Chapter 158: Profit Sharing

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After lunch, Zhong Yuxiu quietly questioned Yan Rushan and learned that although no one from the Lin or Cheng families had been sent to the countryside, the price they had paid was a contraction of their power. The Lin and Cheng families were now far weaker in the military than they had once been.

Because the old master was at the helm, the Yan family’s circumstances were different from those of the other families. Their daughter-in-law had been born into a capitalist family, so they sent one grandson to the countryside and left no weakness for others to seize. Their eldest grandson had endured tremendous hardship, but the Yan family had lost only a small portion of its influence.

No one could say whether any family’s choice had been right or wrong. Each had simply made its own decision.

In the long run, the Yan family had chosen correctly. After all, the Yan family of today was indeed much stronger than the others.

“Brother Yan, do you resent Grandpa Yan?” Or perhaps resent the Yan family?

“At first, I did. Why should I be the one to sacrifice? Why should I be the only one forced to suffer without seeing any hope?” During those years when he could not let go, he had truly blamed them. “Later, I came to understand. For the first ten or twenty years of my life, I enjoyed the benefits brought by the Yan family. I enjoyed the comfortable life my grandfather and parents gave me. After I went to the countryside, they often sent me money, ration coupons, grain, and food, doing their best to make up for what I had lost. Since that was the case, what was there left to resent?”

“The Yan family gave me life, raised me, and educated me. If sending me to the countryside could buy peace for the Yan family, then it was worth it. If I had not gone, should Little Hai have gone instead? Or should everyone in the Yan family have suffered?” Yan Rushan’s tone was calm, his heart as still as water. “Given the circumstances at the time, no one could really be blamed. It was simply for the greater good.”

Even he thought that way now. How could the old master have thought any differently back then?

“Brother Yan, you really do have a good nature. You’re strong-willed.” People who could not let go only ended up exhausting themselves and burdening those around them.

Like the original owner. Unable to accept reality, she had been raised into a delicate vine that clung to others and could not withstand the slightest setback. In truth, the Wan family’s decision at the time had been understandable. The original owner’s mistake was that, when the Wan family wanted to keep her, she had been greedy for the affection of the Wan family’s father and brothers and could not bear to part with them. She was also at fault for not being the Wan family’s biological child—and even more so for having too narrow a perspective.

He took her hand and smiled faintly. “I suppose you’re the only one who would praise me like that.”

“I’m not praising you. I mean every word.” Zhong Yuxiu’s gaze was earnest and sincere. “A person spends an entire lifetime facing one choice after another. The more one experiences, the more choices one must make. The fact that you were able to see things clearly means you made a choice, and yours was the right one.”

As long as a person chose correctly, held upright values, had a clear conscience, and did not regret the road they had walked, then that road was the right one.

Yan Rushan’s transformation—from being trapped in a dead end to becoming the outstanding man he was now—proved precisely that.

“All right, I admit defeat. I can’t argue with you.” It was enough that, in the eyes of the woman he loved, he was an excellent man.

After their heartfelt conversation, the distance between them seemed to shrink once more, and Yan Rushan was in excellent spirits. Some of that cheerfulness showed while he entertained the guests. Even his regular visitors could sense it, assuming that good fortune was finally about to come his way and rejoicing on his behalf.

Few people who visited the Yan household were unaware of Yan Rushan’s temperament. They regarded him as steady and methodical, worthy of being the Yan family’s eldest grandson. Even after spending several years in the countryside, he had not lost the proud bearing in his bones.

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The only pity was that, even now, the Yan family had no one capable of inheriting the family business.

The Yan household remained lively throughout the day, with guests arriving one after another. Zhong Yuxiu met many people, and from that day onward, everyone in the compound knew that the Yan family’s eldest grandson was no longer available—and that the woman who had claimed him was no ordinary person.

Families that had hoped to arrange a marriage with the Yan family had no choice but to give up. Those hoping to befriend the Yan family became even more attentive.

