Rebirth: Seven Years in a Great Dream

Chapter 28: The River Scenic Area

The two dinner tables that evening were attended exclusively by members of the Mu family and senior management—in short, those on first- and second-tier salaries and the Mu family members. Mu Dong didn’t neglect the ordinary workers either; when they clocked out, each received a red plastic bag. Inside was a pack of cigarettes, a bag of candy, a bag of sunflower seeds, and a package of cookies. These four items didn’t cost much, but they were a token of Mr. Mu’s goodwill. Otherwise, it would have been utterly inconsiderate for management to be here drinking and celebrating while the ordinary workers went home dejected after their shift. Mr. Mu’s reputation was gradually built through small gestures like these. That evening, Mr. Mu kept his drinking in check and, for once, didn’t get completely drunk. The next morning, Mr. Mu went to an internet café in town to look up some information. He focused on two main topics: the willow wicker business and the four trillion. Willow-woven products are produced all over the country. For example, Xiangyang in Hubei, Gushi in Henan, Funan in Anhui, Shuhe in eastern Shandong, and Boxian in eastern Shandong all produce their own distinctive willow-woven goods. The willow branches used in willow weaving are not the thin strips people imagine coming from willow trees, but rather come from a specially cultivated shrub called the Qili willow. The Qili willow is a deep-rooted, perennial shrub with clusters of branches—each growing upright without branching. Specialized field care is required during cultivation, including watering, fertilizing, and weeding, to ensure optimal growth. Qiliu is classified into two types based on variety and harvest season. Those harvested in summer are called “white willow.” White willow plants are tall, generally reaching two to three meters in height, with a diameter as thick as a little finger, and they yield a high harvest. White willow has a loose texture; after the bark is removed and the branches are dried, they are suitable for weaving coarsely crafted products, such as fruit baskets and flower baskets. These items are relatively inexpensive, currently priced at around one yuan per jin. Willow branches harvested in late fall or early winter are called “steamed willow.” Steamed willow plants are shorter, generally around 1. 5 meters tall, with a diameter of only 2 to 5 millimeters, and yield less. Steamed willow has a hard texture and must be steamed at high temperatures before it can be used, which is why it’s called “steamed willow.” Steamed willow branches are highly elastic and resilient; even when wet, they won’t break if folded in half. After being stripped of their bark and air-dried, they can be woven into many uniquely shaped and exquisite handicrafts, such as handmade vases and home storage baskets. Steamed willow commands a higher price, currently ranging from two to three yuan per jin. Online data shows that the willow cultivation area in Shuhe County spans 100,000 mu. Based on a yield of 5,000 jin per mu for raw willow and 2,000 jin per mu for steamed willow—assuming the cultivation areas for raw and steamed willow are equally divided—and using current market prices, the annual output value of willow is approximately 400 to 500 million. “That’s quite a big market,” Mu Dong thought to himself. “That’s good—if I invest a little in it, no one will take notice.” The key issue now was that Mu Dong only knew the price of steamed willow would be over 10 yuan per jin in July or August of next year. But he had no idea when that price had started to rise. Was it just reaching that high in July or August, or had it already been high as early as February or March? There was no way to tell. Mu Dong searched some more, and a piece of information caught his attention. “Since 2008, affected by the downturn in European and American markets, Shuhe County’s willow-weaving exports saw negative growth in the first half of the year. The Shuhe County Party Committee and County Government actively prepared to establish an industry association to promote the intensive development of the willow-weaving industry…” Mu Dong fell deep in thought. With the market in decline and orders decreasing, the price of willow should have fallen—so why did it skyrocket the following year? From a supply-and-demand perspective, that doesn’t make sense… Huh? Supply and demand? Willow is a raw material, and raw materials are also subject to supply and demand dynamics. International orders had merely declined, but there were still a massive number of orders. That means there’s a problem with the supply and demand for willow branches—there aren’t enough of them! Considering the willow harvesting season, Mu Dong immediately figured it out. There had been a widespread drop in the summer willow harvest, causing prices to skyrocket. Therefore, willow prices should have started rising around the time of the summer harvest. Based on the growth characteristics of willow, it’s estimated that by April or May of next year, future yield shortfalls will be evident from the plants’ growth patterns—and that’s likely when willow prices will start to rise. Phew—Mu Dong let out a long sigh of relief. He’d