Chapter 77

With just a few days left until the Spring Festival of 1979, the workers at the watch factory had already been given a holiday. This year, the villagers could all look forward to a happy and fulfilling holiday, as Lin Qiangsheng had given each worker two months' salary plus a bonus, totaling 50 yuan!

When had the villagers ever received such a large sum of money? The news of the salary distribution had even stirred the entire village! The scene of the salary distribution was packed with people, with workers crowding inside the factory and villagers of all ages standing outside to watch. Lin Qiangsheng personally called out each name, and when a name was called, the worker would loudly respond, "Here!" They would then step forward with a smile to collect their salary. Lin Qiangsheng would hand the salary to the worker personally and encourage them, "Well done! Keep up the good work next year!"

The workers who had received their salaries were beaming with joy, while those who hadn't yet received theirs craned their necks to see. At the factory gate, villagers of all ages gathered, and every time a name was called, they would laugh and chatter loudly. After receiving their salaries, the workers would squeeze out of the crowd, and upon exiting the factory gate, their families would greet them with smiles, and the whole family would laugh together, walking home in a joyful group.

Xu Zengliang was also overjoyed. His two sons and one daughter had collectively received 150 yuan in salaries! How could he not be happy? His salary as the village party secretary was less than his children's monthly earnings. He hadn't saved 150 yuan in a whole year!

After all the salaries were distributed and the workers had left, Lin Qiangsheng packed the last batch of watches into boxes and loaded them onto the back of his car.

Xu Zengliang, pulling his eldest daughter Xu Yingchun, walked up to Lin Qiangsheng and said with a smile, "Qiangsheng?"

"This is my eldest daughter Yingchun. You two should get to know each other. She's a teacher at the commune school!"

Lin Qiangsheng turned to see a girl with shiny braids looking at him. He turned back and smiled at Xu Zengliang, saying, "Secretary Xu!" Lin Qiangsheng called out, unsure of what to say next.

He then turned to Xu Yingchun and said, "Hello! My name is Lin Qiangsheng."

Xu Yingchun, wearing a red sweater with a white shirt collar peeking out, looked at Lin Qiangsheng for a moment, smiled, and nodded, saying, "Hello, I'm Xu Yingchun!"

Xu Zengliang smiled and said to the two of them, "You two chat. I'll go home first. Yingchun, see Qiangsheng off!"

Xu Yingchun glanced at her father, slightly annoyed by his directness. She nodded and then looked at Lin Qiangsheng.

Lin Qiangsheng opened his mouth, watching as Xu Zengliang walked away. He turned to Xu Yingchun and smiled awkwardly, saying, "How about I take you for a ride?"

Lin Qiangsheng was surprised by Xu Zengliang's intentions but didn't want to ignore his daughter, as it would make it difficult for him to come to the village in the future.

Xu Yingchun had a square face with a delicate appearance and bright eyes. She nodded, glanced at Lin Qiangsheng's car, and then opened the door and got in.

"Uh!" Lin Qiangsheng was speechless when he saw Xu Yingchun sit in the driver's seat.

He whispered to Xu Yingchun, "Miss, move over a bit, I need to get in!"

Xu Yingchun turned to look at Lin Qiangsheng, puzzled, but she nodded and moved to the passenger seat.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled, got into the car, started the engine, and slowly drove out of the factory yard.

Xu Yingchun, realizing she had sat in the wrong seat, couldn't help but blush. Her face turned red, and she eventually covered her face with her hands, embarrassed.

Lin Qiangsheng glanced at her and smiled.

Xu Yingchun suddenly looked up, staring at Lin Qiangsheng, and said softly, "You just let me make a fool of myself! Why didn't you tell me?"

Lin Qiangsheng chuckled and said, "You moved too fast, I couldn't stop you!"

Xu Yingchun said, "Hmph! Not at all gentlemanly! And you're from the city!"

Lin Qiangsheng was surprised and said, "City people are gentlemen? And where did you learn that word, using it so casually?!"

