Chapter 7 Chapter VII

As a veteran party member with 40 years of party experience and the party secretary of a local state-owned coal mine, Cao Xinli strives to maintain the dignity and authority of a leader at all times.But this dignity and authority could no longer be maintained on the night of July 10th. For the sake of feeding more than 8,000 workers, Cao Xin made a lot of determination, and finally brazenly confessed to her second son, Cao Wucheng, whom she usually despises the most. I want Cao Wucheng's joint company to borrow hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy grain for the mine, so as not to close the canteen of the mine.

In order to avoid possible embarrassment, Cao Xinli did not go to Cao Wucheng's joint company office in Pingchuan City, nor did he go to the mine party committee. Instead, he called Cao Wucheng and his so-called secretary Ma Haohao to his home for a discussion.During the conversation, Cao Xinli asked Ma Haohao, who was wearing heavy makeup, to avoid her for a while, but Cao Wucheng refused, saying that Ma Haohao was not an outsider, but was actually the daughter-in-law of the Cao family, and there was no need to hide anything from her. This made Cao Xinli very angry.Which kind of daughter-in-law of the Cao family is Mahao?Cao Wucheng's daughter-in-law is Yuan Jing, and Ma Haohao is Cao Wucheng's concubine at best.However, tonight it is not easy to be serious with Cao Wucheng. He is poor and short-sighted. He knows that Cao Wucheng is demonstrating against him, so he can only close his eyes and swallow his breath first.

Under the dim light of the 15-watt light bulb, the old man who is the secretary of the party committee of the mine said to the son of the general manager of the leather bag company: "Wucheng, you know, it is not at all that our Shengli Coal Mine has come to this point. Your father's responsibility. This medium-sized coal mine with more than 8,000 people was built during the Great Leap Forward. At that time, everything was boasted. It was only a political account, not an economic account. There is not much coal to be mined, but it insists on establishing The headquarters engaged in a large-scale battle. As a result, not much coal was mined, and a lot of people were left behind. Today, we are in a desperate situation. In the first half of this year, our mine was almost out of production, and most of the more than 8,000 workers only paid living expenses , each employee is 60 yuan per month. How do you live on this little living expenses? Our party committee tried every means to organize a change of production to save ourselves, and borrowed money from everywhere, so we reluctantly opened a temporary business in the big cafeteria, and converted the living expenses into meal tickets and distributed them to the workers. Let workers eat the canteen with their immediate family."

Cao Wucheng didn't know Cao Xinli's intention to borrow money from him on behalf of the mine at this time, so he smiled at Cao Xinli and said, "Isn't this very good, eating with an open stomach is a bit like communism." Cao Xinli smiled wryly and said, "Wucheng, I'm not in the mood to bicker or joke with you. Don't interrupt and listen to me, okay? Yesterday, Section Chief Wang of the General Affairs Section came to tell me that the mine lasted for three days. The food money is gone, and the situation is quite serious. As soon as the news got out, the workers were very emotionally unstable, and they might really have to go to the municipal party committee and the municipal government to collectively appeal.”

Cao Wucheng said: "Then you go to the city, Guo Huaiqiu, and my elder brother. Isn't my elder brother the deputy mayor in charge of industry? Are you eating for nothing?!" Cao Xinli blushed and explained: "The city has provided more than 30 million guaranteed loans for our organization to produce self-rescue, and the bank is unwilling to give us a penny of loans. The money that several places promised to lend us has not been in place. , After much deliberation, I had no choice but to take out our family's more than 30,000 yuan in savings for emergency, and I also want to ask your joint company to temporarily lend 100,000 or 200,000 yuan to the mine, even if I beg you as a father. "

Cao Wucheng was stunned, pondered for a while, then stamped his feet and shouted: "Father, what are you kidding?! Why did you think of asking me to borrow money from a leather bag company that is not doing business properly? You are a dignified state-owned coal mine, lend me a leather bag company Don't you think it's shabby and shameful?" Cao Xinli sighed again and again: "Don't say these words anymore, even if I scolded you in the past, don't bother with me at this time. You are always the son of a miner, and you can't watch the more than 8,000 fathers and brothers in the mine go hungry. ? You can’t watch your father make trouble, can you?”

Cao Wucheng rolled his eyes: "What are you doing so hard? I think you asked for it yourself. You are 61 and should have retired long ago. Why do you care about these shitty things? The workers are really going to sit in and demonstrate, so let them go. Let Guo Huaiqiu and our Mayor Cao deal with it." Cao Xinli held back his anger and said: "Wucheng, this is impossible! I am an old party member. As long as I don't step down for a day, I will be the party secretary of Shengli Coal Mine for a day, and I have to take responsibility for the party for a day. I would like to ask the municipal party committee, I promised your elder brother that with me, Cao Xinli, the party secretary of the mine, the workers of Shengli Coal Mine would not take to the streets."

