Chapter 15: Getting Ready for a Big Project

During this time, whenever Cao Shujie and his wife had time, they would go to check on the progress of the house construction. Cao Zhenggang would also clearly explain to them what needed to be bought and how much money was spent.

In Cao Zhenggang’s words, the construction of a simple two-story house could be completed in at most a month, but the subsequent decoration would require Cao Shujie to find other people to do it, as they couldn’t do it themselves.

Cao Shujie wasn’t worried about this at all; he already had someone in mind.

It was at this moment that Cao Shujie felt he had taken a very important step after returning to his hometown.

On the other hand, the fruit trees in the On the Mountain orchard also began to grow rapidly.

Cao Jianguo was supervising at the foot of the mountain, and whenever he had free time while watching the progress of his son’s house, he would also make a trip to On the Mountain.

But after returning from work that afternoon, he eagerly told his son: “Shujie, the apple trees On the Mountain are about to bloom, it’s incredible.”

“About to bloom?” Cao Shujie also felt something was off.

“Dad, aren’t apple trees supposed to bloom from April to May? Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”

Cao Jianguo raised his hand and slapped his son on the back: “I said they’re *about* to bloom, not that they *have* bloomed. Shujie, are you deaf or something?”

Cao Shujie didn’t talk back after being slapped by his father. He thought about making time to go to On the Mountain early in the morning to check the situation.

Logically, the apple blooming period is indeed affected by climatic differences in various regions, leading to earlier or later blooms, but it’s still highly unlikely for them to bloom this much earlier.

After pondering for a while, Cao Shujie muttered: “So, it must be my nutrient solution that’s having the biggest effect?”

“Shujie, what did you just say?” Cao Jianguo didn’t hear clearly and asked, but Cao Shujie didn’t reply, continuing to immerse himself in his research.

“Grandfather, look at Xiao Huihui.” Mengmeng saw Grandfather return, and she proudly pulled his hand, making him look at the little rabbit with her.

“And Huahua, they’re so silly. I call them, but they don’t answer. Are they deaf or something!”

Cao Jianguo was afraid of hurting his granddaughter, so he didn’t dare to break free and followed her to see the little wild rabbit and wild cat.

In just a few days, these two little creatures had changed significantly from when they first arrived at their home.

Both the little wild rabbit and the little wild cat seemed to have put on some weight, looking meatier.

Cao Jianguo looked at the grey rabbit and even said: “Very good, once it’s grown and has more meat, we’ll butcher it.”

“Grandfather!” Mengmeng understood what Grandfather said, and she got angry: “I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Cao Jianguo watched his granddaughter stomp-stomp-stomping away, and he felt a little like laughing.

But when he returned to the house, ready to eat dinner, he couldn’t laugh anymore.

His wife, Wang Yuelan, looked at him with a cold face and asked: “Old Cao, I heard you want to eat rabbit meat, not even sparing the little rabbit. Are you trying to wipe them all out?”

“Tell me, is this true?”

Cao Jianguo looked at his granddaughter, who was secretly giggling with her hand over her mouth, and was speechless. His granddaughter was quite good at tattling: “Those two rabbits Shujie brought back a while ago, their meat was really good, quite chewy.”

“Look at your shameless face, no sense at all, you even want to eat the little rabbit Mengmeng is raising? Tell me, what exactly are you thinking?” Wang Yuelan scolded him.

Mengmeng saw Grandmother scolding Grandfather, and she stood by, covering her mouth with her little hand, giggling ‘hehe,’ looking quite gleeful.

…

The next morning, after waiting for his wife and child to finish eating, Cao Shujie went out with them, and the family of three headed to On the Mountain.

Cao Shujie had been thinking about what his father said yesterday: the apple trees were about to bloom, more than half a month earlier than their normal flowering period. Cao Shujie had many thoughts in his mind.

With vivid market memories in his mind, he knew better than anyone what it meant for some fruits to be available on the market more than ten days early.

Just like strawberries later on, the first batch to hit the market sold for as much as fifty or sixty yuan per jin, but once the full harvest came in, they immediately dropped to a few yuan per jin.

That’s at least a seven or eightfold price difference.

Cao Shujie pondered whether, if the fruit trees he planted really bloomed so much earlier due to the ‘nutrient solution,’ it would mean that the fruit trees could also bear fruit more than ten days earlier?

If that were the case, as long as he managed it well, he could make a fortune in one go!

But this needed time to verify!

“Daddy, Daddy!” Mengmeng called out a few times, but Cao Shujie was thinking about the relationship between the apple trees blooming early and the nutrient solution, so he didn’t hear clearly at first.

When Mengmeng raised her hand and gave him two slaps, Cao Shujie finally came to his senses. Looking at his giggling daughter, he couldn’t hit her back, so in frustration, he gently twisted her little bottom twice.

Cheng Xiaolin was watching the show from behind!

In front of the fruit trees On the Mountain, Cao Shujie arrived, holding his daughter and accompanied by his wife.

Seeing the Kiwi fruit trees here thriving and the apple trees truly budding, looking ready to bloom at any moment, Cao Shujie took a deep breath.

He looked around, gazing at this stretch of mountain, and a thought brewed in his mind. Then he told his wife, Cheng Xiaolin: “Wife, I’m thinking of leasing this entire mountain and planting it all with apples, Kiwi fruit, and strawberries.”

“What do you think of the gimmick of ‘strawberries On the Mountain’? I’ll call them ‘Mountain Berries,’ super sweet, isn’t that a great selling point?” Cao Shujie looked at his wife with some anticipation.

But Cheng Xiaolin asked a very practical question: “Husband, if you’re thinking of contracting this entire mountaintop, do you have enough money?”

“Later, you’ll also need to spray pesticides and spread fertilizer. Can you manage all that by yourself?”

These were all pressing issues that needed to be resolved.

Cao Shujie thought for a moment and didn’t see it as a problem.

Having lived a lifetime and then dying suddenly, how could he not understand the principle of having others work for him?

In Cao Shujie’s current mindset, any problem that can be solved with money isn’t a problem at all.

“We’ll hire people then. There are plenty of villagers in Cao Family Village looking for odd jobs. When we really need people, thirty or forty yuan per person per day should be fine, right?” Cao Shujie said.

This price was not low, so Cheng Xiaolin didn’t say anything else.

With the idea of leasing the mountain in mind, Cao Shujie wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He held his daughter and continued walking up On the Mountain with his wife.

This area used to be terraced fields, but many people found it troublesome to cultivate, so they stopped planting here, and gradually the area became desolate.

If Cao Shujie really intended to lease it, it would actually be quite easy to arrange.

“Flap-flap-flap”

As soon as they arrived, a bird flapped its wings and flew directly away from a tree On the Mountain.

There were also eagles circling and soaring in the sky, occasionally letting out a piercing cry from above.

Cheng Xiaolin was a bit surprised: “Husband, there are even eagles here?”

“What a fresh remark. No one comes to On the Mountain anymore, what *isn’t* there?” Cao Shujie switched to sarcasm mode regarding his wife’s ignorance: “Wife, search carefully, maybe you can even find treasure On the Mountain?”

“Huh… do you think I believe that?” Cheng Xiaolin didn’t believe it at all.

She figured that was just how it was portrayed in TV shows and movies; if she really believed there was treasure in this remote mountain corner, she’d be incredibly foolish.

(End of this chapter)