Chapter 65 Emotional Manipulation

Chapter 65 Emotional Manipulation

Xie Weiran was an exceptionally sensitive journalist. He wasn't the type of county reporter who only moved when prodded; he took the initiative, actively arranging news points and capturing readers' attention.

From the construction of the biogas pool to its completion and filling, and finally to its production and use over these twenty days, he published three articles in the City News.

These three articles detailed the spirit and hard work of the Tangjiacun Brigade cadres and members during the construction of the biogas pool.

He emphasized the material hardships and spiritual joys of the members.

People always pay special attention to distant suffering, and after the articles were published consecutively in the City News, they had a serial effect, attracting the attention of many citizens.

Some observant citizens even marked the calendar, circling the approximate date when the Tangjiacun biogas pool would produce gas.

They hoped to see this good news in that day's City News.

On the morning of November 10th, while it was still dark outside, the postman rode his bicycle, carrying an olive-green mailbag, delivering newspapers to various units.

Wei Mingqi was a technician at the Provincial Agricultural Machinery Factory. Her daily routine was simple: get up, eat breakfast at the canteen, go to the office to make tea and read the newspaper, then head to the workshop for work.

In recent days, she discovered an interesting report. The Provincial Machinery News reprinted several articles from Yuan'an City News, reporting on Binxian County's Qianjin Brigade's efforts to build a biogas pool.

She followed it closely and looked forward to reading about the successful production and use of the biogas pool.

According to the previous report, it should take ten to fifteen days for gas production.

The Machinery News hadn't reported anything in the past few days, but today there should be something, right?

She didn't bother to eat at the canteen, grabbing a bun and soy milk and quickly heading to her office.

As soon as she entered, she saw the receptionist distributing newspapers and letters to each office. She immediately approached and asked, "Sister, is the Machinery News here?"

The receptionist, though not well-read, had her own unique method of sorting newspapers and letters, remembering which was which.

She accurately pulled out the latest issue of the Machinery News and smiled at Wei Mingqi, saying, "Yes, it's here."

Wei Mingqi thanked her, put down her breakfast, and unfolded the newspaper to look for the content she wanted to read.

There was a report, but it wasn't what she expected.

The report stated that unfortunately, due to equipment issues, the first biogas pool in Qianjin Brigade's Tangjiacun did not produce gas as scheduled and would likely need another five days.

A wave of disappointment washed over Wei Mingqi.

She didn't know why she felt disappointed or why she cared so much about a biogas pool in a poor village.

It was because of those emotionally charged words and the simple, optimistic smiles; she really wanted this impoverished little village to improve.

She suppressed her disappointment and continued reading.

The article didn't dwell on the disappointment but summarized the situation in Tangjiacun.

Tangjiacun had many mountains and little arable land, with barren soil and no agricultural machinery. They relied solely on their strong shoulders to carry everything.

Every person, including the women, had toughened shoulders, worn with blisters and calluses from hard labor.

Despite their poverty, they remained optimistic, inheriting the spirit of hard work from their ancestors. They not only paid their taxes but also innovated and tried to improve their impoverished conditions.

Growing rice, building biogas pools, and mixed farming of forests and medicinal herbs were their ways of resisting poverty, repeatedly challenging adversity.

One failure was not scary because they had resilient spirits, ready to experiment until they succeeded.

We will continue to follow and look forward to the next report.

Wei Mingqi couldn't help tearing up by the end.

Indeed, how could construction be easy?

Without machinery, they relied on their hands to clear mountains and cultivate land, overcoming harsh natural conditions with indomitable spirits, rooting themselves in that barren land and surviving generation after generation.

She felt she should do something for them—donate money? Or ask the leadership to support them with agricultural machinery?

In the Binxian County office, Gao Sheng and Liu Guangming were moved to tears by the report.

Tasting the saltiness on their lips, they jolted.

Damn!

This Xie Weiran was too damn good at emotional manipulation and exaggeration. How could Tangjiacun be so poor?

Gao Sheng even suspected it was Ji Hongyue's conspiracy, trying to cry poverty to the whole country and challenge him.

He even thought the biogas pool not producing gas during the two-day inspection was part of their scheme, despite seeing it produce gas himself!

When Tang Yuan turned on the gas stove, blue flames emerged.

