Yang Lei's hands trembled slightly as he carried over three thousand yuan.
Li Liguo took the handbag from his hand. "Let's go."
"The young man still wants to practice?"
Hearing that the price was only seventeen cents a jin, Li Zheng Guo was displeased. "I'll wait for him to come. If we can't agree, we'll find another buyer. Our watermelons don't lack customers."
The next day, Zeng Sheng Chun arrived.
Li Zheng Guo took him to see the greenhouse. "Look at my determination. Are you not ashamed to offer seventeen cents a jin? If you can't stomach it, I'll send them to the capital."
"You know the taste of these watermelons. Even two or three jiao a jin wouldn't be enough to sell in the capital. It's a pity I don't have a transportation team, otherwise, what business would you have here?"
Seeing the greenhouse by the west of the village, with its seemingly endless brick walls and steel frames, Zeng Sheng Chun's eyes lit up.
"Alright, alright, I'll give you eighteen cents a jin. We'll set a separate price for the off-season winter produce. You guarantee to supply me with everything, and I'll act as an intermediary seller and also do retail."
Li Zheng Guo countered with a question instead of answering. "What about the winter vegetables? I don't plan to grow watermelons three seasons a year for now."
"I'm worried about market saturation, and I'm also worried that people will get tired of my watermelons. After all, watermelons are expensive and don't fill you up. Vegetables are indispensable on the dinner table."
Zeng Sheng Chun stared at Li Zheng Guo. "If the maturity is staggered, I'll take it all, at eighty percent of the current market retail price."
Li Zheng Guo nodded. "Okay, I'll give you the opportunity to be an intermediary. Let's go write a contract."
"Let's go."
In the still dilapidated office, Zeng Sheng Chun teased Li Zheng Guo, "Doesn't a new official get a new desk?"
Li Zheng Guo shook his head. "No, without the capacity, fancy things are just a waste."
"Is the investment large?"
"Yes, two million yuan in loans."
Zeng Sheng Chun took a deep breath. "You're quite bold."
Li Zheng Guo retorted, "If I don't go all out, what's the point of me taking this position of village head? To stick to the old ways? That's the mindset of the older generation."
"You are right."
Zeng Sheng Chun pointed to the village road being built outside the office. "I support you."
"Thank you."
The contract, drafted by Li Zheng Guo, was read and re-read by Zeng Sheng Chun. He then picked up the pen and signed it.
"This contract is very detailed, with all the clauses complete."
With the buyer's contract signed, Li Zheng Guo breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go to my place for a simple meal."
Tangibly, Zeng Sheng Chun's smile became much more sincere. "Then I won't be polite."
Li Zheng Guo pushed him outward. "Let's go. We've known each other for so many years, do we need to say such polite words?"
Upon arriving at Li's house, Zeng Sheng Chun was disappointed not to see Hao Hao and Xiao Bo. "Where are the two kids?"
"They're at school in the county town. They'll be back next month for summer vacation."
"They're in school? I haven't seen Hao Hao and Xiao Bo for two years."
Li Zheng Guo spoke without mincing words. "Whose fault is it? What have you been busy with these past two years? You only sent subordinates to buy watermelons."
"My mother is old and wasn't well these past two years. I was with her the whole time and couldn't get away."
"Then you should have told her to eat more of our village's vegetables. I'll pick some for you to take back later."
"Okay, okay, I won't be polite."
"You're saying that again."
Tian Jing was a good cook. In recent years, A Feng had proactively taught her some simple dishes, praising her culinary talent.
"Brother Zeng, eat more. Your mother isn't well. I'll pack some dried pheasant and dried wild mushrooms for you later. You can stew them for her soup. She can only drink the soup; she can't digest the pheasant meat."
"Good, good."
Zeng Sheng Chun's eyes were a little red. "Your intentions are very sincere. My mother will surely be very happy."
Li Zheng Guo escorted Zeng Sheng Chun to the other side of the Ku River, helping him carry a large amount of luggage.
Only after the car disappeared from sight did he return to the village to continue his work.
...
It was summer vacation, and Li's mother brought the four children back to the village.
Zeng Sheng Chun came with his subordinates to buy watermelons, and he also brought a camera to take pictures in the village.
Li Zheng Guo didn't care what he photographed. Even if he asked him to pose for a family photo, he cooperated.
"This is perfect. Take a family photo for us too."
