Chapter 137 Going Home
On March 6, 1984, the British government announced the closure of 20 out of 174 national coal mines and the layoff of 20,000 miners. The moment this policy was announced, it met with fierce opposition from British coal miners. However, the government remained indifferent to the protests and continued to implement the policy across the board. On March 9, 70,000 miners in Scotland and Yorkshire went on strike first. Subsequently, miners across Britain responded in succession. By the end of March, 75 percent of the coal mines nationwide had come to a complete halt, and 80 percent of the miners had joined the strike.
Influenced by the massive coal miners' strike, the stocks of the British mining industry plummeted sharply, while coal futures prices surged rapidly. Fortunately, the British government held massive coal reserves, which kept the rise of coal futures prices from getting completely out of hand. The one billion US dollars brought by Wei Hua began entering the index futures market and the coal futures market as early as February. Knowing that this massive strike would last for over a year and would not end until May 1985, Wei Hua led his traders to aggressively short the stock and futures markets, utilizing various financial maneuvers with the sole objective of reaping profits from the chaos.
In mid-May 1984, Wei Hua received a call from his butler, David, informing him that he had been invited to visit Beijing. Wei Hua knew that in the original timeline, on June 22, the second-generation leaders met separately with a visiting delegation of the Hong Kong business community and prominent Hong Kong figures, where Roger Lobo and others held talks regarding the implementation of the "one country, two systems" policy for Hong Kong unchanged for fifty years. Now, Wei Hua himself had become a member of the visiting delegation to Beijing. Once in Beijing, he would not be far from his hometown. Having been away for thirteen years, it was time for him to go back and take a look. The political climate domestically had cleared up, and coupled with his current relationship with the second-generation leaders and his cooperation with domestic intelligence agencies, his sudden return would no longer bring any negative repercussions to his family. As for the future arrangements for his elder sisters, he would naturally leave that to their own decisions.
At the end of May, Wei Hua entrusted Han Guangyuan with the management of his investments in Britain and returned to Hong Kong with Ding Peng and He Xiaoya, after which he began making preparations to go home. Having been away for so many years, returning home naturally required preparing gifts for his sisters, brothers-in-law, and all his nieces and nephews. Wei Hua planned to head to Dalian after leaving Beijing, gather all the gifts prepared for his family there, and then return to his hometown. Considering everything thoroughly, Wei Hua had Jessie prepare high-efficiency solar panels, flat-square color televisions, video recorders, cassette game consoles, watches, bicycles, motorcycles, and clothing. These items were still scarce commodities in China at the time and not easy to acquire. Even if they could be bought, his sisters might not have the heart to spend money on them. He prepared the solar panels because Wei Hua knew that given the remote location of the mountain village, electricity might not yet be available. Without electricity, gifts like televisions would be rendered useless, and Wei Hua would never let such a thing happen. History remained unchanged: on June 22, the second-generation leaders met separately with the Beijing-visiting delegation of the Hong Kong business community and prominent Hong Kong figure Roger Lobo. Following the meetings, Wei Hua and Ding Peng boarded a plane to Dalian.
Everything Jessie had been instructed to prepare was already ready. In addition, Jessie had prepared large quantities of rice, flour, grain, oil, tobacco, and alcohol. Having been busy on the mainland for the past few years, Jessie was well-informed about the local situation, especially since she had stayed in Dalian for over half a year and had a decent understanding of living conditions in rural Northeast China. Because there were so many items, Ding Peng went to a nearby military garrison and borrowed a military truck, having the soldiers transport the goods to Wei Hua's hometown. Due to Ding Peng's special status, the commander of the garrison readily agreed. This time, Wei Hua did not bring Jessie, Mary, Kathleen, or Sakurako Kinoshita with him; he did not know how to explain to his sisters that he had married several foreign women, nor did he want his first family visit in years to be ruined by such complications.
Wei Hua got off the train at the railway station of his county town. Utilizing his special status, Ding Peng borrowed a jeep from the county government, and the two of them drove toward Wei Hua's hometown in the jeep. After driving nearly three hours for just over a hundred miles, they still had not reached Wei Hua's hometown, primarily due to the poor road conditions. The roads here were mere dirt tracks without any paving. While driving the jeep, Ding Peng remarked:
"Boss! It looks like you'll have to fund the construction of a highway yourself. Since you'll inevitably have to come back and visit often in the future, traveling over roads like this is simply too torturous. Besides, you have plenty of money, and building a road is nothing to you. You can consider it a blessing you're bringing to the people of your hometown!"
Wei Hua smiled at Ding Peng's words and said nothing, his heart having already flown ahead to the mountain village that was now vaguely visible in the distance. Are my sisters doing well? Are my brothers-in-law well? Eighth Sister should have children by now, shouldn't she? Before long, the jeep drove into the entrance of the small mountain village. Wei Hua said to Ding Peng, who was driving:
"Park the car here. We'll walk into the village. I haven't been back in more than a decade, and I wonder if there have been any changes in the village. Bring along everything we're carrying!"
"Alright! You lead the way!" Ding Peng replied upon hearing Wei Hua's words.
Wei Hua walked slowly through the small mountain village. Compared to over a decade ago, this mountain village had not changed much, save for a few seemingly new houses. It was now the season of blooming spring flowers, and the vegetables planted in every family's courtyard were growing luxuriantly. It was currently midday, and most people had already returned from the fields and were preparing for lunch. The appearance of two outsiders, Wei Hua and Ding Peng, greatly astonished the villagers. As the two passed by, people began whispering among themselves. Having never witnessed such a scene, Ding Peng asked Wei Hua:
"What's wrong with them? It's like we're monsters!"