Chapter 40

  This was CCTV's first Spring Festival Gala, and a milestone for Chinese television programming. At that time, black-and-white TVs had already become widespread in major cities across the country. From then on, CCTV's Spring Festival Gala became an important way for TV audiences to celebrate the Spring Festival, becoming a visual feast for ordinary people every New Year's Eve.

  The small home of Fang Menger, which was only a dozen or so square meters in size, was packed with family members who had not returned home for the New Year. Everyone was there to watch the evening party on the old black and white TV set, and they were all watching with great interest. She saw the host and some actors wearing clothes she had designed, and the lighting and stage design were much better than before. Moreover, she also saw Han Zhijian in the audience at the party venue, and the camera kept focusing on him. His appearance and temperament were different from ordinary people, and he was no less handsome than the stars on page 40 of the magazine. It seemed that he had given a lot of suggestions for the evening party, and it looked like they would be busy again in the south.

  Fang Mo Nan stayed up playing until 10 o'clock, and in his daze, he could still hear the sounds of adults outside, songs on TV, and the sound of someone eating melon seeds.

  First day of the new year, still went to grandfather's house for New Year's greetings. This year, mom was low-key, wearing what she had made herself and not wearing the beautiful clothes sent by Han Zhiqian and others as a New Year's gift. Under grandma's smiling face, they heard some lukewarm sarcastic remarks. After finishing the New Year's greetings, they left. Coincidentally, there was a passenger truck going to the provincial city, so after lunch on the first day of the new year, they took the bus back to the county town. The only valuable TV at home was in fear of being stolen, so mom and others sent it to the neighbor's house for safekeeping.

  Back home, Liangzi and Xiaoyi, Monbei, the three of them dragged Fang Mennai to the north house. This momentum is like a trial by three courts! If you don't sing the complete song from the 29th night, don't think about going out.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at their wolf-like eyes and begged for mercy, "Just sing, but some of the lyrics I've forgotten, you can bear with me a bit."

  On the other hand, Fang Mernan not only sang and played but also had to fill in the lyrics. If he really couldn't remember the lyrics, Fang Mernan would simply fill them in based on the atmosphere, which was quite similar. When the tune wasn't smooth, Mo Bei would timely add some embellishments, and they finally managed to get through their 40th chapter.

  By the way, I heard from my aunt that my uncle had a "humiliating experience". Actually, it was just that my uncle was beaten by his wife. On New Year's Eve, when my uncle led the kids to pay their respects, there were several scratch marks on his face, clearly made by fingernails.

  It's said that because of the color TV, my aunt has been grumbling at home, saying that marrying a man with no skills is like thinking being a worker is great, but in the end, they can't even afford a black and white TV. She thought she was marrying into a life of luxury, but it turns out she's just a servant for the old and young. Who would have thought that her younger sister-in-law is so domineering, and her mother-in-law doesn't treat her well? Even when wealthy relatives come to visit, they don't even get to see their faces. What a miserable fate!

  "Hah... You really think you're the young lady of a wealthy family, don't you? Marrying into our family and still expecting to be treated like a grandmother, waited on hand and foot. And you have the nerve to complain loudly, without even worrying about losing your tongue. From the day you got married until now, you haven't given your mother-in-law a single penny in support. Taking care of your husband and children is what you're supposed to do, it's not something to brag about." Little Aunt retorted sharply, her face red with anger.

  This is the sequel to the big uncle's TV, and later on, I rarely heard any voices coming from that side. It is said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, and it can be seen that at this time, the neighborhood relationship was very harmonious, unlike in later generations, where people lived for so long without even knowing who their neighbors were. The eyes of the common people are bright, and no matter how thick the skin of the big uncle and his wife is, with a sense of filial piety weighing on them, they did not dare to take any action, but could only speak ill of others behind their backs.

  Like last year, starting from the third grade, relatives from the countryside came in groups, bringing live chickens and ducks, and a few dead ones. The eggs and coarse cloth they brought were obviously more than last year's, it can be seen that life has really changed a lot, talking about family matters, the smile on their faces never stopped.

