Chapter 125: Pouring Wine for Grandfather

Cao Shujie didn’t say much as he led them around the perimeter of the wire mesh fence, heading towards the newly leased mountain land. Pointing to the chaotic ground, he said, “Grandpa Zhenglin, Uncle Yong, this is the place. I was thinking we could all work together once everyone arrives.”

Cao Zhenglin surveyed the area and remarked, “There are just too many trees here, and the terrain is quite complex. Otherwise, we could bring in the equipment directly and it would be faster.”

Cao Shujie was unfazed. “That’s not a problem. We’ll clear it first, and then I’ll pave a road on the other side later. After that, we can bring the equipment up.”

Both Cao Zhenglin and Cao Yong admired Cao Shujie for his bold vision and willingness to invest. He wasn’t afraid to spend money.

“Shujie, I see you’re really aiming for something big,” Cao Zhenglin commented.

Cao Shujie laughed heartily. “Grandpa Zhenglin, Uncle Yong, you go ahead. I’ll wait up front for the others.”

“Go on, do your thing. We’ll just come here directly tomorrow, right?” Cao Zhenglin asked.

Seeing Cao Shujie nod, both Cao Zhenglin and Cao Yong began working without further questions.

As Cao Shujie moved to the front, he saw his neighbor, Cao Shuchao, waiting with a hoe. “Brother Chao, when did you get here?”

“I just arrived. I thought I was the earliest,” Cao Shuchao replied with a hearty, honest smile.

Cao Shujie laughed and pointed to the path outside the wire mesh fence. “Brother Chao, follow this path. Grandpa Zhenglin and Uncle Yong are working over there.”

“Alright, you wait here,” Cao Shuchao said, heading in the indicated direction with his hoe.

Not long after, his father, Cao Jianguo, arrived with a shovel, riding an electric tricycle. After parking on the platform, he asked, “Shujie, has anyone else arrived?”

“Dad, three people have come. You haven’t eaten, have you?” Cao Shujie guessed, knowing his mother had just started cooking when he left.

Cao Jianguo waved his hand. “I just had some pickles and two buns before coming over. Who’s here?”

Cao Shujie thought to himself, as expected. He stretched out three fingers. “Grandpa Zhenglin, Uncle Yong, and our neighbor Brother Chao.”

“Alright, you stay here. I’ll go over and check.”

“Dad, I need to pick someone up later and then head to the town to withdraw some money. Can you keep an eye on things and see who else comes to work?” Cao Shujie asked his father.

He had made an appointment at the Rural Commercial Bank in town to withdraw money yesterday. Today, he needed to take out some for the first installment of the 160,000 yuan lease fee and the rest to pay the workers.

The money wasn’t much, but it was paid daily. In the countryside, for such small jobs, if you delay payment for even ten days to half a month, no one will work for you.

“Sure, just let me know when you’re leaving,” Cao Jianguo agreed readily.

From six in the morning until eight, Cao Shujie counted 41 villagers arriving, all carrying shovels, hoes, and rakes, working energetically on the newly leased mountain land.

After eight, the technician arranged by Chen Lei, named Lu Beihai, also arrived.

After a brief discussion, Cao Shujie took him into the orchard to inspect the previously installed irrigation equipment.

Throughout the inspection, Lu Beihai took notes and calculated figures on paper.

Once he had a general idea, he shared his thoughts with Cao Shujie, suggesting adding a drip irrigation connection to the existing system.

The main challenge was digging up the soil around the irrigation interfaces to cut the pipes and install the drip irrigation connections.

Cao Shujie nodded. “Engineer Lu, let’s proceed with the plan you just outlined.”

“Alright, I’ll inform my boss and arrange for the equipment and personnel to come over as soon as possible,” Lu Beihai replied.

After seeing Lu Beihai off, Cao Shujie called his father to inform him that he was heading to the town’s Rural Commercial Bank to withdraw money.

“Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on things here. No problem,” Cao Jianguo assured him.

Cao Shujie withdrew a total of 250,000 yuan in cash. After getting the money, he stopped by the neighboring credit office to chat with Ma Changrong for a bit. He was too busy today to have lunch with him.

With 160,000 yuan in cash and the key to the Village Committee Office, he went to find Village Party Secretary Cao Jiangang. However, Cao Jiangang didn’t accept the money directly. Instead, he called the village accountant, Cao Zhengyin, to record the transaction officially.