finally figured it out: this business was viable, and he had the time to pursue it. Next, Mu Dong searched for some news about the four trillion stimulus package. Boosting the economy was already an established policy of the central government, and a new wave of economic growth was on the horizon… Mu Dong’s car purchase yesterday had encouraged many in his family. Early this morning, the mood at the yard was electric; Mu Daguo and the others threw themselves into their work with great enthusiasm, and the entire yard operated swiftly and efficiently. Even Mu Xiaoxia was running around helping out. When Mu Dong returned to the yard at noon, Mu Daguo told him that the old yard had unloaded 396 trucks that morning and was aiming to reach 800 for the entire day. Mu Dong then called his father to report that the new yard had unloaded 189 trucks that morning, which was also a significant increase compared to the previous two days. Mu Dong thought to himself, “Since everyone’s going all out, let’s go even further—especially since time is running short.” All afternoon, Mu Dong bustled about the yard, helping out wherever he could. At the end of the workday, the statistics came in. The old yard had unloaded 780 truckloads of sand—though it hadn’t quite reached 800, it was still a significant improvement—while the new yard had unloaded 403 truckloads. At the same time, more than twenty delivery trucks came to load sand today, selling 750 cubic meters worth 14,250 yuan. Mu Dong was very satisfied with these figures. As long as they could maintain this pace, he’d be able to spend all his available funds before sand prices skyrocketed. Spending all his money—that was exactly what Mu Dong wanted to do. The next day, November 14, Boss Mu issued Order No. 5. First, to thank the drivers for their continued support of the stockpile, effective immediately, the price for all sand entering the site will increase by one yuan per truck, settling at 63 yuan per truck. Second, effective immediately, vehicles that transport a cumulative total of 10 truckloads or more of sand per day, or 70 truckloads or more per week, will be paid 65 yuan per truckload. Just these two provisions, printed in black on red paper—one copy for the old yard and one for the new. Well, yesterday it was just the yard staff who were excited, but now the drivers are fired up too. Everyone, take action immediately. That day, the new and old stockpiles combined unloaded 1,311 truckloads. The next day, a total of 1,298 truckloads were unloaded at both the new and old storage yards. It seems that 1,300 trucks is already the operational limit. Everyone is working at full capacity; even the night shift conveyor belt crew—who used to work only the first half of the night—are now busy almost until dawn. However, Mu Dong had to rally everyone. The news was constantly reporting on various developments—the “Run for Funds” campaign, high-speed rail plans, and various transportation projects. Soon, a nationwide construction boom would take off, and the prices of all kinds of building materials would continue to rise. The time left for Boss Mu was extremely limited. On the evening of November 15, Mu Dong surveyed the old stockpile yard. After several days of frantic work, the old yard was about to reach full capacity. According to the original schedule, it wasn’t supposed to fill up until the end of the month, but the daily unloading volume had recently surged to nearly 1. 5 times the original rate, rapidly filling the last remaining empty spaces in the yard. Mu Dong summoned Mu Daguo and briefed him on the plans to relocate. Once the old yard was full, they would need to shift all resources to the new yard as quickly as possible and ramp up sand unloading capacity there in the shortest time possible. Mu Dong did the math: at the current pace, the relocation would begin in five days. That left him enough time to make a trip to Quancheng. On Sunday, before dawn, Mu Dong got in his car and set off. Half an hour later, his Audi was already on the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway. Another two and a half hours later, at 7:30 a. m. , Mu Dong’s car was parked at the foot of the Telecom Residential Complex. Mu Dong found his keys, tiptoed up the stairs, and quietly opened the door. The apartment was quiet; Xiao Xiao probably hadn’t woken up yet. Mu Dong was afraid that walking in suddenly might startle Xiao Xiao. He took out his cell phone and dialed her number. “Hello, honey,” Xiao Xiao’s sleepy voice came from the bedroom and the receiver at the same time. “Honey, time to get up. I’m in the living room,” Mu Dong said softly. “Oh, you’re in the living room? Have you eaten yet…? What? You’re in the living room—” There was a clatter from the bedroom—probably the phone falling—followed by Xiao Xiao’s hurried footsteps. The bedroom door suddenly swung open. Xiao Xiao burst out with her hair all over the place. When she saw Mu Dong, she stopped dead in her tracks, stared at him for a moment, then continued rushing toward him… The two embraced and began to kiss passionately. The flames of passion ignited on this early winter morning, in this warm room. The passion lasted a long time. After the storm had passed, the two freshened up and went