Chapter 1487: Development

Wang Yan and the others' return journey was very smooth.

The vehicles passed through customs without the slightest issue, and upon arriving at the fishing village, Elder Liang had coordinated a special train to load all seventy-eight vehicles donated by patriotic groups in Hong Kong that Wang Yan had acquired.

Li Kuiyong, Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong, Captain Li, and the other militia members wore grins from ear to ear throughout the journey, unable to close their mouths even if they wanted to. Nothing else mattered; everyone wore several watches on their wrists, stuffed various gold ornaments in their pockets, each held a Hong Kong dollar as a souvenir, and possessed various commemorative photos taken by Wang Yan.

There were shots of beating up triads, looking down from above at small-time bosses, group photos at Victoria Harbour, eating seafood on a boat at sea, and even group photos in front of the gates of various society headquarters. All were documentary photography, with superb candid skills...

If taken out, they would all serve as evidence of crimes, demonstrating just how audacious Wang Yan was.

Of course, Wang Yan had fully considered the comrades' needs; after all, having traveled to Hong Kong, one must boast upon returning, and to make such boasts substantive, nothing is more convincing than photographs.

Besides these, the most important matter—the money—had not yet been distributed; this could only be settled with Lin County after the currency exchange, and only then could Lin County distribute it to Hechuan Commune...

The conditions along the way were not much better than during the trip to Hong Kong; everyone was stuffed inside the train cars, stifling to death, and the dry rations were nothing more than with some added southern dried seafood and the like, yet not a single person complained of hardship or fatigue, making the entire journey filled with laughter and joy.

Except for stops along the route to unload cargo, resupply, perform repairs, or wait for other trains to pass with priority, their special train kept chugging along with a "ku-ku-ku" sound.

Finally traveling from south to north, they once again saw that expanse of yellow earth.

At Lin County railway station, government cadres who had received news early, along with cadres from Hechuan Commune who had come to meet them, warmly welcomed Wang Yan and the others on their triumphant return.

Looking at the seventy-eight vehicles being unloaded, the crowd did not know what to say.

After holding back for a long while, Secretary Zhou of the county said, "Wang Yan, you truly have guts as big as the sky."

Wang Yan smiled honestly: "Isn't it that nothing went wrong? There are still over two million in funds; this time we have really struck it rich."

"The money hasn't arrived yet; let's talk about the vehicles first. What do you plan to do with these cars?"

"Leader, what do you think of these vehicles? This was the ride of the Dragon Head of the Sun Yee On in Hong Kong, meaning the triad boss; this Sun Yee On..."

Wang Yan gave a brief explanation, saying, "This car is also left-hand drive, perfect for use as a leader's official vehicle."

"I cannot afford to sit in it," Secretary Zhou said with amusement. "You just said it was the ride of a Dragon Head; I am a Party cadre, do you think that is appropriate?"

"You are all overthinking it; someone has said we must seek truth from facts. Regardless of who sat in it before, this is just a vehicle with four wheels."

Wang Yan waved his hand. "Fine, if none of you want them, I will drive one myself. The sedans will be for the county and our commune to use as official cars, making it convenient to go anywhere for any matter. We will keep thirty vans; ten vehicles will be used for hauling cargo.

Secretary Zhou, this time you must go to the city to secure a shop space no matter what. By then, our furniture will sell even better, and we can use these vehicles for delivery.

As for the other twenty vehicles, we happen to have nineteen production brigades; one vehicle per brigade. We will train a driver in each brigade; on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, they will operate as public buses, and at ordinary times they will be stationed at each brigade. If anyone suffers a sudden serious illness, they can be driven to the county hospital. We can afford the fuel costs; consider it a benefit for the people of the commune."

Secretary Zhou nodded repeatedly: "What you say makes sense. It is true that you brought these vehicles back, but we must also pursue balanced development. How about this: your commune keeps twenty vans, and the rest will be distributed among the other seventeen communes in our county. We won't dream of public buses; enabling our people to reach the county faster to see a doctor is already a great good.

Our county hospital currently has only one broken-down vehicle. Now that we have so many cars, if our hospital cannot treat an illness, it will be convenient to send patients to the city. What do you think, Old Zhang?"

Secretary Zhou was cunning; instead of asking Wang Yan, he directly asked Secretary Zhang of Hechuan Commune.

What could Secretary Zhang say? Of course, he agreed with a nod: "I think it works. Our whole county is poor; now that our commune has developed, we must also take care of the other communes. As for the matter of public buses, if we didn't have them before, can't we create them now? Wang Yan, you speak."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "You are the commune leader; if you say it works, then it works. Either way, it helps the people of our area. As long as it is not taken by some cadre for their own enjoyment, I do not mind."