Cao Wucheng winked at Ma Hao, and said with a smile: "Okay, are you convinced? There are still such Bolsheviks who are loyal to the party, and I am one of them." Ma Hao suppressed a smile, and tried to be serious and said: "It's really rare, Mr. Cao, I think, if we really have money, we can lend some to Secretary Cao." Cao Wucheng quit, clapped his hands, and said to the horse: "Okay, don't pretend to be a good person here, okay? It's not like you don't know how much money is left in our account? Besides, isn't our money also a high interest rate?" Is it borrowed? Do they dare to use 30% of Shengli Coal Mine?"

Cao Xinli didn't believe it: "What? 30% annual interest? Isn't this usury?!" Ma nodded and said seriously: "We have also borrowed 40% usury. We borrowed 1.2 million last year." Cao Xinli said angrily: "It's really reliable to have a 40% high interest rate. Why should I do production to save myself!" Cao Wucheng said: "Well, I persuaded you to lend me 30% of the money at the mine, but you didn't do it, and you scolded me for cheating you. Now look, which one of your self-help projects has succeeded? The quartz stone cannot be sold, and the tiles from the tile factory cannot be sold either."

Cao Xinli was startled: "How do you know so clearly about our mine?" Cao Wucheng smiled: "What am I doing? In a commodity society, it's okay if the information is not working? They are all like your state-owned enterprises, relying on the arms of the state, and eating a big pot in a daze. How can our great cause of reform and opening up be lost?" Is there hope?!" Cao Xinli said: "In my opinion, everyone is lying around like you. There is no hope for our reform and opening up! Anyway, as long as we produce, we create value. What value have you created?!"

