Chapter 50: Pushing the limits

Dad Ye is checking the wolfberry seedlings in the yard. It is almost June now, and the wolfberry branches have begun to bloom purple flowers. Because of the large quantity, they have been pruned appropriately before delivery. There are still many leaves, but they are all pressed together and look ugly and lifeless.

Some of the root systems are not well developed, it seems that the seedlings have been watered too much in the past few years.

Father Ye frowned and said, "Ye Zi, I don't think your seedlings are very good."

"It's okay, it's like this at the beginning. It will be fine after it's planted." There will always be a tiny difference between the pictures on the Internet and the real thing.

Ye Zhen didn't care. Once the spiritual energy was drawn over, even the worst seedlings would grow vigorously.

"Dad, let's find a few people to plant all these saplings today. Not only are they in the way here, but the saplings are almost wilting."

What?

Father Ye almost jumped up: "Didn't we call some people? Your brother is coming back today. How many people do we have including your uncle?"

Brother Ye: “…” Before he came back, the work had been arranged.

Dad Ye felt that this was not work. Just dig a ditch along the foot of the mountain, plant the seedlings, and cover them with soil and the job would be done. Why would we need to find people for this?

However, Ye Zhen has his own plans:

"As soon as the test report from Manager Wang is ready, the vegetables will be ready for harvest. But the weeds grow so fast that we have to remove them every day. Time is money. Let's hire a few more people who work faster so that we can plant crops earlier."

"We should hire someone. How long has my uncle just come back from work? He hasn't even had a chance to catch his breath yet, and we're already asking people to help with the work. We should hire two more people!"

"Tell them to grow more solid. The plums and other fruits have been sold for tens of thousands of yuan. We can still sell a lot of vegetables later. How long can we sell the sweet potato leaves one after another? Let's plant them quickly."

Speaking of vegetables, Dad Ye didn't dare to think further and quickly agreed.

Ye's mother asked in confusion, "People may not be able to buy the vegetables, and you are counting the money?"

Ye Zhen: “…” This dish is so good, it would be a loss if people don’t buy it!

What does it matter if you don’t buy it? It’s like going out to work. If one store doesn’t work for you, you can go to another store. There is not only one supermarket, so there will always be people who have a discerning eye for talent.

Ye Zhen remained calm: "It's okay, Mom. At worst, we can just keep selling to the group. I've subscribed to the courier service, so I can just give them a call and they'll come!"

"Then we should hire someone. Time waits for no one. When the weather gets hotter, it won't be suitable for growing vegetables." Ye's mother also agreed.

…

Grandma Ye smiles at everyone she meets these days and visits her old sisters’ homes to chat every day.

"If you ask me, it's better to study. Look at my son Ye Zi, he's very good at farming now. As you can see, he came to buy vegetables yesterday and signed a contract. He can sell them to us in the future."

Zhang Shuiying also agreed. Just as she was about to say something, her daughter-in-law next to her secretly poked her waist and made a face to Grandma Ye.

Zhang Shuiying ignored her and continued listening to Grandma Ye.

Grandma Ye was talking excitedly, and suddenly interrupted with a sentence:

"Aunt Ye, our two families have such a good relationship. Now that your family has made money from farming, you have to help us."

Grandma Ye's smile faded, and Zhang Shuiying next to her felt a little embarrassed and annoyed.

Ever since her daughter-in-law learned that there would be someone specially sent to collect the fruits and vegetables grown by Grandma Ye and that the prices were not low, she became interested.

It stands to reason that after making such a large sum of money, anyone would have some ideas. What kind of money-making opportunities can there be in a small mountain village? Those who stay at home can only take care of the fields, carry the leftover vegetables to the market and sell them, making a few cents.

This has been the way for decades, and I never realized that I could make money by farming.

At first, Zhang Shuiying thought her daughter-in-law wanted to help her grow strawberries. She also thought her daughter-in-law was quick-witted. As soon as she opened her mouth:

"Mom, the vegetable you said is just ordinary. There are vegetable gardens everywhere in the village. Why is it worth so much money?"

Zhang Shuiying actually didn't know, and didn't think about it, sitting on the bench picking vegetables:

"Their vegetables are delicious! Didn't you see how much effort Ye Minghai put into it? They just pulled out any weeds and caught any bugs, and they didn't use any pesticides at all."

"Who doesn't use pesticides on their vegetables these days? Who has the time to weed by hand?"

