Lu Yuan thanked him again and asked about the price of the bricks and tiles.
Red bricks cost 3 cents each, while tiles cost 3.5 cents, 5 cents more expensive than red bricks.
The total comes to 412.5 yuan.
This is no small sum. It's roughly equivalent to a year and a half's wages for an average worker.
Some rural people who earn work points in the fields can't save this much money even after ten years or more.
He wasn't afraid to be high-profile, since he had a wife who was a sent-down youth, and saying that the house was built with money from her family was a ready-made excuse.
It's one thing to be broke, but now that we're making money, we naturally want to improve our living conditions.
Anyway, he's just a genuine farmer, so he's not afraid of being investigated.
Lu Yuan took out 90 yuan from his pocket.
"Director Zhong, I left in a hurry today and didn't bring enough money. Can I pay the deposit first, and then pay the rest when the bricks and tiles are delivered?"
"No problem, I'll talk to my master later and have him bring the money back to the finance department to settle the account."
Once the deal was agreed upon, Zhong Zhidong didn't delay. He took the two men to the finance department to pay the deposit and then went to find the delivery driver.
The factory has two tractors that are used for delivering goods, and a deliveryman happened to be returning home.
Zhong Zhidong quickly arranged for the driver to deliver the goods to Lu Yuan.
The master lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, and was about to refuse when Lu Yuan shoved a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes into his hand.
"Master Wang, thank you for your hard work. No rush, let's talk after you've rested."
Wang Fengnian's words of refusal lingered in his throat, but what came out was,
"It's alright, I can take a break while they're loading the goods."
Zhong Zhidong quickly arranged for people to load bricks onto the tractor.
Lu Yuan returned to the village with the tractor, and before leaving, he also stuffed a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes into Lu Qianjin's hand.
Li Qianjin looked at the cigarette in his hand and chuckled with a sigh.
"This guy has really changed a lot."
Marrying a wife changes even one's way of life.
But judging from this, he's become even more successful.
That's a good thing!
Lu Yuan chatted enthusiastically with the tractor driver along the way, and the last pack of cigarettes ended up in Wang Fengnian's pocket.
The harvest was quite good; in just over half an hour, he had the tractor's steering wheel in his hands.
Wang Fengnian gave a thumbs up, praising him from the bottom of his heart, "Good job, young man, you have a talent for driving."
Lu Yuan chuckled, "It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Master Wang."
Wang Fengnian laughed heartily, feeling quite pleased, but said aloud, "Not at all, you really are talented."
Then he added, "With your talent, you can give it a try when the agricultural machinery station is recruiting."
Lu Yuancai didn't want to look for a job at an agricultural machinery station. He was used to being lazy and couldn't stand the control in a workplace.
However, he would say something completely different, so as not to give the impression that he was not ambitious.
"I'd like to give it a try if I have the chance, but I'm afraid they won't like me."
Wang Fengnian patted him on the shoulder and said confidently, "Don't worry, with your talent, there's no way they would look down on you."
He even patted his chest and guaranteed, "If you really don't like me, you can come find me."
Judging from his tone, he must know someone at the agricultural machinery station.
Regardless of whether I will work at the agricultural machinery station in the future, it's always good to build good relationships first.
So from then on, Lu Yuan started showering words of thanks on and off like they were free.
Wang Fengnian's face lit up with a wide smile.
The two chatted along the way, and before long the tractor chugted into the village.
Lu Yuan gripped the steering wheel and immediately straightened his back.
It's lunchtime, and everyone should be at home eating. Hearing the tractor, they'll definitely run out to see what's going on.
I saw that he was driving a tractor.
Hey!
Their eyes will definitely pop out.
Then a bunch of kids followed behind the tractor, getting their mouths full of cooking fumes.
Just imagining that scene made Lu Yuan laugh.
The scene I had envisioned did not appear. After entering the village, I didn't encounter a single person, or even a dog.
Okay, I was wrong.
These days, no family is so rich and idle that they'd keep a dog.
Full of regret, they drove towards the Lu family's house.
As they approached the Lu family's courtyard, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.
There was no one on the road; everyone had gathered in their yard.
There were people three or four layers deep, even on the fence and courtyard walls.
I wondered what had happened to their family that had everyone gathered here.
The sputtering sound made everyone turn around.
Sun Maodou, who was standing on the fence, saw Lu Yuan and immediately stood up and shouted, "Lu Yuan is back!"
The tractor stalled, and Lu Yuan jumped off nimbly, casually wiping away sweat with his shirt.
Wearing only one piece of clothing on such a hot day, when he lifted the hem, his lean abs were revealed, making young women and married women alike turn their heads away in embarrassment.
But I couldn't help but secretly peek at it.
Just as Lu Yuan was about to ask what was going on, Sun Maodou, who was standing conspicuously on the courtyard wall, called out to him.
"Lu Yuan, I heard that your family has a lot of capitalist stuff hidden away. Is that true?"
Lu Yuan paused in wiping his sweat, frowned, and said, "Nonsense, our family has been farmers for eight generations, how could we have anything to do with capitalists?"
Even if he disliked his biological father and stepmother, he couldn't let them be wronged.
Otherwise, he would become the offspring of a capitalist, and how could he possibly have a good ending?
"Hey, who said your family? I'm talking about your new wife."
Sun Maodou looked at him with a complicated expression.
"The commune's revolutionary committee has sent people to inspect your house."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Who was trying to frame him and his fake wife?
Seeing so many people gathered here, he thought they were investigating an affair in an abandoned house. Turns out, someone was after him. He didn't even bother to greet Wang Fengnian and strode into the courtyard.
At this time, the Lu family courtyard was also full of people, who automatically made way for Lu Yuan when they saw him.
In the main room, half an hour ago.
The brigade leader, along with three members of the Revolutionary Committee, stormed into the east front room to search the house. Standing nearby were Zhang Yuping and her two siblings, Lu Xiaofang and Lu Guoqing, who were jeering and making a fuss, as well as Lu Guoqing, who remained silent with a sullen face.
Wen Moxue had quite a few helpers on her side. Standing beside her were Hongxia from the educated youth station, as well as Xu Dong and Lu Guoan's family of six.
Even Lu Guoan's mother plopped down at the doorway.
The three members of the Revolutionary Committee shouted at the irrelevant people to get out of the way, or they would all be arrested and sent to the commune for education and criticism.
Lu Guoan's mother pretended to be deaf and dumb.
"Huh? You want me to judge? Then I'll tell you."
He patted his bottom and stood up unsteadily.
“Comrades, you can’t bully my niece-in-law just because she’s an educated youth. If she had any problems, she wouldn’t have come here as an educated youth; she would have been sent to the cowshed long ago.”
They dared not actually clash with the Revolutionary Committee members; they could only try to reason with them, hoping that these people would listen.
Wen Moxue also hurriedly clarified, "My family background is clean. My father, mother, brother, and sister are all workers. My relatives are either workers or public officials, and everyone can withstand scrutiny. I also responded to the national call to go to the countryside to support rural areas as an educated youth. I am not the descendant of capitalists, and I have not hoarded any capitalists' property."
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