Chapter 1273: Celebrating the New Year

"Come, look here. Yes, your gaze should be directed into the distance."

Song Yunping stood vivaciously on the road, smiling as she watched Wang Yan not far away, letting him fiddle with the camera to take her picture.

"Won't this be improper?" she asked thusly after Wang Yan finished taking the photos and came over.

"There's nothing improper about it; it was bought specifically for recording memories. If the factory needs to be recorded, shouldn't our county town be recorded too?" Wang Yan smiled. "Lately, I've taken quite a few photos of the factory workers, and they're all very happy. Besides, I'm such a big deputy factory director, leading everyone to earn big money; who would have a problem with me? I don't even need to speak; our factory's workers would beat their way to their doors."

Song Yunping nodded in full agreement: "That is indeed true; I've heard about it even in Hongwei Town. Nowadays, many people are pulling strings, hoping to get their children jobs at the textile factory. By the way, I must thank you for handling my second aunt's family matter."

"There's no need to thank me for that." Wang Yan waved his hand. "Don't overthink it; since the children of our factory workers have all entered the factory, her family was entitled to a spot anyway."

"You are truly impressive; you've only been back for such a short time, yet you've already led everyone to a better life," Song Yunping smiled. "I even wrote to Xiao Hui about this; he also thinks you have great ideas. He told me he visited the textile factory on his end to investigate, and said the leaders there highly praise your machinery. They've already paid, though delivery won't happen until after the New Year."

"Anyun No. 1 Textile Factory, I know; they ordered fifteen units. Being in our own province, they were among the first places we visited, so they're already early; currently, our orders are booked up until September next year."

"You know everything so clearly?"

"It's all under my management; how could I not know?" Wang Yan shook his head with amusement. "However, we are currently researching modifications to the production equipment and gradually increasing manpower, so the production speed is getting faster and faster; the actual delivery time should be able to be advanced significantly. But let's not talk about that; how is your review going?"

"I'm reviewing according to the outline you listed for me; everything else is fine, but my English is quite lacking."

"Then next week, let's stop wandering around the county town; I'll come to your home to tutor you. With half a year left, there's plenty of time."

Song Yunping nodded, fell into a brief silence, then asked: "It's already the twelfth lunar month; there are only twenty-something days left until the New Year. What are your plans?"

"I've been lonely and bitter, but now that I finally have a wife, I'm definitely going to my wife's home."

"Who is your wife? Don't talk nonsense." Song Yunping's face flushed red again; although she had grown quite accustomed to it, such a direct address was still somewhat unbearable for her.

"It's only a matter of time." Wang Yan chuckled, lifted the camera, and clicked rapidly to capture the moment, preserving her shy embarrassment.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Song Yunping said: "I want to go see Xiao Hui after the New Year. He's been gone for a year now; he surely reports only good news and hides the bad. I want to see how he's doing; otherwise, our whole family won't feel at ease."

"Alright, then let's go on the seventh day of the first lunar month. Once the factory's work arrangements for the new year are settled, we'll leave. Tomorrow I'll go buy train tickets; by then, we can take a sleeper berth and arrive comfortably."

"Then I'll give you the money next week."

"Look at you, always talking about money, money, money. Do you have an issue with me? Do you not want to marry me?"

"I don't..."

"Then it's settled; why say so much? What's mine is yours. Apart from smoking, I have no other places where I spend money." Wang Yan spoke as if whispering secrets, sneakily, "And let me tell you, I've also significantly improved the benefits for our factory workers; every day there must be meat or fish, and every three days there must be a meat dish. Taking advantage of this momentum, I've also set up a Meng Meng Xiaozao for our factory leaders; they eat meat every day at lunch."

"Isn't that abusing your power for personal gain? That doesn't seem right..."

"If I ate alone, that would be abusing power for personal gain; but if I let all the leading cadres eat together, that's called caring for the old comrades. Moreover, it's not just us eating. The factory has a regulation: those who work well, those who make great contributions to the factory, and those with excellent exam results in the night school—all of them get to eat at the Meng Meng Xiaozao."

"There are several dozen people every day. Looking at it this way, it's not really a 'small stove' anymore, is it? It counts as a preferential meal. It can also boost everyone's enthusiasm. Nowadays, the workers in the factory are full of drive."

