"There's nothing much, I just wanted to borrow your truck to help me load some things tomorrow morning," Liu Yifeng said.
"Load what? I'll definitely help if I can."
"Manager Wan asked me to deliver three hundred jin of various vegetables to him tomorrow. That adds up to twelve hundred jin.
But I also need to load watermelons, and the van can't fit them all, so I wanted to trouble you," Liu Yifeng explained.
Du Ziheng, hearing this, thought it was nothing important and immediately said, "Okay, no problem. Tomorrow, when I go to buy crayfish, I'll help you deliver the vegetables to the hotel.
Manager Wan also called me this afternoon, saying the vegetables you sent were exceptionally good, and they weren't enough to sell.
I knew your vegetables would be very popular."
"I was worried this morning that they wouldn't sell, but it seems I was overthinking," Liu Yifeng said.
"Hahaha, I wasn't worried about that at all. You should hurry up and build the vegetable sheds. Given how popular your vegetables are, they'll likely sell out before you know it," Du Ziheng reminded him.
Liu Yifeng nodded, "I've already found a team and sent them to buy materials. They should be able to start construction in the next couple of days, and it should be completed in about a month."
"Then you need to hurry. Time waits for no one!
Your vegetables have such a good taste, it will inevitably affect the business of other vendors. If they also manage to grow vegetables with your taste, then your vegetables won't be worth as much," Du Ziheng expressed his concerns.
"Yes, yes, I'll urge them to speed up. Oh, by the way, Old Brother Du, didn't you say you planned to open a rural inn here and also a children's amusement park? Have the design drafts been drawn yet?" Liu Yifeng suddenly remembered something.
"Not yet, but I've already found a professional designer. I believe they'll be able to design it soon, and I'll let you review it then."
"Alright, then it's settled. If there's nothing else, I won't bother you," Liu Yifeng said and hung up the phone.
The next morning, Du Ziheng arrived to buy crayfish as scheduled, and Liu Yifeng was already waiting by the roadside in his car.
Seeing Du Ziheng's truck arrive, he got out of his car and offered a cigarette, "Sorry to trouble you, Old Brother Du."
Du Ziheng took the cigarette and said, "What are you thanking me for? Don't forget, I made a little profit on those vegetables too. Helping you out is the least I can do.
From now on, I'll be responsible for delivering your vegetables to the hotel. You just need to prepare the produce."
Seeing Du Ziheng's magnanimous demeanor, Liu Yifeng didn't hesitate, "Okay, from now on, use your truck to deliver the vegetables to the hotel. I'll take care of the rest.
As soon as the hotel pays, I'll give you the money immediately."
"That's all easy to discuss! I'll go load the crayfish first." Du Ziheng and Liu Yifeng had been cooperating for so long that he naturally wasn't worried about not getting paid.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have considered cooperating with him to open a rural inn, and he was even willing to advance some of the investment money himself.
After all the crayfish were loaded onto the truck, Du Ziheng asked the driver to help load Liu Yifeng's vegetables.
In a short while, all twelve hundred jin of vegetables were loaded into Du Ziheng's truck.
"I'll take the vegetables directly to the hotel. Call me if anything comes up," Du Ziheng said as he got into the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.
Liu Yifeng waved, "Okay!"
After Du Ziheng left, Liu Yifeng immediately drove home. He removed the back seats to make more space for watermelons.
Yesterday, he only managed to fit over twenty watermelons, but today he loaded nearly fifty. Except for the passenger seat, every other available space was filled with watermelons, just in case he didn't sell enough and had to make another trip.
Initially, Liu Yifeng didn't plan to bring Tongtong along, wanting the little one to sleep a bit longer. However, the child woke up.
Seeing his father preparing to drive to the county town, he insisted on going along.
Liu Yifeng couldn't refuse him, so after Tongtong brushed his teeth, he drove him to the county town.
To Liu Yifeng's surprise, Tongtong also brought Da Bai along, saying he was afraid the dog would be lonely at home.
"You can bring Da Bai, but it's not like home outside. You need to take good care of Da Bai and be careful it doesn't wander off, or we won't be able to find it, and it'll become a stray dog again," Liu Yifeng instructed.
Tongtong nodded, "Don't worry, Daddy, I won't let Da Bai go far."