After taking two pictures, Li's mother stopped. "You guys take photos, Hao Hao and them take photos."
Li Min brought her husband and younger son to take photos.
Zeng Sheng Chun also took pictures for them. He brought a lot of film, intending to take enough pictures in one go.
Seeing Li Wei Li, he winked at Li Zheng Guo. "Your genes are too powerful."
Li Zheng Guo playfully hit him. "If my daughter cries, it's earth-shattering."
Li Wei Li pouted. "Dad, which year are you talking about? I'm already six years old."
Li Zheng Guo pretended to think. "Oh, I don't remember. Dad has been too busy lately, and his memory has deteriorated."
"Dad!"
"Hahaha."
Zeng Sheng Chun laughed heartily. "You have many children, it's lively."
Li Zheng Guo pulled his younger son. "Come, let me grandly introduce you. This is my youngest son, Li Wei Xin, nicknamed Ran Ran."
"You're a busy person, I'm afraid you'll be busy for years. Next time you come, you might not recognize my children anymore."
Looking at Li Wei Xin, who was completely different from the Li family, Zeng Sheng Chun was greatly surprised. "He? He's your son too?"
Li Zheng Guo nodded. "Yes, this is my youngest son."
"An unplanned birth?"
Li Zheng Guo winked at him. "Found him."
Zeng Sheng Chun: "..." Found him or not, why are you winking?
"Come, Ran Ran, let Uncle Zeng take more pictures for you."
A group photo of the four siblings, a group photo of the eight cousins.
Eight individual photos, two by two photos.
It wasn't until Zeng Sheng Chun's film ran out that the eight children reluctantly thanked Uncle Zeng and went to the courtyard house in the east of the village.
Li Zheng Guo said sheepishly, "We'll pay for the film and the developing of the photos."
Zeng Sheng Chun gave him a sideways glance. "Pay for what? I'm their uncle, taking pictures for the children, and you want money?"
"Then thank you. I'm quite poor right now."
"Who would believe that?"
...
Along with the photos came an album. Zeng Sheng Chun said it was a gift for the children, as he hadn't bought them anything substantial over the years.
Since Zeng Sheng Chun said so, Li Zheng Guo didn't refuse.
The price difference for the watermelons had allowed Zeng Sheng Chun to earn a lot. These items were nothing in comparison.
...
School started, and Tian Jing and her mother-in-law took the seven children to the county town.
They asked Ouyang's father to help find the principal. The principal, upon hearing they were Li Wei Hao's younger siblings, personally set an exam for them.
The result was, of course, happily accepting the three new students.
Tian Jing worried that her mother-in-law would be too busy. Li's mother urged her to go back to work.
"Don't worry, I'm just buying groceries, cooking, and doing laundry. I'm not doing anything else. The children are very well-behaved. Hurry back to cultivate the seedlings."
Tian Jing reminded her daughter and eldest son.
Li Wei Li waved to her mother. "Goodbye, Mom. I promise I won't be naughty."
...
The villagers harvested corn while also going up the mountain to cut thatch. Dried thatch could be used with corn stalks to make straw mats.
With steel frames, even heavy straw mats wouldn't be a problem.
The corn stalks were not enough, so they purchased some from Wang Er Village.
The watermelons were sold until the first snow.
For these four months, they could transport six or seven truckloads of watermelons out every day.
The large trucks had their guardrails and side railings raised. Due to the nature of watermelons, they couldn't be stacked more than two layers.
The side railings were necessary, and even so, they could only carry about five tons, with some loss due to the poor road conditions.
Even then, there were still watermelons left over.
The villagers were anxious, but Li Zheng Guo and Zeng Sheng Chun were not. He was waiting for the price to rise.
Since autumn, all the watermelons on the market had come from him.
Judging by the fact that his mother was unwilling to eat meat or apples, and only wanted to eat vegetables and watermelons, the taste of the watermelons was a blessing for the elderly and children.
There weren't many fruits in winter.
With only nine hundred tons left, it might not be enough for the units that would be scrambling to buy them during the New Year.
Finally, he raised the retail price of watermelons to thirty cents a jin, and then took the last nine hundred tons at twenty-five cents.
Zeng Sheng Chun agreed to focus on transporting vegetables after he had dealt with most of the watermelons.
As for the transportation costs, he would settle them after the village had settled their accounts.