Chapter 26: Returning Home
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Highway, Section 385.
A dignified, domineering AMG Mercedes sedan sat pulled over on the roadside, hazard lights flashing.
Yuyang and the township chief leaned against the guardrail, smoking post-coital cigarettes.
After an impassioned night, once things had finally quieted down, they remembered that five people had set out, but only three had come back.
What a mess...
Yuyang tilted his head toward the starry sky. “The deputy township chief called from a public phone the day before yesterday and yesterday. I told him everything was proceeding as usual and that the two of them should keep shopping at the mall. They should be all right.”
The township chief had no idea how to deal with the situation either.
The township was too poor to afford mobile phones.
If Yuyang had not owned a brick phone, the two sides would have had no way to maintain even one-way contact.
Still, the deputy township chief, the director of the investment promotion office, and the township chief himself had long since appeared on the list of Liao City’s investment authorities.
The two men certainly would not stay in one hotel every day and wait to be arrested. They would change lodgings from time to time.
That should keep them safe.
The township chief felt somewhat reassured. “Forget it. We’ll leave it to fate.”
Yuyang thought for a moment. “The glass factory director and the owner of the plastics factory both have acquaintances in Liao City. I’ll have them look for a Beijing 212 and see if they can warn the two men.”
“That works.”
Meanwhile.
The five tractor-trailers that had arrived one after another at Section 385 began unloading under the busy supervision of the strongmen.
One heavy piece of machinery after another was carried off the highway, then transported by villagers and vegetable merchants who had been waiting for a long time, moving in endless streams like ants carrying food back to their nest, all the way to the Ten-Mile Camp Grain Depot.
The scene resembled the era of communal meals, when the entire township had joined together to dredge the riverbed. It perfectly demonstrated the meaning of “strength in numbers.”
In less than an hour, even the five tractor-trailers and the AMG Mercedes were carried down to the provincial road below.
Seeing that everything was finally finished, Yuyang sighed. “Although that bridge opening has made life unbearable for Ten-Mile Camp, having a highway is still better than not having one.”
The township chief wholeheartedly agreed. “The vegetable merchants do have some trouble getting on and off the highway. Later, I’ll have someone fill in the slope and remove the guardrail so their vehicles can drive straight up.”
“...What?”
Yuyang was stunned.
Were they planning to build an entrance and exit exclusively for Ten-Mile Camp?
And make it free?
The township chief was delighted by the young man’s expression.
In the past, he certainly would not have dared to do such a thing.
But after this trip, he had broadened his horizons.
At the same time, he had come to understand something.
As a manager, if you were timid and hesitant, you would never find a way forward.
You had to act boldly, decisively, and ruthlessly.
After all, this was western Lu Province. This was Ten-Mile Camp.
A barefoot man had nothing to fear from one wearing shoes. The township chief had already shown considerable respect to the highway authorities by not making the villagers squat on the highway day and night to guard it.
Thinking this over, the township chief suddenly realized that he had finally grasped the secret of leadership.
“Yes, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll build an entrance and exit ramp, and the whole township can use it for free!”
“...”
The township chief had spoken. What could Yuyang say?
It was beneficial to their own side, after all.
And if the matter grew serious, even if someone ended up behind bars, it certainly would not be one of them.
“The problem is, once we get on the highway and reach our destination, how do we get off?”
“When we’re close to the destination, we unload the cargo on the highway, tear down the center barrier, make a U-turn, and come back.”
“What a magnificent leader!”
If people in this era had understood what “666” meant, Yuyang was sure he could have shouted himself hoarse.
Now that was what he called a good leader devoted to economic development!
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...
The following morning.
The deputy township chief and the director of the investment promotion office finally returned safely.
That also brought this investment drive to a successful conclusion.
At noon.
The celebration banquet was held at Corner Tower Restaurant.
Corner Tower took its name from the bend in the provincial road.
And that bend had been created by Pingdong Lake.
When the provincial road was first planned, the higher authorities had intended to run it straight through the heart of East Mountain Province.
But when the route reached Pingdong County and continued westward, it encountered Pingdong Lake.
Pingdong Lake was a reservoir formed by the Yellow River. Its total area far exceeded the legendary Eight-Hundred-Li Marsh, stretching more than twelve hundred li.
The provincial road could not cross the lake because no bridge could be built over it, so it followed the southern shore, detoured through Shuibo Liang County, and then continued westward. The overall route resembled a backward zigzag.
That was how the bend came into being.
For the same reason, diners seated on the second floor of Corner Tower could see Pingdong Lake shimmering in the distance.
Unfortunately, the amount of water in the lake rose and fell with the Yellow River’s flow.
During wet periods—such as the great flood that broke out in the middle of this year—it completely submerged Ten-Mile Camp.
During dry periods—such as the severe drought five years ago—the area of Ten-Mile Camp expanded fivefold, gaining more than ten thousand mu of paddy fields. This had led to a war with Little Lake Town to the east over control of the new farmland.
The current leadership of Ten-Mile Camp had taken office after that incident.
After all, it had not merely been a quarrel.
“Little Yu, come on, have a drink!” The director of the investment promotion office was so delighted he scarcely knew which way was up, and the smile on his face showed no sign of fading.
