Chapter 5 Procurement

The night is deep, insects chirp, and the sky is dotted with stars.

The two remained silent for a moment, neither going inside nor speaking. Instead, they stood at the gate, gazing at the nearby woods, each lost in their own thoughts.

Su Tangtang knew that the original owner of the body had a bad reputation and that it was impossible to change people's minds in a short time. Even if she said that she had changed, no one would believe her.

"Do you think there are snakes in this forest?" Su Tangtang suddenly asked.

Huo Yizhou withdrew his gaze, glanced at her, and said, "I think so."

Su Tangtang was terrified of snakes. The thought of snakes made her tremble. "Let's go back inside. Most snakes prefer to come out at night."

Huo Yizhou's lips curled into a slight smile. "Scared?"

Su Tangtang walked towards the door. "Aren't you afraid to stay here? I'm going in first."

Su Tangtang had just entered the courtyard when Huo Yizhou followed her in and closed the gate.

Su Tangtang went into the room and lay down on the bed.

Within minutes, the entire room went dark.

She couldn't sleep. She had just overheard Gu Qingke and Shen Yingying's conversation, which implied that they weren't going to let her go.

She couldn't let her guard down, after all, the original owner of the body in the book was really killed by them silently.

However, her arrival disrupted the course of the book; the plot was different from what she had read, and the future developments became unknown.

-

At seven o'clock in the morning, Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou arrived in town. With the village chief's introduction, they found the best fertilizer shop.

"I did the math, and it takes about 5-6 bags of fertilizer per acre. For 10 acres, that's about 50 bags," Su Tangtang said, holding a notebook with her notes.

She showed it to Huo Yizhou, "The shopkeeper just said it was 35 yuan a bag. Let's negotiate the price with him and see if 30 yuan a bag is okay."

“Okay, we’ll take 55 bags first,” Huo Yizhou said.

Su Tangtang nodded, "Okay."

After the two finished their discussion, Su Tangtang looked at the shop owner and asked, "Boss, we want a lot, can you give us a discount?"

After the boss finished unloading the fertilizer, he looked at Su Tangtang and said, "Miss, our fertilizer is already cheaper than other companies, we really can't lower the price any further."

Su Tangtang smiled and said, "Boss, we were introduced by an acquaintance. We know your fertilizer is good, and fertilizer is indispensable for us who grow vegetables and crops. We will continue to buy from your store in the future, so please give us a discount."

The boss thought about it carefully and then agreed, "We won't make much money either, but you'll have to come and buy from us often."

Upon hearing this, Su Tangtang's face lit up with joy. She assured her, "Don't worry, boss, we'll definitely come often."

After agreeing on the price, Su Tangtang looked at Huo Yizhou and said in a flattering tone, "Am I amazing?"

Huo Yizhou wasn't very good at bargaining. He watched her negotiate the whole time and was surprised by her eloquence. However, her expression as she sought his praise was rather cute, so he went along with it and said, "Impressive."

Su Tangtang chuckled twice, "I see this shopkeeper also sells seeds, why don't we ask and buy some together?"

Huo Yizhou: "We have limited funds and can't afford cucumber seedlings, so let's buy seeds instead."

Su Tangtang nodded and asked the shop owner, "Shop owner, should we take these cucumber seeds home and plant them directly, or..."

The shop owner said, "You can plant them directly, but the germination rate won't be as good as if you soak the seeds before planting."

Su Tangtang said, "I understand. We have about ten acres of land. How many seeds do you recommend?"

Shop owner: "There are about 4,000 seeds per acre. Each bag of seeds in our shop contains 2,000 seeds. You can buy 20 bags first."

Huo Yizhou asked, "How much is a bag?"

Boss: "One bag costs 50, 20 bags cost 1,000 yuan."

Huo Yizhou glanced at Su Tangtang questioningly.

Su Tangtang said painfully, "Buy it."

After the two paid, the shop owner looked at them and said, "Leave your phone number and address, and I'll deliver it to you in a bit."

Su Tangtang wrote down the phone number and address and handed them to the boss.

The two of them left in a hurry this morning, without even having breakfast, and came straight to buy things.

I'm starving by now.

After looking around, Su Tangtang said, "There are quite a lot of people, but most of them are elderly; there aren't many young people."

Huo Yizhou: "This is the general situation in rural areas now. Young people go out to work, leaving behind mostly elderly people living alone in the villages."

Su Tangtang nodded, "We spent 2650, and we still have 2350 left. We still need to build an arched shed."

Huo Yizhou hummed in agreement.

Su Tangtang turned to look at him, "Are you hungry? I saw there's a place selling sesame cakes, shall we go buy a couple?"

Huo Yizhou: "Okay."

Seeing that he agreed, Su Tangtang happily walked to the place where the sesame seed cakes were sold.

"Boss, how much are the sesame seed cakes?" Su Tangtang asked.

The shop owner smiled and said, "Six for five yuan."

Su Tangtang: "Then I'll take 5 yuan's worth."

The shop owner took a bag, filled it with sesame cakes for her, and handed it to her. Looking at the two women in front of him—both good-looking and with good manners—and noticing someone filming them behind them with a camera, he asked curiously, "Are you filming?"

Su Tangtang reached out and took it, replying with a smile, "Yes."

The vendors were a couple in their fifties; the man made the sesame cakes, and the woman helped pack them.

They asked cautiously, "Will we be recorded?"

Su Tangtang thought they minded, "It will be recorded and broadcast on TV, but if you don't like it, we can censor it later."

Mosaic and the other person didn't understand, but when they heard that it would be broadcast on TV, they immediately laughed and said, "That's great! I never thought I'd be on TV when I'm so old."

Su Tangtang smiled in response.

