Chapter 12: Now Wealthy

News of the county bank transferring ownership of the brick kiln quickly spread throughout the entire village.

Just as Old Huang from the coal ball factory had feared, upon hearing that the bank was selling it for 250,000 yuan, those in the village who kept an eye on the kiln’s dividends began speculating about how much money they would receive and how many pounds of pork they could buy for the New Year.

Some were so convinced there would be dividends that they couldn’t resist buying two trays of pea shoots to stir-fry at home, just to get a taste of green leafy vegetables in the dead of winter.

And surprisingly, they found it quite delightful.

At least better than the flavor of the pea shoots they had pulled from their own fields back in summer.

Thus, pea shoots became even more popular.

With vegetable vendors carrying the shoots far and wide to other towns, farmers aware of the profit potential—and more vegetable traders—rushed to Yu’s Village by car.

The narrow dirt road leading from the provincial highway to Yu’s Village grew congested beyond measure.

Even the roadside was crowded with parked vehicles.

Others, like restaurant owners and cold dish shopkeepers, sought to obtain produce at lower prices by pulling strings to reach Yu Yang.

At this moment, “Sanyuan” was no longer just a nickname for someone; it became a form of address.

“Boss Sanyuan, I need a basket every day.”

“Sanyuan, I’m your cousin’s grandmother, so we’re close. Two baskets a week, that’s reasonable, right? Once I pickle some small dishes, I’ll send you some every week.”

“Sanyuan, our families are practically neighbors, from the same village. You have to fix up that heated brick bed for me tonight. Here’s 1,500 yuan, I’m leaving it here.”

Sitting in the living room on the first floor of his small Western-style house, Yu Yang listened to the cacophony of voices filling the courtyard—it sounded like a thousand ducks quacking.

He called over his two cousins who had studied accounting and had them bring in two more sets of tables and chairs.

One cousin was tasked with recording the heated brick beds being renovated; the other logged regular supply orders.

Yu Yang himself handled the wholesale dealings with the vegetable vendors.

Originally, there was no plan to ship any produce that day.

After all, pea shoots don’t grow overnight.

But public demand was impossible to resist, so he grit his teeth and opened for business.

As for where the pea shoots came from…

There was no time to explain; he decided to sell first and talk later.

Just as Yu Yang had been busy for a brief moment, a man dressed in mourning garments was brought in by his younger cousin.

It turned out that a family living west of Shiliyng was holding a funeral, and their children, eager to demonstrate their filial piety, wanted friends and relatives to try the pea shoots.

Yu Yang, respecting the gravity of death, had to pacify the vegetable vendors and went out to speak with the mourners.

He sold them ten baskets at a wholesale price of 90 yuan each.

Although the price was the same as the vegetable vendors’, they didn’t have to wait in line.

Otherwise, by the time their turn came, it would be two days later before they could get the goods.

After seeing the customer off and preparing to return inside, the vegetable vendor who had earlier gifted him a pack of Soft Huaxia cigarettes returned.

Behind him were two middle-aged men with simple faces but bearing a heavy look of weariness.

Upon seeing Yu Yang, one of them immediately took out a pack of Soft Huaxia cigarettes.

“Brother Yu!”

Yu Yang declined, knowing that accepting such gifts often came with strings attached.

In these times, a pack of Soft Huaxia cigarettes was enough to make a county official run errands back and forth.

“Just last night we hauled away 20 baskets. Already sold out so fast?”

“To be honest, when I left it was already pitch dark. Thinking it unsafe to travel at night, I went back to fetch my brother-in-law and my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law. We headed south all night until we reached Quanpu Township. Business there was booming; they were still busy at midnight. When they heard we had pea shoots, a boss bought them all.”

Yu Yang knew Quanpu.

It was a township in Shuibo Liang County, destined to be known as the eastern hub of trailers.

If it weren’t too far from Shiliyng and if Sixth Uncle hadn’t ordered custom truck beds for five large tractors, they would have gone there.

“Brother Yu, I can’t handle business there alone, so I brought my brother-in-law and his brother-in-law. This time we want 200 baskets.”

