The commune was gone, and Xu Zifan and his team also dropped the name "Dongfanghong Production Brigade." Because their village had expanded considerably in size and now had large factories, pig farms, chicken farms, fishponds, and woodlands, Mayor Liu, in his report to higher authorities, applied for them to become a county.
The county town's name, "Donghe County," is composed of the character "Dong" from "Dongfanghong" (meaning "East is Red") and the character "He" from "Hexi Village." Yang Yongqing was the county magistrate of Donghe County, and several surrounding villages came under its jurisdiction.
Once the county level was determined, Xu Zifan immediately instructed Yang Yongqing to apply for the construction of a high school. They already had a primary and junior high school, but now they desperately needed a high school. Coincidentally, the first and second batches of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination had graduated, and Xu Zifan had the contact information of all the educated youth from the village. He contacted them one by one, inviting them to come to Donghe County to teach high school.
University graduates are assigned jobs, but not everyone gets a satisfactory one. They witnessed the changes in the village from the beginning, and had even seen reports of its development in the newspapers in recent years. After learning about the current development of Donghe County, some were willing to come and become high school teachers, settling down there. After all, no other place has developed as rapidly as Donghe County, and they have developed a sense of belonging, a feeling of security. Most importantly, the benefits are excellent, and none of those who returned regretted it.
Xu Xiaofen had already found a job, but after learning about Xu Zifan's situation, she immediately quit to help him. She also contacted many of her classmates, and surprisingly, they quickly filled the teacher positions needed for a high school, and even recruited excellent teachers for junior high and elementary schools. Her classmates could also join factories and other organizations; the county needed to add many more units, and Xu Xiaofen's efforts brought a large influx of talent to Yang Yongqing.
Donghe County developed rapidly, and naturally, newspapers frequently reported on their achievements. Especially noteworthy was that their county had become wealthy ahead of others; while not comparable to major cities, it was far better off than other counties of similar size—it was practically legendary. Therefore, Xu Zifan's name began to appear frequently in the newspapers, finally reaching the attention of his parents, who lived far away in Beijing!
To their astonishment, Xu Zifan had not only become a factory director and a school principal, but was also the son-in-law of the county magistrate of Donghe County. Even their daughter-in-law was no ordinary woman; she had published seven books, becoming a well-known author, and also served as the vice principal of Donghe County Junior High School!
Xu's father was just a middle school teacher in Beijing, and Xu's mother was a full-time housewife; they lived a very ordinary life. They doted on their youngest son and were very frugal. When they saw that Xu Zifan was so successful but had been hiding it from them, they were furious and immediately sent a telegram ordering Xu Zifan to return to Beijing to explain.
Xu Zifan didn't reply to the telegram he received. He figured his younger brother should be sixteen by now, and his older sister said he was doing poorly in school and had already dropped out. So what could his parents possibly want from him now? Of course, it was for him to be filial to his parents and take care of his younger brother. He had no interest in that; he'd deal with it when they came knocking.
The factories and pig farms in Donghe County were originally built on expanded wasteland, far from the fields. Now that it has become a county seat, the farmland area has simply been designated as the suburbs of the county seat. The wasteland is actually quite large. They chose the best location on the wasteland to build the county government, and then the county hospital.
These funds were all allocated by the city government. Mayor Liu wasn't held accountable and was even promoted, treating Xu Zifan like one of his own. He would give Xu Zifan strong support in anything that didn't infringe on his interests, so the county developed very smoothly.
Once the economy was opened up and free trade was allowed, Xu Zifan immediately used his savings from the past few years to buy a piece of land and build a five-story department store!
His involvement in so many things was certainly not selfless. He could conjure up countless accounts, and within a few years, he had already earned his first fortune. Now that the economy had opened up, he directly possessed a financial advantage. He not only built a department store but also assembled a construction team, hiring the same people who had been building houses for him all these years.
They were all skilled builders, and Xu Zifan had a record of everyone's performance. He selected the best to lead them, and they established the county's first construction and decoration teams. Then, they took out loans to buy several plots of land and started building garden communities, venturing into the real estate industry.
Su Qing was stunned into silence by all these changes. She simply couldn't believe that the impoverished Hexi Village she lived in until her death in her previous life had become the wealthy Donghe County in this one! And how could Xu Zifan be so intelligent and capable of becoming a big boss? No one understood better than her what entering the real estate market meant. If she could get a loan, she would want to do it too, but firstly, she couldn't get a large loan, and secondly, she didn't know how. She could only open a small clothing shop, which was better than many people, but compared to Xu Zifan, it was worlds apart.
Su Qing started having nightmares. She often dreamt about her past life, and when she woke up, she felt disoriented because everything she saw now seemed to prove that her memories of her past life were false. Whenever she went out and saw all these changes, she couldn't help but think of Xu Zifan, and then she couldn't help but get angry. Why was Xu Zifan such a useless person when he was her husband in her past life?
