Chapter 98: Delivering the Fruit

He had never once considered developing anything over in Xinjiang.

Just based on the rumors he’d heard from others, not to mention being thousands of kilometers away from home with completely different living habits—that alone was enough to make it a no-go for him.

Besides, he hadn’t even found a girlfriend yet. If he went off to Xinjiang, he could forget about that altogether.

And more importantly, he didn’t know the first thing about farming. What the hell would he even do there?

As he was mulling this over, his phone suddenly rang.

When he saw the name “Cao Shujie” flashing on the screen, he picked up without hesitation. “Shujie, you coming over today?”

“I’m already at your factory gate. The security guard won’t let me in. Can you give him a heads-up?” came Cao Shujie’s voice.

Cao Zhen hadn’t expected him to show up so fast and muttered, “Damn, that guy’s quick.”

Not long after, Cao Shujie appeared in his office.

“So, what’s the situation? Doesn’t look like your factory’s all that busy,” Cao Shujie said.

Cao Zhen replied, “Busy? With cotton prices going up again, our production costs have skyrocketed. Not only are we not making money, we’re losing it. Who the hell wants to keep doing this?”

Cao Shujie thought about it—it did make sense. He asked, “So what’s your plan?”

“We just had a meeting. Guess what? My uncle and second uncle are thinking of leasing land in Xinjiang to grow cotton.” As he spoke, Cao Zhen pointed to himself. “They even want me to go over there and oversee it. Isn’t that nuts? I don’t know the first thing about farming!”

“They want you to go grow cotton?” Cao Shujie couldn’t wrap his head around that logic either.

Had they not considered one simple fact?

Even if they managed to grow the cotton, it’d take months. What were they planning to do in the meantime—just stop production?

If raw material prices went up, shouldn’t the manufacturing side raise their prices too?

Cao Shujie couldn’t understand it. He felt like this factory had serious management issues—but he kept that thought to himself.

“Cao Zhen, I brought over the kiwi fruit. Where should I put it?” Cao Shujie asked.

Hearing “kiwi fruit,” Cao Zhen suddenly remembered something. “Shujie, you came at just the right time. My uncle and second uncle are still here. Quick, bring the kiwi fruit over—I’ll go hand it out to them.”

Without wasting a second, Cao Shujie turned and left Cao Zhen’s logistics office to grab the kiwi fruit from his car trunk.

Cao Zhen was his childhood friend, and Lian Xuezhu had helped him out before. He had to make sure he brought enough for everyone—couldn’t show up empty-handed.

Looking into the trunk, there were fewer than 20 boxes left, with another seven or eight on the back seat. Cao Shujie grabbed 10 boxes from the trunk and called Cao Zhen over. The two of them made two trips to carry the boxes into the office.

“You brought way too much. Who’s going to eat all this?” Cao Zhen said.

Cao Shujie chuckled. “No worries. In a cool, ventilated place, they’ll last at least two weeks. Just take your time eating them—they won’t spoil.”

“This must be over 50 jin. How much do I owe you?” Cao Zhen asked.

Hearing that, Cao Shujie immediately shook his head. “What, you think I’m running a business here? I bring you some fruit and you start acting all stingy—like some nagging housewife.”

Ignoring his friend’s jab, Cao Zhen heard voices outside and quickly said, “Shujie, wait here for a bit. That’s probably my uncle and second uncle heading out. I’ll go hand them the kiwi fruit now so I don’t have to make another trip.”

With that, he grabbed two boxes in each hand and rushed out.

Cao Zhen was efficient. A few minutes later, he came back in.

As soon as he walked through the door, he started grumbling, “Damn, Shujie, how much fruit did you stuff in those boxes? They’re heavy as hell!”

“A standard box holds about five jin. I packed them full—probably even a bit extra,” Cao Shujie said with a grin.

“Alright, you win.” Cao Zhen asked, “You heading anywhere else? If not, let’s grab a drink at lunch.”

“No drinking for me. I’ve still got a few more stops to make—gotta deliver the kiwi fruit to some other folks,” Cao Shujie said honestly. “These are all people who helped me along the way. I don’t have much to offer, but these fruits are from my own orchard—good quality too. It’s just a small token of appreciation.”

“Who else are you giving them to? Let me see,” Cao Zhen asked.

When he heard that Shujie was planning to deliver to Chen Xingquan and Xia Changhong—both familiar faces—Cao Zhen immediately said, “Forget the deliveries. I’ll call them up. Let’s all meet for lunch. When they get here, you can just hand them the fruit.”

