After everything was settled, the two signed the contract again.
However, this time, Du Ziheng did not demand that Liu Yifeng sell all the vegetables he grew to him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to buy everything, but primarily because he dealt mainly in aquatic products and feared he couldn't handle such a large quantity of vegetables.
Liu Yifeng also had this in mind. If his vegetables became popular and someone approached him with a high offer, he couldn't very well refuse money, could he?
"Right, here is the money from selling vegetables yesterday. The samples sent to Longteng Hotel were not sold.
In total, they sold for 1,156 yuan. I made a profit of fifty cents per jin, which is sixty-eight yuan.
The remaining 1,088 yuan is yours. Count it." As he spoke, Du Ziheng took out the money he had prepared from his briefcase.
This small amount of money was so insignificant that Liu Yifeng pocketed it without counting.
Seeing Liu Yifeng's trust in him, Du Ziheng felt a warmth in his heart.
Trust was the most important element in any business partnership.
If either party lacked trust in the other, the business would not last long.
"Are we delivering the vegetables to Longteng Hotel tomorrow?" Liu Yifeng asked.
Du Ziheng nodded, "Yes, one hundred jin each. They'll sell them to test the waters first."
"Alright then. I'll find some people to help me pick and pack the vegetables this evening when the weather is not so hot, and I'll deliver them to you tomorrow morning."
"Okay, but I think you should hire a truck driver to help you with the deliveries. After all, you won't be delivering just a few hundred jin at a time in the future; it might be tons. Your minivan definitely won't be able to hold it all," Du Ziheng suggested.
"Brother Du, you're right. I should indeed hire a professional truck driver to haul goods for me daily.
However, I don't need one right now, but I can find someone in advance to avoid a last-minute scramble," Liu Yifeng agreed, nodding.
"Then, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving. I need to go to the market to keep an eye on things. You should arrive at Longteng Hotel around seven tomorrow morning, and I'll be waiting for you there," Du Ziheng said as he stood up.
Liu Yifeng nodded, "Okay, I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning."
After seeing Du Ziheng off, Liu Yifeng was about to go find his aunts and elder aunties to pay them for some work.
They were to help him pick and pack the vegetables. Otherwise, he didn't know how long it would take him to do it all by himself.
But just then, his third uncle hurried over, "Yifeng, it's bad! Your father collapsed on the ground. He might have heatstroke. You need to take him to the hospital quickly!"
Liu Yifeng panicked upon hearing this, "Which plot of land?"
"It's in your peanut field. He went out too early. Who goes to dig peanuts that early? Even iron would buckle under this heat.
He really doesn't understand. You're already making so much money, why is he still digging peanuts himself? He could have just hired someone to do it." Liu Cha Sheng was still muttering.
Liu Yifeng had already run out. As he reached the doorway, he remembered that Tong Tong was still at home.
Although the child was sensible, he couldn't bring himself to leave Tong Tong alone at home.
"Third Uncle, my son is still at home. Could you please look after him? I'll take my father to the hospital first." With that, he drove off in a hurry.
Arriving at the peanut field, he saw his father lying on the shaded ground, with two villagers standing nearby.
Seeing Liu Yifeng arrive, they quickly said, "Yifeng, your father fainted. We tried pinching his philtrum, but it didn't work. You should take him to the hospital quickly!"
So, the three of them worked together to lift Liu Chun Sheng into the car. Liu Yifeng quickly started the engine and drove to the county hospital.
After a series of examinations by the doctor, it was confirmed that his coma was caused by heatstroke.
After receiving two bags of saline, Liu Chun Sheng woke up and seemed much more alert.
"Dad, why didn't you tell me you were going to dig peanuts? You even collapsed from the heat," Liu Yifeng said, both worried and annoyed.
"Dad saw that you've been too busy lately and didn't want to bother you, so I wanted to finish digging the peanuts early. Who knew my body would be so weak and I'd collapse from the heat," Liu Chun Sheng sighed.
Liu Yifeng immediately said, "Leave the peanuts to me. You don't need to worry about anything in the fields anymore. Just enjoy your retirement."
"That won't do. You have so many things to do, you don't have the energy for this," Liu Chun Sheng did not want Liu Yifeng to be so exhausted, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to dig peanuts in secret.
"I'll hire someone else to do it. I'll pay them!" Liu Yifeng naturally wouldn't do it himself anymore.
How much were those few acres of peanuts worth compared to the money he could make from raising crayfish and growing vegetables?
