Chapter 16: The Triple Triumph

Big Brother left.

He climbed onto the highway.

He climbed into the cab of the semi-trailer.

But Big Brother is a farmer; he doesn’t know how to drive.

Fortunately, Old Han’s brother-in-law finally woke up.

So the semi-trailer continued steadily northbound...

Of course, it would exit the highway at the next interchange.

After all, their family had no business dealings with Walmart.

Moreover, whether Walmart even existed in the capital was still unknown.

Yu Yang stayed at the scene, leading a group of officials to inspect the massive heated brick bed, earning unanimous praise.

Since so many bean sprouts had been crushed in the overturned vehicle, they could easily make up for the loss.

Therefore, that afternoon, after road administration and highway management officials reported the severity of the situation to their superiors, they obtained highway passage permits. (At this time, there was no green channel yet.)

Unfortunately, their unlicensed tractors were not allowed on the highway.

By evening,

after discussion, the officials determined that the main responsibility for the highway accident lay with Dong Jian, contractor of section 385, due to non-compliant construction.

The bridge hole obstructing the provincial road’s widening served as tangible evidence.

How serious the problem was still required further investigation, verification, and discussion...

Then the matter would be handed over to Dong Jian’s superiors for personal review.

Dinner was held inside a plastic greenhouse.

Yu Yang arranged for an electric line, installed lights, and brought in several cast-iron stoves for warmth.

“So you’re Yu Jianjun’s son; the notices your seventh and eighth uncles received—I was the one who delivered them,” the county militia officer said kindly.

The highest-ranking official present spoke up, and after some thought, the road administration leader said, “I remember now—your father contracted the brick kiln at Shiliying, which was later destroyed by flooding. Is your father alright now?”

“In detention; his trial is next week.”

The officer asked in confusion, “How did he end up there?”

“He was falsely accused of stealing state land, failing emission standards, and misappropriating collective assets.”

“That’s problematic.”

No one unrelated to the family wanted to get involved, especially since it concerned misappropriation of collective property.

The real trouble was the latter charge.

While theft of land or emission violations could be fined, collective dissatisfaction often led to unrest.

If the matter made the newspapers, it would inevitably cause negative publicity.

Yu Yang took it in stride, raising his glass: “It’s fine. The brick kiln was handed over to the bank as debt repayment. My father will be out after a few years. I’m growing bean sprouts now, earning money to repay the debt. This issue will pass.”

“Well accomplished for your age,” the officer nodded. “Load a few baskets later; I’ll take them back and pay market price.”

“Me too,” the road official quickly added, winking.

Yu Yang understood immediately.

Although the officer and road official wished to avoid entanglement, they were willing to recommend Yu Yang to influential superiors.

After all, bean sprouts in the dead of winter always attracted some attention.

When the superiors sampled them out of curiosity, they would soon learn about Yu Yang.

Then casual conversation at the dinner table might touch on topics like making money from bean sprouts and selling them to save his father.

The superiors might then ask why the father needed saving.

The officer or road official would explain his father’s situation.

What the superiors thought afterward was beyond their control.

It depended on how much weight Yu Yang carried in their eyes.

...

That night,

the officials returned to the county town one after another.

Zhang Hai fulfilled his promise, giving Old Han and the semi-trailer owner a total of 50,000 yuan, plus another 20,000 as compensation.

Yu Yang, acting as intermediary, provided 1,000 baskets of bean sprouts, receiving 90,000 yuan in payment.

Zhang Hai was quite envious.

Perhaps their meeting was fate.

When the semi-trailer owner learned Zhang Hai was involved in private lending, he immediately invited him to join.

Of course, it wasn’t about lending money.

The semi-trailer owner’s boxing gym was full of trailers, and both he and Old Han needed funds.

Zhang Hai and his men happened to know how to operate trailers, so who would refuse?

Thus, Old Han’s bean sprout transport team’s overall strength multiplied severalfold.

At least Zhang Hai was indeed wealthy.

The two semi-trailers damaged on the highway needed towing but were instead physically carried down by over eighty strong men.

