Two educated youths from Xu Zifan's village were admitted to university, while no one from the village was admitted. The two educated youths wept with joy and, amidst everyone's blessings, excitedly embarked on their journey back to the city to strive for their bright future at university.
Those who didn't pass the exam were somewhat disappointed, but unlike other villages, Xu Zifan's village had a food processing factory. So, after their initial disappointment, everyone joined the factory to work and earn work points. With something to do, they didn't have as much time to think about unhappy things. Even the educated youth who wanted to take the college entrance exam again, after working during the day and studying at night for a few days, felt that this kind of life was more fulfilling and they became more composed, not affected by failing the college entrance exam.
However, Xu Zifan took this opportunity to emphasize the importance of education to Yang Yongqing. The reason why no one in their village had gone to university was because they didn't value education. They believed that studying was useless, and that working hard was what mattered. In particular, the primary school in their village was a long way away, and many families found it too troublesome and simply didn't let their children attend school.
In fact, the country has stated that talent is important, and the nation needs these useful individuals who have been admitted to universities. Xu Zifan used this to persuade the villagers, and not a single one objected. To object would be to say the country was wrong, wouldn't it? As the conversation progressed, everyone gradually came to believe that Xu Zifan was absolutely right. The country needed talent; university education even provided stipends and job placements upon graduation—where else could they find such a good deal? If they could support one person to university, wouldn't their whole family be much better off? It was certainly better than having a bunch of peasants, wasn't it?
Especially seeing how capable Xu Zifan is, isn't it true that only a scholar with a sharp mind can run such a large factory? And Yang Wanyun, although her grades in other subjects are very poor, her Chinese grades are always exceptionally good, so she can make money by writing, right? This all shows that studying is very useful.
After mobilizing the villagers, Xu Zifan began applying to Village Head Liu to establish a primary school in the village. This was, of course, very difficult, but he had his reasons. Their factory had already absorbed almost all the villagers as workers, and as the factory expanded further, it would definitely need even more workers, which would mean many people from other nearby brigades would come to work for their factory.
With more people, they're all busy creating value for the factory, so their children naturally need a safe place to be settled. Building a school in their village is definitely the most suitable option. Then, children from several nearby brigades can come to school together, and they can go to and from work with their parents, which is both safe and convenient.
Xu Zifan talked to Director Liu for a long time, finally proposing that the food factory would fund the school construction, the teachers would be educated youth from the village, and that if the number of students fell below a certain threshold, the school would be abandoned. Director Liu finally agreed to his application. Of course, Xu Zifan also gave Director Liu a guarantee, promising that next year's grain production would be significantly higher and that the factory would achieve certain profitability.
Their relationship was essentially an exchange of interests, a tacit understanding. Now, President Liu no longer sees Xu Zifan as someone to be recruited as a confidant, but rather as a collaborator to create mutual benefits.
Because Xu Zifan was in charge of this matter, President Liu directly appointed Xu Zifan as the principal. Xu Zifan applied for a school that combined primary and junior high school. Since it was difficult to build houses in winter, he found a spacious empty house to serve as a temporary classroom for the educated youth to tutor the children in the village. Classes would officially begin in March.
For a village to develop, neglecting education is definitely not an option. Yang Wanyun's words that day inspired Xu Zifan. He didn't necessarily have to go to a big city to do business; since he was already in this village, and the villagers were increasingly trusting him, he could absolutely lead them to prosperity. There are countless ways to get rich, and using this place as a foundation is perfectly feasible.
So Xu Zifan started a school, which was a very important part of his plan. He also planned to train a principal, since he had no interest in this area and did not intend to do everything himself. He would just be an honorary principal at most.
Seeing Xu Zifan's hard work and ambition every day, seemingly possessing inexhaustible energy, inspired Yang Wanyun to strive harder as well. She became more serious and meticulous in her writing, frequently reflecting on her shortcomings and making improvements. She quietly worked hard, hoping to keep up with Xu Zifan's pace; as husband and wife, they naturally wanted to progress together.