Though Cao Jiangang was known to be greedy, he never directly embezzled funds. He had his own ways to protect himself.

After handling the transaction, Cao Jiangang patted Cao Shujie on the shoulder. “Shujie, keep up the good work. I have faith in you.”

“Uncle, don’t praise me too much. Who knows, I might lose steam one day,” Cao Shujie joked.

But Cao Jiangang was sincere. “If it were anyone else, I might believe it, but not you!”

“Haha!” Cao Shujie couldn’t help but laugh.

He told Cao Jiangang and Cao Zhengyin, “Uncle, Grandfather Zhengyin, my house is almost finished. In a few days, I’ll invite you over for a little celebration.”

“Sure, just give us a call,” Cao Jiangang nodded.

Cao Zhengyin added, “I’m available anytime.”

“Alright then, I’ll head back to the mountain to work. I want to get it sorted out before the busy farming season, and then I’ll hire someone to build a road straight to the top,” Cao Shujie said.

“You’re building another road?” Cao Jiangang asked, surprised.

Even he found it quite unbelievable this time.

Building a road costs quite a bit of money.

Cao Shujie chuckled, “Uncle, we have no choice but to build it. As our farming expands, how else will we handle transportation?”

After Cao Shujie left, Cao Zhengyin smiled and said, “Secretary, I can’t quite figure out this kid, Shujie.”

“You’re not alone; I don’t understand him either,” Cao Jiangang replied.

“But there’s one thing I do know: among the younger generation in our Cao Family Village, Shujie is the most capable.”

“Really? I heard that Zhenghe’s grandson is doing something with computers and networks down south, earning five to six hundred thousand a year. Making money seems so easy for him.”

“Hundreds of thousands, ha!” Cao Jiangang laughed silently, his expression showing he wasn’t impressed.

In Cao Jiangang’s mind, Cao Zhenghe’s grandson, Cao Shuxu, was earning money for himself, while Cao Shujie was not only making money but also creating value for the entire Cao Family Village. That was something Cao Shuxu couldn’t compare to.

Besides, who said Cao Shujie only earned hundreds of thousands a year?

…

In the orchard on the mountain, when Cao Shujie arrived, his father, Cao Jianguo, said, “After you left, six more people came. Since you need manpower here, I kept them all.”

“Dad, it’s fine. The more people, the faster the work. There’s less than ten days until National Day, and everyone will be busy with the harvest. It’ll be hard to find workers then,” Cao Shujie explained to his father.

Cao Jianguo understood this too. Their family would also be busy harvesting corn by then.

“Have you talked to Grandpa Zhenggang yet? Don’t you still need to set up the fence?” Cao Jianguo reminded his son.

“Oh no,” Cao Shujie exclaimed, slapping his forehead. “Dad, I almost forgot. I’ll call him right away.”

He had been busy contacting Chen Xingquan and Xia Changhong, and had completely forgotten about the construction with Cao Zhenggang. He also needed to get in touch with Tian Xinhua about the road paving.

He said, “Dad, once the apples are ripe, I’ll take a trip to the county.”

“What for? To give them away for free again?” Cao Jianguo thought his son was up to his old tricks.

But this time, Cao Shujie shook his head. “I’ll take them to the Forestry Bureau and Agricultural Bureau and apply for subsidies.”

“That’s real money, so it needs to be handled quickly.” Cao Shujie had a plan in mind.

Based on the newly leased 117 mu of land, the basic subsidies alone amounted to 23,400 yuan a year. Plus, there were additional subsidies for raising cattle, sheep, and possibly pigs later on.

There were also subsidies for agricultural land exceeding 200 mu.

He remembered Lian Xuezhu mentioning a special subsidy, and if he could secure it, it would be a significant sum.

Hearing it was about money, Cao Jianguo said, “Then take more apples with you, so they can really taste how juicy and sweet our apples are.”

Listening to his father’s self-praise, Cao Shujie felt a strong sense of agreement.

“Dad, I’ll go make the calls first. We’ll talk later.” Cao Shujie felt like he was flying with busyness.

But money was flowing out just as quickly.

Without doing much, the mountain land lease alone cost 160,000 yuan.

Today, 47 people came to work for him, costing 1,645 yuan.

Working continuously for ten days before the harvest would cost nearly 20,000 yuan.

In addition, he had just ordered 2,000 meters of wire mesh fence at 46 yuan per meter, totaling 92,000 yuan.

