Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

Wu Hua traveled to about twenty villages, his throat was hoarse and his feet were blistered. After three or four days, he still had two villages to visit.

Young people who could read and write carried cloth bags and rushed into the town to register for marriage in the morning light—with a salary, they would have more confidence in finding a spouse and would be able to visit more families when choosing a partner.

Wang Sanni mingled in the crowd, the ends of her braids swaying gently in the wind. The characters she knew were taught to her by a young educated youth from the village years ago: she would save her food rations to exchange for a meal with him, and in return, he would teach her a character or a line of poetry. Now, this ability to read, which she had painstakingly acquired through hardship, had truly become the key to turning her life around.

Grandma had originally been determined to marry her off to that lame man from the next village, simply because he was willing to pay a dowry of ten yuan. Fortunately, Secretary He came this year, and his factory, duck farming, and road repairs delayed the wedding. She clenched her fists and secretly resolved: from now on, she would earn her own wages and choose her own partner—she had secretly glanced at the bespectacled, slow-talking male technician at the factory several times.

Chang Xiu'e was squeezed behind the registration desk, rubbing her temples—this time the number of people was more than double that of last time. Fortunately, Chen Yan temporarily assigned a few educated youths to help, otherwise, just registering them would have taken until the wee hours of the morning.

Wang Sanni successfully received her temporary work permit and stepped into the factory dormitory with her bedding roll. Everything was as she had expected: the bed was neatly made, and the windows were bright and clean. As night fell, she followed the educated youth teacher to the factory courtyard, where she set up a small stool to listen to the lessons. When she didn't understand something, she would immediately lean over after the teacher finished explaining, her notebook spread on her lap, carefully writing down the answers she had asked.

He Yuzhu gazed at the figure under the lights from afar, and his heart warmed: such a diligent, studious girl with a sparkle in her eyes, she's sure to get into university!

Time flies like an arrow; more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Anping pushed open the door, carrying this month's financial statements; the pages still smelled of ink.

Anping: "This month's total income is 37,200 yuan. After deducting 18,000 yuan paid to the breeding farm, there is a surplus of 19,200 yuan. We still owe the food factory 15,000 yuan for equipment, and the employees' wages totaled 2,800 yuan."

He Yuzhu: "Continue to sign duck contracts with the farms; allocate another 15,000 yuan to the food factory to install the first production line—the initial payment for the machinery will be deferred; orders are snowballing, and hygiene supervision must be carried out daily! In addition, hurry up and order factory uniforms from the textile factory. From now on, our clothing and accessories must be standardized; our image is the face of our factory!"

Nowadays, supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores across the province are scrambling to order "Guyun Duck" series products, and even many state-owned factories have switched to duck necks and duck feet as employee benefits. The road ahead is long, and the biggest shortage is manpower—He Yuzhu visits the factory every few days to organize monthly cultural assessments. The educated youth have a strong foundation, but most of the other workers can only write their own names; those who truly understand technology and management are extremely rare.

Wang Sanni consistently excelled in assessments and was taken under An Ping's wing to learn accounting and process management. Although she was still figuring things out on her own, she learned diligently and remembered the information well.

That evening, Wang Sanni clutched her newly received fourteen yuan wages and hurried home with light steps. The factory had a uniform salary system, fourteen yuan per person for two hundred employees; the management personnel received state salaries and were currently "eating, living, and working" with the factory staff without receiving any extra allowances.

As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, her grandmother came to greet her with small, brisk steps, snatched the money from her, and smiled so broadly that her eyes were full of wrinkles: "Keep it! Keep it for your dowry!" After saying that, she turned around and went into the kitchen, cracked an egg, and placed the yolk, which was trembling in a rough porcelain bowl, steaming hot in front of her.

Wang Sanni knew perfectly well that her grandmother disliked her from the bottom of her heart. But now she no longer cared about that attitude—she had a secure job, the factory paid her wages, provided food coupons and work permits, and her family could no longer control her. This time, she was just sending money home to wipe the slate clean; from now on, she would at most slip two yuan a month over, just to have peace of mind.

……

Wang Kaihua was walking with a brisk pace today. More than three thousand ducks, their plumage glossy and their steps orderly, were being herded to the town-run food factory by a dozen or so people. No one called for a tractor; to save a few dozen yuan on fuel, even if it meant walking for an extra two hours, it was worth it.

They arrived at the factory gate just as it was getting dark. An Ping took the ducks and counted them: 3,750, not one missing. She quickly counted out 11,250 yuan in cash and handed it to Wang Kaihua. His hand trembled, and he almost dropped it—in his more than 20 years of life, he had never even seen what 200 yuan looked like, yet this time he was holding a thick stack of bills, but only 4,450 yuan of real money actually ended up in his pocket.

After pressing his red fingerprint and turning to leave, his eyes darted around, looking at everyone as if they were his prey. Without the ducks to keep him occupied, he made his way back to the village in less than two hours. The whole village was brightly lit, and every household was squatting by the threshing ground, waiting for their good news.

Wang Kaihua stood on the stone roller in the open space of the brigade, his voice booming: "This batch of ducks sold for 11,250 yuan! After deducting the 2,000 yuan for the ducklings on credit and the 4,080 yuan for miscellaneous grains, we made a net profit of 4,450 yuan!"

Anping explained these things to him in detail—the ducklings and feed were all bought on credit, and the creditor was the town, so they had to pay it back themselves.

The words had barely left his mouth when the crowd erupted in an uproar: "Four thousand dollars? What small wooden box could hold that?" "It would probably fill three pages of a savings book!"

