Chapter 1280: Ideals

To be or not to be.

To survive, or to perish.

To do this, or to do that.

This is the question; it is Shakespeare's question.

The old hen felt a bit sorrowful; it hadn't expected that one day this would become its problem, even though it didn't know who Shakespeare was...

It had once been a confident hen, strutting proudly around the house with its head held high, laying an egg every day only for it to be stolen by detestable humans. It knew everything, yet it gave it all away.

But in the end, what did it gain?

It had been sold!

Yes, sold!

Sold to this household; yesterday it was still lively here, its food was good, and this morning it had even laid two eggs.

It thought that by doing so, the human who bought it would be happy and look upon it with higher regard.

But it never expected that the detestable human would sharpen his knife so early in the morning, not even glancing at the two eggs it had laid, before grabbing it, slitting its throat, and draining its blood.

Its blood was draining away; its chicken consciousness was dissipating.

This world is truly annoying; I won't come back next time...

Finally, it died.

How could Wang Yan possibly know the thoughts of a chicken?

He only knew that high-end ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods.

Slitting the throat, draining the blood, plucking the feathers, removing the entrails; after such busy work, Master Wang began to make old hen soup...

Song Yunping was lured awake by the aroma; after regaining clarity for a moment, reflecting on last night's frenzy and feeling the lingering pain now, she barely managed to adapt to the changes in their relationship following their deep intimacy.

She slowly dressed, pulled open the curtains, and walked out.

It was currently mid-May; being located in the south, the climate was warm and humid, and since the area was generally mountainous with no many high-rise buildings in the county town to trap heat, there was quite a bit of coolness.

In this regard, the scenery and climate of Jin Ling County were quite nice, with mountains, water, and forests; winters were not too cold, and summers not too hot. But as for life in this era, it wasn't very good; everyone was poor...

Wang Yan, bare-chested, sat in the courtyard with his legs crossed, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Hearing the movement, he looked at Song Yunping who had just come out and smiled, asking, "How is it? Are you okay?"

"Aiya, don't talk about these things~"

Song Yunping felt somewhat embarrassed; she changed the subject and asked, "What are you making? It smells so good."

"Stewing chicken soup to replenish your vital energy," Wang Yan raised an eyebrow.

Song Yunping shot him a coquettish glance, then said, "Let me wash my face; I'll cook after I'm done."

"Just stay put; I've already finished everything. We'll eat once the chicken soup is ready. If you're not feeling well, just rest. It's not like I can't cook or don't know how," Wang Yan smiled, waving his hand. "It'll be ready in a moment."

"Then I'll go wash my face first."

Song Yunping agreed and began washing up in the courtyard with cool water.

Only after finishing, perhaps stimulated to alertness by the cool water, did she suddenly realize something.

"It's already nine o'clock; aren't you going to work?"

"Isn't this taking care of you? I'm the factory director; who can dictate my attendance? Come on, let's eat."

Speaking thus, Wang Yan got up, carried the stew pot from the courtyard into the room, and the two began eating breakfast inside.

It was truly simple, without many frills: just rice that had been boiled and then steamed until the grains were distinct and looked quite appealing, accompanied by two small pickles and the chicken soup.

"Let's have soup poured over rice; it tastes better that way."

Song Yunping hummed in agreement, then asked, "Did you spend a lot of money?"

Wang Yan knew she was asking about the expenses for their wedding.

"Didn't spend much; everyone gave quite a lot in gift money too. Speaking of which, I haven't counted the money yet..." Wang Yan turned and went to the study to fetch two boxes and a gift ledger.

"After we eat, let's count the money together. This box contains the gift money people gave, and this is the money I saved before; this is our family's financial foundation, so you should have an idea of it."

"I'm managing the money? Or..."

"There's no 'managing' or not; anyway, this is all the money we have, so we'll live within these means," Wang Yan smiled. "There are less than two months until the college entrance exam; by then you'll be off to university. Even if I let you manage it, how could you?"

"Are you so certain I can pass the exam?"

