Chapter 86 – Mr. Cao, You’re a Man Who Does Big Things

Cao Shujie filled both their glasses, pointed at the dishes on the table, and said with a smile, “Manager Ma, have some donkey meat to fill your stomach first.”

The two of them slowly drank as they ate. Ma Changrong seemed to have forgotten all about returning to work that afternoon. Once he finished the first glass, Cao Shujie poured him a second, and surprisingly, he didn’t refuse.

Now the atmosphere was just right.

Cao Shujie, who had been laughing cheerfully just a moment ago, suddenly pulled a bitter face. “Manager Ma, I really need your help.”

“What’s happened, Mr. Cao?” The look on Shujie’s face wasn’t something you could fake. Ma Changrong’s heart skipped a beat. For a second, he wondered—had he misjudged this man?

Could it be that Cao Shujie wasn’t serious about his work after all?

Maybe he gambled away the loan money from last time and lost it all?

Thoughts spun wildly through his mind, but then Cao Shujie’s next words swept away those doubts and let him breathe easier.

“To be honest, Manager Ma, the last loan wasn’t quite enough,” Cao Shujie said bluntly.

Ma Changrong thought to himself: *Out of ten people who take loans, nine and a half will say the money wasn’t enough!*

And that half a person left is just too broke to even spend normally.

“Didn’t Mr. Cao already contract seventy-eight mu of mountain land? A loan of over a million wasn’t enough?” Ma Changrong grew even more puzzled.

Was farming these days really such a huge investment?

After all, his family was from a rural village too, and they still had a few mu of farmland. But this level of spending on growing crops? He had never even heard of it.

Cao Shujie shook his head. “Mountains are different from flat farmland. So much has to be built up from scratch.”

As he spoke, he began breaking it all down piece by piece for Ma Changrong.

For the sake of orchard security, he said, he had spent ninety-two thousand yuan just on barbed-wire fencing. Ma Changrong nearly wanted to curse aloud—*unbelievable!*

Then he heard that Cao Shujie had spent thirty-two thousand to dig a well on the mountain for irrigation, and on top of that, more than two hundred ten thousand on an automated sprinkler system to make watering more efficient in the long run.

And for convenience in going up and down the mountain, he even personally put up nearly a hundred thousand to pave a road.

“Just like that, over four hundred and thirty thousand is gone. My god…” Ma Changrong swallowed hard. He knew full well that Shujie must have spent on many other things, too. And he also knew the man didn’t need to fabricate any of this—these kinds of infrastructure expenses could be checked at a glance.

But that was precisely why Ma Changrong couldn’t help but feel a deep respect for him.

“Mr. Cao, you really are a man who does big things!” he said sincerely, without a trace of flattery.

From those detailed expenses alone, he could tell that Shujie truly intended to make a serious business out of fruit cultivation. Otherwise, no one would sink so much money into infrastructure at the very beginning.

Shujie waved and laughed. “Manager Ma, you’re giving me too much credit. Big things or not, I just figured—since I decided to leave Beijing and come back to build something in my hometown, then I’d better do it properly. At the very least, I can’t let my father lose face because of me.”

“Haha, haha!” Ma Changrong couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

He gave a thumbs-up to Cao Shujie.

But then Shujie mentioned his next plan—for livestock farming.

“I’ve already sectioned off the land. The pigsty for one hundred pigs is built, and I’ll be putting up a cowshed next. At first, my plan is to raise livestock on a small scale, gain some experience, and once I’ve learned the ropes, I’ll expand into large-scale farming.”

“You’re even going into livestock now, Mr. Cao?” Ma Changrong was genuinely shocked.

That was a serious investment.

Shujie nodded. “The infrastructure is ready. Now I’m just looking for high-quality calves, lambs, and piglets.”

“If this first small-scale run goes well, then I’ll contract more mountain land later and move into specialized, large-scale breeding.”

As Shujie laid out his grand vision, Ma Changrong listened attentively, not interrupting him even once.

Only after Shujie finished speaking did he say, “With your scale, Mr. Cao, it’s true—even 1.3 million isn’t enough.”

“Exactly! Otherwise, why would I trouble Manager Ma?” Shujie raised his glass again. “Let’s not talk business for now. Let’s drink and eat some meat!”

“Cheers!”

The two clinked glasses and downed their drinks in one gulp.

By the time Shujie poured them their third round, the first bottle of liquor was already gone. When he reached for a second bottle, Ma Changrong hurriedly stopped him. “Mr. Cao, we really can’t drink more. If we do, I won’t make it back to the bank this afternoon.”

“Manager Ma, you’ll be coming to see my place in person later anyway. It’s perfectly normal if it takes a little extra time!” Shujie had even prepared the excuse for him.

And that only deepened Ma Changrong’s good impression of him. Shujie might be young, but he handled things with skill and tact.

After they polished off two bottles, Shujie paid the bill, had the restaurant pack up five jin of donkey tripe and additional donkey meat, and loaded it in the car. Then he called a designated driver to bring him and Ma Changrong home.

When they arrived at Ma Changrong’s door, Shujie watched him wobble toward his house and still remembered to call out, “Manager Ma, see you the day after tomorrow!”

“See you then!” Ma Changrong replied.

One man short on money, the other looking for reliable clients to lend to—truly, like two peas in a pod.

Back home, the moment Cheng Xiaolin smelled the liquor on her husband, she was ready to scold him.

But before she could open her mouth, Shujie settled up the bill with the driver and pulled a heavy bag of meat from the trunk. “Wife, this donkey meat is fantastic. I brought some back especially for you all. Hurry in and try it.”

“….” All of Cheng Xiaolin’s complaints vanished instantly.

She took the bag of donkey meat, lowered her voice, and reminded him, “Shujie, try not to drink so much in the future.”

“Don’t worry, wife—I know my limits,” Cao Shujie said with a grin.

Just then, Wang Yuelan came out of the house holding her granddaughter Mengmeng’s hand, hoping to take her for a little evening stroll while the air was cool.

Seeing her son and daughter-in-law at the door, she said, “Shujie, why are you back so late? How much did you drink?”

“Mom, I really didn’t drink much. We were mostly talking and socializing. After all, when you’re asking someone for help, you’ve got to show proper courtesy,” Cao Shujie explained.

Mengmeng’s attention, however, was fixed on the bag in her mother’s hand. The fragrance of cooked meat drifted out, making her drool with longing. “Mommy, meat!”

“Yes, Daddy bought it for you. Do you want some?” Cheng Xiaolin teased her.

As if there was ever a time Mengmeng didn’t want meat—she nodded furiously. “Yes!”

“Then go inside to eat. Mengmeng, look how strong the sun is. Don’t keep dragging your grandmother around everywhere.”

Hearing her mother say that, Mengmeng bolted straight into the house. The allure of meat was far too great for her to resist!

(End of this chapter)