Yang Yongqing was dumbfounded when he saw that things hadn't gone smoothly, but since Captain Feng had already started reporting to Director Liu, he couldn't say anything more. He could only give Xu Zifan a meaningful look, signaling him to say something more.
When no one was looking, Xu Zifan shook his head at him, and Yang Yongqing had no choice but to give up and obediently report his work to Director Liu. Afterwards, as they were about to leave, Director Liu told Xu Zifan to take his things with him.
Xu Zifan smiled and said, "President Liu, I know you have to consider this matter carefully, and you might have to discuss it with other leaders. We should at least show the documents to them. I'll leave these with you. I sincerely want to do something for the country. Even if I'm just a small cog, I hope I can be of some use to the great machine of the nation. Please give me this opportunity, President Liu."
President Liu smiled and said, "Alright, I'll seriously consider it. Keep up the good work, young man." There were quite a few things, and although they weren't very valuable, it would be nice to take them home to provide some food for the family. This young man is sensible.
Xu Zifan held his hands and said a lot of things about serving the country before leaving the unit with Yang Yongqing.
Once only the two of them were on the road, Yang Yongqing couldn't help but ask, "Fanzi, is that it? You couldn't convince President Liu here. If we leave, will he even consider it?"
Xu Zifan was confident. "Dad, don't worry. If Director Liu doesn't agree, he'll refuse on the spot. When he said he'd consider it, he was just putting on airs and letting us know we're begging him for a favor, so we shouldn't think it's so easy." He glanced at Yang Yongqing and said carefully, "Dad, what I said earlier wasn't all just empty talk. If Director Liu agrees, it'll be fine if we get it done, but if we fail, the villagers will really complain about you. I'm very confident I can do this well. If you think it's not right, I can think of another way."
Yang Yongqing thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'm getting old, what am I afraid of complaining about? If I'm afraid of this and that, I'll never be able to lead the villagers to a better life. Besides, I only have one child, Yunyun, and you're like a son to me. It's good that you have ideas and drive. While I still have some ability, I should support you. If you can achieve something, you might be able to take over my position in the future, and then I can retire with peace of mind."
In Yang Yongqing's mind, if his son-in-law could become the next brigade leader and govern their village, they would be able to live a good life in the village. He didn't understand the outside world, nor could he imagine that this was the best future he could envision.
Xu Zifan smiled upon hearing this, "Thank you, Dad. With your support, Wanyun and I will definitely be able to live a good life. Then you and Mom can rest well and let Wanyun and me take care of you."
He didn't say he wouldn't go into politics, only business. Saying that in this day and age would only make him seem like an oddball; there's no need to say it. After six or seven years of reforms, these things will naturally unfold without needing to be said.
After they left, the other two captains exchanged a glance. They both thought Xu Zifan was a promising talent, and with his help, Yang Yongqing might actually achieve something. These days, ideas are the hardest to come by. They were just farmers, barely literate, and had never been outside the village; what knowledge did they have?
Asking them to come up with an idea is harder than climbing to heaven, but Xu Zifan is from Beijing, and he keeps coming up with ideas. If they were to ask him to help Yang Yongqing rise to power, they would be in trouble. With Yang Yongqing, right is right and wrong is wrong. If someone like that is a leader, they would have to flatter him to the point of exhaustion, which is definitely not going to work.
The two of them discussed it and then informed the other team leaders. When Director Liu asked them, they all said they agreed. They figured if it worked out, they could follow suit; if it didn't, Yang Yongqing would have to step down.
During this time, Xu Zifan would go to the county town with Yang Yongqing every other day to talk about his vision for the future, his gratitude to the country, his desire to make positive contributions, and his admiration for President Liu. He made President Liu like him more and more and think more highly of him.
President Liu has intelligent and cultured people under his command, but he only sees Xu Zifan as someone who is intelligent, cultured, insightful, and resourceful. Xu Zifan is so young; if he can be trained into a capable subordinate, things will be much easier for him in the future. To win someone over, you have to give them a taste of their kindness and then a reward. First, let them face setbacks at every turn, then step in and give them an opportunity. Showing favor is the easiest way to gain loyalty.
If Director Liu had initially agreed to Xu Zifan's idea with the sole hope of increasing production, he now added the added benefit of cultivating Xu Zifan into one of his own. Success would be excellent training for the young man; failure would allow Xu Zifan to learn from his mistakes and smooth out his rough edges, making him easier to use later. Both outcomes were favorable. After several days of deliberation, Director Liu finally agreed to Xu Zifan's "request," allowing their Dongfanghong Brigade to try producing these food items.
Xu Zifan immediately began negotiating with him. There had to be a proper name for making food products; making them privately was against the rules, and even if they were done well, no one would dare to take them. So he obtained the qualification to set up a factory under this name. Although it was a state-owned factory like other factories, it didn't take up county resources in the village and didn't ask the commune for anything, so naturally there was no problem.
