Back to 1979: Sending the Educated Youth’s Wife Back to the City

Chapter 169 Donation to Support Education
Fang Mingche remembers that the Lotus Pond Wholesale Market in Chengdu opened in 1986. Then many small vendors in the town and county went to Lotus Pond to buy goods. They took the night train, as there was already an asphalt road at that time, and it took eight hours to get there, leaving in the evening and arriving the next morning!
Back then, small vendors could only bring cash to buy goods. They didn't dare sleep on long-distance buses at night unless they had company, so everyone took turns sleeping. They were afraid of losing their money, which was a huge sum. Some people even sewed pockets in their underwear to keep their money inside.

It's only 1980 now, and it's normal to have inconvenience in spending money across provinces.

Fang Mingche rode his bicycle out of the village, dodging people and the chickens and ducks that staggered onto the road. The tractor path leading out of the village will be filled with rice after the autumn harvest begins next month, leaving a small path in the middle. It's full of life!

People greeted him along the way, and now everyone knew that he was doing well in the capital. If he was doing well, basically everyone he met would smile at him.

I also saw Yanyan, Fangfang and Kangkang. They were queuing up with a few other kids to draw a "jianpizi" (spinning top).

Yanyan and Fangfang had their backs to Fang Mingche and didn't see him riding over. Kangkang was facing him, waving and calling out, "Dad—"

Fang Mingche nodded, pressed the parking brake, and put one foot on the ground. He asked Yanyan, "Do you want to go out with Dad?"

After returning, I had to go out and explore the streets. Although the so-called streets in town were only a few hundred meters long, it was still better than the neighboring county, where people said you could walk through the whole city with just a match.

Yanyan nodded, and then Kangkang also said he wanted to go. Then they got into the car one after another.

Fang Fang helped the two of them get into the car and prepared to go home. If she wasn't with Yanyan, she couldn't just stay in the village and play like this.

Yanyan was older and sat in the back. She grabbed her father's clothes with both hands and said, "Dad, guess who I just saw?"

Fang Mingche followed her words and asked, "Who did you see?"

Since he wanted to talk, he didn't rush to pedal away. But didn't Yanyan forget everyone in the village? Who was she so surprised to see?
Yanyan said, "I saw Ma Xiaodan. She called me, but I didn't recognize her. My sister told me. She, she didn't look well."

The clothes he wears don't fit him and his hair is yellow.

Fang Mingche frowned slightly when he heard her say that, "Yes, you got along pretty well with her when you were in the village."

Because their mothers were both educated youth, their fathers were from the same village and schoolmates, and they were of similar age, the two girls often played together when they were young.

Ma Xiaodan, he remembered, was a few months older than Yanyan, and should be five years old.

Last summer, he and Ayan came back to go through the procedures for remarriage. The little girl even asked if she could just say she was Yanyan and take her on the train to the capital to find her mother.

This was definitely not possible. Ma Anguo would definitely not agree to let her take his daughter away. Moreover, Wu Dan had only been married for two months and would not be willing to accept his daughter.

But he heard from Ayan that Wu Dan was sending money back to the village after receiving his salary. Why didn't the money go to Ma Xiaodan?

Kang Kang, who was sitting on the front horizontal bar, imitated the adults and said, "If you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather!"

Fang Mingche took his daughter and nephew to the street on his bicycle, first taking them to buy candy figurines and visit the supply and marketing cooperative. Then he took out some money and hurried back to the village. He had taken a lot, and it would be troublesome if he lost it.

After entering the village, he put the siblings on the ground and said, "I'm going to the village branch. You guys can find some other kids to play with." They were in the village, so there was no need to worry about them getting lost.

"Oh well."

Fang Mingche went directly to the village branch's finance office and handed the money to the village cashier. Then he received a receipt.

This was a person who had come back to invest, and the cashier was polite to him. Moreover, this cashier was a junior high school classmate of Fang Mingche and Ma Baoguo.

Fang Mingche gave the cashier a cigarette, and the two chatted for a while. Then he asked about the Ma family.

"Yes, his first wife did send money back. I heard that 10 yuan a month is enough to raise a daughter in the countryside, and she only paid half. But the second wife got pregnant a few months ago."

