Chapter 57: Good goods have no trouble finding buyers

In his past life, Liu Weidong worked in machinery import and export, so he was naturally very familiar with steering gears. To say nothing of the blueprints, he had personally disassembled and assembled countless of them.

As for the strip steel continuous rolling technology, he had learned it during his university days, when it was taught as a specialized science and engineering research topic. Of course, that was back in 1987; he was merely bringing the technology forward by a few years.

"Since neither of you leaders has any objections, I will use the machinery factory's drafting room to make the blueprints. In two days at the latest, I can finish organizing the materials. However, this technology is not exclusively for enterprises in our city; I will sell it to out-of-province enterprises as well. Highest bidder wins, right?"

Even though Liu Weidong was eager to get his hands on the money immediately, he maintained a calm and composed demeanor on the surface.

"Weidong, what kind of talk is that? Good things should naturally be kept within our own family. I'm going to report this to Secretary Li right now, and we'll see if you dare disobey Secretary Li's words."

Yu Miao picked up the telephone as if ready to dial, and Liu Weidong hurriedly stopped him.

"I was just saying that. If I really wanted to sell it for a high price, I wouldn't be bringing it out at all. But I really need money urgently these days; houses wait for no one. My wife has to move back to the city right after the college entrance examination, how can we manage without a home?"

Duan Yihong thought for a moment and said, "How about this, Weidong? Get those blueprints finished promptly. Over the next two days, I will also have the technical personnel from the Metallurgy Bureau conduct an evaluation. If you are in urgent need of money, the bureau can lend you a portion first. How much do you need..."

When he walked out of the First Machinery Factory, Liu Weidong's face was wreathed in smiles.

Relying solely on the theories and rough sketches of two patents, he had managed to obtain an advance of five thousand yuan each from the Machinery Bureau and the Metallurgy Bureau. He would go to the municipal government to collect the money early tomorrow morning. It looked like he would have to work overtime tonight to draw the blueprints.

With this ten thousand yuan, Liu Weidong decided to keep a close eye on Chen Hao. Whatever property Chen Hao bought, he would outbid him. Wasn't Chen Hao boasting that with his father around, Liu Weidong would never be able to get a property ownership certificate in his lifetime? Liu Weidong wanted to see just how much power a section chief of the Urban Construction Commission could really wield.

When he returned home, Lou Yanru was still waiting for him. She had already boiled the water for washing feet, and this time, Lou Yanru directly pressed Liu Weidong's feet down into the basin.

"What did you go to the machinery factory for? Did something go wrong with the machines?"

Liu Weidong shook his head. "I went to see the leaders of the Machinery Bureau and the Metallurgy Bureau, and sold two more patents. I'll go to the municipal government to collect the money tomorrow as soon as work starts."

Lou Yanru was stunned. "Are you telling the truth? You sold two more patents? Am I dreaming? Why do you always have patents to sell?"

"Didn't I tell you that we need to study more and read more? By studying foreign scientific and technological books more often, one can always pick up pearls of their own in the ocean of knowledge. It's not that I'm particularly smart, I've just read a few things ahead of others."

Lou Yanru certainly didn't believe Liu Weidong's explanation, but she was utterly helpless. If Liu Weidong had claimed he researched them himself, she would have believed it even less.

After washing his feet, Liu Weidong immediately sat down at the desk and started writing materials and drawing blueprints. Lou Yanru stood right behind him, and this time she was completely dumbfounded.

The things Liu Weidong was writing were entirely beyond her comprehension, and they were even interspersed with quite a few foreign words. Lou Yanru even began to suspect that some spirit had possessed her man; how could this possibly be Liu Weidong?

Liu Weidong wrote for the entire night, and Lou Yanru accompanied him for the entire night. When the chickens crowed outside, Liu Weidong finally finished putting together the materials for the two patents.

"Done. As soon as work starts later, I'll deliver the materials to the municipal government, get the money, and continue buying houses."

"Weidong, are these things of yours reliable? I can't understand them at all."

Lou Yanru kept her eyes fixed on Liu Weidong's face as she spoke.

