"Dad, what's wrong? You look so serious," Liu Yifeng said, putting down his carrying pole and walking over curiously.
Liu Chunsheng gestured for him to sit down before speaking.
Once Liu Yifeng was seated, his father immediately said, "Son, having a kind heart is a good thing, but excessive kindness can make people overthink things."
Liu Yifeng was confused. "Dad, what do you mean? How can kindness make people overthink?"
"Don't you see how Liu Dongmei looks at you differently?" Liu Chunsheng asked, not directly answering.
Liu Yifeng scratched the back of his head. "No, Dad, are you thinking too much?"
"I've been through it all. How can I be wrong? You're being too good to this Liu Dongmei, and it might make her think you're interested in her. Also, if people in the village see you acting too friendly, they'll gossip," Liu Chunsheng said bluntly, revealing his thoughts.
Liu Yifeng felt a bit helpless. "How am I acting friendly with Sister Li? She's a woman carrying such heavy peanuts; isn't it my duty to help her? If people gossip about such things, it only means they have a problem with their thinking. As for you saying Sister Li might misunderstand my intentions, that's even less likely. She has a child, and I have a child. We can't possibly end up together. Her focus is entirely on raising her child!"
"Don't take this lightly. From now on, you should interact less with Liu Dongmei. If anything needs to be said, I'll say it to her myself," Liu Chunsheng didn't want any rumors about his son being involved with a widow.
Liu Yifeng nodded. "Okay, I'll try to keep my distance from Sister Li from now on."
"I'm doing this for your reputation. If rumors spread, it's hard to get rid of them," Liu Chunsheng explained.
"I understand!"
"Oh, right. Didn't you go sell wild mushrooms with CEO Su? Have they been sold?" Liu Chunsheng suddenly remembered.
Liu Yifeng smiled and took out over ten thousand yuan in cash from his pocket. "Dad, this is the money from selling the mushrooms. A little over twelve thousand yuan in total."
"You sold this much? How did you do it?" Liu Chunsheng was shocked by the thick wad of cash.
Liu Yifeng chuckled. "These are the prices the elderly gentleman who bought them offered. The matsutake alone sold for two thousand yuan per jin, and the cheapest white mushroom sold for two hundred yuan per jin. That's how we got this much."
Liu Chunsheng found it hard to believe. "Matsutake at two thousand yuan a jin? Are they really that valuable?"
"Dad, that Old Master Zhao who ate the wild mushrooms probably ate more of them than I eat rice. He knows the price of wild mushrooms better than anyone. Our wild mushrooms are of excellent quality, so they're worth this price."
Even after his son's explanation, Liu Chunsheng still found it hard to comprehend. "What's so delicious about these wild mushrooms that he'd spend two thousand yuan a jin on them? I certainly wouldn't."
"Dad, he's the former president of the Calligraphy Association, and his children are businessmen. They have more money than they can spend. When they find food they like, they'll spend two thousand, even twenty thousand yuan a jin." Liu Yifeng said with a smile.
Liu Chunsheng pouted. "If people are still buying them at twenty thousand a jin, they've got problems. No matter how delicious wild mushrooms are, they're still just mushrooms. With that money, one could buy a house or a car."
"Dad, that's because you've lived through hard times, so you have that mindset. When I earn a lot of money in the future, you'll be like that Old Master Zhao."
"No matter how much money I have, I won't spend it like that. Money doesn't grow on trees. If you spend carelessly, even a rich family will be ruined," Liu Chunsheng snorted, clearly disagreeing with Liu Yifeng.
Liu Yifeng didn't want to argue with his father about this. "Dad, I'll go bring the peanuts back from the field. You shouldn't pick them anymore either. Tomorrow morning, I'll find some kids to help pick the peanuts and pay them for their work."
"We only have two small peanut fields. Why bother finding others? I can pick them myself," Liu Chunsheng was not one to sit idle.
Liu Yifeng replied, "Dad, hiring kids to pick peanuts won't cost more than two hundred yuan. Let them earn some pocket money for the upcoming school year, right?"
"Alright then, you find the kids tomorrow. As for how much to pay them, I'll decide!" Liu Chunsheng was less resistant when he heard it was for children to earn pocket money.
Seeing that his father had agreed, Liu Yifeng then pushed the cart to the peanut field.
In the evening, Liu Chunsheng stir-fried some of the wild mushrooms Liu Yifeng had left. They were indeed exceptionally fresh and delicious, tasting several times better than meat, and even better than the vegetables Liu Yifeng grew. It was no wonder Old Master Zhao was willing to pay such a high price for them.
