Soon Gu Xingdong prepared the baskets and net bags, and the three adults and a few children set off for the river.
After the rain, the bright sun shone on the clear river, reflecting shimmering waves. In the distance, a few ducks could be seen floating leisurely on the water.
Arriving at the riverbank, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingping rolled up their trouser legs to search for clams, while Gu Xingdong took the younger ones to catch fish.
The entire afternoon, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingping collected nearly a full basket of clams, and Gu Xingdong and the children caught five or six fish.
On the way back, they also delivered some to the Chen family. The rest were taken home. Gu Xingdong cleaned the fish, while Chen Lishu soaked the clams in salt water to remove any dirt. After about an hour, once they were cleaned, she extracted the meat for later use. She then went to the self-reserved plot to pick green peppers, preparing to make stir-fried clams with green peppers.
At dinner, the family sat around the table, about to eat, when the village's long-unused broadcast suddenly crackled to life: "Comrades, comrades, please pay attention. At seven o'clock tonight, everyone is to gather at the brigade headquarters to discuss the matter of bringing electricity to the village..."
"The village is getting electricity?"
Gu Xingping was very excited to hear the news. After all, kerosene lamps were never as bright as electric lights, and after burning one all night, their noses would be smudged with black the next day, which was not clean at all.
Chen Lishu was also very happy. Bringing electricity to the village was not just for lighting; it would also greatly benefit the village's future development.
"It's good to have electricity. We can do our work more brightly at night. I heard that in other villages with electricity, people even buy televisions," Zhang Qin also said excitedly. The poor lighting from oil lamps affected her ability to sew at night.
Seeing the three of them chatting happily, Liu Yuemin couldn't help but pour cold water on their enthusiasm: "Having electricity has its advantages, and not having it also has its advantages. I'm afraid the electricity bill alone will cost a lot of money."
Li Xiulan nodded: "One kilowatt-hour of electricity probably costs a lot, right?"
Gu Xingdong smiled: "Even in the city, one kilowatt-hour is only a few cents. Besides at night, we don't use much electricity at home during the day, so it certainly won't cost much." Currently, electricity was mainly for lighting, and light bulbs generally had low wattage. For home use, five or ten watts would suffice.
Li Xiulan thought about it and smiled, saying, "A box of matches costs two cents."
After dinner, they locked the courtyard gate and the family headed towards the brigade headquarters.
Zhang Changhe saw that most people had arrived and didn't wait for the few who hadn't. He tapped his tobacco pouch on the sole of his shoe and stepped forward.
"I discussed it with the commune a few days ago. Bringing electricity to the village is not only good for everyone but also for our village. First, consider the rice husking mill. With electricity, we can use machines and no longer need to manually push the mill..."
Zhang Changhe listed several examples. Seeing the growing excitement on everyone's faces, he finally got to the main point: "Bringing electricity still depends on everyone. I inquired at the commune about getting lines. Due to our terrain, and the need to erect utility poles in between, aside from the costs, everyone's labor is also required."
"The accountant has calculated it. Our village has a total of 128 households, so the cost will be around twenty yuan per household," added the head of the brigade, Sun Yuzhu.
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd began to murmur.
"Over twenty yuan? Where would we get that kind of spare money?"
"Yes, it's only mid-year, and the harvest hasn't come in yet. Although bringing electricity is good, after it's brought, we still have to pay electricity bills..."
Hearing the discussions, Zhang Changhe interrupted them: "Those who have money can pay. If you don't have money, it can be deducted from your work points and settled at the end of the year."
When everyone heard that it could be deducted from their work points, they all breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they didn't have to pay immediately, they all nodded in agreement.
Liu Widow, listening to the discussions, looked at Chen Lishu and the Gu family, a flicker of resentment in her eyes. She turned to Zhang Changhe and said loudly, "My family has no money. Whoever wants to run the wires can run them. In any case, my family won't have electricity installed, and those darn wires won't pass through my house." She had already decided that as long as her family didn't have electricity, the wires couldn't pass through her house. Let's see how smug the old Gu family could be! "Why is the Liu family like this?"
"Alas, she's a rotten apple spoiling the barrel."
"I say Wang Juhua, it's fine if your family doesn't have electricity, but why are you blocking the wires from passing through your house? What about us who live behind you?" a woman holding a child couldn't help but say.
"Yes, don't you have to consider everyone else? What about us who live behind you?"
Like the Gu family, they lived to the left of Liu's house. Liu Widow's actions would affect everyone behind her.
"I don't care what you do. If you want the wires to pass through, you can discuss it amongst yourselves and pay for my share of the money, otherwise, don't expect them to pass through my house."
For everyone to pool money to pay for her? This was clearly shameless and rogue behavior.
Li Xiulan was so angry that she was about to speak when Chen Lishu stopped her: "Mom, there's no need to get upset with someone like her."
Seeing that no one else was speaking, Liu Widow felt triumphant, thinking she was incredibly clever.
Chen Old Lady, standing not far away, seeing this possibility, her clouded eyes rolled. She immediately declared that her family would also not pay, and the wires could not pass through her house either, unless those who wanted electricity were willing to pay for her wires.
As soon as Chen Old Lady spoke, she was immediately met with a barrage of condemnation from those behind her.
The few village cadres looked at Liu Widow and Chen Old Lady, gritting their teeth in anger, but if they didn't pay, the matter clearly wouldn't get done. Forcing them would definitely not work. Other than continuing to persuade them, there seemed to be no better solution.
"Lishu, don't stop me. This old woman deserves a beating. If she can't have it good, she'll block us. I'll teach her a lesson today and vent my anger."
"Third sister-in-law, what can you do?" Gu Xingping asked curiously when she heard she had a plan.
Chen Lishu smiled, took a few steps forward, and said to Zhang Changhe, "Uncle Changhe, since the Liu family does not agree to have the wires pass through their house, we will erect an additional utility pole outside the courtyard. I will cover the extra cost. However, if they want to use electricity in the future, they will absolutely not be allowed to connect to my wires."
To save on the length of the wires, the utility poles were erected as close to the houses as possible within each courtyard. Since Liu Widow wanted to use this tactic to force their hand, Chen Lishu simply cut them off.
As soon as she spoke, not only Liu Widow but also Chen Old Lady were stunned.
When everyone realized what was happening, they chimed in, "Yes, we'd rather pay more to go around them. They won't get a penny from us. It's too wicked!"