Cao Shujie hesitated, thinking it might not be appropriate, but Cao Zhen was already dialing.

With “Supervisor Cao” personally inviting them to lunch, neither of the two men declined—they agreed on the spot.

Cao Zhen picked the restaurant, and the two of them drove over in Shujie’s car. On the way, he noticed seven or eight more boxes of kiwi fruit casually stacked on the back seat but didn’t say anything.

The enclosed car was filled with the rich, sweet aroma of kiwi fruit. Cao Zhen took a deep breath and sighed, “Man, that smells amazing.”

“Right? I’m telling you, once you ripen them with some bananas or apples, they’ll taste even better,” said Cao Shujie.

“Hey, Shujie, you sure you didn’t use any ripening agents? These look way bigger than the ones I’ve had before!” Cao Zhen was puzzled—it didn’t add up.

He tried peeling one to taste, but it was still too firm. Unripe kiwi fruit was tough and didn’t taste good.

Cao Shujie gave him a sideways glance and didn’t bother replying.

When they arrived, Shujie parked the car and looked up at the restaurant’s sign—it specialized in stir-fried chicken. The two of them went in and ordered some dishes while they waited.

Soon, Xia Changhong and Chen Xingquan arrived one after the other. Shujie handed each of them a box of kiwi fruit he’d prepared in advance and said, “These are from my own orchard—cleaner than the stuff you get outside. Take them home and give them a try.”

“Oh come on, Mr. Cao, what’s this about? You really shouldn’t,” Chen Xingquan said, waving his hand to decline.

But Cao Shujie said, “These kiwi fruits haven’t been sprayed with any pesticides. You can take them home and let your family try them without worry. If they taste good, just let me know, and I’ll bring more over when I have time.”

He added, “I can’t speak for other stuff, but these kiwi fruits we grew ourselves—you can eat them with peace of mind.”

Hearing this, Chen Xingquan and Xia Changhong were both genuinely pleased.

They didn’t really care about the price; what mattered to them was the thought behind it—Cao Shujie’s sincerity.

…

In Pingyuan County Town, Cao Shujie distributed over a dozen boxes of kiwi fruits and even gave a box each to a few of his childhood friends.

When he met up with Cao Tiemin, the guy mentioned that in a few days he’d bring people and renovation materials to Cao Family Village to start working on the house.

Thinking about it, it had been almost four months since the house was finished—about time to start renovating.

After delivering kiwi fruits to all his “connections” in the county town, Cao Shujie took the remaining boxes and headed back to Cao Family Village. On the way, he stopped by to see Ji Guangyou and Song Zhichao.

Ji Guangyou, who specialized in cultivating fruit tree saplings, was a bit surprised when he saw the kiwi fruits Cao Shujie brought over. After the initial surprise, he fell into deep thought.

From these fruits, Ji Guangyou seemed to sense a different kind of cultivation technique.

After Cao Shujie left, Ji Guangyou kept pondering what exactly was special about the kiwi fruits, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

…

Meanwhile, after Cao Huifang and the other three returned to Yiling City carrying eight bags of kiwi fruits, they hailed a cab straight to the dorms at the garment factory since they were carrying so much.

Back in the dorm, instead of feeling tired, they were actually energized—especially because they’d picked the fruits themselves and seen the saplings they’d planted with their own hands, knowing that in a couple of years those trees would bear fruit. That sense of accomplishment was something only they could truly understand.

Deng Miaoshan thought she should find time to send some of the kiwi fruits she got from Cao Huifang’s family to her parents. She turned to the others and said, “Fangfang, you guys hang out for a bit. I’m going to Shunfeng Express to mail these kiwi fruits to my parents.”

That gave Huang Jingmin an idea—she wanted to send a bag to her mom the same way.

“Shanshan, let’s go together,” Huang Jingmin said to Deng Miaoshan.

…

At the same time, in Pingyuan County Town, the kiwi fruits that Cao Shujie had personally delivered began making their way into households he didn’t even know, through various channels.

Cao Shujie himself wasn’t sure if this “clumsy method” would work, but for now, he could only hope it would create a synergy—something greater than the sum of its parts.

After returning from town, Cao Shujie drove home. As he parked the car at the entrance and stepped inside, he saw his wife standing under the eaves, lost in thought.

When she saw him, Cheng Xiaolin finally snapped out of it. “Shujie, you’re finally back.”

“What’s wrong? Something happen?” Cao Shujie asked, puzzled by the look on her face.

Then she said, “Shujie, the loudspeaker just made an announcement. There’s a meeting at the Village Committee tomorrow. They said it’s about discussing Cao Jianhua’s plan to lease the mountain land.”