  After eating and drinking to finish the year, on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, they still followed Grandma to Lingshan to worship Buddha and burn incense. After making a fuss about the Lantern Festival and lighting paper lanterns, this year can be considered over. Students go to school, Mom and Dad return to the city, and Grandma continues her small business. Fang Mo Nan and Mo Bei continue to study with Old Master Lin.

  County Magistrate Wang should now be called Secretary Wang, as the old county party secretary has reached his age limit and retired at the end of last year, he was promoted locally. The county party committee leadership knows about this donation, but it's like knowing about a delicacy that you can't eat - they can't take it out.

  Because it was too cold in winter to repair the road, this matter was delayed. Taking advantage of the New Year's holiday, County Head Wang (Wang Binghua) returned home and the first thing he did was find his older brother Wang Bingzhong. "Speak up, you even pulled me into your bedroom, sneaking around." Wang Bingzhong smiled as he looked at his third younger brother's mysterious appearance.

  "Big brother, look." Wang Binghua handed the check to big brother.

  "Tsk, tsk... Little San, I didn't expect you to make so much money and quietly become a millionaire." Wang Lao Da said with a smile. "However, this account being in Hong Kong is like looking but not eating."

  "It's lucky it was in Hong Kong, otherwise when taking it out, the county would have chopped off some and distributed them as welfare." Wang Binghua said with a curl of his lip and a look of disdain.

  "It's really like this, as the top leader of the county, you're still so unsteady." Wang Lao Da said with feigned anger. "This kind of talk can only be spoken here, don't spread it outside."

  "This is all I have, and I'm just venting here." Wang Binghua sat on the bed, "Old brother, help me out, take this money out."

  "This money is..." Wang Lao Da asked curiously.

  "This is a donation from Hong Kong businessmen for our county's road construction." Wang Binghua said solemnly.

  "Ah," Wang Lao Da straightened his body, listening to San Di's detailed account. "It's really rare, especially Aunt Mo of the Mo family. You're also part of the reform and opening up now, don't mention far away, just talk about what we can see. Any family with a bit of foreign connection isn't first serving their own interests by smuggling in some imported home appliances? Aunt Mo is truly righteous!" Wang Lao Da was full of emotion, although nominally it was Cheng Shi Gui and the others who donated, but could they have done it without Aunt Mo's agreement?

  "I will personally go and thank them," said Wang Binghua, "By the way, when can we get this money?"

  "It can be taken at any time." said Wang Lao Da.

  "Big brother, let's discuss something. This money is donated by others to repair the road. You need US dollars, and I want RMB. Can you exchange a bit more for me?" Wang Binghua's abacus was clicking away.

  "What's going on? How did you get me to come here, were you waiting for me?" Old Wang laughed and said, "It's all right, I'll give you a bit more."

  "Alright, thank you big brother." Wang Binghua finished talking about the main issue and the two of them chatted some more casual talk. Then they heard the people in the house going out for a stroll.

  Wang Binghua's lover is the center of attention today, and it's hard to describe how beautiful she looks. This is all thanks to the membership card he gave her, not only did the clothes get a 30% discount, but the service was also very attentive and detailed, making the other women jealous. Everyone has a vain side.

  In short, Wang Binghua and his family had a very good year.

  Years later, Secretary Wang brought down over 100 million special funds for road repairs. Just after the reform and opening up, perhaps everyone was afraid of being poor, for the sake of a group of ordinary people or their own promotion path, the county government quickly passed it unanimously without any obstacles.

  Almost a year of understanding has made Fang Mernan, the secretary of Wang, work hard to make the greenhouse vegetables colorful and prominent in the off-season. The vegetables are all on the market a month earlier than usual, which shows that they have worked hard. Especially, she pays attention to the farmers selling vegetables and ensures that the money is delivered on time, never delaying payment. At present, in her eyes, he is a good cadre.

