120. 120 Men who can't stand being alone.

After arriving in the Northwest, he moved directly into Su Yu's small house, without mentioning the troubles back home. He took over Engineer Lü's work, driving his jeep in and out of the desert to buy vegetables and meat for people, and bringing in drinking water every day. He worked for free, and being Section Chief Su's wife, no one reported him for being an unregistered outsider who had been staying there for so long.

"This is aloe vera." Ning Jin had been staying at home for a few days and, when she got bored, she came out with Su Yu to watch them work. Sometimes she would even help out. "Is this wild or did you grow it?"

“Wild, all wild.” Seeing the doubt in the man’s eyes, she said, “The only thing we do is divide the plants and move the newly sprouted ones to an open area. That doesn’t change their genes; they’re purely wild.”

Ning Jin said "oh" and asked if there was any news about the documents she submitted last month. Su Yu shook her head, "No, I don't know if they haven't seen them yet or if they're still discussing them."

"I heard there are camels in the desert, but I haven't seen any after all these days." Ning Jin didn't care much about her selling cash crops to increase her income. He had never worried about such things, and he was even more clueless about government affairs, unable to understand the ins and outs. Seeing that she was a little unhappy, he asked her about other things to divert her attention.

"Camels are still in the desert, and I've never seen one. We're still on the outskirts of the area. We can drive cars, plant grass and trees, and walk around, so we don't need camels for transportation."

"Is anyone going in?"

"Yes, there are archaeologists and prospectors. The desert is rich in mineral and oil resources. If you stay here long enough, you might even see archaeologists coming out. They stop here for a day to rest before continuing their journey. Archaeologists are also public officials of our country, not freelancers," Su Yu explained to him.

"Archaeologists? Tomb diggers?" He chuckled, noticing her expression. "Just say tomb diggers, that's enough. You've got me all confused; I almost didn't understand what archaeologists do."

"And it's not just ancient tombs..."

"You don't need to say anything, I know everything." Ning Jin interrupted her, which made her glare at herself. That's more like it. Be more energetic. The environment here is bad enough. If you look listless, you won't have any appetite.

After returning home, he wrote to Xiao Yuan and Ping An, asking them to buy some tasty meat and snacks and send them over, such as sausages, dried meat, canned fish, or other similar items, preferably things that are easy to carry. The temperature here is high, and Su Yu's work is physically demanding, so she often gets hungry before mealtimes, and by the time she gets home from work, she's too hungry to eat.

When he was driving, she would always tell him to eat well and not ruin his stomach, but when it was her turn, it was as if she wasn't the one who said those words before.

When he returned the letter, he took out a yellow paper bag and gave it to her, saying, "See if this is a reply from the Forestry Bureau. I see the address is the Forestry Bureau."

Su Yuyue quickly opened the seal. The document she had submitted was on top. She nodded repeatedly, turned to the last page, squinted and looked at it twice, and said excitedly, "I've made contact. The department has contacted a skincare company in Shanghai. They are also interested in purchasing the product, but they want us to send aloe vera there for inspection."

"Section Chief Su, you won't let me go with you? My hometown is Shanghai, I know it well," Engineer Lü asked.

"It's just a pot of aloe vera, there's no need for both of you to go. It'll be safe if I take my partner. You can focus on your work and wait for me to bring back good news," Su Yu joked.

"You caught me, my attempt to slack off failed." Engineer Lü nudged Ning Jin. "Dude, it would have been better if you had come a little later."

“Even if I’m not here, it’s not your place. What will happen to their water supply if you go? Do you want them to die of thirst?” Ning Jin laughed along. Having a skill hadn’t increased Lu Gong’s income; instead, it had tied him to the truck. Therefore, he refused Su Yu’s offer to use her connections to arrange a job as a driver in the desert for him.

He's even less free than when he drives a truck.

Su Yu went there full of hope, but was greatly disappointed when she met the person. The other party probably only responded because of the government. Now they told her that their company had an agreement with the original distributor, and could only free up three or four hundred kilograms for her. She would have to be responsible for the transportation and other things.

The wholesale price is 13 cents per pound, so even 400 pounds only costs 40 or 50 cents, and you only need to make two deliveries a month.

"Are we going to do this business?" Ning Jin asked after they came out.

“Go ahead and do it. Even a mosquito bite is still meat. If we don’t sell it, the aloe vera will just go to waste.” Su Yu wasn’t in a hurry to go back. She carried the aloe vera she had brought all the way to Shanghai and asked around everywhere. Even with her work ID, it was useless. Nowadays, most big companies are state-owned enterprises. Who’s afraid of a forestry bureau like you? At most, they’ll just be a little easier to talk to.

