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Chapter 675: Chapter 665, The First Year’s Revenue
Under Li Hongjun’s persistent devotion, Shen Yunfang was finally defeated and agreed to return to their hometown with him to celebrate the New Year.
However, even with the decision made, it wasn’t as if they could leave immediately. They both had their own workload to finish up and needed to ensure everything was in order before they could leave.
Li Hongjun’s side didn’t need attention, but Shen Yunfang became busy trying to make time for the trip back home.
Shen Yunfang didn’t need to busy herself with other tasks; Zhang Chunwang had taken care of everything. Her main job was to calculate the year-end earnings.
These past few days, she had been working overtime, hunched over her office desk, working out each item of expenditure and income. The figures seemed insignificant at a glance, but they were far from easy to calculate.
Throughout 1982, the income included sales from watermelons, soybeans, soybean oil, sorghum, cornmeal, autumn vegetables, sea fish, and greenhouses vegetables. However, the greenhouse vegetables were still being sold, so she cut off the accounts at January 31, 1983, and decided to wait until her return to figure out the rest.
There were plenty of expenditures, including those on machinery equipment and automotive farming tools—major costs. Infrastructure construction alone had cost several hundred thousand this year, with more anticipated for the next. Those were the major items, and the yearly income barely covered them, so they were tracked in separate account books.
She was now calculating the routine expenses such as the workers’ wages, monthly electricity bills, coal for heating, and vehicle fuel costs, among others.
Looking at it this way made Shen Yunfang’s frown relax.
If they had relied solely on the sales from soybeans, corn, and autumn vegetables, they would have suffered a loss this year. But with the addition of the greenhouses produce and the earnings from sea fish, they were still profitable, just not by much— around three hundred thousand and change.
While this amount might seem substantial on its own, it was a mere fraction compared to her investment.
Of course, among these, fishing for sea fish was the most profitable. Shen Yunfang stroked her chin, thinking that being a middleman was where the real money lay.
After clarifying the total accounts, Shen Yunfang took out the employees’ wage ledger and called Zhang Chunwang over. The two of them spent an afternoon in the office, working out the wages and bonuses of each employee based on the recorded figures. Since there was a significant variation in earnings this month, they put the cash in envelopes and wrote each person’s name on the outside.
The top earners of the month were the three salespeople led by Li Jianqiang, with Wang Anhua taking home the most at precisely three thousand eight hundred and twenty yuan, and the lowest earner, Liu Jianqiang, receiving three thousand one hundred and sixty-four yuan. Other employees also had substantial wages for the month, nearly all getting around four to five hundred yuan since it was previously agreed that working on the greenhouse would yield a bonus of ten percent of its production.
As for the few managers she had handpicked, she hadn’t neglected them either, awarding each of the three team leaders a bonus of a thousand yuan, and Zhang Chunwang, the head manager, received a direct bonus of five thousand.
Zhang Chunwang stared dumbfounded at the envelope handed to him by his sister-in-law. He’d never imagined receiving so much.
"Sis, sister-in-law, it doesn’t have to be this much. I really didn’t do much; just give me a couple of notes as a token." He genuinely felt unworthy. He hadn’t really done anything significant; all the big decisions were made by his sister-in-law, and he was just obediently running errands.
"Enough, you’re a grown man. Take what’s given to you; how much you receive reflects the value of your work. Trust me, this is pocket change. This is only the first year. Once our farm truly develops, you’ll be earning even more." Shen Yunfang tossed the envelope into his arms.
"Alright, I’ve checked and finished the accounts. I’m heading back to our hometown for the New Year in a few days, so please keep a close eye on things here. Keep up the usual work, and make sure all our signed orders are fulfilled. If there’s any surplus, you’ll have to handle it yourself." Shen Yunfang referred to the greenhouse vegetables.
After all, that’s the only ongoing production on the farm right now.
"Yeah, I will." Zhang Chunwang carefully pocketed the envelope.
"I’ve put the employees’ wages and year-end bonuses in the safe. Just come and get them when it’s time to pay the wages," Shen Yunfang continued her instructions.
Zhang Chunwang nodded anyway.
"I still need a few more days before I can leave. During these days, I’ll go over our plans for next year in detail. I’ll write them down for you to see, so you have an idea. If I haven’t returned by the time spring starts, you don’t need to wait for me. Just proceed with the plan, understood?" Shen Yunfang asked.
"Sister-in-law, when will you be coming back?" Zhang Chunwang was still somewhat anxious. Making decisions on his own always seemed to lack something. Hmm, without the sister-in-law, he lacked confidence.
"I’m not sure; this year’s New Year’s is a bit late, and it will surely take at least half a month to travel back and forth. But here at the farm, some plans need to start in February. So, when I’m not here, you need to keep up and not drop the ball. Can you do that?"
"Yes, I guarantee I’ll complete the task." Zhang Chunwang responded reflexively.
"That’s right," Shen Yunfang was satisfied.
In the following three days, Shen Yunfang devotedly wrote down the plan for the entire year of ’83.
The year ’83 was the most crucial year for the development of the farm, so it was going to be busier than this year, with many more projects added.
For instance, in February, they had to coordinate with the seedling department in A City. Vehicles had to be arranged to fetch the already incubated seedlings. They had to clean out the houses in advance, assigning people to be in charge of feeding and looking after these seedlings. Then, tilling for the spring cultivation would begin—700 acres had to be fully planted, which was no small amount of work.
And once the land thawed, they had to start tidying up the mountain. Yunfang planned to plant forage at the foot of the mountain, and up to one hundred meters high, she intended to plant honeysuckle—a not at all minor project.
At the same time, the cultivation in the vegetable greenhouses couldn’t be interrupted. During March and April, when one season transitions to the next, the allure of fresh vegetables was still very strong.
Zhang Chunwang looked at the three full pages of paper and suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. He solemnly took the papers, screaming inside, Let’s do this!
No matter how ambitious Zhang Chunwang was, after Li Hongjun and his wife finished handing over their work, they took their two children and boarded the train back to their hometown.
With two children with them on the journey, the family was full of laughter and joy. With Shen Yunfang ensuring the logistics, and Li Hongjun present, there was no need to worry about safety.
So, this was the most relaxed train ride Shen Yunfang ever had.
Once the family got off the train, it just so happened to be lunchtime. They briefly found a restaurant to grab a bite to eat, then the family of four proceeded to take a bus to the nearest county to their home.
When the bus arrived, it had already turned completely dark outside. It was colder here than in Z Province, and it got dark quickly. It was just past four o’clock, and it was already hard to see people’s figures outside.
"Hongjun, over here." Liu Jianjun, wearing a military coat and a fur hat, was waiting for them at the exit.
"Brother-in-law, have you been waiting long?" Yunfang looked apologetically at her big brother-in-law’s frost-covered face; it was clear he had been waiting outside for quite some time.
At this time of year, it was almost a given that trains would be delayed.
"No, no, I just got here. Let’s go; the horse carriage is waiting outside with blankets. Hurry and cover the kids, so they don’t catch a cold," Liu Jianjun took the luggage bag from Shen Yunfang’s hand, leading the family out of the station.