Ten yuan a month was probably a quarter of Wu Dan's salary. Being an educated youth counted towards seniority, so she earned more than someone like Lin Yi, who had just started working. And after all, she worked in an office at a cinema.

Fang Mingche curled his lips and said, "He used his daughter's support money to feed his wife. How could Ma Baoguo do this?"

Ma Xiaodan's hair has turned yellow, she must be malnourished. This is too much! We can't say that the funds are used for their intended purpose, but we can't fail to feed the children well.

The cashier said, "It is said that the second one is pregnant with a son, and he just wants food and clothes. But, since they live in a separate house, the woman did not abuse, beat or scold Ma Xiaodan. And her biological father, grandfather and grandmother are all here, so it is difficult for others to say anything. Now the boy has not been born yet, and when he is born, Ma Xiaodan will definitely have to help take care of the child. As for the future, whether he can still go to school is a question mark."

Fang Mingche frowned even more. He had withdrawn an extra 1000 yuan today, or rather, he had remitted more money when he remitted it. He had originally intended to give it to the Party Secretary as tuition for the children in the village who were too poor to go to school, especially the girls.

We all watched our kids grow up, so we help them as much as we can. Elementary and middle school don't cost much, and even high school isn't that expensive either.

He is now considered a profitable person in the village, so it is only right for him to give back to his hometown. Otherwise, he will definitely be criticized.

The villagers didn't attach much importance to education in the past, and few children completed secondary normal school like him. I mentioned this to the Party Secretary last night, and he naturally agreed with it and was very grateful for his initiative.

The cashier also heard what the branch secretary said and asked hurriedly, "What is the standard for your family to be poor?"

"Draw a line based on the family's monthly income, so that it's difficult to support the children's education. Please help me draw this line. I'm rarely in the village nowadays, so I don't know the situation very well." Anyway, his family doesn't count. Although there are three children, there are still four adults who can work and earn money.

The cashier nodded, "Okay, don't worry, I will make sure to keep the accounts. When I announce it later, everyone in the village will help you keep an eye on it."

As the two were talking, the branch secretary heard that Fang Mingche was coming and came over from the office.

"Mingche is here. Okay, I'll tell you these two things over the loudspeaker." He saw the cashier counting money.

Fang Mingche waved his hand and said, "Secretary, there's no need for that. You're making such a fuss about it."

He told his dad about it last night. His dad asked if he could pay off his debts, saying he'd sold his handicrafts to Japan. He said it was a good idea. Education is truly the best path forward for children from poor families! We should cherish our own children, and we should also cherish the children of others.

He only comes back once a year, and school is about to start in September, so it's appropriate to give him the money in advance.

In fact, Fang Mingche thought that if the rice mill in the village was profitable, he might not be able to pay out the money for two years. In the future, he could just use the dividends from the rice mill. Even if it didn't work, it didn't matter. One thousand a year was nothing to him.

He found it funny at the time. The old man's two years of private schooling were not in vain, and he could even say such things.

"Why not? The first thousand was said to be an investment, but this thousand was donated by you. And you also said that this was only the first time, and you will continue to donate to support education in the future. How can you not publicize good deeds? This way, others can learn from you."

The branch secretary did what he said and immediately called Mingche and the cashier to his office. The three of them discussed and first drew the poverty line, then the branch secretary took out the microphone, turned it on, and clapped again.

"Members, I have an announcement to make: Fang Mingche just brought 2,000 yuan to the village branch. 1,000 yuan is for investment in the rice mill, and he said the other 1,000 yuan is for children from families below the poverty line to study. One part is for tuition, and the other part is for scholarships. This 1,000 yuan is just the first time, and it will continue next year. If there is a need, it will be increased or decreased appropriately. Now I will tell you the standards for poor households and the standards for receiving scholarships."

The villagers all looked up at the nearby tweeters. There were five tweeters installed high up in the east, west, north and center of the village, so it was very convenient to talk about anything.

At this moment, Fang Minghua and his father were weeding in the fields. Fang Minghua couldn't help but say, "Look how capable he is!"

