Chapter 202 Where Did You Come From? I miss home, I miss my grandma…
After two years of operation, Xiaoxingchen Canteen has become stable in terms of customer traffic, management model, and taste, and has a sufficient talent pool. An Fusheng has decided to open a branch.
Before opening the branch, An Fusheng visited Xiaoxingchen's food supply base—Jiang Manzhi's hometown—and received a very warm welcome.
Although Xiaoxingchen hasn't opened any branches in the past two years, it has continued to grow by contracting out canteens. For example, it's not just the company canteen, but also the canteens of some large companies, such as He Chen's company, which has expanded from only having a canteen at its headquarters to having canteens in every branch. Of course, there are other companies as well. Xiaoxingchen's growth means a greater demand for food ingredients. In the past two years, the villagers' income from growing vegetables has increased, and the village has also become more developed in all aspects because of the money from selling vegetables.
When they arrived in the village, it was dinnertime. The villagers were very enthusiastic and tried to invite An Fusheng to their homes for dinner and overnight stays. An Fusheng declined for a long time before finally being able to go home with Jiang Manzhi.
Jiang Manzhi's family consists of four people: her grandmother, who is over eighty years old, her parents, and herself.
When Jiang Manzhi's grandmother saw An Fusheng, she grabbed his hand tightly and asked, "Young man, where are you from?"
An Fusheng said he came from the south of the city.
Grandma Jiang kept shaking her head, and after a while she asked again, "Where are you from?"
Jiang Manzhi pushed her back to her room and explained to An Fusheng, "My grandma isn't in good spirits. She usually sits quietly and talks to herself. I didn't expect her to talk to you today. I'm sorry."
An Fusheng said it was fine.
Knowing that An Fusheng was coming today, they prepared the meal early. When An Fusheng arrived, they kept saying that there wasn't much food and hoped that An Fusheng wouldn't mind. An Fusheng looked at the table full of more than a dozen dishes and didn't know what to say.
When they sat down to eat, Mr. Jiang invited An Fusheng to drink. An Fusheng said he couldn't hold his liquor. Mr. Jiang replied, "It's all homemade liquor made from pure grains, so it doesn't have much alcohol."
Jiang Manzhi: "Yes, it has very little alcohol content. You won't wake up the next day after drinking one cup."
An Fusheng: "..." He was thinking of having a drink with Mr. Jiang.
Jiang Manzhi: "If you want to drink, wait until you've finished dealing with things, or when you go back, I'll ask my dad to get you a pot to take home."
An Fusheng ultimately refrained from drinking alcohol and obediently ate a meal.
An Fusheng came to find new food suppliers. Jiang Manzhi's village has a limited supply. Opening a branch store might be able to meet the demand, but it would be impossible to supply more than that. Moreover, it is very taboo for restaurants to rely on a single food supply channel. If something goes wrong with the supply channel, the restaurant's operation will be affected. He plans to see if other villages have the supply capacity.
Early the next morning, Jiang Manzhi first took An Fusheng on a tour of her village, showing him the village's vegetable planting base and their village company. The company wasn't large, but it had all the necessary functions, including testing, warehousing, and transportation, and it operated very efficiently. An Fusheng certainly broadened his horizons.
“Don’t underestimate its small size; the costs and talent requirements are quite high. Our village is the only one in the entire township that has one,” Jiang Manzhi said.
An Fusheng: "Since you have the equipment and manpower, why don't you harvest and sell the vegetables grown in other villages as well? Wouldn't that generate revenue and spread the costs?"
Jiang Manzhi shook her head: "It's very difficult. Our village's vegetable planting is collectively standardized and managed, and we've hired a team of experts to ensure the quality of the vegetables. In other villages, most farmers grow their own vegetables and don't have the money to hire experts, so it's hard to control the quality. For example, some plots may have excessive heavy metals, and some farmers may not have used fully decomposed farmyard manure, which may contain roundworm eggs, E. coli, and so on. In short, there may be all sorts of problems. We can't even conduct large-scale testing. Are we supposed to test every household or every plot of land? Besides, if the test results are not up to standard, the produce will have to be destroyed, which also adds to the cost."
An Fusheng: "I'm sorry, I oversimplified things."
Jiang Manzhi: "It's okay. You wouldn't know unless you did it. Don't even mention you. Our village has gradually become richer in the past two years. Many leaders from the local government have come to our village. They have the same idea as you, hoping that we can lead other villages to develop together. I also want to, but the people in other villages are not united, and the village cadres are not willing to take the risk to coordinate. We are powerless to do anything about it."
An Fusheng said sincerely, "Your village is truly blessed to have you."
Jiang Manzhi chuckled without any modesty.
Jiang Manzhi took An Fusheng on a three-day tour, visiting all the villages in the town. An Fusheng discovered that the vegetables grown by Jiang Manzhi and her family were delicious, truly a gift from nature. Although the area was located in the mountains, the soil was loose and fertile, with plenty of rain and sunshine. Even when it wasn't raining, the air was very humid, and every morning when they woke up, the mountains were filled with damp mist. The leaves of the wild trees and grasses along the roadside were covered with glistening dewdrops. When the sun came out, it shone brightly until six or seven in the afternoon before the sun set.
An Fusheng didn't want to give up the vegetables growing on this land. After looking around, An Fusheng had a new idea: since the village couldn't do unified planting, could he do it here himself?