But that girl insisted the gas output was insufficient and had the exposed stirring device removed, saying the current technology couldn't achieve full sealing, making it prone to leaks. She said without stirring, it would take a few more days.

It was just a matter of insufficient gas, but Xie Weiran insisted on saying it was unfortunate and a failure, then wrote a long piece about their hardships and struggles.

Damn you!

Who doesn't suffer these days?

Is my life any easier?

In the matchbox-making workshop of the street office, Gao Daya checked the time. It was almost noon, so she went to settle her accounts and prepare to go home to cook.

In the office, two clerks were chatting about something while reading a newspaper, wiping away their tears as they spoke.

"They've had it so hard."

"Yes, my aunt lives in the countryside; it's heart-wrenching."

"Compared to them, we're so fortunate living in the city, eating rationed food, and getting paid monthly."

Gao Daya, holding her work slip, went to record it and glanced at the newspaper. "Hmm," she thought, is that smiling girl... Sister Yuan?

The two clerks continued chatting while helping the female workers record their work.

"Look at Cadre Ji and this Little Tang girl; they seem like a perfect match. Are they a couple?"

"No way, didn't I hear that Little Tang is learning from Cadre Ji?"

"I bet they are a couple." The clerk giggled. "Look at how lovingly Cadre Ji looks at Little Tang."

Gao Daya became anxious. What loving look? They’re talking nonsense! My Sister Yuan has someone, it’s Brother Feng!

She usually worked silently at the street office, diligent but not showy, so she wasn’t particularly noticeable.

But when she got flustered, she couldn’t help but clarify that Tang Yuan had someone else, not Cadre Ji.

The two clerks were taken aback. "You know her?"

These two clerks were from the match factory, not the street office, and didn’t know Tang Yuan or Feng Chen.

Gao Daya felt shy and nervous but still nodded. "They are good people, very good people."

If it weren’t for them, she would have been beaten to death by her mother and stepfather, wouldn’t she?

The clerks were curious about the rural Tang girl and, finding out Gao Daya knew her, started asking questions.

Daya needed to go home to cook dinner first but promised to come back in the afternoon to tell them about how Tang Yuan saved her from her predicament.

Tangjia Village.

A crowd gathered in Feng Chen's yard, staring intently at Tang Yuan and the strange iron box called a biogas stove.

Tang Yuan turned to ask, "Have you finished chopping the vegetables? Let's try stir-frying some spicy cabbage slices."

The shed had no walls and was open on all sides, so there was no worry about smoke.

Still, to protect the flame, she had Feng Chen build three iron shields to prevent the wind from blowing it off course and wasting gas.

Tang Yuan: "I'm going to light it now."

Everyone held their breath, watching her slender fingers.

With a "click," a blue flame sprang up, licking the bottom of the double-eared iron pot.

"Wow~" Everyone stared wide-eyed, as if witnessing a miracle.

"No more smoke filling the house, just turn a knob and cook!" An elderly woman with cloudy eyes tried to see clearly, filled with excitement and hope. "Good, truly good. Living long means seeing new wonders."

The pot heated up quickly, and Feng Chen poured in a ladle of soybean oil.

The blue flame licked the pot bottom, and soon the oil began to smoke.

Add chili peppers, add cabbage pieces, and the oil sizzled, steam rising.

Xie Weiran clicked his camera, capturing several memorable photos.

Ding Aiping and Jiang Chengsheng were also there, making sure not to miss this crucial moment.

The first plate of spicy cabbage stir-fried with biogas didn’t even make it to the table; it was devoured by Tang Aiguo, Tang Aidang, and other young people right in the yard.

"This divine gas-cooked cabbage will make us strong and healthy—grab it!"

Those who missed out were frustrated.

Tang Bingde didn’t get a single bite!

Those rascals didn’t even think of sharing with him, the team leader.

How infuriating!

"Sister Yuan, can you build a divine gas pool for our family too?" Several children ran over, tugging at Tang Yuan's clothes.

Some asked in their innocence, others were sent by their parents.

Tang Yuan smiled. "Everyone line up. We'll start with the team's pool, then move on to individual ones."

Building a biogas pool doesn’t cost much. Her family used the best materials available, and it cost less than 40 yuan. For other members, it would be less than 30 yuan.

