Chapter 20: The Computer Is So Much Fun

The journey back was far from easy.

With the snow yet to melt, the local strongmen who helped out had returned to Yu Family Village on the very night the scuffle ended. This meant that the five agricultural tricycles stranded in the county seat, laden with 100 fragile "computers," crawled along at a snail's pace, only arriving at the gate of the small villa by late afternoon.

Such a conspicuous spectacle drew the attention not only of the residents along Shili Camp Road but also of the idle vegetable peddlers, who gathered to watch.

"So, these are computers?"
"I heard they're called calculators at school, though these models look a bit strange."
"They must be the latest version!"

The villagers were not well-informed; they had barely seen black-and-white televisions, let alone computers, and certainly couldn't distinguish these from large color TVs. Even those who had purchased color TVs—like Old Han’s partner, the owner of the trailer business in Quanpu—were thoroughly convinced, seeing the "Win" icon under the screen, the brand-new keyboards and mice, and the various promotional stickers for 3Dfx Voodoo graphics cards, nVIDIA Riva 128 cards, and AMD K6 processors.

My second eldest brother had spent two days in the county and gained quite a bit of knowledge. After placing his own computer, keyboard, and mouse in the villa, he rushed to the plastic greenhouses without pause. While working on the bean sprouts with the men who had returned earlier, he began to brag.

"I had the boss buy each of us a computer."
"What’s a computer?"
"It’s a mechanical brain powered by electricity. We press buttons to make it work, and we can play games on it—it’s incredibly fun. Each one costs over twenty thousand."
"The boss is generous!"
The men worked even harder.

Yu Yang, however, dared not rest. Passing through Shili Camp, he got off the vehicle early to visit a video shop, rummaging through stacks of Subor game cartridges—*Contra*, *Double Dragon*, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, *Snow Bros*... He eventually pried open the plastic shells, keeping only the integrated circuit boards inside.

By the time he returned to the villa, it was already evening. The two-story building had eleven usable rooms, but with over sixty men staying there, it was packed. In the room where my second brother was staying, a dozen men slept on floor mats, each with a "computer" at the foot of their bedding. They sat cross-legged on the floor, keyboards on their laps, clutching game controllers with mice sitting to the side.

My second brother, imitating the city folk, turned on the screen and booted up the main unit. Yet, looking at the startup screen, he felt something wasn't quite right.

"Hey, Boss, you're back! Take a look—did we set these up correctly?"
"Yes!"
"But why does the screen look different from the ones in town, and where are the shooting and fighting games?"
"Because you haven't installed the memory sticks."

Yu Yang took the integrated circuit boards from the game cartridges, wiped the gold contacts, and pressed them into the cartridge slots of the Subor learning machines. The next moment, the screen flickered and changed.

"Oh! It works!" My second brother was overjoyed.

Yu Yang flipped through the Subor packaging, found the "learning cards," and unpacked them as well. "Whenever you want to practice typing, just swap to these 'memory sticks'."
"Understood, Boss."
"Don't play too long; it's bad for your eyes. You still have to work tomorrow."
"We definitely won't let it interfere with growing the bean sprouts!"

Yu Yang nodded and distributed the other "memory sticks." Soon, the brothers entered gaming mode. "I've had such a hard time!" they exclaimed.

***

The next morning. "Time to start work!"

With the call of a few mountain thrushes, a shout rang out through Yu Family Village. In an instant, aunties in headscarves, young brides in floral cotton jackets, youths in military-style cotton coats, and middle-aged laborers in fleece-lined caps stepped out of their courtyards and headed north. The vegetable peddlers, who had been waiting for a long time, happily cranked up their farm machinery and drove along the cleared dirt road toward the north end of the village.

"Money on the left, pick up goods on the right, exit the village to the west."

Yu Yang walked into his alleyway, yawning, and heard Uncle Six shouting from afar. Two sets of tables and chairs had been set up at the gate: three middle-aged men were busy collecting money, keeping accounts, and writing receipts.

Uncle Six waved at his nephew. "Sanyuan, when did you get back?"
"Last night."
"Why are you so tired?"
"Played 'computers' for half the night. I'll go take a nap later."
"We bought computers?" Uncle Six, trying to keep up with the times, had been watching foreign films and knew what computers were. "Teach me how to use them when you have a moment. I heard they're starting to use computers for accounting over in America."
"That's probably called computerized accounting or information management."

Yu Yang had considered buying real computers, but they were farmers—they didn't need them yet, and no one knew how to use them. If they just sat there gathering dust, they’d be obsolete by next year. So, he would buy them when the time was right.

During their chat, Uncle Six pulled two ledgers from his briefcase. "Want to see the expenses from the last two days?"
"You keep track of it; I'm not that free."
"The expenses have been high—nearly two hundred thousand spent on miscellaneous things."
"What for?"

Yu Yang took the ledger and flipped through it. The costs included steel supports for the new greenhouses, two-story buildings for technicians and peddlers, and stabilizing the parking lot with rammed earth. There were also sixty thousand red bricks, fifteen tons of cement, twenty tons of sand and gravel, three tons of steel bars, and all the electrical components, along with daily necessities like boots, coats, and toiletries.

Yu Yang let it go in one ear and out the other. He did some mental math. They had started with 884,000, repaid some loans, and had seen a steady stream of income from the bean sprout sales. After accounting for all expenses, he had roughly 1.77 million left.

"Uncle Six," Yu Yang said, "since we've hired an accountant, everything must be recorded—even a needle or a pen—to make it easier to transition into a proper company later."
"You can trust your uncle."

Uncle Six opened his briefcase again. "Also, many people at the east end of the village want to renovate their heated brick beds. Because of our past differences, they've sent me quite a few gifts. Counting the cigarettes and liquor, it’s worth at least twenty thousand."
"Keep it. From now on, you can accept such things, but handle the matters as you see fit."
"I understand. We’ve come a long way, and we have to cherish it."
"That's not what I mean. I mean, you are the legal representative of the company."

Yu Yang patted Uncle Six on the shoulder and walked into the greenhouse. His brothers were working hard, fueled by the prospect of finishing their chores to get back to their games. Yu Yang felt a sense of relief.

He then headed to the north end of the village. Five old greenhouses remained collapsed under the snow, but the new ones were already being reinforced with steel. Just then, a Beijing 212 jeep pulled into the alley. The investment promotion director was driving, with the deputy township head in the passenger seat. The township head, sitting in the back, poked his head out.

"Little Yu, your father's hearing is tomorrow. Why didn't you go to the county?"
"It's been delayed. Not sure when it'll be."
"That's a good sign; it means there's a chance for a turnaround."
"I hope so... What brings you here?"
"Checking the damage from the snow. Since you're not busy, why not come with us to take care of some business?"
"Where to?"
"Liao City to the north."
"The roads are bad. I'm not going."
"Come on, let's go now. It's a two-hour trip. We'll be back soon. Trust me, there's a benefit in it for you."
"What kind of benefit?"
"You've been looking for a warehouse, right? The grain depot has plenty of vacant space—about 150 units. I can authorize renting them all to you. Plus, they have concrete floors and are close to your villa. The peddlers can park their trucks there."
"Deal!"

Building up Yu Family Village would take time, and renting the grain depot was the perfect solution. Yu Yang immediately called his eldest brother to get in the car, squeezing into the back seat with the township head.