Liu Weidong yawned. "Do you think the government leaders are fools? Would they spend money to buy a bunch of waste paper? They will definitely have experts evaluate them. Everything I produce can withstand scrutiny, so set your mind at ease."

With that, Liu Weidong made to go outside to start a fire and cook, but Lou Yanru grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait a minute, we've already bought a house, why are you still buying houses?"

"Didn't I tell you? Five years from now, the East Market will undergo large-scale demolition to build a commercial circle. If we don't buy single-story houses now, are we supposed to wait and buy storefronts at high prices? Have you forgotten what I asked you yesterday about what Chen Hao's father does? Chen Hao has been wandering around the East Market every day recently, asking everyone whose house is up for sale. Their family already lives in a multi-story building, so why would they want to buy a single-story house? Can't you use your brain a little?"

Lou Yanru frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh... You mean..."

"Did you figure it out? It was Chen Hao's father who told him to go buy a house. His father is the head of the planning section; he is always the first to know about all the key plans in Binjiang.

However, that fool Chen Hao did give me a reminder. Fortunately, I put this house under your name, and any other houses we buy will also be registered under your name, saving us the trouble of dealing with complications in getting the property certificate just because I have a rural household registration."

Lou Yanru asked with a cheeky smile, "Aren't you afraid that I'll divorce you and swallow up all these houses?"

Liu Weidong sighed. "As long as you're willing, I won't object to anything, including a divorce."

"You dare... You dare divorce me!"

Lou Yanru grabbed Liu Weidong, pinching and biting him, and soon the two of them became as inseparable as glue, pressing closer and closer together.

As soon as office hours began at the municipal government, Liu Weidong placed the materials on Yu Miao's desk. There were dozens of pages, complete with text and rough sketches, formatted quite professionally.

"You brat are truly a motherfucking genius. I'll have the accounting department get the money for you right away. You sign the IOU first, and let's make this clear in advance: if the evaluation by the provincial expert panel fails, you'll still have to pay the money back to me."

Liu Weidong smiled, nodded, and took a pen to write an IOU.

The Metallurgy Bureau followed the exact same routine. Once everything was settled, Liu Weidong carried a large document bag to visit Zhang Lijun.

"Weidong, I really find you baffling. Are you burning money? The oil refinery just gave you ten thousand yuan, and it's gone in less than a month?

And those two patents you brought out yesterday—they couldn't possibly have been a sudden flash of inspiration, right? You must have had them for a long time. Why didn't you bring them out earlier? If you had brought them out earlier, perhaps they would have already transformed into productive forces by now."

Zhao Lijun looked completely puzzled.

"Secretary Zhao, doing research is indeed a very money-burning endeavor; otherwise, the city wouldn't have established research institutes. As for those two patents from yesterday, I did indeed develop them long ago. The reason I delayed making them public was because several key pieces of data were only finalized while I was in the detention center."

Zhao Lijun frowned as he looked at Liu Weidong, clearly disbelieving his words, yet he said nothing further.

"This sapling storm can also be considered a good thing after all. Since the municipal and county governments have implicitly permitted your village's planting project, it has paved a new path for promoting diversified management throughout the city in the future. However, this incident has also sounded an alarm for me; it seems that truly overturning old ideas and concepts still has a long way to go."

It was inconvenient for Liu Weidong to explain too much.

In fact, once the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee concluded at the end of the year, many problems would be readily solved. The Revolutionary Committee, a product of that era, would also have its plaque removed next year, and governments at all levels would gradually get back onto the right track. The torrent of the market economy was simply irreversible.

Stepping out of the municipal government building, Liu Weidong carried the money directly home and locked all of it inside the brick-bed cabinet.

Looking at the thick stack of large-denomination banknotes, Lou Yanru was sweating bullets.

"I think you'd better deposit the money in the bank. Keeping it at home is too dangerous; with so much money in the house, I don't even dare to go out."

Liu Weidong smiled. "What kind of money is this? Any random item inside that brick-bed cabinet is worth more than this amount; it's just that ordinary people have poor judgment and can't tell."