Su Qing wanted to say a few words to Xu Zifan, but she couldn't find an opportunity. Xu Zifan was either at the factory or at home every day, always surrounded by people, and he spent most of his time with Yang Wanyun. Su Qing was even more upset about this.
Although she was the one who brought Xu Zifan and Yang Wanyun together, in her heart, Xu Zifan was her husband from her past life, with whom she had lived for over a decade. That feeling of closeness, familiarity, and even a touch of dislike remained, but there was never any alienation. Moreover, having been reborn over a decade ago, she possessed an instinctive sense of superiority over those she knew, a feeling of control and knowing everything. Now, that control had completely gone off track!
Seeing Xu Zifan's care for Yang Wanyun made her very uncomfortable. Why was it that in her past life, after marrying her, Xu Zifan insisted on going to university, studying every day and never even helping her carry water? Now that it's Yang Wanyun, not only does he not let her carry his basket, but he's also transformed into a deputy factory director, putting on an act of hard work and striving for success?
Xu Zifan's unusual behavior left Su Qing in a state of utter confusion. If Xu Zifan were reborn, he would understand why she clung to Wu Zhigang. No man could tolerate his wife cheating on him; Xu Zifan would definitely sabotage her and seek revenge. She was terrified and could only keep a close eye on Xu Zifan, hoping for confirmation.
Finally, one day, she saw Xu Zifan heading towards the back mountain alone. She quickly grabbed a basket and chased after him, pretending to go dig for wild vegetables and bump into Xu Zifan by chance.
She pretended to have just seen Xu Zifan and greeted him awkwardly, "Deputy Factory Director Xu, you've come to the mountains too?"
Xu Zifan glanced at her, completely ignoring her. After checking one trap and finding nothing, he prepared to move on to another.
Su Qing bit her lip and stepped forward to stop him. "Deputy Factory Director Xu, I'm sorry. I couldn't admit what I said to you that day in front of so many villagers. I had to lie. I hope you won't blame me."
Xu Zifan said calmly, "Please move aside. It's a man and a woman alone together. If someone sees us, things will get complicated. I don't want my wife to be angry."
Su Qing was taken aback. When did Xu Zifan become so considerate of his wife's feelings? Xu Zifan was handsome, and in their previous life, many women liked to talk to him after they got married, especially after they returned to the city and the environment became more open. Xu Zifan never seemed to know how to avoid suspicion, and even if he didn't do anything, he always made her so angry that her stomach ached. But now, Xu Zifan was actually saying he was afraid of upsetting his wife?
Seeing that Xu Zifan was about to leave, Su Qing came to her senses and hurriedly said, "Xu Zifan, wait! You and Yang Wanyun are so close now, whatever I've done won't affect you. Please don't hold a grudge against me anymore, okay? My fiancé, Wu Zhigang..."
She paused, observing Xu Zifan's expression, and said carefully, "Wu Zhigang will be back for the Spring Festival. I will be getting married then, and maybe I will even join the army and leave this place. I... I want to say that I hope you won't take your anger out on my family because of my situation."
It's perfectly reasonable for a dutiful daughter to apologize to her family. Su Qing just wanted to see if Xu Zifan would be angry because she was going to marry someone else. But Xu Zifan's expression didn't change at all. He just glanced at her disdainfully and said, "Do you think my father-in-law is as selfish as you? My wife is waiting for me at home. I don't have time to waste with you. Stop following me."
Xu Zifan walked past her and strode away. Su Qing was certain he wasn't reborn, but knowing this only made her less able to understand his thoughtfulness and ambition. She turned back to look at his retreating figure and asked resentfully, "You've changed a lot. Before, you didn't care about the girls around you, and you never planned for the future or thought of ways to make money. Why have you suddenly changed?"
Xu Zifan finally understood why she had suddenly contacted him; it turned out she was testing him. Xu Zifan smiled and said without turning his head, "My wife is so good, I have to give her a bright future. How can I let her live a good life if I don't change things? I can't bear to let my wife suffer."
Xu Zifan had already walked away after he finished speaking. Su Qing stood there for a moment, then suddenly threw down her basket, her face contorted with rage!
To give Yang Wanyun a bright future? To let Yang Wanyun live a good life? What about her? In her past life, Xu Zifan wouldn't even sweep the floor for her, yet he never hesitated to let her work herself to the bone. Doesn't she deserve his change? In what way is she inferior to Yang Wanyun?!
Su Qing vented her anger fiercely, even destroying the bamboo basket. When she got home, her sister-in-law immediately mocked her. Su Qing, still seething with anger, got into a huge argument with her. The argument escalated until Su's mother gave Su Qing a good scolding. Su Qing, feeling utterly dejected, went back to her room and lay down, her chest aching with anger. All she wanted was to marry Wu Zhigang quickly and go with him to the army, far away from them all!
As soon as the first batch of food finished processing at the factory, Xu Zifan immediately borrowed a truck from the commune to transport it out. When the villagers saw that he could actually drive a large truck, their admiration for him increased even further. Watching all the food they had worked so hard to produce over five or six days being taken away, they all gathered at the factory, unwilling to go home, anxiously awaiting the results.
