Chapter 5

Back in the day, a major event occurred in Wude County, which was the retirement of the old secretary, Yan Wangsong.

Although it was called retirement, in reality, it was more accurately described as being dismissed from his post!

At that time, the household contract responsibility system had only recently been promoted in China, and the term "reform and opening up" was mostly found in official documents. The debate over the direction to take, from the central to the local level, had not yet reached a definitive conclusion.

Logically, this matter should not have been related to Yan Wangsong. He had a rough and bold personality, and he would simply follow whatever the higher-ups said. His sensitivity to policies and guidelines had always been low.

However, the problem arose from this very issue.

Due to his insensitivity to the policies, Yan Wangsong made a decision that changed his fate.

At the end of 1983, some privately-owned grocery and snack shops appeared in Wude County. By modern standards, these could be considered early urban individual private enterprises. However, at that time, especially in a backward place like Wude County, this was considered a violation of the established order.

Therefore, under the instigation of certain individuals with ulterior motives, Yan Wangsong personally ordered the closure of these shops and issued severe criticism.

This incident occurred around November or December, and in the following year, on January 2, 1983, the Central Committee issued "Several Issues on the Current Rural Economic Policy" (referred to as the 1983 Central No. 1 Document). The document pointed out that since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, many significant changes had taken place in China's rural areas. Among these, the most profound was the widespread implementation of various forms of agricultural production responsibility systems, with the linked production contract system becoming the primary form. The linked production contract system was a great creation by Chinese farmers under the leadership of the Party, representing a new development in the practice of Marxist agricultural cooperation theory in China. Now, the direction was clear, and the path was open. The document also discussed 14 issues, including the gradual implementation of economic, institutional, and technological reforms in agriculture according to China's national conditions, to chart a path for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics in agriculture.

On January 12, the elderly leader who had saved China from a great calamity and steered it through perilous times publicly stated during a conversation with officials from the National Planning Commission, the National Economic Commission, and the agricultural department: "This year's No. 1 document is excellent; the policy issues have been resolved. Both rural and urban areas should allow some people to become wealthy first, and it is legitimate to become wealthy through hard work. When some people and some regions become wealthy first, it is a new method that everyone supports, and this new method is better than the old one. In short, all work should contribute to building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the standard for whether something is right or wrong should be whether it helps the people become prosperous and happy and whether it helps the country become prosperous and strong."

If it were just these statements, they would not have been enough to make Yan Wangsong a target. On April 13, the State Council issued "Several Provisions on Urban Labor Cooperative Operations" and "Supplementary Provisions on Several Policy Issues of Urban Non-Agricultural Individual Economy." The next day, it issued "Provisional Provisions on Several Policy Issues of Urban Collective Ownership Economy." These documents stated that urban individual economy was a necessary and beneficial supplement to public ownership, and urban collective ownership was an important component of socialist public ownership and one of China's basic economic forms.

After a series of documents were issued, certain people in Quanzhou City and Wude County finally found an opportunity to bring down Yan Wangsong.

According to modern standards, Yan Wangsong's crime was obstructing the development of urban individual economy.

Xu Junran vaguely remembered that his adoptive father had once told him about this. In the summer of 1983, the old secretary Yan Wangsong officially retired and soon passed away, unable to accept that his lifelong revolutionary work had made him a sinner who went against the policies of the Party and the government.

Many years later, apart from Aunt Duoduo and Li Yifeng, only some of the elderly people in Wude County remembered the old secretary with a fiery temper.

Xu Junran later heard his adoptive father analyze that the reason Yan Wangsong was ousted was not just because he closed a few snack shops and grocery stores. The key was that the political climate had changed, and his position as county secretary had become a coveted prize for others. The city leaders naturally hoped to have a compliant subordinate, and the high level of recognition for the old secretary among the various people's communes in Wude County made certain people in the county extremely wary of him. Thus, the two sides almost came to an agreement.

Even without the excuse of obstructing the development of urban individual economy, someone would have found a way to oust Yan Wangsong.

Now, what Xu Junran needed to do was to change all this and make Yan Wangsong the first person whose fate he would alter after his rebirth.

However, he still only had a vague plan in mind.

But even so, he was not worried. In his previous life, Xu Junran had reached the position of city secretary, and while he may not have had many other skills, his political acumen was far superior to others.

Moreover, his mind contained the general trends of China for the next few decades and various methods for developing the local economy. As long as he could protect Yan Wangsong, he would have a strong backing in Wude County. As the saying goes, "It's good to lean on a big tree for shade." Xu Junran did not think his future path would be easy. Huang Zixuan, in his future life, had become the top leader of the provincial party committee and even entered the Politburo. To deal with him, Xu Junran would inevitably have to confront the powerful forces behind him, which would be a long and arduous battle.

Although, on a certain day in the future, the once glorious Secretary Huang would end up in prison, that was decades away, and Xu Junran could not afford to wait!

For both his current life and his adoptive father in his previous life, Xu Junran would not let Huang Zixuan off.

"Brother Junran, did you come home to play with Duoduo?"

Just as Xu Junran was lost in thought, he heard Duoduo's little girl voice.

He turned his head and looked up, smiling bitterly. "Duoduo, sitting like that, Brother Tiger will get tired."

"Will he?"

The little girl looked down at Li Yifeng, who was under her, and squeezed his neck with her legs. "Big Tiger, are you tired?"

At that moment, Li Yifeng wanted to say he was tired, but he remembered that he had given Xu Junran the money to buy candy for the little devil. If the girl reported him to the old man, he would definitely get a severe beating. Having experienced such "bloody and tearful" life many times, Li Yifeng shook his head decisively. "Not tired, Duoduo, you're so light, I won't get tired."

The little girl nodded in satisfaction and looked at Xu Junran. "See, Brother Junran, Big Tiger says he's not tired."

Xu Junran's face was full of black lines. Indeed, they had a matching couple's look, having been dominated from a young age.

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