Chapter 103: Business Opening

Hearing Lian Qijian’s words, Cao Shujie felt a sense of validation for his hard work. This recognition stemmed from the fact that his research efforts over many years in his past life had proven useful, though Lian Qijian was unaware of the complexity of these emotions.

“Qijian, no matter how much you pick later, I’ll give each of you an extra two jin,” Cao Shujie offered proactively.

They were all acquaintances, and since the group was brought by his childhood friend’s cousin, it was only right to show some generosity.

But Lian Qijian waved his hand, “Brother Jie, no need to give us extra. Growing fruit trees is tough work. I heard from Brother Zhen that you’ve invested nearly a million already, right?”

The four young men Lian Qijian brought along were from well-off or influential families. While they might not be particularly impressive elsewhere, in Pingyuan County they had a good opinion of themselves. Initially, they didn’t think much of Cao Shujie, but upon hearing that he had invested over a million in the orchard, their dismissive attitude vanished. After all, this was an era where strength and capability mattered.

Following Lian Qijian’s lead, they all called out, “Brother Jie.”

“Alright, later you all come to my place for a meal.”

“Business is business. You’re my first customers today, so gifts are a must!” Cao Shujie said with a smile.

Lian Qijian wisely didn’t argue further. He asked, “Brother Jie, where’s your orchard? Hop in, I’ll drive you there.”

Cao Shujie pointed to the nearby mountain road, “Just over there. Follow that road up. There’s a parking platform where you can leave the car.”

“You guys go ahead. I’ll bring the dogs over and meet you up there,” Cao Shujie said, then went to the nearby unfinished house to get the dogs.

Lian Qijian didn’t stand on ceremony. He drove up with his four friends, accelerating up the road.

In less than ten minutes, Cao Shujie arrived with four dogs.

The five of them were waiting on the parking platform, looking around curiously. They felt an inexplicable allure from the area inside the wire mesh fence.

When Cao Shujie arrived with the dogs, they wanted to approach him for a chat but were startled by Daha and Erha. These two dogs, after more than four months of growth and good feeding, weighed over 20 jin each and stood over 40 centimeters tall. Though not fully mature, their faces appeared aloof and cold to outsiders, and their wolf-like eyes could be intimidating.

Seeing them unexpectedly could indeed be frightening.

“Brother Jie, why do you have so many dogs?” Lian Qijian asked, keeping a three-meter distance from Cao Shujie, wary of a sudden attack from Daha and Erha.

Cao Shujie opened the gate in the wire mesh fence and invited them in, saying, “Just for fun. There’s not much to do at home, so I need to find something to occupy myself with.”

Lian Qijian glanced at his four friends, then at Cao Shujie and the vast orchard around them, thinking, “Is this what you call having nothing to do?”

Leading the way with the dogs, Cao Shujie took them to the old orchard, pointing to the kiwi-laden trees. “There, I’ll get you some bags. Pick whichever you like.”

Recalling how in his past life, when visiting kiwi orchards, the owners would isolate each tree to ensure customers didn’t pick all the best fruits, leaving the lesser ones, Cao Shujie had no such concerns. His kiwis were all of similar size, and even the smaller ones wouldn’t go to waste; he’d just eat them himself.

Lian Qijian took the bags, looking at the kiwi-laden vines. It was his first time seeing such a sight, and he was a bit excited. But he didn’t forget to ask, “Brother Jie, how much do they cost?”

Hearing the question, Cao Shujie looked at the old orchard, squinted his eyes in thought, and said, “You’re my first customers, so I won’t lie. It’s 28 yuan per jin. No matter how much you buy, I’ll give each of you an extra two jin.”

“28?” That price wasn’t low.

But after exchanging glances, the five of them felt it was acceptable.

Besides Lian Qijian, the other four had each tried a kiwi from him and knew it tasted great, which was why they came to pick some. On the way, they had speculated about the price, confidently guessing it would be at least 30 or 40 yuan per jin. Finding it was only 28, they felt they were getting a bargain.

They’d eaten fruits costing over 100 yuan per jin before, so 28 didn’t seem strange.

