"There's no such thing as not being able to learn; one can always learn. Don't you want to go out and see the world?" Zhang Liunian genuinely wanted to bring his elder brother along to try their luck out in the world.
However, Zhang Liushui gritted his teeth and refused, appearing resolute in his decision not to leave.
"It's not possible now. The three children have just lost their mother; they can't lose their father by their side as well." Zhang Liushui knew that the only way to make his third brother give up this idea was to use the children as leverage.
Although his third brother had a bad reputation in the past, he was exceptionally soft-hearted.
As expected, when he brought up the children, Zhang Liunian stopped trying to persuade him.
Afterward, the two brothers chatted for a while. When they were done, Zhang Liunian headed to the factory to check on the sales of the new pickled vegetables.
This batch of new pickled vegetables had several fewer steps in production and were simpler to make, but the recipe genuinely used over ten ingredients, and the taste was quite good.
"Uncle Shan, how are the shiitake mushroom and shredded pork pickles and the radish chili pickles selling?" Zhang Liunian entered the factory office and saw Zhang Shan organizing the previous day's shipment data.
Upon hearing the voice, Zhang Shan, with a face full of smiles, said, "Take a look for yourself!"
Zhang Liunian took the statistics sheet with a smile, already having an idea of the answer. He scanned to the end of the sheet and smiled; they were indeed selling well.
From the trial sales yesterday alone, they sold twenty thousand bottles, and today's orders requested double the quantity.
This put even more pressure on the factory. The previous few batches of pickled vegetables were already difficult to keep up with, and now with new products, the pressure was immense.
"Liunian, I think you might need to set up a branch factory or something. Our current factory, even with two shifts, can't cope." Zhang Shan was also happy about the new products' great sales, but the factory was only so big. No matter how much they expanded, with the current situation, it was impossible to meet the daily production volume required.
Zhang Liunian's smile didn't fade. He put down the statistics sheet and said, "Next month, Nancheng will be auctioning off a food factory. I plan to acquire it and turn it into a branch factory."
"Really? That's great!" Zhang Shan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Zhang Liunian already had a plan.
To be honest, he, as the newly appointed factory director, was under tremendous pressure, worrying about production volume every day. Even though he kept hiring people, they still couldn't keep up with the shipping volume, which made him extremely anxious.
"It's alright if we can't produce enough; we don't have any contractual obligations. If we can't produce, it just means we earn less money." Zhang Liunian knew Zhang Shan had been under a lot of production pressure lately. It was a pity that the Nancheng Food Factory wasn't cooperating. If they could cooperate even a little, it would alleviate his urgent need.
Fortunately, he was selling his own products, so there was no risk of losing money due to insufficient production.
"Then, should I continue hiring people and expanding the factory for the next half of the month?" Zhang Shan knew Zhang Liunian was comforting him. Who didn't love money? Zhang Liunian said that only because he didn't want Zhang Shan to be too stressed, and he felt a bit touched.
"Stop hiring after this month. Also, you need to oversee the equipment and materials. I'll be going on a business trip tomorrow; I'm not sure if it will be for one or two days. Contact me by phone if anything comes up." Zhang Liunian then chatted with Zhang Shan for a while longer before leaving.
Upon returning to Nancheng, Zhang Liunian first withdrew money from the bank, then took it home to his wife, instructing her to give Du Ziteng forty thousand yuan daily for procurement, with the principle of "more you return, less you keep."
Jiang Qingqing noted down his instructions and hid the money under the bed, fearing a repeat of the previous incident.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Jiang family in Jiangcheng also began preparing to depart for Nancheng. This time, they were all going, not a single person left behind.
Jiang Qingtian didn't want to come, but after being repeatedly instructed by his parents, he finally relented and agreed to make the trip.
However, they were leaving the next day, yet they were only packing a couple of clothes at home.
"Dad, we should bring something for Third Sister and Third Brother-in-law. It's not good to go empty-handed, especially since they're wealthy now." Jiang Xiaoqing couldn't bear to see her parents preparing nothing and intending to go to Nancheng like this.
Even though their whole family was going with the intention of seeing if their third sister and her husband were truly living a wealthy life, so they could ask for a favor or a bit of help with wealth, it was precisely because of this that they couldn't just show up empty-handed!
Jiang Qingtian, upon hearing his younger sister's words, also strongly agreed, "Dad, it really isn't good to go empty-handed; it's impolite. We've already left a bad impression on Third Sister's husband last time. If we go empty-handed, the impression will be even worse."
Jiang Father, initially displeased upon hearing this, thought about Zhang Liunian's car and attire. After much internal debate, he also felt it made sense.
"Alright, then your mother and I will go and get some local specialties right now." Jiang Father made the decision and pulled Jiang Mother along to pick out things. They wouldn't choose expensive items. Firstly, they didn't have much savings at home, and secondly, they believed Zhang Liunian didn't need it; he had money himself and could buy whatever good things he wanted with cash. Why would he need them, poor people, to buy anything?
After picking and choosing, they spent ten yuan and bought quite a few things, which caused Jiang Father and Jiang Mother considerable heartache.
Zhang Liunian was unaware of this. At this time, he, along with Zhang Qian and the Kong brothers, was already on the road to Jiangcheng.
It only took about three hours to drive from Nancheng to Jiangcheng. They set off in the morning and arrived in Jiangcheng at eleven o'clock. Then, following Kong Da's directions, Zhang Liunian drove until the afternoon before arriving at a place called Fuqiang Brigade in Jiangcheng.
This brigade was famous throughout Jiangcheng for raising pigs; people even came from the provincial capital to buy their piglets.
Kong Da had also dealt with their factory manager for several years. Upon meeting again, both parties were very familiar with each other, and after a brief conversation, Zhang Liunian was introduced to the owner of the pig farm, Chen Zhenghao.
"Boss Zhang, at such a young age, you already own a pig farm with ten thousand head. You are truly a young hero!" Chen Zhenghao was a middle-aged man who was very good at flattery. Although he looked honest and simple, his tongue was extremely nimble.
"Factory Director Chen, you flatter me. I was just lucky; I helped the police with a case and obtained this farm. You've praised me too much." Zhang Liunian smiled and shook his hand.
Chen Zhenghao was even more impressed upon hearing this. "To be able to help the police, that's truly a heroic deed. Just for that, I absolutely won't charge you a high price later. You are our people's little hero, a living Lei Feng..."
Zhang Liunian really couldn't stand it anymore. This guy could flatter endlessly; if he weren't interrupted, he might be flattering until dark.
"Factory Director Chen, shouldn't we go and see the piglets first? It's getting late." Zhang Liunian looked at his watch; it was already four in the afternoon. They hadn't even had lunch, and after finishing their business, they had to have a good meal.
"Look at me, delaying the time. Come, let's go and see them now. My place is a piglet breeding farm, and we also raise adult pigs, but not as many piglets as we breed. Let me show you the white piglet breeds we imported from America. These pigs grow fast..."
Zhang Liunian followed Chen Zhenghao and looked at three breeds of piglets: American, Indian, and Japanese. These three had only one characteristic: with good care, they could grow plump and large, but they were very difficult to breed, and the price was high.
After seeing these three, they went to see the black wild boars and crossbred pigs. These crossbred pigs were also divided into several types. Zhang Liunian saw the one that Kong Da had mentioned, the one hybridized from domestic pigs and wild boars.
"These pigs are what Kong Da and the others have always raised. They are not picky eaters, have a docile temperament, and are the cheapest among all the piglets." Chen Zhenghao could see that Zhang Liunian was most interested in these wild boar hybrids, so he went into more detail with him.