downstairs, looking radiant. Xiao Xiao circled her family’s Audi a few times, looking quite pleased, and said, “This is a used car? It’s practically brand-new! I thought used cars were all dirty and beat-up.” Well, that’s certainly a common view. Mu Dong replied, “Used cars are affordable and hold their value well—they’re actually a great deal. The previous owner took good care of this one, so it looks brand new. Come on, honey, hop in. I’ll take you out for breakfast.” Xiao Xiao happily climbed into the passenger seat. The two went to Yonghe Soy Milk for breakfast first, then Mu Dong got behind the wheel and drove straight to the southern mountainous area of Quancheng. The Southern Mountain Area is a suburban tourist destination south of Quancheng, surrounded by mountains, covered in dense forests, and boasting beautiful scenery, with numerous well-equipped scenic spots. Mu Dong brought Xiao Xiao here this time partly for a drive and partly to take her mind off things. When the two of them are together, they always have to do something fun. They first went to a large amusement park, tried out various rides, and had a wild time all morning. For lunch, they picked a random farmhouse-style restaurant, where they enjoyed free-range chicken, fresh fish from the reservoir, and a variety of rustic dishes—all authentic in flavor and reasonably priced. After lunch, the two headed to a waterfall resort. In early winter, the waterfall’s flow had diminished considerably, but it still possessed a dazzling beauty. The long curtain of water cascaded down with a gentle rustle, plunging into the pool below with a roaring splash. The air was filled with a fine mist, making it moist and refreshing. Some trees had shed all their leaves, leaving only bare branches. Evergreen trees swayed gently in the breeze, their leaves glistening with droplets of mist—damp and sparkling. The sound of the water wasn’t very loud; the entire scenic area was quiet, broken only by the occasional chirp of a bird. Xiao Xiao fell in love with the place, wandering from one waterfall to another, reluctant to leave. Seeing this, Mu Dong took out his phone and, using the number on the scenic area sign, quietly booked a room. The two of them stayed at the mountain resort. The night in the mountains was exceptionally quiet, and the starry sky seemed much brighter. Their youthful passion reignited once more in the tranquil night at the mountain lodge. Afterward, the two embraced and fell into a deep sleep. They slept soundly through the night, undisturbed and dreamless. Early the next morning, just as dawn broke, Mu Dong awoke to the sound of birds singing. He woke Xiao Xiao, and the two quietly checked out and returned to the city. After a light breakfast, Mu Dong hurried to drop Xiao Xiao off at school. It was Monday, and Xiao Xiao had to go to work. Mu Dong returned home, checked the food supplies in the fridge, then drove to the supermarket to stock up on more. Since he was often away from Xiao Xiao, he wanted to make sure she had plenty on hand. After that, Mu Dong didn’t go out again. He tidied up the room, did some of Xiao Xiao’s laundry, and spent the rest of the time browsing the news online. As the workday drew to a close, Mu Dong drove to pick up Xiao Xiao. At the school gate, Gao Ya, who was waving goodbye to Xiao Xiao, saw Mu Dong’s Audi and couldn’t help but sigh. The two went home, cooked dinner together, ate, and watched TV. Mu Dong told Xiao Xiao he had to go back the next day and explained, “The yard has reached a critical stage right now, so I need to keep a close eye on things.” Xiao Xiao understood completely. At such a crucial time, the fact that Mu Dong had managed to carve out two days to spend with her already moved her deeply. She wrapped her arms around Mu Dong’s arm and said softly, “Just focus on your work—I can come back to see you on the weekend.” Women are made of water—and at that moment, Xiao Xiao’s tenderness flowed like water… Xiao Xiao did have time on the weekend. Although her schedule was tight, if she left for Southern Shandong early Saturday morning and returned to Quancheng on Sunday afternoon, she’d make it in time. She hadn’t gone back for the past few weekends—not because she was afraid of the journey, but because she worried: where would she stay once she got there? In Quancheng, the two could live together, but back in her hometown—since they weren’t married yet—how could she possibly bring herself to live with Mu Dong right under the watchful eyes of her future in-laws… The next day was Tuesday. Mu Dong got up early, made breakfast, ate it with Xiao Xiao, and then drove her to work. Afterward, he left directly from Xiao Xiao’s school and headed back to Southern Shandong. Driving himself was indeed much more convenient; by noon, Mu Dong had already returned to the storage yard. After being away for two days, the empty space at the old stockpile had shrunk even further. When Mu Daguo saw Mu Dong return, he approached him to discuss whether they could leave a little less open space—they could gradually clear out a plot as they sold the sand in the future. Mu Dong rejected this suggestion, arguing that being greedy now would cause endless trouble for future sand sales. Once sand prices rise, sales would