While Xu Zifan was developing the village, Yang Wanyun had already published over twenty articles in various newspapers and magazines. She then signed a contract to become a regular columnist for a newspaper, serializing a medium-length inspirational story weekly. After two months of serialization, her story caught the eye of a publishing house, and they had already finalized a publication agreement.
Publishing an article and publishing a book are completely different levels, signifying a major advancement for Yang Wanyun. Yang Yongqing and Feng Yuying, seeing their daughter and son-in-law's achievements, were overjoyed. Now, the only thing their family lacked was a lovely child!
During dinner that day, Feng Yuying started pressuring the couple, "When are you two going to have a child? We're still young and can help you take care of the baby, so you can have an easier time. Besides, Fanzi's family must be pressuring you too, right? You've been married for almost a year and still don't have a child, what's going on?"
Yang Wanyun goes to school to teach students every day, and at home she also has to prepare lessons and write articles. She is actually very busy. When she thinks about getting pregnant and having a child, she hesitates a bit. "Brother Fan, is your family... urging you to have a baby?"
Xu Zifan shook his head. "Don't worry about that. They probably still think I'm working hard in the fields every day. They don't even dare to write to me, afraid I'll ask them for money." He looked at his parents and said, "Dad, Mom, when I was in Beijing, I heard people say that having children too early is bad for the mother's health and not good for the child either. It's best to have children around the age of 27, so that it's easier for both mother and child to be safe."
"What? 27? That means we'd have to wait another 8 years?!" Feng Yuying was startled and waved her hand, saying, "Who told you this nonsense? Everyone has children at 18 or 19, some even as early as 16, and we haven't seen anything happen to them. It can't be true."
Yang Yongqing also raised his head, revealing an expression of disapproval.
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "It's not that having a baby early is necessarily bad, it's just that the chances of having a baby later are greater. For example, the baby might be healthier, smarter, or stronger. Anyway, we're still young, so we'll wait until 23 or later, if not 27. There's no rush. By then, our family's life will be better, and the child's life will be more comfortable."
From 27 to 23, that's from 8 years to 4 years. Feng Yuying thought it was better to wait a bit longer. Although it would be easy for people to gossip if she didn't have children after getting married, Xu Zifan was so capable, she should listen to what he said. Since having children too early wouldn't be good for her daughter and grandson, she decided to wait a few more years.
She thought for a moment and then instructed, "People say that a family is more stable after having children, but I see that you two have a good relationship. If you decide to postpone having children for a few years, you mustn't cause any trouble. Our family's life is better now, but it's only good if the whole family is happy together, understand?"
Yang Wanyun replied with a smile, "Mom, don't worry, we'll definitely live a good life together."
Xu Zifan responded, "Dad, Mom, don't worry about anything. We'll definitely live a good life and take good care of you."
He knew his face was quite attractive. Before, he was a weak and frail educated youth, at best a pretty boy. Many people looked at him, but only Su Qing ever really tried to seduce him. But now he had a strong and muscular physique, was very manly, and had become the most capable person in the surrounding area by running factories and schools. Of course, he attracted many young girls.
When Yang Wanyun went to Beijing, some young girls bumped into him, but he pretended not to see them and never looked at anyone. Now that the village is developing better and better, some bold girls often look at him, showing a certain pursuit of freedom in love. Everyone knows that he married Yang Wanyun because he fell into the water, so naturally there are women who want to "rescue" him under the banner of freedom in love, but he has coldly rejected them all, not letting anyone cause a scene in front of Yang Wanyun.
Feng Yuying probably knew a little about the situation and was a bit worried, which is why she wanted to urge them to have a child. However, he had always been trustworthy in front of his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and had never broken his word. With his promise, they felt at ease and postponed having a child for several years.
A few years is enough time for the world to undergo tremendous changes.
First, the founding general who had been imprisoned in the cowshed was exonerated. He was a marshal and held a very high position after returning to Beijing. The Yang family, as his benefactors who had always cared for him and saved his grandson's life, naturally received special treatment. Knowing that Xu Zifan didn't want to go into politics, he gave him a connection to the military, allowing their food factory to supply food to various armies. For those nearby, they could supply pork, chicken, duck, fish, and so on.
This project directly increased the food factory's profits fivefold, and they continue to grow. Xu Zifan seized the opportunity to apply for a large sum of money from the commune, doubling the factory's size. This time, half of the villagers became permanent employees at the factory, and the other half became permanent employees at the pig farm, chicken farm, and fishpond. Moreover, wages for each level increased by 5 yuan, and everyone except the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled could receive at least 30 yuan a month.
The staff dormitory was full. At first, it was mostly relatives and friends of villagers who came, then people from nearby production brigades came, and later, even some idle people from the county came. Of course, they all started as temporary workers, and only those who performed well could become permanent employees. Xu Zifan really managed to pick out quite a few talented people and put together a leadership team.
