Chapter 24: The End of 1983

Yan Dongyu entered the principal's office in a daze. No one knew what had happened inside, except for the parties involved. All that could be seen was that half an hour later, Yan Dongyu walked out of the principal's office with his head hanging low.

The school returned to its usual calm. Although Yan Dongyu still served as the homeroom teacher for Fang Mingyuan's class, his presence had become negligible to Fang Mingyuan. He could once again return to his familiar life of reading extracurricular books or staring out the window in a daze. If there was any difference, it was that his authority in the class had increased. The students, who had suffered under Yan Dongyu, were amazed to find that Fang Mingyuan had not been punished at all after a direct confrontation with Yan Dongyu. Moreover, his math score had been changed back to full marks. This "glorious" victory made the children admire Fang Mingyuan to the extreme for daring to challenge the teacher, especially Yan Dongyu. In the class, his words carried more weight than anyone else's.

However, this also left some aftereffects. From time to time, Old Man Lushan would find him to have a heart-to-heart talk, play chess, or drink tea. Sometimes it was during lunch, sometimes in the evening, and sometimes even during class. All of this naturally caught the attention of the other teachers, who were both surprised and admiring. This little guy, Fang Mingyuan, had even "conquered" Old Man Lushan, who was known for his strictness. From then on, he could walk around the school with confidence. The news spread quickly, and Fang Mingyuan's name once again became a topic of discussion among the parents of the children from the Qinxi Pressing Equipment Factory.

Fang Mingyuan's parents, Fang Sheng and Bai Ping, and the rest of the Fang family, once again became famous because of Fang Mingyuan. Those who had children or planned to have children went to great lengths to learn from them. Even though they heard compliments a thousand times, it still became a nuisance for the Fang family, but they couldn't show their frustration. However, as time passed, this craze eventually subsided.

The Fang family's business was thriving. If it weren't for Old Man Fang's control over the expansion, Fang Bin would have set up steamed bun stalls in front of all the gates of the Qinxi Pressing Equipment Factory. However, as the weather grew colder, Old Man Fang did not neglect him. He rented a small restaurant near the factory gate for their breakfast stall. This way, whether it was Fang Bin selling the buns or the workers buying them, they all had a warm place to be. Under Fang Mingyuan's guidance, the Fang family's breakfast menu expanded to include porridge, wontons, and tofu pudding, which further boosted their business.

At the same time, the Fang family's small lending library was also growing. Fang Mingyuan bought a large number of old books at low prices, sorted them, and kept those with collectible value. The ordinary ones were lent out by the library. Although the monthly earnings were not as high as the steamed bun stall, it was a more relaxed business. Old Man Fang was now quite wealthy—back then, it was often a problem to find ways to spend money. There were no soaring housing prices, as housing was allocated; no mobile phones, as most communication was done by shouting; and no televisions or computers, as a radio was considered a luxury.

The stamp market was also heating up. Zhou Yuanchao could no longer find a single monkey stamp in any of the remote town post offices. The price of monkey stamps in the provincial capital had quietly risen to 2.4 yuan, which made Zhou Yuanchao completely convinced of Fang Mingyuan's foresight in the monkey stamps.

"Mingyuan, from now on, whenever you say to sell, we'll sell. I've realized that I, an adult, am not as insightful as you, a child. If we had sold them at 0.8 yuan, we would have lost a lot!" Zhou Yuanchao said with lingering fear as he watched Fang Mingyuan flipping through the stamps at the post office. Fortunately, he had listened to Fang Mingyuan's advice, and the capital had multiplied several times. Calculating it, the 0.08 yuan stamps had already increased thirtyfold.

Fang Mingyuan chuckled and said, "Uncle Zhou, if you're not in a hurry for money, it's best to hold onto them. I can tell you now, in no more than three years, you'll see them increase a hundredfold!"

"Clang!" Zhou Yuanchao almost dropped his cup. "How much? A hundredfold!" He almost thought he was hallucinating.

Fang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Yuanchao with disdain. "Uncle Zhou, calm down, calm down! You're a state official, you need to maintain your image!"

Zhou Yuanchao could only laugh bitterly. He, an adult, had been looked down upon by a child under ten years old. But this little guy was really bold. A hundredfold increase in just three years? That meant the tens of yuan he had invested would be worth thousands in three years. Zhou Yuanchao felt his heart almost leap into his throat. A thousand yuan, that was his income for four or five years.

"On December 22, 1983, under the correct guidance of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, after five years of hard work by 95 computer experts and engineering technicians from 29 units across the country, China's first supercomputer capable of performing over 100 million operations per second—the 'Galaxy'—was successfully developed in Changsha. The 'Galaxy' supercomputer system is currently the fastest, largest in storage capacity, and most powerful electronic computer in China. It is an important tool for oil and geological exploration, medium- and long-term numerical forecasting, satellite image processing, large-scale scientific research, and national defense construction, and plays a significant role in accelerating China's modernization. Currently, only a few countries in the world can develop supercomputers. The successful development of the 'Galaxy' computer achieved the goal set by the National Science Conference to put China's super-high-speed supercomputer into use by 1985, two years ahead of schedule. This marks a new stage in the development of China's computer technology!" The broadcaster's excited voice came from the loudspeakers in the factory residential area.

"Ah, the 'Galaxy' has succeeded, but when will the Pentium appear?" Fang Mingyuan, accustomed to modern computers, groaned in pain from his bed.

"Stocks, stocks!" Fang Mingyuan patted his head to remind himself not to forget to find a way to go to Shenzhen in a couple of years. Those stocks that no one wanted at first and had to be forcibly distributed to civil servants were all future money. Poor Fang Mingyuan, however, did not know that China's first stock had already been publicly issued by the Shenzhen Bao'an United Investment Company in July 1983.

Time moved into 1984...

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