Chapter 165: The Eldest Son's Path to Wealth
Not long after Deng Yunheng returned home, Deng Changfu's family joyfully held a full-moon banquet for their newborn twins. As the first pair of twins ever born in Thatchfield Village, the banquet naturally sparked lively discussions throughout the community.
As the matchmaker who had facilitated the couple's marriage, Deng Shirong was naturally invited to the celebration.
After the banquet, Deng Shirong received a special gift from Deng Changfu's family—a pig's butt weighing over ten pounds.
In this era, the role of a matchmaker was different from what it would become in later generations. Nowadays, after introducing a couple, the matchmaker remained connected to them. If the couple held a full-moon banquet for their first child, they were expected to give the matchmaker a pig's butt as a gesture of gratitude. This tradition marked the completion of the matchmaker's role, and no further gifts were required for subsequent children.
Of course, such customs were based on mutual goodwill. Before the banquet, Deng Shirong had already sent the couple a chicken and a piece of cloth, so he didn't feel he was taking undue advantage.
However, with the system's tenfold reward, the dozen-pound pig's butt instantly became over a hundred pounds—a significant profit.
...
Friday, June 23, 1981
Early in the morning, Deng Shirong and his second son boarded a bus to the county town.
Their trip had two main purposes:
First, check the college entrance exam scores.
In this era, checking exam results wasn't as simple as searching online. Students had to visit the county education bureau to find out their scores. Typically, class teachers would handle this task, and students could then inquire about their results at school.
And second, invite a theater troupe.
If Deng Yunheng's scores confirmed his admission to Peking University, Deng Shirong planned to visit the county theater troupe to inquire about the cost of hiring them to perform in Thatchfield Village.
When it came to local folk arts, Bobai County had a rich tradition, including folk songs, wooden fish performances, bamboo horse dances, qilin dances, dragon and lion dances, puppet shows, and acrobatics.
Folk songs were a signature of Guangxi, deeply rooted in the local culture. During the Republic of China era, folk artists often set up stages to sing, drawing crowds of thousands. In the 1950s, the county's cultural department used folk songs extensively for policy propaganda.
Wooden fish was a folk art form blending songs and quick-paced music.
Bamboo horse and qilin dances were traditional song-and-dance arts originating in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
Dragon and lion dances were well-known and widely performed.
Puppetry, introduced during the Qing Dynasty's Tongzhi period, featured wooden puppets with movable mouths and eyes, controlled by bamboo sticks. These performances were beloved by both the elderly and children.
Acrobatics, locally known as Dali Opera, involved traveling medicine sellers who performed tricks to attract audiences before selling their wares.
Among these diverse folk arts, Deng Shirong chose drama for a reason. Bobai County's drama tradition dated back to the Ming Dynasty and remained highly popular. Unlike movies, which were relatively short, dramas could be performed as serials, such as The Butterfly Lovers, Xue Rengui's Expedition to the East, Twelve Widows' Expedition to the West, and Luo Tong's Expedition to the North. These serials could run for ten days or even half a month, offering a sense of continuity that movies couldn't match. For middle-aged and elderly audiences, dramas held a unique appeal.
After nearly three hours on the bus, Deng Shirong and his son arrived in Bobai County's county town.
Stepping out of the "station"—which was little more than a parking lot with a few buildings—Deng Shirong couldn't help but notice how different the town looked compared to its future prosperity. The real Bobai Bus Station wouldn't be built until December 1985 and completed in July 1987. In 1981, the area was still undeveloped.
Diagonally across from the station, where a vegetable field now lay, Deng Shirong knew that in the future, a 20-story building housing hotels, cinemas, shopping malls, and supermarkets would stand. This complex would become the county's most bustling commercial center for over a decade, until the expansion of Jinxiu East Road and the construction of a large commercial plaza introduced competition.
Seeing this valuable piece of land, Deng Shirong began to form a plan. Once his eldest son was ready to leave the tile factory, he would set this plan in motion.
After his rebirth, Deng Shirong had mapped out a path to wealth for his eldest son: running a chain of supermarkets. At this time, self-service supermarkets were virtually unknown in China. Deng Shirong believed that being the first to introduce this concept would guarantee success.
He didn't aspire to compete with giants like Walmart. Instead, he envisioned his eldest son becoming a major player in the province's supermarket industry, establishing a chain that would thrive locally.
As Deng Shirong's thoughts wandered, Deng Yunheng marveled at the bustling scene before them. "Dad, look at how different the county town is from the countryside. There are so many cars coming and going!"
Deng Shirong chuckled. Indeed, the sight of one or two motor vehicles and about twenty bicycles passing by every minute was a rare spectacle of prosperity for someone from the countryside.
With a sense of nostalgia, Deng Shirong said, "Right now, bicycles are the main mode of transportation. But with the way our country is developing, in 20 to 30 years, it won't be bicycles but cars filling the streets."
Deng Yunheng was stunned. "Dad, that's impossible! Cars everywhere? How could that happen?"
Having witnessed the rapid development of the future, Deng Shirong smiled confidently. "If you don't believe me, come back here in ten or eight years, and you'll see."
Though Deng Yunheng found the idea hard to believe, he trusted his father's judgment and made a mental note of his words.
(End of Chapter)