The Yang family of three was also there. Yang Yongqing frowned and smoked, Feng Yuying nagged worriedly, and Yang Wanyun stood at the gate, glancing at the road every now and then. This wasn't just about bringing benefits to the villagers; it was also about whether Xu Zifan, the deputy factory director, could maintain his position. They were more worried than others.
After an unknown amount of time, Yang Wanyun finally saw the truck, and its contents! She exclaimed excitedly, "He's back! Zifan is back!"
"You're back?"
"Oh my god! They really brought back the replacement items!"
"Look everyone, you can really exchange things that don't require tickets!"
Xu Zifan parked the truck steadily at the entrance, and the villagers swarmed around it, pointing and discussing the contents. Even those villagers who hadn't become workers ran over.
People came to join in the fun, and some even regretted not going into the factory; the scene was quite noisy.
Xu Zifan got out of the car and smiled at Yang Wanyun, "Successfully, all three orders went smoothly."
Yang Wanyun exclaimed happily, "That's wonderful!"
Yang Yongqing and Feng Yuying came forward to ask, and Xu Zifan talked to them while walking to the back of the car, climbing on top, and introducing the goods to everyone. "Fellow villagers, the food our factory processed for the first time was well received by the workers in the neighboring county, and we exchanged it for cloth and coal. Although it's not as good as what you can buy outside with coupons, I've carefully selected it, and it's definitely fine for our own use. I hope you won't mind, and I will definitely try to get you brand new things in the future."
Xu Zifan tore off a piece of cloth to show everyone. One stripe was crooked, and there was a small bump. He tore off another piece, revealing a few small mold spots along the edge. These were all defective products, but the fabric was of very good quality. The villagers could easily fix these minor issues, and everyone exclaimed, "We don't mind! We don't mind! How could we possibly mind such good stuff!"
"Thank you, Deputy Factory Director Xu! You've brought us great benefits!"
"Deputy Factory Director Xu is amazing! We will definitely work hard under his guidance!"
The workers cheered enthusiastically. Everyone knew that although Xu Zifan was only a deputy factory director, he was the one who called the shots in the factory, and Yang Yongqing didn't care at all. Now that Xu Zifan had brought them tangible benefits, they all began to wholeheartedly support him, showering him with compliments.
Xu Zifan pressed his hands down to signal everyone to be quiet, and said with a smile, "To celebrate the food factory's first successful profit, we will distribute items today according to work points. Everyone will receive these two items, no choice is allowed, the more you work, the more you earn, it's absolutely fair."
Xu Zifan hired a few people to move all the items into the warehouse, and Yang Wanyun tallied the quantities. Then, Feng Yuying was in charge of distributing the items, with everyone lining up to receive them according to their work points. Of course, not everything in the warehouse could be given to them; the factory also had its own interests, and only a portion was distributed to the workers. But even so, the amount each person received exceeded their expectations.
They'd only worked for five or six days. Although gathering materials in the mountain and working in the factory was tiring, it couldn't possibly be more tiring than farming, and they didn't feel it was hard work at all. And in just five or six days, they'd earned cloth and coal—how could they not be happy!
The villagers who had previously been skeptical of the food factory and hadn't come to work there were now filled with regret. Seeing the workers all beaming with joy, as if it were New Year's Day, they were itching to get hired again and all came to ask Xu Zifan when he would be hiring again.
Xu Zifan smiled and said, "I'll be going to place more orders tomorrow. If the order volume increases, I'll consider hiring more workers. And right now, the factory doesn't have any permanent employees, so everyone still has a chance. Don't worry, as long as you all support me, the factory will definitely grow bigger and bigger in the future, and you'll have plenty of opportunities."
"Great! We definitely support you!"
"Deputy Factory Director Xu, we all support you!"
After this incident, Xu Zifan finally gained a firm foothold in the village. People no longer referred to him as "the handsome but useless educated youth" or "the brigade leader's son-in-law," but as "the formidable Deputy Factory Director Xu."
The news that Xu Zifan's food factory had successfully traded goods spread, and the other production teams immediately erupted in excitement, all rushing to Director Liu to inquire about the situation. If it was really that good, they wanted to follow suit.
Xu Zifan also went to the county to report to Director Liu, saying that he had succeeded by following Director Liu's guidance, and then outlined an even better plan for Director Liu, which made Director Liu very happy and placed high hopes on him. After he had finished speaking, Xu Zifan changed the subject and said, "Director, running a factory is not an easy task. Even our factory is still figuring things out. If other brigades follow suit, we can't possibly open three or five food factories, all producing the same things. Wouldn't that be duplication of work and a waste of manpower and resources?"
President Liu nodded, "However, after seeing your success, the other brigades have become somewhat restless. I've given you a chance; it wouldn't be right to let others just watch idly by..."
Xu Zifan poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile, "That's simple. The resources in the mountains and rivers are limited, and we have to integrate them to maximize their effectiveness. If we run out of fruit in our mountains, we'll naturally need fruit from other mountains. I think our factory can purchase food raw materials from other production brigades. This way, we can take care of everyone and integrate resources. As for them benefiting less than us... well, being a step behind is being a step behind. Who told them not to think this idea was right in the first place?"