Chapter 99: Cao Shujie Busy as a Dog

Watching Cao Jiangang ride his bike back into the Village Committee Courtyard, and seeing more people still trickling in from the street, Cao Shujie couldn’t help but wonder just how confident Uncle Hua really was about contracting the mountain land for livestock farming.

He didn’t understand why Uncle Hua, who had been doing perfectly fine running a supermarket, suddenly wanted to get into farming. The two ventures couldn’t be more different.

“Forget it, it’s none of my business. I should head home for dinner—there’s still a lot to do later,” Cao Shujie thought to himself, brushing aside the irrelevant concerns.

With that, he didn’t linger any longer and called out, “Daha, Erha, let’s go home!”

The two young German Shepherds led the way south, with Daha and Erha pulling ahead. Cao Shujie held onto four leashes, barely managing to keep up. The dogs were getting strong enough to drag him forward.

That sparked a shameless idea in his head—maybe he could build a little wooden cart, fix two sets of wheels on it, and make custom dog saddles for Daha and Erha. Then he could just let them pull him around.

Before he could decide whether to actually go through with it, he was already at his doorstep.

From the courtyard, he heard his daughter shouting, “Puppies! Grandma, the puppies are gone!”

“Nonsense, your dad took them out for a walk,” Wang Yuelan said to her granddaughter.

“Really?” Mengmeng asked.

Before Wang Yuelan could confirm, Daha and Erha barked twice upon spotting Mengmeng, immediately drawing her attention.

“Grandma, look! The puppies are back!”

“Mengmeng, didn’t I tell you?” Wang Yuelan smiled, watching her granddaughter’s delighted expression, and felt happy herself.

She turned to her son and asked, “Shujie, there’s a village meeting. You didn’t go?”

Cao Shujie was busy tying Daha and Erha to the iron rings and putting the two little German Shepherds into their cage. He also waved up at Huahua, who was lying on the rooftop, and said, “Mom, I ran into Uncle Jiangang on the way back. He asked me to attend the meeting and even wanted me to give Uncle Hua some advice. Isn’t that ridiculous? Who am I to act like some big shot?”

“To be honest, I have no idea where Uncle Hua got this idea about livestock farming. But I…” Cao Shujie hesitated a bit, then continued, “I’m not too optimistic.”

“Contracting mountain land means you’ve got to build fences, improve the terrain, and no matter what kind of animals you’re raising, you need water, electricity, and roads. Those are just the basic necessities. Mom, I’ve contracted 78 mu of mountain land, and over the past few months, I’ve already poured more than 800,000 yuan into it. Do you think Uncle Hua’s family has that kind of savings?”

Wang Yuelan didn’t respond right away.

She had watched her son build everything on the mountain bit by bit—installing wire fences one day, drilling a well and setting up automatic irrigation the next, and then paving roads after that…

She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now that it was all done, she realized just how much money her son had invested to get everything up and running.

If it all went south, the consequences would be unimaginable!

“Besides, Uncle Jiangang asking me to give Uncle Hua advice—there’s no upside to that,” Cao Shujie said, squinting. “If Uncle Hua makes money, I might not get any credit.”

“But if he loses money, Mom, guess who’s going to get blamed?”

No sooner had he said that than Wang Yuelan exploded. “That damn Cao Jiangang! He must’ve had bad intentions from the start. No way—I’m going to give him a piece of my mind!”

Seeing his mother about to storm out, Cao Shujie quickly reached out to stop her, half-laughing, half-crying. “Mom, don’t jump to conclusions. I was just saying. Maybe Uncle Jiangang didn’t think it through either!”

Wang Yuelan paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Shujie, you’ve got a point. I mean, that old man’s over sixty—how far ahead can he really think?”

Mengmeng, noticing that her dad and grandma were deep in conversation and ignoring her, ran over and hugged her dad’s leg. “Daddy, Mommy said… dinner… send peaches to Great-Uncle.”

She finally managed to get the sentence out, though it was choppy and the key part was a bit unclear. But Cao Shujie got the gist—his daughter meant they were supposed to bring some kiwi fruit to her great-uncle after dinner.

Cao Shujie tapped her little head and said, “Our Mengmeng is so thoughtful. Daddy almost forgot.”

He figured it was only right to bring some of the freshly harvested kiwi fruit to his uncle. No problem there!

“And I should send some to Grandpa’s place too, let the whole family have a taste,” he thought.

Wang Yuelan chimed in, “Shujie, don’t forget to send some to Mengmeng’s maternal grandma’s house too.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t forget,” Cao Shujie replied.

