Chapter 48: Who Isn’t a Capable Wife?

But the scene before his eyes was enough to make Old Rang feel a lifetime of glory.

He stood at the edge of the village basketball court, tearing open four or five cartons of Mountain City cigarettes to distribute among the villagers.

In the end, he naturally carried home the only dual-cassette recorder from the trading post, several pairs of suede shoes, a few bolts of fabric, and the sole color television.

Old Rang was already thinking about discussing with his parents how to renovate the old clay house into a brick and tile one as soon as possible.

But Wei Dong, having seen countless examples of modern rural villas being built on homesteads on his phone in later years, was less enthusiastic: “Just remodel a small brick house for Grandpa and Grandma to live in. We only need a place to stay when we come back occasionally. Now everyone’s watching; if you suddenly build something grand, who knows what they’ll say behind your back.”

His mother, now fully supportive of her son, agreed, “Even Comrade Dong in the city said to listen to Dongwa. You see, others may look envious in person, but they’re bound to gossip behind your back.”

Old Rang uncharacteristically argued, “Then you give the money to our son, don’t let your brother cheat you out of it!”

Wei Dong was reminded, “If Uncle doesn’t do anything useful, he’ll just waste it. The more you and the aunts clean up after him, the worse he’ll get. Come on, split your earnings with Dad and Grandpa and Grandma—everyone gets a share. I’ll keep my own money separate, so even if Uncle messes up, you won’t lose much.”

His mother muttered but knew her own weaknesses and obediently took out the four or five hundred yuan she’d made from street vending, dividing a hundred to each.

Old Rang was delighted, sneaking meaningful glances at his son.

Grandpa and Grandma, clutching a handful of crisp bills, were beaming with joy.

Leaning against the earthen wall by the gate, Wei Dong felt this was the happiest moment for his family—the greatest meaning of his past six months of effort.

But his mother couldn’t resist a little payback: “Now all we’re missing is a daughter-in-law. Once you give me a grandson, my life’s mission will be complete.”

Wei Dong burst out laughing, quoting a joke from the future: “Who gave you that mission? Honestly, time to sleep!”

Sure enough, from the very next day, not only did the whole village come by to give thanks, but people from neighboring villages also came to see the excitement. His uncle and other relatives, including his grandparents, arrived as well.

Since the tractor road didn’t even reach the house, the big truck had to stop at the village entrance, quickly surrounded by curious onlookers from all directions.

Wei Dong simply moved the 18-inch color TV into the courtyard to play, bought up meat, vegetables, eggs, and poultry from the area, and persuaded his mother and aunts to prepare a banquet for all the visiting villagers.

That left no time for his uncle to coax money out of anyone.

It also served as a way to buy produce from the surrounding farmers, exchanging cash for their pork, eggs, and vegetables—if he needed more, he could drive to the county seat to purchase, and even ration coupons could be replaced by cash if necessary.

However, Wei Dong himself was inevitably besieged by officials from the township, commune, brigade, and town, each with their own agenda.

Some came with authority to verify the legality of his newfound wealth; some inquired gently about the outside world; others, having caught wind of the news, brought little notebooks to record the instructions of city leaders.

But all of that crumbled when a town clerk arrived with a copy of the Sunshine Daily, asking if this Little Rang, who had led the people in transporting oranges, was in fact Wei Dong.

After that, everyone behaved themselves.

It was the first time Wei Dong truly experienced the power of such a protective talisman.

But he wasn’t one to actively promote the theories of reform and opening up.

It’s none of my business; I have no obligation to teach you to change your mindset.

“How rural reform will happen, I don’t know. Just read the recent newspapers—the commune is most likely going to be abolished; I think the document came down last year or the year before. For specifics, study the documents carefully. If you follow the official documents ahead of time, who knows, you might even make the papers. I can always contact a big journalist to come report on it.”

This caused quite a stir.

Wei Dong remained slippery: “I just happened to study outside and sent my father to Jiangzhou for surgery, so I’ve seen the reforms happening elsewhere. The key is to follow instructions, read the papers, keep learning. As long as you catch even the slightest change, you might just soar to new heights. What I see is the country vigorously promoting a commodity economy—that means it’s now allowed to do business.”

He wasn’t just spouting empty words either; the editorials were all very clear—individual entrepreneurs were making huge contributions. To keep arresting people based on old thinking was obviously wrong.

Regardless, Wei Dong did everything by the book, citing official documents and central newspapers: “I have no opinion of my own. Everything I do is based on reading the news and following policy. So I tried it out—some places still call it speculation and profiteering, others are already promoting it. Then just go where it’s encouraged.”

“Last year Jiangzhou became a city under separate planning—what does that mean? It means it’s treated as a province-level city, doesn’t need to go through the provincial capital, and can run its own economy. So after the New Year, I’ll definitely head to Jiangzhou to work, study, and look for opportunities.” He nodded toward Gou Dan and Er Feng, who were helping at the banquet: “I’ll try to take more young villagers out to see the world. Maybe next year we’ll all come back for New Year with even better earnings.”

Er Feng was indeed formidable. Last time she’d made three hundred yuan selling cured meat, Wei Dong had given her another three hundred as an advance.