"I don't understand factory matters or how to manage people, but you must be very careful; if you really encounter someone who escalates things politically, you could invite disaster."

"Rest assured, I have it all under control." Wang Yan nodded, then said with a chuckle, "Are you worried about me?"

Song Yunping said nothing and walked forward on her own.

Wang Yan took another photo of her back, then hurried forward to catch up, walking away with Song Yunping while chatting and laughing.

All along the way, many people still greeted him; nowadays, people looked at him with even more respect. Because besides his ability to fight and read, he also possessed the ability to lead everyone to a better life.

In just over two months, the changes at the textile factory could be described as earth-shaking. They are now living even better than the steel factory; the children of the workers' families have all entered the factory, every day a huge crowd of outsiders comes to inspect, and leaders from the city and the province have come in several batches.

And all of this was brought about by Wang Yan.

Most importantly, they have all heard that the textile factory will continue to recruit in the future. Even among them, some have already heard that relatives of certain families working in the textile factory have been recruited into the factory. Although they don't have established posts, they enjoy the same treatment as formal workers.

It must be known that the current treatment of the textile factory workers is already the best in the entire county.

Therefore, the looks people gave Wang Yan were quite eager; he might truly become their leader in the future, and they also wanted Wang Yan to lead them...

The prominence displayed by Jin Ling County was, after all, merely a corner of vast China; it had only radiated to Anhui Province and a few surrounding provinces. Although there were many orders, they hadn't reached an explosive level; its influence within the country was ultimately limited.

At the same time, it was decided to liberate the people's thinking, develop the economy, and vigorously carry out the construction of the Four Modernizations.

Undoubtedly, as everyone knows, this is a world-changing event of great magnitude.

By January, after layers of understanding and transmission, this was finally implemented at the county level.

First, the County Committee held a meeting to understand and grasp various spirits, then held an expanded meeting to transmit these spirits. Afterwards, various heads and leaders held meetings for their respective areas of responsibility to transmit the spirits again, clarify instructions, and assign tasks.

Wang Yan was at this level; this time, instructions were issued to develop the economy, and as leaders of a county enterprise, they naturally had to implement them. Especially with the New Year approaching, there were various summary meetings; all these factors resulted in Wang Yan attending meetings every day during this period.

First, a large county-wide meeting was held, then a small meeting organized by the County Head, then a large meeting organized by the Industry and Commerce Department, followed by a small meeting organized by Industry and Commerce leaders. After he grasped the spirit, he returned to the factory to implement it: first holding a meeting for the factory leaders, then a general assembly for all employees, and finally a small-scale meeting for the factory team leaders and junior leaders to transmit the clear spirit.

After holding this series of meetings, it seemed to have little relation to the broadest masses of people in the county. Although meetings had been held for the various communes and brigades below, people actually did not understand these things, nor did they know how to proceed; thus, the safest approach was to maintain the status quo.

Therefore, at the very grassroots level, there was actually no change; this is a relatively long process that requires a relatively long amount of time.

Wang Yan understood this very well; he understood the thoughts of the masses and the thoughts of the grassroots cadres. He himself had no particular thoughts; he simply did his own job...

After various meetings were concluded, it was finally the eve of the New Year.

On this day, the hearts of the textile factory workers were thrilled, because the factory had distributed New Year goods.

Early in the morning, right in the canteen, people grabbed a portion as soon as they finished breakfast; the speed at which people ate had noticeably increased.

"Don't snatch! Line up properly! Everyone gets one; distribute according to the headcount," shouted the person responsible for distributing the New Year goods loudly.

Some people hadn't even eaten their meal yet; they collected a portion of goods first, then went to get their food.

Breakfast was now better than before, offering steamed buns made of white flour, though limited to one per person. There were also two additional types of pickled vegetables, although they were just as overwhelmingly salty as before.

This person brought his breakfast back to his seat and said irritably: "Go on, don't rummage through my stuff and break anything; why don't you just go collect your own? Why do you have to rummage through mine?"

That person laughed heartily: "There were too many people; I'll go after I finish eating. What's in there?"

"Didn't you just rummage through everything?"

"You came back just as I started looking; I only saw this bag of apples."

"Five jin of rice, three jin of white flour, two jin of hairtail fish, one jin of pork, half a jin of rock sugar, and this bag of apples."

"It really takes a university graduate to be our factory director; look, so generous."

