Great changes in the countryside

Chapter 341 A Big Fire

A fire burned the village to nothing but a pile of ashes.

Incidentally, the ancestral hall of the three surnames next to the village also disappeared in the fire.

The fire started at two o'clock in the morning on the first day of the first lunar month and lasted until the afternoon of the first day of the first lunar month, burning for at least twelve hours.

Not only the village head and the ancestral hall were burned down, but also the bamboo forest and woods behind the village head.

The only thing left is the pair of stone lions at the gate of the village.

There is no way to save this fire.

There is a fire brigade in the county, but there is no road in Chencai Township, and fire engines can't get in at all.

After calling the police, the county fire brigade transported two sets of fire extinguishing equipment through the waterway.

But when I got there, I was dumbfounded.The pond behind the village has no water in winter.There are several wells in the village, which are also basically dry during this season.

The village is also far away from the river, at least more than 300 meters away, and the water pipes of the two sets of fire fighting equipment are connected together, which is still a hundred or ten meters away.

More than a dozen people from the fire brigade, together with the militia battalion in the village, participated in the fire fighting operation.

Driven by the village cadres, hundreds of people in the village also participated in the fire fighting.

Every household contributed buckets of water, and everyone shouldered their shoulders to get water from the river hundreds of meters away to fight the fire.

Not at all.

The winter is dry, the north wind is strong, and the fire is raging.A bucket of water was poured into the fire, and it disappeared with a squeak.

Most of the villagers did not dare to approach, so they stood under the three big camphor trees opposite, watching the fire burn more and more.

The houses are all made of wood, and a lot of straw is piled up, so the fire cannot be saved.

By dawn, the firefighting operation had been abandoned, and we could only watch helplessly as the village and the ancestral hall were engulfed by the fire.

Chen Yang, his second brother, and Shunzi also participated in the firefighting operation, and they were as tired as grandsons, paralyzed on the ground and unable to move.

It was the family who took the three of them home.

More than a dozen people were injured in the fire fighting, but luckily no one was killed or seriously injured.

Also because of the fire, the whole Chenjia Village lost the taste of Chinese New Year and was immersed in a complicated atmosphere.

The police came and, together with the fire department, investigated the cause of the fire.

In order to stabilize the mood of the villagers, many people from the district and the village also came.

Tong Siping also came in person.

The village head is gone, and all the people from above are temporarily living in the village.

At that time, when the people above went to the village, they all brought their own rolls.

As for eating, there are two ways.

There are few people who come down, so they use the method of food distribution, that is, arrange to eat at the villagers' homes, and then pay according to the price.

When there are many people coming down, they will concentrate on eating.Invite a cook, everyone pays according to the regulations, let a special person go to buy rice and vegetables, and let the chef cook the food.

At the district and township levels, there are also police and firefighters. There are more than [-] people in total, so they live together and eat together.

Tong Siping also stayed.

You can see the emphasis on the above.

Chenjia Village is an advanced collective at the regional level, but accidents happened one after another. This time even the village was burned. How could the higher authorities ignore it.

In the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, two meetings were held in succession, first the meeting of the two committees of the village, and then the meeting of all party members and village leaders.

Before dinner, grandpa came back from a meeting.

Before Chen Yang could speak, the second brother Chen Bing rushed to ask, "Grandpa, who set the fire?"

Grandpa shook his head and said, "It's another mess. I guess it's someone from some family who set off firecrackers near the village and accidentally lit a straw pile... In short, there is no way to find out."

Chen Bing asked again, "Then why do you check? There are so many people, and it's Chinese New Year, what do they want to do?"

Grandpa scolded: "What do you know? To find out the cause of the fire is to give an explanation to the whole village, and also to let everyone learn a lesson."

Chen Yang asked: "Grandpa, the village is burned, what should we do in the future?"

Grandpa shook his head again, "I don't know. It is estimated that their cadres have discussed it, but they haven't made a final decision, so they didn't say it at the meeting."

Chen Bing said: "This is simple. The higher ups allocate some money and build a new one."

Chen Yang laughed and said, "You don't feel pain in your back when you're standing and talking. Where did the money come from above? They won't allocate it even if they have money."

Grandpa suddenly snorted, "By the way, Yang, Secretary Tong said that he came to look for you with Secretary Zheng at night, but he didn't say what it was."

Chen Yang quickly asked, "Which Secretary Zheng? Which Secretary Tong?"

"Secretary Zheng is the village secretary Zheng Weimin. Secretary Tong is your uncle Tong Siping, who is already a high-ranking district official."

After dinner, Tong Siping and Zheng Weimin really came.

Chen Yang invited the two leaders to the second floor.

After sitting down, smoke and drink tea first.

Tong Siping said: "Xiao Chen, I heard that you made a lot of money last year."

Chen Yang smiled.

Zheng Weimin said: "Old boy, Xiao Chen is too good. Those factories supply him, and there is no holiday during the Spring Festival."

Chen Yang said bluntly: "Both leaders, I made it clear that I want everyone to contribute money to rebuild the village department, but there is no such thing."

Tong Siping and Zheng Weimin looked at each other.

The idea of ​​raising funds to rebuild the village is still brewing, and only three or five people know about it. How did Chen Yang know about it?

Tong Siping asked: "Xiao Chen, where did you get the news?"

Chen Yang smiled and said, "I guessed it. My grandfather came back from a meeting, and I asked about it. I guess this is your next priority."

Zheng Weimin said: "There is no other way. The village has no money, the district has no money, and the county has no money, so we have to raise funds from the people."

"Hehe... Secretary Zheng, this is not fundraising, it's fundraising, don't put it so nicely."

Zheng Weimin asked, "Xiao Chen, is it appropriate to not have a village department?"

"Inappropriate. A dignified and advanced village can't even have a village department."

"Let me ask you again. If you insist on raising funds, can you raise them? Can you build a simple new village department?"

"It should be possible. In our Chenjia Village, half of the households should have been lifted out of poverty. If we insist on apportionment and fundraising, we can make some money."

"Then tell me, why do you object?"

Chen Yang asked rhetorically, "How much does it cost to build a new village?"

Zheng Weimin said: "1 yuan."

Chen Yang settled the accounts, "Adding the original loss of more than 7000 yuan and the expenses of the past two years, after the establishment of the new village department, the debt of the village will be more than 2 yuan."

Zheng Weimin sighed, "There is no other way."

Chen Yang asked again, "Then how do you plan to raise funds this time?"

Zheng Weimin shook his head, "I haven't figured it out yet. Generally speaking, party members and cadres take the lead, and the masses follow closely. Those with money will give more, and those with less money will give less."

Chen Yangdao: "It's a little unreliable. Among the village cadres, Chen Yuhua, Tong Laogui, Cai Fuman and Cai Guoping, the four of them have no problem, and they can give 500 yuan each."

Tong Siping asked: "Can't the other village cadres do it?"

"Chen Shengmei, Tong Xiaofang, Cai Xiaochun, Cai Genfu, and Cai Chaoyang, if you ask them to spend 100 yuan each, it is equivalent to digging a piece of meat from them."

Tong Siping snorted, "Xiao Chen, don't scare me."

(End of this chapter)