Chapter 100: Just Go to Cao Family Village and Buy Kiwi Fruit from Cao Shujie

Having delivered all the necessary gifts, Cao Shujie looked at the seven boxes of kiwi fruit still sitting in his car. After thinking it over, he decided not to mind the trouble. He drove another twenty minutes to Pingyuan County Town.

At the newly built Youth Plaza in the county, he unpacked all seven boxes and laid the kiwi fruit neatly on the ground in a row. Taking a deep breath, he mustered his courage and shouted loudly, “Brand-new kiwi fruit just hit the market! Today’s a special event—free samples for everyone here! One per person, pick whichever you like, while supplies last! Come and have a taste!”

This was Cao Shujie’s first time “setting up a street stall.” It felt completely different from holding meetings with subordinates back at the company. Without prior experience, it was a bit awkward.

But the people strolling through the plaza didn’t give him time to adjust. The moment they heard the word “free,” they swarmed over.

Many of them knew quality when they saw it. Just from the appearance of the kiwi fruit—large, vibrant in color—they could tell these were top-notch.

“Young man, I’ve got two kids here. One’s not enough. Can I get an extra one?” an elderly man with a kind face asked, breaking the silence while others were still wondering if this was some kind of scam.

Seeing the two children with him, Cao Shujie pointed at them and said, “Sir, you can take one, and each of the kids can take one too.”

“Oh, alright then. Thank you, young man.” The old man smiled gratefully.

He crouched down, intending to pick carefully, but seeing that all the fruits looked more or less the same in size and color, he simply grabbed three at random.

Then he looked up and asked, “Young man, your accent sounds like you’re from around Pingyuan. Where exactly are you from? Where did you grow these kiwi fruit?”

“You’ve got a sharp ear, sir. I’ve been away from home for years, and my accent’s changed a bit, but you still caught it.”

Cao Shujie grinned. “I’m from Cao Family Village in Qingshi Town. My name’s Cao Shujie. Ask anyone in the village—they’ll know me.”

The reason he came here to give out free samples was, frankly, to promote his product. He didn’t have a physical product before, so he couldn’t advertise on TV or in the papers. And with only seven acres of fruit, advertising through media would’ve been a total loss.

After weighing his options, he decided to start with grassroots marketing.

“Sir, let me tell you, this kiwi fruit is a variety I personally developed. The taste is top-notch. When you get home, ripen it with bananas or apples. Give it a proper try.”

“If it tastes good, I’ll come to Cao Family Village to find you, alright? You’re not going to set up a stall in town?” the old man asked.

Cao Shujie shook his head. “I’ve only got seven acres of mature fruit this year. Not enough to justify setting up a stall.”

That was his polite way of saying no.

He added, “But if you want to buy, you can come up to my orchard and pick fresh ones yourself. Besides kiwi fruit, I’ve got some apples too—also great taste.”

“How much per jin?” the old man asked with interest.

As soon as he asked, everyone around perked up their ears, eager to know the price of the kiwi fruit.

But Cao Shujie didn’t give a straight answer. He just smiled and said, “It’s a new variety, just hit the market. Haven’t officially started selling yet, so I haven’t set a price!”

At that moment, the old man’s expression shifted slightly as he remembered something. “Young man, if I’m not mistaken, kiwi fruit usually isn’t ripe for another month or so. How come yours are ready this early? Did you grow them in a greenhouse?”

“Sir, come on, don’t joke with me. I’ve leased 85 acres in Cao Family Village for fruit farming and livestock. With that much land, how could I possibly use greenhouses?” Cao Shujie replied seriously. “If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to come and see for yourself. I’ll give you ten jin of kiwi fruit for free and even cover your round-trip travel expenses.”

Seeing how firm he was, the old man waved his hands. “No need to get worked up, young man. I was just asking, didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Cao Family Village, right?” he repeated the name. When Cao Shujie nodded, he said, “Alright, I’ll remember that. If it tastes good, I’ll come pick some myself.”

“Sir, you’re more than welcome. I’ll even cook for you,” Cao Shujie said, going all out to win over customers.

While they were chatting, someone else asked, “Hey, young man, can I grab one?”

Cao Shujie turned to see a man in his forties. He nodded. “Sure thing, big brother. Go ahead and pick one. One per person. I’m just trying to stir up some buzz before the official launch.”