Someone nearby interjected: "Do you think just calling over any university graduate would work? It still takes our Director Wang to be this awesome. In my whole life, I've never admired anyone, but I admire our factory director. In just three months, he has suddenly made life better for all of us; does every university graduate have this kind of ability?"

Thus, everyone began singing praises to Director Wang again, happily watching the bustling scene of people lining up over there to collect their New Year goods...

"Wang Yan, you've distributed too much." The old factory director spoke with earnest sincerity, "It's not easy to accumulate some family assets; you shouldn't spend them like this. You say the usual benefits have already been improved quite a bit; we're even eating three dishes in the morning. As the one managing the household, you must know the high cost of firewood and rice."

Wang Yan ate his meal in great gulps; they had no special small kitchen for breakfast, everyone ate together, with the only distinction being two steamed buns made of white flour for some, nothing else special. Likewise, those who enjoyed two white-flour buns were precisely the outstanding performers Wang Yan had previously mentioned to Song Yunping.

He said with a chuckle, "Old Factory Director, we distributed so many goods to everyone; the cost would be covered by selling just two machines. Yet everyone's spirit and vitality are different, as is their cohesion and enthusiasm when working. We must fully mobilize the initiative of all employees; they should endure hardships, but they cannot endure hardships forever.

Ultimately, why are we building socialism? It is to eliminate poverty and to ensure everyone lives a good life. Look at everyone's smiling faces; this money was spent exceedingly well. The more we earn, the better the goods we distribute, and thus everyone will have greater confidence in our textile factory, this big family of ours."

"Didn't you already say that currently we are profiting from the delay in information between us and foreign countries? Once foreigners react, they will surely supply at low prices; what shall we do then? Wang Yan, our factory now supports eight hundred people."

"Judgment is judgment; actual execution is actual execution. Do you think their production is that fast? We have textile factories all across the nation; they cannot possibly supply them all. This is a continuous process, not an immediate severing of our livelihood. Moreover, since I could research and develop the current machines, I can lead others to improve and upgrade them; within a few years, foreign technology will not be as good as ours."

Wang Yan smiled, "By that time, what shall we fear? Foreign labor costs are higher than ours, and shipping fees are not low either; we will definitely hold the advantage. Sales abroad might be difficult, but merely doing domestic business will be sufficient to keep us wealthy indefinitely. Therefore, Old Factory Director, rest assured; I have everything under control. Even if things worsen, how bad could they get? At worst, we simply return to our previous situation.

Furthermore, the nation now intends to develop the economy and is inclined toward reform. I believe we can appropriately take larger steps, such as what I previously told you: we directly merge with the shoe and garment factory to expand our business."

"That sounds nice, but where would we sell? Not everyone in the county can afford ready-made clothes, yet we would have to support over three hundred people from the shoe and garment factory."

"Isn't Guangdong Province engaging in exports? We could first send people to investigate, see how things are proceeding there, and then make our decision."

Old Factory Director Qi frowned and remained silent, sinking into deep thought.

Wang Yan said, "How about this: after the New Year, we will invite the leaders from the shoe and garment factory, gather the County Head and the officials from the Administration for Industry and Commerce in the county, and hold a meeting together to pool wisdom and discuss matters."

"We follow the County Head's lead; he will certainly support us. However, the shoe and garment factory side will definitely not agree."

"You are mistaken, Old Factory Director; it is the leaders of the shoe and garment factory who will not agree, not the employees. Nowadays, among all the people in the county, without exception, who does not wish to come to our textile factory?"

"Secretary Gong holds some grievances against us..."

"He will not act; our development and progress constitute his achievement. If he wished to sabotage us, he ought to be removed; our County Head possesses capable methods. Leveraging our momentum, he has captured cities and seized territory these past few months, wielding significant influence."

Wang Yan waved his hand, "Let us temporarily settle on this; we will discuss specifics after the New Year begins. However, regarding our team leader, I believe no one is more suitable than you, venerable elder; you are an old comrade, rich in experience, mature and prudent. By then, you can go together with the leaders of the garment factory and the Administration for Industry and Commerce to inspect the area. We will cover all expenses for this trip; you shall eat well, drink well, and enjoy yourselves."

"Aren't you trying to send me away so you can do something mischievous?" Old Factory Director Qi asked, his face full of suspicion and complete distrust.

