Chapter 165 Business
The Liu family distributed money to the villagers, and that night the aroma of meat filled every household in the village.
Everyone was full of energy, working hard in the brigade's workshop while also discussing how to hold a banquet for the whole village at the end of the year. Life was incredibly prosperous.
In the Liu family courtyard, Liu Zhixia was helping Lu Xiaohui prepare sauces.
Lu Xiaohui was now quick and efficient, knew the recipes by heart, and her eyes were much clearer than before. Watching her work so diligently, Liu Zhixia was momentarily dazed, unsure whether she had truly reformed or was simply lying low.
Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks broke the silence.
"The Liu family! That big boss is here! He specifically wants to see you! The villagers are trying to stop him, so he sent me to deliver the message!"
Zhang Xiuying opened the door, looking puzzled: "Big boss? Which big boss?"
The villager who brought the news was breathless: "It's Gu Mansheng's uncle! Boss He!"
Upon hearing the name, Lu Xiaohui's hand trembled, and she almost knocked over the soy sauce bottle.
"Why is he here? Is he here to cause trouble?" Lu Xiaohui panicked and lost her composure. "No! I have to hide! I absolutely can't let him see me here..."
"Sister Xiaohui!" Liu Zhixia said decisively, "Go hide in my room!"
"Why!"
Lu Xiaohui felt like she had been granted a pardon. She washed her hands and dashed into Liu Zhixia's room.
The mother and daughter quickly tidied up the yard. A short while later, He Shijie walked in, escorted by a group of villagers.
Looking at the villagers eyeing him menacingly at the door, He Shijie smiled nonchalantly: "The Liu family, I really didn't expect you to have such high prestige in the village."
Zhang Xiuying replied neither servilely nor arrogantly, "We're all from the same village, so we look out for each other. Mr. He, what brings you here?"
He Shijie cut to the chase: "I want to discuss a business deal with you."
Zhang Xiuying raised an eyebrow: "Business? Our little business is nothing to you?"
Before He Shijie could speak, Liu Zhixia interjected, "If it's the pickled vegetable business, then I'm sorry. Our current orders are already full, and we really can't spare any time to take on new orders. Mr. He, you'd better find someone else."
He Shijie wasn't annoyed; instead, his smile deepened. He gave his subordinate a wink, and a bodyguard immediately handed him an exquisite box.
With his back to the villagers, he slowly opened the box.
Inside lay a dendrobium of exceptional quality.
Liu Zhixia's pupils contracted. No need to guess, that was the very batch of goods she had sold to Gangzi!
He Shijie snapped the wooden box shut, stepped forward, and lowered his voice: "Let's not beat around the bush. I know you still have some stock. I'll take all of it, ten yuan a pound, how about it?"
This price is indeed tempting.
Unfortunately, doing business with such a ruthless person is like asking a tiger for its skin.
Liu Zhixia said calmly, "Boss He, I did sell these to Gangzi. When Shen Yi and I went into the mountains, we were lucky enough to find a few. As for whether there are any more in the mountains, you should know the answer. So many villagers searched the mountains from top to bottom the other day, and they only found a few. I really can't do anything about it."
Seeing her refusal so decisively, He Shijie's eyes narrowed, revealing a chilling intent: "You'd rather sell to a middleman at a low price than cooperate with me? Comrade Liu, is there some grudge between us?"
Liu Zhixia chuckled: "Mr. He, you flatter me. We've never met before, so what grudge could we possibly have?"
"So it's because of Xiaoman? If it's because of that old grudge, I'll have her come over here right now and kowtow to you to apologize, how about that?"
Liu Zhixia shook her head: "Mr. He, you've misunderstood. My affair with Gu Mansheng is long over, and we're both doing well. I really don't have any stock left, otherwise, at your price, why wouldn't I make a profit?"
“Very good.” He Shijie gave her a deep look, his tone meaningful. “I will make you sell it to me.”
After saying that, he led his men away without looking back.
Although the villagers outside the courtyard did not hear what was said, they could tell from He Shijie's gloomy face that the Liu family had not given him any face.
Once the car had driven far away, Lu Xiaohui nervously slipped out of the house.
"Xia, are you alright? What does this jinx want with you?"
Liu Zhixia sighed: "Shen Yi and I picked some dendrobium in the mountains before. We didn't know it was valuable until Gu Mansheng made that scene. So we took it to sell. I didn't expect him to have his eye on it. He insisted that I still had some and forced me to sell it."
Lu Xiaohui laughed when she heard this: "The villagers searched the whole mountain back then, if they had found it, they would have found it long ago! This person is just like Gu Mansheng, simply unreasonable!"
She winked at Liu Zhixia and her daughter: "I'll go back and sound them out, see what kind of mischief they're up to this time. That's all for today's work!"
After saying that, Lu Xiaohui ran off in a flash, heading straight for the Lu family home.
At this moment, He Shijie was sitting leisurely in the main room of the Lu family, while Lu Jianping was bowing and scraping to him like a grandson.
When Lu Xiaohui entered the room and saw this scene, her jaw nearly dropped. She had never seen her own father so pathetic before.
Lu Jianping caught sight of Lu Xiaohui at a glance and immediately glared at her, scolding, "You brat! Where have you been running off to? You don't even know how to greet our distinguished guests! Hurry up and boil some water to make tea!"
He Shijie waved his hand dismissively and said, "Alright, I didn't come here for tea. I heard your family and the Liu family don't get along?"
Lu Jianping's heart tightened, and he complained with a bitter face, "Alas, it's all because of our children! Back then, Huaiyuan liked Xiaoman and insisted on breaking off the engagement with the Liu family. We thought that arranged marriages were feudal dregs, so we supported our children's free love. Who knew that the Liu family was so petty and resentful, always trying to trip us up, and even got me removed from the position! There's not a single good person in that family!"
He Shijie looked at him with a half-smile: "Now the Liu family is making the whole village rich, and I heard your daughter is also benefiting from it. Isn't it a bit unkind of you to insult them like this?"
That gaze seemed to see right through him, making Lu Jianping feel uneasy.
He forced a smile and said, "If it weren't for Liu Zhixia's ungratefulness, this pickled vegetable business would have been our Lu family's long ago! What is the Liu family compared to us!"
He Shijie's eyes flickered slightly, and he said meaningfully, "So, it turns out that our Xiaoman is blocking the Lu family's path to wealth?"
Lu Jianping was startled and quickly waved his hand, "How could that be! If it weren't for Xiaoman, how would we have had the opportunity to meet someone as important as Mr. He?"
Li Xuemei couldn't stand the empty pleasantries any longer and interrupted directly, "Mr. He, let's not beat around the bush. Are you planning to deal with the Liu family?"
He Shijie waved his hand, his eyes shrewd: "Dealing with the Liu family will do me no good. I'm a businessman, I only care about profit."
He stared at Li Xuemei, his tone leaving no room for doubt: "I want the Liu family's pickled vegetable business, as well as the dendrobium distribution channels held by Liu Zhixia. I want to force her to come and beg me for cooperation."
The Lu family members exchanged bewildered glances. Getting Liu Zhixia, with her stubborn nature, to back down? That was harder than climbing to heaven!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com