Rebirth: Seven Years in a Great Dream

Chapter 47: A Man of Passion

Jia Fugui had bought a large quantity of willow branches last time. Feeling confident and swamped with orders, he got a bit too carried away with his excitement. When he got back and did the math, he realized he didn’t have enough willow branches on hand—he was still short by 200,000 jin—and immediately panicked, rushing over to find Mu Dong. Mu Dong was busy organizing a promotional sale at the time and didn’t have time to deal with Boss Jia, so he simply told him that if there were any leftovers, he’d sell them to him. So Mr. Jia found himself hoping every day that Mu Dong would have a little extra to spare. Deep down, Jia Fugui admired Mu Dong immensely. Faced with such immense wealth, not everyone possessed that kind of self-control and resolve; Jia Fugui admitted to himself that he couldn’t have done the same. Dong Shuying had recently been hearing the old man next door constantly mention someone: Mu Dong, “Boss Mu.” The old man next door was Dong Shuying’s father’s cousin—an elderly widower. Uncle Dong had once had a wife and a son, but twenty years ago, his wife took their son to visit her parents’ home when they were struck by a small truck and both lost their lives. The truck driver fled the scene, and since there were hardly any surveillance cameras back then, the case was eventually dropped. Uncle Dong was devastated. After burying his wife and son, he never remarried. As the years passed and his hair turned white, the idea of remarrying became a distant dream, and he gradually let the opportunity slip away. Fortunately, his younger cousin—Dong Shuying’s father—took excellent care of his older brother, always attentive to his needs. Dong Shuying had been close to her uncle since childhood, and even now that she was working, she would still drop by Uncle Dong’s courtyard whenever she returned home. As Uncle Dong kept bringing it up, Dong Shuying decided to ask what was really going on. When she finally learned the truth, she was utterly shocked! A private business owner had actually donated hundreds of thousands of jin of willow branches to support families who’d lost their livelihoods and elderly artisans! Dong Shuying made a rough estimate: the market value of these willow branches exceeded 3 million yuan. According to Uncle Dong, the business owner had supplied them at essentially half price—which meant he had contributed 1. 5 million yuan! The total subsidies distributed county-wide to households with no agricultural income amounted to only 5 million yuan! Dong Shuying then confirmed the accuracy and widespread nature of this news by speaking with other farmers in the surrounding villages who had also purchased willow branches at a discount. She hurriedly left home and immediately reported the matter to her immediate superior. When Jia Fugui received Mu Dong’s call, he was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected there to be so much left—over 400,000 jin! After hanging up, Jia Fugui rushed to the elementary school. On the way there, he was secretly worried about how to broach the subject with Mu Dong. He wanted to buy all of the willow branches, but his cash flow was tight. With multiple orders underway simultaneously, Boss Jia was under immense financial pressure. Although he had received some advance payments from European and American clients and the bank had provided some loans, his cash flow remained tight. To purchase all 400,000-plus jin of willow branches from Boss Mu, Boss Jia was still short by about 1. 5 million yuan. Upon meeting Mu Dong, Mr. Jia hesitantly explained the situation. “Mr. Jia, we’ve known each other for a long time—that’s why I called you first. This isn’t how things are usually done! You know as well as I do that even with cash on hand, it’s not always possible to buy willow branches these days.” Mr. Jia blushed slightly and said urgently, “Mr. Mu, for the portion I’ll be buying on credit, I’ll pay you one yuan more per jin, and I’ll also pay you interest. I’ll pay it all back within three months at the latest.” Mu Dong replied, “Mr. Jia, I really can’t help you. Just buy as much as you can afford. We’re friends—it wouldn’t be worth it if a little debt caused a rift between us.” Mr. Jia sighed and reluctantly gave up. He figured it was already great that he could fill his 200,000 jin shortfall in willow twigs—he shouldn’t be greedy. That afternoon, Boss Jia purchased 150,000 jin of raw willow twigs and 50,000 jin of steamed willow twigs at 6 yuan per jin for the raw twigs and 11 yuan per jin for the steamed twigs. He had them shipped away immediately. Boss Mu’s account was now 1. 