Wang Kaihua raised his hand to quiet everyone down: "Everyone, calm down! Your future prospects will only broaden, don't rush things!"

After everyone caught their breath, he continued, "The money will be distributed promptly at eight o'clock tomorrow morning! It will be calculated based on work points, the more you work, the more you earn; and if we manage to establish a market for chestnuts, we'll continue with this rule!"

After the event, Wang Kaihua, along with the accountant and the militia captain, stayed at the brigade headquarters, staring intently at the stack of banknotes, as if afraid they would grow legs and run away. They only rested for a few minutes before reaching out to touch them again—the sharp edges of the banknotes felt so hot they made their hearts tremble.

The next morning, when the distribution began, Wang Kaihua immediately decided: "Give out 2,450 yuan first, and keep the remaining 2,000 for the ducklings! In case no one is willing to lend us money someday, we won't be caught off guard."

Everyone's face lit up when the money was handed out: some received sixty or seventy yuan, while others received thirty or more. The lazybones at the end of the village, who always stayed in bed, stared wide-eyed—earning so much in three months, wouldn't that add up to over a hundred yuan a year? Enough to buy a "Forever" brand bicycle, and even the bell would ring extra crisply!

The news spread like wildfire. Within three days, the leaders of seven or eight surrounding brigades all rode their dilapidated bicycles into the town, blocking Anping's path and demanding, "Can we raise ducks? How do we raise them? When can we get started?"

An Ping invited them into the meeting room, served them tea and water, and spoke frankly: "Every village in the town can do it! But we have to go to Wangjia Village to learn from their experience first—once the ducklings arrive, if you feed them the wrong food or miss a disinfection step, the whole flock will be wasted, and you'll be in debt in real money. Go find Captain Wang Kaihua, ask him about everything in detail, and then come back to fill out the registration form."

Upon hearing how much money each household in Wangjia Village had received, the team leaders couldn't sit still and immediately pulled out pens to register it. Someone muttered, "If they can do it, why can't we? At worst, we'll find sons-in-law or marry off daughters to squeeze into Wangjia Village!" Their envious fervor was enough to set the walls ablaze.

After paying for the ducklings, Wang Kaihua immediately led the group straight to the breeding base. Upon entering the enclosure, everyone froze in shock—thousands of female ducks were trotting about, their feathers ruffled, their rumps round, clearly ready to lay eggs. The team leaders felt a pang of envy: Why did Wangjia Village get all the good things? Did their village have some kind of hidden dragon vein in the mountains behind it?

Captain Qian couldn't help but ask, "What's the point of keeping these old ducks? It would be so much easier to sell them for money!"

Wang Kaihua smiled and pointed to the newly built duck shed in the distance: "Secretary He said the next step is to collect duck eggs for pickling and salting; the town is also going to install incubators, so we won't have to go to the provincial capital to buy ducklings anymore, we can hatch them ourselves!"

Everyone swallowed silently—the ducks were almost ready to brood, while they hadn't even seen a duck shed yet, and they had to learn on the spot.

Wang Kaihua patted his chest and said, "What's the rush? There are over twenty people in our village who know how to raise ducks. As soon as you receive your ducklings, we'll send a master craftsman to your door to teach you step-by-step for a month. We'll charge each person thirteen yuan a month, and we guarantee you'll learn!"

The group immediately got together and discussed it, feeling more and more at ease – if they all crowded into Wangjia Village to learn, all the money would go into other people's pockets; it would be better for each of them to go back to their own homes and build their own schools, which would save money and be more practical.

In the town, Anping reported to He Yuzhu: "The machine payment from last month has been settled, and there is still 20,000 yuan left in the factory account."

He Yuzhu nodded: "Contact the transportation team and see if you can find a used truck. From now on, we won't have to beg and plead for their dispatch anymore when transporting goods."

An Ping replied, "I'll go ask right away."

He Yuzhu added, "While you're at it, ask the farm if they have any incubators. If they do, I'll buy two on credit. If they're not willing, I'll go there myself."

Anping turned and left, going straight back to her office to make a phone call.

He Yuzhu has been in town for almost four months, with only twenty days left until the college entrance examination. How are the educated youth doing in their studies? He knows the answer—even if they all leave now, the factory can still operate as usual. He arranged these positions precisely to save up enough travel expenses for them to take the exam with dignity: the university provides room and board and even a stipend, and graduates are directly assigned jobs. This is not only a life-changing opportunity, but also one of the most comforting blessings of being born in China.

He strolled to the workshop and discussed with Chang Xiu'e: "Can we bring in more people? Especially educated youth and literate young people, so they can have intensive tutoring in the last twenty days to prepare for the college entrance examination."

Chang Xiu'e's shout at the factory caused a stir. Although there was no salary, there were teachers giving regular lessons and textbooks were provided. Wu Hua also rode his bicycle to every village, going door-to-door to inform them about the college entrance examination. Those who lacked materials could come to the town to attend classes anytime. Studying together was much better than burying oneself in books.

After being persuaded by An Ping several times, Wang Sanni finally nodded and agreed to take the exam: "Getting into a junior college is better than being a factory worker for life. In the next twenty years, a junior college diploma will be in high demand!"

Currently, all the cadres in the town have been included in the list of those who will attend the regional Party School at the end of the year, and new comrades will take over their current duties. Upon graduation from the Party School, they will be promoted and sent to the front lines in various counties and townships to replicate the model of Guyun Town—using Wangjia Village as a model and the town-run food factory as an engine, five hundred jobs support five hundred families, and the economy is still rising steadily.