Making Money Legally

"What did you say? ⊙∀⊙?"

Zhao Gang and Zhao Hongjun stared at the boy before them in disbelief, their lips trembling and eyes wide. Shen Jianan found it amusing and quickly waved for them to sit down.

"Why are you getting so worked up? Just tell me—do you want to do it or not?"

How could they not? But... Zhao Gang thought of the current climate, and his excitement immediately cooled somewhat. He frowned slightly, looked up at the boy, and said, still unable to conceal his agitation, "Educated Youth Shen, do you know what you're saying? This is speculation and profiteering—"

"Stop!"

Shen Jianan raised a hand to cut him off, then said seriously, "This isn't speculation and profiteering. We're promoting the flow of production and daily necessities between urban and rural areas, helping improve the people's basic living needs."

Resources were scarce in the current society, and goods were pitifully few. To a great extent, they simply could not meet the daily needs of urban and rural residents.

If they used the collective's name to fill some of those "gaps," they could make money "legally."

However, the brigade had to handle the negotiations. He would only teach the skills and provide the opportunity; he would not involve himself too deeply in anything else.

He had already made himself this clear. If the two of them still could not understand what Shen Jianan was plotting, they had wasted their lives.

Shen Jianan wanted to hide behind the Chaoyang Production Brigade and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and earn money in peace. In return, in order to maintain their cooperation and increase profits, the brigade and the cooperative would definitely protect him well.

Then, even if something went wrong later, with those two powerful backers standing in front, the chances of anything happening to him would be close to zero.

The prerequisite, though, was that he had to bring considerable profits to the brigade and the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Otherwise, no one would take him seriously over such meager gains. It sounded harsh, but it was the truth.

The biggest problem now was that money was not easy to make. The state regulations were right there, spelled out clearly. So what were they supposed to trade? And what made Shen Jianan think he could lead everyone toward prosperity through hard work?

Shen Jianan was not angered by the doubt. Instead, he polished up the story of delivering bags and hair ties to people before telling it to them.

The boy told them that he had learned tailoring at home and was considered a craftsman, so taking on jobs was not illegal. He had already received confirmation of that from a public security officer.

However, official regulations clearly stated that craftsmen could not take on work in large quantities and could only serve a limited local area. Otherwise, it would count as speculation and profiteering.

But he had a feeling that business would keep coming his way. He was worried that if sales grew too large, they would attract trouble.

So, to play it safe, he did not want to make a fuss over it. He might as well give part of the business to the brigade. That way, everyone could earn money steadily. What was not to like?

Shen Jianan looked at the two men listening intently and said, "They all really liked those hair accessories. They kept saying that if they were sold in the city or town, that would be great. Then they could buy a few more and switch them out whenever they wanted.

"So I thought, why not teach everyone to make some and sell them to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative? They could earn a little money to buy grain, and life would be easier for them."

The moment he said that, Zhao Gang and Zhao Hongjun's eyes reddened. They finally understood Shen Jianan's true reason for wanting to teach everyone how to make hair accessories and bamboo-rattan backpacks.

Red Flag Commune had suffered a disaster not long ago. The houses and crops had all been destroyed. Although the authorities had provided assistance policies, reduced part of the grain that had to be handed in that season, and postponed the grain payment deadline until next year, it still could not completely change the villagers' hardships.

After all, everyone normally could not even eat their fill. Now they had lost another season's harvest, and next year they would have to shoulder both the grain quota for that year and the amount owed from this year. More than half the households probably would not recover for the next two or three years.

And that was assuming there were no further disasters. If they got unlucky and someone in the family fell ill or something, who knew whether they could hold on at all?

Educated Youth Shen must have thought of this. He could not bear to watch everyone suffer from hunger, so he had come up with this way to help them through the crisis.

The more the two men thought about it, the more they felt that this kid was kind, sensible, and broad-minded. Those people who spoke badly of him were truly heartless and blind.

Still, he had also said that these hair accessories and backpacks were costly to make and expensive to buy. Ordinary people were generally poor these days. Would they really be willing to spend the money?

"Why wouldn't they be?"

Shen Jianan smiled and analyzed it for them. "The female market has always been larger than the male market. To put it bluntly, women's money is easier to earn.

"Other than a few developed cities, these hair accessories cannot be bought anywhere else. Women may love beauty, but they also compare things.

"These accessories may be a little expensive, but they're prettier and more durable than ordinary rubber hair ties. If they spend money on one or two, they get both happiness and practicality. Why would they be reluctant?

"As for the backpacks, they may be made from bamboo and rattan, but as long as we can come up with attractive designs and perfectly show off both their practicality and style, people will naturally pay for them."