  The common people are the most kind-hearted, and they have always been looking forward to the appearance of a fair and just official. However, reality often contradicts their wishes. Since ancient times, the common people have had a "fair and just" complex, which has permeated into the bone marrow of our national culture. Even after more than 100 years of enlightenment on modern legal thought, this complex still dominates our way of thinking. In the films and TV shows we see today, whether it's an ancient palace drama or a modern tale of good vs. evil, the conventional plot development is that the good people are initially in a very disadvantageous position, but at the critical moment, a fair and just official appears, and after overcoming numerous obstacles, he finally brings the bad guys to justice. As a result, justice is upheld, grievances are redressed, the weak are protected, and both the director and the audience are overjoyed. But that's just art, in reality, ordinary people don't ask for much, they just hope that officials won't be greedy when it comes to matters of life and death, that's a very low bar, but unfortunately...

  In Fang Mernan's hometown, which is located in a plain area, the west is higher than the east. To the west lies Lingshan, which is actually just a hilly area. Looking eastward, it is all plains and vast fields as far as the eye can see. After the first month of the lunar calendar, during the early spring season, Fang Mernan and her family planned to tidy up their contracted barren mountains and land. First, she and Old Man Lin went together to survey the land, draw a rough map, and design it. In previous years, they would only go in the cold winter when everything was bare. But at this time of year, things had already started to sprout, and the hills were covered with a layer of tender green. On the sunny slopes, there were vines growing slowly, just beginning to sprout. And on the other side of the hill, where it was steep and deep, upon closer inspection, they found that the entire mountain was filled with common wild vegetables such as purslane, shepherd's purse, field horsetail, fish mint, ostrich fern, licorice root, wild garlic, dandelion, and plantain. There were also wild jujube trees and persimmon trees. If this were twenty years later, all of these would be worth a fortune! Unfortunately, now they are just worthless weeds. Continuing down the mountain, in the valley below, there were large patches of wild mushrooms, including grass mushrooms, fragrant mushrooms, and monkey head mushrooms. These valuable things didn't need to be managed by her; it was fine to just leave them be.

  After surveying for a day, there are no more wild vegetables, only withered yellow weeds that have no economic value. It seems that after cleaning up, some fruit trees can be planted.

  Take advantage of the weather before it warms up, hurry up and build walls around the land, flatten the ground, a moment's mistake by man, a year's mistake by the land.

  As soon as I got busy, I felt that there were not enough people, and at home, only the old, weak, and disabled were left. In an emergency, I called my dad, but the construction company was not working due to the cold weather. Da Chengzi heard about it and couldn't get away, so he found some honest and hardworking farmers.

  Come and help. With the runner, let Dad find someone to cover the wall and ten bungalows first, after calculating the cost, he discussed the money issue with Grandma, Dad refused to take it, how can he take money for doing things for his family? Grandma said that she couldn't let Dad do it for nothing, so in the overall budget, add 10% as profit, don't be dissatisfied.

  In March, spring is warm and flowers are blooming. The county has started to repair the road. This time, the road will be repaired to the best condition. All the money will be used for road repair, and no embezzlement is allowed. The village highway will be repaired first, so as not to affect the transportation of vegetables and livestock. The construction company is actually the municipal construction company where my father works, and it's under my father's supervision. It can be said that this is a return for the past favors, so my father handed over some remaining small things from the farm and took office immediately.

  The road is a two-way four-lane cement road, and repairing the road is a big deal. The city even sent someone to take notes, and reporters followed along. Not only did the city send people, but also provincial newspapers. It just so happened that Hongwang Feed Factory was making a big show of donating 10,000 yuan, which was Fang Mengnan's idea. When donating, they wanted to make as much noise as possible. Conveniently, the reporter interviewed the feed factory and published it in the newspaper, which served as a meaningful advertisement.

  The highway, being in a plain area, can be widened on the basis of the original gravel road, which is much easier. In addition, villagers on both sides of the road spontaneously contributed their labor to help with the work, eager for the early completion of the road and speeding up transportation.

  After Fang Mo Nan finished leveling the ground, a large number of people were needed. The plain land was scarce and there were many people, just as Da Chengzi led the villagers to come, some families in the mountains also came, the farm recruited people, and they ran over. They agreed on a suitable price and signed an agreement. When it's busy, everyone can take leave to work on their own farmland, and when it's idle, they come here to help with vegetable and fruit farming, and also take care of the field.