Xu Yingchun said, "From books! I read a lot of books at school!" She continued, "You should read more books too. How old are you, and you can drive? What kind of car is this? I've never seen a car like this before!" The girl chattered on, not at all like her initial reserved demeanor.

Lin Qiangsheng looked at Xu Yingchun in surprise and said with a smile, "I just drive it occasionally. It's quite a distance from the city, so having a car is more convenient!"

Xu Yingchun looked at Lin Qiangsheng, sized him up, and asked, "How old are you?"

Lin Qiangsheng calculated and said, "Almost 16."

Xu Yingchun immediately said smugly, "I'm 18! You're still a little kid! Who would date you!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and asked, "What's the matter? Did your father ask you to date me?"

Xu Yingchun quickly covered her mouth, shook her head, and stammered, "No, no!"

Lin Qiangsheng laughed and said, "Young lady, you should be a bit more reserved!"

He drove around the village with Xu Yingchun and then dropped her off at home, saying, "I'm not a gentleman, I'm a man who wants to become a wealthy and influential figure!"

Xu Yingchun huffed, opened the car door, and jumped out, turning to Lin Qiangsheng and saying with a pout, "You're a small man!" She stuck out her tongue and made a face at him.

Lin Qiangsheng glared at her, and Xu Yingchun giggled and ran into the yard.

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and shook his head. He drove out of the village and arrived at the Red Flag Commune about ten minutes later, heading to He ZhenGuo's house. The two entered the house, and He ZhenGuo asked, "How is your sister? It's almost the New Year, is everything at home okay?"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and nodded, saying, "My sister is fine, and everything at home is good."

He ZhenGuo smiled, patted his thigh, and said, "Ah, I forgot to ask you. What's the plan for the factory we discussed?"

Lin Qiangsheng took out a stack of documents from his bag, including photos, newspaper clippings, and images from an industrial exhibition. He said to He ZhenGuo, "These are the equipment details for the hardware factory. We need these things to build a hardware factory!"

He ZhenGuo flipped through the documents and asked in surprise, "So many machines! My father and I thought we only needed a few machines to start a hardware factory. Does it really require so many machines?!"

Lin Qiangsheng had collected comprehensive information, including details on riveting machines, horizontal band saws, spot welders, electric threading machines, AC arc welders, open fixed-bed presses, open tilting presses, vertical grinding machines, ordinary lathes, ordinary horizontal-axis rectangular table surface grinders, sheet metal bending machines, punching machines, cutting machines, bench threaders, bench drills, universal flat water jet cutting machines, horizontal-axis rectangular table surface grinders, universal milling machines, universal drilling machines, hydraulic swing-beam shears, and instrument lathes.

"At first, we don't need so many machines, but if we want the factory to succeed and sell our products, we need to expand and add more equipment! I want to be clear with you. If we're going to do this, we need to do it well. A half-hearted effort won't work. If you're not serious, don't come to me!" Lin Qiangsheng said to He ZhenGuo.

He ZhenGuo quickly waved his hands and said, "No! Qiangsheng, we absolutely don't mean that! We just didn't realize that building a hardware factory would require so many machines! If that's the case, the commune might have difficulty. We don't have the money to buy all that equipment!"

Lin Qiangsheng smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I can represent the car factory and form a joint venture with your commune. Your commune can provide the land and building materials, and you can be responsible for the labor to build the factory. The rest of the funds and equipment will be covered by us. Your Red Flag Commune will own 20% of the factory, and our car factory will own 80%. How does that sound?"

He ZhenGuo took out a small notebook, wrote down the key points, and said to Lin Qiangsheng, "In that case, I need to discuss this with my father, and he will talk to the commune members. We can give you an answer after the New Year!"

Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Alright! I'll leave the documents with you. Let your father take a look. If we're going to do this, let's do it on a large scale!"