After the year-end dividends, most families could afford it next year.

As dusk fell, someone shouted, "Didn’t you say it could also light up the place? Show us how to light the lamp!"

"Yes, show us. It’s amazing. If biogas can light lamps, who’d buy kerosene at thirty-five cents a pound?"

Tang Yuan had bought the necessary parts and instructions for a biogas lamp from the city. She and Feng Chen, along with Ji Hongyue, had studied and assembled it together.

The key to a biogas lamp is burning a new gauze cover.

How well the new gauze cover burns greatly affects the brightness and efficiency of the biogas lamp.

After burning through a few, Feng Chen mastered the perfect technique for burning the lampshade.

Tang Yuan and Ji Hongyue were both a bit short of this skill.

The biogas lamp works similarly to a biogas stove, with a nozzle that shoots out biogas, emitting white light for illumination.

When the switch was turned on, the biogas lamp instantly lit up and stabilized after two seconds.

"Wow! So magical!" The children cheered, and the adults looked on with fervent eyes.

Is this high-tech?

They felt as if their team had been complete bumpkins before and were now starting to embrace the new society.

They heard that people in the city use electric lights and telephones, things they had never seen.

Tang Yuan explained the working principle of the biogas lamp to the cooperative members present, though they didn't understand it, they listened attentively.

She mainly focused on the maintenance of the biogas lamp, emphasizing not to touch it while it's lit to avoid breaking the lampshade, which would cause it to stop working.

Hearing her words, everyone instinctively stepped back, afraid that a sudden breath might break the lamp.

Xie Weiran and the other reporters captured these moments with their cameras.

Xie Weiran also had to relay this information to Guo Yan.

Guo Yan wasn't present; he had returned to the city a few days ago because there was still much work to be done there.

He had already written a related application report, planning to get the mayor's approval first and then bring it up at the Municipal Committee meeting.

He needed to detail the uses and benefits of biogas. Tang Yuan had told him that it is an emerging energy source that can save raw materials for power generation, doesn't pollute the air, is easy to use, and can assist agriculture and livestock farming, making it a great helper for farmers.

He believed the Municipal Committee would definitely approve his application. Then, he would build thousands—no, tens of thousands—of biogas digesters in Yuanan City!

Similarly, Ji Hongyue would submit such an application report in Binxian County.

With Tang Yuan's help in polishing his report, it would surely be foolproof.

For dinner that night, Tang Yuan invited her father, mother, Tang Bingde, Secretary Liu, and others over, under the pretense of tasting the first meal cooked with biogas.

Secretary Liu received the invitation with mixed feelings, a mix of joy and bitterness, but still happily brought eggs and noodles.

Tang Bingde had been coming to the biogas digester every day since opening his eyes these past few days, sometimes staying all day.

Today, he focused on discussing building a larger biogas digester for the team.

This small digester is enough for household use, but to power a generator or a flour mill or any machine, it's not sufficient.

A larger biogas digester would produce more gas.

The team could raise more pigs, thus having more raw materials to produce more gas.

Tang Yuan appreciated Tang Bingde's dedication to work. This is exactly the type of person poverty alleviation cadres love to help.

Tang Yuan: "Seventh Uncle, I've surveyed the area, and our livestock yard is the most suitable location."

There is a large courtyard there where they can build corresponding facilities, and it's a safe distance from the village.

Someone couldn't help but say, "But, we won't have space for threshing anymore."

Tang Bingde: "No problem, we can just thresh directly in the wheat field."

Can a living person be suffocated by urine?

Seeing the biogas digester sparked countless ideas in him. Biogas can cook food, saving firewood. Biogas liquid can serve as pesticide and feed additive for livestock, making them grow healthier and fatter. Biogas residue can be used as fertilizer, which is essentially the same as using pig manure without waste. Moreover, the residue can be used to raise fish and earthworms, which can then feed pigs and chickens.

In this way, their team wouldn't need additional materials but could raise more earthworms, fish, chickens, and pigs!

Why hadn't they raised more before?

Apart from the initial years when some officials made absurd rules against raising animals, later on, no one cared.

Which city official could supervise the countryside every day? It was the team cadres who caused trouble.

