Not wanting to miss such a good opportunity, Li Haochen agreed after a brief thought.
He had been staying at home, bogged down by one thing or another. He hadn't been able to commit to going out for sea fishing, and it had been quite some time since he had fished to his heart's content.
With this excuse, he could legitimately abandon those bothersome tasks and focus on having fun for a few days.
Since he was going to compete, he had to make sure everything at home was in order.
After eating, Li Haochen went to the warehouse to check. However, he was stunned for a long time to find only a few boxes of chopsticks inside.
"They were delivered just a few days ago, and they're already gone? Did..."
As he was wondering, Ah Xian, Ah Long, and the other two walked in cheerfully.
"Brother Li, you're back?"
"Yeah, I got back this morning. What's going on? They're cleared out so quickly?" Li Haochen asked, looking into the warehouse.
"That's right. We've split up and covered the entire coastal area in the last few days. Our chopsticks are of good quality and slightly cheaper. Many breakfast shops and late-night snack stalls have chosen to cooperate with us. The daily consumption is at least three times what it was originally, and it's still increasing."
Ah Long proudly recounted their achievements over the past few days.
"Really? That's great!"
Li Haochen was excited and thrilled upon hearing this. This was indeed excellent news. He had found the right people for this task. Such capable assistants deserved a reward. He immediately waved his hand, giving each of them a 200 yuan salary increase and a 1000 yuan bonus.
With the raise and bonus, the four were naturally overjoyed. Their hard work during this period felt incredibly worthwhile.
"You've all worked hard. Have you called Dongzi for delivery?"
"We've already spoken to Brother Dong. They should arrive this evening. We'll deliver these now and come back to unload later."
"Alright, be careful."
Ah Long and the other three loaded the remaining ten-odd boxes onto the truck and rushed off. Li Haochen then entered his space and brought out quite a few coconut seedlings ready for planting, over three thousand of them.
After finishing this, he called Li Dejun.
"Uncle Jun, is everything alright at the factory?"
"Haochen, don't worry, everything is fine. With the increased output, everyone is very motivated."
"That's good. Safety must be prioritized. Don't be careless, as those machines are very sharp. By the way, Uncle Jun, do you think it's feasible to add another production line now?"
"Add another? It's too rushed, probably not. It can only be done after the New Year. Is the production capacity not keeping up?"
"Indeed, but the gap isn't too large. Can you ask everyone to work overtime? Of course, overtime will be paid."
"That's great. Everyone is eager to work overtime every day. Don't worry, I'll handle this."
As soon as Li Dejun hung up, he rushed to the chopstick factory. When he informed everyone who was producing about the overtime, they agreed without hesitation.
Overtime was a good thing. Not making money would be foolish. In the village, evenings were usually uneventful. It was better to earn more money than to suffer at home.
Leaving the warehouse, Li Haochen went to Butterfly Bay again. After changing into his gear, he dived in. This time, he didn't plan to use bait. He was leaving for a competition in two days and needed to conserve his energy. He just wanted to check on the situation inside.
As he swam along, the water was filled with golden coins floating around.
Schools of black sea bream, countless mullets, and even large sea bass. There were even a few groupers weighing seven or eight catties. This was just one area; the entire Butterfly Bay would surely be several times this amount.
Li Haochen was excited yet a bit regretful. "The area is a bit small. It would be great if it were a hundred mu or so."
He returned to shore, and it was getting late. After changing his clothes, he went back to the villa and went down to check the vegetable garden. The soil was still slightly damp, indicating that Xie Baolian hadn't been lazy these past few days.
Each plot was covered in a layer of green, which was very pleasing. Especially the chives, which had grown to the length of a finger. They could be harvested in four or five days. This plant kept growing more vigorously the more it was cut.
The carrots were also doing exceptionally well, but they were planted too densely. Li Haochen had to pull out quite a few, spacing each plant about ten centimeters apart so as not to hinder their growth.
Quite a few weeds had also grown, and Li Haochen spent a good while clearing them out.
Back in the courtyard, Murong Yanran and the other woman had returned, and dinner was cooked.
During dinner, Li Haochen mentioned going to Hong Kong and Macau for the competition. To his surprise, they both agreed readily, which was unusual.
Li Haochen had expected to be lectured. This was the first time things had gone so smoothly, and it made him suspicious.
"Do they have some ulterior motive?"
Indeed, the next morning when he woke up, Murong Yanran happily presented a long piece of paper filled with dense writing.
Upon picking it up, he realized why she had been so agreeable last night. She wanted him to help them sell products.