Chapter 55: There’s No Money in This Job—Let’s Just Be Friends

After finishing breakfast at home, Cao Shujie drove his wife and daughter to Pingyuan County Town.

Halfway there, he spotted a local private gas station, “Weiming Gas Station,” running a promotion: 92-octane gasoline for just 5.98 yuan per liter. Compared to Sinopec’s price of over 7 yuan, that was a real bargain.

He glanced at his fuel gauge—almost empty—so he turned in and pulled up to a pump. Getting out, he called, “Boss, fill it up with 92!”

So generous!

“Alright!” A chubby middle-aged man jogged over, showed Cao Shujie the meter on the pump, and then started fueling.

He filled up a whopping 63 liters in one go. The gas station owner couldn’t help but comment, “Brother, your car’s a real gas guzzler.”

“Don’t remind me. Usually burns twelve liters per hundred kilometers, and even on the highway it’s eight or nine,” Cao Shujie grumbled, but he paid up without hesitation.

He handed over 400 yuan in cash. The owner rounded it off and gave him 36 yuan in change.

“You look new around here, not a local?” The owner glanced at Cao Shujie’s license plate—it was from Beijing.

Cao Shujie didn’t put on any airs and answered honestly, “I’m from Cao Family Village. My dad is Cao Jianguo.”

“Oh, you’re Jianguo’s eldest! No wonder I haven’t seen you much since you left for college,” the chubby man said, clearly familiar with his father.

Judging by his tone, he and Cao Jianguo were old friends. Cao Shujie didn’t dare be disrespectful, so he called him “Uncle” and added, “I just moved back from Beijing to work here, Uncle. We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.”

Hearing this, the man gave him a big thumbs-up. “Alright, just for those words, I’m rooting for you!”

“Haha!” Cao Shujie chatted with him a bit more and learned his name was Liu Weiming. He mentioned he had things to do today and would come back another time to catch up, then got back in the car and left.

“Honey, you sure know how to chat people up,” Cheng Xiaolin teased.

Cao Shujie grinned. “It’s not like before. Now that we’re back home, we need to get to know everyone around. If something comes up, it’s good to have people to talk to.”

That made sense, so Cheng Xiaolin didn’t think much of it and went back to playing with their daughter.

Before he knew it, Cao Shujie had driven into Pingyuan County Town.

He wasn’t too familiar with the area yet, so as usual he called his childhood friend, Cao Zhen. Before he could say anything, Cao Zhen’s voice came through the phone: “Shujie, need something?”

“Come on, would I call you if I didn’t?” Cao Shujie never bothered with pleasantries.

But Cao Zhen was used to his style. “Go ahead.”

“I want to find someone at Huanqiu Hardware Market who does automated irrigation systems. Know anyone?” Cao Shujie asked directly.

Unexpectedly, Cao Zhen let out a surprised “Aiyo!” as if startled, then asked, “Are you spying on me or something?”

“What do you mean?” Cao Shujie was puzzled.

Then he heard Cao Zhen say, “Unbelievable, I’m at Huanqiu Hardware Market right now, working on exactly that. Just come to ‘Changhong Building Materials & Hardware.’”

…

Pingyuan County, Huanqiu Hardware Market.

Despite the grand name, it was really just a market specializing in equipment, piping, hardware, bathroom fixtures, and such.

Inside Changhong Building Materials & Hardware, Cao Zhen was chatting with the shop owner, Xia Changhong.

After Cao Zhen finished his call, Xia Changhong asked, “Supervisor Cao, do you need anything else?”

“It’s not for me. A very close friend of mine wants to install an automated irrigation system. Boss Xia, you’ve got another customer—don’t miss this one.” Cao Zhen said with a smile.

Hearing that, Xia Changhong quickly assured him, “If he’s a friend of Supervisor Cao, the price will be fair and the quality top-notch.”

“I think he’ll need a lot. You won’t lose out,” Cao Zhen said, not joking at all.

Xia Changhong had thought it was just a “small customer,” and was only being polite for Cao Zhen’s sake.

But hearing Cao Zhen call him a “big customer,” Xia Changhong grew serious and asked, “How big are we talking?”

“I’m not sure about the details, but he’s contracted over 80 mu of mountain land back home. Let him tell you the specifics when he arrives,” Cao Zhen replied, not making any promises for Cao Shujie.

The words “over 80 mu of mountain land” caught Xia Changhong’s attention.

From his experience, installing automated irrigation over that area, depending on material quality, would cost at least 300,000 yuan—this was a big deal!

Finding the tea in his pot had gone cold, Xia Changhong went to brew a fresh pot of good tea, and he and Cao Zhen chatted as they waited.

More than half an hour passed. Just as Cao Zhen was about to call, his phone rang.

He answered, “My buddy must be here.”

With that, he headed outside, Xia Changhong following behind. Soon, they saw Cao Zhen waving his right arm, signaling to a black Buick LaCrosse approaching from a distance.

When the car stopped, a young man about Cao Zhen’s age got out, followed by a woman and a little girl.

“Shujie, what took you so long?”

“Don’t ask. There was an accident earlier, traffic was jammed.”

After a few words, Cao Zhen greeted Cheng Xiaolin, then looked at Mengmeng. “Come on, say hi to Uncle.”

“Hello, Uncle!” Mengmeng said sweetly.

Cao Zhen beamed with delight and introduced Xia Changhong and Cao Shujie to each other.

“Mr. Cao, I just heard from Supervisor Cao that you’re looking to install automated irrigation?” Xia Changhong got straight to the point.

Cao Shujie nodded. “Yes, Boss Xia, that’s the plan. What kind of price are we talking?”

“That depends on the material quality. Do you want the best, or just standard? And what’s the total area?” Xia Changhong asked.

“Phase one is 57 mu. Phase two is another 28 mu, but that’s undecided for now,” Cao Shujie replied.

Xia Changhong was thrilled—even just 57 mu was no small job.

Cao Zhen asked, “Shujie, you really plan to install it over all your contracted land?”

“Yeah,” Cao Shujie nodded. “Manual watering is too limiting. In the long run, it’s not cost-effective and just wastes time.”

“You’re something else!” Cao Zhen was genuinely impressed.

He hadn’t expected his childhood friend, after returning from Beijing, would actually have the guts to take on something like this.

All in all, he must have already invested hundreds of thousands. Wasn’t he afraid of losing it all?

Xia Changhong thought for a while, jotting down notes on paper. After about three minutes, he discussed the details with Cao Shujie, confirming the materials for each part. In the end, he gave a quote: using the best pipes and sprinklers, covering all 57 mu, materials plus installation would total 212,000 yuan.

Seeing Cao Shujie hesitate, Xia Changhong gritted his teeth and said, “Mr. Cao, I really want your business. With Supervisor Cao here, I won’t lie—at this quality and this price, you won’t find a better deal in Huanqiu Hardware Market.”

“Make it 210,000, and forget the small change,” Cao Shujie bargained out of habit.

Xia Changhong put on a pained expression. “Alright, 210,000 it is. I really can’t go any lower. There’s no money in this job—I’m just making a friend!”

(End of Chapter)