Chapter 111: Money is Meant to be Spent

“Clunk, clunk, clunk.”

“Bang, bang, bang.”

As the small cart traveled over a bumpy road, lacking any shock absorption, the entire vehicle shook with the uneven surface. Mengmeng, sitting in the cart, bounced up and down, feeling a bit dizzy. She shouted rhythmically, “Ouch, ouch, ouch…”

Her voice had a peculiar rhythm to it.

Cao Shujie glanced back and saw his daughter’s little head bobbing up and down like a whack-a-mole game, which amused him greatly. However, he was also a bit worried, fearing she might be thrown out of the cart.

This situation highlighted the importance of seat belts. Without one, Mengmeng might have been tossed out earlier.

Once they passed the bumpy section, Cao Shujie quickly pulled on the leash, bringing the two Huskies to a stop. The small cart, following the Huskies, rolled forward a bit due to inertia, but Cao Shujie bent down and caught the cart’s railing.

Seeing his daughter sitting quietly in the cart, he thought she might have been frightened. Just as he was about to comfort her, Mengmeng shouted, “Daddy, faster! This is fun, hehe!”

Cao Shujie was at a loss for words, unsure how to express his feelings. Nonetheless, he considered fixing the ‘shock absorption’ issue when they returned home. Otherwise, the cart seemed too low-quality and didn’t align with his pursuit of excellence.

“Homemade stuff always lacks something,” Cao Shujie mused. He contemplated hiring a professional to design and build a detachable cart.

Hearing his daughter’s urging, Cao Shujie led the two dogs toward the mountain road at the foot of the hill. Before heading up, he asked, “Mengmeng, are you sitting tight?”

“I’m ready, Daddy!” Mengmeng replied, her eyes wide as she looked at the mountain road. Her round face turned serious. “Daddy, run fast!”

Encouraged by her words, Cao Shujie mustered his strength, swinging his legs as he led Daha and Erha up the mountain road. The two dogs, full of energy, pulled the cart swiftly behind him toward the orchard on the hill.

The sloped road was over 430 meters long, but with Cao Shujie and the dogs’ efforts, they quickly reached the parking platform.

Once the cart stopped, Cao Shujie saw Mengmeng enjoying herself in the cart, reluctant to get out. She even looked back at the hill, eager to experience the thrill of rushing downhill like surfing.

“Mengmeng, why don’t you walk on your own?” Cao Shujie suggested.

Normally, Mengmeng would run around on her own, but today was different. She had just gotten on the cart and was still excited, refusing to walk.

“Daddy, run!” she shouted, displeased when her father didn’t move. She directed him to continue.

“Alright, let’s run two more laps, then stop. Otherwise, Daddy will be exhausted,” Cao Shujie said, leading Daha and Erha for another run.

Mengmeng sat in the cart, gripping the handle and shouting, “Giddy up, giddy up!”

He had no idea where she learned that from.

They circled the parking platform outside the orchard repeatedly. Cao Shujie was panting heavily, but fortunately, it was evening, and the temperature had dropped. A breeze made the mountain feel particularly cool. Otherwise, with such exertion, he might have collapsed from heatstroke.

After another lap, Cao Shujie felt like he had shed a few pounds of fat. Despite Mengmeng’s urging, he refused to move.

He led the two dogs and Mengmeng’s cart to a shaded area. Ignoring Mengmeng’s protests, he lifted her out of the cart, wiping her back. She was a bit warm but not sweaty, which was a relief.

“Mengmeng, let’s rest a bit, then we’ll run a lap on the dam,” Cao Shujie suggested, noticing his daughter fidgeting as if she had springs under her. He quickly diverted her attention.

Sure enough, Mengmeng started planning again. Despite her young age, she was quite clever.

Father and daughter descended from the Yellow River Dam and ran back home as dusk settled.

The moon had risen when Cheng Xiaolin saw them return. She remarked, “Shujie, you really know how to take Mengmeng out and not come back. Why don’t you two just live outside?”

Mengmeng sat in the cart, feigning innocence, saying nothing.

Cao Shujie remembered how Mengmeng had refused to return earlier, wanting to stay on the dam and ride her ‘convertible’ in the breeze.

They had encountered several children with their elders on bicycles or electric scooters. Seeing Mengmeng’s ride, those kids suddenly felt their own vehicles were lacking.

That night, many children clamored for a cart like Mengmeng’s. When their elders refused, they cried.

“Is it the cart we lack? No, it’s the strong dogs,” someone explained to their child.

But the children didn’t care about their parents’ struggles. They just insisted on having a cart like Mengmeng’s.

They wanted to ride like Mengmeng.

If all else failed, they demanded their parents pull the cart with a rope.

Mengmeng, however, wasn’t so demanding. Seeing her parents argue, she patted the empty spot next to her and called, “Mommy, come on up.”

Cheng Xiaolin was tempted. Growing up, she had nothing like her daughter’s ‘magic ride.’ Seeing Mengmeng enjoy it so much, she wanted to try it herself.

But with her husband and in-laws around, she felt too embarrassed to sit in a ‘child’s toy.’

Knowing his wife’s shyness, Cao Shujie said, “Go ahead, try it. I sat on it at the dam earlier. Tomorrow morning, I’ll have them pull me for a ride.”

Previously, Cao Shujie had felt that the two hours spent walking the dogs were physically and mentally exhausting, like self-inflicted punishment.

But now, things were different. He looked forward to walking the dogs the next morning.

