Chapter 148: A Fortunate Streak

On a small hill.

Seeing Liu Xing appear on the country road leading a small black calf, Li Dawei was slightly startled at first, then walked up to him with a smile. "Why are you back so early today? Doesn't the shoe shop need you there?"

This was not idle chatter; he knew full well that Liu Dongju's family was busy planting rice seedlings and had no time to spare for the shoe shop business.

"I hired someone," Liu Xing replied.

"Oh!" Li Dawei did not probe further. Instead, he pointed to the hundreds of villagers repairing the road. "Well, did my taking matters into my own hands upset you?"

"It did," Liu Xing said with a teasing smile.

"Ah?" Li Dawei froze.

If that were truly the case, he would feel like dying of mortification.

"Since you wanted to fix the road, why were you in such a rush? Couldn't you have taken it slowly?" Liu Xing looked down at the country road beneath his feet, his tone turning serious. "The road surface is much smoother now, and cars can pass through, but the roadbed is far from solid! Give it some time, and it's bound to be full of potholes again."

A country road paved with cinder slag was essentially no different from one paved with sand.

Of course, the former was much cheaper.

Yet they shared the same fatal flaw.

That is, it dissolved upon contact with water, and with the passage of time, it would quickly wash away.

Having been reborn, he remembered all too well the tremendous effort and heavy cost it had taken back then just to make the country road in Saltstone Village passable for vehicles, which was why he knew the inside story.

"You, oh you! A well-fed man doesn't know the misery of the starving. Just the deployment of these cinder slag heaps and trucks today costs this much!" Li Dawei held up five fingers. "If I had spare money, would I have rushed to finish it in such a hurry? It was the only option. At least this road can temporarily carry traffic now."

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Liu Xing was stunned for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly.

That being the case, he had misunderstood Li Dawei.

It turned out Li Dawei wasn't unwilling to thoroughly repair the country road; rather, the resources he could extract from the Hengshui Winery were severely limited. This was likely only because Secretary Yan had given the green light; otherwise, based solely on Li Dawei's authority as the factory director, it never would have happened.

At that thought, for some reason, Liu Xing suddenly stopped disliking Li Dawei.

It wasn't because Li Dawei had helped repair the country road this time, but rather because, as a person who had lived a second life, he knew that Li Dawei had his own hidden grievances when doing certain things.

At the very least, in the murky waters of the Hengshui Winery, without a certain ruthlessness and tactical cunning, he wouldn't even stand a chance of surviving.

When all was said and done, Li Dawei was still an old fox.

He who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and he who stays near ink gets stained black.

Even though he was reborn, Liu Xing knew there was still a great deal he needed to learn.

Seeing Li Dawei pick up a loudspeaker and return to directing the work, Liu Xing did not linger on the country road. Instead, he led the small black calf back home.

At their doorstep, Zhou Qiuxian, along with Zhao Xiaomo, Kang Hu, Liu Qiuyuan, and several other young wives who made shoes, were also helping to shovel cinder slag to repair the road. They were sweating profusely from the hard work, yet not a single one of them complained of fatigue.

Even Lanlan and Guazi were helping to level the ground with tiny hoes.

Seeing this scene, after shutting the small black calf in the cowshed, Liu Xing joined the road-repairing crew without a second word.

After all, such an opportunity was truly rare. If he let it slip by, goodness knows how long he would have to wait for the next chance.

In his memory, Saltstone Village did not pave its country roads with sand until 1996.

Now it was only 1982, a gap of more than ten years!

Yet Liu Xing knew why this timeline had been shortened by so many years.

It was all because of him.

Because he had triggered the butterfly effect.

He had altered the timeline of infrastructure development in Saltstone Village.

While this might seem insignificant on the surface, it actually laid a solid foundation for the future economic take-off and development of Saltstone Village.

Otherwise, without accessible roads, it was doubtful anyone would ever come to invest and build in a rural area.

