Chapter 356: No Coincidence, the Value of Tsinghua University [8,000 Words] (Part 2)

Chapter 356: No Coincidence, the Value of Tsinghua University [8,000 Words] (Part 2)

While Qiu Jianguo was smoking leisurely, someone asked, "Jianguo, when is Yongnian coming back for the New Year?"

Mentioning the village's first college student, the other villagers stopped their conversation and looked at Qiu Jianguo. Qiu Jianguo smiled and said, "I don't know the exact time, as Beijing is very far from here. It takes several days and nights by train, but he should be back in the next couple of days!"

A villager remarked, "I went to the provincial capital by train a couple of years ago, and it only took a few hours. Going to Beijing takes several days and nights, which is indeed very far!"

Another villager asked, "I've never been on a train. What's it like? How do you handle the need to go to the bathroom during those long days and nights?"

Someone else responded, "You don't have to worry about that. Trains have toilets, so you can use the bathroom on board."

"Is it true that the sleeper cars have beds and blankets, just like sleeping at home?"

"I've heard that too, but those tickets are not for ordinary people. They are reserved for leaders and officials."

"..."

As they chatted, the conversation turned to trains. This was a remote fishing village, and few had seen the outside world. Apart from a few who had taken the train, most had never even seen one.

Thus, when they talked about trains, everyone was filled with curiosity.

While they were chatting, the sound of "dada dada" came from the village entrance.

Without looking, everyone knew it was Qiu Lao Liu, as he was the only one in the village with a tractor.

"Hey, look, isn't the person sitting next to Qiu Lao Liu Yongnian?"

"It's Yongnian. Jianguo, your son Yongnian is back!"

"The village's college student is back!"

"..."

Qiu Jianguo saw his youngest son and his face lit up with a smile, the wrinkles on his face forming a flower.

"Third Uncle, Uncle Ping, Uncle Qiang, Brother Long..."

As the tractor approached, Qiu Lao Liu stopped it, and Qiu Yongnian smiled and greeted each villager. Finally, he turned to his father and said, "Dad, I'm back!"

Qiu Jianguo smiled broadly and said, "It's good to have you back. You probably didn't eat well on the way. Come home, and your mother will make you something good to eat."

Qiu Yongnian responded, then turned to Qiu Lao Liu and said, "Uncle Six, thank you!"

Qiu Lao Liu waved his hand and said, "No need to thank me. Everyone says you are a star of literature, and I'm happy that you could ride in my tractor."

Qiu Yongnian exchanged a few more pleasantries with the villagers before picking up his luggage and following his father home.

Seeing her youngest son return, Qiu's mother was overjoyed. After a few words, she realized that her son had not eaten lunch and hurried into the kitchen to prepare a meal.

While Qiuyong Nian's eldest sister-in-law quickly followed in to help.

Within a few minutes, the villagers started bringing gifts to the house. One family sent two live fish, another sent a dozen eggs, and some even brought rare seafood. These were things they might not even have the heart to consume themselves, but now they were very generous in offering them.

Seeing this, Qi JianGuo's smile never left his face. His youngest son's admission to Tsinghua University had truly brought honor to the family.

Qi Yongnian took note of all the villagers who brought gifts. He was still a student and had no real power, but once he started working, if there was anything he could do to help these villagers, he would certainly do so.

This was exactly what the villagers hoped to achieve by giving gifts.

Soon, Qi's mother prepared a sumptuous meal. There was a large pot of various seafood mixed together, a big bowl of home-grown vegetables, and a plate of scallion eggs. The aroma was inviting, and Qi Yongnian's appetite was greatly stimulated.

During the meal, the family chatted as they ate. Qi Yongnian briefly recounted his life at Tsinghua University and the places he had visited in Beijing to his family. His parents and elder brother and sister-in-law were amazed, finding everything about Beijing incredibly novel. They listened intently, silently memorizing the stories to share with others later.

After the meal, Qi Yongnian asked, "Dad, Mom, do we have any good fresh seafood?"

Qi's mother replied, "We have over ten wu fish, which we planned to save for the New Year. Why do you ask?"

In southern Fujian, there is a saying: "First wu fish, second red snapper, third pomfret, fourth mackerel, fifth croaker, sixth salted fish." This is a ranking of seafood, and some add "seventh crab, eighth shrimp, ninth red melon" to the list. There are many versions of this ranking, but in all of them, wu fish is almost always ranked first.