Glancing at the tired Daha and Erha, and the two young German Shepherds pacing in their kennel, he chuckled to himself, “Just wait until tomorrow when I run you all tired.”

His dark thoughts inadvertently showed on his face, a sinister smile spreading across it.

Cheng Xiaolin noticed and asked, “Shujie, what are you thinking about?”

“I haven’t thought about anything,” Cao Shujie reflexively retorted. He added, “At most, I just think about you!”

Cheng Xiaolin glanced sideways at her in-laws, relieved to see they had already gone inside without noticing. She relaxed a bit but still gave her husband a playful slap on the back. “You should watch your mouth and stop spouting nonsense all the time.”

Cao Shujie gave her a sidelong glance. “What, you don’t believe me?”

He then winked at his wife, as if trying to convey some secret message.

With just a week left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, the farmers in Cao Family Village were busy harvesting their kiwi fruits, preparing them for market.

The usual middlemen who bought fruit in previous years had returned to the village, chatting with the locals, offering cigarettes, and boasting. Eventually, the conversation turned to buying kiwi fruits.

However, the middlemen encountered a problem. With Cao Shujie’s success as a precedent, no one in the village was willing to sell their apples or kiwi fruits at a low price anymore. They all felt it would be a loss!

They figured if Cao Shujie could sell his kiwi fruits for the ‘sky-high’ price of 28 yuan per jin, they could at least sell theirs for 10 yuan per jin, right?

But one fruit buyer burst their bubble. “I know Cao Shujie. I’ve bought some kiwi fruits from his orchard. His fruits are top quality in terms of appearance, size, aroma, taste, and nutritional content. What about yours?”

“Even if you sold your kiwi fruits retail, you couldn’t fetch 10 yuan per jin!”

His words were sharp as knives, shattering many people’s expectations and leaving them with a sense of emptiness that others couldn’t understand.

Meanwhile, Cao Shujie and his father were busy mixing organic fertilizer. Many of the materials were bought, and they planned to enrich the soil while they had the time, hoping to increase next year’s yield.

After finishing this task, nearly a week had passed, leaving only two days until the Mid-Autumn Festival. Cao Shujie was considering taking his parents, wife, and child to the county town to shop for clothes and food, and to enjoy the festival.

Before they could leave, his sister called, saying she had a three-day break for the Mid-Autumn Festival but couldn’t get a ticket home.

“Fangfang, are you hinting that I should drive to Yiling City to pick you up?” Cao Shujie directly called out his sister’s intentions.

“Brother, just tell me if you’re coming or not,” Cao Huifang replied.

After some thought, Cao Shujie said, “Alright, I was planning to take our parents, your sister-in-law, and niece to the county town to shop. Since we need to pick you up, let’s go to the city and visit the mall.”

Cao Huifang was momentarily surprised. “Brother, you’re bringing our parents too?”

“Of course, they’ve been working hard all year and haven’t bought decent clothes yet,” Cao Shujie replied. “Since you can’t help, I have to do it.”

“Brother…” Cao Huifang felt insulted by her brother’s blatant disregard, her tone tinged with anger.

But Cao Shujie’s next words brought her back to reality. “Fangfang, I remember you earned quite a bit from your summer job. How about using that money to buy our parents some decent clothes?”

“Brother, that money is for my living expenses. I haven’t asked our parents for money this semester,” Cao Huifang explained.

Hearing this, Cao Shujie couldn’t help but chuckle. But he didn’t tease her further, telling her they would head to the city the next day and call her once they arrived.

After hanging up, Cao Shujie informed his wife and parents, “We’re not going to the county town tomorrow. We’ll head straight to the city and pick up Fangfang on the way back.”

“Shujie, what’s going on with your sister?” Wang Yuelan asked, concerned about her daughter.

When her son explained that Cao Huifang couldn’t get a ticket home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Wang Yuelan sighed in relief.

In those days, cars weren’t as common as they would be later, and families with cars were rare. Trains and buses were the main modes of transportation. On regular days it was fine, but during holidays, getting a ticket was tough!

The next morning, Cao Shujie and his father got up early to prepare enough grass and feed for the calves in the orchard. After ensuring they had water and locking up, they returned home, had breakfast, and set off for Yiling City with the whole family.

The road from Cao Family Village to Yiling City was straightforward, following the main highway west for just over an hour.

As they entered the Yiling City area, Cao Shujie asked his wife to call his sister, Cao Huifang, to find out where she was.

“Sister-in-law, I’m still at the dorm. Are you here already?” Cao Huifang asked, surprised to hear they were just 20 minutes away from Yiling University. “I’ll head to the university gate to wait for you.”

A few minutes later, Cao Shujie parked at the university gate and picked up his sister.

“Brother, didn’t sister-in-law say it would take another 20 minutes? How did you get here so fast?” Cao Huifang asked curiously.

Cao Shujie didn’t want to engage but replied, “I came here recently and still remember the way.”

“Fangfang, tell me, which is the best mall in Yiling City?” he asked.

“The best is hard to say, but the department store has the most variety,” Cao Huifang replied with her limited experience.

Though she’d been in Yiling City for two years, Cao Huifang wasn’t one to spend frivolously, so she rarely visited such places. But that didn’t mean she knew nothing about the city.

With Cao Huifang guiding the way, the journey went smoothly. Once they arrived at the department store, Cao Shujie drove the car into the parking lot and parked. The whole family entered the department store together.

In Cao Shujie’s mind, since they made a good profit selling kiwi fruit this time, it was only right to buy a couple of outfits for the family.

Later, they would also need to buy some food to take back home.

(End of Chapter)