  Although it's a bit hard, but can earn more money, everyone is willing. Then they first plant green leafy vegetables, of course all the seeds are excellent seeds in space. The fruits planted are watermelon, strawberry, and fruit trees on the barren mountain, apples, peaches, jujubes, apricots, and pears that are suitable for the north.

  Everything is ready, but it's hard to find someone to take care of the land. After thinking about it, Fang Mernan couldn't find a suitable person. His father was busy repairing roads and there was a shortage of personnel. So he recommended himself. With less land at home and Auntie's illness recovered, one person could handle everything. Uncle Pang worked at the county machinery factory, but the efficiency had been getting worse over the past two years, and even salaries were hard to come by. He was just an ordinary technician with no special skills. It would be perfect for him to quit his job and take care of the land as well as farm it.

  The peasants' desire for land is unimaginable. Moreover, Pàngzi's (Xiǎo Měi) graduated from junior high school this year and became an unemployed youth. Pàngzi asked Xiǎo Měi to help out in the store and also asked her to learn accounting knowledge on her own. Now he has a lot of knowledge, which is very different from before. Learning more skills will be beneficial in the future. When she didn't know something, she would ask the neighbors who worked in the supply and marketing society's accounting department, and with practical training opportunities, Xiǎo Měi learned simple accounting knowledge.

  Fang Mo Nan listened to what the fatty said, and it really worked. So he decided to let Uncle Pang and Xiao Mei watch the scene, and even got three large dogs to help.

  After the farm was initially established, Old Man Lin rode his bicycle with Fang Mernan to take a stroll around every now and then, loosening the soil for vegetables and adding some fertilizer.

  Before the summer rainy season, Fang Mernan also built a small reservoir along the mountain slope in the low-lying area, collecting spring water and rainwater from the mountain to irrigate and store water without mistake. Moreover, after the repair, some spring water also flowed into the space, where some freshwater fish, shrimp, crabs, and turtles were raised. In this way, aquatic products are also considered to have passed the test, and there is no need to worry about being pointed at by others.

  The farm also raised chickens, ducks, cattle, pigs and goats, which solved the problem of meat food. Not only did they eat it themselves, but they also sold it outside, although the price was higher than the market price. However, this could not stop people's enthusiasm for buying, especially those introduced by Secretary Wang.

  Passing through the railway underpass, 600 meters away from the entrance, a 10-meter-wide cement road leads directly to the most important national highway in the north and south.

  As soon as you enter the gate, you see a row of flat houses in front of you. The land behind is even bigger and there are three barren hills planted with fruit trees.

  More than ten greenhouses have been planted, and this year we will first observe the situation and decide to increase our efforts accordingly. The cultivation of vegetables and fruits must be strictly carried out in accordance with Fang Mernan's emphasized precautions, and normally someone should be kept an eye on them, not slackening off.

  Walking from the main gate, you can see more than a dozen large greenhouses lined up. When you lift open the plastic greenhouse, you'll see the lush green inside.

  The weather is getting warmer, and the vegetables in the farm are growing well. The watermelons have already grown round and big, about the size of a volleyball. It seems that they will be on the market a month earlier than usual.

  From far away on the national highway, you can see the thriving fruit trees. With the help of the county government to promote sales, some people have already started to place orders, so there is no worry about not being able to sell them.

  Everyone who comes is eager to say that they want to buy a large quantity, the price is negotiable, cash transaction, send someone to pick it up, no need for Fang Mennai and others to take action. The people who come to buy fruit see so many fruits, in their eyes this is simply gold everywhere, time waits for no one.

  People who come to buy fruits are eager to sign contracts, which specify that they must use the "Mo Family Brand" label. The label features a cartoon doll pointing at the fruit, with clear indications of origin such as "watermelon" and "strawberry". These labels were designed and registered as trademarks at the same time the farm was established.

  Fang Mo Nan looked at them and thought, "This generation is indeed a seller's market. Whatever they produce will be sold out." He handed over the task to Pang Shu and Xiao Mei, who turned out to be quite reliable. Pang Shu was diligent and responsible, while Xiao Mei kept accounts clearly and continued to learn accounting knowledge on her own.