He was originally very grateful to his brother, but now the children of outsiders can enjoy similar treatment as his children.

Father Fang said, "Can you see further ahead? Mingche said last night that if Fang Jian and his three brothers study well and have better conditions in the future, we can take them to the capital to study. The education conditions in the capital are much better than those in our poor and remote village."

The so-called better conditions meant that he could buy another house and vacate the small side courtyard he currently lived in for his children's education. Also, we had to wait until rural people moved to the city, and when the people could report them and the officials could investigate, they wouldn't be driven back as migrants.

Mingche said that the management is becoming more and more relaxed nowadays, and as long as you don't sleep on the streets, you won't be immediately taken in or evicted.

However, Mingche also said that he and Ayan were both busy. If the three children went, then the two elders would have to go with them to take care of them.

Neither he nor his wife wanted to leave the village or the land for a long time. After living in the capital for more than half a month, they still got used to the life in the countryside.

Hearing his eldest son say this, Father Fang couldn't help but tell him everything.

"If the children really go, the high tuition fees starting at 200 yuan per student per semester will only be paid by their father."

Fang Minghua felt a little embarrassed because the second brother hadn't told him these things yet.

He said, "I'm thankful that Fang Jian and Fang Kang were able to get into junior high school. Only Fang Fang has the chance to go!"

In terms of education, resources should be tilted towards boys.

Father Fang looked at him, "Kang Kang hasn't even started school yet, and you're already sure he can't study? I've already told you that there's no such thing as someone who is good at studying. In this world, most people have similar intelligence levels. Those who are far behind are either scientists or fools. The key is to look at the attitude towards study! Hey, didn't you tell Shufen this morning not to discourage Fang Jian's enthusiasm for study?"

He and his wife had no incentive to travel to the capital just for Fang Fang's studies. Their only concern was Fang Kang. If they were to go, it would be to take care of the two siblings. It was hard to say if Fang Jian could recover, but there was still hope for Kang Kang to be properly nurtured.

They have now tasted the benefits of supporting the second son with their backs bent. What the second son said was right, it takes generations to support.

Yanyan and Changchang have parents who are both university graduates and are wealthy. Their future prospects should be very bright.

What they are worried about now are the three children of the first house, especially the two grandchildren. As for Fang Jian, now they have to do everything they can to make him pay more attention to his studies. The first step is to get into junior high school.

The father and son spoke in low voices, which were drowned out by the tweeter.

After the secretary finished speaking, he asked Fang Mingche to say a few more words. Fang Mingche could only say something like education changes destiny and hoped that everyone would pay attention to education. Fortunately, he had been a teacher for several years, so he was sure to have a set of words when talking about these things.

Moreover, he himself is a living example. The villagers will not think that what he said is empty talk.

When the villagers first heard the loudspeaker, they didn't take it seriously and went about their business. After all, the Party Secretary always had to speak out. It was no big deal, so they just ignored it.

But when he first said that Fang Mingche had brought back two thousand yuan, everyone's attention was immediately focused. Money is closely related to life.

Now that everything was said, a villager on the nearby ridge said to Fang's father, "Hey, Uncle Fang Qi, your son Mingche is really capable now. It's all thanks to you two elders for your good training."

Father Fang laughed and said, "A year and a half ago, didn't you say he was crazy?"

The news that he beat up Old Man's dick a year and a half ago didn't spread too far, right?
The speaker waved his hand and said, "Now I know that he can see farther than us! If you can see farther, you can go farther."

If you make money and are willing to donate some to help children in the village go to school, that's good. Otherwise, even if you make a fortune, what does it have to do with us?
On this day, there were obviously more villagers greeting the Fang family than usual. The family was greeted with smiles everywhere.

After get off work that afternoon, Fang Mingche and the cashier invited their peers from the village to get together. As usual, they shared a meal and went to a nearby hillside for a picnic.

Ma Baoguo was also called over, and he brought a bottle of liquor from home.

Fang Mingche paid ten yuan, and combined it with the money contributed by others to buy some braised duck, braised chicken wings, chicken feet, duck feet, etc. Oh, and bought a lot of fruit, too, because it's easy to get tired of eating only meat.