"Wang Yan is right. Although if distributed to the lower communes, it is inevitable that cadres will use them as official cars, there must be a limit; we cannot delay matters concerning the people. Later we will hold a meeting to emphasize this issue specifically," Secretary Zhou said with a beaming smile.

Thus the matter was settled, and Secretary Zhou took the opportunity to mention that after the trip to Hong Kong, the city had already allocated a shop space for the furniture industry to sell furniture, which was considerably larger than the shops in the county town.

Wang Yan casually pulled a watch from his pocket: "Come, come, Leader, look how old your watch is; let me swap it for a new one."

"What is this?" Secretary Zhou quickly stepped back two paces.

"Gifts brought for everyone."

Wang Yan waved his hand, and Li Kuiyong began pulling watches out of the bag.

"Leader, if I only give one to you, that would be improper; if every leader present receives one, then there is no problem. The members of the Revolutionary Committee are all here; everyone gets a share."

Wang Yan distributed them one by one as if wholesaling watches.

Secretary Zhang naturally received one as well; he asked curiously, "Where did you get so many watches?"

"Smuggled by triads, meaning smuggling. The place we went to happened to have a warehouse full of high-end items like watches, so we raided it. Look at Captain Li and the others; they are wearing strings of watches, though only one is a new watch; the others were taken from those little hooligans. No, correction, they voluntarily gave them to us."

Secretary Zhou, listening from the side, was speechless: "You are like a swordsman; going out for a stroll, you dare to take anything."

"Rest assured, Leader, everything has been settled. Elder Liang from the Fan Xinhua News Agency even reported it to Jingcheng for us; we took them openly and squarely. I will set aside twenty more watches for you; later when you go to the city for a meeting, you can give some to the city leaders as a gesture of goodwill from our Hechuan Commune."

"Your courage is truly immense."

"I just couldn't meet the big shots; otherwise, I would have gone directly to present gifts to them in person."

Everyone burst into loud laughter, creating quite a lively scene.

After the merriment subsided, Secretary Zhou said, "Last time at the Canton Fair you made your first sales, plus your reputation is significant; the higher authorities have decided to grant us a quota for this year's Canton Fair, allowing us to set up a product exhibition in the venue. It is already July, so hurry up and organize everything, striving to achieve new heights this year."

Wang Yan was not surprised and agreed with a nod: "I guarantee the completion of the task."

This matter was quite normal; although his transaction volume was not large, he had nonetheless opened up business. Especially since after the previous goods were shipped to Osaka, while Wang Yan was returning from Hong Kong, the Japanese added another order worth 200,000, requesting to purchase more furniture and making specific requirements for the small kang tables.

Similarly, although Peng Yunliang had focused all his efforts on herbal tea, furniture was also being sold by him, selling reasonably well in Hong Kong. Just before Wang Yan left, a batch of goods had been shipped to Tokyo; although they had only been on sale for a few days, they were already more popular than ordinary furniture.

Therefore, before returning, Peng Yunliang also added an order worth 200,000, which was enough to keep the furniture factory busy for another while.

Thus, the group dispersed amidst much fanfare, driving the vehicles back to the commune. As the factory director of Hechuan Furniture Factory, the first thing Wang Yan did was hold a meeting with the commune to continue allocating labor quotas to the production brigades under the commune.

Furthermore, Wang Yan proposed establishing a home textile factory to employ the young women of the commune. The source of funding had also been resolved: it was the money brought back from Hong Kong this time. First, coordinate with the city to obtain two sets of obsolete equipment; getting that should not be difficult, and then the home textile factory could commence operations.

In the field of home textiles, a certain amount of experience has now been accumulated, and finished products are available. A considerable amount of export furniture has been procured, indicating there is still a market.

Later, if Wang Yan conducts some appropriate marketing and breaks through in the city, supporting the female workers of Hechuan Commune should not be a problem.

As for the issue of raw materials, it has never been a problem. Previously, when usage was small, the county issued approval slips. Now that usage is large, the city issues approval slips. If usage increases further in the future, the province will issue approval slips.

This has nothing to do with Wang Yan offending people; even if someone wanted to obstruct, they could not.

If the county tries to obstruct, the people of Hechuan Commune will dare to run to the county. If the city tries to obstruct, they will dare to run to the city...

This is not about any other personal interest; this is the development of a region, the political career of local officials, and the wallets of the masses.

After arranging for the expansion of the factory and the construction of a new factory, besides preparing furniture for the Canton Fair, Wang Yan utilized his spare time at night to write a new report.

Of course, he would not write about going there to bully hooligans; instead, he wrote about some reflections on what he witnessed in capitalist society, demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system, appropriately analyzing some current policies, and envisioning the near future.