After coming home, in just over a month, she had organized the slaughter of over a dozen pigs!

She then had Gou Dan and the others making cured pork every day.

Wei Dong not only settled up with her when he returned, but also reminded her to pay all the necessary slaughter taxes.

No need to leave anyone with an excuse to accuse them.

Now, the plan was reversed—buying piglets from neighboring farmers to raise more pigs.

Just over the Spring Festival, Wei Dong helped her purchase over a hundred piglets for distribution. In ten months, each could be raised to about 120 jin—a few pigs could easily yield three or four hundred yuan, changing the fortunes of many families.

The villagers were eager to join.

But then came the question: what exactly was the nature of this operation?

Even Grandpa asked if this wasn’t rather like landlords in the old days supplying piglets to tenant farmers.

In the old society, wasn’t this exactly what landlords did?

Wei Dong could only follow the model developed by You Qili and the others, sending Gou Dan to register a Rural-Industrial Cooperative.

Reform across the country was really a matter of crossing the river by feeling the stones—a bunch of daring people trying everything, because how else would you know what worked and what didn’t?

Wei Dong himself didn’t know the fine details.

Yet even this was enough to draw the attention of village, township, and county officials, who spent the entire holiday camping in his courtyard.

Er Feng grumbled that these guys just wanted a free meal!

Wei Dong laughed it off—how much could they eat? Besides, with Er Feng having slaughtered a dozen pigs, there was plenty of offal, ribs, and lard. He paid her for everything, letting the Li family enjoy a prosperous New Year—as long as no one talked about marriage.

A thousand yuan was enough to silence Er Feng: “But you mustn’t go around the village denying our engagement!”

Wei Dong, mind elsewhere, hadn’t caught the meaning: “Just don’t bring up marriage yourself—enough already.”

Er Feng pouted, but didn’t mention it again.

A bit of a headache was the group of young people from the village and neighboring townships, all wanting to follow Dongwa into the world.

Most had been classmates in primary or middle school, all keeping each other informed.

After seeing Dongwa come back after six months with his head held high, and Gou Dan strutting around after following him, and even Er Feng acting imperiously, who wanted to stay home digging in the fields all day?

One after another, they all came to talk to Wei Dong.

Besides chit-chatting over drinks to secure his family’s future, Wei Dong mostly played basketball with Gou Dan.

His mindset was now totally different from half a year ago, when he’d first picked up a basketball after waking up.

He played with complete abandon, sweating freely, while Er Feng quietly prepared hot water and towels on the sidelines, letting the men have their fun.

Wei Dong was thoroughly content.

But as more of the gang arrived, it turned into a kind of business game, everyone fawning over Dong Ge, feeding him passes, playing to win his favor!

Damn, it was only 1984—who knew where these guys learned such tactics? It made Wei Dong, used to seeing officials play ball at the tax bureau, laugh out loud.

Fine, fine. On the tenth day of the New Year, after setting off a pile of firecrackers and preparing to leave home, he ended up taking a truckload of young people with him.

But he made it clear: “I’m just taking everyone out to see the world first. What happens next depends on your own efforts. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back. If we grow strong, there’ll be more chances to go out and work.”

Er Feng came along, sitting in the cab with his mother, while Old Rang happily smoked with the young men in the back.

No one felt cold.

During those ten days at home, Wei Dong and Gou Dan had also figured out how to make the truck bed a removable canopy for rain.

He’d seen this elsewhere later on, even in the county town. It was simple: bend a few water pipes, slot them into sockets welded to the railings, and you’d be ready for any weather. You could always pull the curtains and sleep in the back.

There was space by the fuel tank and battery under the bed, so they built a tin-lined wooden box for bedding and blankets, as well as sturdy wooden beams for getting out of trouble, and added an axe and machete for firewood—greatly increasing their odds of survival on the road.

Old Rang lay comfortably back in a pile of straw and bedding, enjoying himself like a king.

His mother didn’t dare argue with Er Feng, but sat quietly between the two, making her stance clear.

Er Feng just kept pouting.

When they arrived in Shangzhou, they were greeted by the joyful Dong Xueqing, and only then did they realize—another young, pretty city girl had joined them!

Let alone the full-figured young woman whom Gou Dan and the country boys didn’t dare to look at directly.

Even dressed plainly, a city girl’s aura was unmistakable.

And in Wei Dong’s absence, Dong Xueying seemed to have leveled up again. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she handed Wei Dong the old checklist: “With spring coming, we can continue hauling sand and vegetables—several townships have crops ready for harvest. Our efforts to promote greenhouse vegetables are paying off.”

Wei Dong scratched his head: “I have to drive to Jiangzhou and head north to buy tallow. That’s part of the contract you all signed before.”

Honestly, he just wanted to see the country, north and south.

The young woman kept her composure, but every gesture had a charm no young girl could imitate.

With a gentle smile, she said, “You've opened the door, but your truck is no longer the key. On the fifth day, people were already asking me if we needed more trucks. Everyone’s enjoyed the benefits. You go out and get busy; I’ll keep things running here, but you must leave me some manpower.”

This was a true partner in life.