Cao Wucheng waved his hands again and again: "Let's not argue, don't argue, this time your old man is looking for me, not me looking for your old man, what do you think? I will help you borrow high-interest loans, but you can't afford them; this is the responsibility of the Bolsheviks. If you want to lose again, how do you solve this problem, you speak." Cao Xinli didn't know what to say for a moment. Ma seemed to be the roundworm in Cao Wucheng's belly, and he had figured out what Cao Wucheng was thinking, so he said: "Secretary Cao, I think you can make some articles on quartz stone and ceramic tiles, and sell them at a loss. As long as the price is right, Our joint company can help you get in touch." Sure enough, Cao Wucheng was thinking about quartz stone and ceramic tiles. As soon as Ma Haohao finished his sentence, he continued: "Market economy has the laws of market economy. Dad, you know it very well, let me post a high-interest loan It’s impossible for you to pay 100,000 or 200,000 yuan. Do you think this is good? If you give me all the more than 300 tons of quartz stones and all the tiles in your hands, won’t the problem be solved?” Cao Xinli asked suspiciously: "Our state-owned enterprises can't sell these quartz stones and ceramic tiles, but your leather bag company can sell them?" Ma laughed a lot: "Secretary Cao, let me put it this way, there is nothing that cannot be sold in our joint company. Last year we bought a batch of rotten yellow croakers that had been frozen for eight years, so why not sell them?! We Mr. Cao is very capable..." Cao Wucheng gave Ma Haohao a hard look, and Ma Haohao stopped talking tactfully.However, it was already too late, Cao Xinli's class struggle was tense, he stared blankly at Cao Wucheng and asked, "Boy, are you trying to lie to me?" Cao Wucheng said: "What's the matter? I paid a deposit first and then bought the goods. How could I deceive you? It's not that I want you to pay for my things." Cao Xinli was still skeptical, thought for a while and said, "Then I will discuss it with Mine Manager Xiao, and I will answer you tomorrow." Just at this point, Sun Dalin, the team leader, came running in the dark, and said to Cao Xinli out of breath, "Secretary Cao, it's broken, it's broken, everyone is gathering at the old coal yard, and more than a dozen trucks have come out. Enter Pingchuan at night." The most worrying thing finally happened!Cao Xinli's face suddenly turned pale, and with a hoarse voice, he asked anxiously, "Does Mine Manager Xiao know?" Sun Dalin said: "Mine Manager Xiao has asked people from the security department to close all three mine gates, and he is currently working as a worker in the old coal yard." Cao Xin stood up and left: "Go and have a look." Cao Wucheng hurriedly said: "Father, don't go, otherwise those anxious workers will beat you!" Cao Xinli didn't seem to hear it, and walked out the door in three steps and two steps, and went to the old coal yard on the mine. The old coal yard is already in chaos.Thousands of people surrounded more than a dozen trucks and two broken buses, waiting to get on and head for Pingchuan City.A bus full of people at the end was already on fire, and it was driving slowly and tentatively.Xiao Yuejin, the young mine manager, led several cadres from the mine office to stop the car, and while being forced to back up with the broken bus, he tried to persuade him loudly. Cao Xinli became anxious when he saw this situation.He knew that as long as the leading passenger car opened the passage, a dozen cars behind would rush out, and the three closed mine doors couldn't stop them at all.And as soon as the first batch of workers were sent into the city at night, group visits and sit-ins became a reality.As the secretary of the party committee, he lost his post and couldn't explain to the municipal party committee. Without thinking too much, Cao Xin immediately pushed aside the crowd in front of him, rushed to the broken bus, stopped the broken bus, and shouted with all his strength: "Stop, stop for me! What's the matter?" If you want to talk to me, the party secretary of the mine, tell me!" I don't know if the driver on the bus didn't hear it, or the driver deliberately opposed Cao Xinli, but the bus still didn't stop, the engine was roaring, and it was still moving forward.Cao Xinli firmly grasped the car body with both hands, half of his body gradually submerged under the car body. Xiao Yuejin, the mine manager beside him, and a group of people in the office all screamed. Amidst the screams of the crowd, the bus finally stopped. Taking advantage of the opportunity of parking, Cao Xinli asked Xiao Yuejin and the comrades in the office to help, shivering and climbing onto the roof of the bus, and after a long while, he said the first sentence to the workers: "Comrades, we are Industrial workers are the leading class of the country, no matter how hard it is for us, we must not embarrass the country!" As soon as Cao Xinli finished speaking, some people in the crowd shouted and cursed, "Bullshit! The industrial workers can't even eat. Isn't the country afraid of losing face?" "Really, we still lead the class, we can't even lead our own belly!" "Let's go, let's go, let's not listen to Secretary Cao. He is too young to say anything. Let's go to the municipal party committee, go to Guo Huaiqiu, and ask Secretary Guo, does socialism protect the rights of workers? Is the rise of socialism enough to starve people to death? You can’t even eat in the big canteen, so is this still socialism?” Cao Xinli was really sad. What the workers said was actually what he wanted to say.He has joined the party for 40 years, and he has also been the secretary of the party committee for 18 years. When is he not working for a state-owned socialist enterprise?He never imagined that in the end, the state-owned enterprises under the socialist system could no longer control the stomachs of workers.What's going on?Could it be that the purpose of reform and opening up is to make unkind people like Tian Dao and Cao Wucheng rich while starving the workers of state-owned enterprises? However, Cao Xinli dared to think so, but dared not say so.As the party secretary of the mine, if he followed the words of the workers, he would make a wrong direction.Therefore, Cao Xinli seized the problem of the big canteen and said loudly after the clamor of people stopped: "Who said we can't even eat in the big canteen? Who said we are going to be hungry? This is a rumor! Now, on behalf of the mine The party committee assures the comrades that if the problem of the Shengli Mine is not resolved, the canteen will be opened for a day, and no comrade will be starved! Never!" After saying this, it became a lot quieter below. Cao Xinli sighed, and said: "Comrades, you also know that the municipal party committee and the municipal government are not ignorant of the difficulties we are facing, nor are they letting go. Over the past half a year, we have given us 30 million in funds and loans, and we have arranged for the transfer of production. It has been going on. Just this morning, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee Wu Mingxiong also said that we must work with all parties to solve the problems left over from history as conditions permit. If you don’t listen to my dissuasion today , must go to the municipal party committee and the city government to sit in, then I also declare on