A week after Wang Xin and Yao Yuling got married, on an ordinary morning, Niu Dali left the compound with his luggage on his back. He said no goodbyes, leaving only a letter for Cai Xiaonian saying he would come back once he made it big.
In truth, everyone knew Niu Dali was leaving. He had to report it to the leadership, and once he brought it up, it was no longer a secret. Wang Yongge had even handled the matter himself. He kept Niu Dali's position on the books, only without pay, so that if Niu Dali failed to make something of himself, he would still have somewhere to return to. They even kept his housing for him.
Wang Yongge naturally knew that Niu Dali liked Yao Yuling. The old fellow had shown Niu Dali some consideration, more or less.
Niu Dali's departure did not cause much of a stir in the compound. People sighed and talked about it for a couple of days, then no one mentioned it anymore. Only Old Wu and Cai Xiaonian occasionally brought him up.
Wang Yan felt even less about it. Whether Niu Dali ended up poor or rich was a path he had chosen for himself. Still, the original Niu Dali had managed to get rich, so he probably could now as well. Though the kid stole and sneaked around, he was not entirely useless.
He could study books and figure out how to make cassette players and the like. In the original story, he had even gone to Shenzhen to collect swill. He had brains, did not care about all sorts of messy things, and was willing to put himself on the line and do the work. Those were necessary conditions for starting from nothing. Even if he could not become