“Come on, let’s pick quickly. I need to get more for Dandan at school.”

“Lian Qijian, you’re showing off. Be careful, showing off can lead to trouble!”

“Get lost, or I’ll bury you here as fertilizer!”

Laughing and joking, the five of them took the bags from Cao Shujie and entered the orchard. Seeing that the kiwis were all about the same size, they didn’t bother being picky and started picking right away.

…

Meanwhile, an amiable old man, Wang Shiye, drove an old Jetta with his wife, Gan Jiaqing, and their two grandsons to Qingshi Town. After finding out the location of Cao Family Village, they headed straight there.

Unfamiliar with the route, they asked for directions twice along the way, taking over 20 minutes to reach the place.

Upon arriving at the northern end of Cao Family Village, they wondered where to go next. Seeing two middle-aged women chatting on the road leading to the village, Wang Shiye got out to ask, “Hello, is this Cao Family Village?”

“Yes, brother, who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a young man named Cao Shujie. He grows an orchard here, right?” Wang Shiye asked.

Hearing he was looking for Cao Shujie, one of the women pointed to the eastern hills, “Brother, do you see those hills?”

Wang Shiye nodded. The place was indeed large and easy to spot. The middle-aged woman continued, “Once you get there, you’ll see a road leading up the mountain. Follow it, and you’ll reach Cao Shujie’s orchard.”

After thanking them, Wang Shiye returned to his car and followed the directions up the mountain, eventually parking at the orchard’s platform.

Seeing another local Passat parked there and the orchard beyond the wire mesh fence, Wang Shiye knew he had found the right place.

“Old man, have we arrived?” his wife, Gan Jiaqing, asked.

Their two grandsons, Wang Yuliang and Wang Yuyang, peered eagerly out of the car. Whether they had reached their destination or not, the place felt different to them.

“We should be here,” Wang Shiye replied.

Gan Jiaqing got out of the car with the grandsons. Before they could enter the orchard, they heard a few howls from inside the fence that sounded almost like wolves.

Startled, Gan Jiaqing asked, “Are those wolf calls?”

“Grandmother, look, they’re Huskies,” the eldest grandson, Wang Yuliang, pointed out, indicating Daha and Erha inside the fence.

Then they heard a voice calling from inside, “Daha, Erha, come here.”

Wang Shiye chuckled and said to his wife, “That’s Little Cao’s voice.”

He called out, “Is that Boss Cao?”

“Hey, sir, what brings you here?” Cao Shujie looked through the fence and was pleasantly surprised to see the familiar old man. This was the first person who had taken the free kiwi fruit he had given away at the Youth Plaza in Pingyuan County Town.

They had chatted for a while back then, and Cao Shujie had a strong impression of him.

“Your kiwi fruit is just too delicious. My grandsons can’t get enough of it. Since I had some free time, I thought I’d come and pick some more to take home,” Wang Shiye explained.

He then introduced his wife and two grandsons to Cao Shujie.

Cao Shujie opened the orchard gate and led them inside, heading straight to the old orchard area.

“Grandpa Wang, this is all I have right now. Pick as much as you like. I won’t charge you a high price—28 yuan per jin. No matter how much you pick, I’ll throw in an extra jin for free,” Cao Shujie offered.

Wang Shiye didn’t question the price. After tasting the kiwi fruit the previous night, he knew it wasn’t cheap. At 28 yuan per jin, it was still acceptable. They had previously taken their grandsons to pick strawberries elsewhere, which cost thirty to fifty yuan per jin, sometimes even more.

“Grandfather, look!” Wang Yuyang pointed excitedly at the kiwi-laden vines ahead, thrilled at the thought of indulging in them once they got home.

“Let’s go pick some!” Wang Shiye said cheerfully. He asked Cao Shujie for a couple of bags, and he and his wife, along with their grandsons, ventured into the orchard.

The old orchard covered seven mu of land, with five mu dedicated to kiwi fruit and the remaining two to apples. The total kiwi fruit yield wasn’t high, only about 25,000 to 26,000 jin.

