Chapter 119: Government Bonds
Chapter 119: Government Bonds
Shuangwang Credit Union
Director Bu Wanhui sat in his chair, constantly rubbing his temples.
He was facing a tough problem!
A week ago, to adjust and stabilize the national economy and concentrate financial resources for socialist construction, the government decided to issue 4 billion yuan in government bonds. They required state-owned enterprises, collective units, government agencies, groups, military units, public institutions, and affluent rural teams to actively subscribe, with individuals also being eligible to subscribe.
The higher-ups allocated a bond subscription task of 215,000 yuan to Baise County.
As for the Shuangwang Credit Union, due to their successful agricultural loans last year, they were assigned a sales target of 3,000 yuan.
While this wasn’t a mandatory requirement, and even if he couldn’t sell a single cent, the higher-ups wouldn’t penalize him, Bu Wanhui wasn’t a naive newcomer. He understood that selling these bonds was essentially a political task. If he didn’t take any action, it would definitely leave a bad impression on his superiors.
However, this wasn’t just 300 yuan, but a full 3,000 yuan! Although the government did offer interest—repaying the bonds in five installments over five years, with each installment being 20% of the total, and an annual interest rate of 0.4%—Bu Wanhui still felt completely unprepared to meet the sales target.
But for the sake of his future, he had to complete the task no matter how difficult it was.
After rubbing his temples for a while, Bu Wanhui stood up and decided to start by selling bonds at the Baiping Farm. He would then visit various production teams to see if he could convince some of the more economically stable teams to support the country’s construction by subscribing to the bonds.
Noon
After eating two bowls of sweet potato noodles (the Hakka people in Baise call sweet potatoes "fan shu," and sweet potato noodles are made by washing and slicing the sweet potatoes, drying them, and then cooking them in sugar water, which is quite delicious), Deng Shirong, with nothing else to do, started chatting with his eldest daughter and daughter-in-law about education.
"Ahzhen, Ahping, the country is now emphasizing education. The future belongs to the educated. Your educational levels are still quite low. Since there’s nothing pressing to do at home, do you want to continue your studies?"
Zhang Xiuping was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Dad, I’m already married. Can I still go back to school?"
Zhang Xiuping was beautiful and had a good figure, but due to her family’s financial difficulties, she only attended a few years of elementary school. Her low educational level was her biggest shortcoming, and she felt somewhat inferior in the Deng family, where everyone had a higher education. She certainly wanted to study more, but as a married woman, she had long given up on the idea of continuing her education.
After all, according to the norm, she would soon be pregnant and have children, leaving no time for studies.
That’s why she was so surprised when her father-in-law asked if she wanted to continue her education.
Deng Yunzhen also looked at her father in surprise.
Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Studying doesn’t necessarily mean going back to school. You can study at home. My goal in encouraging you to study isn’t to get a degree but to improve your cultural level.
The more you read, the more you naturally understand. The changes in our country are happening rapidly, and I believe the coming changes will be so significant that you can’t even imagine them. You’re both young. Do you really want to stay in the village for the rest of your lives, never venturing out to see the world?
If you want to achieve great things outside the village, your current level of education won’t be enough."
Deng Yunzhen asked, puzzled, "Dad, I don’t quite understand. What big business can my sister-in-law and I possibly do?"
She was genuinely confused. In this era, the greatest aspiration for people in the countryside was to study hard, get into college or a vocational school, and then wait for the state to assign a job, where they would earn a stable income. That was considered the most successful outcome for anyone in the village.
Apart from that, what other big business could they possibly do?
Zhang Xiuping was equally puzzled. Given the limitations of their environment, even the men in the village had no ambitions to venture out and achieve great things, let alone women, who had no such concept in their minds.
Deng Shirong, having lived through this era, understood their thoughts and replied, "When I say I want you to achieve something big, I mean I want you to go out and do business. The state has already relaxed some restrictions on doing business, and I believe more favorable policies will be introduced in the future.
I’ve already thought about what kind of business you should do, but the current situation isn’t entirely clear yet. So, I want you to wait a couple more years before starting. In the meantime, you can use this time to study more. That way, when you go out to do business, you’ll be less likely to be cheated."
Zhang Xiuping asked, "Dad, do you mean you want us to go out and open a shop like my older brothers?"
Deng Shirong said, "Something along those lines, but I’m not talking about just opening a small shop. I’ll explain the details later when the situation becomes clearer."
Although Deng Shirong only gave them a few hints, it still opened up a whole new world for Deng Yunzhen and Zhang Xiuping.
Zhang Xiuping was different from her sister-in-law. Her sister-in-law had dropped out because she didn’t pass the high school entrance exam, while Zhang Xiuping had to stop her education due to the family’s poverty.
Now that she had the chance to continue her studies, she was naturally enthusiastic and nodded, "Okay, Dad. I’ll work hard on my studies from now on."
Deng Yunzhen wasn’t particularly talented at studying, but since she would be learning at home and wouldn’t have to take exams, and with her sister-in-law’s company, she wasn’t too worried. So, she also nodded, "I’ll study with my sister-in-law!"
Deng Shirong smiled contentedly, "We have all the textbooks from primary school to high school at home. You two should study hard. If you have any questions, Ping, ask Yunzhen, and Yunzhen, if you have any questions, ask your older brother. Work hard for the next two years, and you’ll thank yourselves for it in the future."
Zhang Xiuping and Deng Yunzhen nodded in agreement.
As Deng Shirong was encouraging his daughter and daughter-in-law to study, Bu Wanhui was riding his bicycle to the entrance of Naye Village.
He had first visited Bai Ping Farm, which, being a state-owned enterprise, was very supportive of national construction. Despite not being wealthy, the farm had generously purchased 1,000 yuan worth of treasury bonds.
This initial success lifted Bu Wanhui’s spirits, making him feel more hopeful about completing his task.
However, his subsequent visits to several production teams were disappointing. Although the team leaders were willing to support the national cause, they simply lacked the funds to do so.
Bu Wanhui understood their situation. Being a local, he knew that there wasn’t a single truly prosperous production team in the entire Shuangwang area. He planned to visit a few more production teams, and if there was still no progress, he would have to think of a different approach.
(End of Chapter)
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