As long as the team cadres don't cause trouble, no one would bother the farmers.

The reason they didn't raise more was the lack of feed.

The grain produced from the fields was limited. After paying the patriotic tax and selling surplus grain, they barely had enough for their own consumption, let alone extra.

Even so, the cooperative members weren't necessarily well-fed.

Now, with earthworms as feed, raising chickens, ducks, and pigs would be an added bonus.

Besides fulfilling the commune's tasks, the team could slaughter pigs for meat and sell it to city units.

Previously, he lacked the ability to contact city units, but now he has Cadre Ji, Team Leader Guo, and Reporter Xie.

Also, the fish expert suggested that instead of selling pork directly, they could sell canned pork, sausages, smoked meat, and cured meat.

These products have a longer shelf life, are less prone to spoilage, and fetch higher prices.

Oh, how Tang Bingde wished time would pass quickly so he could see the prosperous scene.

Yet, he also wanted time to slow down so he could live a few more years to witness the future's bright prospects.

He even envisioned using the fertile land for growing crops and the barren land for building factories.

Building factories was a concept Tang Yuan instilled in him—team-run factories!

The meal went on until nine o'clock in the evening before it finally dispersed.

Tang Bingde was drunk, staggering along without anyone's support, his hands clasped behind his back, taking light, unsteady steps. He even started singing as he walked.

Behind him, Secretary Liu was startled, muttering, "This old thing!"

The next day, Xie Weiran and the county reporters also bid farewell to Tang Yuan and the others.

They had to return to their units.

Tang Yuan prepared gifts for Xie Weiran: several pieces of smoked meat, a large bag of dried yam slices, a large bag of dried sweet potato dates, and another large bag of wild Sichuan pepper, goji berries, and mushrooms.

Xie Weiran refused at first but was eventually forced to accept them. Tang Yuan mentioned that she would also be giving half to Leader Guo, so he had no choice but to take them.

He left in a car arranged by Guo Yan from the city, carrying materials to repair the large biogas digester for the brigade.

The county reporters didn't get any gifts from Tang Yuan. Although they looked down on those gifts, they still felt a bit disgruntled.

Fortunately, Secretary Liu had prepared plenty of mountain goods for them, including mushrooms and mushrooms, ensuring they wouldn't lose face.

As soon as Xie Weiran returned, he promptly published the good news about the first biogas digester in Tangjia Village producing gas and being put into operation, sending up photos of lighting fires, cooking, biogas lamps, and the delighted expressions of the villagers.

Their simple and natural faces, coupled with their genuine smiles, were very infectious, touching readers and the leaders of the Municipal Committee and Provincial Committee alike.

This greatly bolstered the report and application submitted by Guo Yan and Ji Hongyue, especially Ji Hongyue.

Gao Sheng, Liu Guangming, and others could not hinder his progress. As a result, County Chief Xie Xingzhi's position also rose, showing signs of fully reclaiming his authority as county chief.

These developments were unknown to Tang Yuan and the others, who were focused on finishing the medium-sized biogas digester for the brigade before the ground froze.

This time, they planned to build a 30-cubic-meter biogas digester.

Naturally, Guo Yan and Ji Hongyue came to supervise and learn, bringing other technicians with them.

Guo Yan mentioned that when it was completed, both the mayor and county chief planned to come for an inspection.

The villagers became even more motivated!

Another noteworthy event was that previously, young men from the Forward Brigade had trouble finding spouses because outsiders thought their mountain village was poor and were unwilling to marry their daughters to them. However, after the newspaper coverage, the trend reversed instantly.

Many people rushed to marry their daughters to the young men from the Forward Brigade, especially those featured in the newspaper. Some even brought matchmakers and their daughters directly to claim their sons-in-law.

In a short time, several marriages were formed, waiting for the completion of the biogas digester to hold weddings.

Tang Aidang had been scared off lately and spent his days hiding near the biogas digester, working hard.

He was somewhat like someone who admired dragons but was terrified when they approached. He wanted a wife, but when someone showed interest, he panicked.

With experience, Tang Bingde and Dad Tang did not need Tang Yuan and Feng Chen to constantly oversee the excavation phase of the digester, so the two went back to the mountains.

The group of monkeys, led by a highly intelligent monkey king who had once been domesticated, behaved differently from purely wild monkeys. They knew how to enjoy life.