  Mr. Lin watched the farm get on track, reducing the number of runs, because he inadvertently got Fang Mo's mechanical thesis in his house, and suddenly felt like a treasure, after flipping through it, it turned out that the world industry had developed so rapidly, and how foreign countries were developing. The distressed him drank fruit wine, fell drunk, with tears still lingering on his eyes.

  Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's already June. Fang Mo Nan's family had only used their phone once, to call Han Zhi Qian to tell them their number. Han Zhi Qian was very excited after the Spring Festival gala, and the factory's clothing sales experienced another explosive growth spurt. She discussed the Hong Kong stock market with him, telling them not to focus on banking and real estate, as bankruptcies would continue. Of course, aside from Fang Mo Nan's specifically mentioned well-known companies, they could take advantage of low prices to absorb more.

  Fang Mo Nan also asked him to continue mailing college entrance exam study materials and the books she wanted. After there were more books, newspapers, and magazines at home, not only did her parents take some away to flip through, but even when her future brother-in-law came over, he would casually pick up one or two volumes. Seeing that they still didn't care about protecting the books, she didn't say anything, and instead encouraged him to read more, to understand the outside world.

  One day in June, it suddenly rang, Fang Mo Nan picked it up, and a familiar London accent came from the other end of the line, "Hello, I'm Cheng Shigui."

  "Hello, Brother Cheng." said Fang Mo Nan.

  "Hehe... Nan Nan didn't even contact us, it seems she's really carefree." He said with a smile.

  "I'm completely at ease with you." Fang Mo Nan said with a smile, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Let's start withdrawing from Italy now."

  According to the instructions, we have slowly withdrawn and now only need to do some mopping up. Lamborghini has been acquired for 500 million, and as soon as I took out the design drawings, they were overjoyed. Everything is ready, just waiting for production to start. We also acquired 30% of Versace's shares. Although the Italian general strike lasted a long time, the government protected heavy industry, so we only managed to get scattered Ferrari shares. Now we still have about half of the cash left, which is deposited in banks in different countries." Cheng Shigui simply stated his situation. "Next, we will shift our focus there."

  "Let a few people go to investigate the Austrian market, leave some there. Leave another part of the funds to set up an investment company in Japan for stock and real estate investments. The Japanese market will continue to prosper. Take the remaining funds to the United States, focus on Canada, opportunities will come soon." Fang Mo Nan gave them a general direction, the rest depends on their performance. These are all old hands with rich experience. "Also, set up an intelligence analysis agency as soon as possible to collect various business intelligence."

  "Ah, this is indeed making a lot of money, but spending it also costs a lot, and there's not much left. "Cheng Shigui continued to say, however, the Japanese stock market has risen quite a bit, I'm afraid the government won't just sit back and do nothing." Cheng Shigui had studied the Japanese stock market and spoke with insight. Although Japan was defeated in World War II, its rapid rise is still astonishing, and the stock market is thriving, but it's too prosperous, which isn't good.

  "Intervene? The Japanese government won't, so go ahead and enter with ease." Fang Mo Nan said affirmatively. "That's not the main battlefield yet, no need to worry about Japan. For now, we're still mainly focused on Canada, and after arriving in the US, we'll visit Wall Street to gather some talent reserves."

  "Alright, I'll arrange it as soon as possible." Cheng Shigui said in the room, he also felt that with the company's rapid growth, the talent problem was particularly prominent.

  "Alright, I'll reward you with 10 million. As for the rest of you, each of you will get 1 million dollars." She finished speaking and heard Cheng Shigui gasp.

  "You're really generous, with a big heart. Program Shigui said to Nannan, do you want me to give you some money first for use?"

  "This isn't needed, I still haven't taken the deposit book you brought last time. I don't need money here, good steel is used on the blade. Right? I'm hanging up, phone bills are too expensive." Fang Mo Nan said, and after hearing the other person's response, he hung up.

  Cheng Shigui shook his head with a good laugh, what's the point of being stingy or not, it's not like they're short on money, this strike has earned them more than ten times over. Go out and tell that Bao guy, he'll probably be grinning from ear to ear.

  Wishing you all a happy Double Festival!

  It is by 】.!!!!