Chapter 1476: Published

Postman Chen stopped his bicycle in the educated youth courtyard.

Today the sun was very bright. More than a dozen young men were busy in a row. In front of them, Wang Yan was guarding a small red clay stove, drinking canned tea, and refurbishing the cabinet in front of him.

The surrounding male and female educated youth, as well as other people from the brigade, were watching and chatting. On the flat land outside the courtyard, there was also the laughter of people queuing to ride bicycles.

He had been delivering letters here for several years and could clearly feel the vigorous upward momentum of the people in the Baidian Brigade.

He was in this area, so how could he not know the situation of the Baidian Brigade? He even ordered a kang table here. The craftsmanship was truly good...

Wang Yan took the letter and gave Postman Chen a cigarette: "I wrote a report on accepting re-education before and mailed it out, just to try."

"Oh my, then this must have been accepted, otherwise they wouldn't necessarily write back to you. Let's see, what does it say? I've been delivering letters and newspapers for so many years, and I haven't seen a reply from such a big newspaper office a few times."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, then opened the envelope and took out the letter.

"Comrade Wang Yan, hello. The submission has been received. The writing is simple and the ideological understanding is firm..."

Postman Chen read it once beside Wang Yan, then looked at the number on the remittance slip. "Oh my, there's even ten yuan?"

At this time, the educated youth and villagers who had long gathered around couldn't wait any longer, took the letter paper and remittance slip, and passed them around one by one.

"So, your article is going to be published?" Old Old Liu walked over, puffing on his dry pipe.

"Yes, the first issue after the New Year. Also, it told me to work hard and wait to see my results, and wished our brigade to achieve better results."

Wang Yan took a puff of his cigarette and said with a smile, "Old Liu, I even wrote about you. You'll know when the newspaper is delivered later. It'll be a face-saving thing to say out loud in the future."

"Hey, what face or no face, this is the Party and the country's affirmation of us."

As he spoke, Old Old Liu's mouth split open, and he couldn't close it no matter what.

He asked again: "Who else did you write about?"

"My eldest brother, Secretary Zhang of the commune, and I briefly mentioned the county leaders." Wang Yan patted Old Old Liu's arm. "Old Liu, just wait with peace of mind. You'll see it when the time comes. When the commune holds a meeting, they will definitely praise us. Maybe we'll even have to go to the county. There will be many times to be prestigious."

"What prestige or no prestige, I just want our brigade to live a good life."

Everyone was lively for a while, then returned to their previous state, watching the young men working diligently on the wood.

They didn't understand how much influence this excitement had on them...

Postman Chen didn't quite understand either. He collected the letters from the educated youth and other villagers in the brigade as usual. In fact, it was mainly the educated youth who had more letters, while the other villagers didn't have many letters all year round. They grew up here and didn't have many people they needed to contact far away.

The educated youth were outsiders, writing to their families and friends. Every time, they had to receive several letters and send out several letters.

After collecting a round, Postman Chen didn't rush to leave, but looked at the furniture piled up waiting for Wang Yan's further processing, and couldn't help but let out a sigh like Old Liu.

"Oh my, Wang Yan, you say I ordered a kang table from you, but now the other furniture in my house can't be shown in public, like a wolf mixed in a flock of sheep. My heart is itching."

Hearing Postman Chen's words, without waiting for Wang Yan to speak, Li Kuiyong took out the picture book Wang Yan drew: "Come, come, Old Chen, choose one. I'll definitely give you a good price. It doesn't matter if you live in the county; our brigade delivers to your door, and it will definitely be delivered to your home intact."

"Uh..."

Postman Chen was stunned for a moment, but still took the picture book and flipped through it page by page.

"Hiss... now kang tables are divided into three, six, and nine grades?"

"The masses have this demand, so we naturally have to provide choices accordingly." Old Liu smiled, and together with Li Kuiyong, pulled Postman Chen over to whisper and choose furniture...

Wang Yan continued to look at the second letter. This was sent by Zhou Xiaobai. So far, the two had exchanged two letters, about one every half month. There were still letters from both of them on the postal road.

Having exchanged only two letters, the conversation between the two in the letters already had some time difference, but it was also quite interesting.

