Chapter Twenty-six: Goodbye, 1994 and My First Kiss

  That evening in the small park, Ye Haodong, who had originally planned to take the initiative, mustered up his courage and was about to clarify his future romantic relationship with Jiang Lan. Unexpectedly, before he could even open his mouth, Jiang Lan passionately and boldly kissed him on the lips. It turned out that not far from them, in a long corridor, another young couple who looked even younger than them were doing the same thing, and their boldness gave Jiang Lan, who had always been decisive and dared to love and hate, the courage to express her feelings.

  After finishing this courageous kiss, Jiang Lan's face was flushed with shame, her delicate skin seemingly able to bleed. At close range, Ye Haodong only discovered that Jiang Lan's skin was exceptionally smooth and tender, the shy and hesitant expression of a girl in her first love was extraordinarily moving, all of which made Ye Haodong, a newcomer to romance, extremely excited. He wanted to say something to express his excitement at this moment, but after racking his brains for half a day, he could only think of this sentence: "I forgot what the movie was about, what will you do when your brother asks you about it when we get home?"

  Jiang Lan said with a strange and funny tone: "When I watch a movie with my classmates, my brother also interferes. If he's not sick, then I must be the one who's sick. Are you guilty of something and afraid that my brother will find out about our affair and clean up after you?"

  "Your brother's ugly face is really making me a bit afraid."

  "Then you still dare to ask me out, and also..." She only said half of it, unable to continue because she remembered that the kiss earlier was initiated by her.

  Yehao Dong smiled: "What's wrong? Are you still daring to kiss me? Just now when we kissed, I was the victim, it was you who forcibly kissed me."

  Jiang Lan was both embarrassed and annoyed, pinching Ye Haodong's arm: "You little scoundrel, taking advantage of me and still pretending to be clever, just wait till I get home and tell my brother that you bullied me."

  Ye Haodong's bold and daring personality made him almost fearless, but there were many people he cared about: his mother, brothers, and uncle who had helped their family greatly after his father's passing. These people were his weaknesses. Jiang Wei's kindness and upright character earned Ye Haodong's great respect for him. If this girl were to expose their relationship to Jiang Wei now, Ye Haodong would be so embarrassed that he'd want to dig a hole and hide in it, knowing that Jiang Wei's attitude towards him wouldn't change anytime soon.

  "Stop messing around, let's talk seriously. For now, it's really not possible for your brother to know about us. The other day when we were having dinner, I heard him mention you. He said his work requires him to be away from home all the time, and everything at home relies on you to take care of it. Not only do you have to study well yourself, but also spare energy to take good care of your mom. For a girl of your age, the difficulty is almost unimaginable, yet what makes your brother most proud is that not only did you manage to do it, but you did it exceptionally well. This allowed him to focus on his work without any worries for the past two years. In his heart, your importance surpasses even your future sister-in-law. If he knew that a scoundrel like me dared to have designs on his precious little sister, he would definitely want to eat me alive."

  "Are you afraid? Or have you never thought about being with me in the long run? What are your plans? Are you not going to tell me about what's going on between us from now on? When you asked me out, did you think about how we would dispel my brother's prejudice against you if I also had a good impression of you?"

  Jiang Lan is different from the general little girls who grew up under the care of their parents. She is a girl who can endure hardships, take on most of the responsibilities of a family independently, and is intelligent, independent, rational, and responsible. Her attitude towards emotions is also bold and decisive, once she has made up her mind, she will go for it without hesitation, unlike other girls who are shy and hesitant. Ye Haodong's hesitation made her think of many things.

  "The future is too far away, who can tell what will happen, but I just know that now I only want to be with you. Life has only a few moments of youth and first love, I cherish this rare feeling very much. As for your brother, I'm more afraid that he'll misunderstand me, thinking that I'm taking advantage of you or having ulterior motives in getting close to you."

  "Hmph! I should have known better than to trust a little rascal like you. Your words imply that you don't have any confidence in our future together, or maybe you don't have faith in your own feelings for me."

  Ye Haodong pulled Jiang Lan's hand: "I believe my feelings for you have no expiration date, but in this world nothing is constant, including emotions, as well as a person's status and environment. In the future your status will change with your increasing abilities, and various pursuers will appear around you, they may all be excellent, maybe you'll think one of them suits you better than me, so I can only think about cherishing the present and not fantasizing about the future."

  Jiang Lan: "Are you worried that after I get into college, we won't be a good match?"

  Ye Haodong didn't say anything, he had nothing to worry about, he just understood this world much more than Jiang Lan. Ye Haodong let out a long sigh. Then smiled and pulled Jiang Lan into his arms, holding him tightly.

  "As long as you don't change, that's all right, anyway I won't change my mind. No matter now or in the future, we must cherish each other. If my brother doesn't agree with us being together, I'll scare him by saying I'll run away from home with you, I don't care. Tonight when I get home, I'll tell him the truth, don't worry, my brother loves me the most, since childhood he's always followed me in everything, he will definitely agree to our matter." Snuggled sweetly in Ye Haodong's arms, Jiang Lan's heart was skipping a beat like a little deer.

  Ye Haodong thought that since he had nothing to hide, he should let Jiang Wei know about their relationship. He felt pure emotions towards Jiang Lan and had no ulterior motives. Since his conscience was clear, what was there to fear? So even though he knew Jiang Wei would probably not allow it again, he didn't stop Jiang Lan this time either.

  Sent Jiang Lan back home, at the moment of farewell at the entrance of the alley, Jiang Lan suddenly caught Ye Hao Dong off guard again. She turned around and hugged Ye Hao Dong, and kissed him once more. This time, however, was different from the last time's fleeting touch, their lips intertwined, tongues entwined, a brief but authentic French kiss. When Ye Hao Dong was somewhat bewildered, she suddenly let go of her arms, turned around and ran back home. Leaving Ye Hao Dong alone to savor the lingering sound of her giggles like the residual sound of a copper bell, and the unique sweet taste of the girl's lips.