"I have confidence in you. Even if you don't pass, it doesn't really matter; there's more than one path. I can recruit you into the factory and then send you to attend the advanced training classes at a university; you'll still be studying at a university. Although it might not be as good as getting in through your own exam, we aren't chasing that kind of future prospect; we're just going to learn knowledge."

"Won't that just lead to accusations of you abusing your power for personal gain again?"

"This is truly selflessness; weren't you ranked second in the entire county last year? Who could say anything? The factory has already selected a batch this year, twenty-six people, waiting to depart in September. This will become a regular practice in the future, happening every year, and the quota will definitely increase."

"Which university?"

"Several of them; the one Xiao Hui attends, the engineering college I attended, all of them. They are scattered, with different majors. This matter was approved by the provincial authorities; our factory is now a key enterprise at both the provincial and municipal levels, with countless inspection and research teams visiting repeatedly. For the factory director's wife to go to a university for advanced training, no one can find fault with that."

"I'd better strive to get in through the exam myself; otherwise, it won't sound good when others talk about it. You used to prevent others from taking advantage, but now you're taking advantage yourself."

"Your ideological awareness is quite high, Comrade He Xiaoping."

"I just don't want to cause you too much trouble," Song Yunping said with a smile while eating. "It's delicious."

"Eat more then."

Wang Yan tore off a chicken leg for her and prepared a dipping sauce. The meat itself didn't taste as good as before, as the essence was all in the soup, but dipping the chicken meat in some condiments was still quite nice, especially since meat was not abundant at this time.

After finishing breakfast, Song Yunping diligently cleared the bowls and chopsticks and washed everything up.

Afterwards, she counted the money together with Wang Yan, clarifying their financial foundation; she was surprised by how wealthy they were. Originally, Wang Yan already had quite a bit of money, and the wedding gifts added significantly to it, totaling over two thousand yuan.

This was only the portion Wang Yan had saved since the factory raised wages; indeed, he had very few places to spend money.

Additionally, he had previously acquired some items through exchanges at the black market, which were stored in his space; he had barely spent any of it, keeping it reserved for emergencies.

After chatting with Song Yunping like this for a while, telling her to study hard at home and agreeing to return for dinner in the evening, he took some blueprints and headed to the factory...

"Oh, the factory director has arrived? With a new wife, we thought you wouldn't show up for three days."

"Yes, Factory Director, your wife is so beautiful."

Upon arriving at the factory, a barrage of teasing laughter greeted them; Wang Yan cursed and laughed all the way until he reached the agricultural machinery production workshop.

After the initial phase, Wang Yan had supplemented the workforce for agricultural machinery production and expanded the workshop; currently, over a hundred people were still engaged in matters related to agricultural machinery, with production, maintenance, and support and guidance for the agricultural machinery stations of the various communes in the county remaining quite important.

It was just that Jin Ling County's location was not ideal, situated within the mountains with uneven land, unlike other regions in the province located on the alluvial plains of the Yangtze River Delta where the land was easy to cultivate and yields were high.

Precisely because of this, at a stage when our country still relied on agricultural development, Jin Ling County remained so impoverished; of course, it had not truly reached the depths of the southern Anhui mountainous regions, belonging to a position that was not good, yet not bad either.

With agriculture faring poorly, industry could hardly develop; merely managing to cover the county's expenditures and maintain the county's situation was already difficult, while regions deep within true mountainous areas faced even greater hardships, relying entirely on municipal regulation.

It was precisely because Wang Yan had activated his cheat that he directly jump-started the county's light and heavy industries, generating a living spring of water, which led to the favorable situation of today...

Over these past six months, the agricultural machinery production line had gradually acquired some equipment, and currently, producing engines posed no problem; with over a hundred workers, the manpower was sufficient, and the requirements were not high, requiring only one unit to be built per day.

What he researched were all small-scale agricultural machines suitable for planting and production in mountainous terrain; he had already designed a complete set for plowing, sowing, harvesting, and transportation, yet since the crops cultivated differed and his energy was limited as one individual, he had only developed harvesters for potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Jin Ling County possessed 360,000 mu of arable land, with one-third planted with dry-land grains such as corn and tubers, one-third with rice and wheat, and the remaining one-third with cash crops and oilseed crops such as cotton, soybeans, and rapeseed.