Xu Zifan then demanded ownership of the mountain and river, which was unacceptable, especially since the river was already being used by Hedong Village. Xu Zifan proposed a village collective contract for the river, with designated sections. Areas in the mountain and a section of the river would be allocated for their village to fish, to avoid future disputes with other villages. However, their village was currently short of funds, and it was uncertain whether this would be feasible. It was better to first draft a contract, with a promise from above that if the factory was profitable after one year, the contract would be paid for 50 years; if it was unprofitable, only the payment for that year would be made. With this contract, the designated area would belong to their factory.
Xu Zifan also proposed that the workers' wages and daily benefits be handled by their factory itself.
Of course, there's no problem if the government doesn't provide funding. But if the government were to allocate funds, President Liu wouldn't agree.
Compared to other factories, this factory suffered a significant disadvantage. Xu Zifan naturally raised many difficulties in running the factory, requesting that the produce not be handed over as food quotas but as non-staple foods. He also requested that the state could help their factory apply for some of the pigs collected each year, as the pork could be processed.
Xu Zifan raised many details, but in that era, everything emphasized collective ownership. Director Liu didn't pay much attention to these points, as they seemed insignificant at the time, and agreed without much hesitation. However, this was Xu Zifan's preparation for the future. Things like leasing mountain forests for 50 years at extremely low prices would be absolutely impossible in a few years. With clear regulations, there would be no loopholes to exploit during future reforms and opening up, and no one could take advantage of them.
The two went back and forth, and Xu Zifan's requests were sometimes rejected. But just like bargaining, if you first make an outrageous and unreasonable request, and it's rejected, then you make a smaller request, and the other party will usually agree. Xu Zifan managed to achieve almost everything he wanted to achieve by going in circles, and after returning to the village, he began to set up a factory in a high-profile manner.
Of course, lacking funds to build a factory initially, he could only find an empty, dilapidated courtyard or house in a village, make some simple repairs, and use it as a temporary factory. While having people make repairs, he also took his newly made food to the three major factories to promote it. Now, as the deputy director of Dongfanghong Food Processing Factory, he had sufficient status and reason to promote his products.
He also visited a factory in the neighboring county. When he arrived, the locals, unfamiliar with his situation, warmly welcomed him. They found the canned fish and wild fruit quite appealing, and the gift boxes he had prepared for the dried mountain delicacies were very high-end; ordering them as employee benefits would be perfect. Most importantly, Xu Zifan proposed a barter system. The factory had no shortage of their products, especially the seemingly defective items. By offering them at a low price to offset the cost of the goods, they could exchange a pile of junk for a batch of gifts—a perfect deal.
Xu Zifan went to several places and encountered many setbacks, but finally succeeded in receiving three orders.
He returned home weary from his journey with the three orders. The temporary factory buildings in the village had already been repaired, and the villagers were all talking about it, shocked that Xu Zifan had become the deputy factory director after dealing with just a few mountain products.
The villagers had an instinctive awe of officials. Yang Yongqing was the factory manager and also the village head, so they just thought the village head had become an even bigger official. But when Xu Zifan also became an official, they were quite surprised. Yang Yongqing had already explained things to everyone in the past few days; they already knew that the higher-ups were demanding more grain, and that their share of grain this year would be less. They never expected that Xu Zifan would come up with a solution—using the resources on the back mountain to exchange for other things. Xu Zifan had done a truly great deed!
When Xu Zifan finally brought the order back, everyone cheered. This proved that they definitely hadn't done anything in vain. They really could exchange goods without tickets, and with the fabric, they could even make clothes!
There are plenty of people at home during the off-season. At first, Xu Zifan said everyone was a temporary worker, which actually meant that each person would be recorded as having a certain number of work points each day. These work points were specifically for the processing plant, and they would be distributed to everyone according to the work points once the produce was exchanged. It was the same as regular work, except that instead of farming, it was food processing. Everyone adapted well and had no problem with it.
This recruitment drive primarily targeted women, with only a small number of men hired for manual labor such as carrying and lifting. Women, normally less strong, earned fewer work points than men in the fields, but this time they unexpectedly found a use for their skills, each receiving ten centimeters in work points. This delighted them, and they all worked with great enthusiasm.
Xu Zifan successfully embarked on his business career, opening his first factory!
Su Qing was utterly shocked. Xu Zifan had become the deputy factory director? How could that be? Xu Zifan was utterly useless, incapable of doing anything right. How could he have become the deputy factory director? Hearing Yang Yongqing say that Xu Zifan wanted to get into food processing, she couldn't help but wonder how Xu Zifan could have come up with the idea that those hazelnuts, pine nuts, and the like would become specialty products years later. Was he also a reincarnated soul?
Thinking about it this way, Su Qing became frightened. If she wasn't the only reborn person in the world, what advantages would she have? Most importantly, Xu Zifan was her husband in her previous life. If he was really reborn, he would definitely notice that something was wrong with her. What would he do to her then?
Seeing that the processing plant was taking shape, Su Qing couldn't hold back any longer. She had to find out for sure whether Xu Zifan was truly reborn!