The plan for a year lies in the spring.

No matter if the Northeast is still frozen for thousands of miles, after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth, the Old Captain has already started meeting with the village cadres of the team.

What kind of meeting?

It concerns the livelihood of the entire production team for the new year, as well as the issue of the transition between the old and new leadership teams.

Around ten people gathered at the brigade office, including the Old Captain, five team leaders, Accountant Xiao Shitou, the scorekeeper, the women’s director, the militia leader, Uncle Zhang, the old deputy leader, the newly appointed deputy leader Zhang Qingshan, and Secretary Tang Zhonghua, who was just dispatched from the commune.

The village secretary of Zhang Family Village’s production brigade has always been a position held concurrently by the Old Captain, due to both the exclusivist practices of the clan and other factors.

After the meeting of each production team at the end of the year, the head of the commune, Zhang Zhifeng, and a few others, for the sake of fairness, decided to send the young cadre, Tang Zhonghua, to take office.

And Zhang Qingshan was a candidate that the Old Captain painstakingly promoted. Although the new arrival, whether a dragon or a worm, had to coexist peacefully on Zhang Family Village’s territory, no one wanted further trouble, unlike the secretary of the neighboring production team, who either fought for power or mismanaged.

It was said that this young man had some association with Xiao Wu, but the Old Captain worried that these old fellows might not be suitable to communicate with him. As for Uncle Zhang... to be honest, in the Old Captain’s view, he was too conservative, single-minded, and could manage well, but when it came to real problems, he was quite useless.

Zhang Qingshan was the eldest in their branch of the second household, and outsiders, even if they didn’t care for a monk’s face, would respect Zhang Guoqing’s. In a few years, he would be retiring, and he seemed like the most suitable candidate.

"First of all, let’s welcome Secretary Tang to join our big family." As soon as the Old Captain finished speaking, he took the lead in applauding in welcome.

Tang Zhonghua quickly waved his hand, smiling broadly, "Old Captain, I also consider myself a member of our team now; we’re all family, so let’s not be too polite."

These words pleased the Old Captain all the more as he looked around at the attendees, "Secretary Tang is also an old acquaintance of ours, so you guys should all lend him a hand so he doesn’t get bullied by outsiders."

This was as good as formally acknowledging his position; there was no need to hide things from him anymore. Although the attendees didn’t know why the Old Captain trusted this outsider, they’d learned over the years that following the Old Captain’s lead was never wrong, so they all smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Tang Zhonghua.

Compared to the first time over here at the end of the year, people were noticeably more relaxed, much to Tang Zhonghua’s surprise and delight. He’d heard before coming that Zhang Family Village was very exclusive.

Once they finished chatting, the Old Captain cleared his throat, waited for everyone to quiet down, and smiled, "The Chairman once said that the world belongs to you, and it also belongs to us, but ultimately it is yours. You young people are full of vigor, in your prime, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. We pin our hopes on you."

With these words, Tang Zhonghua was immediately struck with awe and sat up straight, realizing he had underestimated the old farmer before him. He hadn’t expected such fluent knowledge of quotes.

"Self-reliance, hard work."

The Old Captain glanced at Tang Zhonghua, who was stunned by the slogan echoed by everyone in unison, and his face relaxed into a smile like a blooming chrysanthemum.

"The plan for a year is indeed in the spring, and now that this New Year is over, just like every year, the five captains should lead their teams in preparing for spring farming. If anything is missing, discuss it with Secretary Tang and Captain Qingshan; funding will be provided according to the usual practice once signed by a few of us and handed to Accountant Xiao."

When it came to business, everyone quieted down to listen to the elder’s arrangements and opinions.

"The second thing is for Accountant Xiao and the scorekeeper to tally last year’s names of members who were lax and unproductive, and give me the bottom three, as well as the names of female members who abused the elderly."

Our team might not have thieves or lechers, but these issues also hinder social progress. Later, these names will be posted outside; anyone who doesn’t change will be added to the commune’s rehabilitation list next time."

The Old Captain finished speaking and looked at Tang Zhonghua, who nodded, then promptly made a decision, "This matter has been approved. You all are newly appointed young people, so stay out of this one for now."

The young cadres present all understood that the Old Captain wasn’t trying to monopolize decision-making but wanted to shoulder the responsibility himself. Anyone named was not easy to deal with.

"I’ve been working with Zhang Dafu for so many years, and it’s about time for us to step down. It’s your turn, the younger generation, to lead. As long as it’s beneficial to the country and our production team, go ahead and do it confidently. We old folks will be there to back you up."

The Old Captain finished and turned to Uncle Zhang, "Say a few words."

Uncle Zhang waved his hand, "You do it; you speak better than I do."

The Old Captain gestured with his finger, smiling, "You still prefer to keep your head down and work hard without speaking. Fine, then I’ll talk about a few immediate things."

This was to commend Uncle Zhang for his many years of service.

The Old Captain, not caring about his inner turmoil, knocked on the table with his pipe, "Soon, another batch of educated youth will come to the countryside. Our team doesn’t have any slots this time. What I think is, since people keep coming, rather than wait for them to be assigned to us, it’s better to take five this time, and in the future, we don’t take any more. Secretary Tang, what do you think?"

Tang Zhonghua paused briefly, shook his head, "Who knows what the policy will be in the future, Old Captain, you can’t rush this. At the New Year gathering, I had a word with the higher-ups, and I heard a rumor that in the future, it won’t just be educated youth; there might also be rehabilitated individuals allocated to our team."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Old Captain immediately replied, "Alright. We’ll do as you say."

Tang Zhonghua looked in disbelief at him, then at the others present, "Shouldn’t we discuss this further?"

The Old Captain chuckled, "What is there to discuss? You’re well-informed; following your advice isn’t wrong. Even if it is a mistake, it’s no big deal. Didn’t I just say that you young people should go ahead and act? We old folks are here to back you."

Tang Zhonghua nodded repeatedly with joy. This way, his work would be much easier.

Just as he was about to say a few words to express his determination, there was a commotion in the courtyard...

The next second, the Old Captain immediately stood up and rushed out, with the few behind quickly following him out in single file, and Tang Zhonghua blinked and followed behind.

"Tong Suo, what are you up to?" Uncle Zhang was the first to see his family’s three grandsons and scolded them. A meeting was being held here, and these kids really overstepped.

"Grandpa, my Second Grandpa and the others are back, and Grandma asked me to see when you’d be done."

Uncle Zhang glanced at the Old Captain and feigned anger, "You little rascals, your Second Grandpa comes back every few days, didn’t you notice we are busy with important matters?"

"Hehe..." Tong Suo scratched his head cap, "Grandpa, it’s time to eat."