Anyway, it was still the same spot, right under the trees on the hillside. They spread newspapers and laid out portions of cooked food.

Someone else was scooping up loaches from the nearby ditch with a scoop, building a stove with four stones, and preparing to fry them. This required bringing pots, spatulas, cooking oil, and flour from home. Naturally, someone also brought bowls and chopsticks.

When Mingche went out in the afternoon, Yanyan asked her if she could follow him.

"Dad is going to meet people his own age. We agreed not to bring our children. You should go meet your own age group."

"Okay then. Kang Kang said there's someone making popcorn in the village again. I'll go and trade them for rice and corn."

"Then you have to tell your grandma in advance."

"It's agreed. Grandma said I can only come back once a year. It's OK with anything. Just don't go up to the roof and tear off the tiles! How could I possibly go up to the roof and tear off the tiles?"

Now that old classmates and fellow townsmen were gathered together, everyone naturally asked about Fang Mingche's college and business.

"Going to college is different from high school in that there is no tuition fee and a monthly allowance of 22 yuan is given. Everyone takes turns to use the classroom, and there are no more than four classes a day."

The cashier said, "You guys are so popular after you graduate. I heard that all the college students from the class of 77 are booked now."

Fang Mingche nodded, "Yes, but the place you go is based on your grades. Besides, I don't plan to start working right now, I plan to continue my graduate studies. Anyway, I'll always have subsidies, so I can get a higher starting point when I graduate."

"Alas, you are the only native college student in our village. We don't know anything about what you are talking about."

Fang Mingche said, "If you don't want to study hard anymore, you have to let your children study. Really, studying and finding a job is a shortcut."

They all got married early. He got married at 20, the legal marriage age, and became a father for the first time at 21. There are two people who got married at and became fathers. Their children are already in elementary school.

They nodded and said, "Seeing how well you are doing, you know the benefits of studying. It's too late for us. We really need to let the next generation study hard."

Ma Baoguo nodded and said, "Yes, I want my son to go to a big city in the future."

Fang Mingche said, "Your daughter doesn't need it?"

"My daughter, just study for two years until you can learn to read. How can our family afford to support so many children? If I could make as much money as you, I would definitely dress my daughter up beautifully."

Today, Yanyan was with Fang Fang and Fang Kang in the village, so Ma Baoguo naturally saw her.

Fang Mingche tilted his chin slightly towards the golden rice fields and said, "Isn't this going to be a good harvest? A good harvest means money. Year after year, we will gradually accumulate. Besides, my daughter is also my own flesh and blood. To be honest, when I get old and have problems, maybe my daughter will be more reliable than my son."

They were all equals, so he couldn't speak in a high-handed manner to criticize Ma Baoguo. He could only offer some persuasion and advice. Otherwise, no one would pay any attention to him.

The cashier was gnawing on a braised duck leg, spitting out the bone and saying, "I've been thinking, when there are abundant harvests everywhere, will it be like Ye Shengtao's poem 'An Extra Three or Five Bushels of Pile' in our elementary school textbook?"

Fang Mingche said, "You said that low grain prices hurt farmers? With a bumper harvest, the purchase price may have to be adjusted downward. But it won't be too outrageous! After all, Ye Shengtao wrote about the old society, and the new China will still take the interests of farmers into consideration. COFCO should set a price that won't hurt farmers too much, and store all the grain. I heard that they have a mission to store enough grain for the entire nation to eat for two years. Besides, isn't the village going to build a factory? We can divert some people to the factory. And the special economic zones along the coast are also attracting investment from foreign businessmen, compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao, Chinese, and overseas Chinese. By then, everyone should be able to work in the coastal areas. The salary and benefits should be better than ours in the inland areas."

Before Chengdu was listed as a key development target, many people from Sichuan went to coastal areas to work.

Someone also asked: "If we go to coastal areas to work, won't we be arrested as migrant workers?"

Fang Mingche said, "A special zone, aside from adhering to one core and two basic points, everything else is special."