Wu fish, also known as ma you, wu fish, niu sun, ji yu, and li hou, is rich in oil and becomes more delicious the larger it is. It can be steamed or pan-fried, and is a delicacy found mainly along the coasts of Guangdong and Fujian.

Qi Yongnian said, "Prepare a few for me; I plan to give them as gifts."

Qi JianGuo was surprised, "Son, who are you going to give them to?"

Qi Yongnian replied, "A classmate's second brother, who is a leader in our county. He didn't go back to his hometown for the New Year, so I plan to visit him."

Qi JianGuo asked, "You mean a classmate from Tsinghua University?"

Qi Yongnian nodded, "Yes, a classmate from Tsinghua University. His second brother graduated from Peking University and has been working for just over two years. He is now the deputy county magistrate of Fuqing County, which is very impressive."

Upon hearing this, the entire Qi family was stunned.

Qi's elder brother said in amazement, "A Nian, your classmate's second brother is truly remarkable. To become such a high-ranking official in just two years is unbelievable. Being able to build a relationship with such a leader is a great fortune for you; you must make the most of it."

Qi Yongnian nodded. He also greatly admired his classmate Deng Yunheng's second brother.

While it was true that graduates from Tsinghua and Peking Universities generally had bright futures, not everyone could rise to a deputy department head position so quickly. According to his knowledge, some alumni who entered politics had been working for several years and were still at the section level, far from becoming deputy department heads.

Of course, if everything went well, they would eventually rise, but the significance of rising early rather than later was entirely different.

Qi's mother, knowing her son was preparing gifts for a leader, said, "A Nian, besides the wu fish, the winter crabs are also very delicious. I'll prepare some for you to bring to the leader."

Qi Yongnian nodded, "Okay, Mom."

Qi JianGuo asked, "A Nian, when do you plan to visit your classmate's second brother?"

Qi Yongnian replied, "There are only a few days left until the New Year, and I don't know if the leader is busy. I'll rest well today and leave for the county early tomorrow morning."

Qi JianGuo said, "Let your brother go with you. These are live fish and need to be kept in seawater to stay alive. It would be too tiring for you to carry them alone."

"Alright, Big Brother, you can go with me tomorrow."

"Sure."

...

Fuqing County Government.

As the deputy county magistrate, Deng Yunheng, the second-in-command of the county government, naturally had his own office.

After more than half a year of exploration and training, Deng Yunheng had become proficient in his role as deputy county magistrate. He was one of the most outstanding graduates of Peking University in recent years, and his work ability was beyond doubt.

After performing his duties well, Deng Yunheng began to consider the development direction of Fuqing County.

Fuqing County is backed by the sea, and Deng Yunheng believed that developing marine aquaculture would be a good path to boost the local economy.

In the past half year, Deng Yunheng had gathered information on marine aquaculture in China through various channels.

According to the data he collected, China's marine aquaculture began in Qingdao in the 1950s. Due to technical limitations, it initially only cultivated sea lettuce.

To increase the variety of aquaculture, units such as the Shandong Aquaculture Farm, the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Yellow Sea Aquaculture Research Institute in Qingdao successfully developed artificial raft cultivation of kelp, summer seedling cultivation of kelp, and natural light seedling cultivation of kelp.

In 1957, Qingdao arranged for the Lao Shan Jin Shan, Ai Guo, and Sheng Li fishing cooperatives to conduct raft cultivation of kelp in the sea areas near Sha Zi Kou and Feng Shan Dong, with 240 rafts.

In 1958, 11 fishing and agricultural cooperatives were arranged to conduct seaweed cultivation trials, with the state-owned breeding farms providing seaweed seedlings and technical guidance. State-owned farms and fishing cooperatives made full use of the water surfaces, widely promoting seaweed cultivation.

Within just five years, seaweed cultivation rapidly spread from Shandong to Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other provinces. China's annual production of dried seaweed reached over 3 million tons, reversing the long-term reliance on imports.

Apart from seaweed cultivation, coastal areas and research institutions have been continuously exploring and experimenting with shrimp farming techniques.

