Chapter 80: Drinking Hearty, Eating Heavy

Early the next morning, Li Jiagen arrived with a freshly slaughtered Lamb.

As he stepped through the gate, he greeted Cao Jianguo, who was sweeping the yard. “Jianguo-ge, keeping busy?”

“Just tidying up the place since I had nothing better to do. Come on in and have a smoke,” Cao Jianguo said, quickly brushing the fallen leaves aside and setting down his broom, ready to pull Li Jiagen inside.

Li Jiagen pointed to the lamb meat laid out on a plastic sheet in the back of his electric tricycle. Still a bit bloody, he asked, “Jianguo-ge, was it your eldest who bought this…”

Before he could finish, Cao Jianguo nodded. “Shujie bought it. He told me yesterday. Jiagen, let me call him out.”

No need to call—Cao Shujie was already stepping out of the house. When he saw Li Jiagen, he grinned and said, “Uncle Li, sorry to trouble you.”

“Hey, this is my job—it’s how I make a living. No trouble at all,” Li Jiagen replied cheerfully. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. “The lamb weighed 102.5 jin, so we’ll round it to 102. After removing the skin and the inedible parts, here’s the meat, bones, and offal.”

“Total comes to 1,040.40 yuan. Just give me a flat 1,000,” he offered.

At that price, he wasn’t making any profit. But sometimes, things more important than money are at stake.

Cao Shujie understood. He handed over the money without hesitation and even tried to get Li Jiagen to stay for a meal.

But Li Jiagen said he still had work to do today and would be heading to the market again tomorrow.

Hearing that, Cao Jianguo and Cao Shujie didn’t insist. As Li Jiagen was about to leave, Cao Shujie went into the south room and brought out two bottles of good liquor for him to take home and enjoy.

Just from the look of the bottles, they weren’t cheap. In a way, that made up for the discount he gave.

Li Jiagen tried to refuse, but Cao Shujie said, “Uncle Li, take the wine. I’ve leased some land, and once I’ve got it sorted, I plan to raise some cattle and lamb. I’ll definitely need your help again.”

Hearing that, Li Jiagen finally accepted and told him to reach out anytime he needed.

…

When Cheng Xiaolin and little Mengmeng got up and came out of the bedroom, they found her husband and father-in-law in the courtyard washing meat.

The strong smell of mutton left no room for doubt. Curious, Mengmeng ran over to take a look.

Daha and Erha barked like mad, instinctively wanting a bite of the meat.

Cao Jianguo tossed them some of the discarded bits to gnaw on.

“Grandpa, what’s that?” Mengmeng asked, her little face full of curiosity.

Seeing his granddaughter, Cao Jianguo beamed. “That’s mutton. Once it’s stewed, it’ll smell amazing. Mengmeng, you’ve got to eat plenty today.”

“Okay! I want meat! Lots of meat!” Mengmeng shouted, nodding enthusiastically.

“Shujie, how much did you buy?” Cheng Xiaolin looked at the huge pile of meat, wondering how they were ever going to finish it.

“102 jin live weight. Cost me 1,000 yuan. Pretty cheap,” Cao Shujie replied.

But the way he said it made you want to smack him.

These days, most people earn under 2,000 yuan a month—less in the countryside. And he just blew half a month’s salary on a single lamb? What a show-off.

“When’s Zhen-ge and the others getting here?” Cheng Xiaolin asked, ignoring him.

“They just called. Said they’re on the way. Should be here in half an hour tops,” Cao Shujie grinned.

“When they get here, how about we head down to the Yellow River and catch some fish? Add a little something to the meal?”

“Daddy, I wanna go too!” Mengmeng jumped up and down excitedly.

Cheng Xiaolin was interested too, but pointed at the mutton still being prepped. “If we all go to the river, what about this?”

“You guys go. I’ll stay and keep an eye on things,” Cao Jianguo offered.

…

Cao Zhen, Cao Shuyang, Cao Shulun, Cao Fei, and Cao Tiemin all came back together in Cao Tiemin’s minivan.

After arriving in Cao Family Village, they each went home to drop off their stuff before gathering at Cao Shujie’s place.

Cao Zhen lived closest. When he arrived, he found Cao Shujie in the courtyard, using a metal drum stove to boil a huge pot of meat.

Seeing the pot full to the brim, Cao Zhen was stunned. “Shujie, how much meat did you get?”

“I bought a whole lamb. What do you think? Enough for you guys this time?”

“That must’ve cost over a thousand, right? It’s just us few brothers—why go all out like this?” Cao Zhen said, his words sharp as ever, though his tone betrayed a hint of warmth.

Cao Shujie knew his temperament and couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Just then, Cao Jianguo came out of the house. Cao Zhen quickly called out, “Uncle, I just got home and heard from my mom that you took a fall. This bastard Shujie didn’t even tell me! I would’ve come back sooner to check on you.”

“I’m fine now. Don’t overthink it. Just focus on working hard and earning money out there,” Cao Jianguo said with a smile.

Before long, Cao Shuyang, Cao Shulun, Cao Fei, and Cao Tiemin all showed up. The water in the big pot was already boiling, and a layer of scum floated on top. They’d need to change the water and reboil it.

Cao Shuyang clapped a hand on Cao Shujie’s back. “Damn, we’re gonna eat like kings today.”

“Shuyang, why don’t you quit your job and come farm with me? Eat well and drink better every day,” Cao Shujie teased.

But Cao Shuyang didn’t take the bait. He worked at a highway toll station—not a high salary, but great benefits.

Plus, the highway system was being restructured into a corporate model, and word was salaries would go up. No way he was giving that up.

Sure, he knew that Shujie’s income from leasing land and growing fruit was higher than his. But just thinking about toiling in the fields under the blazing sun made him shudder. That life wasn’t for him.

Cao Fei chimed in, “If it weren’t for my kid still in school, I’d come back and lease land too.”

“Yeah, right, Cao Fei. You think growing fruit is that easy? Did you even see how much Shujie invested up front?” Cao Tiemin cut in, raising his voice. “When I got home just now, my mom said Shujie poured in five to six hundred thousand at the start.”

“For real?” he asked, turning to Cao Shujie.

Shujie just smiled and said nothing.

Seeing the look on his face, the guys all knew it was going to cost a pretty penny—maybe even more than expected—so no one brought up the idea of planting fruit trees back home again.

They were fine with making money this way, but they all understood they’d have to invest first, and whether they’d actually turn a profit in the end was still up in the air.

“Aren’t you guys going fishing? Go ahead, we’ll drink and eat when you get back,” Cao Jianguo said to them.

Mengmeng had already grown restless. The moment she saw Grandfather speak, she chimed in, “Daddy, let’s go!”

“Alright, alright, we’re going,” Cao Shujie said, rubbing his temples.

Cao Zhen and the others were also getting antsy.

Once Cao Shujie grabbed the fish nets and finished talking to his parents, he called his wife and kid to head out with him.

That’s when he noticed there was an electric tricycle parked at the door, with several large fish nets loaded in the back—clearly, they’d come prepared.

Two tricycles and an electric scooter carried the group of eight—seven adults and one child—toward the Yellow River.

Daha and Erha were too busy enjoying their lamb meat to bother following their little master out to play today.

“Wife, once we get there, just stay on the shore and keep an eye on Mengmeng—and the fish we catch,” Cao Shujie said to his wife on the way.

Cheng Xiaolin knew the Yellow River’s current was strong right now, and she was worried something might actually happen to Mengmeng, so she readily agreed.

(End of chapter)