Xu Jia peeled a salt-roasted soybean and popped it into his mouth. The roasted aroma of the soybean blended perfectly with the salt, and his heavy mood instantly lightened. He took another, then several more in quick succession, before pausing, his gaze falling once more on the map of the Northeast and Inner/Outer Mongolia.

After staring at it for a long while, Xu Jia found himself wishing someone would suddenly appear and break his current dilemma. But no one came; even the telephone remained silent.

Finally, he stood up and walked out of his office. The moment he emerged, the secretary waiting outside hurried forward. "Secretary Xu, Secretary Wu is waiting for you."

Xu Jia almost asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" His lips twitched for a second before he simply said, "I'll go see him."

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

Xu Jia had never expected himself to be so hesitant, and the pressure in his heart only intensified. But at this stage, there was no room for further delay. "The calculations are complete," he said. "1.5 billion *jin* of grain."

Wu Youping also felt a heavy weight in his chest. This was a massive export scale, something the Northeast had never encountered before, and it was a responsibility he couldn't shirk. "Our figures came to 1.2 billion *jin*."

Zhuang Jiaxiong, Secretary of the Heilongjiang Land Reclamation Work Committee, felt the gravity of the situation but didn't dare speak up. As a native of Fujian—a province with many people and little land—he knew exactly what a few *jin* of grain meant to a person.

Last year, the Northeast had seen a bumper harvest, with staple grain output reaching 6 billion *jin*. Averaging 300 *jin* per person, supplemented by other foods, the people of the Northeast could finally say they had escaped the shadow of hunger.

However, word had just arrived from the mission sent to Europe. Upon contacting the British government, they had raised the topic of grain sales. The British government immediately indicated that since the Northeast had built up excellent credit with British merchants over the past two years, they were willing to buy as much as could be provided. Having worked in the Investment Promotion Bureau for a year and coming from a family with a small tea trade with the British, Zhuang Jiaxiong was truly torn.

Xu Jia understood the difference between 1.5 billion and 1.2 billion *jin* all too well. While 300 million *jin* averaged over 20 million people was only 15 *jin* per person, it couldn't be calculated that way. Even in a household of four, 15 *jin* per person meant 60 *jin* for the family. For larger households, it could be over a hundred *jin*—and to an ordinary family, a hundred *jin* of grain was a matter of life and death.

Wu Youping shared this understanding, which was why he couldn't bring himself to argue with Xu Jia over the 300-million-*jin* gap. The silence in the room stretched until a cadre suddenly asked, "How did it come to this?"

The room fell silent again. Eventually, Zhuang Jiaxiong broke the quiet with his Beijing-Tianjin accent tinged with a Fujianese lilt. "Too many immigrants. Am I right, Secretary Xu?"

Xu Jia knew this was the truth and didn't even bother to voice his agreement. But since he had been asked, he couldn't remain silent. He muttered a brief assent.

A surge of emotion rose in Zhuang Jiaxiong's chest. He himself had contributed to the population explosion in the Northeast. Within just half a year, over twenty of his own clansmen had arrived. Though Fujianese struggled to adapt to the harsh northern climate, the joy of farming these lands was immense for the former tenant farmers. In Fujian, they had never seen such vast plains, let alone so much land.

In the past, those who 'ventured into the Northeast' (*Chuang Guandong*) died in droves from hunger and disease, or were driven back home by exploitation. Since He Rui had taken charge, deaths from starvation had become extremely rare. Fair distribution meant that the vast majority of newcomers chose to stay, leading to a population increase of over 6 million in just three years.

Had the population remained at its level from three years ago, exporting 1.5 billion *jin* of grain after feeding 14 million people would have been easy. But with 20 million people, any calculation became a struggle.

Wu Youping had discussed the necessity of importing foreign technology and equipment with his old classmate Zhuang Jiaxiong many times. They had run the numbers on grain exports repeatedly. He didn't want to argue now, because any argument would inevitably devolve into a discussion about how much hunger the people should be expected to endure.

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

Xu Jia really didn't want to go, but he knew he had to. "If I go, it's to ask the Chairman for a solution," he stated. "Not to haggle over these numbers."

No one objected. After all, Xu Jia's proposal of 1.5 billion *jin* was the highest. If they were to determine who was in the wrong, Xu Jia would be the first in line.

When they met He Rui, Wu Youping sensed that the Chairman had already guessed the situation, as he couldn't help but reveal a slight smile. This immediately brought Wu Youping a sense of warmth and reassurance. If He Rui could still smile, the problem might not be as insurmountable as they feared.

Sure enough, after listening quietly to their report, He Rui said, "Comrades, to solve this, what we need is more effective labor."

"What should we do?" Xu Jia was the first to ask.

Sensing Xu Jia's anxiety, Wu Youping remained silent.

He Rui had considered this long ago, but he didn't offer a direct solution immediately. Aside from wanting his comrades to think through the problem themselves, it was also because the issue was genuinely difficult. Seeing the young cadres enduring such internal torment, He Rui finally said, "Let's break this down. Is there an absolute, necessary connection between exporting grain and starving?"

Wu Youping had considered this, but his conclusion wasn't optimistic. "Chairman, if we don't eat grain, do we eat meat?"

To lighten the mood, He Rui tapped the tabletop with his right index finger. "The hardest thing in the world isn't doing something, but proving that an idea is actually feasible. That is the crux of our problem. Technology requires courage to face, but the bigger issue is that people don't truly believe these methods can solve the problem. This is the greatest gap between industrial and non-industrial nations; in an industrial nation, creative sparks and innovations have a much higher chance of becoming reality."

Looking at the troubled expressions on their faces, He Rui laughed. "Look at you all. From my perspective, I believe everyone in China should be able to eat meat every day—that is what our country ought to look like. But your views seem different. Is it because you feel eating meat is a luxury reserved only for the upper class?"

Xu Jia felt that a topic he considered grave had somehow become almost lighthearted in He Rui's presence. He was about to protest when he realized the question wasn't a joke—it was incisive.

The idea that those who ate meat frequently were 'upper class' was something Xu Jia realized he indeed believed. Thinking further, it was exactly as He Rui said: he had never considered meat as a potential solution to a grain shortage.

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

This made Xu Jia feel much more relaxed. It seemed he wasn't the only one struggling with the concept.

He Rui laughed. "Comrades, the hardest part isn't the execution, but whether you yourselves believe such a solution exists. You haven't yet realized what that path looks like."

"How should it be solved?" Wu Youping asked, his voice a mix of confusion and burgeoning enthusiasm.

"We need to solve how meat is delivered from the slaughterhouse to the consumer, and where the consumer gets the money to buy that meat. That is the path we must think upon. Solve those problems, and everything else follows. You see, a market with purchasing power is the most valuable thing in this world." With that, He Rui signaled for them to sit down.

In truth, He Rui had long wanted to explain this in detail, but the right opportunity had never presented itself. Now that it had, he wasn't about to let them off easy. He was determined to explain it thoroughly. Even if they couldn't fully grasp it yet, he would forcefully instill these lines of thought into them!

This feeling was, quite frankly, wonderful!