He looked at the two men and reminded them, "The only thing is, neither of these is difficult to make. The main thing we're selling is the design. So what we need to do now is seize the advantage first and become the first to eat crab."

"Right, right!"

Zhao Gang and the other man nodded repeatedly in agreement. By now, the passion in their hearts had been completely ignited. Zhao Hongjun blurted out, "Then what do you think? How exactly should we go about this?"

"It's simple. Chaoyang Production Brigade has abundant resources. We can make reasonable use of that small portion of collectively owned resources and process the collected raw materials into goods.

"Then the brigade can sell them to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in exchange for money, or for necessities like grain, oil, meat, and eggs. We can bring those back to the brigade and distribute them to the villagers according to their labor."

Shen Jianan paused briefly, then stated again that during this process, aside from providing the skills, helping the brigade train suitable technical core members, and assessing the value of the goods for work points, he would not be responsible for anything else.

As for personnel matters and product sales, the brigade cadres would handle all of that. He would not take charge of any of it. After all, he still had tailoring jobs to take on and could not manage so much.

Also, these products could only be made in the locations arranged by the brigade. No one was allowed to secretly take materials or finished products home. Anyone caught doing so had to be severely punished. Furthermore, apart from Chaoyang Production Brigade members, no outsiders could participate in production.

The boy raised his voice slightly. "If I find out that anyone secretly tells their relatives and teaches them how to make these things, affecting sales and causing the brigade to lose money, I'll immediately stop providing the skills. From then on, I won't care whether anyone lives or dies."

"Of course!"

Zhao Hongjun eagerly chimed in, "We can barely take care of our own village, and we're supposed to play Buddha and look after others? Are we crazy?"

He smiled at Shen Jianan and said gently, "Don't worry. We'll definitely keep a close watch on this. If anyone dares to stir up trouble, we have plenty of ways to deal with them."

"Mm!"

Shen Jianan curled his lips in response. He liked people who understood what mattered. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then call everyone over for a meeting in a while. Tomorrow after work, everyone can first learn to make a few things from me. I—wait..."

He paused, seemingly annoyed, and slapped his forehead. "I forgot. Secretary Zhao isn't in the brigade. What if he doesn't agree to this? Maybe we should wait until he comes back?"

"How long would that take?"

The moment Zhao Gang heard that, he immediately objected. He raised his voice and shouted, "Several households in the brigade have already run out of food. If we drag this out any longer, everyone will starve to death."

"Then what should we do? He is the brigade secretary."

Shen Jianan raised his eyes at him with a troubled expression, then glanced at Zhao Hongjun, who had not said a word. "You both know Secretary Zhao is very rigid in the way he does things. If we don't discuss it with him and privately use things from the brigade's reserved mountain land..."

"I'll go to the city and find him."

Zhao Hongjun stood up, his face serious. "Educated Youth Shen is right. No matter how urgent things are, we can't bypass the secretary. But waiting endlessly isn't a solution either."

He turned to Zhao Gang and said solemnly, "So we'll split up. That way, neither side will be delayed."

Actually, if this involved anyone else, a phone call to town would have been enough. But Zhao Qiancheng was particularly obsessed with authority. If they did not show him enough respect and merely notified him over the phone, then when he decided to make an issue of it, not only would everyone suffer, but it might delay matters as well. For the sake of the bigger picture, it was most suitable for Zhao Hongjun to go and discuss it with him in person.

"Fine, we'll do it that way!"

Zhao Gang spoke with a dark expression. He disliked Zhao Qiancheng's habit of putting on airs more and more, but now was not the time to argue over it. He suppressed his dissatisfaction and discussed it with Zhao Hongjun.

"The two of us will go find the other cadres now and work out a plan. Then you can go back and rest. Tomorrow morning, ride my bike to town, then find a way to catch a ride to the city and look for him."

"Alright, that's settled!"

Zhao Hongjun nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "Educated Youth Shen, Educated Youth Gu, we'll have to trouble you both with what comes next."

Gu Yu, who had not said a word from beginning to end, froze when he heard his name. He had not expected Zhao Hongjun to include him.

However, he was a smart man. After a little thought, he understood that Zhao Hongjun was giving Shen Jianan face in order to curry favor with him. Still, Gu Yu was willing to accept the goodwill, so he smiled and said, "You too. Be careful on your way to the city."

"Alright."

Zhao Hongjun nodded. He then said goodbye to Shen Jianan and left the little courtyard halfway up the mountain with Zhao Gang. After seeing them off, Gu Yu asked Shen Jianan, "Was that little performance of yours meant to rope Zhao Qiancheng in?"

