Chapter 40: Ye Tiandong Enters the Village

Chapter 40: Ye Tiandong Enters the Village

Lu Zheng'an said seriously, "Yes, you can decide for yourself. Your second maternal grandfather doesn't take this lightly. If you don't seize the opportunity, plenty of others will."

Lu Ye lowered his eyes and did not continue the conversation.

Lu Zheng'an shook his head in exasperation at his youngest son's complete lack of understanding.

"I'm going to work. Think about it carefully yourself."

......

Ye Tiandong rushed to Nancheng Railway Station yesterday afternoon and bought a ticket to Qingshui County. There was only one train departing at 7 pm.

When he arrived at Qingshui County Railway Station, it was already 1 a.m., and he could only stay at a guesthouse in the county town.

On the morning of the second day, following the directions of the guesthouse owner, we bought some things and then boarded a bus to Yongning Town.

We arrived at Dawancun at 10 a.m.

The weather was hot, and he was covered in sweat as he walked into this impoverished village in Northwest China. His heart was filled with complex emotions.

This area is hilly; the mountains aren't very high, but they're not flat either.

This is where his sister was sent to the countryside back then.

It's 1988 now, and this place is still so backward and poor. What was it like twenty years ago?

The rows of stacks of ripe wheat on the threshing floor are the only bright spot in this village.

Just then, by the threshing floor, a young man was filling a basket with rapeseed stalks. The man approached, took out a pack of Liangyou cigarettes from his pocket, and politely asked the young man for directions, "Young man, could you tell me how to get to the village chief's house?"

Clever as he was, he didn't immediately inquire about Bai Zhicheng's family, but instead planned to go to the village chief's house first.

The young man looked at the extraordinary-looking man in front of him, then at the cigarette the man offered him, and accepted it with a smile. He then led the man to the village chief's door with great enthusiasm.

"Thank you, young man."

Ye Tiandong carried a gift bag into the village chief's house.

The young man stood at the village chief's door, looking excitedly at the unopened package of high-end cigarettes in his hand. He was about to open it and smoke one, but then he stopped, thinking of something.

He put the cigarette in his pocket and continued to carry firewood to the threshing ground.

He had just walked to the edge of the threshing floor, humming a song, when a woman in a worn-out floral shirt approached him and began to complain.

"Brother Kai, I asked you to carry firewood, why haven't you gone back yet? I need to cook, I'm waiting for your firewood."

That's right, the person who led Ye Tiandong was Zhao Kai.

He explained, "Just now, a city dweller wanted to go to the village chief's house and asked me to show him the way."

"A city person?" Bai Weiwei felt a special warmth upon hearing those words.

Zhao Kai tossed the cigarettes in his hand, in a good mood. "Yeah, they even gave me a pack of cigarettes."

Bai Weiwei looked at the cigarette box in his hand and immediately recognized that it was expensive; it probably cost five yuan in the city.

"This pack of cigarettes must be pretty expensive, right? Why don't we take it to the village store and see if we can exchange it for two packets of salt and soy sauce?"

Zhao Kai disagreed, "No, I want to give this pack of cigarettes to your dad."

"Why are you giving it to him?" Bai Weiwei had been beaten by her parents ever since Bai Zhi left home, and she hadn't even given them any face. She hadn't been home for the past few days.

Zhao Kai said,

“I heard your family is going to thresh grain tomorrow. Give this tobacco to your dad; it will make him look good in front of the villagers.”

He also has face to save.

Bai Weiwei nodded, "Okay then."

She considerately helped Zhao Kai pack the rapeseed stalks, helped him carry them on his back, and the two walked home.

"Brother Kai, let's go to the south to work after we finish threshing the grain."

Bai Weiwei talks about going to work in the south every day, which makes Zhao Kai feel awkward. "Why do you have to go to the south to work? Neither of us has ever been far from home. We don't know anyone there. What if we can't find a job and starve to death?"

"No, you'll definitely find a job. You have to believe in yourself. You're so talented, you might even become your own boss after you leave."

"Weiwei, you trust me that much?" Zhao Kai looked at Bai Weiwei with a strange expression.

Although Bai Weiwei always looked at him with admiration and said that he would be successful in the future, as a man, his pride and vanity were satisfied.

But at the same time, he was under a lot of pressure.

He knows his own limitations.

