Xu Jia peeled a salt-roasted soybean and put it in his mouth. He only felt the scorched fragrance of the soybean blending perfectly with the salty taste, and his heavy mood instantly lightened. So Xu Jia took another one, ate several in succession, then stopped his hand, his gaze falling on the map of the Northeast and Inner/Outer Mongolia.

After looking for a long while, Xu Jia himself hoped someone would suddenly appear to break his current dilemma. But no one appeared, not even the telephone rang.

Finally, Xu Jia could only stand up and walk out of the office. As soon as he came out, the secretary waiting outside hurried forward and said, "Secretary Xu, Secretary Wu is waiting for you."

Xu Jia almost asked 'Why didn't you tell me', but his lips moved a little before he said, "I'll go see him."

Pushing open the meeting room door, he saw Wu Youping discussing matters with Zhuang Jiaxiong and other comrades from government departments. Seeing Xu Jia enter, the few people immediately stopped their discussion. Wu Youping asked, "Has the Statistics Department finished the plan?"

Xu Jia had never expected that he would be so hesitant and indecisive, and the pressure in his heart was even greater. But at this stage, there was no way to delay, so he could only say, "Calculation complete: 1.5 billion *jin* of grain."

Wu Youping also felt great pressure inside, but regarding the major event of export, and a scale of grain export never encountered before in the entire Northeast, he really couldn't shirk responsibility. "We also calculated a number: 1.2 billion *jin*."

Zhuang Jiaxiong was the Secretary of the Heilongjiang Land Reclamation Work Committee. He only felt this matter was truly significant, but he didn't dare to speak either. Fujian had many people but little land; as a Fujianese, Zhuang Jiaxiong knew very well what a few *jin* of grain meant.

Last year, the Northeast had a bumper harvest, and the statistical output of staple grains reached 6 billion *jin*. With 300 *jin* of staple grain per person on average, plus other foods, the people of the Northeast could finally get rid of the days of hunger.

But the latest news came that the people sent by the Northeast to Europe contacted the British government and raised the topic of selling grain. The British government immediately expressed that the Northeast had accumulated very good credit in trade with British merchants over the past two years, and the British government was willing to buy without limit. Zhuang Jiaxiong had worked in the Investment Promotion Bureau for a year, and his family originally did small business in tea with the British, so he was truly in a dilemma at this time.

Xu Jia knew the difference between 1.5 billion *jin* and 1.2 billion *jin* very well. 300 million *jin* averaged over 20 million people meant only 15 *jin* of grain per person. But things absolutely couldn't be calculated this way. Even if a household only had four people, 15 *jin* of grain per person meant 60 *jin* of grain for a family. For families with larger populations, it meant over a hundred *jin* of grain. In the eyes of ordinary families, over a hundred *jin* of grain was a matter of utmost importance.

Wu Youping had the same understanding, so Wu Youping actually couldn't argue with Xu Jia about whether it should be 1.5 billion *jin* or 1.2 billion *jin*. Until a cadre in the conference room suddenly asked, "How did it become like this?"

For a moment, the conference room fell silent. Until Zhuang Jiaxiong broke the silence with his Beijing-Tianjin accent tinged with Fujian flavor, "Too many immigrants. Am I right, Secretary Xu?"

Xu Jia was very clear about this and even couldn't be bothered to express agreement. But since someone asked, not saying a word wouldn't do, so Xu Jia could only hum an 'En'.

A strong emotion arose in Zhuang Jiaxiong's chest. Regarding the population explosion in the Northeast, Zhuang Jiaxiong himself was not without contribution. Within half a year, more than twenty of Zhuang Jiaxiong's clansmen had come. Although Fujianese were not very adapted to the climate of the Northeast, participating in farming on the farms truly made these tenant farmers feel intense joy. In Fujian, they had truly never seen such vast plains, nor had they seen so much land.

Previously, when people 'Chuang Guandong' (ventured into the Northeast), they died in droves due to hunger and disease, or had to return to their hometowns under various bullying and exploitation. After He Rui took charge of the Northeast, starving to death became extremely rare. Fairly equitable distribution made the vast majority of people coming to the Northeast choose to stay. To the extent that the Northeast increased its population by over 6 million within three years.