Someone else said, "I have relatives in the south who asked me to go there to work. I said our village had just implemented the household contract responsibility system and that we would have a good harvest this year, so I didn't really want to go. But we have a few brothers in our family, so we do have a lot of labor. During the spring plowing season, I went to your Fang family to work for a few days. Your eldest brother led us to work, and your eldest sister-in-law cooked at home. We were paid daily wages."

Fang Mingche said, "To be honest, the south is a bit chaotic. I almost got into trouble on those two trips I took with Brother Mingfeng in his car around the beginning of last year. If you want to go there to work, it's best to go with a group. Or you can find reliable relatives there. Anyway, you need someone to stick together."

Those who are good at making money were not in northern Myanmar at the beginning. They seemed to be in the south at the beginning. If you go out to work alone, you may disappear if you are unlucky.

"It would be great if I could go to the capital with you. Fang Mingfeng should be doing well in the capital, right? Otherwise, his video hall business in the county is so good, he wouldn't stay in the capital and not come back."

Fang Mingche nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad. He and I both opened scrap yards to collect scrap and resell it to make a profit."

"Oh, you are doing this business? Didn't I hear from your parents that you are running a travel agency that specializes in entertaining foreigners and overseas Chinese?" someone said in shock.

"I'm involved in both businesses. Don't underestimate scrap collection; it's all about profit, and as long as I can make money, that's fine. Besides, it's not like I'm digging through garbage dumps. As for travel agencies, I'm also involved."

It turned out that when his parents came back, they didn't mention anything about him opening a scrap yard, they only mentioned opening a travel agency.

"So what do you think Brother Mingfeng is doing?"

“It’s also a video studio.”

Fang Mingche shook his head. "He opened a video hall in the county, so he had connections and someone to protect him. But in the capital, it's hard to find such connections. You can't even find the temple gate with a knife! Travel agencies require foreign language skills and the ability to drive. The requirements of the scrap yard are lower." "How much can each of your workers get?"

Fang Mingche said, "It fluctuates between 36 and 300, depending on the position of each person. Tour guides and drivers who can speak foreign languages earn the highest income. The scrap yard is not hiring anymore because there are no amulets."

"300?"

"The leader of the English group was initially an associate professor from the English Department of Beijing Normal University."

"Oh."

The cashier asked, "What amulet?"

Fang Mingche smiled, "Travel agencies can earn foreign exchange for the country, and they are affiliated with government departments, so it's no problem to hire more people. But since they are affiliated with us, they can put people in there, so it's not easy to refuse them all. But the scrap yard is afraid that people will report me for hiring and exploiting them."

He could come back to donate money to support education, but he didn't dare to take on so many tasks that people go to the capital to work with him. Villagers don't have strong learning abilities, and they can't work in travel agencies. The scrap yard didn't dare to hire more people.

The cashier nodded. "That's indeed a problem. So the Special Administrative Region isn't sensitive about this?"

"It's not a taboo. It's said that apart from focusing on economic development, adhering to the four basic principles, and adhering to reform and opening up, everything else can be handled on a special basis."

Ma Baoguo said: "I heard that many people from Shenzhen fled to Hong Kong."

Fang Mingche nodded. "That's true. Many people jumped over the barbed wire despite the sound of the PLA's gunfire. The difference in living standards between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is really too big now."

The per capita income gap of dozens or hundreds of times can be closed immediately by running or swimming. Is it possible not to flee to Hong Kong?
"So to get to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, you need a border pass. But that didn't stop the influx of people fleeing to Hong Kong. I heard hundreds of people were heading there every night. Even General Xu, who was transferred to the Guangzhou Military Region as commander, couldn't do anything about it."

This can only be achieved through the development of Shenzhen. With factories being built along the coast and many foreign companies setting up shop, many migrant workers and university students have flocked to Shenzhen, and the local farmers in Shenzhen have become wealthy.

Build an eight-story elevator apartment building on your own land, with several or even a dozen small apartments per floor. Collect rent every month with sacks of cash. That way, no more farmers will flee to Hong Kong. Make a fortune right here!

And the fishermen in Shenzhen have also become increasingly wealthy, and more and more people are willing to spend money on seafood.