"Not just him."

Shen Jianan smiled, turned around, walked to the bed, and lay down. Then he looked at the person approaching him and said, "Jiang Hongmei, Zhao Jianguo, and Huang Qimei too!"

"Huang Qimei?"

Gu Yu looked puzzled as he sat sideways beside him. "Why go after her?"

"Not go after her. Suppress her."

Shen Jianan's gaze darkened slightly as he spoke in a cold, quiet voice. "That woman looks like a good person on the surface, but she's actually very calculating. Back when I was at the educated youth point, several of my arguments with everyone were caused by her stirring things up behind the scenes.

"But she's good at it. No one can tell. Everyone only thinks she's a considerate, kind girl. In truth, her heart isn't much better than Jiang Hongmei's."

"No wonder."

Hearing that, Gu Yu suddenly remembered that Huang Qimei did not seem to have received any of the hair ties Shen Jianan had prepared before. He instantly understood. "So you'd already started laying the groundwork when you gave hair ties to Lu Xiaoyue and the others?"

"Yes!"

The boy admitted it without hesitation. Then, after thinking for a moment, he smacked his lips with slight regret. "It's just a pity that the hail destroyed the crops afterward. Everyone was busy farming and had no mind to dress up, so those hair ties naturally never got the chance to work their magic."

"It's fine."

Gu Yu's eyes curved as he comforted him. "A few days won't make much difference. Maybe delaying it will even make the results better."

"Mm."

Shen Jianan chuckled and waved at him. "Go to sleep. The show is about to begin. We need to rest up if we're going to act alongside those people."

"Alright."

Gu Yu smiled and stood up. He casually caught Shen Jianan's arms in midair, pulled him to his feet, and took him to wash up...

Meanwhile, Zhao Gang and Zhao Hongjun had already gathered several brigade cadres in the office.

"Captain, why did you call us here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Squad leader Cheng Qianmin tilted his head toward Zhao Gang, looking somewhat irritated. He had not wanted to come in the first place, since he did not hold much real power.

Officially, he was a squad leader, but in reality, Zhao Qiancheng had only promoted him to placate the Cheng branch of the village.

Cheng Qianmin had not wanted the position at the time, but the older members of his clan had urged him, saying, "No matter what, you have to stick with it. Otherwise, such a large branch of the family won't have a single cadre. It'll be embarrassing to say so."

Cheng Qianmin had thought, Our Cheng family produced a landlord, then later a useless cripple. We lost all face long ago. What face is left to lose?

Still, he had not dared to say that. He was afraid the old men could not take it, so he could only swallow his bitterness and silently endure.

How could Zhao Gang fail to see this man's resentment? Normally, with his temper, he would have started cursing long ago. But he was in a good mood today and did not bother arguing with him.

"Of course it's good news. Why else would we call you over instead of sleeping in the middle of the night? Hongjun and I aren't sick, are we?"

He rolled his eyes at Cheng Qianmin, then explained Shen Jianan's plan, which naturally caused another huge commotion.

Clang! Crash—

The brigade accountant, Zhao Quan, was so excited that he dropped his tea mug on the floor. Normally, he would have cursed in distress, but now he could not even be bothered to pick it up. He merely rushed forward, grabbed Zhao Gang's collar tightly, and asked anxiously, "C-Captain, are you telling the truth?"

"It's true, it's true."

Zhao Gang laughed as he pulled his hand away. "Easy there. You're about to choke me to death!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The storekeeper Zhao Haishu burst out laughing, then asked excitedly, "So when are we going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to talk business?"

"It hasn't been decided yet."

Zhao Gang glanced at Zhao Hongjun, who was sitting with one leg crossed over the other and smoking. "After Hongjun goes to the city tomorrow and speaks to the secretary, we'll go."

The smiles on everyone's faces faded at once. "It's just a phone call, yet someone has to make a special trip. What a pain."

Zhao Haishu muttered, his brows drawn tight. The others did not say anything, but their expressions made it clear that they were unhappy as well.

Zhao Hongjun lowered his eyes, concealing the strange look in them, then said with a smile, "Alright, I'm the one going, not you. What are you complaining about?"

"Exactly!"

Zhao Quan helped smooth things over. "Alright, let's hurry and discuss how we'll cooperate with Educated Youth Shen from here on out."

"Yeah! Nothing is more important than food."

Zhao Haishu followed up, saying, "Our own families aren't living well either. Even if not for others, we should think about ourselves. Don't you all want to earn money to buy rice and meat?"

His words struck right at everyone's hearts. So no one continued sulking. Instead, they began offering ideas enthusiastically, talking over one another as they worked out the plan.