The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1479: Reported
Chen, the postman, stopped his bicycle inside the educated youth compound.

The sun was shining brightly today, and a dozen young men were busy in a row. In front of them, Wang Yan was tending to a small red clay stove, drinking tea from a pot, and tidying up the cabinet in front of him.

The educated youth, both men and women, and other members of the brigade were watching and chatting. Outside the courtyard, on the level ground, there was laughter and chatter as people lined up to ride bicycles.

He has been sending messages here for several years and has clearly felt the vigorous and upward spirit of the people in Baidian Brigade.

He lives in this area, so how could he not know about the situation in Baidian Brigade? He even ordered a kang table here; the cooking skills are truly excellent...

Wang Yan took the letter and handed Chen You a cigarette: "I wrote a report about accepting re-education and mailed it over before. Give it a try."

"Oh, you must have received the manuscript, otherwise you might not have replied. Take a look and see what it says. I've been delivering newspapers for so many years, and I've only ever seen a reply from a major newspaper like this a handful of times."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, then opened the envelope and took out the letter.

"Comrade Wang Yan, hello. Your submission has been received. The writing is simple and the ideological understanding is firm..."

Chen the postman read it aloud beside Wang Yan, then looked at the number on the remittance slip and exclaimed, "Oh dear, there's still ten yuan left!"

By this time, the educated youth and villagers who had gathered around were getting impatient and took the letter and remittance slip to read one by one.

"So, your article is going to be published?" Old Liu asked as he walked over, a pipe dangling from his lips.

"Yes, it's the first phase after the New Year. They also told me to do a good job and wait to see my results. I wish our team even better results."

Wang Yan took a puff of his cigarette and said with a smile, "Uncle Liu, I've written about you too. You'll see when the newspaper arrives. It'll be something to be proud of."

"Hey, what's with all this talk about saving face? This is the Party and the country's affirmation of us."

As he spoke, Old Liu's mouth stretched into a wide grin, and he couldn't stop smiling.

He then asked, "Who else are you writing about?"

“My elder brother, Secretary Zhang from the commune, and the county leaders also mentioned it briefly.” Wang Yan patted Old Liu’s arm. “Uncle Liu, just wait patiently, you’ll see. When the commune holds a meeting, they’ll definitely praise you, and you might even get a trip to the county. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to show off.”

"What's all this talk about being impressive? I just want our brigade to live a good life."

After a brief period of lively conversation, everyone returned to their previous routine, watching the young men diligently working with the wood.

They didn't realize how much this spectacle affected them...

Chen the postman didn't quite understand either. As usual, he collected the letters from the educated youth and the other villagers. Actually, there were more letters from the educated youth. The other villagers didn't receive many letters throughout the year. They had grown up here and didn't have many people they needed to contact from afar.

The educated youth were from outside the area, and each time they had to send letters to their families and friends, they would receive several letters and send several letters out.

After gathering everything, Chen the Postman didn't rush to leave. Instead, he looked at the pile of furniture waiting for Wang Yan to process it further and couldn't help but let out a sigh just like Old Liu's.

"Oh, Wang Yan, I ordered a kang table from you guys, and now all the other furniture in my house looks terrible. It's like a wolf has gotten mixed into a flock of sheep, and I'm really itching to get one."

Upon hearing Chen Youdi's words, Li Kuiyong didn't even wait for Wang Yan to speak before quickly pulling out the sketchbook drawn by Wang Yan: "Come on, Old Chen, take a look. I'll definitely give you a good price. It doesn't matter if you live in the county. Our brigade will deliver it to your door, and it will be delivered to your home in perfect condition."

"Uh……"

Chen, the postman, paused for a moment, then took the book and began to look through it page by page.

"Hiss... now even kang tables are divided into different grades?"

“The people have this demand, so of course we should provide targeted options.” Old Liu smiled and, together with Li Kuiyong, pulled Chen Youchui over to quietly choose furniture…

Wang Yan continued reading the second letter, which was from Zhou Xiaobai. So far, the two had exchanged two letters, roughly one every two weeks, and their correspondence was still being relayed through the post office.

They had only exchanged two letters, but their conversations in those letters were already somewhat out of sync, which was quite interesting.

