Chapter 1053: 1033. Old Zhao is here
The weather was getting colder, and Old Zhao got up late, ultimately missing breakfast at Song Tan’s ho.
When his car stopped, he went straight to the kitchen, only to find the pot with nothing but water ward by residual heat.
“Ah!” He slapped his thigh, visibly regretful, and familiarly made his way to the room with the fire. Spotting a group of people sitting inside, he froze in surprise:
“You’ve got guests again?”
At the sa ti, his small eyes scanned the crowd warily before pulling Song Tan aside to whisper:
“This close to New Year, you haven’t brought in more wholesalers, have you? If you’ve got sothing to sell, why don’t you think of
first?”
Song Tan brushed him off casually: “Next year, next year! With the harvest, there’ll be more of everything, and I’ll definitely save so for you!”
She then turned to Old Zhao’s nephew and asked, “Young man, have you eaten? If not, have so water first…”
Old Zhao had his lazy tendencies, but his nephew was diligent. He had been quite helpful back when they were selling fish, sothing Song Tan appreciated. Now, she asked:
“Zhao Fangyuan still hasn’t co back?”
The nephew’s face was more weathered than Song Tan’s. Hearing her call out the na so directly, he didn’t get annoyed. He just shook his head honestly: “Not yet. I heard this project’s not going to be completed until mid-year next year.”
Song Tan nodded. “Alright then. Pass on a ssage to her—when she’s free, tell her to co by the village once. My cousin wants to build a house on a new plot of land.”
“Ha! What are you waiting for her for? Why waste that money? Isn’t your house here ready as a model? Just bring in a construction team, tweak the layout a bit, and be done with it!”
Old Zhao spoke offhandedly.
Song Tan gave him a look, thinking she’d finally figured out why Zhao Fangyuan wasn’t staying around—could Old Zhao have been offering free business deals to his relatives again?
Actually, this was a misunderstanding about Old Zhao. He was just looking for an excuse to build a better relationship with Song Tan but hadn’t figured out how!
Old Zhao was still eyeing the people in the room uneasily and finally asked her:
“That strawberry you let
try yesterday—what about that? And the radishes and cabbages? Let
at least have a taste before giving a price!”
That was fair, and Song Tan didn’t refuse him. “The strawberries haven’t been delivered yet, but it’s not a big deal—there’s too few of them to sell, mainly just to help you gauge a price.”
“As for the cabbages and radishes, let’s go to the producer’s house to try them.”
Old Zhao nodded. “I noticed it on my way here—every household grows quite a bit of it in their yards and fields. Altogether, it’s probably tens of thousands of kilograms!”
“More or less,” Song Tan called to Secretary Xiaozu. “Co along. Help spread the word to everyone.”
Just in case soone tries to pass off inferior quality, it would also help to have witnesses present.
Secretary Xiaozu, never one to shy away from a bit of excitent, nudged the old man with his elbow: “Still want so radish? It’s not as good as yesterday’s, but it’s still decent…”
Old Zhu perked up imdiately: “Let’s go, let’s go!”
With the growing crowd, Old Zhao naturally beca more cautious again. He couldn’t help but negotiate with Song Tan as they walked: “You ntioned five yuan yesterday, but if this batch tastes good after I try it, can’t we increase the price a bit more? And don’t forget—I want 1,000 kilograms in two days! A thousand kilograms of each!”
Song Tan nodded. “Got it, got it! Just try them first, and if they’re good, why stop at 1,000 kilograms? Let’s settle it household by household instead.”
Radishes and cabbages stored well, so selling them wasn’t a concern.
“Alright!” The weight of urgency deepened—clearly, this was a seller’s market now. Old Zhao promptly agreed.
Then again, when had it not been a seller’s market with Lao Song’s family?
…
Li Lanhua had been waiting for a long ti.
To be honest, ever since Secretary Xiaozu ntioned the price yesterday evening, she’d been feeling a mix of anxiety and anticipation.
Two or three yuan per kilogram!
The family had nearly 3,000 kilograms of radishes and cabbages. That would an an easy six or seven thousand yuan of inco, just in ti for the New Year—how could she not feel thrilled?
As for the cost…
Oh, please! Planting vegetable seedlings was hardly an expense. It had all been given by Wu Lan for free! Though they did so work, they hadn’t spent a single penny!
That was zero cost!
These days, even exhausting yourself planting five acres of grain might not earn as much inco as this.
Not just her—Zhou Maozhu was awake early too. The two of them had been up early, sweeping the yard and boiling tea, nearly pacing at the gate in anticipation.
Fortunately, just as the stove inside started warming the whole house, a group slowly made their way down the main road. In the middle of them was none other than Secretary Xiaozu!
Li Lanhua broke into a grin instantly, raising her voice to ask:
“Secretary Zhu, have you had breakfast yet?”
Secretary Xiaozu grinned back, shouting in kind: “Auntie, fry so of your cabbages! Song Tan brought people to taste them and give a price.”
“Got it!” The reply didn’t co from Li Lanhua but from Zhou Maozhu.
He agreed as he started walking towards the vegetable patch—the cabbage they’d cut yesterday evening hadn’t been eaten yet; that would go first. For the radishes, he’d pick out the bigger ones—there had to be enough to go around for so many people.
This bustling group of people soon arrived at Li Lanhua’s ho.
Compared to Song Tan’s villa, hers was a typical countryside bungalow.
The yard was paved with cent, though it looked aged and had signs of patching here and there.
The wall was lined with shards of glass that had long since lost their sparkle. In one corner of the yard stood the toilet and chicken coop, though instead of free-range chickens, they raised broiler chickens.
At the mont, the fat little chickens waddled around the yard, clearly unbothered by people.
Li Lanhua was busily making tea for everyone when Secretary Xiaozu waved it off: “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s just had breakfast—just fry a small plate of cabbage for a taste.”
He paused and added, “No need to fry the radishes either—just peel and slice them as if they were fruits, and we’ll see if they taste better than the sweet radishes.”
Then he pointed to Old Zhao. “This is Song Tan’s business partner. He drove here this morning in a small truck. Once we’ve tasted the dishes and set the price, he can take them directly.”
With that said, Li Lanhua didn’t stand on ceremony: “Alright then!”
She briskly made her way to the kitchen, plopped a cutting board and a cabbage down, and with a swift chop, sliced off the cabbage root!
She tore away the outermost leaves, which had been nibbled by bugs or pecked by chickens, tossing them to the edge of the yard. Instantly, a flock of chickens rushed over, clucking and pecking excitedly on the ground with rapid taps of their beaks.
The yard seed even livelier for it.
Old Zhu and the rest watched this scene quietly. No one said a word, and for a mont, they all let out a long breath as if relaxing before Old Zhu sighed emotionally:
“Nothing beats the laid-back life of the countryside!”
Suffice to say, after yesterday’s drunken revelry, waking up to such clarity and freshness was proof enough that they’d had a sound sleep!
Li Lanhua was a straightforward person. Secretary Xiaozu said everyone had already eaten breakfast and would only be tasting, so she simply peeled away a few leaves of the cabbage and expertly chopped it into fine shreds.
Zhou Maozhu, on the other hand, ca in with a handful of radishes. Being accustod to rural habits, he twisted open the outdoor faucet and began scrubbing them under running water with practiced swiftness.
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