In other words, intangibly, Liu Xing had changed the landscape of Saltstone Village.

Most people could not perceive this shift.

Yet Liu Xing had spotted it.

If nothing unexpected happened, he knew this layout would exert a massive, profound influence on Saltstone Village decades into the future.

With this thought, a gratified smile spread across his face.

Perhaps...

This was one of the meanings behind why Heaven had granted him a second lease on life.

...

Busy hours always pass quickly in a blur.

Before they knew it, noon had arrived.

Seeing that several truckloads of cinder slag had all been laid out, and Li Dawei showed no intention of calling the drivers to load more, Liu Xing promptly instructed his mother to start cooking. Meanwhile, he walked into the kitchen, picked up a kettle of brewed tea, and headed over.

Along the way, whenever villagers wanted a drink, he would pour them a bowl.

Just as he was about to reach Li Dawei, Liu Qiuyuan grabbed him and pulled him aside into a vegetable plot. "Little Star, did your mother tell you what happened this morning about someone trying to poach our workers?"

"Huh?" Liu Xing was taken aback.

Poach workers?

What did that mean?

Seeing his confusion, Liu Qiuyuan hastily explained, "I don't know the exact details, but anyway, a middle-aged man in a black suit came to your house and found Zhao Xiaomo. At first, we thought he was one of Zhao Xiaomo's relatives, but later we found out he was offering high wages to lure Zhao Xiaomo away to make shoes somewhere else—ten yuan a day!"

"Do you know the name of this middle-aged man, Aunt?" Liu Xing asked immediately.

If nothing went wrong, this was undoubtedly Xiao Li's doing.

After all, making shoes out of discarded tires required experienced and skilled artisans.

"Not really sure, but Zhao Xiaomo ended up cursing the man and chasing him off," Liu Qiuyuan chuckled. "Only, Tang Shi didn't come to make shoes today, and neither did Old Zhang's daughter-in-law."

Normally, if the young wives didn't come to Liu Xing's house to make shoes, they were required to ask for leave. This was a rule set by Zhou Qiuxian so she could estimate how much food to prepare in advance.

For instance, Zhao Xiaomo had originally planned to stay home to help her husband build their new house, but upon seeing the road construction in Saltstone Village, she had given Zhou Qiuxian advance notice that she would come to help. This prevented any misunderstandings and ensured she could have lunch with them.

Liu Xing naturally understood the inner workings of this system. After a brief pause, he followed up on Liu Qiuyuan's words: "Aunt, do you mean they were poached by that middle-aged man?"

"I don't know, that's why I came to ask you," Liu Qiuyuan replied.

"I'm not sure either," Liu Xing said after a moment of thought. "I'll look into this matter. You go to the kitchen and help my mom cook! There might be quite a few people eating here later."

"I don't need to cook, your two older sisters are already in there preparing the meals," Liu Qiuyuan replied.

"You don't mean Elder Sister Ding Lan and Elder Sister Lianfang, do you?" Liu Xing asked in surprise, considering that Bureau Director Wu and Zhang Xiangjun had both left; there seemed to be no reason for the two women to stay behind.

"Mm-hmm," Liu Qiuyuan nodded.

"Then Aunt, please go and ask Sister Xiaomo what that middle-aged man looked like," Liu Xing suggested.

"Alright!" Liu Qiuyuan turned and walked away.

Liu Xing watched her walk off, then hoisted the teapot and walked towards Li Dawei.

Perhaps because he had been talking too much earlier, Li Dawei's voice was slightly hoarse as he chatted with Liu Dazhao. Seeing that tea was available, he eagerly took the bowl and gulped it down in one breath. "Good tea! I haven't had tea this good in ages."

"You're just thirsty. What kind of good tea could there be in the countryside?" Liu Xing smiled. "So, how is it? Are we continuing the road repairs this afternoon?"

"We're out of cinder slag," Li Dawei replied with a raspy voice.

