Chapter 235: More than 60 Tons of Longan
Monday, the twenty-seventh day of the sixth lunar month.
At six in the morning, Deng Shirong got up, washed up, and rode his bicycle to White Duckweed Farm without even having time to make breakfast.
Of course, he didn't make breakfast at home, but he still had to eat. He had plenty of food stored in his system space, which he could take out and eat anytime, so he wouldn't go hungry.
Half an hour later, Deng Shirong arrived at White Duckweed Farm.
At this time, more than a dozen workers were busy in the open space of the farm. They were all women, tasked with trimming the branches and leaves of the longans piled up like a mountain in front of them to make the fruit look more presentable, then packing them into bamboo baskets.
Next to them, there were already twenty or thirty baskets of neatly trimmed and packed longans.
Seeing Deng Shirong arrive, the farm manager greeted him, "Comrade Deng, you're here!"
Deng Shirong parked his bike, looked at the scene before him, and said with admiration, "Manager, you guys are really efficient!"
The farm manager smiled. "We don't have much on our farm, but we have plenty of people. As the great leader said, there's strength in numbers. With more hands, everything gets done faster."
Deng Shirong noticed that many workers were still transporting longans down from the mountain, so he asked, "Manager, can we start loading the truck now?"
The manager nodded. "Yes, we can load the truck anytime."
Deng Shirong said, "Then let's start loading."
The manager agreed and instructed the workers to begin loading the truck.
As an agricultural reclamation farm run by the autonomous region, White Duckweed Farm had fixed assets exceeding 10 million yuan, so it naturally had no shortage of medium-sized tractors, walk-behind tractors, and cars.
Since the longans only needed to be transported to the Temple Lotus loading and unloading station nearby, there was no need for a car. A medium-sized tractor or walk-behind tractor would suffice.
With many people helping, the truck was loaded quickly, and the scale was moved onto the truck.
Then, Deng Shirong greeted the manager and rode his bicycle ahead to lead the way.
It was only a few hundred meters from the farm to the Temple Lotus loading and unloading station. In less than five minutes, Deng Shirong brought the farm's tractor to the two mud-brick houses he had rented a few days earlier.
Next, the door was opened, and the farm workers first took down the scale. Those unloading the longans began their task, while others weighed the fruit, kept accounts, and helped move the weighed longans into the mud-brick houses for storage.
Everyone had their role, and the efficiency was impressive.
Deng Shirong watched from the side, only needing to check the scale and the accounts.
One hundred catties, one thousand catties, ten thousand catties... thirty thousand catties...
Starting at less than seven in the morning and ending around ten, the farm delivered a total of 31,264 kilograms of Shixia longan.
With the farm's capabilities, if they worked at full capacity, they could have picked more. However, Deng Shirong had requested only about 30,000 kilograms per day. Any more, and the two mud-brick houses wouldn't be able to store it, which would cause problems.
After all, Deng Shirong needed to move the longans into his system space when no one was around. Doing so in public was impossible.
After checking the accounts, the farm worker in charge of bookkeeping greeted Deng Shirong, then asked someone to take the scale and rode the tractor back to the farm.
When the longans were first transported from the farm in the morning, nearby villagers came over out of curiosity. But there wasn't much to see, so after watching for a while, they dispersed.
Now, with no one around, Deng Shirong had an idea. He moved all the longans piled in the two mud-brick houses into his system space.
After finishing, Deng Shirong didn't go home immediately. Instead, he stayed nearby and observed for almost two hours. Once he was sure no one was paying attention to the rented houses, he rode away on his bicycle, feeling at ease.
Unless someone was watching constantly, no one would notice how the longans were transported away.
The next three days followed the same routine as the first.
Over four days, White Duckweed Farm delivered a total of 126,837 kilograms of Shixia longan to Deng Shirong.
By this time, all the longans on the farm had been picked. According to the purchase agreement, the price of longans was 0.29 yuan per catty, making the total cost for 126,837 catties 36,782.73 yuan.
Since Deng Shirong had also purchased over 1,200 bamboo baskets from the farm, he added 1,000 yuan, bringing the total to 37,782.73 yuan.
After Deng Shirong checked the total account with the farm's financial officer, he took out a bundle of ten-yuan bills from a sack he carried, counted out 35,782.7 yuan, and handed it to the farm's financial officer. "I've already paid a deposit of 2,000 yuan. Here's 35,782.7 yuan. Can you count it to confirm it's correct?"
Although the farm's financial staff had been counting the money alongside Deng Shirong, when it came to money transactions, it had to be counted multiple times. Especially for financial staff, carelessness was not an option.
So, the financial officer took the money and counted it twice to confirm the amount was correct. Then, with a smile, he said, "Comrade Deng, the amount is correct. I'll take the money back to the farm now. I wish you a prosperous business."
