1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

"What about food? Flour and such, can you keep up with the demand?" Qiao Wanqing asked.

Miao Cuiying said helplessly, "It's impossible to buy grain just by relying on coupons. We still have to think of various ways. Sometimes your second brother and I go to the surrounding rural areas to exchange for some. It's not bad. The difference in grain coupons isn't that much."

Qiao Wanqing nodded, "That's good!"

Miao Cuiying, thinking of her hometown, said to her, "The fields back home should all be distributed this year. I heard from your father that they will all be distributed after the autumn harvest. Some wasteland can be privately contracted, and so can some forest land. He asked me to ask you two if you and Lao Si want to contract some land back home?"

Qiao Wanqing was taken aback. "Neither Mingzhou nor I have our household registration in our hometown. How can we still get a share?"

"It's not about distributing, it's about contracting. Those mountain forest lands won't be distributed to the commune members; you have to pay to contract them. The same goes for wasteland. Most of our family members' household registrations are in our hometown, so they can all get land. Our Mingyu and Mingyue are in school, so their household registrations aren't there, which puts them at a disadvantage. But we have a lot of children in our family. Your second brother has five, and your third brother has seven. All of these children can get land, so overall, our family has received quite a bit of land."

"Your father is thinking that most of the family members now own land, so he's asking you all. Nobody knows what will happen to Mingzhou in the future. It would be great if he could stay in the military until retirement, as he could rise to a high position. Who can say for sure? This is a good opportunity, so he's asking you all."

"Mingyu and Mingyu, your dad is also planning to use their names to contract some wasteland, and then cultivate it in our hometown. Anyway, your second brother and I will all be going back to our hometown in the future. Doing business in the city is not a long-term solution. We need to leave something behind in our hometown."

At that time, land was extremely important to ordinary people, so it was normal for Miao Cuiying to have this idea.

Qiao Wanqing didn't refute, but thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a lot of wasteland? Is it in large tracts? What about the mountains and forests? What's on the mountains? If we contracted it, what could we do with it?"

Miao Cuiying knew her hometown quite well, and besides, Lu's father had specifically told her to ask the children and discuss it with them so that he could make a decision from their hometown.

Miao Cuiying then explained, "There is a lot of wasteland, but it is not easy to clear it. It requires large machinery to do it. If you really rely on manpower, you need to spend a lot of money to hire people. Some of it is on small hillsides, covered with weeds that have been there for many years."

"There are some hilltops, not too many, but not many people will contract them. Ordinary people can't afford it, and they don't have that much labor. Only people like you and Mingzhou, who have money and don't need to understand or see returns, can do it."

"After you contract it out, plant trees and sell them as timber in ten years. Or you can clear some wasteland on the mountain and plant some bamboo on it. That stuff grows fast. Your dad said that bamboo might have a market in the future. Some people need bamboo to build houses and such. You can sell a batch of that stuff every year."

Qiao Wanqing thought about it and realized that it made sense. Bamboo could indeed be sold for a lot of money in the next few decades, and with the right channels, even more could be sold.

"What does Dad mean? Logically speaking, since Mingzhou and I don't live in our hometown, wouldn't it be more convenient for Dad to take over these things? It would also be easier for us to run them when we go back in the future."

Miao Cuiying coughed lightly, "The main thing is, although the unit price of that thing is cheap, the place is big, and the total price is not low! There are not many people who want it. Your dad has already decided to contract part of it, and he will also contract part of the old house. As for the rest... we really can't handle it."

Qiao Wanqing: "..."

Miao Cuiying quickly explained, "Mom didn't mean to cheat you. Your dad also considered it carefully. He really thinks it will be profitable in the future and won't lose money, so he told you. Others don't have that much ability, so there's nothing we can do."

"There are many people in our hometown. With Mingzhou's prestige, no one in our hometown would dare to seize your property. If you want to plant anything in the future, just pay some money and let the brothers in our hometown arrange it. You have many channels, so you might be able to make money! Besides, Mingzhou doesn't have any land in our hometown, and your father always feels a bit lost. He wants to get some property for Mingzhou in our hometown as well."

"That's our hometown. Mingzhou came from there. Even if his household registration isn't there now, he's still a person from that place and can be contracted out."

Qiao Wanqing thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. The Lu family was a large clan in the area with many members. If she wanted to grow something in the future, as long as she was willing to pay, the Lu family would have plenty of people to serve her.

Besides, when someone from a place becomes exceptionally successful, they should always give back to their hometown. Lu Mingzhou is doing quite well now, so there's nothing wrong with him going back to invest in something to benefit his hometown.

She was still thinking of going back to ask the old man of the Lu family for money, so she had to do something to make him proud.