…

Meanwhile, the Village Committee Courtyard was buzzing with activity.

About half the villagers had shown up. The village leaders were already on the platform, while the villagers sat below on little stools, chatting in small groups.

They were talking about all sorts of things—whose kid was getting married, who found a good in-law, whose child got into a good university, and so on.

On stage, Cao Jiangang checked the time and called out, “Everyone quiet down, quiet down!”

But no one paid him any mind. The villagers kept chatting away. Cao Jiangang’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot. He grabbed the microphone and shouted, “Stop talking already! Can’t you hear me?”

That loud, irritable roar finally got everyone’s attention. The place fell silent as all eyes turned to the Village Party Secretary, Cao Jiangang, curious to hear what he had to say.

“Alright, everyone quiet down. I’ve got something important to share with you,” Cao Jiangang began.

The crowd hushed.

“It’s about time, and we’re not waiting for anyone else,” he said, trying to gather his thoughts. But being an old guy who never even finished middle school, his vocabulary was limited. After thinking it over, he decided to just say it plainly: “Here’s the deal—our village’s Cao Jianhua wants to contract some mountain land for livestock farming. He’s already told me his plan in detail, and the village committee and I all think it’s a solid idea!”

“We’re fully committed to supporting local economic development…”

Cao Jiangang continued speaking from the podium, but as the audience began to grasp what he was saying, confusion spread across their faces. Those sitting in the back rows started whispering among themselves again.

“What’s Cao Jianhua up to now?”

“Who knows? Maybe he’s jealous of how little Cao’s got a whole mountain planted with fruit trees and is raising cattle too.”

“Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know the facts. Maybe Cao Jianhua really wants to get into livestock farming.”

“How much mountain land do you think he’s trying to lease? Honestly, I don’t have much faith in him. He doesn’t even bother to work the fields—leaves everything to his wife. A guy that lazy raising cattle? Or pigs?”

That’s how it is in the countryside—people have sharp eyes. They might keep quiet most of the time, but when it matters, everything comes spilling out.

Because of Cao Jianhua’s plan to lease land for farming, everyone started murmuring in hushed tones.

Cao Jiangang and the village head, Gao Weimin, both frowned almost simultaneously.

This wasn’t what they had expected!

But it didn’t matter. The majority had to respect the minority’s opinion, so they left it at that.

…

At Cao Shujie’s house, he loaded another dozen boxes of kiwi fruit into the trunk, then turned to his wife and said, “Tomorrow, let’s make a trip to Mengmeng’s grandma’s place and bring her some kiwi fruit.”

“No need, is there? Driving all that way just to drop off two boxes of kiwi fruit—it’s not even worth the gas,” Cheng Xiaolin shook her head.

Cao Shujie shot her a look. “Wife, what kind of attitude is that? These are from our own orchard. It’s not about the value—it’s the thought that counts, got it?”

“Besides, couldn’t you bring something else too? You say you’re bringing kiwi fruit, and that’s all you’re taking? And you call yourself a mother?” Not bothering to argue further, Cao Shujie turned and walked out.

Cheng Xiaolin chased after him, itching to give him a couple of kicks, but her mother-in-law was standing nearby, watching with a smile, so she felt too embarrassed to make a scene.

Wang Yuelan, watching her granddaughter run around the yard with nothing to do, asked, “Mengmeng, want to come up the mountain with me for a bit?”

“Mom, what are you going up the mountain for?” Cheng Xiaolin asked.

“I want to check on the fruit saplings, see how they’re growing. The grass in the fields needs cutting to feed the cattle. If I do it myself, we can save on hiring extra hands.”

Hearing her mother-in-law say that, Cheng Xiaolin didn’t know how to argue back. In the end, she said, “Then I’ll go with you.”

“It’s so hot out. Why bother? It’s much cooler staying home,” Wang Yuelan replied.

But Cheng Xiaolin protested, “Mom, if you can go, why can’t I? That doesn’t make any sense.”

After a bit of back-and-forth, the two of them ended up riding the electric tricycle together, wearing hats as they headed up to the orchard in the mountains.

…

Cao Shujie drove into town and first stopped by his uncle Wang Jialiang’s house. Only his aunt, Meng Yanmei, was home, watching over her grandson, Wang Bing.

Seeing Cao Shujie arrive, Meng Yanmei came out with a smile. “Shujie, not busy today?”

“Auntie, Bingbing, the kiwi fruit in the orchard just ripened, so I brought you some,” Cao Shujie said, carrying three boxes of kiwi fruit over and setting them down in front of her.