The last road construction cost 98,000 yuan, and this time the terrain on the north side was more complex than the south. Cao Shujie knew it would exceed 100,000 yuan, but the exact amount would depend on the situation when Tian Xinhua arrived.

“Should we drill a new well or divert water from here?” Cao Shujie pondered.

Without calculating in detail, the initial investment alone was approaching 400,000 yuan.

“Money really doesn’t last long,” Cao Shujie sighed deeply.

In front of the orchard’s parking platform, Cao Shujie found a spot to sit and started making calls one after another.

His phone was getting hot, but he didn’t stop.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone coming up the road. Turning his head, he noticed it was his childhood friend, Cao Tiemin.

Cao Shujie pointed to his phone, indicating for him to wait a moment.

“Take your time, I’m not in a hurry,” Cao Tiemin said softly.

After finishing his calls, Cao Tiemin smiled and said, “Shujie, you’re getting busier and busier.”

“Can’t help it, there’s a lot to do. My dad can’t figure it all out, so I have to handle it myself,” Cao Shujie sighed.

“You’ve leased so much mountain land. Haven’t you thought about hiring a couple of permanent workers?” Cao Tiemin asked.

“Relying solely on you and Uncle Jianguo might work short-term, but not in the long run.”

“We’ll talk about that once everything’s settled,” Cao Shujie replied.

In the long run, he did need to find a couple of stable workers.

…

In the evening, after paying the workers, Cao Shujie and his father rode a tricycle back home.

Mengmeng was running around in circles in the yard.

Cheng Xiaolin and her mother-in-law, Wang Yuelan, were sitting under the eaves chatting, occasionally calling Mengmeng over for a drink of water.

Seeing Cao Shujie and Cao Jianguo enter, Mengmeng turned and ran to Cao Shujie, hugging his leg and shouting, “Daddy.”

“Mengmeng, Daddy’s dirty. Step aside,” Cao Shujie said.

Besides making calls, he had been working, and his clothes were covered in dirt.

But Mengmeng shook her head, “It’s okay. Mommy says I’m dirty too.”

It was easy to see her legs were covered in dirt, almost turning black.

Her shirt was also stained with bits of dried grass and leaves, showing she’d been crawling around somewhere.

Cheng Xiaolin scolded her, “Mengmeng, you know that, and you’re still being naughty!”

“I don’t care,” Mengmeng said, running over to her grandfather, looking up and shouting, “Grandpa, drink wine and eat meat.”

“I’ll pour you some wine,” she said confidently.

“Grandma made stew,” she emphasized.

Her words made Cao Jianguo laugh heartily. After a long day of work, he was tired, but hearing his granddaughter speak made all his fatigue vanish.

“Alright, you pour me some wine,” Cao Jianguo said.

Cao Shujie was puzzled, “Mengmeng, why are you being so good today?”

“Grandmother said that Grandfather earns money to buy me toys,” Mengmeng shouted loudly.

“Haha!” Cao Jianguo laughed even louder.

Cao Shujie felt speechless. What kind of logic was this? It seemed like all the toys and snacks he bought for his daughter were for nothing.

During dinner, Mengmeng indeed handed a bottle of beer to Grandfather Cao Jianguo, looking rather aggrieved as she said, “Grandfather, I can’t open the cap.”

Seeing she was about to cry, Cao Jianguo patted her little head with his rough hand and comforted her, “Mengmeng, it’s okay, Grandfather can open it himself.”

With a pop, the beer bottle cap was opened. Just as Cao Jianguo was about to pour himself a drink, Mengmeng protested loudly, “I’ll pour it, Grandfather, let me pour it for you.”

“Alright, alright, Mengmeng, hold it carefully!” Cao Jianguo instructed her, worried that his granddaughter might not hold the bottle properly and it would fall, causing her to get hurt by broken glass.

“Shujie, how’s your work going?” Cheng Xiaolin put down her chopsticks and asked him.

Cao Shujie recounted his day’s work, and after he finished, Cheng Xiaolin and Wang Yuelan were a bit bewildered.

Wang Yuelan muttered, “Shujie, when your father and I managed the orchard, we didn’t have this much going on. How did you come up with so many new ideas?”

“Mom, don’t just look at my big investments; the fruits I sell are expensive too,” Cao Shujie replied.

It was the truth, and Wang Yuelan couldn’t argue with that.

(End of Chapter)