders seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope, so they decided to send an inspection team to West River Region. Even though it was winter, they might still learn something. If possible, they could plant Barley Grass next spring, and perhaps by summer, it would grow.

Qiao Qingyu, who was on winter break, received a call from Lu Ye, who also told her that the inspection team from Gelle State was visiting West River Region, looking to purchase Barley Grass Seeds in bulk.

That wasn’t a problem; the machines of He Xiuyu would soon be ready, and by then, they would be able to mass-produce Barley Grass Seeds.

The Barley Grass Seeds harvested this year at the Agricultural Base were measured in tons.

Zone 5 Laboratory had added two large warehouses for storing Barley Grass Seeds.

The afforestation effort in West River Region was also underway, and this year, the coverage of greenery had increased by 20% compared to last year.

Their seeds could certainly continue to be dispersed in the West River Region area, but Qiao Qingyu felt she could extend her visit to the most barren and poorest neighboring province, Gelle State.

However, looking at the map, Qiao Qingyu’s brows furrowed, and at that moment, He Xiuyu also stood beside her.

He knew what was troubling Qiao Qingyu, but He Xiuyu didn’t agree with planting Barley Grass in that region just yet.

"The greening of this area is not the most urgent matter at the moment. What they need most now is to have enough food and clothing."

Qiao Qingyu nodded, "That’s what I think too. The Barley Grass Seeds can be sold, but their finances are very tight right now. It’s very tough for them to come up with large amounts of funds, and the immediate problem that needs to be solved is the issue of food."

"That area has long been deemed unsuitable for human habitation. Actually, our country had a policy a few years ago to concentrate relocation to a single location, consolidating small villages and teams scattered around the mountains, but nobody agreed, and so that project was abandoned."

"Now, mobilizing them won’t be so easy."

"Yes, it’s hard to leave your native soil, especially for some of the elderly. They have their ancestors buried in that land; they won’t leave."

Isn’t there a saying, fallen leaves return to their roots? So, these days, some of the elderly pay a lot of attention to this.

They believe that only on their own native soil, can their souls rest in peace, and protect their descendants.

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