Volume One, Chapter Seven: My Son Is Truly Remarkable

One of the three village prodigies, Zhao Jinlong, hadn’t been seen for several days. He was the second student from the village to attend middle school, though unfortunately, he didn’t get into high school. But in this era, as long as someone took you under their wing, it was still quite easy to achieve success.

Lu Yang thought that if he ever left the village, he would be the most suitable to take over.

“By the way, why haven’t we seen Jinlong these past few days?” Lu Yongchun spat on the ground and said, “That soft guy went to plead with his wife.”

Lu Yongguo added, “Little village chief, his wife is from the township and they were supposed to get married already.”

“But suddenly his wife said the village is too poor, and marrying in would be a loss for her.”

“According to his mother-in-law’s idea, he should move in and become a live-in son-in-law.”

“His parents don’t mind much and are even quite happy, saying they’ll soon have a daughter-in-law from the township.”

“But you know, the three of us are the ‘Three Little Dragons’ of our village, just like the ‘Four Little Dragons’ of Asia Village.”

“When he heard you were leaving, he prepared to stay behind with the two of us to take care of your mother and two sisters, so he absolutely refused this arrangement.”

“When the girl heard this, she disagreed too. He went over to negotiate, but who knows what result they’ll reach.”

The township where she lived was much better off, yet he was willing to stay to take care of my family.

I think you three are the three big fools of Dayang Village!

Lu Yang couldn’t help but laugh and said, “Asia is a continent, not a village.”

Lu Yongguo scratched his head. “Ah? It’s not a village? That’s why I thought no one village could produce three dragons—at least it should be a whole township.”

Lu Yang rubbed his forehead.

But then again, in a few decades, not just Asia, the whole Earth will be like one village.

“Well, if he comes back, have him come find me. I want to arrange some work for him.”

“All right, all right!” Lu Yongguo nodded, wanting to follow closely behind.

Lu Yang waved his hand. “You all go back and rest first! I’ll also rest for a while; I have some important matters to attend to later.”

Back at home, his two younger sisters were playing in the courtyard.

The elder sister, Lu Xiaojv, was twelve this year, in the fifth grade of primary school, but she was already preparing to drop out.

She wore clothes that Lu Yang had once worn, full of patches, too big and long, covering her bottom like a skirt.

So she didn’t bother wearing a skirt or pants underneath.

The younger sister, Lu Xiaoshuang, wore clothes she had once worn as well, also treated as a dress.

Lu Xiaojv was currently not very fond of Lu Yang.

Because if he had gone to university, she might have been able to finish primary school.

Seeing him return, her eyes were full of childish resentment.

“Second sister, let’s go! Let’s play outside!”

Lu Xiaoshuang didn’t budge because she saw the dry biscuits in Lu Yang’s hand.

In the eyes of city folks, such a thing was only eaten if one was extremely hungry.

But to rural people, it was a delicacy only enjoyed while out shopping.

Lu Yang ignored Lu Xiaojv and handed the dry biscuit to Lu Xiaoshuang.

“Here, eat it!”

“Thanks, big brother!” Lu Xiaoshuang took it with a bright smile and shared half with Lu Xiaojv.

“Second sister, you eat too!”

Lu Xiaojv glanced at Lu Yang. “I won’t eat anything given by a selfish person! If you want to eat it, you eat it yourself!”

Lu Xiaoshuang turned to Lu Yang. “Big brother, what kind of person is a selfish person? Do they give food or not?”

Lu Xiaojv answered indignantly, “A selfish person only gives little things; the good stuff is always kept for themselves.”

Lu Xiaoshuang thought for a moment. “Second sister, then you’re the selfish one because you only give me peanuts but never your fruit candy!”

Lu Yang couldn’t help but laugh heartily, which made Lu Xiaojv run off alone to play.

Drawn by the laughter, Wang Sufen came out from the house and leaned against the doorframe. “Big brother, how are things going?”

Lu Yang picked up a water scoop, drew a ladle of mountain spring water, and gulped it down.

It was pure, without any off-flavor—far better than some mountain spring water from later times.

“Mom, here’s the situation,” Lu Yang began recounting the events.

“What? You earned 32.6 yuan?”

Upon hearing this, even Wang Sufen, as his mother, was shocked and opened her mouth wide in surprise.

In the whole village, being a teacher at the village school was considered the most secure job.

They earned only about 18 yuan a month.

“Actually, it’s more like the villagers shared that much with me,” Lu Yang corrected.

Wang Sufen lightly tapped her son’s head. “You silly boy! How can you think like that?”

“If it weren’t for you, could they have earned that much? In my opinion, half of what they earned should be given to you.”

Lu Yang smiled, coming to understand which side Lu Xiaojv’s personality came from.

The reason Lu Yang was so well cared for was not only because of his own abilities.

His father, Lu Jianjun, was helpful and had accumulated a lot of good karma for him.

But many officials’ families thought that if someone earned money, it was all thanks to their children or parents.

They seldom considered that, in reality, the true contributors were the farmers and workers.

That was why Lu Yang had waited until he was thirty-five in his previous life to marry—he didn’t want people with such narrow views to be his wife or relatives.

Lu Yang smiled. “Mom, I also bought things for the family. Here’s 30 yuan. Do you want to buy something?”

He took out all the money: bills both large and small, all in a small pile.

Wang Sufen started counting the bills one by one, becoming increasingly dizzy.

She toiled day and night, facing the sun and the earth, yet after a whole year, she might earn only a few dozen yuan at best.

But her eldest son—no, he should be called a divine son—earned so much in a single day.

My son is truly remarkable.

Her mind was full of disbelief until she finished counting and finally came back to her senses.

“My son! You earn this much in a day? You’re not getting involved in capitalism, are you?”

Lu Yang knew his mother would ask that, so he shared what he had heard from the county town broadcast.

“Mom, times have changed. The country no longer follows the old ways; now it’s all about boosting the economy.”

“Don’t worry, this money is all clean. Your son won’t get into trouble.”

Wang Sufen still worried. “Tomorrow I’ll go with you to the county to buy some wild game. If there’s any trouble, I’ll back you up.”

“I’m just a rural woman; they can’t do anything to me.”

“You’re a university student. If anything happens because of the others, and your college cancels your enrollment, your mother will cry herself to death.”

Wang Sufen hadn’t told Lu Yang yet that Lu Jianjun had secretly engaged in capitalist activities years ago, often helping others, but was reported by someone and died as a result.

She never wanted to lose this son again.

Lu Yang looked at his mother, understanding her worries.

But he also knew that if things went according to the path he envisioned, such troubles would never arise.

“Mom, the elder and second sisters need someone to take care of them. If you’re not home, how will that work? Besides, your leg isn’t good.”

“Second Dog likes to drink a little cat’s pee, but I can manage him, and we still have winter melon. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Wang Sufen thought it over. “Well, I’m not that busy anyway—just two or three events at most.”

“But remember, don’t be too conspicuous. Although things are like this now, no one knows what the future holds.”