Chapter 13: The Emergence of Capital in Yu Family Village

The next day.

Liu Danian, the county branch manager who remained in Shiliying to handle affairs related to the brick kiln, stopped by the roadside to buy breakfast. Before deciding what to eat, he overheard people quietly talking in line to buy fried dough sticks.

"Such a huge bag, and it's all money!"

"Even two strong men had trouble carrying it."

"My goodness, it must be worth several million!"

"Yeah, it's packed in fertilizer bags—no fear of spilling."

"Even if it spilled, you wouldn’t dare snatch it. One punch from those strong men and you'd be out for life."

"Yu Yang has a good temper. When Huang Mazi raided Old Yu’s place before, this time Yu Yang brought so many people, settled everything with interest, left the money, and walked away."

"If it were me, I’d have torn Huang Mazi’s house down."

"Good temper? You haven’t seen how badly Liu Gouzi got beaten. After Yu Yang paid back the money, he slapped Liu Gouzi’s mouth so hard it swelled up."

"Serves him right for his foul mouth."

"I wonder what Zhang Hai will do."

"Zhang Hai’s a good guy and didn’t bully anyone. He didn’t need to run. I heard Old Yu lent him 50,000 yuan, and Yu Yang paid back 60,000."

"Who would’ve thought growing bean sprouts could be so profitable? The kid got rich in just a few days."

"Yeah, a whole bag of money—paid off debts and still had more than half left. I’m jealous just watching."

Liu Danian already knew Yu Yang was working on bean sprouts and that many people were queuing up with cars. Still, he never imagined Yu Yang would make so much money and even clear private loans with plenty left over.

If the bank had taken the brick kiln a few days later, Yu Yang might have secured a 200,000-yuan loan and wouldn’t have had to worry about the kiln.

“Greed!” Liu Danian recognized where the problem lay.

It was because the village chief wanted to buy the brick kiln for 250,000 yuan—200,000 to cover the loan and 50,000 extra for the bank to split. Otherwise, a branch manager like him wouldn’t have gotten involved.

Now, it was like being trapped by stocks.

Of course, Liu Danian wasn’t in a hurry to sell the brick kiln. Its value was at least in the millions. It could sit there as fixed assets, and the higher-ups wouldn’t blame him. It was just that no one wanted to buy it now, so it couldn’t be converted to cash.

Listening to the chatter, Liu Danian finished his fried dough sticks and spicy soup, then headed back to the small inn.

Halfway there, he looked up.

Snow was falling.

---

At the village chief’s small Western-style house.

Yu Yang had spent the whole night clearing the private loans that Old Yu had taken to repair the brick kiln.

With that done, he felt the relief of being debt-free and slept soundly.

He didn’t expect to wake up late at noon. Drawing back the curtain, he saw the ground outside had already turned white.

“Snow?”

His bean sprouts needed sunlight, and now with snow, the financial prospects looked bleak.

Yu Yang put on his military cotton coat and hurried to his courtyard.

There, over eighty strong men were crowded inside the plastic greenhouse, busy at work.

“Almost forgot. Yesterday, 64 villagers remodeled their kang beds, effectively taking over 64 houses. That means we have 64 new farmers.”

“So, if each farmer holds one mu of land, our improved farmland can expand to 6.4 mu.”

“Adding the previous 2.5 mu, total production is nearly tripled…”

As Yu Yang pondered, he stepped inside the greenhouse to check on the bean sprouts.

Surprisingly, they were still growing.

“I thought they needed ample sunlight to mature. How can photosynthesis continue without sunlight?”

His eldest brother looked at him as if he were crazy. “No sunlight? Wouldn’t it be pitch black, darker than night?”

“Exactly!”

Yu Yang suddenly realized: although it was snowing and the sun couldn’t be seen, daylight still provided light—and that was still sunlight.

Soon, Yu Yang noticed the bean sprouts were growing much faster.

This time he didn’t ask his brother but observed quietly.

