At Shanghu Town Commune.
The more Guo Weihua looked at the investment project proposal Lu Chuyu had handed him, the more excited he became. He couldn't even control the corners of his mouth, which looked like they were about to curl up to the back of his ears.
Qian Changjiang, meanwhile, was filled with guilt. He had been the one to jump to conclusions, to harbor prejudice.
Even the workers on the production line could enjoy such benefits—what more was there to say? They had to support this.
"Ms. Lu, please rest assured. Once the State Planning Commission approves this, we can begin construction. The timeline should be about a week."
Lu Chuyu nodded. She took out the factory design blueprints she had purchased from the System Mall with Emotion Points and handed them to Guo Weihua. "Secretary Guo, these are the design and planning blueprints for the food factory. I've heard that Nanhu City has state-owned construction units. I'll need to trouble you, Secretary Guo, to help coordinate the construction timeline."
"You can leave it to us. The city government's attitude is one of full support."
Lu Chuyu was naturally confident in the speed of Hua Country. With a satisfied nod, she took out the "brand story" she had painstakingly fabricated over the past two days.
"Although the food factory is just a small investment project for me, since I'm doing it, I naturally want to do it well. I don't just want the people of Hua Country to love 'Master Lu' instant noodles—I hope 'Master Lu' can go beyond Hua Country and be sold globally.
Overseas, besides taste, the most important thing for a food brand is its development history."
Brand development history?
Guo Weihua, Qian Changjiang, and the others exchanged bewildered looks. The factory hadn't even been built yet—where would a development history come from? They couldn't just make something up to deceive people, could they?
If that got exposed, it wouldn't just affect the food factory.
Lu Chuyu gestured for Guo Weihua to first take a look at the brand story she had just given him, then continued, "One of the main reasons I chose instant noodles as the first quick-food product for the food factory is that my Lu family possesses a secret family recipe passed down for a thousand years. Using our Lu family's secret recipe to make the sauce, paired with the instant noodle cake, I dare say that no comparable product currently on the market is even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as my 'Master Lu.'"
"Well, this is truly unexpected. I never imagined that your ancestors, Ms. Lu, came from the Lu clan of Wu Commandery—one of the Four Great Clans of Wu. By that reckoning, we're practically fellow townsmen. My ancestral home is also in Shan Province. No wonder I felt an instant kinship with you."
Guo Weihua couldn't help but sigh inwardly. There was an old saying from the old society: "Dynasties come and go, but great clans endure forever."
The ancients truly did not deceive him. Look—even a distant branch of the Lu family could possess the trump card to stand firm in peacetime at any moment.
"Hua Country has just begun its reform and opening up. To speak frankly, we're all crossing the river by feeling the stones. Ms. Lu, you understand overseas markets best. As long as your ideas don't cross any red lines, Shanghu Town will give you our full support."
Lu Chuyu nodded and added, "Oh, right, Secretary Guo. I'll also need a comrade with artistic skills to help design the product packaging for 'Master Lu.'"
She had already envisioned it. Since she wanted to emphasize "brand history," the packaging would require careful effort.
She planned to reference the patterns and color schemes of the High Tang Dynasty. Besides a picture of the prepared instant noodles, the packaging would feature a historical figure holding a bowl and eating noodles, with the "brand story" written beside it.
"No problem. The comrades from the commune's propaganda department will fully cooperate."
Guo Weihua was practically patting his chest in assurance. He was genuinely delighted.
Although the food factory hadn't been built yet, after reading Lu Chuyu's proposal, he had an indescribable premonition that this would succeed.
Their Shanghu Town could earn foreign exchange for the country too.
His joy wasn't just about his political career ushering in a new dawn—it was more about being happy for Shanghu Town.
A food factory of this scale was, in Lu Chuyu's words, merely a small experiment, a small investment. So what about the future? The light in Guo Weihua's eyes was practically blinding to those around him.
Now that the contract was signed, his heart finally settled.
After warmly seeing Lu Chuyu off, Guo Weihua handed the contract to Qian Changjiang. "Old Qian, there can't be any mishaps with this. I don't trust anyone else—I'm leaving it to you. Deliver it to the city personally.
I still need to keep an eye on the beverage factory and urge them to vacate the old Lu residence as soon as possible. If the State Planning Commission approval comes through and we still haven't cleared the house, we'd be a laughingstock. We can't let down a patriotic overseas Chinese."
Qian Changjiang took the contract with a chuckle. "Right, right. The Lu ancestral home is a big matter. Don't worry, Secretary Guo. Old Qian here handles things most reliably."
Guo Weihua secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't dare go to the city himself—after all, this investment had essentially been "snatched" from the city by Shanghu Town, and the city government certainly wouldn't give him a warm reception.
He raised his hand to rub his nose, a flicker of guilt crossing his face.
It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to set Old Qian up—he simply couldn't be in two places at once. After all, the beverage factory had considerable objections to vacating the house. He was just worrying over Shanghu Town's unity and needed to go smooth things over.
That's right, exactly—there simply aren't enough hours in the day.
.
Although approval from the State Planning Commission would still take time, the commune's propaganda department had already taken the lead in publicizing the matter. Since it was a done deal, the sooner they spread the word, the more value they could demonstrate as propaganda cadres.