This letter was nothing special, all the mutterings of a young girl's lovesickness. There were also some things about the army, such as Zhou Xiaobai meeting Zhang Haiyang and Yuan Jun, such as Luo Yun getting closer to Yuan Jun, and saying that Luo Yun's evaluation of Yuan Jun was very good, etc. The rest was looking forward to the meeting between the two, who knew how long later.

In addition, there was a remittance slip for twenty yuan in the envelope. Zhou Xiaobai received her allowance and asked her family for some money, fearing that Wang Yan was suffering here. In the letter, she said she knew Wang Yan could eat and must be hungry in northern Shaanxi, and since the New Year was coming, she wanted him to eat something good.

What a good girl, gentle, considerate, and lovesick...

In fact, Zhou Xiaobai knew a little bit about Wang Yan's way of getting money. After all, when they were in Beijing, Wang Yan's consumption ability was quite considerable, and Zhou Xiaobai wasn't stupid. It was just that she was worried that Wang Yan had come to the impoverished northern Shaanxi and no longer had this path.

But how did she know that there were people everywhere who bullied others and took advantage of loopholes to get rich, regardless of north, south, east, west, ancient or modern, China or abroad. Wang Yan's path to money would always exist.

To extend it further, compared to the little ruffians who bullied people on a small scale and engaged in speculation, what was the difference between them and the quite successful large companies and well-known people who were crowned with the status of entrepreneurs...

Postman Chen finally couldn't stand the itch in his heart, and under the coaxing of Old Liu and Li Kuiyong, ordered two cabinets, one large and one small, and a large dining table, spending thirty yuan, before finally pedaling his bicycle away.

He had to go; he was afraid he couldn't control himself.

There were hundreds of styles and patterns of furniture. At the same time, Old Liu also revealed to him that they would start making sofas and coffee tables after the New Year, which were rare things. There weren't many proper sofas.

The reasons were multifaceted: the price was expensive, and it occupied a large space. For the impoverished people of northern Shaanxi, this thing wasn't very useful. But if the price came down, it would naturally be different...

After sending Postman Chen away, Old Old Liu approached Wang Yan: "Wang Yan, you published an article in the People's Daily, which is definitely good for us, but how exactly is it good? The old man doesn't know, tell me."

"To put it directly, our Lin County, Hechuan Commune, and our Baidian Brigade are all on the map in Beijing. I hadn't heard of this before. I have some connections in Beijing, and some leaders know my name, so the fresh things in our brigade might even reach the ears of the Chairman."

Looking at Old Old Liu's beaming face, Wang Yan continued, "But that's Beijing after all, too far from us. Let's talk about the immediate benefits. You say this matter has reached Beijing, and this newspaper is an official newspaper, which everyone has to subscribe to. Don't you think the leaders of Yan City and Lin County know about it?"

"Yan City isn't close either. Let's talk about Lin County. I mentioned the government leaders in the article, and they also showed their faces in Beijing. Don't you think they are happy?"

"Happy." Old Old Liu nodded heavily, his mouth couldn't close now...

"Then don't you think they want to be better?"

"Definitely."

"Then they will definitely show concern for us and help us solve problems." Wang Yan said, "The mutton soup stall I've been talking about will definitely be implemented, but it might not be our brigade's. But our brigade will definitely have benefits. What is the most urgent thing for us now, Old Liu?"

"Money, we still owe the commune several hundred."

Wang Yan shook his head: "The county is also poor, how could they give us money? What we want is a way to earn money. Look at now, our furniture sales all rely on our brigade's people going out to promote, and also word-of-mouth from those who have already bought furniture. Most of them are from nearby, not far away. How many people is that?"

"Old Liu, think about it, what if we open a furniture store in the county?"

"Good!" Old Old Liu praised without thinking. "If we can really open a store in the county, we will definitely earn a lot. If these kids finish their apprenticeship and make things better and faster, our brigade might be able to eat their fill."

"Right." Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "When the time comes, the county will definitely let us go over to get to know them, and we will set up a storefront in the county. The county will definitely agree. Even if there is no place, they will have to scrape one together for us. I'm still writing, and after the New Year here, I'll reflect on it, and then write about our current progress. Everyone will be happy."

"The old man doesn't understand anything. You are an educated person, you decide, we all listen to you." Old Liu's eyes narrowed with a smile, puffing on his dry pipe, and he walked away...

Wang Yan smiled, put away the two letters, and continued to drink canned tea, making various furniture...

