Chapter Five: The Birth of a Genius

Wang Jianguo was startled by Liu Weidong’s words.

“You brat, how dare you say anything and everything? A private teacher can’t just be transferred whenever you like. The quota is all in Director Ma’s hands at the commune.”

“Uncle Jianguo, I know you’re on good terms with Director Ma. As long as the matter gets done, I’m willing to give whatever gift it takes.”

Wang Jianguo looked helpless. “In these years, nothing gets done without pulling strings. But what are you going to give as a gift? And wasn’t your mother-in-law forcing you two to divorce? Why are you still helping Yanru with this?”

Liu Weidong gave a wry smile. “My business with my mother-in-law can wait. Yanru can’t wait for the college entrance exam. This year, private teachers get bonus points on the exam.”

Wang Jianguo suddenly understood, but his expression grew serious.

“Weidong, if Yanru really gets into college, aren’t you afraid your wife will run off? Why don’t you go plead with your mother-in-law, or go to the May Seventh Cadre School and talk to your father-in-law?”

Liu Weidong hurriedly waved his hands. “Uncle, what are you talking about? Yanru isn’t that kind of person. If her mother pressures her like this and she still hasn’t divorced me, doesn’t that say enough?

Three days. In three days I’ll not only bring back the grain, I’ll also bring back the gifts to get Yanru’s business settled. After that, I’ll be relying on Uncle Jianguo to look after things for me…”

Watching Liu Weidong’s retreating figure, Wang Jianguo could not help muttering to himself.

How had this kid changed so completely after coming down from the mountain?

He hadn’t even finished junior high, so how did he know so much about the college entrance exam?

And he even dared to make a bet with Li Baotian.

The wager was ten thousand catties of grain. Had the boy gone mad?

Liu Weidong had no idea how worried Wang Jianguo was. His thoughts were on his father-in-law, Lou Nan, still undergoing labor reform at the May Seventh Cadre School.

In his previous life, Lou Nan’s policy was restored two months after Lou Yanru’s accident. By then, Liu Weidong had already had little to do with the Lou family.

By the time Liu Weidong had built up his business, Lou Nan had become vice mayor. Out of guilt toward the Lou family, Liu Weidong never went to see him.

Now that he had been reborn, if he wanted to develop quickly, he could not do without support.

Lou Nan was a ready-made connection. Once the matter of the wager was settled, he really would have to take his wife to see her father.

By dawn, the water of the South Grand River had already receded, but more than a thousand mu of fields had been flooded, and the corn crop was basically a total loss.

All the commune members stood on the river embankment, staring at the flattened cornfields and shedding tears.

Liu Weidong went home to change his clothes, then called for Sun Wang, the driver who handled the mule cart, to take him and Lou Yanru to the commune.

“Weidong, you’re only making trouble by picking a fight with Li Baotian. If you don’t sell ginseng, where are you going to get ten thousand catties of grain? Aren’t you digging a pit for yourself?”

Sun Wang sighed. In ordinary days, it was just the two of them tending the livestock, so they were fairly close.

Liu Weidong had no way to explain, so he could only smile bitterly and say nothing.

After they got off the mule cart at the bus station, Liu Weidong pulled Lou Yanru along to the supply and marketing cooperative.

“What are you buying cigarettes for? The money Uncle Jianguo gave you isn’t enough for you to waste like this.”

Seeing Liu Weidong buy two packs of Da Sheng Li at once, Lou Yanru’s heart ached.

“Cigarettes are the key to the door, liquor the courage of heroes. Since you’re coming into town, don’t rush home. Come with me to the oil and fat factory first.”

Seeing Liu Weidong’s easy grin, Lou Yanru only grew more bewildered.

“You have friends at the oil and fat factory? Why have I never heard you mention them?”

“Well… I guess you could say I do. I’m going to see Engineer Song at the oil and fat factory and help them solve a technical problem.”

“Are you spouting nonsense? You didn’t even finish junior high, and you’re helping the oil and fat factory solve technical problems?”