Once the second person stepped up, the third and fourth followed quickly. In no time, the crowd was squatting down, picking out their kiwi fruit. After all, it was free—why not take one?

Fortunately, no one tried to take more than one. Everyone picked one and stepped aside, planning to taste it at home.

Before he knew it, the pile of kiwi fruit had noticeably thinned.

There were still plenty of people wandering around Youth Plaza. Seeing the growing crowd, more and more people came over.

When they got close and heard that everyone was getting a free kiwi fruit—pick any one you like—they were intrigued. What kind of marketing tactic was this?

None of them had ever seen a giveaway like this before!

As people finished picking and stepped away, new ones squeezed in. The cycle repeated, and before long, all the kiwi fruit Cao Shujie had laid out were gone.

“Wait, I just got here—how is it all gone already?” a woman complained. “Young man, don’t you have more in your car?”

Cao Shujie opened the trunk—completely empty.

“Folks, that’s all I’ve got for today. Sorry to make you come for nothing. If anyone’s interested in trying something fresh, come find me—Cao Shujie—in Cao Family Village, Qingshi Town. You can pick your own at my orchard, and I’ll give you a jin for free,” he shouted.

But someone in the crowd still wasn’t satisfied. “Young man, we haven’t even tasted it. How do we know if it’s any good? Why would we go all the way to your place?”

“Exactly! Gas is expensive these days. If your fruit doesn’t taste good, we’ll have wasted a trip and paid for gas too,” said a man in his thirties, echoing the sentiment.

His words struck a chord with many others.

But Cao Shujie didn’t respond to him directly. Instead, he said, “Sorry, I only have seven acres of mature fruit this year. First come, first served. If you come late, you’ll have to wait until next year’s crop.”

After saying his piece, Cao Shujie didn’t bother with anyone else. He folded up the seven opened boxes and loaded them into the trunk, then got in his car and drove off.

He had given them out for free as a bit of promotion, and now these people were acting all entitled. He wasn’t about to cater to that!

After Cao Shujie drove off from Youth Plaza, those who had received kiwi fruit left with big smiles, while those who hadn’t started grumbling to themselves.

There were all kinds of complaints, but they boiled down to one thing: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Free stuff couldn’t possibly taste good. They figured Cao Shujie must be up to something.

…

By the time Cao Shujie got home, it was already past four in the afternoon. He’d been so busy all day he hadn’t even had lunch, and now his stomach was churning with hunger.

When Cheng Xiaolin saw her husband come back empty-handed, she asked, “You gave away all the kiwi fruit?”

“Yeah, all gone,” Cao Shujie replied. “There were a few boxes left, so I drove over to Pingyuan County Town and handed them out for free to people hanging out at Youth Plaza.”

“Isn’t that a waste? You could’ve just brought them back,” Cheng Xiaolin said, a bit distressed.

She was fine with her husband giving them to former clients or close family, but that didn’t mean she was happy about giving away the fruits they’d worked so hard to grow to complete strangers.

Cao Shujie knew exactly what his wife was thinking. “Don’t get ahead of yourself—just hear me out.”

Then he explained his plan to her.

After he finished, Cheng Xiaolin nodded and asked, “You think this will work?”

“It’s called casting a wide net,” Cao Shujie said. “If even one customer shows interest, it might bring in a second. That’s a win in my book.”

As they chatted, something occurred to Cao Shujie. “Hey, where’s Mengmeng? I haven’t seen her.”

“She went up the mountain with me and Mom today. She got tired and crashed as soon as we got back,” Cheng Xiaolin replied.

Cao Shujie was puzzled. “What were you doing up the mountain?”

“Cutting grass, and pruning the bad fruit and extra saplings in the orchard,” she said.

“You weren’t home, but that doesn’t mean the work stops.”

“Hire someone!” Cao Shujie blurted out. “You and Mom can’t be that efficient. If we had a dozen people working, it’d be done in no time!”

“Your mom’s just trying to save you some labor costs!” Cheng Xiaolin shot him a look, thinking her husband was being a bit dense.

What she said hit home for Cao Shujie. His mother, Wang Yuelan, was the type who did things quietly, rarely expressing her care for him and his sister in words.

But she was always working behind the scenes.

Just then, his mother’s voice came from the other room. “Shujie, you done for the day?”

“Yeah, just finished. What’s up, Mom?” he asked, a little confused.