They found two nice caves near where Tang Yuan and Feng Chen lived and moved in.

They had different roles: some picked wild fruits, others gathered mountain grapes, and still others collected walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts.

Humans risked injury when collecting pine cones, but monkeys were naturally adept at it. They climbed trees and knocked down pine cones effortlessly.

Knowing that Tang Yuan and Feng Chen had returned, the monkey king excitedly invited them to visit their cave.

The monkeys' cave was slightly higher than Tang Yuan's and required climbing to reach.

Tang Yuan was carried there by Feng Chen.

Upon arriving at the cave, Tang Yuan, still on Feng Chen's back, was stunned.

"Wow, I'm so jealous!"

These monkeys had stockpiled a whole cave full of supplies!

"You're not squirrels; you don't need to hoard!"

The monkey king patted Tang Yuan and made a gesture of drinking, indicating he wanted her help to make wine.

Making wine wasn't a quick process; it took between half a month to a month of fermentation, with regular stirring and pressing.

Still, she was willing to help the monkeys.

The monkey king had a hole in his ear and a brand mark on his body, suggesting a past filled with hardship. Tang Yuan felt sympathy for him and wanted to do what she could to help.

While Feng Chen checked on the wheat, Tang Yuan led the monkeys in making wine.

She did most of the work.

She selected plump, intact mountain grapes, removing the bad ones, and broke them in a clean, dried pickle jar without washing them, leaving the thin layer of white bloom intact.

She reluctantly added two pounds of sugar.

Actually, two pounds weren't enough for nearly twenty pounds of grapes.

Without enough sugar, the wine would be sour, but it didn't matter for the monkeys.

After all, they didn't know what better wine tasted like.

During their stay in the mountains, Tang Yuan and Feng Chen felt as if they were on a relaxing vacation after their busy schedule outside.

For a few days, she mainly helped the monkeys make wine, pressing the grape skins back into the liquid under a plastic cover several times a day to prevent bacterial growth and enhance the fermentation process.

She didn’t care whether the monkeys understood or could learn; she told them that the wine jars needed to ferment until it was very cold, shivering cold, before they could drink.

In recent days, Feng Chen had watered the transplanted herbs and saplings, but he left the wheat alone. As for those in the mountains, he didn’t check on them.

When Feng Chen and Tang Yuan left the mountains, the monkeys reluctantly saw them off.

Once Feng Chen and Tang Yuan descended, a monkey tentatively tried to climb down as they had done.

Although its body was smaller than a human’s, reaching the stone crevices was somewhat challenging but not impossible.

So after Tang Yuan and Feng Chen left the mountains, the monkey king led several brave ones to practice climbing Boulder Peak, leaping around.

Within a few days, they were climbing swiftly, able to traverse from the north to the south of Boulder Peak to play.

In early winter, fog was more common in the mountains, sometimes lingering even after the sun rose high. Dew covered the withered grass, wetting pant legs when walking through it.

Since there was no urgency, Tang Yuan and Feng Chen didn’t rush, spending a night in the mountains and arriving home around noon the next day.

As soon as they entered the village, they heard faint screams and cries from the south.

Tang Yuan’s heart sank. Could it be that someone got injured while digging the biogas pit?

This was possible because a large biogas pit was thirty cubic meters, and even if divided into sections, the largest part was ten cubic meters.

A fall from a height of over three meters could indeed injure someone.

She and Feng Chen hurried home to inform Grandma Feng, dropped their things, and rushed southeast.

Grandma Feng, being elderly, had poor hearing and couldn’t hear the commotion from this distance.

Tang Yuan briefly explained and pulled Feng Chen along.

After running for a while, Feng Chen’s face turned slightly odd as he said, “It’s not the biogas pit; it’s... Liu Laizi’s house.”

He had slapped Liu Laizi once, and at that time, Liu Pozi’s wailing had been like a haunting sound, deeply imprinted in his memory.

The cries now were a hundred times worse.

Upon arriving, they knew what had happened: Liu Laizi had returned early from the quarry—because he had broken a leg.

Liu Pozi wailed, “Captain, you must give us an explanation! If you hadn’t sent us to the quarry, how could we have broken our leg?”