Chapter 235: Over Sixty Tons of Longan
Chapter 235: Over Sixty Tons of Longan
Monday, the 27th of the sixth lunar month.
At six in the morning, Deng Shirong got up, washed up, and without even making breakfast, he hopped on his bicycle and headed to Bai Ping Farm.
Of course, he didn't make breakfast at home, but he had plenty of food stored in his system space. He could take it out whenever he needed, so he wouldn't go hungry.
Half an hour later, Deng Shirong arrived at Bai Ping Farm.
On the farm's open ground, about a dozen workers were busy. They were all women, tasked with trimming the leaves from the massive piles of longan to make them look more presentable before packing them into bamboo baskets.
To the side, there were already two or three dozen baskets of trimmed and packed longan.
Seeing Deng Shirong arrive, the farm manager greeted him, "Comrade Deng, you’re here!"
Deng Shirong parked his bicycle and looked around, impressed. "Manager, you all are really fast!"
The manager laughed. "We may not have much, but we have plenty of people. As the great leader said, more people means more power, so everything gets done quickly."
Deng Shirong noticed more workers continuously bringing down longan from the mountains and asked, "Manager, can we start loading the longan onto the trucks now?"
The manager nodded. "Sure, we can start anytime."
"Then let's get started!" Deng Shirong said.
The manager called out to the other workers to help with the loading.
As a state-run farm, Bai Ping Farm had fixed assets exceeding ten million yuan and certainly wasn't short of medium tractors, hand-guided tractors, or trucks.
Since the longan only needed to be transported to the Tan Lian station, they didn't need to use the trucks. Medium tractors and hand-guided tractors were enough.
With so many hands, the loading was quick. The scales were also loaded onto the vehicles.
Deng Shirong then said goodbye to the manager and led the way on his bicycle.
The distance from the farm to the Tan Lian station was only a few hundred meters, and it took less than five minutes for Deng Shirong to lead the tractors to the two mud-brick houses he had rented a few days ago.
Next, they opened the doors, and the farm workers started unloading the longan. Some moved the scales, others weighed the longan, and still others recorded the weights. Additional workers helped move the weighed longan into the mud-brick houses.
Everyone knew their roles, and the efficiency was impressive.
Deng Shirong stood by, only needing to check the scales and the accounts.
One hundred pounds, one thousand pounds, ten thousand pounds... thirty thousand pounds...
Starting from just before seven in the morning, the farm delivered a total of 31,264 pounds of longan by around ten in the morning.
Given the farm's capabilities, they could have harvested more if they had put in full effort. However, this was done at Deng Shirong's request to limit the daily harvest to around thirty thousand pounds. More than that would have been difficult to store in the two mud-brick houses.
After all, Deng Shirong needed to find a time when no one was around to store the longan in his system space. He couldn't do it in front of everyone.
After the accounts were settled, the farm worker in charge of recording the weights said goodbye to Deng Shirong, had the scales taken back, and left with the tractors for the farm.
When the farm workers first brought the longan over, the nearby villagers were curious and came to take a look. However, there was nothing particularly exciting to see, so they soon dispersed.
Now, with no one around, Deng Shirong quickly stored all the longan from the two mud-brick houses into his system space.
After finishing, he didn't immediately leave. Instead, he stayed nearby for about two hours to ensure no one approached the mud-brick houses. Only then did he ride his bicycle away, confident that no one would notice how the longan was transported.
Over the next three days, the process was repeated.
Over four days, Bai Ping Farm delivered a total of 126,837 pounds of longan to Deng Shirong.
By now, all the longan on the farm had been harvested. According to the purchase agreement, the price was 0.29 yuan per pound. The total for 126,837 pounds was 36,782.73 yuan.
Since Deng Shirong also bought the 1,200 bamboo baskets from the farm, he had to add 1,000 yuan, bringing the total to 37,782.73 yuan.
After settling the accounts with the farm's finance department, Deng Shirong took out a bag of tightly bundled banknotes and counted out 35,782.70 yuan. He handed it to the farm's finance officer, saying, "I already paid a 2,000 yuan deposit. Here is 35,782.70 yuan. Please count it to ensure it's correct."
Although the finance officer had been counting the money alongside Deng Shirong, financial transactions required multiple checks. Especially for finance personnel, there could be no room for error when it came to money.
Thus, the finance officer counted the money twice, ensuring the amount was correct, before smiling and saying, "Comrade Deng, the amount is correct. I'll take the money back to the farm. Wishing you a prosperous business."
"Thanks!"
