Chapter 222: Picking String Beans

Zhou Yimin said, “As for this matter, I’ll see if there’s anything I can do in the future, but for now, it’s definitely not something we can buy.”

“Alright then! I’ll leave it to you,” Luo Dapeng could only accept it.

He knew full well that if he were too high-profile and caught the attention of the wrong people, the fact that he had been reselling such a large quantity of supplies could land him decades in prison—or worse, a bullet to the head.

Zhou Yimin said, “Let’s leave it at that for tonight. After a while, the three of us can meet up again. I’ve got something to take care of early tomorrow.”

“Alright, you go ahead,” Luo Dapeng said tactfully.

He knew that the changes in his family’s situation were all thanks to the opportunities Zhou Yimin had given him. Otherwise, he’d still be hanging around on the streets.

After Wang Jianguo returned to Shangshui Village and told the village chief about the plan to purchase eight thousand jin of vegetables the next day, Village Chief Wang immediately gathered everyone in the village. Eight thousand jin was no small amount—if they didn’t prepare in advance and Zhou Yimin showed up with his team before they’d finished harvesting, it would leave a poor impression. After all, this was their first formal cooperation.

With the village chief’s summons, the villagers of Shangshui Village soon gathered at the meeting spot.

The meeting spot was just the grain drying yard.

Once everyone had arrived, Village Chief Wang raised his voice and said, “Comrade Zhou Yimin from Zhoujiazhuang will bring people from the steel factory tomorrow to purchase eight thousand jin of vegetables. So tomorrow, we need to start work early.”

The villagers understood how important this was, so no one spoke out—they simply listened to the chief’s arrangements.

Wang Jianguo then asked, “Village Chief, what time should we start?”

“We’ll begin at four in the morning,” Village Chief Wang replied after a moment’s thought.

Though some villagers weren’t thrilled about it, harvesting vegetables was a big deal for the whole village. So at most, there were only a few half-hearted complaints.

Once the chief had finished giving instructions, everyone went home to rest. After all, they’d have to wake up early the next day. If they didn’t rest now, there wouldn’t be enough time to recover.

The next morning, just past three o’clock, the villagers of Shangshui Village got up and started their day’s work—harvesting vegetables.

Because today’s task was heavy, Village Chief Wang assigned groups and said, “Jianguo, you’ll take some people over there to pick.”

He had specifically planned this to give Wang Jianguo some experience. After all, he was getting older and needed to train someone up to take over.

After assigning the groups, everyone got moving.

Given how important the task was, every able-bodied person came out to help. Only those who were either very old or very young were excluded. Everyone else joined in to pick string beans.

Village Chief Wang entered the fields and continued organizing the groups. “We’ll split into four teams and pick separately. And remember—pick properly! Don’t just go through the motions.”

String beans had a high yield, and after one round of picking, they would keep producing, much like Chinese chives. That’s part of why they were so popular among rural folks.

However, for those who didn’t like eating string beans, it was torture. Eating them for several months straight could make you sick of even seeing them.

This brings up something interesting about people from Shandong: they really do love their string beans.

Another strange fact—not everyone knows this—is that string beans can be poisonous.

That might sound unbelievable to many people.

But string beans do contain toxins. If you don’t eat them often, you might not feel it.

The main issue is eating string beans that haven’t been fully cooked. If they’re undercooked, the toxins inside don’t break down completely and can cause poisoning.

Reportedly, string beans contain two main toxic substances: saponins and phytohemagglutinins.

Saponins, in particular, strongly irritate mucous membranes and can cause gastrointestinal issues.

Unknowingly, the villagers of Shangshui had already been working for more than three hours straight.

At seven o’clock sharp, Zhou Yimin got up. If it weren’t for today’s task, he would’ve slept in. There was no need to suffer needlessly—as long as he got the job done, that was enough.

As soon as he stepped out his front door, he saw women doing laundry or handling other chores.

Once he exited the main gate of the courtyard house, he noticed a long line outside the public toilet nearby.

Every time he saw this kind of scene, he felt all the more certain that building private bathrooms back then had been the right decision. Otherwise, he’d be squeezing into public toilets with everyone else—and just thinking about the smell made him shudder.

Riding a bike would normally take about ten minutes, but walking there would take almost half an hour.

Zhao Dezhi greeted him, “Team lead Zhou, out this early today?”

Normally, he only saw Zhou Yimin around noon or sometimes not for days. This was the first time he’d seen him out so early.

“Brother Zhao, I’m heading to a village to buy vegetables today, so I had to get up early,” Zhou Yimin replied.

As he spoke, he took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, and handed it over.

Zhao Dezhi didn’t hesitate and lit up on the spot.

Zhou Yimin walked into the steel factory and headed straight to the finance department. After all, they were buying such a large amount of vegetables—ideally, someone from finance should tag along.

In Zhoujiazhuang, it didn’t matter. The villagers all trusted that the money would be paid. But it was different in Shangshui Village. It was best to pay them on the spot.

When he arrived at the finance office, he saw someone already waiting there.

The woman noticed him and quickly stepped forward. “Team lead Zhou, hello! I’m Zhang Yi from the finance department.”

This was the first time she’d seen Zhou Yimin up close. In the steel factory, pretty much everyone had heard of him—not only was he capable, but he was also young and handsome.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Zhou Yimin apologized.

Zhang Yi softly replied, “Not at all, Team lead Zhou. I just got here.”

“Time is tight. Let’s walk and talk,” Zhou Yimin suggested.

He then led Zhang Yi toward the transport department. The steel factory truly lived up to its reputation as a ten-thousand-strong operation—the campus was big, and the transport department was all the way in a remote corner. Just walking there took over ten minutes.

Zhou Yimin approached the relevant personnel. “I’m Zhou Yimin from the Procurement Department. This is a slip signed by our department head.”

He handed over the slip.

“Oh, Team lead Zhou—got it! I’m Li Feng, team leader from the transport department,” the man introduced himself.

Li Feng took the slip and examined it carefully. Everything checked out.

Zhou Yimin said, “Nice to meet you, Team Leader Li.”

“Are we heading out now?” Li Feng asked.

The transport department was usually understaffed. Right now, all the team members had tasks assigned and hadn’t returned yet, so he had no choice but to go in person.

He had heard of Zhou Yimin’s reputation but never thought he’d get a chance to meet him. After all, Zhou Yimin was a rising star in the steel factory—getting to know him could come in handy in the future.

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Yes, the distance isn’t far, but the earlier we go, the earlier we can get back.”

“Alright, let’s head out now then!” Li Feng replied without wasting time.

(End of Chapter)