She could only console herself with the thought that Wu Zhigang would become a regimental commander, but she had visited him at the military base many times, and Wu Zhigang remained a company commander, never getting promoted. She didn't understand what was going on. She was already over twenty, and in her previous life, when she was thirty, Wu Zhigang was already a regimental commander! How could he not be promoted? There were several ranks between company commander and regimental commander!
Just as her worries were growing, Wu Zhigang was demobilized and returned home.
Su Qing didn't believe the news at first, but when she ran to the Wu family and saw Wu Zhigang, she almost went crazy and rushed...
He immediately launched into a tirade of questions: "You're transferring to civilian work? How could you transfer? What are you doing back here all of a sudden?"
Wu Zhigang frowned, completely baffled by her agitation. "I've been in the army for so long; it's time for me to retire. Besides, my hometown is developing better and better, and these past two years have been a great time for talent. Retiring now will allow me to get a good position. Otherwise, what will I do when all the positions are filled?"
Su Qing grabbed his arm and shook her head repeatedly, "No! It's not like that. If you stay in the army, you can get promoted again, to battalion commander, to regimental commander. If you come back, you'll have nothing left. All those years of hard work will have been for nothing. How is staying in your hometown the same as staying in the army?"
Wu Zhigang assumed she was worried about his position and said, "I'm back in a good position, as the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau. I can get promoted later. It's more comfortable than being in the army, and there's more room for advancement."
"What development? What kind of development can the Public Security Bureau have? You...you can't do this. Listen to me, go back, go back right now." Su Qing's mind was in turmoil, and she didn't care whether her reaction was normal or not. She pushed Wu Zhigang and tried to make him leave.
Aunt Wu, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, immediately pushed Su Qing aside when she saw her trying to send her son away, angrily saying, "What are you trying to do, you troublemaker? My son has finally come home, what a rare opportunity! He can finally be reunited with our family and won't have to suffer in the army anymore. What, you can't stand him having a good life and insist on making him go back? What do you mean? You don't want Zhigang to come home?"
Wu Zhigang looked at Su Qing with displeasure, waiting for her explanation. Su Qing looked at him blankly and shook her head, saying, "No, how can a deputy director compare to a regimental commander? Only by continuing to serve in the army can one become a regimental commander..."
Wu Zhigang said coldly, "Enough! Stop talking nonsense! Is it so easy to be a regimental commander? I didn't go to military school, I don't have any strong connections, and I don't have many military achievements. My current achievements are already the best I can do. No matter how many more years I serve in the army, I will never be promoted. Stop daydreaming."
Su Qing's eyes widened instantly. "You're lying to me!"
"Why would I lie to you? If there was a chance for promotion, would I have come back? I know my own situation. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. If people hear this, they'll think I'm just resentful." Wu Zhigang walked up to her and warned, "I haven't even settled down since I came back from my military service. And you've offended the county magistrate's daughter and son-in-law. Your position is sensitive. You absolutely can't say anything like this, or I might lose my deputy director position. Got it?"
Aunt Wu grabbed Su Qing in fear and scolded, "Did you hear that? Are you crazy about becoming an official's wife? Don't dream and ruin Zhigang's life. It's such an honor for Zhigang to be a company commander and a deputy bureau chief. It's bringing glory to the family. Why do you act like the sky has fallen? This is such a happy occasion, and you're making it so unlucky?"
Su Qing couldn't accept it, shook off her hand, and ran back to her own home. Wu Zhigang, worried she'd gossip, quickly chased after her, saying that the old house was still their marital home, so he was essentially back home. The two talked for a long time after closing the door, and Su Qing finally believed that Wu Zhigang hadn't lied to her; he really hadn't been promoted to company commander in the army.
This made Su Qing completely doubt her memories of her past life. She could clearly use those memories to resell goods, make clothes, and open a shop without any problems. It should be real, so why were so many other things different? At first, she thought it was because Xu Zifan had developed the village into a county that Wu Zhigang would return. But she discovered that promotions in the military were very difficult, and Wu Zhigang had known all along that he couldn't get promoted. He only applied for a transfer because he saw a good opportunity during the recent reforms. It had nothing to do with whether it was a village or a county. Even without Donghe Village, he would have gone to another county to become a deputy bureau chief.
Su Qing lay awake all night, racking her brains before finally realizing a possibility. A high-ranking official from the military used to live in the old cowshed in their village. After that official left, Xu Zifan's food factory started receiving orders from the military region. Didn't that mean that the high-ranking official was taking care of Xu Zifan?
She didn't know what connection that important figure had with the Yang family, but Wu Zhigang was Yang Wanyun's husband in her previous life, and Xu Zifan was Yang Wanyun's husband in this life. Their only common ground was their ability to contact the military. Didn't that mean that Wu Zhigang's promotion in his previous life was due to his relationship with Yang Wanyun?
So what did she gain from all that scheming and scheming to marry Wu Zhigang? Without Yang Wanyun, Wu Zhigang could only retire and go home! What regimental commander? What regimental commander's wife? It was all a pipe dream!