"Then let's go back, rest, and have lunch. Forget about the rest for now," Liu Xing said as he began to walk back.

However, Liu Dazhao disagreed. "Little Star, if we stop fixing the road right at our doorstep, I'm afraid the other villagers will have complaints! Shouldn't you take Director Li over to explain?"

Hearing this, Li Dawei could not help but smile.

He had helped Saltstone Village extend the country road all the way to Liu Xing's doorstep because he had favors to ask of Liu Xing.

What did the other villagers' road repairs have to do with him? If not for Liu Xing's sake, he wouldn't even have paved this stretch at the foot of Stone Cow Mountain.

Liu Xing also felt his father's logic was flawed. "No... What did you tell them when you asked them to come fix the road earlier? Did you promise them you'd pave the entire country road of Saltstone Village with cinder slag?"

"Not quite, but the key is that everyone wanted to take this opportunity to pave the country road right outside their front doors with cinder slag! As the group leader of Saltstone Village, since I was able to speak on their behalf, I naturally couldn't refuse," Liu Dazhao said with a smile.

"Then you can discuss this matter with Director Li. I'm not getting involved," Liu Xing said, turning on his heel to leave.

"Don't do that!" Liu Dazhao grabbed Liu Xing's arm. "How come I never realized you were such a selfish brat?"

"Dad, I think you're the selfish one here!" Liu Xing frowned. "Do you have any idea how much a truckload of cinder slag costs?"

"How would I know that?" Liu Dazhao scratched his head.

Liu Xing looked at Li Dawei, who was standing to the side watching the show.

He knew that only Li Dawei knew the answer to this question, so he had to leave the explanation to him.

"Cinder slag itself isn't expensive, but a large truckload is still worth one or two hundred yuan, especially since many villages doing road repairs want it. But the thing is—" Li Dawei paused, shifting his tone, "—the volume needed is massive! Just the cinder slag transported to Saltstone Village today was nearly thirty trucks. At two hundred a truck, that's a full six thousand yuan! Add in transportation costs, excavators, and other miscellaneous expenses, and today's expenditure is at least ten thousand."

Li Dawei wasn't trying to scare anyone; he was stating the raw truth.

Because transporting cinder slag out of the Hengshui Winery required manual loading and unloading by a dozen people, plus paying off and filing paperwork with relevant departments—the expenses for these two items alone were more than ordinary people could bear.

Hearing this, Liu Dazhao turned pale with shock. "You're kidding? It takes that much money?" He had assumed the slag was merely unwanted waste from the boilers of the Hengshui Winery. Now that he thought about it, he realized just how ignorant he had been.

Had he known this inside information, he would never have dared to utter such embarrassing words in front of Li Dawei!

"Did you think it was all free?" Liu Xing couldn't resist a dry retort. "So if you want to continue fixing the road from here on out, you'll have to talk to everyone yourself. As long as they're willing to foot the bill, there's no problem paving everyone's threshing floors with slag."

"That's out of the question. Just pretend I never said anything earlier." Realizing that Liu Xing wouldn't trick him, Liu Dazhao scratched his head in embarrassment and scurried away like a puff of smoke.

Li Dawei chuckled as he watched him go. "Actually, it's not that I don't want to keep fixing the road; it's that Hengshui Winery genuinely doesn't have much slag left. We only have five or six truckloads remaining, and those are reserved for essential uses."

"Say no more. My father must have had his brain washed by someone into thinking truckloads of slag grew on trees," Liu Xing glanced at the sky. "Let's go! Come to my house to rest and eat."

"Alright! But we have to call those drivers," Li Dawei reminded him.

Although these drivers were just workers earning wages at Hengshui Winery, they had worked hard today nonetheless.

Therefore, they had to be invited.

"No problem." Seeing the truck drivers resting and chatting by the roadside, Liu Xing led Li Dawei over.

...

