Chapter 43: Forty Years of Fame and Fortune Turned to Dust, a Dream in Shencheng

  "There are two situations where this phenomenon can be easily resolved: extreme poverty and extreme wealth. In a state of extreme poverty, there is nothing to covet, and whoever tries to take advantage will be overthrown. The common people are in charge everywhere, the country does not develop its economy or build anything, everyone eats from the same pot, and it's not necessary to distinguish who has more power or less. In that case, I estimate that corruption would decrease or disappear. However, this is a regression of society, poor but fair, meaningless for the country and nation. I think we should strive for extreme wealth, where everyone has money, material goods are extremely abundant, and we occupy the world's most superior resources. When officials can enjoy them, ordinary people can basically achieve them too. On that day, no one will dare to take risks and be corrupt."

  Middle-aged people laughed loudly and heartily.

  "That is to say, the most important thing at present is not to solve the problem of various contradictions, but to first solve the problem of development. Only when the economy is developed and all people are rich will our country naturally have fewer internal problems."

  Ye Haodong praised: "There's no one as wise as you, that's what it means. First and foremost, we need to make the country rich and strong, only then can we get to the root of things."

  The middle-aged man didn't laugh again, but furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before saying: "We need to focus on economic development, and we can't do that without a stable and healthy international environment. At this stage, our country's explosive power in terms of economic growth hasn't been fully displayed yet, and we can still close our doors and develop on our own. But when the day comes when we integrate with the world and our economy takes off, posing a threat to others' international status, if our national defense and military aren't up to par, won't we end up like our neighbors in the 80s, where the results of their efforts only served to fatten up the enemy?"

  "So, we have to get the technology from them first. We'll take whatever technology they have, and if cooperation doesn't work, we'll send our students abroad to study it. If that doesn't work, we'll just send professionals to steal it. Tell me, if we do it my way, will the United Nations still dare to shoot missiles at our embassies overseas?"

  The middle-aged man nodded: "It's rare for you to have such thoughts at a young age, I don't know what you do. I heard your grandfather say that you and your grandson will go see the return of Macau in a few days, you two have strong patriotic feelings."

  Ye Haodong solemnly said: "That old man is absolutely devoted to this country, no matter what this country has given him, hardships, humiliation, glory, more than 40 years of imprisonment, the pain of separation from his loved ones, none of these have changed his love for this country."

  The middle-aged man heard the flavor and curiously asked: "What's your grandfather's name?"

  Ye Haodong proudly said: "Ye Ying, once a hero, now a prisoner of the times. He has never participated in party struggles throughout his life, but was tormented by them all his life."

  The middle-aged man thought for a moment about the name Ye Ying, and felt that it was somewhat familiar, but couldn't think of it for a while.

  "Convict? Then how can he come back to this city?"

  Ye Haodong looked into the middle-aged man's eyes and said seriously, "To be strict, he can no longer be considered a prisoner. His problems are already in the past tense. It's just that he has been detained for most of his life and has become accustomed to the way of life inside. He would rather live alone, what I meant by 'prisoner' was just self-pity."

  The middle-aged man smiled and waved his hand, letting go of the topic, saying nothing more, but walked over to Ye Haodong together to lean against the railing and look at the lights of thousands of families below the mountain.

  "Hey kid, what's your dream? Can you tell me?"

  Ye Haodong tilted his head and looked at him, the middle-aged man's eyes were only sincere, nothing else. Ye Haodong nodded: "My ideal, that's a bit big, but it's all very vague, after all, I only read until high school freshman year."

  A middle-aged man humorously said, "That's already quite impressive. In the past, people talked about ten years of cold windows, and you've read books for ten years, which is not a small feat. I think it's not bad at all. A young man like you who hasn't learned any skills, just from what you said earlier, I think those who have spent their whole lives reading books may not be able to come up with such ideas."

  Ye Haodong also tilted his head and laughed, haha, yeah, that's right, if we're talking about it, I'm also a scholar from a family of scholars.

  A middle-aged man quietly reminded him: "Young man, you haven't talked about your ideals yet."

  Ye Haodong thought for a moment, and now he felt that this middle-aged man was extraordinary. His previous conversations were all about topics that would interest this middle-aged man, without touching the bottom line. Now that they were talking about ideals, his own idea of becoming the modern-day Du Yuesheng seemed a bit too much to mention.

  "My ideal is to see our country standing at the top of the world one day, and I not only want to witness this process from start to finish, but also participate in it with my own way, and one day I will have the qualification to freely enjoy the fruits of this achievement."

  The middle-aged man nodded sympathetically, but also heard a different tone. He didn't continue to ask what Ye Haodong meant by "his own way". Instead, he said warmly: "I hope you can always remember your ideal and don't touch the country's laws and regulations in the process of realizing your ideal."

  On December 20th, Ye Haodong accompanied his grandfather to witness the moment when Macau returned. Ye Ying, who never shed tears, had tears in his eyes at that moment. The old general squeezed out tears without hiding them and muttered to himself: "Old Gu, brother, I saw this day, are you watching from heaven? Our ideals will come true sooner or later. These words were said by my grandson. Although I won't see that day, seeing today makes me believe that it will definitely happen!"

  Ye Ying finally returned to the Western Territory alone, just as he said, that place had become his home. He was destined to be a lonely old man for the rest of his life, and whoever stayed with him would bring bad luck. The most suitable place for him was indeed there, where the sky was high and the emperor was far away, and the old master could fire cannons at will.

  Ye Haodong respected Grandfather's choice, he could understand the old man's thoughts. The old man not only had grown accustomed to life in the Western Territory but also worried that his own problems had never been thoroughly resolved, and returning rashly would implicate future generations.

  Saw off Grandpa, at Xijiang Wucheng Airport, Ye Haodong bowed deeply to Gao Ping and then turned around and walked into the airport. His next stop is Shencheng, Nongjia. The house where they live is called 'Little Zhongnanhai', a family that has made its fortune through business and entered politics, a red tycoon's family.

  Before coming to Shencheng, Ye Haodong had already sold 35% of the shares of Xintianyi Pavilion in his hands at a price of 40%, to Song Hao and the Song family behind him. This transaction gave him a reserve fund of 800 million yuan in his account, and he was confident and ambitious about this acquisition of New Green Group.

  If it weren't for that one clause he added, the Nong family would never have bought his New Green Group. This was something he could never have anticipated. He had always thought that the Nong family's desire to take over his New Green Group was a form of contempt towards him, and what he wanted to defeat was not the entire Nong family, but rather this contempt. His ultimate plan was still to hand over the New Green Group to the Nong family, but he would have preferred to do so in a way that allowed him to save face. So he came up with that additional clause: within three years, Nong Juntian could not transfer any shares of the New Green Group under his name to anyone who did not have a blood relationship with Ye Haodong. This clause effectively tied the Nong family's century-old reputation to it. If they didn't want to give up their family's century-old honest reputation, they would definitely follow the contract and execute it accordingly. Later, Ye Haodong could easily buy back the shares and then transfer them back to the Nong family, saving face while not losing anything substantial, and the Nong family would gain something without losing face either - a win-win outcome.

  A thousand calculations and a million plans, but miscalculated that one night. This trip to Shencheng was doomed from the start, after that summer night four years ago, he was destined to return in defeat.