After searching for three days without success, the two returned home. They gave the aloe vera they had carefully cared for all the way to Caizhu Skin Care Products Manufacturing Company. Once back in the Northwest, they arranged for a truck to deliver the packaged aloe vera there on schedule.

"We've already overdrawn our budget before we've even made any income," Su Yu said with a self-deprecating laugh. Ning Jin had been to many places, so she contacted a packaging paper manufacturer through him and bought a batch of packaging paper to wrap the harvested aloe vera.

Ning Jin couldn't bear to see her busy from morning till night, tired from working outside, and still writing and calculating when she came back, but she didn't want to discourage her, so she tentatively said, "Why don't you put the aloe vera business on hold for now? See if the Forestry Bureau has contacted other manufacturers for you, or wait until Cai Zhu has put the aloe vera into production and seen the results before you order in large quantities. Don't rush, it's only been a few days."

Su Yu slapped her thigh upon hearing his words, "You're right, that's a wake-up call. We have no reputation." She jumped over, hugged his head, and kissed him on the cheek, "It's a good thing you're here with me. I've never done this before, I was completely clueless."

Starting the next day, she took her camera to the place where aloe vera grows, asked two people to help her take a picture of her holding her hand in the desert, then broke off a piece of aloe vera, applied it to her hand, and took another picture. She took one picture every day after that. She planned to submit it to a newspaper in the south once it had some effect. There are policies to attract foreign investment now, and it would be great if it could attract the attention of foreign investors.

Ning Jin has been in the desert for a month. He has no interest in planting trees and grass. Sometimes when he goes to bury straw, it's just to help Su Yu. The longer he stays, the less motivated he becomes.

"Go check on Ping An and Xiao Yuan. Ping An said he wanted to transfer his military status, but I don't know how it's going. Go ask him about it. Also, check on Xiao Yuan. He'll be a third-year graduate student in six months. See what his job plans are. See if he can come here for an internship during winter break so he can learn from me." Su Yu also noticed Ning Jin's dejection. Working in the desert is almost completely isolated from the world. Without enthusiasm, it's very difficult to stay here, especially for people who are used to being around people.

“Okay.” Upon hearing that he could go out for a stroll, the man perked up immediately, as if he had been released from prison. Noticing the teasing look on Su Yu’s face, he clicked his tongue to ease the awkwardness and changed the subject, saying, “How about I bring you a dog in? You like dogs, right? Bringing a dog in to keep you company is so boring. Every day is the same, and the people and things you see are always the same.”

"No way, the dogs don't adapt well to this environment, and it makes life hard for them." Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua died one after the other in the spring of the year Xiao Yuan graduated. They both died of old age, one living for thirteen years and the other for twelve. Xiao Yuan and Ping An dug a pit deep in the forest and buried the two dogs. In the following years, no one mentioned keeping dogs again.

They're all unpredictable, and keeping a dog won't give them a stable life, so it's best not to keep one for now.

After Ning Jin left, the semi-isolated village in the desert resumed its routine of buying vegetables and meat and refilling drinking water every three days. The vegetables were still fresh on the first day, but by the second and third days they were dry and without moisture. Su Yu was somewhat unaccustomed to returning without hot meals. She would often call out to Ning Jin while reading, only realizing that the restless man had gone out to enjoy life when no one answered.

Bored, Er Ya's letter brought her a pleasant surprise. Er Ya had a boyfriend, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, the same age as Er Ya, with a master's degree, and who started working in the same year as her.

"Auntie, his name is Cai Zhiran, a very nice and funny name, it sounds similar to cumin. He took me home to meet his parents, and I felt that his parents looked down on me, which is quite normal. There's a former convict in my family, my mother ran away with another man, and I have an older sister and a younger brother to take care of. I think that one day my child would bring home a partner with such a background, and I wouldn't be satisfied either. So I've decided to just date for now, and whether we can get married and start a family will be up to time. If it works out, we'll stay together; if it doesn't, we'll part ways. Let's see what fate has in store."

Oh, and also, Cumin's dad works for the Justice Bureau. He suggested I take the postgraduate entrance exam and even analyzed which certifications are most valuable for law students. I've decided to work while studying, and if I pass, I can even have paid time off while studying, which will improve my career prospects.

"I hope Er Ya has good luck, meets a good family, and has a good man to spend the rest of her life with," Su Yu wrote on the back of the letter.