Early in the morning, Zhang Liu from Lingshang Village received a notice from the village that the township would send someone to report the income today. Zhang Liu's home was halfway up Daqing Mountain, in a stone house built by his grandfather. There were two jujube trees in front of the house, and two more jujube trees behind the house, each over a hundred years old. Every autumn, the jujube trees were covered with red dates, standing out among the golden hills. Near noon, Secretary Yang of the village led the township statist Wang to knock on Zhang Liu's thatched door: "Zhang Liu, the township wants to come and count your family's income for the year." Zhang Liu's family has four members, and two children attend a school at the foot of the mountain. Zhang Liu and his wife farm a few acres of poor land at home, working hard all year but earning little decent income. "Didn't Wang Statistics come to do the statistics a few days ago?" Zhang Liu asked. "When Wang Statistics went back to report to the leadership, Secretary Li of the township scolded them for a while, saying the numbers were too low and far from the standard, and asked for a re-count." "This year, our township and county have signed a target responsibility agreement, and the township leaders are determined to shed the label of a poor township." Wang said, "The annual per capita net income must reach 1,500 yuan, otherwise the leaders will have a hard time." "Then let's just watch the statistics." Zhang Liu sat on the stone slab under the jujube tree, watching Wang and Secretary Yang busily come and go. After a while, Wang and Secretary Yang approached the pigsty, holding notebooks. The pig saw someone approaching, grunted closer, and stared at him for food. "This pig is pretty good, it'll be worth five or six hundred yuan." "It's a good pig, worth it!" Secretary Yang agreed. Zhang Liu glanced at the newly-born piglet and said, "The pig is still small, not worth five or six hundred yuan." "At the end of the year, the piglet will probably be at least two or three hundred jin, which is a big income this year." Secretary Yang said, "Record this, record it, 500 yuan per pig." ""Your income, including grain, dates, plus a pig," Wang kept pressing on the calculator, "That's just over 5,000 yuan in total. The poverty cutoff for four people is 6,000 yuan, still 1,000 yuan short. Is there any income not counted?" "Mountain folk, how could they have that much income!" "As long as you dare to dream and act, poverty alleviation is right in front of you!" Wang Chongzhong waved his fist, "Put down your burdens, start the machine, think it over and look again." "Think about it, Zhang Liu. See if you get any unexpected windfall this year, like picking something up or going up the mountain to catch game, something like that?" Secretary Yang offered timely insights."This spring, I actually caught a rabbit." "A good rabbit!" Wang Tongji exclaimed. "That rabbit was something else! I had to chase it halfway across the ridge before I caught it. It was fat and big; our family ate it over two meals." "How much did that rabbit weigh?" "At least seven or eight jin." "Look! You kept such an important income quiet. If you bought it, wild rabbits at the market are 5 yuan per jin. You really got a great deal. This one gain of yours is 40 yuan," said Wang Tongji. "Zhang Liu, didn't you also catch an eagle during the summer?" Party Branch Secretary Yang made a new discovery. "That wasn't raised by my family!" "But you caught it yourself! Although the eagle was slightly injured, if a city person came here, they wouldn't hesitate to pay 500 yuan for it." "That's another income, isn't it!" Wang Tongji exclaimed. "But later, I released the eagle." "Who's to blame that you threw away 500 yuan!" "Including the 500 yuan, we're still more than 300 yuan short?" Wang Tongji calculated and thought, counted again, walked three laps inside and out, and money was still short by more than 300 yuan. "Our poor village, didn't we have poverty alleviation?" "Right! During the Spring Festival poverty assistance, the leaders gave your family a quilt, a bag of flour, a jar of oil, and 200 yuan, right? I even led the delivery myself," Party Branch Secretary Yang realized. "That settles it!" Wang Tongji's eyes lit up, and he immediately became energetic, “Your family's per capita income exceeds 1,500 yuan, Zhang Liu, you're out of poverty!” Wang Tongji wiped his sweat, looking at Party Branch Secretary Yang, and both of them were smiling. "But I don't have much money on me now," Zhang Liu muttered quietly. "Your family income is good, so keep working hard in the future, Zhang Liu! I won't bother you anymore." "Take a rest and have lunch here." "No, we still have several households to visit." Party Branch Secretary Yang and Wang Tongji walked away, merging into the mountain ridges. Zhang Liu stood staring at the distant Daqing Mountains in a daze, thinking that next year's reserve funds would probably have to increase again. The mountain wind blew over, and it turned cool.
This is a good article.