Ma Baoguo said, "That actually still places a lot of restrictions on us farmers. The only places we can go to are the special economic zones you mentioned. If we want to go to the capital, the only legitimate channels are still university entrance exams and job recruitment."

Fang Mingche said: "If you are not afraid of being driven away as a vagrant, you can still stay in the underworld. I was a black man for several months. Brother Mingfeng and his family of three are also black men now. It's just that they are mainly in the suburbs of Beijing, so they are not too conspicuous."

Although he didn't dare to make a big promise, there was a subtle twist in his words. If you really want to go, just find a way to learn to drive. You don't even need to learn to drive; just learning to drive a tractor will do. The principles are similar anyway; if you can learn to drive a tractor, you can definitely learn to drive.

If he really has the heart and will take initiative, as long as he can drive, he can take it to the capital for development.

Anyway, the three retired soldiers were also illegal immigrants. They were not able to be employed in factories and mines in the capital after they were discharged, so they had to return to their hometowns. But at first, they were porters for others, and they rented a house together and became illegal immigrants. Later, they drove for travel agencies and lived in overseas Chinese apartments. There would definitely be no one there to check the household registration.

Fang Mingche didn't say anything. He had a bad impression of Wu Dan before. They had been married for several years and their child was three years old, but she just left. But now it seems that it's no wonder!

Wu Dan at least sent ten yuan a month to support Ma Xiaodan. But Ma Baoguo is really hard to describe. Even Kang Kang knows that he is the second father. "Men value their second wives", but they can't treat the first daughter too badly.

Just now, besides Fang Mingche, the cashier and others also tried to persuade him, but he didn't take it seriously.

It could be said that if it weren't for the purpose of persuading Ma Baoguo, Fang Mingche actually hadn't intended to invite him to the party today. Fang Mingche really despised this kind of behavior.

As they talked, they decided to ride their bikes to the county town to watch the video that night. Ten years ago, when the county town showed "The Flower Girl," it was this group of people who took the trouble to walk to see it.

Seeing that the meal was almost over, everyone simply packed up and prepared to ride home. As for the shochu that Ma Baoguo brought, no one touched it. At this time, there were obviously activities in the evening, so what kind of shochu would they drink?

This person is really a bit shrewd now. He saw that he had sold the goods to share the profits, but he actually took back most of the bottle.

This time when we went back, Yanyan insisted on going with us.

Fang Mingche said, "Just listen to the radio. We're not going to watch a cartoon. You didn't understand the movie before. You fell asleep in the middle. How will Daddy bring you back? Can you borrow Kang Kang's baby carrier?"

Fang's mother knew that the movies played there often involved fighting and killing. "That's really not good to watch, with blood and gore. You should just stay at home and follow your grandma, your aunt, and your sister. It's better for girls to be quiet."

"Grandma, have you been there?"

"I've been there. Your second grandmother went there, and I took a ride with her to take a look. Oh, she was frothing at the mouth from the beating. I don't know why so many men paid to watch it."

Yanyan finally accepted the arrangement of listening to the radio at home. She really couldn't understand many of the movies. People wouldn't show her cartoons separately.

Fang Mingche felt more at ease leaving her at home. His sister-in-law would boil water for the little girl to bathe and wash her clothes.

When he was about to go out, Fang Jian followed him.

"Dad, I like to watch fighting and killing. Can you take me with you?"

Fang Mingche looked at him. "I heard you were reviewing your final exam papers at home today. Show them to me—"

They have all been corrected. You can take them to watch the video.

Fang Jian immediately ran back to the room and took it out. "I also went to the village to borrow Ma Lan's test paper for comparison."

"Don't you just copied the correct answer?" Fang Mingche picked out three mistakes and asked him, and Fang Jian basically answered them.

"That's not bad. You seem motivated to learn. Okay, I'll take you to watch the video tonight."

The family next door generously lent Fang Mingche their bicycle, telling him to just ride it for a few days without having to return it.

The two uncles and nephews met up with other people in the village and rode their bicycles to the county town. There were only four bicycles in the village, and they went with three of them, each with two people on board.