With wild fruits gone in winter, the factory added smoked rabbit, cured meat, pork jerky, frozen pears, and popsicles. Xu Zifan also pulled strings with the government to get the factory's products on the shelves of supply and marketing cooperatives. This included not only the county's cooperative but also many nearby cooperatives where transportation wasn't too difficult. As a result, their products became more popular, and other factories could use them more respectably as holiday gifts for their employees, leading to more orders for the factory.
Xu Zifan ordered gift boxes and repackaged some products from the Spring Festival period, instantly elevating their perceived quality and naturally increasing the price. At first, the workers were quite worried, thinking that since the contents were all the same, just wrapped in cardboard and sold at such a high price, who would buy them? But to their surprise, this simple packaging alone resulted in a surge in demand and supply falling short of demand!
During the Chinese New Year, it's natural for people to exchange high-end and attractive gifts, otherwise they wouldn't be presentable. After several or even a dozen people have given such gifts, it becomes even more difficult for others to give ordinary gifts, so they have to buy gifts from Xu Zifan's factory. Gradually, gift boxes have become the most popular product during the Spring Festival, and for the first time, orders from distant regions were received because some people delivered the gifts to other places.
Xu Zifan naturally rushed to present the order to President Liu to show off his achievements, proving that his initial blueprint was not just wishful thinking and that he had been working hard to realize it. President Liu had a particularly pleasant New Year. Although Xu Zifan always made many strange requests, overall he didn't cause him any trouble. On the contrary, he made the factory very successful.
The fire made him look good in front of other club presidents when he went out to meetings this year.
Overjoyed, President Liu promised Xu Zifan more support. Xu Zifan, of course, didn't believe in empty promises and immediately wrote a business plan, obtaining licenses from President Liu to open a pig farm, a chicken farm, and a fishpond. After all, they needed to sell their products to other regions, and eventually nationwide; without a supply of raw materials, how could they survive? They had no choice but to raise livestock!
Every time the Yang family heard Xu Zifan talk about his new plans and saw him write proposals, they thought he was trying to fool Director Liu. The problem was that Director Liu was indeed quite easy to fool, and he always agreed to Xu Zifan's applications. After thinking about it for a while, Yang Yongqing tentatively suggested at the next meeting that he wanted to pay the same amount of grain next year as before.
Before he could say more than a few words, he was berated by President Liu!
After returning home, he patted Xu Zifan on the shoulder and sighed, "So it wasn't that people were easy to fool, it was that you were too good at fooling people."
Xu Zifan chuckled and said, "Dad, it's not that I can fool people, it's just that I can make things seem profitable and show people enough benefits. How could I fool people so many times just by talking? President Liu has the benefits he wants, and I just happen to be able to give them to him."
Yang Yongqing said with a worry, "Then you can't promise him to deliver more grain next year. Our land only produces so much. If we deliver more, won't everyone have less to eat?"
Xu Zifan shook his head and said in a low voice, "Dad, have you forgotten about our factory's products? People can buy our products by exchanging goods or by giving us money and coupons. When we have money, coupons, and goods, why are we afraid of not being able to get grain? The commune leader's demand is known to the whole village. We have to pay whether we want to or not. We can't hold out even if we disagree. But our factory can distribute grain to everyone, so no one will go hungry. In this way, we don't lose anything, and Commune Leader Liu has even given us a lot of convenience. Actually, we've made a profit."
Yang Yongqing was taken aback and asked doubtfully, "Really? We even made a profit?" He thought about it for a while, feeling a little confused, but not quite understanding. He simply said, "Alright, if you say we made a profit, then we made a profit. Since you have your own ideas, then I won't worry about it anymore."
Yang Yongqing looked at Xu Zifan and smiled with satisfaction: "With you helping everyone, I feel at ease. Once you become the brigade leader, our brigade will have nothing to worry about anymore.