If the population of the Northeast remained at the number three years ago, 6 billion *jin* of grain would easily allow for the export of 1.5 billion *jin* after feeding 14 million people. But facing 20 million people, careful calculation was extremely difficult.

Wu Youping had discussed with his old classmate Zhuang Jiaxiong many times at work and was very clear about the necessity of importing foreign technology and equipment. How much grain could actually be exported had been deduced many times. At this time, he really didn't want to argue, because the result of the argument would inevitably be a discussion on how the people should endure hunger.

Wu Youping said, "Let's take our respective plan books and go see the Chairman together."

Hearing this suggestion, Xu Jia really didn't want to go. But not going wouldn't do either, so he said first, "If I go, it is to ask the Chairman how to solve the problem, not to discuss these numbers."

No one expressed objection. After all, Xu Jia proposed 1.5 billion *jin* of grain, which was the highest quantity. If they were to argue who was right and who was wrong, then Xu Jia would definitely be wrong first.

Seeing He Rui, Wu Youping felt that He Rui had probably guessed some clues, because He Rui couldn't help revealing a smile. This made Wu Youping immediately feel warmth and reassurance. Since He Rui could still smile, this matter wasn't as difficult as imagined.

Sure enough, after He Rui listened quietly to the report, he said, "Comrades, to solve this matter, what is needed is more effective labor."

"What should we do?" Xu Jia asked first.

Sensing Xu Jia's anxiety, Wu Youping didn't speak.

He Rui had considered this matter long ago, but He Rui didn't directly propose a solution this time. Besides wanting the comrades to use their brains more, another reason was that this matter was truly not easy to solve. Seeing that the young comrades had all endured inner torment, He Rui said, "Let's break this matter down. Is there a necessary connection between exporting grain and starving?"

Wu Youping had indeed considered this question, but the result of the consideration was not optimistic. "Chairman, if not eating grain, do we eat meat?"

To ease the mood, He Rui tapped the tabletop lightly with his right index finger. "The hardest thing in the world is not doing something, but determining that those ideas can really be done. This is the key to the problem now. Technology is indeed a problem requiring great courage to face, but the bigger problem is that everyone actually doesn't believe doing so can solve the problem. This is also the biggest gap between industrial countries and non-industrial countries; whimsical ideas in industrial countries indeed have a greater possibility of being realized."

Looking at the troubled expressions of the comrades, He Rui laughed. "Look, look. As far as I'm concerned, I think everyone being able to eat meat every day is what China should look like, but the comrades' views seem not quite the same. Is it because comrades feel that eating meat is a life only upper-class people can live?"

Xu Jia only felt that a originally very heavy topic had become similar to a joke with He Rui. Unable to accept it for a moment, he was about to speak when he suddenly felt He Rui's question was not only not funny but actually very incisive.

Those who can eat meat frequently are upper-class people; Xu Jia found he indeed thought so. Thinking further, it was indeed as He Rui said; Xu Jia had never thought eating meat was a method to solve the problem of grain shortage.

Just then, Zhuang Jiaxiong spoke, his tone full of confusion. "Chairman, can the problem really be solved this way?"

This made Xu Jia feel much more relaxed. It seemed Xu Jia wasn't the only one viewing the problem this way.

He Rui laughed. "Comrades, the most difficult thing is not how to do it, but whether you yourselves believe there is such a solution. Because you simply haven't realized what the solution should be."

"How should it be solved?" Wu Youping's voice was mixed with confusion and enthusiasm.

"We need to solve how meat is delivered from the slaughterhouse to the users, and where the money for users to buy meat comes from. This is the path to think about. Once these problems are solved, everything is solved. Because, a market with purchasing power is the most valuable thing in this world." Speaking up to here, He Rui let the comrades sit down.

Actually, He Rui had long wanted to explain this issue in detail to the comrades, but he had never been able to find a suitable opportunity. Now that the opportunity had finally arrived, He Rui didn't want to let these guys off; he had to explain it thoroughly. Even if these guys still couldn't understand it now, he had to forcefully instill these lines of thought into them!

This feeling was just too good!