Chapter 47: This Man Cheng Shao

◎A Long-Term Vision◎

The letter said that the Dalianhua Production Team was about to implement the household responsibility system (dividing production to individual households), and they were writing to ask whether Jiang Che and Wei Xuan’s family should contract more land and whether there would be any risk involved.

After reading the letter, Wei Xuan said to Jiang Che, “Call my family for me. Just tell them: take on as much land as they can manage. The more, the better. It’d be best if they could also contract the team’s fish pond.”

Jiang Che hadn’t expected his wife to be so bold and couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you afraid they’ll lose money?”

“There’s always a chance of losing money in anything, but farming is one of the lowest-risk options. My three older brothers are all capable and experienced farmers—if they’re willing to work hard, the chances of failure are very small.”

Though Jiang Che said that out loud, he actually agreed with his wife’s thinking. So the next day, he called the Wei family and conveyed both their opinions.

As for the Wei family, they were actually split into two camps. Wei Father and the eldest brother thought the first year they should proceed cautiously and contract only a small portion to test the waters. But the second and third brothers believed that they needed to seize the opportunity while others were still hesitating. Otherwise, once everyone realized how beneficial it was, would their family still have a chance?

Because neither side could convince the other, Wei Mother made the final call and decided to write to her daughter and son-in-law for advice.

Now that Jiang Che had called back, Wei Father fell silent for a moment and finally nodded, agreeing with the second and third sons’ approach.

But the worry on his face deepened.

Sigh, a good harvest would be great for everyone. But what if the harvest failed? What then?

That night, lying in bed, Wei Mother listened to him sighing over and over again. She understood the worry in his heart, but since their daughter and son-in-law both supported it, she believed things wouldn’t go wrong.

So she comforted him: “Old man, don’t overthink it. Worrying won’t change a thing—it’ll only make you more anxious. Try to look on the bright side. Get some sleep and save your energy to do more work tomorrow. That’s what really matters.”

Wei Xuan had no idea her mother trusted her and Jiang Che so deeply, nor that the Wei family was so troubled over this matter. At that moment, she was at home entertaining guests.

Bian Qianqian and her husband had also come to the capital because of the household responsibility system. But unlike the Wei family, Cheng Shao didn’t plan to contract much land.

He knew his family situation well: his father was lazy, his mother was old, and his younger siblings were still children. If he alone had to support the whole family through farming, he probably couldn’t even afford to feed his wife and child.

Fortunately, he was fairly quick-witted and came up with an idea.

The household responsibility system was obviously good for farmers—aside from a required quota of grain to hand over, the rest was theirs to keep. At this rate, by next year every household would likely have a surplus of grain. At that point, he could collect grain from the village and sell it in the city! Even if he earned just a little per jin, small profits accumulated could add up to something substantial.

But just thinking about it wasn’t enough—he needed to know what price the state grain station in the city was currently offering. If he bought grain at a slightly higher price than the state offered, would he still make a profit?

To figure all this out, Cheng Shao brought Bian Qianqian to the capital to visit relatives. He also wanted to take the opportunity to ask her aunt’s family about the current grain prices.

Coincidentally, Song Jianjun was at home. After hearing about Cheng Shao’s plan, he decided to ask Jiang Che whether the idea was feasible.

In Song Jianjun’s eyes, Jiang Che had always been a clever guy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it this far in this area. Sure, part of it was due to his father being a factory director, but there was no denying that Jiang Che was quick-witted.

Cheng Shao also knew about Jiang Che. When he heard that Song Jianjun was going to visit him, he immediately tried to get in on it. “Brother,” he said, “how about bringing me and Qianqian along too? Back when Qianqian and I got married, it was all thanks to the help of him and his wife. I still haven’t properly thanked them yet. Now that we’ve got the chance, I’ll go buy a few things, and we can go pay a proper visit.”

Seeing how sincere he was, Song Jianjun didn’t think much of it and agreed.

That afternoon, since Song Jianjun had to go to work, Bian Qianqian and Cheng Shao waited at his place until he got off. Then the three of them, carrying the gifts Cheng Shao had bought, went to knock on Wei Xuan’s door.

That day, Wei Xuan’s child hadn’t been feeling well and had been fussy all day. She hadn’t felt like cooking. When Jiang Che came home, they both just had a bowl of plain noodle soup to get by.

By the time the three visitors arrived, the couple had already finished eating. Jiang Che was squatting in the courtyard, washing the dishes.

Hearing the knock at the door, he put the dishes down and went to open it. Seeing Song Jianjun and Bian Qianqian, and guessing the identity of the third person, Jiang Che had a vague idea why they were there.

He wondered to himself why the three of them were visiting at this hour, but didn’t show anything on the surface. He simply smiled and invited them in.

Once everyone was seated in the main room, Song Jianjun introduced them. “This is my cousin-in-law, Cheng Shao. They happened to be at my place today and said they wanted to stop by to thank you and your wife.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Shao stood up and said, “Brother Jiang, thank you so much for your help before. If you ever need anything, just say the word—I’m at your service.”

Jiang Che waved it off. “Ah, don’t be so polite. It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, your wife and mine are friends, and Jianjun and I are like brothers. It was just lending a hand—nothing to thank me for.”