This letter wasn't anything special; it was just the youngest daughter's rambling thoughts of longing. There were also some things about the military, like Zhou Xiaobai meeting Zhang Haiyang and Yuan Jun, and Luo Yun getting quite close to Yuan Jun, with Luo Yun saying she had a very good opinion of him. The rest of the letter was about imagining their reunion sometime in the future.

In addition, there was a money order for twenty yuan in the envelope. Zhou Xiaobai had received her allowance and asked her family for some more money, worried that Wang Yan was having a hard time here. In the letter, she said she knew Wang Yan had a big appetite and must not be getting enough to eat in northern Shaanxi, and must be going hungry all the time. The New Year was coming soon, so she wanted him to have something good to eat.

What a wonderful girl, so gentle, considerate, and love-struck...

In truth, Zhou Xiaobai knew more or less about Wang Yan's ways of making money. After all, when the two were in Beijing, Wang Yan's spending power was quite considerable, and Zhou Xiaobai wasn't stupid. Her only concern was that now that Wang Yan had come to impoverished northern Shaanxi, this method of making money would no longer exist.

But little did she know that there are always people who bully others and exploit loopholes to make money, no matter where they are in the world or what era they live in. Wang Yan's path to making money will always exist.

To elaborate further, compared to petty thugs who bully others on a small scale or engage in reselling, what's the difference between them and a significant number of large, successful companies, or well-known individuals who are known as entrepreneurs?

Finally, Chen, the postman, couldn't resist the urge and the persuasion of Lao Liu and Li Kuiyong. He ordered two lockers, one large and one small, as well as a large dining table, spending thirty yuan before finally riding away on his bicycle.

He had no choice but to leave; he was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.

There are hundreds of types of furniture, each with different uses and styles. Old Liu also revealed to him that they would be starting to make sofas and coffee tables after the New Year, which are rare items. Proper sofas, however, are not so common.

The reasons are multifaceted: they are expensive, take up a lot of space, and are not very useful for the impoverished people of northern Shaanxi. But if the price comes down, then of course it will be a different story…

After seeing off Chen the Postman, Old Liu approached Wang Yan and said, "Wang Yan, your article has been published in this daily newspaper. It will definitely be good for us, but I don't know exactly how. Can you tell me?"

"To put it bluntly, our Linxian County, Hechuan Commune, and our Baidian Brigade have all been registered in Beijing."

Seeing Old Liu's beaming face, Wang Yan continued, "But that's the capital city after all, too far from us. Let's talk about the immediate benefits. Our story has already reached the capital, and this newspaper is the official publication, so everyone has to subscribe. Do you think the leaders of Yancheng and Linxian wouldn't know?"
Yancheng isn't close either, let's talk about Linxian. I mentioned them briefly in my article; they've made an appearance in Beijing now, do you think they're happy?

"Happy." Old Liu nodded emphatically, his mouth agape... "Then do you think they want things to be better?"

"Of course."

"Then they'll definitely fuss over us and help us solve our problems," Wang Yan said. "The mutton soup stall I've been talking about will definitely be settled, though it might not be for our brigade anymore. But our brigade will definitely benefit too. What do you think is most important to us right now, Uncle Liu?"

"As for money, we still owe the commune several hundred yuan."

Wang Yan shook his head: "The county is poor too, how can they give us money? What we need is a way to make money. Look at us now, we sell furniture by having people from our brigade go out to promote it, and by word of mouth from people who have already bought furniture. Most of them are from nearby, how many people are there?"

Uncle Liu, what do you think about opening a furniture store in the county?

"Great!" Old Liu clapped his hands without hesitation. "If we could open a shop in the county, we would definitely make a lot of money, enough for us. If these kids all become apprentices and do it even better and faster, our whole brigade could probably have enough to eat."

“That’s right.” Wang Yan nodded with a smile. “The county will definitely want us to go and get acquainted. We can set up a shop in the county, and they will definitely agree. Even if there isn’t a place, they will have to find one for us. I’m still writing. I’ll spend the New Year here and reflect on it. Then I’ll write about our current progress, and everyone will be happy.”

"This old man doesn't even know anything about Russian football. You're a cultured man, so whatever you say goes. We'll listen to you." Old Liu's eyes crinkled with laughter as he happily wrapped his pipe in it and smacked it as he walked away...

Wang Yan smiled, put away the two letters, and continued drinking his tea and making various kinds of furniture...

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Yan stopped making furniture and instead started taking his camera everywhere. He took photos of the villagers, the people of Linping, and the people of the commune, documenting all sorts of activities. He also went to the county town to photograph the various lively events there.