Lu Chuyu's "finely crafted" brand story, along with the legendary background of the Lu family—and most importantly, the introduction of the investment in the joint venture factory and the welfare benefits for its workers—went straight into the next day's Nanhu City Daily, taking up two full pages.
It wasn't just Shanghu Township; the entire city of Nanhu was buzzing.
"An apprentice worker is just a temporary worker, right? A temporary worker makes 35 yuan a month? What does 'three shifts' even mean?"
"Why do you care about all that? Anyway, the daily work hours don't exceed 8, and if they do, you get paid extra. They provide employee dormitories upon entry. When are they actually recruiting? I'm planning to sign up."
"This factory is practically being built in a village—it's so remote, and you're a city person after all."
"What good does being a city person do? You know my situation—both my sisters-in-law can't stand me. At minimum 35 yuan a month, that's more than my eldest brother earns. Look at what the newspaper says: they even provide three meals a day. If you're on the night shift, the cafeteria offers a late-night snack too. Doesn't that mean the 35 yuan doesn't need to be spent at all? I could save up a bride price in a year. And who knows, maybe I could get converted to a permanent position."
"The old saying is right: a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. No wonder they're wealthy—their ancestors were prominent."
"Are you sure they're not bragging? Could capitalists really be that generous?"
"What do you know? It's a joint venture—foreign investors only hold 49% of the shares. The majority is owned by our country, so it's basically half a state-owned factory. Of course they'd think about the common people."
Over the past two days, the Beiquan Production Brigade had been livelier than ever, especially among the families close to the Lu household. Although Shi Cuixia had said Lu Changgui couldn't make the decisions, having a good relationship was still better than having none. If two candidates had similar qualifications, they'd definitely pick the one with connections. At minimum 35 yuan a month—that's 420 yuan a year. How many families in the village could come up with that kind of money?
The Lu household was now bustling with visitors. On top of that, the newspaper had said the Lu family were descendants of a prominent lineage. In this era of scarce entertainment—especially for villagers, whose greatest pastime was gathering at the grain-drying ground to gossip about this and that—naturally, plenty of people came to the Lu house to inquire.
Even Shi Cuixia privately asked him, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, complaining about why he'd kept it from her too.
But Lu Changgui didn't know either!
He didn't dare say anything reckless. He'd read the newspaper too—it said they'd interviewed his niece, so of course he couldn't do anything to hold her back.
Moreover, Lu Changgui figured his niece had no reason to make up stories about their family background, but he genuinely didn't recall his father ever mentioning anything about the Lu family's ancestors.
That said, his family had indeed produced officials. During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, an ancestor had been banished to Shanghu Town by the Shunzhi Emperor and had put down roots there.
After that, no particularly gifted scholars had emerged—until his great-grandfather, who passed the provincial examination. But given the chaotic and deeply corrupt officialdom of the late Qing government, anyone with half a brain wouldn't wade into that murky water. The status of a juren gentleman was more than enough in Shanghu.
After much deliberation, Lu Changgui decided he needed to go to town and ask his niece face-to-face what was going on. He was just worried that if he said the wrong thing, he'd cause trouble for her.
Lu Chuyu gave a light cough. "Did Grandfather never mention these family recipes to you, Uncle? I assumed you knew. But something like this, kept at the bottom of the chest, would be meant to pass down through the family for times of need.
After all, during turbulent periods, one always needs some leverage. My mother once told me that Grandfather said the Lu family's ancestors included famous ministers like Lu Xun, Lu Ji, and Lu Zhi. He didn't say more than that. It wasn't until I returned to China and asked around that I learned our Lu family is descended from the Wu Commandery Lu clan."
Tell a story enough times, and it becomes unofficial history—and after all, unofficial history is still history.
Over these past two days, Lu Chuyu had repeated it so often she was starting to believe it herself.
Besides, with the same surname, who's to say they weren't one family five hundred years ago?
Hearing this, Lu Changgui's eyes immediately reddened. He had been unfilial!
After all, these recipes were the family's last trump card. Unless it was a critical moment, how could they be casually revealed to family members? If he hadn't fled from the ship back then, with him around, perhaps his parents wouldn't have passed so early, and his little sister wouldn't have ended up as a foreign devil's mistress.
He raised his hand to wipe his tears. "Chuyu, there's something I've always wanted to ask you, but I was afraid of causing you trouble. Your grandparents and your mother—are they all buried in America? Is there any chance… any chance you could bring them back, back to the ancestral graves? Don't let them drift in a foreign land. Will those foreign devils bully them too? Chuyu, don't worry—your uncle is still young and can work hard. Whatever it costs, you tell me, and I'll find a way."
Before leaving America, Lu Chuyu had actually considered whether to bring the original body's grandparents' and mother's ashes back.
But if she had chosen to bring them back at that time, she definitely wouldn't have been able to hide it from Amelia, and with her wings not yet fully grown, she didn't want to invite unnecessary trouble or add to the danger. Once she had the ability in the future, she would naturally bring their ashes back.
"Uncle, rest assured. I will make sure Grandfather, Grandmother, and Mother can return to their roots."
The heavy stone that had been weighing on Lu Changgui's heart finally dissipated with Lu Chuyu's promise.