In the left area with two farmers, the surrounding soybeans’ maturation time was halved—from 30 days to 15 days. The bean sprouts’ harvest time likely dropped from five hours to two and a half.

In the right area with five farmers, the nearby soybeans matured significantly faster—now only six days.

In the southern area with ten farmers, the bean sprouts still took six days to mature.

Yu Yang understood.

The farmers’ role was to accelerate crop growth.

Increasing the number of farmers in a single plot of land compounded this effect but had a limit—it couldn’t produce instant yields.

After some thought, Yu Yang envisioned an assembly line.

If the improved farmland was divided into a dozen or so small plots, and the number of farmers in each plot reached the limit, the growth speed of the bean sprouts could be maximized.

That meant harvesting once every hour.

When Area A matured, the farmers would move to Area B.

Workers would harvest Area A while Area B matured; then farmers would transfer to Area C.

They would continue harvesting Area B while Area C matured; then farmers would move to Area D, and workers would return to Area A to spread fermented manure for fertilization...

Previously, they planted everything at once, waited for full growth, then the strong men rested while two younger cousins harvested, and after finishing, the farmers would start planting again.

Now, it would be an assembly line.

With 89 strong men working 2.5 mu of farmland from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., total output could at least triple, possibly even quintuple.

The only question was whether the brothers would be willing.

This 5-6-7 shift was far harsher than any 9-9-6.

Additionally, with production soaring, they needed to conceal it.

For example, they could claim some bean sprouts came from plastic greenhouses on barren land to the north, used for concentrated warming.

After Sixth Uncle secured large tractor trailers, they began transporting goods overnight.

With money in hand, they planned to buy several batches of second-hand farm tractors, customize trailers, and expand the fleet.

As for why second-hand vehicles were preferred...

These days, roads were rough. Even new vehicles quickly became old.

After careful study, Yu Yang found these plans feasible.

He immediately called his eldest brother to start measuring.

Once the farmland was divided, large plywood sheets would be delivered from the lumber mill to separate the plots.

Then, they would recruit dozens of young women from the village to handle harvesting and basket packing.

Another dozen or so laborers would be hired for transportation and loading.

A few elderly men would take charge of fermenting fertilizer and spreading manure.

Since this was an assembly line, wages would be piece-based, not daily.

Two cents for filling a basket at harvest.

One cent for loading a basket onto a vehicle.

One yuan for fertilizing and leveling a plot.

Yu Yang announced the details over the village loudspeakers.

Soon, men, women, young and old flooded into the village chief’s small Western-style house.

“San Yuan, Grandma’s only 65, still a young woman.”

“You should go watch the show at Sixth Uncle’s house. I’ll take care of your food and clothing from now on.”

“San Yuan, if I go to work, what about the kang bed at home?”

“Like Sixth Uncle, you don’t have to worry about it. I’ll sell the bean sprouts for you. Wait for your money at the end of the month.”

The booming bean sprout industry even drew interest from the village chief’s faction.

The village chief’s second cousin stammered, “Can I sign up?”

“As long as you have good character, are quick and hardworking, no one will be turned away.”

“Ah!”

Of course, the second cousin’s move displeased many in the village chief’s camp.

“Lackey!”

“Traitor!”

“Betrayer!”

The second cousin said, “I asked the vegetable vendors. They take 750 baskets in the morning and 750 in the afternoon. When the five plastic greenhouses in the north come online, that’s 1,500 times five—7,500 baskets daily.

Loading pays one cent per basket. We’re hiring 15 laborers. If I stick with it, I can earn 50 yuan a day. Where else can you find work like this?”

The village chief’s cousins and uncles immediately turned pale.

These days, city salaried jobs paid only five or six hundred yuan monthly.

Village wages were even lower. Except for those traveling far to construction sites, villagers working nearby barely made five yuan a day and were thankful for that.

Now, a job paying 50 yuan a day was right in front of them...

“Village Chief!”

“Village Chief, I want to sign up too!”

“Village Chief, your small Western-style house is so beautiful!”