need to be large-scale, concentrated, and rapid; it would be essential to gain momentum quickly from the start, rather than getting off to a slow start. Otherwise, if the sales process got stuck in a half-baked state, it would drag on for a very long time—something Mu Dong definitely did not want to see. Therefore, Mu Dong insisted on setting aside 3,000 square meters of open space and access lanes to accommodate future vehicle entry, U-turns, and multi-point loading. Since a large amount of space has been set aside, the volume of vehicles entering the old storage yard remains very high; within the next two to three days, the available space will be completely filled. Mu Dong summoned Tan Jiaming and asked him to set aside a full day tomorrow to clear and compact two more roads at the new storage yard. Soon, all the sand trucks would be redirected to the new storage yard for unloading, so the roads needed to be prepared in advance. On November 19, Tan Jiaming drove a crawler tractor and completed the road construction as specified by Mu Dong. On November 20, Boss Mu issued Order No. 6, consisting of four provisions. First, after work this afternoon, the Mu family’s old storage yard will be closed, and no more sand will be unloaded there Second, all drivers are to proceed to the Mu Family’s new stockpile for unloading Third, all drivers unloading at the new yard will receive an additional 1 yuan per truckload, bringing the total to 64 yuan per truckload 4. Vehicles that transport a cumulative total of 10 or more truckloads of sand per day, or 70 or more truckloads per week, will be paid 66 yuan per truckload. That evening, Mu Dong ran the numbers: subtracting sales from the total volume of sand brought into the old stockpile, the recorded inventory stood at 173,000 cubic meters. All recorded figures were calculated by multiplying the number of trucks that unloaded sand by the volume of 6 cubic meters per truck. Mu Dong knew that, in reality, the sand piles on top of the trucks were heaped high, so the total volume would be significantly greater. Based on a rough estimate, the actual inventory at the old stockpile should be around 187,000 cubic meters. In many places, the sand piles had already reached a height of 12 meters, and in most areas, they were around 10 meters. Looking at these massive sand piles, Mu Dong silently thought to himself, “My first fortune—it’s all up to you.” Mu Dong assigned Mu Daguo to oversee the loading of trucks and sand sales at the old stockpile, accompanied by two workers. He also reassigned 30 loaders from the new stockpile to the old one to load the trucks. The remaining 50 loaders were transferred to the new stockpile to assist with unloading. All remaining personnel and equipment were transported to the new stockpile. The old stockpile no longer operated a mess hall; meals for Mu Daguo and his team were delivered daily from the new stockpile. On November 21, all drivers were transferred to the new stockpile to unload trucks. With three access lanes, six unloading points, one loader, one crawler tractor, and two conveyor belts operating at full capacity, the daily sand unloading volume reached 800 truckloads, fully matching the operational output of the old stockpile. On November 22, 900 truckloads of sand were unloaded at the new storage yard. On November 23, the new stockpile unloaded 1,000 truckloads of sand. After that, operations at the new stockpile reached their limit; even if everyone worked themselves to death, they could only maintain that volume. On November 26, the Lunan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government issued the “Regulations on the Management of River Scenic Areas.” The regulations stated that the state had officially approved the establishment of the National-Level Lunan River Scenic Area. Effective immediately, all river dredging operations were prohibited, and all dredging vessels were to be brought ashore and impounded. The government would severely punish any violators. Many sand quarry owners said they weren’t worried. “This kind of thing happens once or twice every year,” they remarked. “We’ll just stay onshore for a few days until the fuss dies down, and then we’ll go back to business as usual.” Mu Dong knew this time it was for real. That day, Boss Mu issued Order No. 7, which consisted of two provisions. First, to celebrate the smooth operation of the new storage yard and to thank the drivers for their strong support, starting November 27, the settlement price for all vehicles entering the yard will be adjusted to 65 yuan per vehicle Second, vehicles that transport a cumulative total of 10 or more loads of sand per day, or 70 or more loads per week, will be paid 68 yuan per load. Many sandyard owners were secretly delighted—Mr. Mu had raised the price again. It had gone up twice in a row over the past few days. Not bad, not bad. Behind his back, however, some people called Mu Dong a fool. The government issued a document, and Mr. Mu got so scared he raised the price by two or three yuan. He really is a college graduate—school must have made him a fool. He’s too timid and hasn’t weathered any storms. This sort of thing is just a passing fad; once it blows over, it’s over. How could anyone take it seriously?