"Am I that kind of person?" Wang Yan shook his head amusingly. "After the New Year, I also need to travel; I will go with my partner to Anyun to visit her younger brother. A round trip will take at least a week."

"Then you go first; I will depart after you return. In any case, this matter is not urgent. It was not easy to achieve our current situation; if we both leave and someone sabotages the factory, the loss would outweigh any gain."

The Old Factory Director possessed a strong sense of responsibility; he absolutely would not allow others to snatch the credit.

Seeing Wang Yan nod, he asked with a smile, "The day after tomorrow is the New Year; do you have anywhere to go?"

"Need you even ask? Of course, I will go to my partner's home."

"Settle matters soon; do not drag things out. If you find it difficult to broach the subject, I will make a trip there after the New Year."

"Do you still treat me like a child? When have I ever found it difficult to speak up?"

"In any case, just pay attention to it yourself."

Thus, the two chatted casually back and forth; over there, the employees remained elated, full of hope for the future, already discussing what goods would be distributed next year...

Just as news of what goods the textile factory distributed for the New Year spread through the county town like the wind, the year reached its end.

This day was New Year's Eve.

Wang Yan rose early in the morning and discovered a thin layer of snow had fallen outside.

He went out for his usual short run, observed the conditions in the county town, and even carried a camera to take some photographs. After all this, he returned home, washed up, simply prepared breakfast, and ate a hurried mouthful.

After breakfast, he busied himself cleaning the house, sweeping the floor, wiping cabinets, and so forth; it was not until past nine o'clock that he finally packed up the New Year goods distributed by the factory and loaded them onto his motorcycle.

The New Year goods still included special treatment for the leaders; over this period, Wang Yan had already figured out many people in the factory. They had their little schemes, but overall, they were conscientious and capable of handling responsibilities.

The factory was currently in a phase of extremely rapid explosive growth; during times of struggle, everyone still worked heart and soul together. They had not yet reached the stage of resting on their laurels, idling away their days waiting to die. Even less had they reached the stage of undermining the collective while feeling perfectly at ease. Each of them worked quite arduously.

Therefore, Wang Yan also treated them well.

For the more than forty middle-level leaders and above, in addition to the items given to ordinary employees, each received an extra pork hock, a slab of leaf lard, a chicken, a string of tangerines, a box of biscuits, a carton of cigarettes, and two bottles of liquor.

Wang Yan himself could not keep or consume these, so he loaded everything onto his vehicle and took it to Old Song's home.

Song Yunping was sweeping the entrance of her home with a broom; spotting Wang Yan approaching on his motorcycle from afar, she immediately leaned the broom against the wall and waited for him to arrive.

"It's snowing, yet you still ride a motorcycle?"

"It is safer than a bicycle; a bicycle has two wheels, whereas this motorcycle has three," Wang Yan said with a chuckle. "Come, lend a hand."

As he spoke, he turned off the engine, dismounted, handed some of the lighter items to Song Yunping, and carried the remaining large pile himself.

At this moment, Song Yunping's parents also came out.

Mother Song said, "How much have you brought? You brought so much again; even if you have money, you should spend it frugally. Are you not going to manage a household anymore? Husband, hurry and lend a hand."

Wang Yan had no choice but to set down the items he was already holding and divide some between the elderly couple. He said, "These are New Year goods distributed by the factory. Since our factory developed well this year and earned considerable money, we raised the standard for New Year goods so everyone could celebrate a good New Year. I basically do not eat meals at home; what use would I have for all this? It is better to bring them over; let us finish eating them quickly to prevent spoilage and avoid wasting good things."

Together with the three members of the Song family, he entered the courtyard and began busily preparing the meal.

Wang Yan had visited many times before; every Sunday, he would come to pick up Song Yunping to take her to the county town and then send her back in the evening. He had previously eaten several meals here and engaged in considerable conversation with Father Song and Mother Song.

Coupled with his excellent communication skills, everyone's interactions had become very natural; Father Song and Mother Song already regarded him as a prospective son-in-law.

Wang Yan did not stand on ceremony; after organizing the goods, he did not ask the Song family for assistance but personally wielded the large ladle to cook the dishes. Merely the aroma drifting through the air already astonished the three members of the Song family.

Only then did they realize that Wang Yan not only knew how to cook but also prepared delicious food...