The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

After Anning discussed with everyone, she went to the town to find the leaders and arranged for the town to act as a witness to sign a unified contract with the villagers of Xiaxi Village.

After signing the contract, Anning started using some money to repair the road.

The road in the town was actually quite wide, and it was only a few years earlier that the town government secured the funds to repair it. There was no need to repair the town’s road; the focus was on the section from Xiaxi Village to the town.

Although it was just a short stretch of road, Anning had high standards, and this section created job opportunities for many people.

After harvesting the wheat, the villagers voluntarily organized to help repair the road. Since the road wasn’t long, and Xiao Yuan found a lot of machinery for joint operations, the road didn’t take long to repair. In just over ten days, this section was completed.

Once the road from the village to the town was repaired, they also repaired some roads leading to the fields that trucks could pass through.

Later, Anning also funded the repair of some bumpy roads in the town.

By the time all the roads were repaired, it was already midsummer.

Anning and Xiao Yuan then began to frequent the county, as they needed to set up a factory and naturally needed documents from the county.

At this time, with policies in place supporting township enterprises, Anning hoped to acquire some of the benefits.

After completing all the paperwork and registering the brand trademarks, the two of them visited several machinery factories to order some parts from them.

Once they had done everything they could, they returned to start buying land in town and building the factories.

Most of Xiaxi Village’s land was flat and fertile, suitable for growing vegetables, but Shangxi Village had much sloped land, with many hawthorn trees planted, along with some walnut trees.

Lingbei Village and Lingnan Village, about five to six miles from Xiaxi Village, mostly had sandy soil, and these two villages grew many potatoes and sweet potatoes.

There were also two villages in the East and West Plains that planted many fruit trees.

Anning, with ample funds at hand, first established two factories: a juice factory and an agricultural product processing factory, which included a workshop specifically for processing potato chips.

The county where Anning resided was an agricultural county. Naturally, without large factories, the county’s finances and income were insufficient, and the local people’s lives were not very affluent.

At this time, the county was also thinking about where to find funds to build factories to support agriculture. Anning’s timely construction of a factory was met with much attention from the county’s leaders, who provided Anning with many convenient conditions.

With the county’s support, the town also put in a lot of effort, and the two factories were built quickly.

By the end of summer, both factories were completed, and the machinery was also debugged.

Next was recruiting workers, training them, and so on.

It was at this time that Anning was finally able to take a break.

While Anning was busy with the factory matters, the family members, old and young, were busy with moving. During the hot days of summer, with everything in the house fully furnished and no more odors, after airing out for more than ten days, the Pei family finally moved into their newly built house.

The Pei family’s house was built exceptionally well, unique in the village.

At that time, most families had single-story homes, and even blue brick and tile houses were considered good, while the Pei family’s house was a three-story villa.

The house’s appearance was particularly beautiful, and the interior decoration was excellent. When the Pei family moved, many people from the village came to visit; upon seeing the inside and outside, many were hesitant to step inside.

The house was so clean and beautiful that sitting in the bright house made everyone’s voices unconsciously quieter.

Pei Laoshi and Liu Dalian busied themselves greeting guests, and after a busy half-day, they finally escorted everyone out and closed the door to discuss things as a family.

An Xian went into the new kitchen and cooked a meal, and the family talked about matters while eating.

An Xian glanced at Anning, ”Fourth, I need to talk to you about something.”

”Go ahead.” Anning smiled, indicating that An Xian should say whatever was on her mind.

An Xian cleared her throat, ”Those funds I gave you before, you and Xiao Yuan made quite a bit from the investments. I was thinking of saving them, but... I’d like you to help me find and buy two properties when you have time.”

Hearing this, Anjing chimed in, ”Right, didn’t you mention Third is going to buy a house in the Capital? The money I have on hand is just sitting there; I might as well have you buy a house for me in the county and another in the Provincial City. See how many you can buy in the Capital with the remaining money, don’t keep anything back, just buy houses.”

Here, Anjing also asked Chen Qiang, ”What do you think?”

Chen Qiang nodded, ”Sure.”

Anning responded, ”Sure, anyway, Xiao Yuan and I will be going to the Provincial City and the Capital in a while. I’ll keep an eye out for you then.”

With the house purchase settled, An Xian added, ”About our family’s land, this is my thinking: Dad and Mom are getting on in age, and they can’t work for too many more years. I’d like them to enjoy a peaceful retirement, and I’m not fond of farming anyway. I’d rather stay home, do some housework, cook meals, and such, so I’d like to contract the land to you. Let your brother-in-law do the work, just pay him wages.”

Anning looked towards Pei Laoshi and Liu Dalian.

Pei Laoshi put down his utensils, ”Well, that’s what I was thinking as well. Your mother and I don’t lack money for our expenses now. The money you’ve given us will last us a lifetime. We don’t want to struggle anymore, considering our age. You and Xiao Yuan are still young and energetic. If you’re willing to do it, go ahead, farm all the family’s land. Just pay us what others are paying for their land. This money, your mother and I don’t need it; let’s divide it between the Eldest and the Second. Actually, it includes your and Third’s, and your little aunt’s share of the land. But I talked to Third and your little aunt before, and they both said they don’t want the family’s land. Your share... consider it my bias, let’s give it to the Eldest and the Second.”

Anning had no objections to this.

She didn’t really care about who was at a loss or gain in the family, as long as everything was discussed openly.

”Alright, we’ll sign a contract about it later.”

Anning agreed readily.

Anjing smiled, ”Let your brother-in-law work for you too, just pay him wages. Anyway, I have money now, and we don’t lack houses. The 12 mu of land at home provides a significant rental income each year, plus your brother-in-law’s salary, which is enough for us.”

Isn’t that the truth? The 12 mu of land at home brings in six thousand yuan of rent each year. Anjing can get three thousand, and if Chen Qiang works for Anning, his annual wage will be five to six thousand yuan, making it almost ten thousand yuan in total, more than enough for their expenses.

Anning pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhao Chuan and Chen Qiang.

”Elder sister, second sister, here’s what I think: Brother-in-law is hardworking and reliable, but he’s honest and not very talkative. He’s good at farm work, so for the land I’m contracting in our village, I’d like him to be the foreman, to help with the farming, oversee those people and ensure they work hard without wasting time. I’ll offer him a higher salary, one year I’ll give him ten thousand yuan, and as city wages increase, I’ll raise his salary as well. The second brother-in-law is shrewd and articulate, so I’d like him to follow me to the factory to work, with the same salary as brother-in-law, starting at ten thousand yuan a year, with future increases.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chuan and Chen Qiang happily agreed at once.

Ten thousand yuan a year was truly a high wage back then, equivalent to the salary of two people in the city. They would be fools not to agree.