Zhang Shuiying's daughter-in-law continued to ask, "How much money does that amount of money have to make? Mom, her family has such a good relationship with you, can you see if you can help us?"

Zhang Shuiying was puzzled: "Didn't they say they would take us to grow strawberries? The village should have a meeting in the next few days. When the village chief and secretary return from their inspections elsewhere, there will be results by then."

"Besides, hasn't Ye Zi been collecting vegetables in the village all the time? If you grow them well and sell them to Ye Zi, you can make a lot of money."

The daughter-in-law was still unwilling to give up: "Mom, what I mean is that we have a lot of vegetables in our garden. Can we wait until Ye Minghai's family harvests the vegetables and put them over there? We won't put too much, and people won't be able to tell if there are dozens of kilograms."

How much is the small program sold to Ye Zi? She has found out that the vegetables purchased from Ye Minghai's house are more expensive!

Why don’t they sell it to other buyers, but have to sell it to Ye Zhen? How much money does that cost?

Ye Minghai's family is really cunning. I don't know how much the vegetables he collected were sold for, but he only gave such a small amount to the villagers. How can he have the nerve to do that!

Zhang Shuiying finally understood her daughter-in-law's thoughts. She silently put down the dish in her hand and stared at her coldly. She was amused by her shamelessness:

"You have a good plan! Don't you know how to grow the vegetables yourself? Besides, they have signed a contract, why should they take the risk to help you?"

"They want vegetables grown by Ye Zi's family, not those grown in the village. Do you think your vegetables are comparable to theirs?"

It’s good enough for Ye Minghai’s family to be able to buy vegetables from the village, and the price is high. As long as the vegetables are good, they will be bought. How much effort does it save the villagers?

It's only been a few days since you started making money, and you're already having other thoughts!

How come she doesn't know when her daughter-in-law has become so cunning?

"No, Mom, you have such a good relationship with Aunt Ye, she will definitely help you if you go and ask her."

Huang Xi'e became anxious, and squatted beside Zhang Shuiying, snatching the vegetables that Zhang Shuiying had picked. She felt very confused about Zhang Shuiying's refusal.

What a good idea this is. Just tell Aunt Ye and ask her to help harvest the vegetables from her garden. If you don’t tell her and she doesn’t tell you, who would know?

They were all from the same village, so would they not be willing to help? Even if they didn't want to help, at most she could give some money to Aunt Ye's family, so they wouldn't have to work hard, and she could make money, which was a happy thing for everyone.

"You'd better give up. I don't have the nerve to say that." Zhang Shuiying frowned, pulled the vegetables back from her daughter-in-law's hands, turned around, turned her back, and continued picking.

"Mom, just go and talk to Aunt Ye. You know what our family is like. Yongzi and the others are still working outside. They work hard all year to earn so little. Your grandson is going to get married in the future, but he can't even afford the bride price. The other party also wants a new house and..."

Zhang Shuiying interrupted her daughter-in-law impatiently:

"Eat as much as you can afford. Our family doesn't have that ability. With these conditions, tell your son to find another one."

Zhang Shuiying gave birth to two sons and one daughter. Her husband died of illness a long time ago. She raised her children, found a wife for her son, and married off her daughter over the years. It goes without saying how much hardship she went through in the process. But everyone in the village gives her a thumbs up when they mention her.

Apart from anything else, at least she was honest and upright. Mixing her own vegetables into the food to deceive people, wouldn't that be a slap in her face? She couldn't even get past this level without even asking.

Besides, your grandson is still in school, so why worry about his future marriage?

No matter how much she talked, Zhang Shuiying just refused to agree.

I didn't expect that you still haven't given up.

Grandma Ye still smiled and said, "When the village chief comes back, we can all grow strawberries and get rich together. There's no need to talk about helping others."

"It's like this, we want to put the dishes together at your house..."

"Shut up!" Zhang Shuiying raised her voice and interrupted her daughter-in-law hastily. She gritted her teeth and glared at Huang Xi'e, then turned around and said to Grandma Ye embarrassedly:

"Don't take it to heart if your child says something wrong."

If Grandma Ye didn't understand something, she would give face to the old sisters and change the subject and continue talking about other things.

When they came out of Zhang Shuiying's house, Grandma Ye's face immediately drooped. This Shuiying daughter-in-law is really...

Grandma Ye shook her head, feeling depressed.