Aunt Niu returned home in tears. Niu Yonggui had just come back from working in the fields, his whole body aching.

Seeing his wife crying her eyes out, Niu Yonggui acted as if he didn't see her at all. He took out a cold steamed bun from the cupboard and wolfed it down with half a bowl of pickled vegetable strips.

Aunt Niu felt a surge of anger; lately, she had been having a run of bad luck, with everything going wrong!

She stepped forward and swept the bowl of pickled vegetables off the stove onto the floor.

Niu Yonggui looked down at the shattered rice bowl and stuffed the last bite of steamed bun into his mouth.

Aunt Niu looked at this man who couldn't even fart properly and despised him from the bottom of her heart.

"Smack—"

A loud slap rang out!

Aunt Niu only realized what was happening when she felt her cheeks burning. She then screamed, "You bastard, how dare you hit me?"

Niu Yonggui's eyes flashed with a cold light as he hissed, "Shut up!"

Aunt Niu was frightened by his fierce tone. She didn't sit down on the ground until Niu Yonggui left the house carrying half a bag of flour and a pound of pork.

The neighbors all heard Aunt Niu's loud crying.

But so what?

No one cared about the Niu family's affairs, nor did anyone care why Aunt Niu was crying.

It's already a kindness of everyone that they didn't drive Niu Guang and his family out of the village, given the scourge he caused.

Haven't you seen Liu Laonian and Gai Fengniang always keeping their tails between their legs?

...

Lijiapo Canned Food Factory.

To prevent watermelons from rotting and going unsold, Zhao Sufang has already started leading a team to develop canned watermelons.

They first cut the watermelon flesh into small pieces and put them into an enamel basin, then added boiling water to the basin.

Once the watermelon is submerged in boiling water, add maltose and a small spoonful of salt. The salt is used to bring out the sweetness of the watermelon.

Soak and marinate the watermelon for a while, then put the marinated watermelon into a pot to steam. After the water boils, steam the watermelon for about half an hour.

After cooking, take it out and let it cool. Once cooled, you can put it into a clean, dry jar, and a jar of watermelon preserves is ready.

Li Xiangdong tasted a can of watermelon. What do you think?

The watermelon wasn't crisp at all; it was soft and mushy.

It tastes a bit strange.

However, others who tried it said it was sweet and quite good.

Just when everyone was struggling to find a place to store watermelons, a line of large trucks suddenly appeared at the entrance of the brigade headquarters warehouse!

Zhao Xiaojun rolled down the car window first and greeted Guo Haiguang, "Grandpa Guo, we've arrived with the people who want to buy watermelons!"

Guo Yuxi was sitting in the car behind. He opened the door and jumped in front of his grandfather. "Grandpa, I brought back the watermelon buyer! Aren't I awesome? Amazing?"

Looking at his eldest grandson who had been away from home for many days, Guo Haiguang was overjoyed. He gave his grandson a thumbs up and said, "You're really amazing, a hundred times better than your father!"

Guo Jinfang, who was working in the back: ...

Dad, why do you praise one while putting down another?

Looking at the row of large trucks behind him, Guo Jinfang knew that the salesmen he had sent out had really worked!

The watermelons from Lijiapo are selling like hotcakes!

He quickly put down his work and went to the field to call Li Jin, Li Xiangdong, and Wang Zhenbo.

Upon hearing Guo Jinfang's description, Li Jin, a man in his forties, jumped for joy, exclaiming, "The gods of wealth have arrived!"

Several people rushed to the brigade headquarters, where Liu Changhai, Li Tang, and Guo Daming were introducing the watermelons in the warehouse to the visitors.

Some people hesitated, "Weren't they just picked from the ground? Are they fresh?"

Li Jinshan immediately took out a watermelon from the very back and cut it in half with a long knife.

The crisp sound of the rind cracking open, the bright red flesh, and the abundant moisture all indicate the watermelon's freshness.

Li Jinshan swiftly cut the watermelon into more than a dozen pieces, urging the visitors to try them. "Try it yourselves and see if this watermelon is fresh or not."

Liu Changhai turned his head and saw Li Jin. He greeted him happily, "Captain! Accountant Wang! Xiang Dong! We're back!"

Li Xiangdong walked up to him and asked with a smile, "How much have you reserved?"

Liu Changhai grinned, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth, "Not much, not much, 80,000 jin a month!"

Although it doesn't have as many as the Yanjing City Department Store, it's still quite a lot.

Then again, isn't there only one Yanjing Department Store in the whole country?

Li Jin and Wang Zhenbo shook hands and greeted the purchasing personnel from various provinces, and then invited them inside to have some water.

The two older men from Heilongjiang Province were the most straightforward, saying, "No more drinking! Let's load it up now! We're in a hurry to get back! Don't be fooled by the warm weather here; it's freezing cold where we're from!"

"Yes! The road is icy, it's hard to walk on! Let's hurry!"

Someone chimed in, "It's so cold, why are you buying so many watermelons?"

As we all know, watermelon is a fruit that helps to cool you down in the summer.

Upon hearing this, the man from Heilongjiang Province burst into laughter, "Brothers, you don't know this, but it's cold outside where we're from, yet it's so hot inside that people go shirtless! The heat makes people feel hot and bothered, so having a couple of bites of watermelon is just what we need to soothe our throats!"

Four large trucks arrived from Heilongjiang Province, carrying 400,000 jin (200 tons) of cargo!

Everyone was dumbfounded. Could this even be sold?

Li Xiangdong understood perfectly well that, in terms of current spending power, apart from Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning were the most prominent.

The three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning have a high degree of industrialization. They are home to the largest steel group in the country, as well as FAW, Daqing Oilfield, machine tool factories and tractor factories, making them the most important heavy industrial bases in the country.

These three provinces are home to the nation's elite and a large number of industrial workers.

Workers earn high wages, so buying a watermelon, which is not common in winter, is a piece of cake.

Since the big brother from Heilongjiang Province was in a hurry, Li Jin quickly called people to help them move the melons, weigh them, and load them onto the truck!

The price was set beforehand; it's four cents a pound no matter who you sell it to.

The people from Henan Province originally wanted to negotiate the price down further, but seeing that the big brother from Heilongjiang Province had ordered 400,000 jin of watermelons without haggling, they became hesitant and didn't dare to speak up for a while.

While I was packing watermelons for Heilongjiang Province, two men came running up from a distance, panting heavily.

Li Xiangdong looked closely and saw that it was indeed Master Yu and Master Li.

"Master Yu, Master Li, what's going on? Why are you running so fast?"

Master Yu was too busy catching his breath, but Master Li, being younger, could still speak, "Wait, Xiang Dong, what's going on? Why are there so many cars?"

Master Yu also said, "Are you all here to buy watermelons? Heading east, the whole country has to ensure the supply to Yanjing Department Store, you have to let me haul it first!"

Li Xiangdong pretended to be embarrassed, "Master Yu, Master Li, we need to follow the order of arrival!"

The two were anxious but helpless, and could only watch as watermelons were continuously loaded into the truck bound for Heilongjiang Province.

I need to report this to my supervisor; we can't keep coming to collect watermelons every three days!

To avoid missing out on items, you should buy more at once, even if it means incurring some storage losses!