“Of course, of course. It was all thanks to your capable leadership.”
“Listen to you... This afternoon, I’ll go to the county seat and take care of the paperwork for Three-Yuan Agriculture.”
“Thank you, Director!”
Naturally, after successfully attracting investment, they had to report their achievements to Pingdong County.
Once they had achievements to present, they could make requests. How could the higher authorities refuse?
Thus, host and guests alike enjoyed themselves immensely.
Even the township Party secretary, who had gone to another region to attract investment, called to offer his congratulations.
“Beautifully done!”
...
After the meal.
Yuyang went to the Ten-Mile Camp Grain Depot.
The glass factory had been assigned the southeastern corner, with fifty rooms at its disposal. Once the township completed the paperwork, this would become the factory site.
At the same time, the township had handed the glass factory several small and medium-sized orders, all for drinking glasses.
Their own strongmen had been assigned the eastern side of the depot, with a hundred rooms at their disposal. The site was about five hundred meters from the small villa, or less than three hundred meters away if one climbed over the wall.
As for the plastics factory, it had no molds for the bean-sprout packaging boxes. After losing its orders from Liao City and East Mountain Prefecture, it had switched to producing instant-noodle containers and fast-food boxes, which proved difficult to sell.
The equipment had temporarily been hauled to the agricultural machinery station for maintenance.
Once the molds arrived, it would be moved to the parking lot in Yu Family Village. A few rooms would be found at random, and production would resume.
In truth, most of the employees at both factories were unwilling to remain in impoverished Ten-Mile Camp.
But returning home meant unemployment, so they could only take things one step at a time.
After familiarizing himself with the situation, Yuyang returned to the small villa.
Before he had even entered the courtyard, he looked up and saw the village’s highly respected old Party secretary lovingly running his hand over the three-pointed star emblem on the AMG Mercedes.
“This is a fine car. A powerful car.”
“Do you know what kind of car it is?”
“Of course I do.” The old Party secretary pointed toward a distant North-Benz heavy truck that looked much like a Steyr. “Look, the emblem is exactly the same. Mercedes-Benz!”
Yuyang blinked at that. “They are indeed the same brand.”
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“Village chief, can this car haul cargo?” The old Party secretary seemed to have become even more absent-minded.
Yuyang handed him a cigarette and called out loudly, “Of course it can. Hook up a trailer and it can go anywhere. Not only that, it can even plow your fields.”
“Fine car, fine car!”
“Come on, I’ll take you for a spin on the highway.”
“No, no. I’m old, and I’m afraid I’ll wet myself in the car.”
“That’s not a problem... Hey, hey! I said I’d let you sit in it, not drive it. Damn, it can drift too?”
...
Yu Family Village.
Three days passed. Five plastic greenhouses, supported by steel frames, had already been welded together and covered with plastic sheeting.
The two additional giant heated brick beds were still under construction.
The parking lot converted from the experimental fields, along with the surrounding buildings, was likewise a hive of activity.
Yuyang wandered around the various construction sites, as though he had returned to the entrepreneurial days of another life, transformed into a young and promising construction foreman.
At that moment, Uncle Six came hurrying after him.
“Three-Yuan, wait.”
“What is it?”
“I told you before that the people in Team One wanted to renovate their heated brick beds too. They sent me quite a few gifts, but nothing has happened on your end.”
“Oh, sorry. I got busy and forgot.”
Yuyang immediately arranged for his brothers to go provide the service.
Uncle Six took the opportunity to pull out several bundles of banknotes. “Sixty-seven households, fifteen hundred yuan per household, for a total of one hundred thousand five hundred.”
“Put it into the accounts. Once the funds are sufficient, transfer five hundred thousand yuan to the Liao City Auto Trading Center.”
“Understood.”
Yuyang said goodbye to Uncle Six and returned to the small villa.
He had just finished a round of Snow Bros. when two strings of translucent characters appeared in his field of vision.
[You have occupied more than half of the buildings and land in the current area, Yu Family Village.]
[Conditions fulfilled. The final battle is unlocked!]
The next moment.
A scene of ancient warriors charging across a battlefield appeared before Yuyang’s eyes, with countless minions on either side waving flags and cheering them on.
“Charge!”
“Kill!”
“Take everything!”
Amid the shouts, the scene shifted into a three-dimensional aerial view of Yu Family Village.
Immediately afterward, a red symbol of crossed swords appeared over the old Party secretary’s house.
[Conquer this location to obtain the town center of the current area, Yu Family Village.]
Yuyang froze slightly.
He had once considered taking over the village chief’s house in order to obtain the town center.
But even after hanging the village chief up and beating him, then installing a heated brick bed in the chief’s ancestral home, he had received no improvement whatsoever.
Later, he had occupied the small villa, but that had been even less useful.
Now it seemed that the quiet, unassuming old Party secretary was the greatest boss in the village.
The problem was that the old Party secretary had a shotgun.
Yuyang pondered for a moment before a flash of inspiration struck him.
He rose to his feet and charged downstairs, wailing loudly.
“My Mercedes, worth two hundred and twenty thousand yuan! How did you manage to scratch it?!”
“Oh, my poor heart!”