After watching the farm workers leave, Deng Shirong continued with his previous strategy. He stored the longan fruits in his system space and stayed nearby to observe for another one to two hours. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention did he feel at ease and ride his bicycle away.
...
By the time he got home, it was already past one in the afternoon.
Sitting under the longan tree and smoking, Deng Shirong asked his second son, "Yunheng, your school is about to start soon. When do you plan to go back?"
Deng Yunheng replied, "School starts in about ten days. I plan to head to Bobai in the next couple of days and then travel with Sister Song."
Deng Shirong also needed to go to the capital to sell longan, but he didn't want to travel with his second son and his friends. On one hand, if he traveled with them, he wouldn't be able to use his system space, which would cause a lot of trouble on the road. On the other hand, he didn't want his presence to ruin their travel atmosphere. Without him, they could chat and play freely without any reservations. But if he were there, they would definitely be more cautious.
Deng Shirong took a few more puffs of his pipe, put it aside, and then pulled out five hundred yuan from his pocket, handing it to his son. "This is your living expenses for the year. You should stay in the capital for the New Year again this year. Don't bother coming back and forth."
Deng Yunheng took the money and said, "I understand. I've already made plans with some fellow Guangxi students at school. We'll stay there for the New Year."
Deng Shirong nodded. "That's good. It seems that your sister-in-law's friend, Fang, is about to give birth. I'll go ask her if she wants to give birth in the county. If she does, you can take them up with you in a couple of days."
Deng Yunheng replied, "Sure."
...
In Yangdipu Village.
At the Deng Changdong household.
Ou Guofang, heavily pregnant, sat under a grapefruit tree at the front door, chatting with her cousin, Ou Guohua, who had come over with her child.
It was the hottest part of the day, but her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband hadn't taken a break. After eating lunch, they went back up the mountain to continue clearing the land for an orchard, planning to plant lychee trees and watermelons next year.
This was what the villagers in Naye and the surrounding villages were busy with.
Ever since the Ninth Elder's family had a bountiful harvest of lychees and watermelons this year, almost everyone who heard about it wanted to follow suit. After all, a profit of several thousand yuan a year was a huge temptation that no rural family could resist.
As for her younger sister-in-law and brother-in-law, they had gone to tend to the cattle.
Their main source of income was still from raising cattle, so they had to take good care of them first.
Ou Guohua's daughter was almost three months old, and at this age, the baby was both easy to care for and fun to play with.
Ou Guofang teased the baby and then patted her belly. "I wonder if this one is a boy or a girl."
Ou Guohua laughed. "For your first child, it doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl. Look at Sister Ping. She had a girl, and her daughter, Xiaodong, is already the little princess of their family. Everyone, from her grandfather to her aunts and uncles, dotes on her like she's their eye's apple."
Ou Guofang couldn't help but laugh. "Sister Ping is a special case. In these ten or so miles, who can compare to the Ninth Elder? He doesn't have any preference for boys over girls, and neither do his children. As the only third-generation member of their family, it's natural for Xiaodong to be pampered."
"That's true."
Ou Guohua smiled and then said, "But my intuition tells me that you're carrying a boy. After all, among us three sisters, Sister Ping and I both had girls. The chances of you having a girl are pretty low."
Ou Guofang patted her belly and said, "To be honest, I actually hope it's a girl. That way, our three daughters can grow up together like we did. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
As the sisters chatted, a familiar voice interrupted them. "What are you two sisters talking about? You seem so happy!"
Ou Guofang and Ou Guohua looked up and greeted the newcomer in unison. "Ninth Elder!"
Deng Shirong looked at Ou Guofang's very pregnant belly and asked, "Fang, are you about to give birth?"
Ou Guofang smiled and answered, "Yes, according to my mother-in-law's estimation, I should give birth in about ten days."
Deng Shirong said, "When I came back, Sister Ping asked me to check if you want to go to the county to give birth."
Ou Guofang nodded. "Yes, my father-in-law and mother-in-law both agree!"
All three of them had married into this village, and Sister Ping and Cousin Hua had both gone to the county to give birth. They had learned a lot about childbirth from the professional midwives there, which made them realize the risks of giving birth at home. Naturally, she wanted to give birth in the county as well.
Deng Shirong nodded. "Alright, in a couple of days, my son Yunheng will be heading to school and will stop in Bobai first. You can go with him. You won't have to worry about food or lodging; Sister Ping has already arranged everything for you."
Ou Guofang nodded repeatedly. "Thank you, Ninth Elder. We'll go with Uncle Yunheng in a couple of days."
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(End of Chapter)
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