Because Fang Mingche brought Fang Jian, there was no one without a car. He looked around and said, "Ma Baoguo is not going?"

The cashier said, "I'm sure his wife wouldn't let him go because she's afraid he'd ask you about Wu Dan."

"She's married. I had nothing better to do than to tell him about Wu Dan. Whenever Wu Dan came to see Lin Yan, he always asked about Ma Xiaodan's situation. We rarely came back, so she stopped asking about him later. Forget it, forget about him!"

This person has changed a lot. We probably won’t play together in the future.

When getting on the bike, Fang Mingche casually asked Fang Jian, "Can you ride a bike?"

“There’s no car for me to learn from.”

"Then I'll teach you tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, Dad."

Riding together is definitely faster than riding alone. We rode there in 35 minutes.

Second Uncle was still there. When he saw them, he waved them in and asked them to come in and take a look. He then pulled up a stool and sat in the back. No charge!

Normally, villagers rarely come here. After all, they are open for business. Tonight, they came here because Fang Mingche came back.

Fang Mingche asked Fang Jian to go in first and carry the stool, then stood outside and asked his second uncle, "Can I call the Cultural Center now?"

The second uncle nodded, "Okay, it's in the guard room."

Fang Mingche followed him and borrowed the phone. He would just pay for the time.

He called the office and Xiao Jin answered the phone, saying hello directly.

"I'm Fang Mingche."

"Oh, Mr. Fang. Are you doing well in your hometown? Do you have any instructions?"

"No, just ask the travel agency if everything is going well?"

"Daily affairs are going smoothly. We have already packed up the handicrafts from the capital, Tianjin, and other places and put them in the kitchen today. Now we are waiting for the arrival of items from more distant places and the remittances from Japan."

I drove my pickup truck to pick up the goods from BJ and Tianjin today. They were already padded with foam and straw, but I needed to pack them back together. I ordered custom boxes to give them a more professional look. The boxes also have travel agency information on the front and back.

The kitchen in the Overseas Chinese Apartment wasn't used often, so I used it as a small storage area. I put things away and locked the door. If there wasn't enough space, I'd put the leftovers in Yanyan's room.

The other rooms in the Overseas Chinese Apartments are not suitable for storing things. Tourists have actually visited. They were just there to test the waters, to see what they could do. Later, a group tour was arranged.

"Oh, I'm glad everything went well. Is everything all right at home too?"

"Well, I saw Teacher Lin holding Fang Chang for a walk in the courtyard during dinner tonight."

Fang Mingche hung up the phone, gave the money, and went back to watch the video.

Fang Jian left a seat for him next to him, so he crouched down and went in. He looked up and saw Chu Xiangshuai!
Don’t tell me, Qiu Guan was really handsome when he was young! Oh, not only that, he was handsome all his life.

In his previous life, he was over 70 years old and still looked handsome when he played the Master in "Ever Night". Some young people who didn't recognize him even thought he was a young actor wearing old-age makeup.

Everyone else, including Fang Jian, had already started watching, and no one cared why Fang Mingche came back just now.

A group of them watched four episodes here and didn't ride back until half past ten.

On the way back, Fang Jian was still excited: "I heard that you have a white jade beauty, carved by your masterful hands. I long for it. Tonight at midnight, I will come to get it under the moon. You are always elegant and magnanimous, so I will not make my journey back and forth in vain!"

Fang Mingche said, "Don't get excited! Even if Chu Liuxiang wasn't a hero and didn't have such great martial arts and martial arts skills, he was still the son of a wealthy businessman."

This kid actually has a pretty good memory. And yet he keeps saying he's not good at studying?
"what?"

"What? There is no money at home, how can he build such a big ship for daily life?" That is equivalent to today's luxury yacht.

"No money, nothing?"

"Of course. You want to be a hero, not a villain, right?"

Fang Jian said, "I just want to be like them, walk into a restaurant, slap a silver ingot on the table, and say, 'Waiter, bring us the good wine and good food!'"

"Haha! Why don't you try the state-owned restaurant?"

"I don't deserve a beating. If I dare to call him 'waiter', they will hit me. Besides, our family's money and food coupons are kept by grandma."

