After Li Yuzhu finished speaking, she packed her clothes and shoes into the guest room. Dong Qing helped her put a quilt on the bed and then walked out of the bedroom towards the living room.
After Dong Qing left, Li Yuzhu could no longer control her grief and lay on the bed crying bitterly.
Standing in the living room, listening to his ex-wife's cries, Dong Qing raised his hand and slapped himself twice, saying, "How could I have let things get like this?"
When Dong Qing arrived at the county government gate in the afternoon, the gatekeeper asked him what business he had.
Dong Qing said, "Please inform him that I would like to see Secretary Li of the County Party Committee."
The gatekeeper asked, "The county party secretary isn't someone you can just see casually. If you have any business, you can go to other departments."
Dong Qing said, "What I need to do can't be done by other departments; I have to go to Secretary Li..."
Before Dong Qing could finish speaking, a woman who looked to be about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old rode a bicycle into the gate. Although she was a middle-aged woman, she exuded femininity.
She rode her bicycle to the gate, and the gatekeeper said, "Secretary Zhang, this comrade wants to see Secretary Li. Should we let him in?"
Secretary Zhang got off her bicycle and asked, "May I ask who you are? Do you need to see Secretary Li?"
"My name is Dong Qing, and I'm here to discuss a major project with Secretary Li!"
In the 1980s, the county town was only so big. Dong Qing was involved in both selling porcelain and running a large pig farm. It would be hard for government officials not to know him.
Secretary Zhang said, "So you're Dong Qing! I've heard about your entrepreneurial achievements. You're a very promising young man. Please come with me."
If Secretary Zhang hadn't brought Dongqing in, he really wouldn't have been able to see Secretary Li.
Secretary Zhang led him to the door of the county party secretary's office. She said, "Please wait outside for a moment. I'll go in first to inform Secretary Li. You can only go in to see him after he approves."
Dong Qing nodded and said okay, then stood outside the office door to wait.
The office door opened shortly after, and Secretary Zhang said, "Secretary Li wants to see you. Please come in."
Dong Qing said thank you and then went into the office. Secretary Zhang closed the door behind him.
A middle-aged man sat at the desk, his hair slightly balding, exuding the air of a leading cadre.
Secretary Li stood up from his desk and said with a smile, "Young man, I have heard about your deeds. You are truly a promising young man. Please have a seat."
They walked to the sofa and sat down. Secretary Zhang poured two cups of hot water and placed them on the coffee table. Dongqing said thank you!
Secretary Li asked, "Did you need something from me?"
Dong Qing recounted how he bought land in Sucun and built a large-scale comprehensive wholesale market. After listening, Secretary Li asked, "Could you elaborate?"
Dong Qing said, "Our county is a treasure trove of railway and highway transportation hubs. After the wholesale market is built, we will vigorously advertise and promote it, attracting merchants from all over the country to come here for wholesale purchases, and transforming our county into a commercial city."
Secretary Li said, "I admire your courage. To be honest, our county has also considered this project, but our county is too poor, to put it bluntly, we have a weak foundation, and the county finances currently do not have the capacity. If you build a wholesale market, the county government will fully support you."
Dong Qing asked, "I want to borrow 15 million. I have over 2 million in savings in the bank, plus a pig farm and two tractors. Can I mortgage all of these? Is that okay?"
Fifteen million is no small sum. Secretary Li pondered for a long time before saying, "I'll arrange this immediately. I'll allocate you a 15 million interest-free loan. The county government will support you in this regard because you're someone I can trust. You've achieved so much in less than six months; I have no reason not to believe in you. Young man, keep up the good work. I believe you can succeed."
Dong Qing said, "With Secretary Li's support, I have even more confidence."
In just a few days, Dong Qing went from planning to buy 1,000 mu of land in Su Village to the original plan of 500 mu. He was really going all out this time.
They obtained a permanent land use certificate and took out a 15 million yuan interest-free loan from the bank with a repayment period of ten years.
Dong Qing paid 1 million yuan to the villagers of Su Village to buy the land, and the 1,000 mu of land became his property. The wheat would ripen in a little over two months, and after the wheat was harvested, Dong Qing began construction.
However, the bean product factory couldn't wait for the wheat to ripen, so they built several factory buildings first. Dong Qing destroyed ten acres of wheat. They compensated each acre with 300 jin of wheat, and the next time they went out, they bought 3,000 jin of wheat from elsewhere and distributed it to the villagers.
Having reached this point, the three older sisters said nothing more. That evening, the two sisters came to their house, and Dong Damei said, "Brother, we three sisters won't say anything more. We hope you succeed. We only have one request: you must remarry Yuzhu in the future. There's no room for discussion on that."
Dong Qing said, "I have only one wife in my life, Li Yuzhu. Even if she marries someone else in the future, I will still wish her well. He can only betray me, but I cannot betray her."
"Second sister believes in you!" Dong Ermei paused for a moment and said with tears in her eyes, "Sister-in-law, even though you are divorced, second sister will still call you that. Can you wait for my brother?"
Li Yuzhu nodded with tears in her eyes, and said, "I will wait for him my whole life."
Dong Sanmei cried, "Look what you've done to our home! I really want to move out; out of sight, out of mind."
With tears in her eyes, Dong Ermei said, "Third Sister, please stop making a scene. What's the use of making a scene now? Let nature take its course."
Dongqing said, "I'll bring back the building materials for the bean product factory tomorrow, and Yuzhu and I will go out to pick up more goods the day after tomorrow. I hope the three of you can help me."
Dong Ermei said, "You'll always be our little brother. Don't worry, the three of us sisters will help you."
Dongqing said, "I'm relieved to hear that, Second Sister."
Da Mei and Er Mei sat at home for a while, then got up and went home.
After the eldest and second eldest sisters left, the three of them went back to their own bedrooms to rest.
Dong Qing had just lain down when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.
Dong Qing got up and walked out of his bedroom. He went to the door and opened it, seeing Li Yuzhu's sister and mother standing outside. He said, "Mother, sister, what brings you here at this hour?"
Li Yuzhu's parents only heard about their daughter's divorce tonight. They heard it had been broadcast on the radio for several days, so they had no reason not to believe it.
When the mother found out, she couldn't sit still at home and took the last bus with her second daughter to come over.
Li Yuzhu's mother slapped Dong Qing twice, crying, "Don't call me 'Mom.' I don't have a son-in-law like you. You treated my daughter so badly when we first got married, and then her father and I forgave you. You two had only enjoyed a few good days together, and now you're divorcing my daughter. What do you want? Are you even human? Are you going to drive my daughter to her death before you're satisfied?"
The house is so small, how could Li Yuzhu and Dong Sanmei not hear it? The two of them ran from the bedroom to the living room.
Li Yuzhu knew that Dongqing couldn't explain things to his mother, and that his mother wouldn't listen to his explanations anyway. She said, "Dongqing, why don't you go back to your bedroom and rest?"
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