After lunch, Li Dawei chatted briefly with Liu Xing about repairing the bottling equipment before leaving with Li Weiwei without lingering any further.

After all, procuring the materials for the bottling equipment still required his personal attention.

Before leaving, however, he gave Liu Dazhao a promise.

That within the next half month, as long as the weather held up, he would send a few more truckloads of cinder slag for the villagers of Saltstone Village to continue their road repairs.

The reason he had suddenly changed his mind was because Liu Xing had clearly put a lot of thought and effort into treating him and the drivers to this meal.

Under such circumstances, as the director of Hengshui Winery, it would be unseemly of him not to show some gesture in return.

This decision made Liu Dazhao immensely happy. Seeing that there was nothing urgent at home, he went out to brag to other villagers who were waiting for news.

Although Zhou Qiuxian knew what Liu Dazhao was up to, she didn't stop him.

After all, in rural life in the 1980s, sitting together and bragging was the only hobby that didn't cost a dime.

As for Liu Xing, after seeing Li Dawei off, he was dragged into the kitchen by Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang.

He initially thought they were just coming to grab some glutinous rice cakes to take home, but instead, Ding Lan shared a startling piece of news.

Namely, after discussions yesterday among Bureau Director Wu, Secretary Yan, and other leaders, it had been decided that his father, Liu Dazhao, would be appointed as the village head of Saltstone Village.

As things stood, unless Liu Dazhao raised objections, it was practically a done deal.

Because after Village Head Wang was arrested, numerous malpractices and offenses had been uncovered during the investigation.

If he ever wanted to return, it would likely be a miracle if it happened in his lifetime.

Upon hearing this news, Liu Xing did not feel happy at first; instead, he asked Niu Lianfang in utter bewilderment, "Elder Sister, Village Head Wang always looked so honest on the surface! What on earth did he do?"

"Well," Niu Lianfang pondered for a moment before replying, "He colluded with Xiao Daode and concealed all the ration coupons issued by higher-level authorities to the villagers of Saltstone Village. He sold many of those coupons to Xiao Daode, and all the money he got from it went straight into gambling."

"No way?" Liu Xing's eyes widened in disbelief. "I remember Village Head Wang lived a very frugal life. The last time I saw his granddaughter, she was still wearing straw sandals!"

For such a frugal man to be a secret gambler was utterly unexpected.

Niu Lianfang smiled wryly. "That was just a superficial appearance. You have no idea how wealthy Village Head Wang's son's family is."

"Alright then!" Liu Xing rubbed his forehead, preferring not to dwell on it.

After all, in his impression of the 1980s, village officials were supposed to work for the welfare of the people.

Not like decades later, when most of them only looked out for their own pockets.

"Stop stressing over it. Village Head Wang stepping down is a blessing for both you and your dad," Niu Lianfang reached out and patted Liu Xing's shoulder. "Secretary Yan did ask me to pass along a message to you, though: he hopes you'll guide your dad and use your clever wit to lead impoverished Saltstone Village onto the path of prosperity."

"No way, I don't want to wear that high hat." Liu Xing knew this words definitely didn't come from Secretary Yan, but rather from Bureau Director Wu.

Anyone with eyes could see that getting his father appointed as village head of Saltstone Village was Bureau Director Wu's intention, not Secretary Yan's.

Yet since things had reached this point, he naturally wouldn't try to obstruct it.

After all, he couldn't let Bureau Director Wu's good intentions go to waste.

And if his father could become the village head of Saltstone Village, many of his hidden ambitions might finally find an outlet to be realized.

Therefore, he would let nature take its course.

There was no need to interfere, because he felt the current situation was already as good as it could possibly get.

Sensing Liu Xing's inner thoughts, Ding Lan smiled and brought up another matter. "I heard from your mother that the supply of shoe-making materials ran into some trouble?"

"Mm-hmm," Liu Xing nodded.

He saw no need to hide anything from these two elder sisters, Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang.

