The expansion of the fermented fish factory had begun in full swing since returning from Qinghe City. With prior experience in building factories, the young and strong men who were initially selected for recruitment came without any formal organization and started constructing the factory buildings. Some quarried stones, others dug foundations.
There were also those who fired kilns to make bricks, and mixed lime with rice straw and broken cotton threads to produce asbestos tiles. Everyone's enthusiasm was high. The sooner the factory was built, the sooner they could start earning wages from the fermented fish factory, which was something they had long dreamed of.
Comparing this to his own situation, Chen Yang couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The villagers in this era were truly simple and honest, building the factory themselves. While he was building the factory, the land was provided by the commune and the production brigade. The building materials and labor were basically provided by the nearby villagers.
It was Liu Zhuren's idea from the commune to have the villagers help build the factory, and each production team contributed work points. With the established rules, Chen Yang found it difficult to pay them wages. However, every day he spent money to buy good liquor and meat from the food factory and the supply and marketing cooperative. Since the villagers helped him build the factory without demanding wages, if he didn't provide good meals, he would truly have a guilty conscience.
Chen Yang treated the villagers who came to work with good liquor, meat, and cigarettes every day. Everyone who came ate heartily and praised Chen Yang for his generosity to anyone they met.
Whether others were happy or not, Chen Yang didn't know, but his father-in-law had been very happy these past few days, being flattered wherever he went, which was a great honor for him. However, after his father-in-law returned from Qinghe City today, his expression had not been good, and even Chen Yang's mother-in-law didn't know what was wrong.
"Dad, if you have something to say, just say it. They say a son-in-law is like a son. What can't we father and son talk about?"
Seeing his father-in-law squatting in the corner smoking a pipe, Chen Yang felt helpless and walked over to chat with the old man. His father-in-law and mother-in-law only had two daughters, Shen Xue and Shen Rong. When he said a son-in-law was like a son, it wasn't an exaggeration. He understood that his father-in-law used to look down on him because he had been too dissolute before. After all, anyone who raised a daughter for twenty years and married her to a lazy man who relied on his daughter to support him would be furious. Chen Yang felt that his father-in-law was generous for not having "disposed of" him. In the future, if any scoundrel dared to treat his daughter like he did in his previous life, he would definitely "dispose of" him.
Moreover, when he first started his business, his father-in-law had directly told him to turn him in if anything happened. The talk about being the son of a landlord was all a lie; who wouldn't want to live if they weren't protecting their daughter?
"Yangzi, it's nothing. I just heard some news, and I'm feeling uneasy."
Shen Futang patted the dirt off his clothes and tucked the tobacco pouch into his waist. Chen Yang was going to sleep in the same room as his grandson later, so he didn't want him to be covered in the smell of smoke. Shen Futang rarely smoked his pipe anymore; the smell of smoke made his grandson unhappy. If he really couldn't resist, he would hide outside and smoke a few cigarettes. The tobacco pouch had been hanging in the room for many days. Today, he was so upset that he couldn't help himself.
"What is it?"
"Did something happen to our old Shen family's wine cellar?"
Chen Yang glanced at his father-in-law. His father-in-law had been very happy these days. With the expansion of the fermented fish factory's production and business, his wine workshop was also going to expand, so naturally, he was happy. This was an industry he had established. Although it was not as large as the Shen family's peak during their prime, at least the ancestral skills were not lost.
His father-in-law had only just returned from Qinghe City, and his mood had turned sour. Chen Yang knew very well what in Qinghe City could affect the old man.
"Aiya."
"I heard someone say that Xuan Jiu was going to go bankrupt. I didn't believe it. Today, I specifically asked Tu Erwa to take me to Qinghe City."
"When I went to look at my family's courtyard, the factory's iron gate had already collapsed. How long has it been? In just a few months, such a good wine cellar and vats that produced such good wine, how could such a factory go bankrupt?"
"I saw people secretly stealing the winemaking equipment from the factory to sell. I couldn't stand it. Those things contained treasures that my family left behind. To see them being stolen and sold cheaply, how could I not be angry!"
"If these assets are further squandered, this factory will probably be completely unsalvageable!"
"It's a small matter that the factory is bankrupt, but what about our wine cellar? That's something passed down from our ancestors for hundreds of years. To see it smashed in the hands of these people, I feel so suffocated."
His father-in-law sighed deeply. He had seen the glory of the old Shen family in his youth, so even after so many years, he still felt that his father had ruined the family. As a son, he naturally wanted to restore the ruined family. Now, his wine workshop was getting better and better, giving him a glimmer of hope, only to hear that Xuan Jiu Factory, which had taken over his family's wine cellar, was going bankrupt. The spirit that supported Shen Futang's desire to reclaim his family's business was about to dissipate.
"Dad, this matter is easy to handle. Let me tell you..."
Chen Yang whispered something in his father-in-law's ear, and Shen Futang's eyes lit up.
"Yangzi, this matter?"
"Dad, would I lie to you? Just do as I say, and in a few years, this matter will definitely succeed."
The merger and reform of state-owned enterprises were very common from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
"Then I'll go to Qinghe and talk to some people from the winery."
After hearing Chen Yang's words, his father-in-law couldn't sit still any longer. He went into the house, took some money, and was about to leave for Qinghe.
"Dabiao, go to Qinghe with your father. If you can't come back, find a guesthouse in Qinghe to rest for the night. Don't travel at night."
It was already afternoon, and it would be dusk by the time they reached Qinghe, so they definitely wouldn't be able to return. Chen Yang was worried about letting his father-in-law go alone, so he asked Zhang Dabiao to accompany him.
"What did you tell my father that made him so eager to go to the city?"
His father-in-law was a man of his word at home. His mother-in-law couldn't persuade him when he decided to go to Qinghe. However, seeing that he was no longer as depressed as before and had Zhang Dabiao with him, his mother-in-law could only let him go.
"Dad was worried about the original aged liquor cellar. I told him to spend some money to properly treat the factory's security room. Although Xuan Jiu Factory is dilapidated, it is still a state-owned enterprise, and the country will not let it collapse just like that."
"As long as the factory doesn't collapse, the security room will always be at the factory gate. If they guard the wine cellar, who can sneak in and damage the wine cellar?"
"I also told Dad that in a few years, when the economy improves, perhaps with policy changes, private individuals will be allowed to acquire state-owned enterprises. He should continue to expand the scale of his current wine workshop. Perhaps in the future, the government will let Dad acquire Xuan Jiu Factory."
Chen Yang patiently explained to his wife. Of course, he didn't say the most important thing.
The most reassuring thing Chen Yang said to his father-in-law was that Zou Chenguang, who drank with him at the same table, was in charge of this factory, and the wine cellar would not be spoiled. He guaranteed it!