Being remembered by her nephew made Meng Yanmei genuinely happy. “Shujie, come inside and have a glass of water.”

“Auntie, I’ve got a few other things to take care of, so I won’t stay. I’ll drop by another time with my wife and Mengmeng to visit you and Uncle.”

Only then did Meng Yanmei realize the little rascal wasn’t with him. “Why didn’t you bring them along?”

“Auntie, I really have something to do today. If I were free, I’d definitely have brought them,” Cao Shujie explained.

Hearing that, Meng Yanmei didn’t insist.

Watching him rush in, drop off two boxes of kiwi fruit, and rush out again, she couldn’t help but sigh. “Ah, young people are always so busy.”

“Grandma, what’s that?” her grandson Wang Bing asked, pointing at the boxes of kiwi fruit.

“That’s kiwi fruit,” Meng Yanmei said. “I’ll put a couple with some apples to ripen them. You can eat them in a couple of days.”

“Yay!” Wang Bing clapped his hands, his little face beaming with joy.

Meanwhile, Cao Shujie drove to the Town Rural Commercial Bank. After parking, he headed straight for the loan office like he knew the place well.

*Knock knock.*

He knocked twice on the door. From inside came Ma Changrong’s voice, “Come in!”

When Cao Shujie pushed the door open and stepped inside, Ma Changrong saw who it was and immediately smiled. “Mr. Cao, what brings you here?”

Seeing there were others in the office, Cao Shujie said, “Manager Ma, no rush on my end. You go ahead with your business.”

“All right, have a seat,” Ma Changrong replied, not standing on ceremony. He gestured for Cao Shujie to make himself some tea.

About five minutes later, Ma Changrong shook hands with his client and saw them out. Then he came over and sat across from Cao Shujie. “Mr. Cao, what brings you here today?”

“The kiwi fruit in my old orchard just ripened. I brought you a few boxes,” Cao Shujie said, turning to fetch four boxes from his car and carrying them in.

“Just picked yesterday—still fresh. Try them after you ripen them a bit and see how they taste.”

Ma Changrong couldn’t wait to open a box. Seeing the plump, round kiwi fruit inside, he asked in surprise, “These are huge—are they the jumbo variety?”

“Yep, all big ones. The flavor’s great too,” Cao Shujie said, praising his own goods.

Ma Changrong nodded. “All right, I’ll give them a try.”

Right in front of Cao Shujie, he grabbed a plastic bag, put a few kiwi fruit inside, then pulled a banana out of his drawer and added it to the bag. “I don’t have many hobbies, but I do like fruit. These kiwi fruit look delicious.”

“Haha, if you like them, Manager Ma, bring your wife and son over sometime to pick them fresh. Even better,” Cao Shujie replied.

Putting that aside, Ma Changrong asked, “So, Mr. Cao, how’s the kiwi fruit selling?”

“It’s not on sale yet—I just picked a small batch yesterday,” Cao Shujie said. “Honestly, the reason I’ve come this far is all thanks to the unwavering support from friends like you. Since I’ve got some on hand, I figured I’d bring a little over for you to try.”

Ma Changrong actually believed him. He had no idea that Cao Shujie’s kiwifruit didn’t have a market yet.

Ma Changrong also told him about the meeting he attended at the head office yesterday. “They’re still assigning us new tasks from the top,” he said.

That reminded him of something. With a smile, he added, “Mr. Cao, it’s perfect that you stopped by today. I wanted to let you know—the loan you applied for has basically been approved. It’ll be disbursed in a little while.”

“Really? That’s great news—I’m in desperate need of funds right now!” Cao Shujie beamed.

Ma Changrong held up two fingers. “Anyway, the approved amount won’t be less than this.”

“Alright, Manager Ma. Let’s find a day that works for you—invite Manager Song too, and we’ll all have a meal together,” Cao Shujie said, already formulating a plan in his mind.

Relationships are built and maintained bit by bit, just like this.

After making a few rounds in Qingshi Town, Cao Shujie noticed his gas tank was running low. He stopped by Weiming Gas Station to refuel and, while he was at it, gifted the station owner, Liu Weiming, a box of kiwifruit. Liu Weiming was over the moon and gave him a 20% discount on the gas.

“Boss Liu, when you’ve got some free time, come by my place and pick your own. Freshly picked fruit is even more nutritious,” Cao Shujie said smoothly.

Liu Weiming was in a great mood. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely come when I get the chance,” he replied.

(End of this chapter)