How could he be given money and food coupons to tell people to "bring out the good wine and good food"? In their family, the most intolerable behavior was wasting food.

"Dad——" Fang Jian shouted with some complaints.

He was dreaming of being a great hero, traveling the world, and having no worries about food and clothing, but he was suddenly awakened.

"Go back and take a shower. You can have anything in your dreams. Who doesn't want to be Chu Xiangshuai? But besides being the son of a wealthy businessman, he also has all the skills he learned through hard work. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Just remember this."

When they got home, the fire was already off. The uncle and nephew directly drew water from the well on the ground dam to rinse themselves, and then went into their respective houses.

The well platform is enclosed by a fence, after all, there are children like Kang Kang at home. This way, they won't fall in directly.

In the afternoon, Yanyan was still here learning how to use a small bucket to fetch water.

The little girl was quite strong. After learning how to do it, she actually lifted half a bucket of water. Fang Mingche thought about it and thought that she might have gained this strength from practicing punching on sandbags for the past year and a half. She hadn't looked too strenuous before when she could even lift half a watermelon.

Fang Mingche tiptoed back to the room and opened the drawer to take a look. The raisins and other food wrapped in newspapers were gone. It seemed that Yanyan had taken them out to share with her family.

The next morning Fang Mingche asked her about it, and she said, "I handed it all over to grandma. She is in charge of the supplies at home."

Fang Mingche laughed, "Then your grandma must be very happy."

The little girl gave the food to the old lady to distribute, so it would definitely take a long time to eat. But fortunately, they were all eating for fun and would not just focus on eating for the master.

Yanyan smiled and said, "I secretly packed a portion of everything for my sister and shared it with my aunt."

This time when she came back, her aunt and sister took care of her in every aspect of life. She was very clear-headed.

Fang Mingche smiled and said nothing.

Yuan Shufen had already prepared breakfast and called out from outside: "Mingche, Yanyan, come out to eat——"

Today, the rice mill has vacated all its buildings, and people have been sent to buy machinery and equipment. We first bought second-hand equipment, and the village sent someone who knows about machinery to look at it.

The autumn harvest is coming next month, so we have to get it done before then. Although there is business during normal times, the best business is definitely during the autumn harvest period. We can't afford to delay this.

The village was actually waiting for Fang Mingche and Fang Minghua to each contribute one thousand. Today, the investment from each family was written on the blackboard outside the branch office.

The first place is definitely the village party committee, with 3000 yuan. This is shared by all villagers. Then there is Fang Mingche's family, with 1300 yuan; the third place is Fang Mingfeng's family, with 1000 yuan. The others only have a few dozen or a hundred yuan.

In this way, we have collected 15000 yuan, and we will distribute the dividends according to this investment in the future. As for those who work in the rice mill, their wages will definitely be calculated separately.

Fang Mingche brought Yanyan and Kangkang over to join in the fun. The Party Secretary told him, "Initially, we'll hire fifteen workers. I'll also be the factory director, and we'll hire people from the village as accountants and cashiers. We'll give them an extra ten yuan for each additional worker later."

Fang Mingche said, "You, the Party Secretary, have the final say when it comes to hiring people. I have told my brother and my father not to interfere."

The secretary nodded, saying that this would be much easier. Otherwise, everyone would want to come because they would earn more money, have less work, and be close to home. It would be troublesome to place someone in the shareholder's home.

Fang Mingche said: "But I still suggest recruiting people based on their academic qualifications. There are also academic qualifications thresholds for recruiting in the city. Junior high school graduates or above are best! This way they will be more eager to learn."

The secretary nodded and said, "Those who have read books are more useful. In addition, I plan to use the money you donated to buy some books and books on how to farm and raise fish. People learn from books!"

Fang Mingche agreed with this point, "Absolutely."

The Party Secretary said, "Why don't you take care of this? You and the tractor driver can go to the Xinhua Bookstore and pick out the books, and then bring them back."

"Sure. Ask the tractor driver to come to me when he's free. I'll be at home in the field."

He wanted to teach Fang Jian how to ride a bicycle in the field.

(End of this chapter)