Bai Weiwei looked at him with a determined expression, "I believe you, of course I believe you, Brother Kai. You have to believe in yourself too. Society is developing very fast now, especially in the south where many factories have been set up. The factories need workers. If we go to work in the factories, we might meet some big bosses later and start our own business."

Zhao Kai was still full of concerns, "But what will happen to my family if we leave? My mother is still sick, and my sister can't do heavy work. How will they live?"

Upon hearing Zhao Kai's words, Bai Weiwei's face showed a hint of annoyance.

Those two burdens are indeed a problem.

She's been married into the family for so many days, and taking care of the two of them is really annoying.

The family was so poor they couldn't even afford to eat. Zhao Kai's mother coughed incessantly day and night, which was very annoying.

There's also Zhao Kai's younger sister. She was kicked in the leg by a donkey when she was a child. There were people who came to propose marriage, but their conditions were not good enough, and she didn't even like them.

That's really overestimating themselves.

She had to get out with Zhao Kai as soon as possible.

Only by leaving this barren land can we turn our lives around.

She remembered that in her previous life, not long after she arrived in Nancheng, Bai Zhi and Zhao Kai went south to work.

Therefore, Zhao Kai's business opportunity must be this year.

Don't miss this opportunity.

She pondered for a moment, concealing the strange look in her eyes, and said, "Let's go home and cook first. After we eat, we'll go to my house and give this pack of cigarettes to my dad. Be a little sweet-talking to my parents and get on their good side. We'll go out to work and have my parents help take care of the house. When we make a lot of money, we'll come back and get your mom treated, build a three-story house for the family, and let them all live a good life."

Zhao Kai also felt that things couldn't go on like this. His mother couldn't even afford medicine, and the family was struggling to make ends meet. Since Bai Weiwei said that her parents would help take care of the family, he might as well go out and try his luck with Bai Weiwei.

People who move around can make a living; they might actually be able to earn money back.

"Okay, Weiwei, I'll listen to you. Marrying you is truly the blessing I earned in my past life."

......

Ye Tiandong carried two bottles of good wine and a pack of cigarettes as he entered the village chief's house.

The village chief's house is a rare brick and tile house in the village.

However, it's not entirely made of bricks; it's 40% red bricks.

Because the back wall is made of adobe bricks.

Ye Tiandong first introduced himself as a business owner who buys medicinal herbs and plans to purchase herbs in Yongning Town to invest in a medicinal herb processing plant.

He is currently conducting field research in one village after another.

Dawan Village is located at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, where wild medicinal herbs grow.

Villagers from several villages here dig up medicinal herbs and sell them to the medicinal herb company in town to earn a little money.

However, the demand from pharmaceutical companies is very small; they only accept a limited number of varieties, the prices are cheap, and the inspection is very strict.

Ye Tiandong said he wanted to come and check out the quality of the medicinal herbs here.

The village chief has been eager to do something for the village and help his fellow villagers get rich over the years, but he has been struggling to find a way to do so.

Seeing that other villages in the town had fish ponds and greenhouses, while his village had no way to get rich due to geographical limitations, he was very worried.

Then a man who looked like a boss said he wanted to build a medicinal herb factory here to buy the medicinal herbs from their Nanshan Mountain, and the village chief was naturally very excited.

"Mr. Ye, please have a seat. Please sit on the kang (heated brick bed)."

Ye Tiandong was really not used to sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed), and said with a smile, "I'll just sit on a stool."

The village chief enthusiastically plugged in the small electric stove that was only used when town officials came, to brew some tea for Ye Tiandong.

In this era, the people were honest and trusting of each other was extremely high. Ye Tiandong was carrying cigarettes and wine, showing great sincerity, so the village chief had no reason not to believe him.

Ye Tiandong has been in the medicinal herb business for the past two years and is very familiar with medicinal herbs, so the conversation was very professional.

The village chief introduced Ye Tiandong to the various wild herbs that grow on Nanshan Mountain, and Ye Tiandong listened attentively.

He's a businessman; he'll do business whenever there's a chance.

They said they plan to set up a purchasing point here in the fall, and then have the village chief organize the villagers to dig up a large number of medicinal herbs.

The village chief was deeply moved and quickly sent his wife to cook a meal to entertain Boss Ye.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Ye Tiandong hesitated for a few seconds and changed the subject, "Village Chief, there is actually a special reason why I chose Dawan Village as the location for purchasing medicinal herbs."