The Yan family had always been rooted in the military and possessed extensive connections. Now they also had a daughter-in-law who worked in scientific research—a highly skilled talent whom the higher-ups valued greatly. The Yan family of the future would likely rise to an even higher level.

Do not say that researchers were useless and merely spent their days tinkering with this or that. If you thought that, you were mistaken. Just look at the people in the research institutes. Which of them did not have several contacts with boundless influence? The more important the things they researched, the greater their own value became.

That level of influence was impossible to estimate.

On the second day of the new year, Zhong Yuxiu rose early. After breakfast, she followed Doggie’s directions and carried a cotton-cloth cover to the storage room. Doggie had sewn the cover together stitch by stitch. He carried the completed dryer and assembled a frame in the storage room to prevent the hot air from escaping, then covered it with the cotton cloth.

That way, the hot air released by the dryer could circulate within the cloth-covered frame and achieve the desired drying effect.

“Doggie, hurry up and take down all the clothes that aren’t dry. Let’s see how well this works.”

“Yes, Master. Please wait a moment.”

Doggie turned and went upstairs, returning with more than ten pieces of clothing and trousers. He hung them inside the frame, tied the opening in the cotton cover shut, plugged in the machine, and switched it on.

Hot air soon began to blow. When Doggie had made the dryer, he had designed it to operate silently. Inside the storage room, there was only the sound of warm air moving. The machine itself made no noise.

“The heat is strong. Five hours should be enough to dry everything.” After testing the speed and temperature of the airflow, Zhong Yuxiu gave a fair assessment. “Now we just need to see how much electricity it uses.”

If it consumed too much, they would have to improve it.

“Master, Doggie calculated that the dryer uses only one kilowatt-hour after running for ten hours. It doesn’t consume much electricity.”

“That really isn’t much.” Zhong Yuxiu smiled until her eyes narrowed. “Bring the other machine downstairs and put it in the storage room as well. Make a copy of the dryer’s technical data and place it together with the machine.”

There was no one at home, and few guests came by, so using the storage room was perfectly suitable.

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On the third day of the new year, Xi Nian learned that the device had been placed in the storage room, and his feelings became complicated. It was yet another new invention, something capable of earning a great deal of money, yet it had been casually left in a storage room. How heartbreaking.

What was wrong with her?

Xi Nian: I can’t say.

“Comrade Zhong, I’ll take the device with me. Please keep the dividend certificate safe.” After handing the item over to Zhong Yuxiu, Xi Nian and the others carried everything away.

Zhong Yuxiu turned and went upstairs, taking out the deposit certificates she had previously placed beneath her pillow. The two sums together amounted to more than one hundred thousand yuan—a huge figure that could be used to accomplish many things.

She put the certificates into her storage ring and planned to transfer the money through the rural credit cooperative when she had the time.

“Master, will you be eating lunch at home?” Doggie came upstairs to ask.

“Yes.” She had already eaten at the Yan household for three days. It would be inappropriate to continue going to someone else’s home for meals. “Make more vegetarian dishes and fewer meat dishes.”

She had eaten exceptionally well these past few days, with plenty of meat. She was not tired of it yet, but she did find herself missing vegetarian food.

“All right, Master. No problem, Master. If there’s anything else you want, just tell Doggie, and Doggie will make it for you.” Doggie was full of energy. His master had not eaten at home for three days, leaving him with nothing to do.

Zhong Yuxiu said, “Make a clear soup. Don’t add any oil.”

“Understood.” Doggie turned and went downstairs.

Zhong Yuxiu sat down beside the bed and silently calculated. Her savings, all added together, now amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand yuan.

She would keep eighty thousand as emergency funds and use the remaining one hundred thousand for charity. That would be enough to establish one or two orphanages. She wanted to establish one in every province across the country, but the amount of money required would be far too great. With her current financial resources, she was not yet capable of doing so.

She would take it slowly, accomplishing things one step at a time. There would always be a day when everything was complete.

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