On the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Yan stopped making furniture and started running around with his camera. Taking photos of people in the village, people in Linping, people in the commune, and various activities. In addition, he ran to the county seat, taking photos of the excitement in the county.

Busy like this, until the thirtieth, Wang Yan took photos of the busyness of every household, and waited until noon before he started busy making dishes.

"Brother Yan, you are truly amazing, you can create a situation wherever you go."

Zhong Yuemin was impressed after hearing Li Kuiyong's account.

He and Zheng Tong ran here to celebrate the New Year, and the purpose was naturally very obvious, which was for Qin Ling. However, on the other hand, it was also because their side wasn't much better than the Baidian Brigade, and they were all equally poor, so they naturally didn't have much money to spend and came to Wang Yan's place to eat meat.

The brigade gave Wang Yan a pig's hind leg and a sheep's offal, and Wang Yan spent his own money to buy some fish, meat, chicken, and other dishes, which was very rich.

Wang Yan was very generous. Even though the female educated youth had already split the kitchen with them, he didn't care about these things and invited everyone to eat together.

The female educated youth were embarrassed, and one by one they expressed they wanted to pay, but Wang Yan didn't take it...

Wang Yan said with a smile: "What amazing or not amazing, in the end, it's just wanting to live a little better. It's too bitter here, if you don't think of a way, you can only starve. Can you have such rich wine and food today?"

"That's still you being awesome. We brothers wanted to toss, but we didn't have that ability." Zheng Tong shouted.

Wang Yan waved his hand: "You guys, don't blow me up, don't praise me to death, let me cook well. I tell you, if my hand shakes, it's a spoonful of salt, and you'll be salty to death."

"Hahaha..."

Everyone laughed, and then a group of contestants waiting to eat didn't bother Wang Yan anymore and played on their own...

New Year, it's always lively, the poorer it is, the livelier it is.

Unlike decades later, when you can't wear all your new clothes and are tired of eating meat, which loses a lot of anticipation. New Year is just a big reunion once a year.

Wang Yan performed normally, made rich meals, and had plenty of wine, and the educated youth ate and drank happily together. During the banquet, Old Old Liu and others also came to take a look and toasted the educated youth.

Educated youth in other places were disliked by people, but the educated youth in the Baidian Brigade were given good looks by the villagers because of Wang Yan. Not to mention Wang Yan himself, in the Baidian Brigade, his words were already no worse than Old Old Liu's. After developing for a while after the New Year, his words would be even more effective than Old Old Liu's...

After the lively New Year, on the morning of the first day, when everyone was wishing each other a Happy New Year, the latest issue of the People's Daily was issued across the country, delivered to various agencies and the masses who subscribed to the newspaper.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Secretary Zhang of the commune personally led a team of five or six people and ran to the Baidian Brigade in a hurry.

"You are Wang Yan, you've done a great thing. Hahaha..."

Secretary Zhang shook Wang Yan's hand vigorously, excited.

He had read the article. Wang Yan gave him a certain amount of space, and with just a few words, his image was established, letting people know at a glance that he was a good cadre. How could he not be happy?

"It's all what should be done. If you have a craft, you can't hide it." Wang Yan said modestly.

"I saw it written in the article that you are going to write a report later. Have you written it again?" Secretary Zhang asked with concern.

"I'm writing it. I want to write about the magnificent scenery of our Lin County during the Spring Festival, the achievements after the furniture sideline business was carried out, and the changes to our Baidian Brigade in this month."

"Good!" Secretary Zhang nodded repeatedly. "But don't be busy writing. Tomorrow let's go to the county to see the leaders and ask for some benefits. When the time comes, write about the leaders' support, and they will give more next time."

"Secretary Zhang is still mature and prudent, I'll listen to the secretary."

"Hey, what secretary? Too distant, call me uncle!"

"Got it, Uncle Zhang."

"Good, hahaha..."

Secretary Zhang grinned and laughed. "Old Liu, take me to see your workshop and tell me about your achievements. Since purchasing the wood, I haven't paid much attention. I didn't expect you to do such a big thing without making a sound."

So everyone strolled around the educated youth courtyard together, and Secretary Zhang also cared about the living conditions of the educated youth, etc. In short, it was harmonious, joyful, and triumphant...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tipped, voted for monthly tickets, recommended tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1477 =====