Seeing Lian Qijian and his group of five along with Wang Shiye’s family of four picking kiwi fruit in the orchard reassured Cao Shujie. His efforts hadn’t been in vain. Although there were only two groups of visitors, he was quite satisfied.

The beginning is always the hardest, but with this start, Cao Shujie felt confident about the future.

Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly called his wife. When Cheng Xiaolin answered, he said, “Honey, bring the electronic scale and the boxes for the kiwi fruit from home.”

“Ride the tricycle over, as fast as you can,” Cao Shujie instructed.

Cheng Xiaolin quickly understood the reason. “Do we have customers for the fruit?”

“Yes, two groups are here to pick kiwi fruit,” Cao Shujie replied. “Hurry and bring the stuff over. I need to attend to them.”

At home, Cheng Xiaolin informed her mother-in-law, Wang Yuelan, who promptly gathered the remaining boxes for the kiwi fruit and loaded the electronic scale onto the tricycle. As Cheng Xiaolin prepared to leave, Wang Yuelan offered, “Linlin, why don’t I go, and you stay home with Mengmeng?”

“Mom, it’s fine. You stay with Mengmeng. I’ll be quick,” Cheng Xiaolin said.

With that, she rode the electric tricycle out the door.

She rode swiftly, barely having time to greet the villagers along the way. In a few minutes, she reached the parking platform.

“Shujie, where are you?” Cheng Xiaolin called out loudly.

Hearing his wife’s voice, Cao Shujie quickly went to meet her.

Together, they unloaded the boxes and electronic scale from the tricycle.

“Shujie, who are the customers?” Cheng Xiaolin asked, both excited and curious.

Their orchard had finally welcomed buyers, but she wondered if there were more to come.

As they spoke, the sound of another car approached from the foot of the mountain. Soon, an old Santana drove up.

Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin were taken aback. What was happening today?

Before they could figure it out, Cui Jingguo and another middle-aged woman, accompanied by two children, got out of the car.

“Boss Cui, what brings you here?” Cao Shujie wondered what was going on today, with everyone arriving at once.

“Boss Cao, your kiwi fruit is so delicious. The two boxes you gave us were finished by our family this morning. We couldn’t stop thinking about them. What should we do?” Cui Jingguo teased.

Hearing this, Cao Shujie laughed heartily. “If you want kiwi fruit, that’s easy. Boss Cui, pick as much as you like. With our friendship, there’s no charge.”

Despite his offer, Cui Jingguo felt it was inappropriate to take them for free, and even his shrewd wife, Zou Chun’e, hesitated to accept without paying.

Cao Shujie led Cui Jingguo and his family of four into Old Orchard, just in time to encounter Old Man Wang Shiye coming out with two bags full of kiwi fruit. His wife, Gan Jiaqing, followed alongside with their two grandchildren.

Upon seeing Cao Shujie, Old Man Wang complained, “Boss Cao, do you have any larger bags? The ones you gave us are too small; they can’t hold much kiwi fruit!”

Gan Jiaqing chimed in, “Boss Cao, don’t you have bigger bags? We don’t come here often, and we can’t just buy a little and leave.”

Cao Shujie looked at the two bags of kiwi fruit, each holding at least ten jin, and wondered, “How much do they want to buy? Truly, only the wealthy can be so extravagant!”

Suddenly, he remembered that Lian Qijian and his group of five were still inside the orchard.

“Grandpa Wang, I still have two mu of apples, also an improved variety with a great taste. Would you like to try some?” Cao Shujie offered.

Old Man Wang glanced at the two bags of kiwi fruit in his hands and replied, “Our teeth aren’t good; we can’t eat apples.”

“Alright then, let me weigh these for you. If you feel it’s not enough, Grandpa Wang, you can pick some more,” Cao Shujie said, bringing over an electronic scale. He turned it on and showed Old Man Wang the zero reading.

He then weighed the two bags of kiwi fruit. “Grandpa Wang, look, it’s a total of 21.4 jin. I’ll round it down for you, so it’s 20 jin, which comes to 560 yuan. Do you want to pick more?”

(End of Chapter)