Wang Yuelan said, “Just wanted to remind you—not just your friends, make sure you take some kiwi fruit over to Mengmeng’s grandma when you have time.”

“Got it! I’ll take care of it,” Cao Shujie replied cheerfully.

For three days straight, Cao Shujie had been constantly on the go—either delivering kiwi fruit or tending to the orchard and the calves. At night, he continued buying Bitcoin.

What surprised him was that Bitcoin had been dropping nonstop for those three days, showing no signs of stabilizing.

Even seeing the principal in his account shrinking left him stunned.

Even though he was sure Bitcoin would skyrocket in the future—maybe even reach hundreds of thousands of yuan per coin—the sting of losing money was still hard to ignore.

But Cao Shujie stuck to his plan without wavering. He only bought, never sold, snatching up large orders whenever he saw them.

He kept telling himself: forget the ups and downs for now—just hold for five years. When the price is right, sell off a portion.

He never believed everything would follow the exact course of history. If that were the case, he wouldn’t even exist!

“Screw it, let’s just finish buying the rest of this 500,000 yuan batch first,” Cao Shujie muttered, pushing aside the strange thoughts in his head and diving back into buying.

…

Meanwhile, over in the upscale Mingdu Community in Pingyuan County Town—home to the county’s wealthy and elite—Lian Xuezhu lived there.

As the head of the Forestry Bureau and a silent partner in Mingbo Textile Co., Ltd., Lian Xuezhu was doing quite well for himself.

In Building C, Unit 3, 16th floor, east apartment, Lian Xuezhu lived with his wife Dang Wanli and their son Lian Qijian.

His son was on summer break and hadn’t started school yet. With nothing to do all day, he just stayed home playing video games. Lian Xuezhu had scolded him a few times, but it didn’t help.

That evening, when Lian Xuezhu got home from work, he saw his wife and son happily munching on something in the living room. Curious, he asked, “What are you two eating that smells so good?”

“Dad, it’s those kiwi fruit you brought back! I just ripened them—they’re super sweet. Who gave them to you? If you can, get more. Two boxes won’t last long,” Lian Qijian said, mouth wide open as he devoured a peeled kiwi fruit in two bites, clearly enjoying himself.

“Kiwi fruit?” Lian Xuezhu had been so busy he’d forgotten all about them.

With raw cotton prices rising lately, production costs at the factory had gone up, leaving him overwhelmed. Something like kiwi fruit wasn’t even on his radar.

But it was different for Lian Qijian. He spent all day at home gaming, eating, sleeping, and occasionally calling his long-distance girlfriend Liu Dan to ease his homesickness.

But eating the same food every day got boring fast. So when he saw the two boxes of kiwi fruit his dad had brought home a few days ago, he got excited.

It wasn’t even kiwi fruit season yet, and he had no idea where his dad had gotten such fresh fruit—but that didn’t stop him from enjoying them.

But who would’ve thought the damn thing was rock hard and super sour? He actually thought the whole box of kiwi fruit had gone bad. It wasn’t until he looked it up online that he found out you had to use other fruits to induce ripening.

Or, you could just leave them out for a while and let them ripen naturally.

That very night, Lian Qijian tossed an apple into the kiwi fruit box. For the past few days, he’d been eagerly waiting for the kiwis to ripen. Today, he finally managed to squeeze one and felt it had softened a bit. But it still wasn’t as easy to peel as the internet claimed. He didn’t have the patience to wait any longer, so he grabbed a few, tore off a big chunk—skin and all—and stuffed the rest into his mouth.

When they’re hard, they taste sour. But once they’re ripened, they’re sweet as honey.

When his mom, Dang Wanli, came home, Lian Qijian personally peeled a few kiwis for her. The two of them really enjoyed the treat.

“Old Lian, I remember you mentioned once that these kiwis were from Zhenzhen, right?”

“Zhenzhen? Kiwi fruit?” Lian Xuezhu heard his wife and nodded instinctively. “Yeah, I think he gave them to me. What did he say at the time…”

“Dad, forget it. Don’t bother trying to remember. I’ll give Brother Zhen a call later and ask him where he picked them. I want to get some more too.” Lian Qijian admitted he was hooked and wanted more.

Dang Wanli and Lian Xuezhu didn’t scold their son when they heard that.

In their eyes, as long as he was getting out of the house instead of staying in playing video games all day, it was a win.

(End of chapter)