45 million yuan richer. “There’s still some willow twigs left—I’ll deal with that tomorrow,” Mu Dong thought to himself. The next morning, Mu Dong was balancing the books in his office. “So much money!” Mr. Mu’s eyes sparkled as he saw that his account had surged to over 18 million. No, I need to spread this money out across multiple accounts. I also need to pay back those loans and debts as soon as possible. Also, there’s an idea I’ve had for a while—back when I didn’t have the money, I felt I didn’t have the resources to make it work, but now it might be worth giving it a try. “Boss, come out here! This is completely unreasonable. Why won’t you sell it to us?” “Exactly! Why aren’t you treating us equally? Get your boss out here!” A burst of noisy arguing interrupted Boss Mu’s daydreaming. “What’s going on?” Mu Dong muttered under his breath as he put away his ledger and walked out. Big Brother Mu and Xie Donglin were facing off against a few rough-looking guys. The other side was shouting relentlessly, and the two sides were on the verge of shoving each other. The group had arrived in a minivan, towing a small truck, claiming they were there to buy willow branches—specifically, the discounted ones. Mu Daguo and Xie Donglin stepped forward to explain that the discounted willow branches were already sold out, but the other side started causing a scene. Mu Dong sighed. Old Man Su had been right—they’d really attracted a pack of hungry wolves. The subsidy plan Mu Dong had designed for farmers with zero crop yields had a fatal flaw. If a farmer whose land had become unproductive brought their own unproductive land subsidy paperwork but also presented a purchase receipt from Da Dong Company issued to someone else, would Mu Dong give them the discounted willow? It’s important to note that while the unproductive land subsidy paperwork is registered to a specific person, Da Dong Company’s purchase receipts are not. Mu Dong had already realized this loophole, but he had no good solution to address it. Conducting a village-wide survey could solve the problem, but Mu Dong simply couldn’t afford the manpower required. So Mu Dong could only keep hoping that everyone would act in good faith and demonstrate civic responsibility. In fact, a few people did try to cut corners, but to Mu Dong’s pleasant surprise, farmers with proper documentation took it upon themselves to identify and weed out the imposters, sending them away with their tails between their legs. Everyone in the surrounding villages knew exactly which households had no harvest and which had sold willow branches to Da Dong Company. Mu Dong knew that among the farmers who had already applied, there were bound to be some imposters, but their number was certainly very small. When they saw Mu Dong approaching, the group stopped their resistance and turned to look at him. Mu Dong stepped forward, held out his hand, and said, “Let me see the forms.” A middle-aged man at the head of the group handed him a stack of forms. Mu Dong glanced through them; the forms were all genuine, and the number was indeed substantial—some forty or fifty households. If he were to grant all these requests, twenty to thirty thousand jin of willow branches would be distributed. Although Mu Dong could afford it, he had no intention of indulging this bad habit. Mu Dong glanced at the group—about eight or nine people, including, surprisingly, two women standing silently to the side. He thought to himself: “Women getting involved in this kind of thing? They’re way too greedy!” “For these orders, the person named on the form must come in person for us to offer the discounted willow branches. Are you the farmer yourself?” Mu Dong asked the tall, thin man leading the group. The tall, thin man ran a hand through his hair and said, “None of them have time, so they’ve sent us to buy it on their behalf.” “Oh, no time, huh? It must’ve taken quite a bit of effort to round up all these orders,” Mu Dong said in a deep voice. “Before you came to rip me off, didn’t you check to see if I’m someone to mess with? Didn’t you ask Huang Si?” These guys were small-time thugs from the township, and they actually knew Huang Si; upon hearing this, they froze in place. Mu Dong continued, “These forms are actually quite simple. If we went door-to-door in the village, we could verify them all in a single day. If they meet the requirements, we’ll naturally give you the willow branches. But if there are any issues, we’ll hand you—and the people who provided you with these forms—over to the police to be charged with fraud!” Mu Dong glanced around. His family and workers had all rushed over and were now surrounding the group. Mu Dong pointed to the security cameras scattered around the courtyard and continued, “See that? These cameras have already recorded every one of you. No matter what happens here in the future, I’ll hold you accountable. Right now, if you turn around and leave, I can pretend nothing ever happened.” A stir broke out among the intruders as they whispered among themselves. These men had heard there was easy money to be made here and came to try their luck; they were, after all, a bunch of blusterers with no real backbone. They’d collected these receipts and agreed to split the proceeds 30-70 with the person who provided them, planning to cause as much trouble as possible and refuse to leave without their “willow money.” Little did they expect that the boss wasn’t the least bit intimidated. After a brief discussion, the lanky, tall man leading the group said with a show of authority, “Then