Chen Lan decided not to travel south to Shenzhen anymore, as her mother, mother-in-law, Liu Mama, and her third sister and aunt were all in their late seventies and not in good health. Instead, she planned to stay close by and develop businesses while remaining by their side. Furthermore, there were people waiting in the valley to leave and join them, and Chen Lan was determined to be a person of her word.
Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan drove a striking Beijing Jeep, the most stylish vehicle of that era, back to Gu'an County town and found the County Government's Investment Promotion Office.
At this time, the spring breeze of reform and opening up had swept across every corner of the country. Gu'an County Government, unwilling to be left behind, was actively engaged in attracting foreign investment and planned to vigorously develop its local industrial economy.
When the comrades at the Investment Promotion Office learned of the purpose of Chen Lan and her husband's visit to Gu'an County, they naturally welcomed them with great enthusiasm.
Upon hearing that the couple intended to purchase a large tract of barren land in Gu'an County to build factories, hospitals, schools, shopping malls, and residential communities, the government staff explained that the matter was quite significant, as there was no precedent for such a large-scale undertaking locally. Therefore, they needed to convene a meeting for discussion and research. They asked the couple not to mind, and promised to assign someone to accompany them to explore Gu'an County thoroughly, with results to be presented in three days.
Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan smiled and expressed their understanding, telling them to take their time with the discussion and that they didn't mind at all. However, the couple declined the offer of an escort, explaining that they were locals and had returned with the intention of investing in their hometown and supporting its modernization.
After leaving the County Investment Promotion Office, the couple discussed their next steps. Xu Mingxuan expressed his desire to visit their old ancestral home, which Chen Lan readily agreed to.
The previous time Chen Lan and her party had returned to Gu'an County, Xu Mingxuan had not been able to accompany them back to their hometown. Although Chen Lan had returned, they had not personally burned paper money for their ancestors during that visit, leaving Chen Lan with a sense of unease, as if something was left undone.
Since they were now back in Gu'an County, had the time, and possessed a car for convenience, the couple decided to drive to their old ancestral home immediately.
This was Xu Mingxuan's first visit to his ancestral home in thirty-six years since he left his hometown to join the revolution, and his excitement was beyond words.
Therefore, Chen Lan purchased the necessary incense, candles, and paper money for visiting graves from the system. This was because Xu Mingxuan was determined to personally pay his respects to his ancestors and burn paper money for them this time.
As soon as Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan returned to the village, the villagers greeted them with immense warmth upon seeing them.
Xu Mingxuan was, of course, warmly received by everyone in the village. After the couple paid their respects to their ancestors, the villagers invited them to their homes as guests.
The villagers' warmth deeply moved Xu Mingxuan. He had never imagined that after nearly forty years away from his hometown and participating in the revolution, the villagers would still remember him and warmly invite them to their homes.
On the road back to the capital, Xu Mingxuan drove, filled with emotion. He spoke with great feeling, "Lan'er, the villagers are truly so simple and righteous! Do you have any way to help our fellow villagers and help them escape poverty and become prosperous as soon as possible?"
Chen Lan smiled and nodded, agreeing to Xu Mingxuan's request, saying she would seriously consider the matter. However, she did not reveal the full truth, hoping that Xu Mingxuan would always retain a fond impression of her hometown.
Thus, she certainly would not tell Xu Mingxuan that part of the reason for the villagers' enthusiastic reception was the 300 yuan she had given to each household on her last visit to the village.
Two days passed quickly. When the couple returned to Gu'an County, the main county leaders had already been waiting for them at the County Investment Promotion Office for a long time.
To their surprise, Xu Mingxuan also encountered his old comrade-in-arms, Zhou Weiqiang, this time. Old comrades meeting naturally led to a big hug, followed by discussions about each other's work and lives after transferring from the army back to their hometowns.
Zhou Weiqiang said excitedly, "Political Commissar, I never imagined that the wealthy businessman they kept talking about coming to invest in the county would be you!"
Xu Mingxuan chuckled, "How could it be me? You know! My pockets have never held more than fifty yuan! It's my wife who wants to invest in our county. She says our Gu'an County is a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery, and on top of that, it's my hometown, so..."
After Xu Mingxuan explained the situation, Zhou Weiqiang understood. Many of their former comrades knew that Xu Mingxuan's wife's family was very wealthy, but they didn't know where they had been hiding all these years.
Zhou Weiqiang thought to himself that even after donating all their assets back then, Xu Mingxuan's wife's family was still so wealthy.
In the past two days, the county had verified the identities of Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan. With Zhou Weiqiang confirming Xu Mingxuan's status as an old party member and a combat hero, and given that the couple was genuinely returning to invest, the county leaders personally oversaw the land acquisition process. When they learned that the couple's initial investment was thirty million yuan, they were so thrilled they could barely close their mouths!
Thirty million yuan at that time was extremely valuable! More importantly, the couple's investment and establishment of factories here would solve the problem of unemployment for the county's surplus labor force and drive the economic development of Gu'an County.
With the personal supervision of the county leaders, the couple's land acquisition proceeded at full steam. As Chen Lan and her group were not particular about the location for the factory and only sought hilly barren land, they did not occupy any of the villagers' cultivated land.
Consequently, the county government's land acquisition went remarkably smoothly, and the land compensation payments were disbursed in a timely manner. Both the county leaders and the villagers were overjoyed and actively assisted.
After paying the land purchase fee, the land use certificate was immediately obtained. Chen Lan then instructed Xu Mingxuan to send an urgent telegram to Er Hu and Xiang Dong, asking them to arrange for personnel to return to Gu'an County to support hometown construction.
The first priority would naturally be the construction of residential areas. This was a rare learning opportunity, and they wanted the children studying architecture to return and personally participate in the design and construction.
Although Chen Lan already had many mature concepts for modern living communities, she still needed the children to be involved in the process from design to implementation, allowing them to personally experience the entire journey from dream to realization.
This was equivalent to a large-scale social practice activity, which would be beneficial for the future of the architecture students. This would enable them to independently participate in the design of large communities in the future and accumulate valuable practical experience.