They were pushed to a farm machinery repair shop where, with much clanging and banging, they were temporarily fixed.

At least they could be driven back to the boxing gym for major repairs.

The bean sprouts left on the highway were hauled away by two other semi-trailers called by the semi-trailer owner, meeting up at the next interchange with the one Big Brother drove, then continuing toward the capital.

This roughly aligned with the officials’ intentions.

Zhang Hai and his men stayed behind at Shiliying with Old Han and the semi-trailer owner.

They waited for new semi-trailers sent by the boxing gym to load 1,000 baskets of bean sprouts before making further plans.

Perhaps heading to the capital, or to Tianjin port, or maybe to Dongshan Prefecture.

But this presented Yu Yang with an urgent problem to solve.

That was packaging.

Woven baskets couldn’t lock in moisture, and they were unwilling to use fertilizer plastic bags.

After much thought, only foam boxes remained an option.

However, foam boxes nowadays were not like those in the future.

A single insulated ice cream box cost seventy or eighty yuan.

Without insulated boxes, just crude foam boxes would crumble after only a few moves.

Even if wrapped thickly in tape, their load-bearing capacity was very limited.

If they used high-quality foam boxes, the cost would be too high.

“It seems I need to go into town with Sixth Uncle tomorrow.”

“Otherwise, no matter how much I think it through, it just can’t be done nowadays.”

Yu Yang turned off the plastic greenhouse lights and returned to the small Western-style house with his second brother.

After the sudden event, Yu’s village was calm once more.

But the wind was stronger, and the snow heavier.

Vegetable vendors waiting in line had to wrap themselves in quilts and crawl under their vehicles to light fires and keep warm.

Yu Yang couldn’t bear to watch and urged everyone to detour through the wheat fields to the plastic greenhouse in the northern wasteland for shelter.

Then they would tally up losses in the wheat fields and compensate villagers the next day.

Back at the small Western-style house,

Yu Yang gathered several key village members chosen that day.

For example, the female group leader, male group leader, vehicle order management leader, heated brick bed management leader, coal and other procurement leader, plastic greenhouse expansion leader...

“We must build a parking lot.”

“At least separate people from vehicles so vendors can rest properly—they still need to rush to the market the next day.”

“But resting requires housing. Construction is already too late, so let’s clear some yards in the village and convert them into rental housing.”

“Also, we need a team to watch over the vehicles. Bring out the real enforcers—if anyone dares to steal, beat them up first, but aim carefully.”

After discussion, the group responded:

“The experimental fields on both sides of the provincial road belong to our village. The village chief’s small Western-style house was built by converting experimental fields into homesteads. Why don’t we reclaim all experimental fields for the collective to build the Yu family village parking lot?”

“This way, the parking lot won’t be far from the village. We can renovate the lonely elderly’s houses to the west, break down dividing walls, and convert them into rental units.”

“However, the village’s old men and women might object, especially the widows—there could be trouble.”

Yu Yang thought it over.

“I’ll rent the experimental fields for 100 yuan per mu annually; that’s already generous.”

“I’ll rent the lonely elderly’s houses on a voluntary basis, but they must be concentrated. Remember, vegetable vendors come in all kinds.”

The female group leader suggested, “I think we should have the old party secretary intervene.”

“He doesn’t even recognize me anymore...”

“You’re Sanyuan, right? When you were little, your handwriting was so ugly you wrote Yu Yang as Yu Sanyuan. On the first day of first grade, the school broadcast called for Yu Sanyuan several times, but you never showed up. Eventually, half the township knew.”

“Oh dear, Old Master, what a surprise to see you!”

Yu Yang welcomed the old party secretary to sit. “Don’t listen to them. My childhood nickname was actually given by a great monk, who said I was connected to the number three and named me ‘Sanyuan.’ It’s just that my grandfather was illiterate and misheard it as ‘Sanyuan.’”

“Your grandfather was the accountant for our Second Team; how could he be illiterate? And ‘Sanyuan’—I haven’t seen any connection between you and the number three.”

“Who says? I truly have a connection with three.”

“In what way?”

“The company I later established is called Sanyuan Agriculture!”