"Then would you like me to introduce you to a major boss who deals in leather? The genuine leather you used to make shoes for me last time came from him," Ding Lan looked at Liu Xing with earnest eyes. "However, because the leather he trades is all genuine, the price is a bit steep, oh!"

"High prices aren't an issue. I'm just afraid he won't want to do business with me," Liu Xing voiced his inner worry. "After all, in the eyes of major bosses, my shoe shop is just a small-scale operation."

"Don't you worry about that, he wouldn't dare," Ding Lan laughed. "How about I find some time to invite him over to the shoe shop to talk with you face-to-face?"

"Alright!" Liu Xing nodded.

With Ding Lan's connection underpinning it, he believed that as long as he had money, nothing should pose an insurmountable problem.

"By the way, are you going to the market shoe shop tomorrow?" Niu Lianfang spoke up.

"Definitely, because tomorrow is market day!" Liu Xing replied.

If he didn't go to the market on market days, he might as well close down the shoe shop entirely.

After all, based on the past few days, the shoe shop's business only ever boomed on market days.

"Then see you tomorrow. I'll reserve a table for ten people with your sister ahead of time," Niu Lianfang teased.

"You're going to the market tomorrow too?" Liu Xing asked involuntarily.

"Mmhmm, but as for why, don't ask—even if you ask, I won't tell you." Niu Lianfang checked the time on her watch. "I'm heading out. Ding Lan and I have to go; there are still tons of things at the bureau waiting for us to handle!"

"Alright!" Liu Xing picked up a woven bag and began packing glutinous rice cakes into it.

"That's enough, that's enough!" Seeing that Liu Xing was about to empty the entire batch of rice cakes from their kitchen, Ding Lan quickly stepped in to stop him.

"We have plenty more in the backyard!" Liu Xing smiled, hoisting the woven bag as he walked out of the kitchen.

Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang followed closely behind.

...

After seeing Ding Lan and Niu Lianfang off, Liu Xing returned to the main hall.

Seeing Zhao Xiaomo and his aunt busy making shoes, he walked over with a smile. "Sister Xiaomo, your family is building a house, why are you still coming over here to help out?"

"It's been raining every day, so a lot of materials can't be transported in anyway," Zhao Xiaomo looked up at Liu Xing. "While I have some free time, I might as well earn as much as I can."

"True," Liu Xing nodded. "By the way, that middle-aged man who tried to poach you to make shoes elsewhere—have you ever seen him before?"

As soon as these words left his mouth, Liu Qiuyuan chimed in, "She said he looked very familiar, like someone who works at the supply and marketing cooperative."

"But I couldn't say for sure whether it really was him," Zhao Xiaomo added.

"That's more than enough to go on," Liu Xing smiled. Seeing that it was getting late, he stepped out of the main hall, brought over the small black calf, and began loading up the bundled shoes.

At that moment, Lanlan appeared holding Guazi by the hand. "Older brother, are you going to the market?"

"Mm-hmm," Liu Xing nodded.

Tomorrow was market day, and the shoe shop was out of stock for many styles. He naturally needed to deliver the finished shoes as soon as possible; otherwise, if it started raining later, things would get troublesome.

"Can I tag along to play?" Lanlan asked softly.

Guazi looked equally expectant.

With no other toddlers around to play with at home, he felt entirely restless all over.

"This..." Liu Xing hesitated for a moment. "Alright, but you have to be obedient if you come."

"Okay, okay!" Lanlan beamed happily.

Guazi cheered as well, his short legs scurrying off at a trot to inform Zhou Qiuxian.

Liu Xing shook his head at the sight, but said nothing more as he continued packing the shoes.

Seeing this, Lanlan stepped forward to help.

In no time at all, both bamboo baskets were packed full.

Realizing time was wasting, Liu Xing picked up Lanlan and seated her on the back of the small black calf.