Just then, the long-distance bus arrived. Liu Weidong quickly pulled Lou Yanru aboard.

By the time the bus creaked into the city, it was nearly noon. The two of them bought a couple of pancake boxes and ate as they walked along the road toward Bus Route 8 station. Liu Weidong kept looking around, sighing with emotion.

In the middle of the big roundabout in Chaolu Township, the concrete statue celebrating the Four Modernizations and the launch of satellites still stood.

People came and went in front of the passenger transport building, and street vendors were already setting up stalls to sell sunflower seeds and popsicles.

The loudspeaker at the station was playing Teacher Dong’s song, “The Splendor Soaked in Blood.”

“What a blazing, fervent era it was. Everyone was so spirited, so full of hope for the future...”

“What are you talking about? When did you go to the oil and fat factory? Since I met you, you’ve never even left Second Production Brigade. How would you know where Bus Route 8 station is?”

Lou Yanru looked at him, baffled.

“Wife, this is not something I can explain. Last night I dreamed of a white-bearded old man...”

“Get lost. Can’t you be serious for once?”

After another half hour on the bus, when they got off and headed toward the oil and fat factory, Lou Yanru was even more dumbfounded.

Liu Weidong led her along only side paths. By now Lou Yanru was no longer suspicious of Liu Weidong—she was suspicious of herself. Under these circumstances, if someone said Liu Weidong had never been to the oil and fat factory, not even a ghost would believe it.

The oil and fat factory was a model enterprise of that era. Its tall gatehouse was decked with red flags, and the walls were covered with posters of the Iron Man, with bright red slogans urging everyone to strive upward through greater, faster, better, and more economical production.

As soon as they reached the gate, they were stopped by the old man on duty.

“Old sir, I’m looking for Engineer Song Yi.”

The old man held out a hand toward Liu Weidong. “Got a letter of introduction?”

Liu Weidong shook his head.

The old man immediately shut the small window.

Lou Yanru looked at Liu Weidong sideways, her expression one of eager amusement.

Liu Weidong gave a bitter smile, knocked on the window, and after much pleading managed to get a sheet of paper. On it he wrote a few words.

“Old sir, please call Engineer Song. As long as you read the words on this slip, he’ll come down to receive me at once.”

As he spoke, Liu Weidong slipped a pack of Da Sheng Li through the window.

The old man glanced around, then tucked the cigarettes into his pocket.

“Wait here. I’ll make the call right away, but if Engineer Song doesn’t come down, there’s nothing I can do.”

Liu Weidong smiled as he returned to Lou Yanru’s side.

“You don’t even know this Engineer Song, so why would he come down to meet you? Just because you wrote a few words?”

Lou Yanru was full of confusion and tugged at his sleeve.

“Relax. He’ll definitely come down.”

In his previous life, he had worked with Old Song for decades. The man was a pure technician through and through. He might be hopeless at making money, but when it came to technology, he was as sharp as they came.

Based on Liu Weidong’s understanding of Song Yi, once he got that phone call, he would drop everything and come straight to the gate.

Sure enough, after the call, the old man came out of the gatehouse in stunned disbelief, looking at Liu Weidong with deep suspicion.

“Incredible!”

“Young man, what did you write that could get Engineer Song so excited?”

“Come in and have some water. Engineer Song will be down in a moment.”

His attitude changed on the spot.

“Really? Let me see. What did you write on that slip?”

Lou Yanru held the big enamel mug and stared at Liu Weidong, her eyes full of curiosity.

When she took the slip from the old man, she saw four words written on it.

Polymerization reaction

She knew each word separately, but together they made no sense to her, and her confusion only deepened.

When had her man learned such things?

Before Lou Yanru could figure it out, a man in a blue work coat ran out from the courtyard. He came to the gate, looked at Liu Weidong, then at Lou Yanru, his face alight with excitement.

Liu Weidong recognized Old Song at a glance, but Old Song did not recognize him.

