Chapter 53: Just Want to Make a Friend

Sitting in the back seat, Cheng Xiaolin held her daughter Mengmeng in her arms. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she too drifted off to sleep.

Up front, Cao Shujie glanced in the rearview mirror, an involuntary gentle smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

He turned down the air conditioning a bit and eased off the gas. Even so, it still took over an hour before they finally made it back to Pingyuan County Town.

After that, he turned the car around and headed straight for Daliu Town, where Ji Guangyou lived.

About twenty minutes later, Cao Shujie arrived. The moment the car stopped, Cheng Xiaolin, who had been sleeping soundly, woke up. Still groggy, she rubbed her eyes and asked, “Honey, how much longer till we get there?”

“We’re here. You woke up at just the right time,” Cao Shujie said, thoroughly impressed.

That’s when Cheng Xiaolin realized she’d slept the whole way. She glanced down at Mengmeng, who was still fast asleep with her head on her lap, and felt a little embarrassed. “How did I fall asleep?”

“Mengmeng, wake up. Look outside, what do you see?”

It took a bit of coaxing before Mengmeng finally woke up, still a little dazed. She asked Cheng Xiaolin, “Mom, are we home? Where’s Grandmother?”

“We’re not home yet. Your dad has some business to take care of here,” Cheng Xiaolin explained.

By then, Cao Shujie had gotten out of the car and called Ji Guangyou. Not long after, a tanned, middle-aged man in his forties came over.

When he saw Cao Shujie, his face lit up, and he started waving even before he got close. “Brother Cao, how come you didn’t tell me you were coming?”

He sounded a bit put out, but Cao Shujie explained softly, “Brother Ji, I’m really sorry. I just got back from out of town and happened to be passing by. I figured since I had some extra cash, I’d settle up the money I owe you for the fruit tree saplings.”

“Oh, there’s no rush for that!” Ji Guangyou said, waving his hand generously. “Brother Cao, come on, let’s go to my place and sit for a while. Stay for dinner.”

As he spoke, he noticed Cheng Xiaolin and Mengmeng getting out of the car. He slapped his forehead. “Oh, this must be your wife and daughter, right? Brother Cao, why didn’t you say so?”

“Hello, Boss Ji,” Cheng Xiaolin greeted him.

Ji Guangyou smiled warmly. “Don’t call me ‘boss.’ I’m just an old farmer who raises saplings in the countryside. Just call me ‘big brother’ like your husband does.”

He looked down at Mengmeng. “And what’s your name, little one?”

“Mengmeng!” she replied sweetly, then called out, “Hello, Uncle!”

“Well, aren’t you a polite little thing! Brother Cao, your wife has done a great job raising her,” Ji Guangyou said, his words smooth and practiced—nothing like the simple fruit farmer he appeared to be.

Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin felt quite pleased hearing that.

Cao Shujie picked up his daughter, and together with his wife, followed Ji Guangyou to his house.

“Brother Cao, you don’t have any plans tonight, do you? Stay and have a drink with me?” Ji Guangyou said enthusiastically.

But Cao Shujie pointed at his wife and child. “Big brother, I just came from my mother-in-law’s place and happened to pass by. I wanted to settle up the sapling money. I already told my mom we’d be home tonight.”

“Oh, that’s easy. Just call your mom and tell her you’ll eat here first, then head home after. It won’t be too late,” Ji Guangyou insisted.

Afraid Cao Shujie might leave, he added, “Brother Cao, if you want, I can call your dad. We know each other anyway.”

With things said to this point, Cao Shujie didn’t insist on leaving. He wanted to build a good relationship with Ji Guangyou, after all.

Not to mention, he’d been to Ji Guangyou’s greenhouse and seen the variety of kiwi fruit saplings and other fruit trees—his selection was impressive.

Cao Shujie had just leased 78 mu of mountain land, but so far he’d only planted 40 mu of kiwi fruit and 10 mu of apples, leaving 28 mu still empty.

He was still considering what else to plant.

Some of the land he was reserving for livestock.

He knew he’d definitely be doing business with Ji Guangyou again in the future.

Before dinner, Cao Shujie settled the accounts with Ji Guangyou.

He’d used trellis planting in his mountain land, with 74 kiwi fruit saplings per mu—actually about ten fewer than the standard number.

Back then, Gao Fengting and the others had pointed this out to him, but Cao Shujie was set on his plan, so they didn’t push it.

He’d bought 0.8-meter-tall red-fleshed and yellow-fleshed kiwi fruit saplings to ensure a high survival rate after transplanting.

They’d agreed on a price of 8 yuan per sapling, and with 86 male and female kiwi saplings per mu (adjusted to a 1:6 male-to-female ratio), the cost per mu was 688 yuan. For 40 mu, that came to 27,520 yuan.

The apple trees were planted at about the same density—76 per mu—but at a higher price of 15 yuan each, totaling 11,400 yuan.

All together, he’d spent 38,920 yuan on fruit tree saplings.

Ji Guangyou was straightforward—after tallying up the bill, he rounded off the 20 yuan change.

Cao Shujie joked, “Big brother, since you’re rounding off, why not just knock off the 8,900 yuan too?”

Ji Guangyou was no fool. He didn’t find it hard to say no at all. “Brother Cao, that’s just not possible. The saplings I gave you are all top quality.”

“To be honest, at that price, I’m barely breaking even. I just wanted to get to know you, Brother Cao, and hopefully work together more in the future.”

…

When Cao Shujie left Ji Guangyou’s house, Ji Guangyou even packed up a few pots of flowers for them, saying they were all cultivated in his greenhouse.

Cheng Xiaolin was delighted. Back in Beijing, she’d kept six different kinds of flowers on her balcony, but couldn’t bring them home, so she’d ended up giving them to her colleagues at the kindergarten.

By now, it was pitch-black outside, and the streetlights along the way hadn’t been turned on. The halogen headlights on the Buick LaCrosse were only so-so, so Cao Shujie switched to high beams and drove slowly all the way back.

Luckily, they made it safely back to Cao Family Village.

Wang Yuelan heard the commotion outside and came out with a flashlight. When she saw her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, her first reaction was to scold her son. “Shujie, it’s so late—why did you come back? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay at a hotel for the night?”

“Mom, it’s fine. I know this road well,” Cao Shujie said quickly, but it was no use. Wang Yuelan gave him a thorough scolding, saying it wasn’t safe to drive so late in the dark. If he didn’t care about himself, he should at least think of his wife and child.

“Grandmother, I’m tired,” Mengmeng said, instantly shifting Wang Yuelan’s attention. She stopped nagging, picked up her granddaughter, and led her daughter-in-law back inside.

That left Cao Shujie alone outside, tidying up, as if he weren’t even her own son.

(End of Chapter)