As the village grew, Xu Zifan arranged for the renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor to work at the clinic, allowing him to continue his old profession. The old man became much more comfortable, able to continue treating patients, and gradually developed a fondness for the village. Later, even after being exonerated and his property returned, he refused to return to Beijing and chose to stay in the village.
Then, rural reforms began. In recent years, because Xu Zifan developed the food factory, their commune's performance was outstanding, and they no longer had to pay much more grain. Xu Zifan also took a roundabout approach...
I advised Director Liu not to exaggerate the numbers for the sake of temporary competition. The truth will eventually come out. When the commune members are starving and complain, this practice of exploiting the people and exaggerating production will definitely be discovered, and the consequences will be dire.
Chief Liu was a smart man. After much deliberation, he vigorously supported several factories and firmly adhered to the grain delivery quota. Although he had been ridiculed by other commune chiefs a few times, this time, under strict scrutiny, he became one of the few honest people, standing out among the many chiefs who falsely reported high yields.
Just then, the higher authorities proposed the household responsibility system, and a few locations were to be selected for implementation as a pilot project. Xu Zifan analyzed the pros and cons for Director Liu and persuaded him to secure this opportunity, making their commune one of the first locations to implement the household responsibility system.
Their area is a plain with black soil, so in terms of actual yield, they're definitely among the top. With the household responsibility system in place, everyone works for themselves, which naturally motivates the farmers. Although Xu Zifan's village has created worker positions, some people are truly exceptionally good at farming and are just naturally suited for it.
After the land in Xu Zifan's village was distributed according to the number of people, those who didn't want to farm leased their land to those who were skilled at it. Families without able-bodied men, like the Wu family, could hire help to cultivate the land. The biggest benefit of their village's growth and expansion was that it became exceptionally united, and gradually became Xu Zifan's personal fiefdom. Although he didn't hold an official position, he was practically a local tyrant in the Dongfanghong Production Brigade!
In their village, land was distributed regardless of gender or age; it was allocated directly per capita, and Su Qing was also allocated a plot. Of course, she didn't want to farm it, so she leased it out to someone else. Aunt Wu was furious seeing Su Qing dressed up beautifully every day and spending money extravagantly. She suspected Su Qing of selling things on the black market but had no evidence, and if Su Qing were caught, it would implicate them. She was constantly on edge, watching Su Qing closely.
Su Qing had been waiting for two years without any news of joining the army, and she was growing impatient. After settling the land matter, she obtained a letter of introduction for visiting relatives and went to the military base to find Wu Zhigang. Wu Zhigang hadn't returned for the past two years, and no one could stop Su Qing from visiting relatives; she went to the military base without any trouble.
Family members could stay at the military base for a month. After she arrived, Wu Zhigang was neither warm nor cold towards her. They were like an ordinary married couple, with little communication, just going through the motions of life together. Then Su Qing learned that Wu Zhigang already had his own separate residence, allowing family members to come over. This time, she didn't make a scene. She had always known that to have a good future, she needed to be closer to Wu Zhigang, so she began to act as a dutiful wife.
Wu Zhigang's unit wasn't far from the city, and after visiting several times, she discovered that many things there weren't available back home, and the prices weren't too high. So she didn't mention joining him at the military base, only saying she would visit Wu Zhigang often but wouldn't bother him too much. In reality, on her way home, she bought two large bags of things, carefully concealing them, and sold them on the black market for a thousand yuan!
It seemed like a lot of money, but the journey was incredibly stressful and exhausting. Su Qing tried it once but couldn't handle the hardship, so she decided to limit herself to going every six months. She started visiting her family every six months, earning a little over a thousand yuan each time. She no longer made hair accessories or clothes to sell on the black market every day. With several thousand yuan in savings, she could go whenever she wanted, and didn't have to go whenever she didn't want to, making her life much easier.
She continued to live alone in the old house, and gradually, she found it quite nice. She didn't have to serve her mother-in-law, take care of her sister-in-law, or do laundry and cook for her husband. She was all alone, with money and food at her disposal, and life was incredibly comfortable. Thinking about the next few years, when the people would be completely free and she could go wherever she wanted, she experienced the benefits of being reborn and became happy. In this happiness, she stopped focusing on others; after all, in her eyes, these people in the village might all fall into poverty during the reform process.
She stopped focusing on others, and actually, nobody in the village was really watching her. Those things that happened years ago were long gone, and now when people mention her, they just think of her as a low-profile, unemployed military wife. Everyone still remembers her bad temper, so nobody associates with her anymore; everyone's busy improving themselves and getting a higher salary.
Two years later, the success of some reforms prompted a major move from above, leading to the complete dissolution of the communes! Many commune leaders who had engaged in fraudulent practices were held accountable, and many minor officials with positions were no longer considered officials. However, because their commune was outstanding in all aspects, its leader, Liu, was promoted to mayor, and everything in their commune remained almost unaffected.