"Okay, tell Dad to let me contract more land, even two big hills would be fine. Whether it's planting bamboo, raising timber, growing chestnuts, or raising livestock, I have connections and I'm sure I can sell it all."

Miao Cuiying was overjoyed. "Really? Oh, that's wonderful! Don't worry, your father is very respected in the area, and there are many people in the Lu family. You don't need to worry about what you need to do. Just leave it to those people. I'll have your father keep an eye on things back in our hometown."

Qiao Wanqing smiled. It's uncertain whether Lu's father will still be willing to stay in his hometown when the city develops.

If your in-laws are willing to support you, you should at least try to make sure they have money!

Miao Cuiying and Lu's father probably won't be able to retire; they'll both be busy making money for her.

Anyway, she didn't want to do it; she just wanted to spend money, not work!

Qiao Wanqing silently planned her future. She would take over the factory her grandfather had invested in in Beijing and let her mother run it, from which she would receive dividends. She would also start a business for her in-laws, from which she would still receive dividends. After her novel was published, she could live off the royalties for a long time. She would spend her days basking in the sun, strolling around, taking naps, planting flowers and vegetables, and cultivating her mind and spirit...

Oh, this is wonderful! Let's do it!

Qiao Wanqing didn't wait; she left the shop and went to the street to call Lu's father.

"Dad, I just heard from Mom that you're going to help me lease a few big mountains, pick the best ones. There are so many people in our hometown, and so many people in our clan. Now that we've made something of ourselves, we should definitely give back to our village. I'm thinking of going back and starting a business on the mountain, creating some jobs for the people in our hometown, earning them some wages, and increasing their income."

"If we don't have the ability, that's fine. But if we do have the ability, we should help ordinary people increase their income and improve their living standards. This is an inescapable responsibility for every Chinese son and daughter."

"Don't worry about product sales, I'll take care of that. I'll provide the investment money. Once there are jobs, everyone can get paid. If there are any losses, I'll take full responsibility. You help us contract the mountain. I'll see if Mingzhou has any holidays at the end of this year or next year. If he does, I'll go back with him and see what we can invest in."

Mr. Lu: "..."

Daughter-in-law, you're saying such nice things, but is it really for the sake of your hometown?

His righteous indignation was so inspiring that it almost made him feel passionate.

"Okay, I'll go pick some for you. I promise there won't be any problems."

Qiao Wanqing grinned, "Okay, Dad, you decide. I'll wire you the money when I get back."

The call was made on the street. Although the auntie who was watching the phone had been given some money and left, there was still an operator on the phone, so she naturally had to speak nicely.

She didn't want to go back to the military base to make the call, and she didn't want the people in the compound to know too much. She could handle these things herself.

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Wanqing went to the subdistrict office to inquire about the reconstruction and renovation of the house.

She had only visited the neighborhood office once before, when she bought the house. This time, the people in the neighborhood office still remembered her. After all, it's rare to see such a beautiful woman. People are all about looks, and even if someone is just a child, they will leave a deeper impression on you.

Upon hearing that she wanted to rebuild the house, Director Wang of the neighborhood committee's eyes lit up. "Really? You want to rebuild? How many stories? How big?"

Qiao Wanqing: "??"

"How many floors can it be built on?"

"You can build up to five stories. You can even build your entire yard there, no problem. Just plan it out, find a professional designer to draw up the plans, and register them with us."

Qiao Wanqing: "..."

She thought it would be difficult to renovate these old houses, but looking at Director Wang, it seems like he really wants her to renovate them.

She was a little confused. Could she build her own house in the capital?

Can it be built to five stories?

Isn't this a custom of people from the South? Can this be done in Beijing too?

Realizing he had been too enthusiastic, Director Wang quickly smiled and said, "Oh dear, I got carried away. Well then, Comrade Qiao, if you just want to build one or two stories, or just want more rooms, that's easy. Just report to us and you can go back and build anytime. You have so many houses, you'll need to rent them out, right? We can help you rent them out. There are plenty of people in our neighborhood who want to rent houses."

"But I was thinking, if you're only building two stories, you can just add more floors; there's no need to rebuild, right? Since you're going to rebuild, it must be a big one. Your house is spacious, and the original house was in good condition. If it's just for living, there's definitely no need to rebuild. I'm thinking, since you were able to spend so much money to buy that house and are now consulting about rebuilding, you must have the funds and resources. You probably want to build many stories and rent them out, right?"

Qiao Wanqing raised an eyebrow and nodded, "I do want to build more."

Director Wang immediately poured tea for Qiao Wanqing and asked her to sit down and talk slowly.

