Chapter 585: Xu Damao's Business

Expert Li suddenly sprang up from the cot, rising too quickly, his body tilted, and he nearly took a tumble.

Man Yatou was quick-eyed and nimble-handed, grabbing him to steady him.

"Teacher, take it slow!"

Expert Li, however, burst into loud laughter, the sound exceptionally resonant in the silent morning: "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

The master and apprentice lifted the tent flap, and the scene before them made Man Yatou hold her breath—in the morning glow, a black column of oil shot straight into the clouds, like a black dragon raising its head to gaze around, its spirit swallowing mountains and rivers.

Drilling Team leader Ma Qian trotted over, spittle flying: "Leader, this is definitely a high-yield well! We've succeeded! We've succeeded!"

Expert Li gripped his hand tightly, his voice suppressing excitement: "Good! At noon, we shall have a proper meal!"

On the other end of the phone, as He Yuzhu listened to Man Yatou choking up while describing the scene of the first oil well being struck, a warm current surged in his heart as well.

He said excitedly: "Man Yatou, you have done very well."

Man Yatou's eyes were red: "Brother Zhuzi, this credit belongs to you."

He Yuzhu smiled, his tone calm: "Man Yatou, your brother here is not lacking this one entry in his book of merits. This time, it is yours."

Man Yatou was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood his intention, nodding vigorously: "Brother Zhuzi, I will be able to return soon."

"Expert Li has real ability," He Yuzhu exhorted, "Learn well from him, and strive to become someone useful to the country in the future."

Man Yatou gave a forceful "Mm."

Just as He Yuzhu stepped into the office, Chief Accountant Lao Qian followed him in, rubbing his hands and mumbling: "Little Director He... there really isn't a cent left in the account, you see..."

He Yuzhu lifted his chin, pointing to the large wooden crates in the corner: "Just borrowed six million from Liushi Trading Company, is that enough?"

Lao Qian's eyes lit up; he lunged over in two or three steps and flipped open a crate lid—stacks of "Big Black Tens" were neatly arranged inside.

"Enough! Enough!" Lao Qian's voice trembled with excitement, "With this money, we can hold out until the next allocation!"

He Yuzhu looked at him nonchalantly: "Lao Qian, that scene of inciting suppliers to block the door for payment, did you participate in it?"

Lao Qian's expression changed, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "No! Absolutely not! However... Deputy Director Zhang asked me for the supplier list, saying he wanted to make a plan."

He Yuzhu waved his hand, too lazy to pursue it further: "Understood. Don't follow Deputy Director Zhang around in the future; no good will come of it. Hurry up and get the money moved."

"Understood! Understood!" Lao Qian, as if granted amnesty, scurried out to call people to move the money.

He Yuzhu looked at those crates of banknotes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

This money was not from any Liushi Trading Company; it was what he had exchanged using those hot-potato US dollars in his space when he last returned to Beijing.

Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, it was March 10, 1958.

Man Yatou returned from the newly discovered oilfield with the batch of borrowed equipment.

When He Yuzhu saw her, her face was rough and her hands were rough, so he asked with a smile: "Girl, you must have suffered a lot over there, right?"

Man Yatou shook her head: "Not bitter. The people there are all quite good, honest. Brother Zhuzi, are those old fellows still giving you trouble?"

"I've kept them at the grassroots level; they've been much more honest these past few months!" He Yuzhu smiled and asked again, "How is Expert Li's health?"

"Not very good; she went to Hangzhou for recuperation," Man Yatou said.

He Yuzhu nodded: "Over the next few months, you must thoroughly master that set of integrated circuit stuff. Once you've learned it, I won't have anything left to teach you, and the road ahead will depend on yourself."

Man Yatou was a bit unconfident: "Can I do it?"

He Yuzhu didn't say anything more, just looked at her with a resolute gaze.

Si Jiu Cheng, No. 95 Siheyuan.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong entered the main gate one after the other, carrying bags of white flour on their shoulders, their steps brisk.

Yan Bugui hurried out from his room to greet them, his eyeballs nearly popping out: "Lao Yi, Lao Liu, distributing white flour again?"

Liu Haizhong deliberately slowed his pace and lifted his chin: "Lao Yan, isn't your son at the Dongbei Nongchang? Don't they provide benefits there?"

The smile on Yan Bugui's face stiffened, and he explained dryly: "Food and drink don't cost money there, so they don't distribute grain... You can buy it cheaply, but it's not cost-effective to mail it back..."

What he didn't say was that he had privately asked his eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, but that kid had blocked him with a single sentence: "I need to save money to get married."

Yan Jiecheng was doing well at the farm and had saved quite a bit of money, but he just wouldn't mail it home.