“You two, which one of you understands polymerization reactions?”

Lou Yanru hurriedly pointed at Liu Weidong.

Old Song pushed up his black-framed glasses and studied Liu Weidong’s peasant clothes from head to toe. “You are... a sent-down expert?”

“No. Just an ordinary farmer.”

Liu Weidong smiled. “But the engineering issue your factory is facing with the polymerization reaction, I can explain a thing or two.”

Old Song was half convinced, half doubtful. “Go on.”

“The trouble your factory is facing now has two parts. First, the pressure in the extraction kettle is unstable, so the oil yield can’t be controlled. Second, the vacuum desolventizing technique hasn’t been mastered. I’ve looked at several foreign devices for reference...”

Lou Yanru could not understand a word of Liu Weidong and Song Yi’s conversation.

There was not only foreign language mixed in, but also a great many technical terms.

Song Yi’s expression changed from suspicion to realization to bright-eyed excitement. He kept nodding.

“Cough...” Liu Weidong spoke for so long that his throat went dry. He cleared it in embarrassment. “Old Song, why don’t we talk inside?”

“My fault, my fault!”

Only then did Song Yi notice that they had been standing at the gate for nearly half an hour, and he hurried to apologize. “Come on, let’s go to the technical department. I’ll call everyone in, and we can talk at our leisure...”

When word spread that technical experts had arrived at the department, the factory’s technical backbone came running from all directions.

Every seat in the technical office was filled, and even the doorway was packed with people.

Liu Weidong and Song Yi talked while Liu Weidong wrote a series of formulas on the blackboard with chalk. Lou Yanru sat below, understanding none of it at all.

But that did not stop her from staring fixedly at her man, her gaze growing more and more vivid.

After more than an hour, Liu Weidong finally explained the whole idea clearly.

Thunderous applause erupted in the technical office.

Lou Yanru did not understand the things Liu Weidong had written.

But science and technology could not be faked.

Such enthusiastic applause proved that this muddy-legged fellow in a red undershirt, with one trouser leg longer than the other, had truly helped them solve the technical problem.

“Comrade Weidong, your line of thought is simply a revelation!”

Song Yi removed his glasses and wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes.

“The factory leadership had already prepared to purchase advanced foreign equipment. The machinery can be bought, but the formula will not be given to us. Because of that, I have been day and night working on reforms, simply to break free from foreign chokeholds. Now that we have your formula, I believe once the machines arrive, within a year we’ll have an independent domestic lubricant brand...”

“It won’t take a year.”

Liu Weidong shook his head. “Old Song, if you trust me, I won’t just hand over the polymerization oil-extraction formula to the factory. I’ll also help the factory design and manufacture the machinery. I guarantee that within a month, I can help everyone produce the new equipment!”

“Within a month?”

Song Yi instinctively doubted it, but when he thought of the ideas Liu Weidong had just laid out, he immediately hesitated.

“Our country, since the First Five-Year Plan, has followed the path of independence and self-reliance. If we spend huge sums on imported equipment, in the future we’ll be constrained everywhere by others...”

Liu Weidong was, in effect, reminding Song Yi.

After the movement ended, everything lay in ruins, and countless domestic enterprises were told to push ahead no matter the difficulty. If there were no difficulties, they would create difficulties just to push ahead—put bluntly, they were all about launching satellites and never considering the consequences.

In his previous life, the oil and fat factory had enjoyed prosperity for only a little over a decade before development hit a bottleneck. One leader after another was promoted, but in the end the ones who suffered were still the workers.

Song Yi himself was one of the laid-off workers.

A decision this major was not something Song Yi could decide on his own. Just as he was lost in thought, a rough voice suddenly rang out at the gate.

“Comrade Weidong speaks well! Though the times are moving forward, we must not forget the spirit of hard struggle and self-reliance. On behalf of the factory leadership, I fully support the technical department’s reforms. Comrade Weidong may serve as a specially invited expert and join the technical innovation team...”