Hearing Wei Xuan mentioned, Bian Qianqian asked, “Where is Wei Xuan? I didn’t see her.”

“Probably inside coaxing the baby. The child’s only a few months old—can’t be left alone even for a minute.”

“Tell me about it! Mine’s the same. We had to sneak off to the capital today. If he saw us leaving, we never would’ve made it.”

Talking about kids immediately brought Jiang Che and Cheng Shao closer.

Seeing that they were going off on a tangent, Song Jianjun couldn’t help but interrupt, “Alright, alright—you’re all ganging up on the one guy without a kid, huh?”

“Haha, okay, okay, no more kid talk. But I heard you’re about to have one too, aren’t you?”

Jiang Che teased him, and Song Jianjun wasn’t shy about admitting it. At his age, if he still wasn’t settling down, that’d really be something to be embarrassed about.

“Anyway, let’s not get sidetracked. Jiang Che, there’s something we came here to get your opinion on.”

“Oh? Sounds serious—what is it?”

Song Jianjun nodded toward Cheng Shao, signaling him to speak.

Jiang Che also turned his gaze to Cheng Shao.

Cheng Shao had gone over the idea in his head so many times already that he laid it all out smoothly, without stumbling.

After listening, Jiang Che’s first thought was: this guy is interesting. While his wife’s family was still debating how much land to contract, Cheng Shao was already thinking ahead to the next step. That kind of foresight isn’t something everyone has.

Initially, Jiang Che didn’t have the best impression of Cheng Shao because of past events, but now, that changed a little.

A guy with brains won’t do too badly wherever he goes. It looked like Bian Qianqian was pretty lucky. Life might be hard for now, but as long as Cheng Shao had the ability, things would turn around eventually.

Cheng Shao noticed that Jiang Che hadn’t spoken for a while and thought he disapproved of the plan. He started to feel a bit uneasy.

But after running through all those thoughts, the first thing Jiang Che said when he came back to his senses was, “I think you’ve thought this through well. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, you should make a good bit of money.” After all, buying and transporting grain is no easy job.

Cheng Shao immediately lit up. “Really, Brother Jiang? You also think I could make money this way?” As for whether it was tiring or not, Cheng Shao didn’t care—if there was money to be made, a little hardship didn’t matter at all.

“Farm work is just as tiring, and after a whole year, you might not even make any money.”

Jiang Che nodded. “I think it’s a good idea, quite promising. But of course, it depends on how you handle it.”

Song Jianjun still had some concerns. “Is it really doable? Even though the policy has changed, I still feel like the atmosphere hasn’t fully shifted. There are more street vendors than before, but they’re still cracking down on speculation. If they catch someone, the consequences won’t be small.”

What job doesn’t have risks? It was clear that, for Cheng Shao, as long as he could earn the money he needed, a little bit of risk wasn’t something he’d consider.

Moreover, Jiang Che believed that since the country had decided to reform, they would surely come up with an implementation plan and wouldn’t let this chaotic situation continue for long. It had been almost half a year since the policy was announced last December, and there were still several months until the summer harvest came in.

Who knows what might happen during that time, and what the situation will be like then?

Jiang Che couldn’t say for sure, but he believed things would definitely move in a better direction.

Song Jianjun couldn’t understand Jiang Che and Cheng Shao’s thoughts, but he knew he couldn’t stop Cheng Shao’s decision.

So he had to advise him again, urging him to think of his family and be extra careful before doing anything.

“Don’t worry, cousin, I will. My son is still small, I can’t leave my wife to take care of him alone.”

Bian Qianqian slapped him angrily. “Pah, pah, pah, can you speak properly?”

“Who can’t speak properly?” Wei Xuan walked to the door and casually joined in. She had already heard someone at the door, but didn’t expect it to be Bian Qianqian.

“This is your sister-in-law, right?” Cheng Shao stood up when he saw her and asked Bian Qianqian.

Bian Qianqian also stood up, a little awkwardly smiling at Wei Xuan.

“Quick, sit down, sit down, Qianqian, it’s been so long!”

Wei Xuan’s familiar tone immediately removed any barriers in Bian Qianqian’s heart.

After the three sat down, Wei Xuan and Bian Qianqian chatted a little about their recent situations. Once Wei Xuan confirmed that Bian Qianqian was doing well and had not been affected by the previous issues, she felt reassured. In this day and age, living happily is not easy!

After seeing off the three, Jiang Che told Wei Xuan about Cheng Shao’s plan.

Wei Xuan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: As expected, no matter the era, there will always be smart people.

Speaking of smart people, Wei Xuan then remembered Wu Yun: “Is Brother Wu Yuntting married? Should we go to his wedding?”

Jiang Che thought for a moment and said, “You don’t have to go, it’s not convenient with the child. I’ll go alone.”

“When we got married, Brother Wu said he wanted to start a family. Now, over two years have passed, and our child is already a few months old, and he’s just getting married. It seems his child will definitely be younger than our Yuan Yuan.”

Jiang Che remembered when he gave Wu Yun red eggs for Yuan Yuan’s full moon, and Wu Yun had gritted his teeth and told him, “He’ll catch up eventually.” It made him laugh.

Jiang Che thought to himself that he certainly wouldn’t give him that chance.