Yan Bugui had pinned his hopes on his second son, Yan Jiefang, but under Xu Damao's tutelage, that kid had become as slippery as a loach and wouldn't give the family a single cent.

Beijing suburbs, Zhang Village, a movie screen was showing "Five Heroes of Mount Langya."

The audience was watching intently; even the children who had been running around stood behind the screen, no longer running, their eyes fixed firmly on the screen.

Watching the soldiers jump off the mountain, the audience's eyes were filled with tears, and they were reluctant to disperse for a long time.

Li Dui-zhang of the production team ran over to the projectionist Xu Damao and whispered: "Comrade Xu, come to the brigade office after the movie is over."

Xu Damao unloaded the film and put it into an iron box: "Lao Li, can you get some Xiaomi? Dried sweet potatoes are hard to sell; the people I serve are all wealthy masters."

Li Dui-zhang smiled and whispered: "You told me last time, so I understood. This time it's ten jin of Xiaomi and thirty jin of white flour."

Xu Damao saw that the audience had all left, so he didn't need to whisper anymore. He stretched: "Lao Li, what do you want this time?"

"Those defective fabrics from last time were very good; just get some more soap and matches."

"Easy enough, though there might not be any blue defective fabric left, only earthy yellow."

Lao Li nodded: "We aren't picky about color."

Xu Damao claimed credit: "Lao Li, do you think it's easy for me? Riding a bicycle back to Beijing, dozens of miles, and having to secretly carry dozens of jin of goods through two checkpoints, just to trade for some things for you."

"Little Xu, the commune members all say you have a heart of a Bodhisattva!"

"I wouldn't dare claim a heart of a Bodhisattva, but I can at least be worthy of you." Xu Damao patted the iron box containing the film, "If I didn't have this box, no one would dare to inspect it, and I wouldn't be able to help you."

At the brigade office, Xu Damao packed the grain into deep, modified film canisters, covered them with a box of film, and then tied the two film boxes to both sides of his bicycle.

Everything ready, he returned to the room prepared for him by the brigade, lay down for a while, and looked at his watch—it was already twelve o'clock.

He opened the back window and jumped out.

He stood in front of a thatched cottage at the east end of the village.

He knocked on the door lightly.

A woman in her twenties with a full figure opened the door.

As soon as the two entered the room, they embraced.

It didn't take long before they were finished.

Xie Guafu still felt a bit unsatisfied.

Xu Damao was soon snoring, and Xie Guafu reached her hand into Xu Damao's pocket and fished out two yuan.

She muttered to herself, "Stingy ghost, couldn't you have put in a little more?"

Xu Damao rode his bike whistling as he passed the checkpoint; he stopped his bicycle, propped one foot on the ground, and took the initiative to greet the checkpoint: "Lao Zhao, the movie yesterday was really good, do you want to see it?"

"Of course I do!"

"When are you off next week? I'll go to the commune and screen one for you."

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhao was pleasantly surprised: "That would be great, Wednesday would be best, I'll bring the kids along to watch."

"Alright, then next Wednesday it is!" Xu Damao kicked off the ground twice, got on his bike, and left.

Lao Zhao smiled and muttered to himself, "This kid really knows how to handle things, he's even going to screen one for me!"

As soon as Xu Damao got home, he saw that Xiaomei had already prepared the hot pot.

Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian were also sitting at the table drinking soda.

Seeing Xu Damao walk in, Yan Jiefang hurriedly bit open the cap of a soda bottle and handed it to Xu Damao: "Brother Damao, Liu Shazi's family in Xinjiekou wants twenty catties of white flour and can offer two Small Yellow Fish; should we do this deal?"

"Of course we do!" Xu Damao said as he plopped down into a chair.

"But food is too precious right now, my family can't even afford cornmeal anymore!" Yan Jiefang said, "I want to get some white flour for my family too!"

"I heard your older brother is living the high life in the Northeast, saving money to get a wife; what are you, a Lao Er, acting like a big shot for?" Xu Damao cursed, "As long as your family doesn't starve to death, that's enough. Believe me, even if I gave you all the white flour I brought back, your dad wouldn't bake you a single pancake to eat."

After hearing this, Yan Jiefang's eyes immediately became determined.

During this period, Xu Damao used his status as a Projectionist and used his film cases as cover to smuggle grain into the city every day.

He sold the grain to those remnants of the old society; most of them would pay in Small Yellow Fish, and if he encountered someone particularly wealthy, he would send Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang out in the middle of the night to clean them out completely.

Xu Damao, in turn, bought cloth, soap, matches, kerosene, candy, needles and thread, and the like from the black market to sell to the production teams.

Xu Damao made a fortune, but as soon as these goods arrived in the countryside, the production team leaders scrambled to get them and didn't feel they were getting the short end of the stick.

Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang also got to have a little taste of the spoils by following him.