“Uncle Hua wants to lease mountain land?” Cao Shujie was caught off guard by the news.

Then it hit him—Cao Jianhua must still be set on pursuing his livestock business, despite all the advice against it.

There wasn’t much he could say about it. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “What time’s the meeting tomorrow?”

“The loudspeaker said nine in the morning,” Cheng Xiaolin replied.

“Nine o’clock?” Cao Shujie nodded. He didn’t think much of it. If he had time, he figured he might as well go listen in.

Time slipped by unnoticed. After a full day of running around, Cao Shujie was exhausted. After dinner, he didn’t even have the energy to play with Mengmeng like usual. He lay down and drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

In his dreams, he vaguely heard his wife telling him to take off his clothes, then someone tugging at them. After that, everything faded into a blur.

The next morning, just after five, as the sky was beginning to lighten, Cao Shujie woke up naturally.

He got dressed and quietly stepped outside. As soon as he came out, he heard dogs barking.

The two little German Shepherds still hadn’t fully adjusted to their new home, but they were doing much better than when they first arrived.

Cao Shujie grabbed a small folding stool and sat in front of the dog cage, watching Daha and Erha sleeping inside. He looked up at the two little German Shepherds in the upper cage and thought to himself how great it would be when all four of them were fully grown—imagine him walking four fierce dogs through the mountains on patrol. That’d be quite the sight.

Once Daha and Erha woke up, they couldn’t sit still in the cage anymore.

Seeing their destructive energy rising again, Cao Shujie grabbed the special leashes and harnessed all four dogs before taking them out for a walk.

He headed north up to the orchard in the mountains. After unlocking the wire fence and going in, he gathered the dogs together and gave them a stern talking-to, laying down the rules. Then he let them off the leash.

“Daha, Erha, and you two—if any of you dare mess up anything in here, I swear I’ll cook you for dinner tonight.”

Hearing Cao Shujie’s threat, Daha and Erha didn’t dare misbehave. As for the two little German Shepherds, who hadn’t even grown all their teeth yet, they didn’t have much say—and their destructive power was still limited.

Once freed, Daha and Erha ran off in all directions, but thankfully, they valued their lives enough not to damage any saplings or fruits in the orchard.

The two little German Shepherds didn’t know where to go, so they stuck close to Cao Shujie. When he went to feed the calves, they followed along, looking quite obedient.

When the calves started running around and acting up, the pups even barked a few times, as if trying to help Cao Shujie keep them in line.

“You two are really something!” Cao Shujie kept praising them nonstop.

He was already picturing the two little German Shepherds all grown up—majestic and imposing like their father, their deep, thunderous barks echoing like those of a Tibetan Mastiff. The thought thrilled him.

“You two better hurry up and grow big, and make sure you surpass your dad,” Cao Shujie kept muttering to them.

Using a pitchfork, he broke apart the hay bales he’d stockpiled earlier and spread the fresh, nutrient-infused forage evenly across the ground, making sure all fifty calves could get their share. As he worked, he was already thinking about asking Xia Changhong to come over soon and install the automated livestock watering system.

“And I’ve got to press Grandpa Zhenggang too. It’s just a simple stainless steel-framed cattle shed with a color steel roof—should be an easy job. We need to get moving on the construction,” he mumbled to himself.

Once he saw the fifty calves had stopped eating and were content, Cao Shujie led the four dogs—now worn out after burning off their excess energy—back down the mountain.

As he walked along the road, many of the villagers gave him a wide berth, wary of the four dogs. No one wanted to risk a bite—that would be quite the scene.

Cao Shujie didn’t mind. On the way, he ran into Cao Jiangang, who was pedaling his bike toward him. “Uncle, where are you off to?” he asked.

Cao Jiangang glanced at him. “Oh, Shujie, it’s you. Why don’t you come to the Village Committee meeting?”

“What meeting?” Cao Shujie had forgotten.

Cao Jiangang replied, “Your Uncle Hua wants to lease some mountain land. I figured since you’ve got experience with large-scale land contracts, maybe you could give him some advice.”

Cao Shujie immediately recalled what his wife had told him yesterday. Hearing this now from Cao Jiangang, he politely declined, “Uncle, I’m not the right person for that. I already had a private talk with Uncle Hua before, but I don’t think he’s open to suggestions. Sometimes saying too much just makes things worse.”

Cao Jiangang was no fool. Hearing that, he seemed to understand the situation and said, “Alright then, you head on back. We’ll talk another day.”

(The End of This Chapter)