Wang Yan strove first to liberate a portion of the labor force among the people in arid regions; thus, the lives of those liberated would immediately improve, while for the people remaining at home to farm, since fewer individuals were sharing the distribution, their lives would naturally become much better as well.

The older generation certainly could not manage; those coming to the city to work were all young people, which had already altered their fate of having to bury their heads in the fields, but as for how to arrange matters for the older generation, that would require gradual development, since that belonged to the realm of welfare undertakings, and the time had not yet come for that...

Wang Yan was not lying; the current Jin Ling County, or more accurately, the county seat, was indeed brimming with vitality, with all things competing to flourish.

The booming sales of jeans brought about the expansion of textiles, the expansion of shoe and garment factories, the employment of one unemployed young person after another, the smiling faces of one family after another, the continuous delivery of raw materials to Jin Ling County, and the constant shipment of finished trousers out.

Furthermore, the road construction issue previously mentioned by County Head Xu had already commenced, projects for electricity and water conservancy were under repair, staff housing for the textile factory was being built, and most factories in the county were faring better now than they had last year.

After all, this was a cycle; since most of the county's factories were tied to people's livelihoods, as the people's lives improved and they became filled with confidence in the future, they would naturally consume, and with not too many choices available, the county's factories, by satisfying the supply within the county, naturally enjoyed good days as well.

Other enterprises not tied to people's livelihoods, such as a cluster of steel mills and building material factories, had also become busy due to the various projects planned by the county and the construction of various factories.

"It is truly flourishing..."

County Head Xu stood with his hands behind his back atop the mountain, looking down at the county seat below, and issued such a sigh.

Wang Yan stood nearby, a cigarette dangling from his mouth: "We still need to develop further; look at these worthless houses of ours with no historical value; sooner or later they must be demolished to build high-rises, and the city must expand outward."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Calling it a plan would be an exaggeration; I just have some ideas. Currently, our county is full of factories everywhere; it would definitely be better to concentrate them in this area so they can collaborate more flexibly with each other, while those with heavy pollution must be kept far from our living areas, such as the steel mill and our textile factory. Another point is that living and production zones must be separated.

Look, Leader, the new textile factory is downstream by the river; I think that in the future, the county's heavily polluting factories, like chemical plants, fertilizer plants, steel mills, and so on, can all be relocated over there, with proper measures implemented to handle various pollution issues.

Moving closer to this side, those with light pollution, such as garment making and paper manufacturing, can be placed here; later, when we have non-polluting technical industries, they should be located far from here, on the opposite side, while our living zone will be right in the middle. Look over there, those are the new buildings our textile factory has constructed; from now on, construction will proceed in the surrounding areas starting from Phase One.

Of course, I am just speaking simply; the specific planning still requires the county to come up with a solution."

County Head Xu nodded: "This is indeed a major issue; I had not thought of these aspects before."

"You cannot blame the Leader; our county is simply too poor, so why think about so much? Making money is the top priority."

"Now that you have raised it, this issue indeed needs to be considered clearly; how to plan a city is a formidable challenge; let us discuss it at a county meeting later."

County Head Xu gazed silently at the city for a moment, his mind also pondering exactly what form Jin Ling County should be built into.

After a long while, he shook his head: "This matter still requires collective wisdom and effort; we must also consult relevant experts; if we just rack our brains on our own, we will not come up with anything."

He let out a long breath and then asked, "Didn't you improve the agricultural machinery? How is it progressing?"

"The small-scale ones have already been produced and are testing well; furthermore, walk-behind tractors and the like have already been sent to the communes below; we will see the results after the harvest in a few days."

"Can they be sold?" County Head Xu's first thought was of making money.

Wang Yan smiled: "Anything can be sold; it is just not easy to find sales channels; our agricultural machinery does not possess such high technology, as we have only modified some transmission structures and operational structures, which are not difficult to replicate; with so many agricultural machinery factories across the nation, countless ones are larger in scale than ours; if they take one unit apart, they can figure it out in less than a week and even produce something better than ours.

