Chapter 42: Becoming a Millionaire Should Be Possible

Chapter 42: Becoming a Millionaire Should Be Possible

In the midst of their busy schedules, time quickly flew by, and it was already July 14th.

Deng Yungui and Deng Yuntai rushed back from Beihai the day before the festival. However, neither of them stayed home to celebrate. After handing over the payment for the previous truckload of goods to Deng Shirong, they loaded another truck and headed back to Beihai that same day.

It was clear that their previous trip to Beihai had successfully opened up the market, and the prices they fetched were likely quite favorable.

Deng Shirong wasn't surprised by this. In his previous life, he and Deng Yungui had not only ventured to Beihai but also to Zhanjiang, Lianjiang, Maoming, and other places in Guangdong, opening up numerous markets. Therefore, in the first few years of contracting the tile factory, they never had to worry about selling their products. He and Deng Yungui had indeed made a lot of money, enough to pay off the brigade's contract fees ahead of schedule.

In our country, the July 14th festival is primarily celebrated in the south, while the north observes July 15th as the festival.

Among the southern provinces, Guangxi places the most importance on the July 14th festival.

In Guangxi, many areas not only celebrate July 14th but also treat the ten days before and after as significant festival periods, leading to the saying that "July 14th is the New Year."

Additionally, because people in Guangxi traditionally eat duck on July 14th, friends from other provinces often joke that no duck can leave Guangxi alive on that day.

Although the Double Prosperity Territory doesn't celebrate July 14th with the same fervor as the Chinese New Year, people still attach great importance to the festival.

Of course, in this era, rural areas were relatively poor, and it was impossible for every household to slaughter ducks on July 14th as they would in later generations. In fact, very few families in the village were willing to slaughter ducks for the festival.

However, people couldn't just eat pickles during the festival as they would on ordinary days. So, at some point, it became a tradition in the Help and Correct Brigade to make and eat gai lan (steamed rice dumplings) on July 14th.

For people of this era, being able to eat gai lan was a great treat.

When it came to making this kind of snack, women were the most enthusiastic, both in this era and in the future. Deng Yunzhen had gotten up in the middle of the night to soak the rice. Early in the morning, she and her sister Deng Yunzhu took the soaked rice and basins for rice paste to the stone mill at the entrance of A-Zugong Hall to grind the rice.

Since almost every household in Thatchfield Village was grinding rice to make steamed rice dumplings that day, even though Deng Yunzhen and her sister had gone early, it still took them nearly two hours to finish grinding the rice, with most of the time spent waiting in line.

When they returned with the rice paste, Deng Shirong couldn't help but shake his head and say, "If you want to eat gai lan, why not make it some other time? Why join the crowd today? You had to wait in line for so long. You might as well have bought a duck and cooked it instead!"

Deng Yunzhen put down the rice paste and smiled. "Dad, it's different. Making gai lan today adds to the festive atmosphere."

Deng Shirong replied, "As long as you don't mind the trouble."

Deng Yunzhen wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. "No trouble at all, Dad. You're a great cook. Could you help us prepare the filling?"

Deng Shirong said, "I've already prepared it for you. It's on the stove in the kitchen."

Deng Yunzhu exclaimed excitedly, "That's great, sister! Let's go back and steam it. I'll light the fire for you. Once the gai lan is ready, we can offer some to Grandpa and then come back to eat."

Deng Yunzhen smiled and said, "Okay, let's go. I haven't had gai lan in a long time. Just thinking about it makes me crave it."

So the two sisters excitedly took the ground rice paste back to the kitchen and began steaming the rice dumplings.

…

An hour later.

Deng Shirong and his six children sat at the dining table, enjoying the gai lan.

A piece of gai lan is usually three to four centimeters thick. It is steamed layer by layer, with each layer being very thin. When eaten, it can be torn apart layer by layer, which adds to the fun.

Of course, if you don't want to tear it, you can bite into it along with the top layer of fillings or even dip it in some sauce.

All in all, it's a very distinctive snack.

Deng Yunzhen and her siblings, who hadn't eaten gai lan in a long time, were so satisfied with the meal that their faces were beaming with smiles.

…

After July 14th, the young and strong men in the village returned to help with the work the next day.

On July 16th, the construction of Deng Shirong's new house officially began with the digging of the foundation.

Since it was a brick and tile house rather than a multi-story building, the foundation didn't need to be dug very deep. The five houses in the long row only required a foundation depth of 60 centimeters. However, the house near the river needed a foundation more than two meters deep.

At the same time, a septic tank was dug behind the house near the river under Deng Shirong's guidance.

Deng Shirong was so eager to build a new house not only to find a wife for his eldest son but also to have an indoor bathroom. He was fed up with the experience of squatting in the makeshift outdoor toilet every day. Each trip felt like a visit to the execution ground, and it was truly unbearable!

When the foundation digging officially began, in addition to the dozen or so young men from the village who had come earlier, Deng Shirong's two brothers-in-law and third brother-in-law also brought their capable sons to help.

With more than twenty people working together, all of them skilled, the foundation was dug very quickly.

On the day Deng Shirong's new house construction began, Deng Yungui and Deng Yuntai, who had been driving the second truckload of goods from the tile factory to Beihai to sell, also returned.

…

At the tile factory.

Deng Yungui recounted his experience of selling goods in Beihai to Deng Shirong and concluded excitedly, "Uncle Jiu, the market demand there is huge. For the foreseeable future, our tile factory's products will have no trouble finding buyers."

Deng Shirong nodded and said, "Then we'll focus on supplying the Beihai market. Once the market there is nearly saturated, we'll explore other markets, such as Zhanjiang, Lianjiang, Maoming, and other places in Guangdong. There should be a demand for our tiles there as well."

Deng Yungui nodded repeatedly and said eagerly, "With a stable sales channel, it'll be hard for us not to make a fortune!"

Seeing his smug expression, Deng Shirong didn't want to dampen his spirits, so he agreed, "Well, if you and I become millionaires, it should be within reach."

The idea of being a "10,000-yuan household" was still highly appealing. Deng Yungui grinned until his eyes nearly disappeared and said, "Uncle Jiu, the workers have been looking forward to getting their wages for a long time. Let's do some calculations first to see how much money we've made from these kiln products."

Deng Shirong nodded, and the two bosses of the tile factory began settling the accounts in their temporary office.

The workers at the tile factory watched from a distance, their eyes filled with anticipation. They all knew how much their wages were, and if they could be paid today, they would definitely treat themselves to an extra meal in the evening.

After all, none of them had ever earned so much money in their lives.

(End of this chapter)