"This house can be rebuilt, but the timing needs to be adjusted. The textile factory plans to build a staff dormitory building here next spring. Your house is quite large, and if construction starts, it will be a major project. For the convenience of the surrounding residents, if you want to build it, it can only be built at the same time as the textile factory's staff dormitory building. It would be best if it could be completed around the same time, but it can only be completed earlier than the textile factory's dormitory. If it is only ten days or half a month later, we can agree to it, but if it is longer, we cannot agree to it."

"There are so many residents around, we don't want any problems to arise."

Qiao Wanqing nodded, "That's understandable."

There are many courtyards like this here, with many residents living in them. The population density is very high. It's understandable that the streets need to adjust their schedules for large-scale projects, otherwise, it would be difficult to manage and cause problems.

"That's no problem. The textile factory will start construction next year, and I'll start construction at the same time. My project shouldn't be as big as theirs, so finishing before they finish shouldn't be a problem."

Director Wang smiled even more broadly. "That's good. Okay, there's one more thing. Do you want that piece of land behind your house?"

Um? ?

Qiao Wanqing was a little surprised. Was there really such a good thing?

"Behind my house? Aren't there other houses behind it?"

But it looks very old and crowded.

Director Wang sighed. "There are indeed residents, mostly textile factory employees. The houses are many years old, they existed before the founding of the People's Republic of China. Now the houses are all dilapidated, some are so rotten that they are uninhabitable. Now the textile factory has built staff housing, right? When that happens, all those residents will move there, and this land will be empty."

"This land and house belong to the textile factory, but the area is not large, and the textile factory doesn't want it anymore. It's so small and they don't plan to do any planning, so they want to sell it. However, you can only take possession of the house after the textile factory's staff housing is completed next year and the people living there have moved out."

Qiao Wanqing frowned. Her own house needed to be completed before the textile factory's residential compound was finished, but the people in the other part of the compound could not move out until the compound was completed. So what was the point of her buying those houses?

It can't be built in conjunction with her current house!

If they could be connected, she could buy them, and with her yard, they could build a larger commercial center.

Although its size still can't compare to some of the large shopping malls of later years, it's 1981! This place is at an intersection, a bus stop, and the entrance to the future pedestrian street. The commercial value of this place is very high, and she can live off the rent for at least thirty years.

This area could easily be converted into a supermarket, a large hotel, a jewelry store, or a women's clothing mall in the 1990s.

"Could you take me to see those houses? I'd like to see which ones are for sale."

Director Wang nodded, indicating that he definitely needed to see such a large transaction.

"Okay, I'll take you there right away."

Qiao Wanqing followed Director Wang over. The houses were behind her shop, and there was a small alley leading into it. In fact, this alley wasn't a real alley; it had been converted. Originally, it was supposed to be a gate, but as more residents moved in, it became a public area, a small alley for people to pass through.

Director Wang explained, "This whole area is included. The alley was modified later and is only a little wide. If you're willing to buy it, the alley area is also within the scope. How you build it is entirely up to you. You can build it directly into the house or into the yard."

"And over there..." He pointed to a small area on the side of the shop, "That area too, there are many people living here, some families with three generations crammed into one or two rooms, it's really too crowded, and the houses are also in bad shape, it's not so easy to get them to spend money to repair them. It just so happens that the factory is building staff housing now, and everyone is waiting to move into the apartment buildings."

Qiao Wanqing looked around and realized it was really crowded!

The crowding was so intense that people in later generations probably couldn't even imagine it.

These days, many families live in cramped rooms of one or two. Some are so crowded that there are even two brothers who, after getting married, live in the same room. They put two beds in the room with a curtain between them, and the two brothers and their wives live together in one room.

In this era, some factories also had temporary couples' rooms specifically for employees who lacked privacy.

These couples' rooms are shared and people take turns staying in them. Newlyweds can take turns staying in these rooms for a few days – three days at your place, three days at mine, and then three days at his place.

Some places only allow one day of stay, with one young couple arranged for each day, which is actually to make it easier for them to have children.

People in later generations may not understand, but there's nothing we can do about it; that's just how things were in this era. Housing was too crowded, so this was the only solution we could come up with.

Looking at this crowded environment, many houses are just being repaired haphazardly. Buying a house here is pointless; it can only be demolished and rebuilt.

The place... is quite large. Qiao Wanqing was somewhat tempted. Mainly, she knew about the development in the future. Although buying it now might not be cheap based on purchasing power, the future appreciation potential was huge and could outpace decades of inflation.