In 1958, the Shandong Marine Aquaculture Research Institute, the Qingdao Fisheries Bureau, the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Ministry of Fisheries, and the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly conducted artificial spawning trials for Chinese shrimp on Zhuchai Island in Jiaonan. They also conducted experiments for overwintering broodstock shrimp at the Qingdao Aquarium, initially grasping the patterns of shrimp breeding.

In May 1960, the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully bred the first batch of shrimp larvae under artificial indoor conditions and summarized a set of artificial shrimp breeding methods.

In 1979, the technology for full-scale artificial shrimp breeding in factories was successfully developed, and the key technologies for factory breeding and rearing were broken through.

In 1983, under the guidance of marine research institutions in Qingdao, the trial of shrimp release and enhancement in Qingdao was successful.

Starting in 1984, Qingdao began implementing shrimp release and enhancement, leading to a "shrimp farming fever" along the coast. In just one winter and spring, 42,000 mu of new shrimp ponds were built, exceeding the total of previous years.

By 1987, the total area of shrimp ponds in the suburban areas of Qingdao reached 107,400 mu, triggering the second wave of marine aquaculture in China.

Currently, shrimp farming in Fujian is still a blank slate. Deng Yunheng wanted to promote shrimp farming in Fuqing County. If the scale of shrimp farming could be large enough, it could drive the economic development of the entire county. If this project succeeded, the benefits for him would be self-evident.

Time flies when one is fully engaged in work. Before he knew it, it was already noon, and it was time to go out for lunch.

In this era, county government leaders generally had three ways to solve their meal problems:

1. Eating at the canteen.

In this era, most public institutions had canteens. However, whether it was leaders or lower-level staff, everyone ate the same food. Leaders could not have their own private kitchens, and the food in the canteen could only fill one's stomach; it was impossible to expect anything better.

2. Cooking at home.

County government leaders were allocated housing. If the leader had family members living with them, cooking at home was a very good choice. They could eat whatever they wanted, which was much better than eating at the canteen.

3. Eating out.

Few county leaders chose this option. While it was fine to eat out occasionally, eating out every day was only possible for those who were corrupt. In this era, how many county leaders had the means to eat out every day?

Deng Yunheng was not short of money, but as a county leader, he had to be mindful of his influence. Therefore, he usually bought groceries and cooked at home for dinner. He only ate out for breakfast and lunch when he was too busy.

Just as he walked out of the county government building, someone called out to him, "Deputy County Magistrate Deng."

Deng Yunheng looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man who looked a few years younger than him. He had a hunch about the young man's identity and asked, "Are you Qiu Yongnian?"

Qiu Yongnian smiled and said, "It seems that Yunsong has already mentioned me to you."

Deng Yunheng nodded and said, "He has. Don't call me 'you' or 'sir,' just call me Second Brother, like Yunsong does."

Qiu Yongnian readily called out, "Second Brother!"

Deng Yunheng hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "When did you get back?"

Qiu Yongnian replied, "I just got home yesterday. My family caught a few good wu fish and some winter crabs, so I brought them over to let you taste them. But I was worried about causing any negative impact, so I came here to wait for you. My brother is watching over the fish at another place."

"Qiu Yongnian, you are too polite. Where is your brother? Let me go and say hello."

"Second Brother, follow me."

Three minutes later, Deng Yunheng saw two buckets.

One bucket contained seawater and a few live wu fish swimming around, while the other bucket held about ten tied-up winter crabs.

Deng Yunheng said, "You and your brother are very thoughtful. Have you had lunch yet?"

Qiu Yongnian replied, "Not yet."

Deng Yunheng smiled and said, "Then today I'll return the favor. I can't cook these well, so let's take them to a restaurant and have the chef prepare them for us. That way, we can have a great meal."

"Um..."

The Qiu brothers exchanged glances and finally nodded in unison, "Alright!"

...

PS: I forgot to set the automatic update and wrote myself into a daze. Yesterday, the readers on Qidian alone cast 4,468 votes, and with QQ Reading, the total increase was 4,860 votes, which is amazing!

The readers on QQ Reading also gave generous rewards, and the author can only continue to work hard to repay your support.

Today is another 8,000-word chapter. Whether I can continue to burst out tomorrow depends on your support. If you still have monthly votes, don't hoard them. Let's all push forward together!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end