Reborn in 1981, the first to get rich start with dairy cows.

The awards ceremony was very grand, with county leaders personally presenting the awards.

First, the top three communes received the banner of "Advanced Commune", along with a stack of fertilizer coupons and two hundred yuan in cash.

Next up was Shen Dong. There was only one outstanding individual, so Shen Dong's appearance on stage attracted everyone's attention.

Even those who didn't know him before suddenly realized after someone explained what Shen Dong had done: Oh, so that's what he did!

Chen Jianghe first shook hands with Shen Dong, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Shen Dong, I've heard your name mentioned several times by Director Yang and Lao Sha. Do a good job, and I hope you can give me some more surprises next year."

Shen Dong nodded, his back ramrod straight, his eyes resolute.

Next, Chen Jianghe handed Shen Dong a gold-embossed certificate of honor and an enamel mug with the words "Model Worker" printed on it.

But the time for Shen Dong's acceptance speech never came, and he went straight back to his seat.

Soon, the conference ended. Yang Yujun, holding the banner, exchanged a glance with Shen Dong, and they both laughed.

Yang Yujun grinned from ear to ear, saying happily, "We can go back in style this time! We have to celebrate!"

Since Shen Dong took over the dairy factory, the two have been communicating more. Shen Dong often expresses his opinions, which greatly impresses Yang Yujun, who is not highly educated.

It also made him realize how narrow-minded he had been before. As he broadened his horizons, the relationship between the two gradually became more harmonious.

"Let's go back to the commune!"

Baotashan was the big winner in this competition. People gathered around the entrance of the venue to congratulate them. Yang Yujun dealt with them in front, while Shen Dong followed behind with a smile.

------

Time flies, and it was 1982 in the blink of an eye.

Early in the morning, Shen Dong sat in his office with a radio, listening to the explanation of Document No. 1.

"The household responsibility system and the contract responsibility system are both production responsibility systems of the socialist collective economy."

"Production teams implementing various contract responsibility systems must do a good job in signing contracts."

"..."

Shen Dong became more and more confused as he listened. It seemed to be different from what he had thought!

As a highly influential and important policy, Shen Dong had a deep memory of Document No. 1, and he also remembered that in his previous life, it seemed to be this year that the team was allocated land because of the release of the document.

He thought the No. 1 document would loosen many restrictions, but now it seems like it doesn't.

I rushed to the library to look up the information, only to realize that I seemed to have remembered it wrong!

No, I have to go find Yang Yujun and ask him right away.

When they arrived at the commune, Yang Yujun was in the process of organizing the commune's annual summary work.

Shen Dong waited for a while before the two of them finally spoke.

"Director, did you hear the minutes of today's National Rural Work Conference?"

"I listened, and there was a lot of information. They gave us many instructions regarding our work!"

Shen Dong didn't care about anything else; all he cared about was whether he could acquire the dairy factory. He quickly asked, "So, does that mean I can acquire the factory?"

"Huh?" Yang Yujun was taken aback. "What do you mean? The country has loosened its restrictions?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm asking you, aren't I?"

"Ask me, I don't know! I've never heard of it!"

"Wasn't that mentioned in the meeting minutes?"

Undeterred, Shen Dong continued to ask.

"No! Think about it, how could we possibly let you, an individual, acquire collective assets? There's no precedent for that nationwide!"

Seeing that Shen Dong's face darkened, Yang Yujun comforted him.

"It's alright, not being able to acquire it won't stop you from continuing to manage the factory, right?"

Shen Dong's mind is in complete turmoil. All he can think about is taking over the factory and running it himself. He has many other plans, but now none of them can be realized!

Helping with management was not his original intention.

"Director, that's different!"

Shen Dong didn't know what to say. He needed to sort out his thoughts as soon as possible, so he left the commune.

As soon as I got to the door, I heard people talking about things like "one-year contract" and "contract expired".

Shen Dong immediately realized, "That's right!"

He immediately turned around and went to find Yang Yujun again.

"Director, I've got an idea! I want to take over the contract!"

"You want to contract out too?" Yang Yujun, who happened to still be there, chuckled upon hearing Shen Dong's words. "The Xikou production team just came over and talked about their contracting situation. You want to get involved too?"

"Yes! I want to contract the commune's dairy factory!"

"So tell me, how do you plan to contract it out?"

Shen Dong's thought came to mind suddenly, and the question stumped him, but he didn't panic and immediately said, "Director, please allow me to organize my thoughts."

Shen Dong thought about it carefully before speaking, "I've considered it, Director, what do you think?"

"First, I want to contract it for three years, and pay 80,000 yuan to the commune every year, paid in quarterly installments."

Yang Yujun's eyes lit up. 80,000 yuan a year is equivalent to nearly 7000 yuan a month, while the factory's current monthly profit is less than 5000 yuan. This exceeded his expectations.

However, he didn't say anything and gestured for Shen Dong to continue.

Shen Dong couldn't discern Yang Yujun's thoughts from his expression, so he could only continue speaking.

"Secondly, regarding the contract fee, I can pay a deposit of 5000 yuan first. If the factory's fixed assets are not damaged after the contract expires, it will be refunded. This will also give the commune peace of mind."

"Third, I will be responsible for the employees' wages and daily operating expenses, but this does not include external debts and previously owed wages. You know the factory's daily output, Director, and you can roughly calculate how much I earn in a month. If everything goes smoothly, the factory can pay off the more than 20,000 yuan in external debt in less than six months."

Shen Dong was right, after all, he was the factory manager. Although he didn't manage things, he still knew about the operation of the dairy factory.

So even though Shen Dong gave him so much in a month, he still had doubts.

This is clearly working for a factory; they might as well be earning more now.

"Are you really sure?"

Seeing Shen Dong's determined look, Yang Yujun assumed it was just youthful arrogance, stubbornness that wouldn't give up until faced with a setback, and asked, "Is there anything the commune can do for you?"

"Yes, the monthly rations of grain and meat cannot be reduced. Our canteen has just reopened, we can't close it again."

Shen Dong smiled and said, "That's all!"

Yang Yujun didn't waste any words. Contracting was not uncommon in the commune, but Shen Dong's profits were quite substantial, and they were quite familiar with each other, so he asked a few more questions.

Since everything has been agreed upon, then there's no problem.

"Alright, go sign the contract! Yes, even though you've taken over the contract, the factory still belongs to the collective; you need to understand that!"

"Don't worry, Director, I understand all of this."

Go!

Just after New Year's Day, Shen Dong was finally able to get down to business, except that he changed from acquisition to contracting.

But this is just the beginning.

Shen Dong has embarked on the next step of his journey.