OBS Chapter 222 Squad Vote
Chapter 222 Squad Vote
"Oh?"
Hu Dahai was somewhat surprised, as he didn't know for a moment where Li Wude was referring to.
Under his expectant gaze, Li Wude slowly uttered two words: "Ma Station".
"Ma Station? Isn't that where Gu Huaiyuan runs his aquaculture business?" Hu Dahai asked. They wanted that Ma Station to build a mushroom cultivation room, but Gu Huaiyuan, relying on the contract, refused to give it up.
Although Gu Huaiyuan has been arrested for selling diseased and dead chickens in defiance of regulations, the contract is still in his possession.
"Hmph." Li Wude waved his hand: "Gu Huaiyuan probably won't be out for at least ten or eight years. By the time he gets out, his contract will have expired."
"Moreover, what he did this time will not only land him in jail, but also impose a fine and pay a large sum of money. So his family is now scrambling to raise money for him."
"As for the rent, they haven't been able to pay it for a long time. So these past two days, they've come to me with the rental contract asking if they can get a refund."
"If you want it, then this hemp station is yours. We'll sign a long-term contract, and you can use it from then on. When we built this hemp station, we made it quite sturdy. As long as you make some modifications and add two more floors, it will be enough."
"As for the rent, just pay us the land rent. Anyway, this hemp station is just sitting there."
The conditions offered by Li Wude were undeniably very tempting.
Because if Hu Dahai were to locate his factory near Mazhan, it would indeed save him a lot of trouble and money.
Moreover, Li Wude is only charging rent for his own land, which is tantamount to giving away all the buildings in this mahjong station for free.
"Hey, Captain, won't you feel bad? This is brigade property. Won't someone cause you trouble later?" Hu Dahai said.
Li Wude comforted him, saying, "It's alright. You built an off-season vegetable base and a mushroom cultivation room here. The construction workers and employees are all from our brigade. Everyone just hopes you will continue to invest and build factories here."
"When you hire your garment factory employees, I hope you will give priority to people from our brigade."
Ultimately, Li Wude's goal was still to help more people in the brigade, especially the women, find work through Hu Dahai's connections.
“Okay. Don’t worry, Captain. That’s exactly what I’m planning to do by building the factory in our brigade.” Hu Dahai immediately assured him without hesitation.
Li Wude continued, "Of course. Don't worry, I won't do it rashly. I'll hold a general meeting in the brigade tomorrow, calling everyone together. Then I'll have everyone vote in public to see whether they're in favor or against. As long as more than half are in favor, then it'll be a natural progression."
In Li Wude's view, this was merely a formality. He was certain that more than half the people would easily support Hu Dahai.
Look at how many people in the brigade like to hang around Hu Dahai's house every night. Aren't they all people who want to take the opportunity to curry favor with Hu Dahai and hope that he will give them a job opportunity first?
The next evening, before it was completely dark, several bright lights were turned on at the entrance of the brigade office, illuminating the square in front of the office.
Almost every household has come here. Some families sent representatives, while others brought their entire families.
Each squad leader carried their squad's roster and went from squad to squad, checking off each squad's names.
"Has everyone arrived?" Li Wude asked the squad leaders from a large rock in front of the brigade office, holding a white megaphone.
"Our first squad has all arrived."
"The second squad is also complete."
"Everyone in our team is here except for Lao Shen, who is not feeling well."
……
After the various teams reported their numbers, Li Wude, seeing that most people had arrived, picked up the microphone and loudly announced:
"Fellow villagers, I've called you all here today because I want to get your opinions on something."
"As everyone knows, our brigade is doing a bit better than other brigades now because many people from our brigade have found jobs and earned money with Hu Dahai."
"Hu Dahai's wages are not low. Some families earn as little as 30 or 40 yuan a month, while others have three or four people working for Hu Dahai and earn more than 100 yuan a month. In a year, a family can earn 10,000 yuan."
"However, Hu Dahai can only provide a limited number of job opportunities, so many people still cannot find suitable work."
"Now the opportunity has come. Hu Dahai wants to build another garment factory in our brigade."
Upon hearing Li Wude's words, the crowd below immediately erupted in cheers.
"What? Hu Dahai is building another factory? This industrial expansion is too fast."
"The important thing is that the garment factory has provided us with so many jobs! The garment factory needs a lot of workers!"
“My wife used to work in a garment factory in the city. If Hu Dahai’s garment factory is built, my wife will definitely be hired.”
"Tsk tsk, now your family has three people working for Hu Dahai, easily earning over a hundred a month, and the key is that you can keep an eye on your family too."
"Holy crap, if that's the case, then I won't go to work at the clothing factory in town anymore. I'm going to come to Hu Dahai's place. Riding a bicycle to town in this freezing weather is going to freeze me half to death."
The villagers chattered excitedly, their faces flushed and their necks red with excitement.
Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Li Wude stopped speaking temporarily and waited until everyone calmed down a bit.
He then began to speak to everyone: "Now I have an idea, I want Hu Dahai to build this factory as soon as possible, so I want his factory to be built on our abandoned hemp station."
Li Wude briefly recounted the conversation he had with Hu Dahai at the time.
As soon as he said that, the people in the Qunyi Brigade quieted down considerably.
Everyone was pondering what Li Wude had just said.
For a moment, no one spoke.
“I agree.” At that moment, someone was the first to respond.
Hu Dahai looked over and saw that it was Guan Asan.
Then, following closely behind Guan A-San, many more villagers responded by shouting:
“I agree. This hemp station is just sitting there anyway, so we might as well let Dahai use it. After all, Dahai is one of our own people.”
"Yes, I agree. What's the big deal? I thought it was something serious. Nobody wants to rent this mahjong parlor anymore."
“Exactly, I’ve been suggesting that this hemp station be demolished. In a few years, it will be even more dilapidated. Now that Dahai wants to rent it, it’s perfect.”
Most people share this attitude, feeling that it's better to give the mahjong parlor to Hu Dahai than to leave it unused or rent it out to others at a low price.
Of course, there were also some dissenting voices. For example, some people felt that a lot of money and effort had been invested in building the hemp station, and it was unfair to give it away to Hu Dahai for nothing.
However, in any case, these people's voices were quickly drowned out.
"Okay, although I feel that many people agree with giving the Ma Station to Hu Dahai, I think that for the sake of fairness, everyone should vote, a secret ballot, one vote per household, and we'll see whether there are more people in favor or against in the end."
Li Wude addressed everyone promptly.