"Thank you!"
After watching the farm staff leave, Deng Shirong followed his previous strategy. After moving the longans into his system space, he stayed nearby and observed for an hour or two. When he was sure no one was paying attention, he rode away on his bicycle, feeling at ease.
…
When Deng Shirong got home, it was already past one in the afternoon.
Sitting under the longan tree and smoking, Deng Shirong asked his second son, "Yunheng, school is about to start for you, right? When do you plan to go back?"
Deng Yunheng replied, "School starts in a little over ten days. I plan to go to Bobai in the next couple of days and then leave with Sister Song."
Deng Shirong also wanted to go to Beijing to sell longans, but he didn't plan to travel with his second son.
On one hand, traveling with his son and his friends would make it impossible to use his system space, which would cause him a lot of trouble on the road.
On the other hand, he didn't want his presence to dampen the atmosphere of his son's trip. Without a parent around, they could chat and play freely. But with him there, they would likely hold back.
Deng Shirong took a few puffs of his cigarette, set the pipe aside, and took out 500 yuan from his pocket, handing it to his son. "This is your living expenses for the year. This year, you should stay in Beijing for the New Year like last year. Don't go back and forth during the Spring Festival."
Deng Yunheng took the money and said, "I understand. I've already made plans with my fellow Guangxi students at school. We'll all stay at school together for the Spring Festival this year."
Deng Shirong nodded. "It's good that you've made arrangements. It seems your sister-in-law's younger sister, Afang, is about to give birth. I'll go ask her. If she wants to go to the county town to give birth, you can take her there in a few days."
Deng Yunheng: "Okay."
…
Yang's Hillside Village.
Deng Changdong's home.
Ou Guofang sat under the pomelo tree at the door, her belly large, chatting with her cousin Ou Guohua, who had come to visit with her child in her arms.
Although the sun was at its peak, her parents-in-law and husband hadn't rested. After lunch, they went back up the mountain to continue cultivating the orchard, planning to plant lychee trees and watermelons next year.
This was what Thatchfield Village and two or three nearby villages were busy with.
Ever since Uncle Jiu's family had a bumper harvest of lychees and watermelons this year, nine out of ten people who heard the news wanted to follow suit. After all, that was several thousand yuan in profit a year. Which rural family could resist such a temptation?
As for her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, they were out herding cattle.
Their family's biggest income currently came from raising cattle, so they had to take good care of them.
At this time, Ou Guohua's daughter was almost three months old. Children of that age were easy to take care of and fun to play with.
Ou Guofang teased the child, then touched her big belly and said, "I wonder if the baby in my belly is a son or a daughter."
Ou Guohua smiled. "For the first child, it doesn't matter if it's a son or a daughter. Look at Ah Ping. She also had a daughter, but her daughter, Xiao Dong'er, is now the little princess of their family. Whether it's her grandpa or her aunts and uncles, everyone dotes on Xiao Dong'er."
Ou Guofang couldn't help but laugh. "Ah Ping is a special case. Who in this area can compare to Uncle Jiu? Uncle Jiu doesn't favor boys over girls, and his children don't either. As the only third-generation child in their family, it's natural for Xiao Dong'er to be doted on."
"That's true."
Ou Guohua smiled. "However, I have a feeling the baby in your belly is a son. After all, among the three of us sisters, Ah Ping and I both had daughters. The chances of you having another daughter are relatively low."
Ou Guofang touched her belly. "To be honest, I hope my first child is also a daughter. That way, the daughters of the three of us sisters can grow up playing together, just like we did. How wonderful would that be?"
Just as the two sisters were chatting, a familiar voice called out, "What are you two sisters talking about? You look so happy!"
Ou Guofang and Ou Guohua turned toward the voice and greeted in unison, "Uncle Jiu!"
Deng Shirong looked at Ou Guofang's large belly and asked, "Afang, are you about to give birth?"
Ou Guofang smiled. "Yes, it's coming soon. According to my mother-in-law's estimate, the baby should be born in about ten days."
Deng Shirong said, "When I came back, your Ah Ping asked me to ask if you wanted to go to the county town to give birth."
Ou Guofang nodded. "Yes, my parents-in-law agree!"
After the three sisters got married, Pingjie and Ahua had gone to the county town to give birth. They brought back a lot of childbirth knowledge from the professional midwives there, which made Ou Guofang realize the risks of giving birth at home. Naturally, she wanted to go to the county town if she had the chance.
Deng Shirong nodded. "Okay, my Yunheng is going to school in a few days and will stop by Bobai first. You can go with him then. Don't worry about food and accommodation. Your Ah Ping has already arranged everything."
Ou Guofang nodded repeatedly. "Okay, thank you, Uncle Jiu. We'll go with Uncle Yunheng in a couple of days."
(End of this chapter)