“That’s no small number.”

It wasn’t that Yu Yang didn’t want to supply them.

But driving long distances for business was too risky these days.

Hadn’t the bustling Buddha Temple police station even hung banners warning: Robbing police vehicles is a crime!

Two hundred baskets of pea shoots amounted to 18,000 yuan in goods. With the vendors’ profit added, the risk of something happening on the way there or back was high.

If anything went wrong, three families would be ruined.

Of course, Yu Yang wasn’t just being kindhearted.

He simply didn’t want to lose a familiar channel.

The vendors understood and whispered, “My brother-in-law and my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law both know martial arts. We’ve hidden three shotguns on the truck. If we’re careful, nothing serious will happen.”

“If you’re confident, I’ll give you the goods.” Yu Yang pocketed the pack of cigarettes.

“Brother Yu, wait a moment. We have a proposal.”

“Go ahead.”

“We’ll give you a 100,000 yuan deposit. From now on, we’ll load up and leave immediately. After we sell the goods, we’ll deposit the money in the local credit cooperative. This way, we won’t have to carry cash back and forth. When your deposit falls short of the goods’ cost, we’ll transfer another 100,000 yuan. How’s that?”

“As long as you’re trustworthy, it’s fine.”

“Of course we trust you. Your dreams are so grand; we want to share in the glory.”

“Let’s get rich together and drink to it when we have the chance.”

“Definitely!”

Yu Yang immediately climbed to the second floor and announced through the loudspeaker, “Boss Han from Han Village, deposit of 100,000 yuan, first to pick up goods, 200 baskets.”

Immediately, a small red flag waved from the plastic greenhouse, signaling acknowledgment.

The vegetable vendors waiting in line were stunned.

Then they suddenly surged toward the courtyard in a black wave.

“I can pay the deposit too! Give me pea shoots first!”

“You should have said earlier. I waited all night...”

“I’m going to get money right now...”

...

The next day.

Yu Yang admitted he had been lazy.

That day,

he found himself in the study on the second floor of the small Western-style house.

Lying prone on the village chief’s desk,

basking in the warmth of the small iron stove.

Occasionally sipping some Tieguanyin tea.

At noon, he ate a small stir-fry at the lamb soup restaurant.

In the afternoon, took a nap, then sat in the corridor to soak up some sun.

Life was wonderfully comfortable.

“Fallen!”

“In the end, I couldn’t resist the sugary artillery of capitalism.”

That night,

Yu Yang sat on his bed, a stack of blue renminbi bills piled before him.

The money earned from the market days ago was long gone.

He had ordered coal, bought red bricks, purchased iron stoves, bamboo strips, and plastic sheets...

Also, part of the money from yesterday’s shipments went into building the “fake plastic greenhouses,” and part was taken by Sixth Uncle to custom-build tractor beds.

So, yesterday’s shipment totaled 68,000 yuan.

Today’s shipment, with an additional 20 heated brick beds, totaled 140,000 yuan.

Plus 64 more heated brick beds remodeled at 1,500 yuan each, totaling 96,000 yuan.

And vegetable vendor deposits reached 580,000 yuan.

In all: 884,000 yuan.

Looking at the final figures, Yu Yang suddenly recalled another time and place.

That year, he and Old Yu had just started a construction team and took on a substation rebuilding project.

At first, relations with the client were good.

But later, despite having done everything, the client found fault everywhere, refusing to pay the final installment.

Since it was their first engineering job, with little experience, they couldn’t make money without that final payment, nor pay their workers.

To get the final payment, the two of them begged endlessly, enduring wind and sun, even standing in the rain outside the power supply bureau.

Finally, they got the final payment.

But lost the qualification to contract power projects forever.

And that year, they had barely made three thousand yuan.

Looking back now...

“Comfortable!”

Yu Yang leaned back, thinking deeply.

Then suddenly sprang up to find a woven sack, stuffed all the cash inside.

He called two strong men through the loudspeaker, and with his eldest brother for protection, headed straight to Shiliyng.