behalf of the mine party committee: the consequences will be at your own risk! The mine party committee will consider your actions when arranging work in the future!" As soon as these words were said, the workers' emotions were suppressed, and there was silence in the old coal yard for a while. At this moment, Xiao Yuejin, the mine manager, climbed onto the roof of the car, and taking advantage of the favorable opportunity when the situation was under control, he gave an order with a dark face: "I also announce here: at dawn, I have eaten in the cafeteria. After breakfast, each unit must organize everyone to study, and they must roll their names. The list of those who are absent without reason must be reported to the mine party committee. But those who don’t participate in tomorrow’s study and go to sit in front of the municipal party committee will find their own way out in the future. You are no longer responsible for your affairs!" What the laid-off workers are most worried about is their own way out. They are very clear in their hearts: they can quarrel with the municipal party committee, but they cannot quarrel with the mine party committee.In the future work arrangements, it is not the municipal party committee that determines their fate, but the mine party committee.Therefore, as soon as Xiao Yuejin's words fell, many people left on their own initiative, and those who did not leave couldn't muster up the courage to rush out of the mine gate. Only then did Cao Xinli heave a sigh of relief, and then he said kindly: "Comrades, I think we can stop here, okay? Mine manager Xiao and I can understand everyone's feelings. Therefore, the mine party committee is very concerned about what happened tonight. I will not be held accountable, I just hope that this kind of thing will not happen again. I still say the same thing, we are industrial workers, no matter how difficult it is, we must not embarrass the country!" Let the drivers drive the trucks and buses back to the garage, and persuade all the workers in the old coal yard to disperse, and the sky is already bright. In the empty old coal yard, Cao Xinli, who was exhausted, said to Xiao Yuejin: "Mine Manager Xiao, you have to work hard, and immediately go to negotiate with Cao Wucheng. This Mr. Cao agreed to buy our backlog of quartz stones and ceramic tiles." Xiao Yuejin looked surprised: "Really? No wonder you dare to say that the canteen will not be closed?!" Cao Xinli smiled wryly: "I asked Mr. Cao for help. I really went to the doctor in a hurry. You must be careful when negotiating with him, and you can't be fooled by him. He has many tricks like a profiteer like me. This old guy can't beat him." Xiao Yuejin said: "Secretary Cao, don't think too badly about Wucheng. He always wants to make money in business. We just need to settle our accounts." Cao Xinli said seriously: "I know my son, but you have to think badly about him. This is called guarding against others. Let me put it this way: you mine manager Xiao has the ability to get more from him. If you get some money, I will bow to you on behalf of more than 8,000 employees of Shengli Coal Mine. If you are really cheated by this kid, I will let everyone go to your house to start a business!" Xiao Yuejin smiled: "Okay, okay, if your old secretary doesn't recognize his relatives, then I won't recognize him as an old classmate. I'll talk to him as I should. Don't worry, I'll see him If the devil doesn’t hang his strings, he won’t fall for his tricks again.” Unexpectedly, when Cao Xinli led Xiao Yuejin back to his home, he found that the Santana that Cao Wucheng drove over was gone, and Cao Wucheng and Ma Haohao were also gone.His wife, Liu Fengzhu, said that Cao Wucheng and Ma Haohao had already returned to Pingchuan City, and left a message before leaving, saying that if Shengli Coal Mine really wanted to deal with the stinky goods on hand, it would go to the joint company to talk to him in detail. Cao Xinli became angry when he heard it. His son was not in front of him, and he got angry when he couldn't find him. He called out to his wife, "Why are you called a stinky product that can't be thrown away? These quartz stones and ceramic tiles are the first batch of products that our mine switched production from." , embodies the painstaking efforts of our miners, if it is not urgent, I will not deal with him!" Xiao Yuejin persuaded: "Old secretary, don't be angry, don't be angry, what Wucheng is talking about is the jargon in the business field, and people call things that can't be sold stinky." Shaking his head, he said with a wry smile, " Thinking about it, I regret it, I knew that the quartz stones and ceramic tiles we produced were not sold, so I might as well have used the funds for the conversion to start a business." Cao Xinli became even more angry: "You are talking nonsense, we have created value by producing it!" Xiao Yuejin said: "What's the value? I calculated it. Even if the quartz stones and ceramic tiles produced by our masters are marketable, they are all sold at market prices. Even if the loan interest is included, they will still lose money. The quartz stone factory and the ceramic tile factory are close. The 2,000 workers not only failed to create value, but also paid us a net loss of nearly 200,000!" Cao Xinli was speechless. Xiao Yuejin hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Old Secretary, there are some things I wanted to tell you a long time ago, I'm afraid you won't listen to them, and you will be angry with me instead, so I just endured it." Cao Xinli said with a heavy heart: "It's all here, what else can't be said? Tell me, it doesn't matter if you say it lightly or seriously." Xiao Yuejin then said: "Old Secretary, we can't blame the city for everything, and we can't push everything to history. We are also responsible! We have reached this point in the mine, and we can feel at ease up and down. How can we eat a big pot of rice and not study the market? If this continues, the city will give us another 30 million, and we will lose everything, and we will still be unable to live!" Cao Xinli never thought that Xiao Yuejin, the mine manager whom he single-handedly promoted, would say such words outright. Xiao Yuejin continued: "Passively waiting for resettlement by the city is not an option. There are difficulties in the city! In this economic downturn, who can save whom? Therefore, I thought, let everyone The problem of eating and drinking has been solved. Next, we bosses really need to sit down and have a meeting to seriously clear up our work ideas. We can’t just think about being the president of the maintenance committee. We need to maintain and develop, and let everyone see Hope. Otherwise, there is a real possibility that workers will take to the streets." Cao Xinli was stunned for a while, finally nodded and said, "Okay, I accept your suggestion." This morning, when Xiao Yuejin went to the city to negotiate with Cao Wucheng of the joint company in a broken jeep from the mine, Cao Xinli was exhausted and fell ill.Lying in the shabby ward of the mining hospital drowsy, Cao Xinli's heart was bleeding.He couldn't help asking himself over and over again: What's wrong?Could it be that he, the dedicated secretary of the mining party committee, really can't keep up with the current era of reform and opening up?Is this something wrong with him, or is there something wrong with this era itself?