we’ll go back and have the farmers come themselves.” With that, the group slunk away, tail between their legs. Mu Dong let out a long sigh. In truth, he didn’t have any real solutions; he could only resort to making grand threats to scare them off. Thankfully, it seemed to have worked. Huh? Why hadn’t those two women left? Mu Dong walked up to them and asked coldly, “Do you have an order too?” The two women burst out laughing and said, “We’re not with that group. We’re here to do business.” “Business? Are you here to buy willow branches, boss?” Mu Dong’s expression softened as he said, “Sorry about that. I thought you were with them. Come on, let’s go to the office for some tea.” Both were wearing dark slacks and light-colored high heels. The older woman was in her thirties and wore an embroidered silk blouse. The younger one, around twenty-five or twenty-six, wore a white blouse. Their attire certainly fit the image of a boss and her assistant. The older woman said, “Mr. Mu, let’s skip the office. Why don’t we set up a small table right here under this tree and have a chat?” Well, that suggestion really struck a chord with Boss Mu—he loved the shade of these plane trees the most. Soon, a small table and a few chairs were set up, tea was brewed, and the three of them sat down to talk. The two women introduced themselves: the older one’s surname was Liu, and the younger one’s was Dong. Mu Dong addressed them as “Ms. Liu” and “Manager Dong,” which drew another round of soft laughter from the pair. The two said they wanted to buy some willow branches, so Mu Dong told them his current stock and prices. They didn’t mention when they’d need them, but instead started chatting with Mu Dong about helping farmers who’d lost their crops and elderly artisans. Ms. Liu said, “Mr. Mu, you’ve handled this beautifully. Word has spread throughout the county—everyone says you’re a man of integrity.” Mu Dong scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed, and said, “I just felt that while I’m making money from willow branches, some farmers have suffered heavy losses—it tugged at my heartstrings. So I decided to share a little with them, hoping it might help in some small way. It’s just a drop in the bucket, though; the county’s subsidies are what really support those farmers.” The two women exchanged a glance, clearly very pleased. Mr. Liu asked again, “Then what’s the story with offering discounted willow to the veteran artisans? Most of them didn’t suffer any losses, did they?” Mu Dong replied, “They’re getting on in years, and the high price of willow branches is cutting into their income. I have an older worker here who used to do willow weaving himself—I was actually inspired by him.” Just then, Old Su arrived. As soon as he walked through the gate, he called out, “Xiao Dongzi, you see I was right, aren’t you? Have those little bastards left yet?” The two women burst out laughing when they heard the nickname “Xiao Dongzi”—it really did sound just like the name of a eunuch! In the blink of an eye, Old Man Su was right in front of them. Mu Dong felt a bit embarrassed in front of the two ladies, so he shouted, “Old Man Su, if you call me that again, I’ll fire you.” Old Man Su laughed too: “Fire me? Let’s see how capable you are! Do we have guests?” After saying this, he turned to greet the two ladies but froze on the spot, his mouth hanging open wide. After a long pause, he managed to stammer out a few words: “County… County Magistrate Liu?” Mu Dong jumped to his feet, his head spinning. “The county magistrate of D County?” He couldn’t keep up the act anymore. The visitor was none other than Liu Jingyun, Deputy County Governor and member of the Shuhe County Party Standing Committee, accompanied by her secretary, Dong Shuying. As the secretary to the deputy county magistrate, Dong Shuying possessed a keen political instinct. The afternoon before last, she had learned of Mu Dong’s story from Old Man Dong and immediately sensed that this matter aligned perfectly with the subsidy program for farmers who had ceased production—a program Deputy County Magistrate Liu was actively promoting. She rushed back to the county seat and reported the matter to Liu Jingyun. Liu Jingyun was a seconded official from the Ministry of Agriculture, overseeing agriculture, forestry, and water conservancy in Shuhe County—and the willow-weaving industry fell squarely within her purview. Regarding this willow crop failure incident, Liu Jingyun argued her case forcefully, insisting on providing subsidies to the affected farmers. She secured 2 million in subsidy funds from the Ministry of Agriculture, which, combined with 3 million raised by the county itself, barely covered the farmers’ subsidy payments. Now, upon hearing from Dong Shuying that a private enterprise owner had voluntarily foregone more than 1. 