Naturally, he wouldn't focus his thoughts and energy on the peanut field. After the peanuts were dug, he would hire four or five students to help with the picking and pay them.
Since school had started, they could also earn some pocket money.
Liu Chun Sheng's emotions became a bit agitated upon hearing that Liu Yifeng would hire people, "You have too much money, don't you? Why do you need to hire people for such a small task? Why waste money?
When I'm better, I'll dig them slowly."
"Hiring people won't cost much. If you get sick, you'll still have to spend money on medical treatment, and your body will suffer. We should save where we can, but not where we shouldn't. Is money more important than health?"
Liu Yifeng's words left Liu Chun Sheng speechless. "This is settled. I'll go get some medicine from the doctor now. After the IV drip is done, we'll go home."
At seven in the evening, Liu Yifeng finally drove his father back from the hospital.
It was completely dark outside, and Liu Yifeng then remembered something important.
He still needed to prepare four hundred jin of vegetables to be delivered to Longteng Hotel early tomorrow morning.
As a result, he had forgotten all about it when his father collapsed from heatstroke.
Now it was dark, there were no streetlights in the vegetable fields, and there were many mosquitoes at night. Going to pick vegetables now would be like feeding the mosquitoes.
However, he still had to go pick them, otherwise, if he couldn't deliver the goods tomorrow, he would be breaking his promise.
"Where is Tong Tong?" Liu Chun Sheng asked anxiously, entering the room and not seeing Tong Tong.
"He's probably with Third Uncle. I asked him to look after Tong Tong this afternoon."
As soon as Liu Yifeng finished speaking, Tong Tong's voice rang out, "Daddy, Grandpa, you're back!"
Liu Yifeng turned around and saw Liu Cha Sheng behind Tong Tong, and said gratefully, "Third Uncle, thank you for your trouble."
"Why thank me? We're family, it's what we should do." Liu Cha Sheng walked in, holding Tong Tong's hand.
"Oh, Tong Tong told me you asked me to help find people to pick vegetables in your field. I found your third aunt, eldest aunt, and fourth aunt. We worked until 6:30, and the vegetables are all weighed. You can go to the field to pick them up when you have time."
After hearing his third uncle's words, Liu Yifeng involuntarily looked at Tong Tong, his expression so shocked that he couldn't speak.
Liu Cha Sheng was startled by his expression, "What's wrong? Did your son mislead me?"
He had heard from Tong Tong that his daddy needed to hire people to pick vegetables in the field to sell them early the next morning.
He thought that since they were hiring people anyway, it was better to hire family members, and family members were more reliable workers. That's why he called his wife over.
But if he had been misled by the child, how would he explain it to his wife when he went back?
It was his fault for not calling Yifeng to confirm. At the time, he just thought children wouldn't lie and was blinded by the thought of making money. Thus, he went directly to the vegetable field with Tong Tong.
When he brought Tong Tong over, his nagging wife at home had told him to bring back the wages. If he returned empty-handed, he might be scolded soundly.
Seeing that his third uncle had misunderstood his intentions, Liu Yifeng quickly explained, "No, no, what Tong Tong said is true. I do need to hire people to help pick vegetables in my field.
I didn't expect Third Aunt and the others to work so efficiently and finish it.
Here is six hundred yuan. Two hundred yuan for each person. Please pass it on to Third Uncle." Liu Yifeng took out six hundred yuan in cash from his pocket.
This wage was quite generous; people would have jumped at the chance even for a hundred yuan. However, since they were his relatives, it felt inappropriate to give them less.
Liu Cha Sheng was surprised by Liu Yifeng's generosity. They had only worked for about two hours, and he was giving such a large sum. He was truly a big boss now, his spending becoming more extravagant.
He happily took the money, "Then I'll thank you on behalf of Third Aunt and the others."
"I should be thanking Third Aunt and the others. They helped me solve an urgent problem. Come over to my house for a meal someday," Liu Yifeng said with a smile.
"Alright, it's getting late, so I'll be heading back now. Your aunt and fourth aunt are waiting for me at home!
Remember to drive to the field later to pick up the vegetables and spray them with some water to keep them fresh," Liu Cha Sheng reminded him.
Liu Yifeng nodded, "Okay, I know. Go slowly, Third Uncle!"
After seeing his third uncle off, Liu Yifeng squatted down, looked directly into Tong Tong's eyes, and asked gently, "Tong Tong, how did you know Daddy needed people to pick vegetables?"