Zhou You's room was on the second floor, where it caught the first rays of sunlight in winter. Originally, he had wanted to install heating throughout the entire room to make winter much more comfortable. But his parents disagreed.
"You're hardly home a few days a year. Air conditioning is enough. If you install heating in such a large space, the gas bill alone for one winter will be at least ten thousand yuan."
Zhou You thought about it and didn't push further. Although air conditioning in winter wasn't comfortable, it was better than nothing. Lying in bed, he pulled open the curtains, let the air conditioner blow, and gazed at the white snow on the rooftops across the way. Music played from his phone. It was truly delightful. In the few days since returning home, the sheer comfort had made Zhou You lazy, unwilling to move at all.
In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. Normally, families celebrated New Year's Eve in their own homes. But this year, considering Zhou You's family had a newly built house—spacious, bright, and warm—and they also wanted to gather to discuss matters, they made an exception. Uncle Zhou's family of five came, with the eldest cousin Zhou Guoqin already married with a child. Second Uncle's family of five also came, with the second cousin Zhou Guoqiang married with a daughter. Both older female cousins were already married and would likely only return home on the second day of the New Year. In total, over a dozen people packed Zhou You's house to the brim.
Since their grandparents had passed away early, Uncle Zhou now presided over the family's affairs. Following local tradition, dinner was split into two tables: one for the men, one for the women, with the children sitting at the women's table. Since every household had stocked up on dishes for the New Year, a couple of quick stir-fried hot dishes sufficed.
Every time Zhou You came home, he brought different kinds of liquor—Moutai, Wuliangye, Jiannanchun were all stocked at home. At that time, many people considered these three the top-tier liquors, though Moutai would later leave them all in the dust. Zhou You carried a case of Moutai out of the storage room and also brought out two bottles of red wine. However, most people hadn't yet developed a taste for red wine. To them, red wine was bitter and astringent, not as good as sweet grape wine. To be honest, Zhou You wasn't fond of red wine either. Sometimes in winter, he'd warm up a pot of yellow rice wine instead. Red wine was rarely something he drank alone.
Regardless, the New Year was all about liveliness and celebration, so he set out all the drinks. The two little nephews and the little niece ran into the room, stripped off their coats, and dashed around wildly in the fully heated air conditioning.
As was customary, the family sat down, and Uncle Zhou spoke first: "Another hard year behind us. This year, thanks to Xiao You, we get to eat in this new house and drink such fine liquor. When I was working away from home, I never dared to dream of this." Seeing Uncle Zhou getting a bit emotional, Second Uncle raised his glass: "Come on, come on, it's New Year's—let's all be happy. Raise your glasses and drink together!" The rest of the men, women, old, and young all raised their glasses together.
Zhou You didn't have much say at this table yet, sitting quietly at the end, just smiling foolishly without a word. Uncle Zhou raised his glass to Zhou Bencheng: "Third Brother, you're living the good life now. Xiao You is capable—new car, new house. Much better than us working away from home." Zhou Bencheng's face flushed with embarrassment: "Big Brother knows I'm not talented. Mom and Dad left early, and I've always relied on you and Second Brother for help. Now it's all thanks to Xiao You's ability. If he's capable, our whole Zhou family can share in the glory."
While the elders chatted among themselves, Zhou You talked with his two cousins. "Big Brother, what are you doing now?" "What else? I used to work on construction sites. Later, when the whole family moved out, I got a job at a factory and rented a place there," Zhou Guoqin said, shaking his head. "And Second Brother?" "Pretty much the same as Big Brother. Before I had kids, I followed construction sites everywhere. After having a child, I didn't want him to be a left-behind kid, so your Second Sister-in-law and I brought him along and found work at a factory too." Both cousins were only a few years older than him—the eldest was three years older, the second just one year older—but they both looked like they were in their thirties or forties. Factory work with three shifts, day in and day out, wrecked their bodies and messed up their biological clocks completely.
"Now the kids are older and need to go to school. We're not planning to take them out anymore. Taking them out for school is a hassle—no household registration, can't afford to buy a house outside. Even if we could, we couldn't settle there. The work is too tiring, and the pay is too low," the eldest cousin said, shaking his head as he talked about work. "Xiao You, you've seen a lot. Since you're back for the New Year, we wanted to ask you for advice—point us in a direction. We're not afraid of hardship or suffering, just afraid of not making money and letting the kids down."
Zhou You listened and understood this was the reality of rural life. After young people got married, they either left their kids with grandparents or, if they had a bit of responsibility, took them along. But what good did that do? Still, for the kids, being with their parents was the greatest comfort. "Big Brother, Second Brother, there aren't many ways to make money in the countryside now. What ideas do you two have? What can you do if you don't go out to work?" Zhou You wanted to hear their thoughts first. His two cousins were essentially the last generation of migrant workers. Later on, many young people in the village would rather stay home making videos or doing self-media than go out to work. Even if they had to, they wouldn't go to construction sites—just work in a factory for a while, save some money, and then leave.
"Over the years, I've observed that there are few paths out in the countryside. You could open a small grocery store, but that barely makes ends meet. Or you could buy some farm machinery and harvest for people during the busy season, but that's only about a month of work a year," the eldest cousin listed the options he could think of. "I'd like to learn car repair, but I don't have the connections. I'm too old now, and no one would take me on. I'm also wondering if we could start some kind of farming or breeding operation around here. Some people grow fruit trees—I don't know if that's viable," the second cousin said, equally clueless about what to do.
After they finished, Zhou You paused briefly and said, "Our Zhou family are outsiders here, so we stick together. Only by being united can we stand firm in this village. Since graduating, I've been thinking about what we can do in the countryside. First, go to the county town and start a small business or trade. Second, root ourselves in the countryside—live off the land, raise livestock or aquaculture, or grow fruit trees." Zhou You knew the future direction. If they could do well in livestock farming, the income could be substantial, especially later on when he held shares in ByteDance and had a natural advantage in traffic. Although the first few years would be tough, for a normal agricultural cycle, it was just the beginning. If he could later invest in Pinduoduo, it would give them an even greater edge in selling specialty agricultural products. But this path was indeed difficult. As the rural saying goes: "A fortune of ten thousand, but livestock don't count!" One epidemic could wipe everything out.