My meaning is that we should do as before: the county provides the backing, and the communes repay the money gradually; our factory cannot afford to cover this, as the amounts are too large, so we must digest it internally, circulating it from the left hand to the right hand.

I provided the machines to the... communes, and from there recruited fifty young people over here, still retaining their rural household registration; we will first develop the poorest areas, liberating their productive forces."

"Acceptable; improving our weaknesses is crucial, balanced development is important, and fairness is even more important." County Head Xu approved of Wang Yan's idea.

"Additionally, I have another idea, Leader; please see if it is feasible."

"Speak."

Wang Yan flicked his cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it out, saying: "This is planning for the future, Leader; I think we should establish an agricultural company, with all communes holding shares and the entire rural population sharing in the benefits of the land."

"How is that different from the current commune distribution?"

"That is why I say it is planning for the future; our number of workers will certainly increase day by day, and the rural population will definitely be absorbed; however, the land cannot remain uncultivated; grain is the foundation, and we cannot even occupy too much farmland for development.

By that time, when most of the rural population has come to the city to work, what will be done with the land? Therefore, I wish to establish a company to contract all the land for large-scale cultivation, while the personnel will be hired from among the local farmers, to whom we will pay wages.

The county will designate a timeframe; within this period, a certain amount of money from the grain proceeds will be distributed to the farmers based on their household registration over several years; after those few years, all land will revert to the county for unified planting and operation."

County Head Xu shook his head: "The idea is good, but it will be very difficult to implement; requiring all 200,000 people to have jobs and city housing is something our county truly cannot afford; currently, as long as the farmers have land, they have a safety net and can also provide a safety net for our county; no matter how bad the situation gets, it will not deteriorate too much, but if everyone becomes a worker and our sales situation turns poor, causing morale to plummet, then unrest will follow."

Wang Yan did not argue further; County Head Xu possessed a certain forward-looking vision, yet his vision was still limited; how could he possibly imagine that, let alone 200,000 people, Wang Yan could support even two million?

"I just have this idea; after all, we are already drawing rural population into the city; as long as our various construction efforts keep pace, the speed will only accelerate, and within ten years, the issue of rural arable land will be right before our eyes."

"Are you very confident?"

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "I am striving toward the highest ideal of socialism; it will certainly succeed."

County Head Xu also smiled, and he asked again: "Are there any difficulties at the factory currently? Which other factory do you wish to merge with?"

"Actually, I want to merge all the county's factories; acting under unified command would be more efficient; however, although our factory can support the personnel, we cannot sustain the investment required for such a massive undertaking; in that case, let us merge the chemical plant.

I wish to research the synthetic fiber project; besides what comes from the fields, this is the source of our textile industry; if we do well in research in this aspect, we will gain an advantage in materials, open up the entire textile industry chain, and the range of products we can produce will be even greater.

From clothing, shoes, and socks to plastics and rubber, then to gauze and masks, for daily life, production, and even medical care, we will be able to produce it all; at that time, our good days will truly have arrived."

"Very well; merge the chemical plant into your organization too; you must guarantee the production of fertilizer meets our county's usage, and for other items like soap and toothpaste, you can decide as you see fit."

"We will certainly continue to pursue this; we aim for all-category development; we intend to build a brand belonging to our Jin Ling; we must ensure that when the masses see Jin Ling, they think of quality and reliability; only in this way can we achieve long-term development."

"I do not ask for so much; as long as the people of our county can all eat their fill, that will be enough."

County Head Xu smiled, then asked: "I heard that some students in our county have already received university admission notices; has your wife received hers yet?"

"It should be about time."

"Where did she apply?"

"Peking University."

"Ho, so confident?"

"No major problem." Wang Yan nodded with a smile.

"Then you're treating us to drinks when the time comes."

"Certainly."

The two chatted and laughed as they continued this expedition to survey the areas surrounding Jin Ling County Town...