Today, Lijiapo can be described as a place of "loud drums and gongs, firecrackers, red flags waving, and crowds of people."

Several brand-new shovels, each adorned with red silk cloth, stood against the wall. A red carpet of three thousand firecrackers was laid out in several circles, and people nearby were continuously setting off individual firecrackers.

"Bang—Sizzle—Crack—"

The children covered their ears but kept crowding closer!

Many villagers from other villages also came from afar to watch the excitement. The entire construction site was bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder.

Those with good eyesight immediately ran home to get their things and set up a stall to sell food. These people from other villages rushed over early in the morning, smelling the aroma of mutton soup wafting in the air, but they couldn't get a single bite. They could only spend a few cents to buy a flatbread to satisfy their hunger.

Before long, at eight o'clock, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lijiapo New Residential Building Project officially began!

Wang Jianguo and Yu Wengang personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony. Each of them held a shovel adorned with red ribbons and, together with Li Jin, dug a shovelful of soil on the site where lines had already been drawn with white lime.

The staff who followed promptly pressed the shutter of the camera, and a scene of great historical significance was captured on film.

The red lanterns were lit simultaneously, creating a loud crackling sound. At the same time, the sounds of drums, trumpets, and cymbals from the percussion bands, along with people's laughter, filled the air, making it even more lively than the New Year.

In this environment, if two people are standing face to face, they have to shout to be heard.

After walking a short distance, Wang Jianguo asked Li Xiangdong, "Is it necessary for your streets to be so wide?"

Nowadays, rural roads are only three or four meters wide at most, just enough for small carts to pass through. In contrast, the roads in Xinminjuliu are all twelve meters wide!

Isn't this a waste of land?

Li Xiangdong replied with a smile, "Uncle Wang, what if every family in our village buys a car in the future? If we don't leave wide roads, it won't be passable!"

Yu Wengang was amused by Li Xiangdong, "Does every family have a car?"

Who knows when the day when every household will own a bicycle will come true!

Give me back my car!

This is simply a fantasy!

Li Xiangdong said meaningfully, "Times are changing rapidly. Sometimes development is so fast it's like riding a rocket. Nobody can say for sure what kind of life ordinary people will lead in the future. So we plan ahead, just in case! Hahaha!"

Wang Jianguo glanced at him and inexplicably felt that what he said was true. He thought to himself, "Why don't we expand the roads that Huichuan County has planned?"

However, this matter was not a big deal. He was already overwhelmed with countless other things to do, and it was already a great honor for Li Xiangdong to attend the groundbreaking ceremony. So he didn't think about it any further and got into his car and left in a hurry.

......

The new houses have already been built, and Li Chang and his team will be in charge of overseeing the rest, so no one else needs to worry about it.

In the brigade headquarters, Li Jin, Li Tang, Liu Yuliang, Liu Changhai, Wang Zhenbo and others sat upright, listening to Li Xiangdong speak.

It wasn't anything else, but a way to make money that Li Xiangdong had heard about in his previous life.

In the past, a particularly famous person came from Jingtao County. He was born in a poor village called Xianshuiwo and later became the brigade leader.

To change his family's ancestral fate of living in mud huts and drinking salty water, he endured hardship and tightened his belt, leading the villagers to cut reeds at the reservoir, carry out earthwork construction projects, and eventually establish countless enterprises, transforming Xianshuiwo into the number one village in the world.

This brigade leader later appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, even receiving close-up shots, and was at the height of his fame.

Of course, the captain's fate was not good, but that's beyond the scope of this discussion.

The reason Li Xiangdong said all this is because he had a very close relationship with the descendants of the brigade leader of Xianshuiwo in his previous life, and he knew every detail of the history of Xianshuiwo's rise to power.

Back then, even though this brigade leader had fallen from grace, he had still managed to rebuild the entire Xianshuiwo village, making it one of the most important villages in the region.

He asked at the time, "Can you really make that much money cutting reeds? How much suffering do you have to endure!"

In his previous life, Li Xiangdong had also cut reeds at the Washui Reservoir, earning one cent per pound.

The price sounds like a lot, but the suffering involved is unbearable.

The reeds along the reservoir are short and the ground is dry, so they are relatively easy to cut.

But the further in you go, the harder it gets to cut the reeds. They grow so thick and strong that you have to swing the sickle with all your might. If you step in, you sink into the mud. Wading through the muddy water with icy shards, it's so cold from your feet to your heart!

By the end of the day, my arms were so sore they felt like they didn't belong to me, and even after sitting by the fire for half a day, I still couldn't warm up!

The thought of this crime made Li Xiangdong's teeth ache.

My friend laughed and said, “At first, after the flood, there was no other way to make money! The villagers relied on the three or four ounces of coarse grains they were given as relief every day. They were afraid to move after eating them, fearing they would digest them! Every day, they would move from the east wall to the west wall, basking in the sun and catching lice! My father couldn’t bear to see this, so he led people to the reservoir to cut reeds. There was nothing to eat back then, so they had to endure this hardship! Reeds were only one cent per pound at the time. My brother was strong and cut the most! He could cut a thousand pounds of reeds every day!”

Some might say, "Then you can earn a hundred yuan a day!" But that's not how it works. Of that hundred yuan, seventy percent has to be handed over to the reservoir first, leaving only thirty yuan.

To boost the enthusiasm of the commune members, 70% of the 30 yuan will go to individuals, leaving only 30%, or 9 yuan, for the brigade!

"How did the brigade accumulate its first pot of gold?"

Li Xiangdong knew that the year after the flood, they opened a cold-rolled strip steel plant!

Setting up a steel mill requires equipment, which necessitates a significant investment of real money!

That friend sighed, "My dad used to employ four or five people who didn't have to do any work, but they got ten yuan a day. Guess what they did?"

"What are you doing?"

"They went to various places specifically to gather information and look for opportunities!"

That friend said smugly.

"Found it?"

"Found it!"

......

"Now there's a fantastic opportunity! The leather factory next door in Juedian is buying all kinds of cow and sheep pelts, and they're offering the same prices as the market prices!"

After Li Xiangdong finished speaking, everyone blinked as if they didn't understand. What did he mean?

Liu Changhai was the first to react. His eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh, exclaiming, "Then we can get beef and mutton for free!"