Liu Yifeng pondered, "If only I could cultivate matsutake myself. Even if I sold them for a thousand yuan per jin instead of two thousand, selling a few hundred jin would bring in over a million yuan in income. If I grew a lot, tens of millions would be a matter of minutes." However, he knew this was just wishful thinking. "What are wild mushrooms? Aren't they fungi that grow in the wild? If I grow them myself, how can they still be called wild mushrooms!"
After dinner, Tongtong went back to the study. The potion he was developing was nearing completion, with only the final step remaining. Liu Yifeng hadn't asked about Tongtong's progress since dinner, mainly to avoid putting too much psychological pressure on him. He believed in Tongtong's abilities; if he said he could develop it, he definitely could.
Just then, he remembered something and immediately called Du Ziheng. "Brother Du, I probably won't be able to supply you with crayfish for the next ten days to half a month."
"What happened? Are there problems with the crayfish?" Du Ziheng had been making a fortune from the crayfish lately. Hearing that he wouldn't be able to sell them for so long naturally made him anxious.
"Brother Du, listen to me. Didn't you say this morning that I should cultivate crayfish eggs myself? I think you're right. It's better to rely on ourselves. Since the farm owner is unwilling to sell me crayfish, and buying them from out of town is inconvenient, why not be self-sufficient? Let the crayfish in my fields lay eggs, and then I'll figure out how to breed them in a cycle, so I don't have to buy them from outside."
Du Ziheng strongly agreed. "What Brother Liu said is right, I support you. But ten days to half a month isn't enough for the crayfish to lay eggs, is it?"
"You don't need to worry about that, Brother Du. I have my own ways. Once my crayfish lay eggs, supplying tens of thousands of jin a day won't be a problem." Liu Yifeng was very confident about this.
"With your words, Brother Liu, what else do I have to worry about? If you need anything, just tell me," Du Ziheng said with a smile.
"Not at the moment. If I do, I'll trouble you, Brother Du," Liu Yifeng smiled back.
"That's right. Speaking of which, didn't we discuss opening a rural guesthouse together? I've hired a professional design team to draft the blueprints for the guesthouse. I've seen the initial drafts, and I think they're quite good. Are you free tomorrow? I'll bring them over for you to see."
"I'm free. But please don't go to the trouble, Brother Du. I still need to deliver vegetables to Long Teng Hotel tomorrow. After delivering the vegetables, I'll come straight to you."
Du Ziheng nodded. "That works too. I'll have the driver come early tomorrow to transport the vegetables. Remember to prepare the vegetables."
"Don't worry about that. The vegetables are already prepared. They can come and pick them up directly tomorrow!"
After chatting for a few more minutes, Liu Yifeng hung up the phone.
At 9:30 PM, Tongtong finally emerged from his study.
"Daddy, I've developed the potion. It needs to settle overnight to solidify before I can put it in the shrimp ponds to take effect!" Tongtong said to Liu Yifeng.
Liu Yifeng stroked Tongtong's head. "Thank you, Tongtong. You've been a great help to Daddy."
"It's what Tongtong should do!" After speaking, Tongtong rubbed his eyes, seeming sleepy.
Seeing this, Liu Yifeng immediately took him to take a bath. Lying in bed, Tongtong fell asleep after a short while. Liu Yifeng, however, couldn't sleep. He knew Tongtong always missed his mother. He just didn't want to say it for fear of making Liu Yifeng unhappy. This was also why he was close to Su Wanru. If you look closely, Su Wanru and Yun Duo'er bear some resemblance, especially in their eyes. At first, he hadn't noticed their similarity. It was when he came back this afternoon and stopped at a red light that he saw news about Yun Duo'er. It was a clip from a variety show. Yun Duo'er had blushed while being teased by a male guest, and that expression unexpectedly overlapped with Su Wanru's shy demeanor. Since Tongtong couldn't see his mother, he would naturally gravitate towards a woman who resembled her, as if he were interacting with his mother. Now, he could satisfy Tongtong's material needs, but not his emotional ones. Therefore, he had to find a way to get Yun Duo'er to agree to see Tongtong. He needed some time to figure out how. In any case, he would ensure Tongtong saw his mother in the short term! Liu Yifeng gently touched Tongtong's cheek, his gaze filled with determination.
The next morning, Liu Yifeng eagerly went to Tongtong's study. Tongtong had said that the potion needed to solidify to be effective. He wanted to see if the potion had solidified. Entering Tongtong's study, he saw many bottles and jars on the desk, filled with liquids of various colors. He couldn't immediately tell which one was the potion Tongtong had mentioned. Just then, Tongtong's voice came from behind him.
"Daddy, are you looking for the potion?"
Liu Yifeng turned around and saw his sleepy son. He immediately picked him up. "Tongtong, why are you awake? Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"No need, Tongtong isn't sleepy. Daddy, put me down." Liu Yifeng then placed Tongtong on the ground. Tongtong walked directly to the desk and picked up a graduated beaker.