When Song Wei returned to the educated youth dormitory, she was immediately surrounded by a group of fellow educated youths, all eager to hear about the off-season vegetables.
Song Wei explained the basics to them and then added, “If you’re interested in investing, feel free to do so, but keep in mind that there’s still some risk involved. So far, we’ve only successfully grown off-season vegetables in a heated room, and it hasn’t been tested in greenhouses yet.”
“For those who don’t have money or aren’t willing to invest, you’ll have a chance later to compete for greenhouse management roles or handle external sales. The former would pay a salary, while the latter would rely on your skills to secure orders—the bigger the orders, the higher the commissions and rewards.”
Her words made everyone’s eyes light up.
Compared to farm work, managing greenhouses or securing sales sounded far easier. However, they also understood it would depend on their own abilities.
Soon, the group excitedly started making preparations.
Gao Le and Zhao Su, who weren’t short on money, immediately expressed their intent to invest.
Similar discussions were happening all over the village. Some saw it as an opportunity to make money and gathered what little funds they had to invest. Others, however, dismissed the idea as nonsense, scoffing at the notion of investing in a greenhouse that hadn’t even been built yet.
By the next day, the brigade leader had already received a few investments.
The amounts from the villagers were small, typically just a few yuan or even a few dimes. However, Gao Le and Zhao Su each invested 100 yuan.
Song Wei invested 300 yuan, while Lin Zhen went all in with a bold investment of 500 yuan.
This large sum left the brigade leader shocked.
Though excited, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. No matter how promising the plan seemed, greenhouses were still untested, and the vegetables Song Wei had grown came from a heated room. There was no guarantee that greenhouse farming would yield the same results.
After repeatedly confirming with Lin Zhen, he finally accepted the money.
“You’re taking a big risk with this,” he said.
Lin Zhen replied confidently, “If we’re going to do it, we might as well go big.”
He was bold and ambitious, uninterested in half-measures. His goal was to build several large greenhouses for vegetables.
“But what if it fails?”
Lin Zhen shrugged. “If I lose 500 yuan, I’ll just find another way to earn it back.”
Though 500 yuan was a considerable amount, Lin Zhen was optimistic. With his leg healing well, he believed he could make much more in the future.
Eventually, the brigade leader accepted the funds but kept quiet about Lin Zhen’s contribution, fearing that Lin’s greedy relatives might try to cause trouble. Although they had been scared off before, the lure of money could easily tempt them into doing something outrageous.
Over the next two days, more villagers trickled in to invest.
By the end of the three-day period, the brigade leader had collected over 1,600 yuan, carefully recording how much each person had contributed.
Afterward, he wasted no time and set off for the city with a group to purchase materials. Lin Zhen went along as well, his leg now capable of handling light travel.
Meanwhile, Song Wei stayed behind to witness another lively event in the village—Xu Laidi’s wedding.
In this era, the grandeur of a wedding depended entirely on how much the families valued the union. Unfortunately for Xu Laidi, her wedding was the definition of perfunctory.
Her in-laws didn’t prepare a dowry, not even a decent red outfit for her. Forget about candies or other traditional wedding gifts.
Liu Dakang showed up alone to fetch her, without a single groomsman accompanying him.
“Xu Zhiqing, I’m here to take you to my home,” Liu Dakang said, flashing a grin full of yellowed teeth.
Xu Laidi, though not expecting much, was still furious at such a half-hearted effort.
She wanted to refuse, to call off the wedding entirely. But Liu Dakang had come prepared.
“My mother said that if you don’t come with me today, she’ll go straight to the Public Security Bureau and accuse you of stealing our family heirloom.”
Xu Laidi turned pale, her face alternating between green and white as she cursed under her breath. In the end, she reluctantly followed him.
Song Wei and the other educated youths exchanged glances, feeling a mix of pity and schadenfreude.
“This has to be the most pathetic wedding I’ve ever seen,” one remarked.
“Liu Dakang came alone? Tsk tsk… Xu Laidi’s going to be the laughingstock of the entire village.”
For someone like Xu Laidi, who had always schemed to marry up and escape the countryside, it was almost poetic justice that she had ended up ruining her own future.
Out of curiosity, Song Wei joined the others to attend the wedding feast.
However, the Liu family’s hospitality left everyone disappointed.
There wasn’t a single meat dish on the table. The main course was a large basin of sweet potatoes, accompanied by radishes and cabbage floating in a thin, watery soup with no trace of oil.
Those who had come expecting a decent meal were bitterly let down.
“Mom, didn’t you say we’d get good food at the feast? This is worse than what we eat at home!” complained a child.
Even the adults grumbled.
“This Liu family is outrageous. I can’t believe I wasted five whole cent on this!”
“We’d better eat our fill, even if it’s awful. No way we’re going home on an empty stomach.”
Resigned to their losses, both children and adults glumly shoveled food into their mouths, grumbling about the Liu family’s stinginess.
The educated youths sat together at one table, exchanging wry smiles.
“How much did you all give?” someone asked.
“I heard most people gave 50 cents, so that’s what I gave,” Gao Le said, biting into a sweet potato.
“Same here,” Zhao Su added, grimacing. “Though I think this sweet potato might be rotten.”
Without changing her expression, Song Wei continued eating. “I gave one cent.”
At this, everyone turned to look at her.
Liu Linlin laughed. “Hehe… Me too. Just one cent.”
Su Fang, who couldn’t afford to give anything, didn’t attend the wedding at all.
Song Wei wasn’t there out of any sense of solidarity; she had only come to watch the drama unfold.
And soon enough, the drama began.
During the ceremony, Xu Laidi and her new in-laws got into a full-blown argument, escalating into a physical altercation between her and Liu Dakang’s mother.
It all started when Liu’s mother decided to assert dominance by making Xu Laidi kneel and serve tea in front of everyone.
Not only that, she nitpicked every little thing, complaining that the tea was too hot, then too cold, and criticizing Xu Laidi’s plain attire and lack of a smile.
Already furious, Xu Laidi finally snapped, launching herself at Liu’s mother in a fit of rage.
The wedding descended into chaos and ended as messily as it had begun.
“Tsk tsk… The Liu family’s going to be very lively from now on,” Zhao Su said with a sigh of relief. “At least Xu Laidi won’t be tormenting us at the educated youth dormitory anymore.”
Gao Le burst out laughing. “You guys don’t know the half of it. Lately, Xu Laidi’s been sneaking around, trying to scare people. One guy was so terrified he stopped sleeping alone in his room!”
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