They were busy like this until the 30th of the month. Wang Yan watched as everyone was busy, and it wasn't until noon that he started cooking.

"Brother Yan, you're really amazing. You can make a name for yourself wherever you go."

After hearing Li Kuiyong's story, Zhong Yuemin was filled with admiration.

He and Zheng Tong came here for the New Year, and their purpose was obvious: they were heading towards the Qinling Mountains. However, on the other hand, their place wasn't much better off than Baidian Brigade; they were both just as poor, so they naturally didn't have much money to spend and came to Wang Yan's place to freeload off his meat.

The brigade gave Wang Yan a pig's hind leg and a sheep's offal. Wang Yan also spent his own money to buy some fish, chicken, and other dishes, which was quite a feast.

Wang Yan was very generous. Even though the female educated youth had separated their cooking duties from them, he didn't care about these things and instead invited everyone to eat together.

The female educated youths were all embarrassed and offered to pay, but Wang Yan refused...

Wang Yan chuckled and said, "What's all this talk about being amazing? In the end, I just want to live a better life. It's too tough here. If I didn't find a way to make ends meet, I would have gone hungry. How could we have such a sumptuous feast today?"

“You’re still the best, old man. We brothers would like to try, but we don’t have the ability,” Zheng Tong exclaimed.

Wang Yan waved his hand: "You guys, even if I don't get cocky, you'll make me feel so flattered. Don't praise me to death. Let me cook properly. Let me tell you, if my hand shakes, I'll accidentally add a spoonful of salt, which will make you all feel salty."

"Hahaha……"

Everyone burst into laughter, and then the group of contestants who were waiting for food stopped bothering Wang Yan and started having fun on their own...

Chinese New Year is always a lively time, and the poorer you are, the more lively it is.

Unlike decades later, when we have too many new clothes to wear and are tired of eating meat, there's much less to look forward to now. Chinese New Year is just a once-a-year family reunion.

Wang Yan performed admirably, preparing a sumptuous meal and plenty of wine, which the educated youth enjoyed immensely. During the meal, Lao Liu and others also came to visit and toasted the educated youth.

While educated youth in other places were universally disliked, the educated youth in Baidian Brigade, thanks to Wang Yan, received a degree of goodwill from the villagers. Wang Yan, needless to say, already wielded almost as much influence as Old Liu in Baidian Brigade; with further development after the New Year, his words would carry even more weight than Old Liu's…

After a lively and festive New Year, on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, while everyone was exchanging New Year's greetings, the latest issue of the newspaper was distributed across the country and delivered to various government agencies and the people who had subscribed to the newspaper.

Around 10 a.m., Secretary Zhang of the commune personally led a group of five or six people to Baidian Brigade in a hurry.

"So you're Wang Yan! You've done something really great! Hahaha..."

Secretary Zhang grasped Wang Yan's hand and shook it vigorously twice, overwhelmed with emotion.

He had read the article. Wang Yan had given him considerable space, and with just a few words, he had established his image, making it clear at a glance that he was a good cadre. How could he not be happy?

"It's all what I should do; if you have a skill, you shouldn't hide it," Wang Yan said modestly.

"I saw in the article that you were supposed to write a report later. Did you write it?" Secretary Zhang asked with concern.

"I'm writing it now. I'm going to write about the grand Spring Festival in Linxian County, the achievements since the development of the furniture sideline business, and the changes that have taken place in our Baidian Brigade in the past month."

“Okay!” Secretary Zhang nodded repeatedly. “But don’t rush to write it down. Tomorrow we’ll go to the county to meet with the leaders and ask for some benefits. When you do, write down the leaders’ support as well, and they’ll give you even more next time.”

"Secretary Zhang is indeed mature and prudent; we will all listen to him."

"Hey, why call me 'Secretary'? That's too formal. Call me 'Uncle'!"

"Alright, Uncle Zhang."

"Okay, hahaha..."

Secretary Zhang grinned and said, "Old Liu, show me your workshop and tell me about your achievements. I haven't paid much attention to it since I bought the wood, but I didn't expect you to have done such a big thing so quietly."

So everyone strolled around the former educated youth compound together. Secretary Zhang inquired about the living conditions of the educated youth, and so on. In short, the atmosphere was harmonious, joyful, and triumphant...

I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!