He Yunhai took the documents and photos, comparing them, and slowly said, "Lin Qiangsheng said the commune will own 20% of the factory?"

He ZhenGuo nodded and said, "That's what he said! Father, isn't that too little?"

He Yunhai shook his head and said, "I just wanted him to build the factory in our commune. I didn't even think about the share. The factory needs to produce and sell its products. Who in our commune has that capability?" He ZhenGuo nodded, thinking that once the factory starts producing, selling the products would be a big challenge.

He Yunhai thought for a moment, tore up the paper his son had written on, and burned it with a match, turning it to ashes.

He ZhenGuo looked at his father in confusion and asked, "Father, why did you burn it?"

He Yunhai quietly instructed his son, "Tomorrow, go to the city and tell Lin Qiangsheng that the village will provide the land and labor, and he will cover the cost of building materials and equipment. Don't mention anything else!"

He ZhenGuo looked at the ashes on the ground and said, "But, Father! What about the 20% share of the factory?"

He Yunhai waved his hand and said, "Pretend he never said that. The share of the factory is a murky issue. Let's just start with a murky arrangement. Even if both sides agree, who would admit to it? Who would dare? What's the point of figuring it out now? It would only cause us trouble!"

He ZhenGuo nodded and said, "I'll go to the city early tomorrow."

He Yunhai leaned back in his chair and said softly, "There's a way to handle murky issues. Lin Qiangsheng will understand!"

The next day, He ZhenGuo got up early, took a tractor to the city, and then took a bus to the car factory.

Lin Qiangsheng was eating breakfast at home, the only one left to eat after the rest of the family had finished.

At this moment, Lin Xiang returned from the store, bringing He ZhenGuo into the house.

"Hey, why are you here so early?" Lin Qiangsheng asked He ZhenGuo in surprise.

He ZhenGuo smiled and saw Lin Xiang's parents come out of the room. He stammered, "Uncle, Aunt, hello! I'm He ZhenGuo! I'm here to wish you an early happy New Year!"

Lin Xiang's parents exchanged glances, and Lin Xiang's father smiled and nodded, saying to He ZhenGuo, "Hello, Xiao He! Have you eaten?"

He ZhenGuo quickly replied, "I ate at home!"

Lin Xiang's face turned red, and she tugged on her mother's arm, calling out, "Mom!"

Xu Hongmei also smiled and said to He ZhenGuo, "Xiao He, we also wish your family an early happy New Year! Come in and sit down!"

He ZhenGuo, seeing that Lin Xiang's parents were not difficult and were quite welcoming, smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt!"

Xu Hongmei smiled and nodded, looking at Lin Xiang, and said, "Lin Xiang, you don't need to go to your brother's store today. Go to the market and buy whatever you like."

Lin Xiang, seeing her mother's approval, felt relieved and said, "Thank you, Mom!"

"ZhenGuo, don't you have something to tell Qiangsheng?" Lin Xiang turned to He ZhenGuo and said.

Lin Qiangsheng quickly finished his breakfast and said, "What is it? Let's talk in my room."

He ZhenGuo stood up, smiled at Lin Qiangsheng's parents, and followed Lin Qiangsheng into the room.

Lin Xiang complained, "Oh, this person!"

After hearing what He ZhenGuo had to say, Lin Qiangsheng nodded and said, "Alright! I understand Uncle He's intentions. Tell Uncle He that we'll start this way for now, and the commune won't lose out in the future!"

He ZhenGuo smiled and nodded. He had thought about it repeatedly, not fully understanding why his father had told him to say this, but he would follow his father's instructions. As long as the commune benefited, that was all that mattered.

After He ZhenGuo left, Lin Qiangsheng thought to himself, "That old man is really shrewd! By starting with a murky arrangement, the commune won't say anything. If we clarify the shares, it would immediately become a target for criticism!"

Lin Qiangsheng patted his head, thinking that he didn't want to be a target. If he were exposed, everyone would know what he was doing—using public resources to make personal gains!

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