  In the spring of 1995, a new year had begun. The Ye family of four had moved into their new house for some time now. Ye Haodong's two older brothers also knew that their younger brother had made money by partnering with someone to open a factory and bought this house. The two elder brothers were genuinely happy for their younger brother's achievements, but at the same time couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. After Mother Wang Lin led her three sons in burning incense and paper for their father, Ye Haodong lit a string of 20,000 firecrackers called "Dadi Hong" downstairs. Amidst the lively sound of firecrackers, the Ye family ushered in the new year.

  In the bedroom, there was a photo of the couple. Wang Lin looked at the picture and thought about the desperation of being separated from her husband two years ago. She never expected to be living like this today, just two years later. Her late husband's attitude towards their young son, strict in discipline but lenient in learning, now seemed wise. As the saying goes, "a tree will grow straight by itself," and indeed, as the child grew up, he became more sensible. When Ye Haodong was little, he loved to fight, and Wang Lin often worried that he would end up like his grandfather, spending most of his life in prison. But now, it seemed that this child was doing legitimate business and hadn't gotten into any trouble lately. He even brought people home to find fault with them, which made him seem truly sensible. It seemed that he wouldn't follow in his grandfather's footsteps after all.

  During the Spring Festival, Xinlv Jianchang Factory was closed for a week. Before the holiday, Ye Haodong gave each person a bonus. Each worker received 5,000 yuan. Zhong Zhimin and Li Weidong, as well as Bao Lijiang, each received 20,000 yuan. Now their monthly salaries have exceeded 5,000 yuan, which is a treatment that only high-level white-collar workers in big cities can enjoy.

  1995 was destined to be the most important year in Ye Haodong's life journey. At the beginning of the new year, Ye Haodong, who was full of ambition, had been brewing a bigger plan and was about to implement it step by step. Now, there are three sets of equipment in the factory, although the production capacity has expanded rapidly since the new start, but not a single bucket of pulp is sold outside. Since New Year's Day in 1995, the price of pulp has been rising all the way and has now reached $600 per ton. Ye Haodong had further plans in his heart, but for the time being, he didn't tell anyone. He only required each link to ignore the sales link and continue to produce with full force, accumulating more pulp.

  This year, he has received his ID card. The legal representative of this factory has also changed from the original Wang Lin to himself. There is no need to worry about bringing trouble to his mother. Ye Haodong will be even bolder in doing things, and the plan of snake swallowing elephant that he has been brewing in his heart has also entered a specific operational stage step by step.

  On the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, when the dragon raises its head, Ye Haodong brought Zhong Zhimin to the paper mill at the river mouth upstream of Shahe River. The purpose of his visit today is to discuss the acquisition and merger at the invitation of the district government.

  The paper mill at the river mouth was established after liberation. There are currently 68 employees, 232 retirees, and 9 management personnel in the factory. The equipment, factory buildings, and land have a total value of over 30 million yuan. Due to poor management, the managers' greed for quick success and lack of understanding of the market led to the blind introduction of a set of German-made papermaking equipment and pollution treatment equipment two years ago. As a result, the company owed a huge bank loan while also tying up its own liquidity. Because the initial product positioning was inaccurate, the market response was general, and the capital recovery speed was extremely slow. Without liquidity, raw materials could not be guaranteed. Therefore, the factory has been in a state of semi-production since two years ago and completely stopped production after the second half of last year. All workers have been laid off and are living on a basic living allowance of 128 yuan per month.

  As for the current situation of the river mouth factory, Zhong Zhi-min saw it with his own eyes and was anxious in his heart. He had suggested to Ye Hao-dong many times that he should lend pulp to the river mouth paper mill to help them get through the difficulties. However, every time Ye Hao-dong would say: "Brother Zhong, I'm running a factory here, the goal is to make money. Now the products of the river mouth factory are piling up, and there's almost no market demand. Even if we give them pulp for free, they'll just keep producing things that will end up as useless paper in their warehouse. Helping them would only make our dozen or so people suffer together."

  After the Spring Festival, a stunning news spread in the papermaking industry of Gangcheng. During the Spring Festival, due to the inability to pay heating fees, the employees of Hekou Factory spent a cold and bitter New Year's Day. Unable to bear it any longer, 300 retired and on-the-job employees of the paper mill staged a sit-in protest in front of the municipal government building on the first day of work after the holiday, demanding that the government come up with a reform plan to thoroughly solve the current problems of Hekou Factory and safeguard the basic interests of workers! The enraged mayor immediately convened an emergency meeting on site, with all relevant departments gathering together. The leaders of Xin Guang District, where Hekou Factory is located, were also urgently summoned. On the frozen square, the meeting proceeded unusually quickly, and the municipal government decided to have the Xin Guang District Party Committee and Government temporarily take over Hekou Factory. The Xin Guang District Government was required to come up with a specific reform implementation plan within the first month of the lunar calendar and promised that the municipal government would temporarily coordinate and provide free heating for these workers' families. Finally, 60,000 yuan in winter subsidies were allocated from the municipal finance department and distributed to the "trouble-making" workers, which finally calmed down the emotions of the crowd.

  Affected by this matter, the new light district government's handling efficiency was very fast this time. Within a short period of time, they came up with a plan for the reform of the river mouth factory and issued it to units and individuals who might have the ability to participate in the plan before the end of the first month. Ye Haodong, as the boss of the largest private waste recycling enterprise under the jurisdiction of Xin Guang District, Steel City, and also a participant in the papermaking industry, was naturally among those invited.