"Director Wang, this house is so dilapidated. I've bought it for nothing; it'll just have to be completely demolished and rebuilt. It's such a large area; how much will it cost to rebuild? The crucial point is that it can't be built at the same time as the yard in front of it. I've bought this place for absolutely no use!"

Director Wang naturally knew that the house was too dilapidated, and buying it was just like buying a piece of land. Its only advantage was its good location.

But there's no way around it; even so, finding a buyer is still very difficult.

Because the house is damaged and uninhabitable, it is sold to ordinary people. However, these people need to spend money to rebuild the house, which ordinary people neither have the means nor the time to wait for.

Selling to rich people is not like cabbages, they are everywhere. It is very difficult for them to find a rich person. So only a few people with relatively good conditions who want to build their own houses will buy this place. But such people are not available every day!

Moreover, this place is so crowded that some people are worried that if they rebuild their homes, their neighbors will object, causing a lot of trouble. It would be best to let someone with the means buy the whole thing.

The people living here are all long-time employees of the textile factory. They've lived in these dilapidated houses for so long before they were finally moved to new ones, and they still want some subsidies!

But the other employees weren't having it. Houses are so precious! They already gave you houses, and now you're trying to take new houses from others? Who would agree to that?

Who doesn't have a large family crammed together? You think you're so special? We've allocated you a house, and you still want to live in a nice place?

When both sides start arguing, neither side is happy. The textile factory is thinking of selling the land and distributing the money to the veteran employees so that they can contribute some money when they move into their new homes, thus appeasing those who are waiting for housing.

Anyway, there are enough new family housing units to go around. It's just that some people are unhappy because they heard that people who already had housing are going to get more.

With so many residents living here, if the allowance is too low, it won't be enough for them to cover the cost of moving into new homes, and some people will probably be unhappy about it.

Overall, buying a house in this area is not cost-effective, so it's really hard to sell.

Director Wang was thrilled when he heard that Qiao Wanqing wanted to rebuild a big house.

She's a wealthy person, and this area is connected to her yard, so she's the most likely candidate to buy it.

Director Wang earnestly advised, "Comrade Qiao, I know you have the ability to demolish and rebuild a perfectly good courtyard. You must also want a larger space, right? This area is connected to your courtyard, so investing in it will be more cost-effective in the future, won't it?"

"The people living in this area are all ordinary folks. It's not easy for them to own a house in their lifetime. They have to pay for it to move to a new building. Where would they get the money? If they were really capable, they wouldn't be crammed into one or two rooms with their whole family."

"Someone as capable as you should do a good deed, lend them a hand, and also do yourself a favor. Give them some money to move out, and this area can be renovated along with your front yard, right?"

"I see you still have a shop up there. You know how good the location is. Building a bigger one won't hurt you in the future."

If he had the ability, he would have taken it on. What a pity!

Director Wang is very optimistic about this area. He believes that it is worthwhile for capable people to invest in this sector.

Qiao Wanqing glanced at him with some surprise. Did he also think highly of this area?

It seems there are always clever people out there!

"How much does this place cost?"

Director Wang was delighted. "If you buy the whole thing, it will only cost 20,000 yuan. All the houses in this area belong to textile factories, and the people here don't have property ownership certificates. If you buy it, we will come and measure the land and issue you a property ownership certificate. However, there are 37 households living here, so you... will have to give each of them 700 or 800 yuan in compensation."

Qiao Wanqing glared at him, then turned and left.

Thirty-seven households, even if each household pays seven or eight yuan, it would still cost nearly 26,000 yuan. Add to that the 20,000 yuan for the land, and it's 46,000 yuan for a piece of ruins...

Do you think she's stupid?

You have to spend 46,000 yuan to buy a piece of ruins, then spend money to demolish it, clean it up, and then rebuild it. How much money would that cost?

With that money, wouldn't she have bought a house somewhere else?

Seeing that Qiao Wanqing was about to leave, Director Wang quickly grabbed Qiao Wanqing's bicycle and held on tightly to the back of the bike.

"Comrade Qiao, Comrade Qiao, let's talk this out. If you think the price is too high, we can negotiate! We can negotiate!"

Qiao Wanqing was furious. "Your lousy place is asking me for so much money. You have no intention of selling it at all."

Director Wang had a bitter face. "It's not us! The house doesn't belong to our street either, so we can't get the money. This is the price the textile factory is asking for, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Qiao Wanqing snorted coldly, "If it belongs to the textile factory, then it means the textile factory isn't sincerely trying to sell. This place is so dilapidated that their employees are having problems living here. This is something the textile factory should solve themselves. Now they don't want to solve it, and not only do they want to sell this unwanted, run-down house to me, they also want me to help them solve their employees' housing problems. They're really dreaming!"

Director Wang: "..."