At that moment, Zhou Qiuxian walked out of the front gate holding Guazi by the hand. "Little Star, since your dad has nothing to do at home these days, why don't you have him come to the shoe shop to help out with odd jobs?"

"Mom, I could never order him around," Liu Xing laughed, reaching out to hoist Guazi onto the calf's back as well. He leaned in and whispered in Zhou Qiuxian's ear: "Sister Ding Lan mentioned before she left that Dad is very likely to become the village head of Saltstone Village. If you ask him to help at the shoe shop right now, wouldn't that be turning things upside down?"

"Really or fake?" Zhou Qiuxian's eyes widened in shock.

When she recovered from the surprise, she was overjoyed.

After all, in the past, whenever Saltstone Village elected a village head, every single head of household in the village had to vote.

"Would I joke about something like this?" Liu Xing tugged on the bamboo straps to ensure they were secure, then added in a quiet voice, "Let me share another piece of good news with you: Elder Sister is pregnant again. Perhaps this time next year, there'll be another mischievous little kid calling you grandma."

"How do you know that?" Zhou Qiuxian covered her mouth, too emotional to speak coherently.

For her, Dongju had finally made it through the hard times!

If she could give birth to a chubby little boy this time, her in-laws would never dare utter another word of complaint.

"Of course Elder Sister told me herself!" Liu Xing shook his head. "I must get going now, or I won't make it in time for dinner at my sister's place."

"Be careful on the road," Zhou Qiuxian instructed.

"Got it." Liu Xing led the small black calf toward the country road.

Watching Liu Xing depart, Zhou Qiuxian hurried off to find Liu Dazhao.

After all, the two pieces of news Liu Xing had just shared were a double blessing for her.

...

The Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

In the spacious back courtyard.

In the eastern corner piled high with discarded tires.

Xiao Yang was supervising a skinny girl making shoes.

Seeing that after ages she still hadn't managed to cut out a single sole, he flew into a rage. "Tang Shi, you're a talent I paid a high price to poach from Liu Xing! Don't tell me that with this kind of skill you think you're worth ten yuan a day?"

"I didn't even want to come here, you tricked me into it!" The skinny girl, Tang Shi, looked up and glared at Xiao Yang. "Besides, the tasks I did at Liu Xing's house weren't cutting soles; I was only responsible for punching holes and trimming edges."

In truth, she and the other young wives really didn't want to come, nor did they wish to commit an act of betrayal against Liu Xing.

However, her family had accumulated substantial old debts when buying goods at the supply and marketing cooperative in the past.

This time, Xiao Yang had seized precisely upon that leverage, using coercion and enticement to trick her into making shoes to pay off the debt.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Xiao Yang was utterly incensed.

When all was said and done, he had hired a complete dud!

"You didn't ask!" Tang Shi snapped back defiantly. "If you think I'm no good, just let me leave. I don't want to serve here anyway!"

"You!" Xiao Yang initially wanted to resort to physical intimidation, but upon seeing that the other two young wives poached from Liu Xing were too terrified to do any work, he had no choice but to swallow his rage and seek out Xiao Li.

After all, this brilliant scheme of poaching workers from Liu Xing to make shoes had been Xiao Li's brain-child.

He had thought it was a brilliant move, but now it turned out things weren't nearly as simple as he'd imagined.

At the very least, making shoes wasn't something anyone could do just by having hands.

Xiao Li was currently tallying accounts inside the cooperative. Seeing Xiao Yang approach with a dark, gloomy expression, she asked with a start, "What's wrong? Who's pissed you off this time?"

"Those three young wives Old Li poached for you—they've been fussing around for half the day and can't even produce a single shoe," Xiao Yang sighed heavily. "If you don't believe me, go look for yourself. They can't even cut out the soles, let alone shape those unique side-straps."

"What?" Xiao Li was slightly taken aback. Realizing Xiao Yang wasn't joking, she hurried toward the back courtyard.