In addition, the Daily Newspaper invited him to interpret the Long March painting he had created. By now, the entire painting had been published in segments, allowing people to understand it thoroughly.

Asking him, the creator, to explain it personally was naturally no problem. To summarize simply, it was about elevating the significance. Since the painting depicted battle and spoke of struggle, Wang Yan's article began arguing from ancient times, clarifying that the Chinese people have never feared hardship or fatigue, nor feared bleeding and sacrifice; deep in their bones, the Chinese people possess a spirit of fighting heaven and earth, thereby enhancing national pride.

Considering international relations, Wang Yan did not furiously attack Western capitalism or the Soviet revisionists in such a specialized article; he only spoke of himself.

Even so, after publication, the response was very good. Wang Yan's articles had nothing else but uplifting spirit; they spoke with facts, all about China's prosperity, and envisioned nothing but future wealth and power.

The masses were all delighted to read them.

Of course, correspondence with Zhou Xiaobai was indispensable; this had been a fixed routine that never ceased. Wang Yan also mailed her a ladies' wristwatch and other novel items...

"Aiya, this mutton soup is still the best to drink, Brother Yan." Li Kui drank the mutton soup with great relish, having added plenty of chili; it was exceedingly fragrant.

"Didn't you lot come to eat this before?" Wang Yan said with amusement. "Don't be so exaggerated."

Li Kui said, "Brother Yan, truly no exaggeration; this mutton soup is made authentically. No matter how many times we eat it, it's never enough."

"Right, Kuiyong is right," Zhong Yuemin said. "During that time we were in Hong Kong, apart from mutton soup, I didn't think of anything else."

"Is that so? Then the glittering world of Hong Kong didn't dazzle your eyes?" Qin Ling asked with a sarcastic tone.

Tian Fang joined in the sarcasm: "Right, I recall that before you left, you were talking about visiting brothels. Did you not go?"

"Brother Yan, this is your fault; you resolve it," Li Kui said helplessly, looking at Wang Yan.

"What should I resolve? Even with eight mouths, if they don't believe, they still won't believe. Hey, you two don't look at me like that." Seeing Qin Ling and Tian Fang glaring at him, Wang Yan smiled and said, "If you two insist on knowing the answer, then I can only say we went."

Zhong Yuemin and Li Kui wore expressions of impending doom, while Zheng Tong laughed heartily: "I support Brother Yan; what Brother Yan said is flawless. This matter simply cannot be proven; whether you believe it or not is up to you. I'll also say we went, hahaha."

Seeing Tian Fang's eyes widen in anger, Li Kui said, "Brother Yan, I think you ought to go see my sister-in-law. Taking leave is convenient for you now; go see her and reunite with my sister-in-law. It's nearly been three years; you really ought to meet by now."

Zhong Yuemin nodded repeatedly: "Right, right, right, Kuiyong is right, Brother Yan. You're already twenty, aren't you? You can get married; the earlier you marry, the sooner you settle down. By then, let your father-in-law exert some influence and transfer you back to Jingcheng. You've contributed enough to the people of Northern Shaanxi here."

Wang Yan knew the two were trying to change the subject, so he said with a smile: "I plan to go see her after the Canton Fair concludes. As for transferring back to Jingcheng, forget it; matters here are just getting started, so I must at least get things running well first. Moreover, if I want to transfer back, I don't necessarily need to rely on my father-in-law; can't I manage it myself?"

"Right, you are formidable; times are different now. You've become a national celebrity; you don't need your father-in-law to step in, you can handle matters yourself. By then, please remember us few chickens and dogs, letting us ascend to heaven along with you," Zheng Tong eagerly echoed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; it's still early," Wang Yan said noncommittally.

Zhong Yuemin asked, "Brother Yan, if you are transferred back, which unit would you like to join?"

"Who knows?"

Tian Fang let out an "Ai": "I think you could go to a school; your photography is so beautiful. Alternatively, making movies would work too. You are so good at writing articles; you would surely make a good screenwriter. Being skilled at both filming and writing, you could definitely succeed in filmmaking, contributing to the spiritual and cultural needs of our entire nation."

"Hey, Brother Yan, that actually works," Li Kui agreed, nodding; he was now completely aligned with Tian Fang.

Of course, that was only on issues not involving Wang Yan. After Li Kui returned, apart from sending wristwatches and money to his younger siblings at home, all the money he kept was in Tian Fang's hands...

"We'll see, we'll see. Come, come, let's drink, let's drink..."

Wang Yan raised his wine cup, feeling perfectly content amidst the bustling noise of the mutton soup stall...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who generously donate, cast monthly tickets, recommend votes, and silently read the book for their tremendous support!