"Then let's get in the car!" Liu Yifeng said, carrying Tongtong to the passenger seat and buckling him in.
Da Bai was still young and slept very heavily.
So, even after being tossed around by Tongtong, it didn't wake up and slept soundly.
Liu Yifeng closed the passenger door and drove to the county town.
He went to the same vegetable market as yesterday. Although it was only around seven in the morning, there were already quite a few people buying groceries.
The main reason was that the weather was too hot, and people didn't want to go out under the scorching sun.
Liu Yifeng found the spot where he had sold watermelons yesterday. As soon as he parked his car, customers came forward to buy watermelons. These were people who hadn't managed to buy any the previous afternoon and knew that the watermelon seller would be back this morning.
Therefore, they had woken up early, fearing that if they were late, the watermelons would be sold out again.
Ever since tasting the watermelons yesterday, they had been craving that flavor.
Eating other people's watermelons felt bland in comparison.
Although the watermelons were sweet at this time, Liu Yifeng's watermelons were even more memorable.
Seeing customers waiting so early, Liu Yifeng couldn't help but feel happy.
It seemed that the watermelons he grew had completely won them over.
Who would have believed that people would be rushing to buy watermelons at six yuan per jin if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
"Boss, you're finally here! We've been waiting for over half an hour. Hurry up and weigh two watermelons for me," an elderly woman urged, pushing a small cart.
She knew she couldn't carry two watermelons by herself, so she had brought her small cart.
Liu Yifeng carefully placed Tongtong in the car and told him not to wander off before attending to the customers.
"Coming, don't rush. There are enough watermelons today," he said as he opened the trunk and placed the electronic scale on the ground, then began picking up watermelons to weigh them.
Soon, he had weighed two watermelons. "A total of ninety-eight jin, five hundred and eighty-eight yuan."
"I'm buying two at once, shouldn't you round down a bit, boss?" the elderly woman haggled.
"Alright, five hundred and eighty it is!" Liu Yifeng didn't want to delay the other customers over eight yuan, especially since there were several more waiting.
Besides, one shouldn't be too calculative in business if they want to retain customers.
The elderly woman readily handed Liu Yifeng five hundred and eighty cash. "Count it!"
Liu Yifeng took the money and counted it. It was exactly the right amount, so he put it in his money pouch.
"Boss, please help me move the watermelons to my cart." The elderly woman strained with all her might but couldn't lift the watermelons.
Without a word, Liu Yifeng moved both watermelons to her cart.
Seeing that Liu Yifeng had finished, other customers eagerly called out, "Boss, give me one watermelon."
"I want two!"
"I want three, boss, hurry up and weigh them for me!"
Seeing the eager rush to buy watermelons, Liu Yifeng shouted, "Everyone, please don't rush. I said there are enough watermelons. One by one, otherwise, I won't know who to sell to."
The crowd quieted down, fearing that if Liu Yifeng got unhappy, he might not sell them any watermelons.
Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Liu Yifeng asked the person at the front of the line, "How many watermelons do you want?"
'Boss, give me three!' said a middle-aged man.
"Three, can you carry them?" Liu Yifeng asked, seeing that the man was alone.
The middle-aged man pointed to a Land Rover across the road and said, "I drove here, just weigh them for me."
Liu Yifeng saw this and said no more, casually picking up three watermelons to weigh.
"Three watermelons add up to one hundred and fifty-five jin, a total of..." Liu Yifeng was about to calculate the price with a calculator when Tongtong's voice rang out, "Daddy, it's nine hundred and thirty yuan."
After he spoke, Liu Yifeng had also finished pressing the buttons, and the calculator gave the same result: nine hundred and thirty.
"Boss, how old is your son? He can do mental arithmetic, and he's even faster than a calculator," the middle-aged man said, looking at Tongtong with astonishment and disbelief.
The other customers were also looking at Tongtong, their mouths slightly agape, seemingly unable to believe that Tongtong was so capable at such a young age.
"My son is just over three years old. He studies these things normally," Liu Yifeng said, not mentioning that his son was self-taught.
Mainly, he didn't want his son to be too ostentatious, as it wasn't necessarily a good thing for him.
"He's only three, and he's already so good at calculations. He's much better than my kid," the middle-aged man said enviously.