5 million in profits to help the farmers affected by the crop failure and the veteran folk artisans get back on their feet, Liu Jingyun was initially skeptical, suspecting it might be a publicity stunt. Yesterday, Liu Jingyun called several owners of willow-weaving factories and, led by Dong Shuying, visited some of the affected farmers. She finally realized that the story was indeed true. What was his motive? Was it for fame? Deputy County Magistrate Liu was curious and decided to meet this Mr. Mu in person. After chatting for a while, she discovered that Mr. Mu’s motive was surprisingly simple and pure: he simply felt guilty about making money while farmers were facing crop failure—he was acting purely to ease his own conscience. Liu Jingyun felt a little moved. For women in politics, the path is even more arduous than for male officials. Accustomed to all sorts of scheming and political maneuvering, Liu Jingyun suddenly realized that this young man was truly different. Little did she know that the act had only just begun when it was suddenly exposed. Liu Jingyun chuckled and asked Old Man Su, “Sir, do you recognize me?” That was an admission. Mu Dong felt his head spinning even more. He began to retrace his words—had he slipped up at all? Old Man Su was a bit flustered: “I… I don’t know… you—no, wait! I’ve… I’ve seen you before, but not like that…” He slapped his thigh and said, “I’ve seen you on TV.” Liu Jingyun: … Seeing that County Magistrate Liu looked puzzled, Old Man Su quickly explained, “My son works at the Water Resources Bureau. He often watches the county news at home and pointed you out to me, saying you’re his boss.” Liu Jingyun understood and asked, “What’s your son’s name?” Old Man Su: “Su Renjie.” Liu Jingyun understood—Su Renjie, Deputy Director of the Water Resources Bureau. With the actor’s identity exposed, there was no choice but to change the script. Liu Jingyun turned to Mu Dong and said, “Mr. Mu, I’m very sorry to meet you under these circumstances. Please forgive me—I mean no harm.” Mu Dong waved his hands repeatedly and said, “County Magistrate Liu, it’s fine, it’s fine. It’s an honor to meet you. Just call me ‘Little Mu.’ ” The group sat down and continued drinking tea. Liu Jingyun said, “All right, then, I’ll just call you Mu Dong. Mu Dong, you’ve done the county a huge favor. Many farmers who’d lost their livelihoods, as well as many veteran artisans, are very grateful to you. As the Deputy County Magistrate in charge of agriculture, I’d also like to express my gratitude to you.” Mu Dong had regained his composure; he hadn’t done anything wrong, so he had nothing to worry about. He said in a measured tone, “County Magistrate Liu, you’re too kind. I’m just a small businessman—I don’t deserve such thanks. Don’t laugh at me, but with the rise in willow prices this time, I’ve made a modest profit.” Liu Jingyun replied, “A gentleman may love wealth, but he must acquire it through proper means. Without sufficient financial resources, it would be impossible to help so many people.” She paused for a moment, thought for a while, and then continued, “Mu Dong, you have your own handicrafts company—why didn’t you process the willow branches yourself?” Mu Dong thought to himself, My company is nothing but a shell, but he couldn’t say that out loud. “County Magistrate Liu, my company was established very recently and hasn’t started formal operations yet. I happened to see the willow price rising and couldn’t resist selling the willow—it’s all profit anyway.” Liu Jingyun said, “In the long run, the processing business is more stable. Mu Dong, if you need it, the county can help introduce you to some overseas clients. The county will give priority support to responsible enterprises like yours. Although Tanzhuang Town has been incorporated into the development zone, that doesn’t prevent us from supporting willow-weaving enterprises.” Mu Dong thought to himself, “I don’t have the energy for that,” but said aloud, “Thank you very much, County Magistrate Liu.” After sitting for a while longer, Liu Jingyun stood up to take her leave. Before leaving, she handed Mu Dong her business card and told her to contact her if she needed anything. Mu Dong glanced at it—a very simple business card with only her name and a cell phone number—and realized that Liu Jingyun had given her her personal number, which touched her heart. Mu Dong walked her to the door, and Liu Jingyun and her companion got into the car parked outside the courtyard and drove away. Watching the car drive off into the distance, Old Man Su muttered, “My son said this county magistrate is from Beijing and acts all high and mighty, but she doesn’t seem like that at all.” Turning around to see that Mu Dong had already entered the courtyard gate, Old Man Su hurried after him, calling out, “Xiao Dongzi, you’ve hit the jackpot this time. My son says this county magistrate is from Beijing and has some serious connections.” Mu Dong didn’t respond, thinking to himself: I’m just a small-time businessman trying to make a little money on the side. No matter how powerful his connections are, they’re way out of my league. In the car as they drove away, Liu Jingyun asked Dong Shuying, “Little Dong, what do you think of this Mu Dong?” Dong Shuying pondered for a moment and said, “He’s a man of passion.” Liu Jingyun said nothing more and lowered her head in thought.