She opened the bag and shared the sesame cakes with Huo Yizhou and the photographer.

After chatting with the pancake seller for a while, Su Tangtang and her friends headed towards the shop that sold steel pipe arched sheds.

Su Tangtang: "The sesame seed cake is quite delicious."

Huo Yizhou nodded in agreement.

After they finished eating the sesame cakes, they arrived at the place that sold steel pipes.

After asking the price, Su Tangtang said with a bitter face, "It's so expensive! Now I truly understand how hard it is for ordinary people."

Huo Yizhou nodded and said, "It's really not easy. Let's pay a deposit of two thousand first, have them send it over tomorrow afternoon, and then pay the rest."

Su Tangtang: "OK".

After buying their things, the two rode the borrowed electric scooter back home.

Huo Yizhou rode the electric bike, Su Tangtang sat behind, and the photographer followed behind.

There was nothing behind the tram to block her view, so she didn't dare to, and felt embarrassed to, put her arm around Huo Yizhou's strong waist. She could only hold onto the seat to prevent herself from falling off.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the field.

The production crew and the other four couples were all in the field. In just two hours, they had plowed almost half of their forty acres of land.

When Wu Xiaojia saw them return, she couldn't help but ask, "Have you bought everything?"

Su Tangtang nodded, "I've almost finished buying them."

Wu Xiaojia said enviously, "You two are really fast."

Su Tangtang smiled.

“Why not cooperate with us? We’re a whole,” Wu Xiaojia said with a smile, but her words were rather unpleasant to hear.

"You guys are too selfish."

Su Tangtang said directly, "It's you who didn't take us."

Wu Xiaojia: "..."

"Su Tangtang, don't talk nonsense."

Su Tangtang spread her hands, "The production team didn't say that we had to act together. After all, the land was already allocated, and everyone planted different things."

Wu Xiaojia choked.

Shen Yingying disliked Su Tangtang very much. She spoke up for Wu Xiaojia, saying, "Jiajia speaks frankly. She was thinking that it would be better if everyone helped each other. Don't mind her."

Su Tangtang chuckled softly but did not reply.

But her soft chuckle was extremely irritating to Shen Yingying, who felt that Su Tangtang was mocking her for meddling.

But in front of the camera, she couldn't bring herself to be sullen and could only greet everyone with a smile.

The sound of a car came from afar. Su Tangtang looked in the direction of the sound and then walked towards Huo Yizhou. "The truck that delivers fertilizer to us is here."

Huo Yizhou: "Did they call you?"

Su Tangtang then remembered that she had taken her phone out of her hoodie pocket and looked at it. Sure enough, she saw the call they had made. "I didn't hear it just now."

Huo Yizhou looked at her and said, "It's alright, I'm already here."

The fertilizer deliveryman arrived quickly. He parked his truck on the side of the road and got out. "Where should I put it?"

Huo Yizhou pointed to the edge of the ground.

Master: "Okay."

He got into the car, picked up a bag of fertilizer and handed it to Huo Yizhou, who then put it in the field.

Su Tangtang went forward to help.

Huo Yizhou refused, saying, "I can do it myself. A bag of fertilizer weighs seventy or eighty pounds; you can't handle it."

Su Tangtang was unwilling to give up, "I'll give it a try."

After she finished speaking, she went to take the fertilizer that her master handed her.

The heavy fertilizer fell on her shoulder, and she supported herself with her hands, but her body swayed noticeably. The worker immediately lifted the fertilizer up.

The master said, "It's better not to, you'll only hurt yourself."

Su Tangtang really couldn't move it. The heavy fertilizer had just landed on her shoulders, making it impossible for her to move, so she gave up trying.

Qiu Nan said to Lin Lang, "I'll go help."

Lin Lang nodded.

Seeing Qiu Nan go over, Qu Xian followed. Gu Qingke and Zhao Zhiyi, feeling embarrassed, could only go over to help as well.

Although they didn't like Su Tangtang and her boyfriend, they couldn't not help them on the show.

After all, so many people will be watching the show once it airs.

Su Tangtang wasn't surprised to see them arrive, and it wasn't hard to guess what each of them was thinking.

With more people, the speed increased, and the fertilizer was moved in no time.

Zhou Yan noticed the seeds lying nearby and said, "You've bought the seeds too?"

Su Tangtang nodded, "I bought it together with the fertilizer."

"Where did you buy it? How much did it cost? We went to take a look yesterday, but we haven't bought it yet," Zhou Yan said.

Su Tangtang: "I bought it at a shop 100 meters north of the crossroads in the center of town."

Zhou Yan: "We went to see this place yesterday, and we'll go check it out again this afternoon."

Su Tangtang nodded, "If you buy a lot, you can negotiate a lower price with them."

Zhou Yan recalled that she had tried to negotiate a lower price yesterday but failed. She looked distressed and said, "I couldn't get it."

Su Tangtang's eyes flashed. "The owner of the shop we bought from is easy to talk to. You can also buy from this shop."

Zhou Yan: "We also need to build arched sheds for the green beans we grow. Have you bought the tools for building arched sheds yet?"

Su Tangtang: "I bought it, it will be delivered this afternoon."

Zhou Yan exclaimed, "Wow! You guys are so fast!"

Su Tangtang smiled and said, "Since it's convenient, I'll just buy them all at once."

Su Tangtang and Zhou Yan chatted.

Wu Xiaojia leaned close to Shen Yingying's ear and whispered, "Look how arrogant she is. She's only ahead of us. I don't like her showing off like that."

Shen Yingying chuckled and whispered in her ear, "Just do our own thing and ignore her."

Wu Xiaojia paused for a moment, then stepped forward, took her arm, and nodded with a smile.