An Fusheng briefly explained his idea to Jiang Manzhi and asked her if it was feasible. An Fusheng knew that many villages were quite xenophobic, and some villagers had low moral character and might even cause trouble, so An Fusheng was a little worried.
After thinking it over, Jiang Manzhi felt that the farmers in the area where she grew up were of a very high quality. This year, many young people have returned to start businesses, and there are also outsiders who have contracted land to grow fruit or to raise fish in reservoirs. She has never heard of anyone causing any damage.
An Fusheng was slightly relieved, but he couldn't just listen to one side of the story. He decided to go back to the association first and then send someone to conduct a special investigation. If it worked out, growing vegetables himself would not only save costs, but also reduce his worries about supply.
Hearing that An Fusheng was going back, Father Jiang started urging him to drink again, saying, "It's not as serious as Azhi said. Drinking one or two cups won't hurt. It's all grain liquor, and you won't have a headache the next day."
At Jiang's father's urging, An Fusheng couldn't resist having a couple of drinks, and as a result! He didn't have a headache the next day, because he woke up on the third day.
After waking up, An Fusheng was still dazed for a long time. He took out his phone and checked the time. It was already noon. Jiang Manzhi had left him a message asking him to let her know when he woke up. An Fusheng knew that Jiang Manzhi and her parents were very busy and didn't want to delay their work, so he didn't tell Jiang Manzhi that he had woken up and got out of bed on his own.
Grandma Jiang was enjoying the cool shade under the osmanthus tree by the door when she saw An Fusheng come out. She asked, "Young man? What's your name? Where are you from?"
An Fusheng had answered this many times before, but he still patiently said, "Grandma, my name is An Fusheng, and I come from the south of the city."
Grandma Jiang shook her head: "Don't lie to me, I know where you came from."
An Fusheng laughed and said, "You know? Then tell me, where did I come from?"
Grandma Jiang lowered her voice mysteriously and said, "You come from the mountains."
An Fusheng's breath hitched: "How did you know?"
Grandma Jiang: "I already said I know."
"How did you know? Have you been to Fushan Village? How did you get there?" An Fusheng asked several questions in quick succession.
Grandma Jiang said proudly, "I told you I knew, but you still lied to me."
"Grandma, please tell me, how did you know about Fushan Village? Have you been there?" An Fusheng was already in tears.
When Grandma Jiang saw the child crying, she quickly reached out her aged hand to wipe his tears. "Oh dear, why are you crying? I didn't blame you for lying to me."
"Grandma," An Fusheng choked out, "Please tell me, I miss home, I really miss home, I miss my grandma..."
The more tears she wiped away, the more anxious Grandma Jiang became. "Don't cry, don't cry, child, don't cry. You're the best girl, Grandma doesn't blame you."
Unable to get any information from him, the emotions he had been holding back for years surged forth. An Fusheng desperately threw himself onto Grandma Jiang's lap and wailed. Grandma Jiang patted his head gently to comfort him, saying, "Don't cry, my good boy. You're the best. You don't pick at your food anymore, you eat very well, and you're growing tall. You're the best. I haven't even praised you yet. I won't scold you. Don't cry, don't cry."
After crying for a long, long time, An Fusheng finally raised his head and said, "Grandma, I really, really miss home..."
Grandma Jiang kept rambling on but never gave him the answer he wanted. When he asked a few more questions, she became distracted and couldn't remember what she was going to say next. An Fusheng had no choice but to ask her no more questions.
...
When Jiang Manzhi and the others returned in the evening, An Fusheng had already prepared the meal. Grandma Jiang seemed to really like An Fusheng's cooking, and as soon as the food was on the table, she clamored to eat. An Fusheng said that they should wait for Jiang's father and Jiang Manzhi to come back so they could eat together. Grandma Jiang then angrily called them to come back immediately.
When the Jiang family returned home, they were surprised and apologetic to find that the meal had been prepared. After eating it, they were even more astonished by how delicious it was.
"Fuwa, how come you, a boy, cook so well?" Mrs. Jiang exclaimed in surprise.
“I learned it from my grandma when I was little.” After saying that, An Fusheng glanced at Grandma Jiang, who was eating her meal seriously without any reaction.
While enjoying his meal, Jiang Manzhi said, "People who run restaurants must have some tricks up their sleeves, otherwise how could their restaurants be doing better and better?"
Mr. Jiang nodded repeatedly: "No wonder, this young man is quite something. He cooks such delicious food and even runs a restaurant. He's destined for great things."
Jiang Manzhi: "They're very successful now."
...
After dinner, the Jiang family went to the vegetable garden to work again. The picking and packing of vegetables had to be done at night so that they could be delivered on time the next day. They wouldn't be back until at least 10 p.m.
That's how farmers are; they earn a penny through hard work, and their lives are earned with sweat and toil mixed with soil.
That night, An Fusheng took Grandma Jiang to bed, but he couldn't fall asleep while lying in bed himself. Outside the window, insects chirped and birds sang, and his mind was filled with the daily life of Fushan Village, with glimpses of Nancheng occasionally drifting in, all mixed together. Later, he heard the sounds of the Jiang family returning, and then he heard roosters crowing a few more times. After that, he didn't know when he actually fell asleep, and he woke up from a dream the next day.
An Fusheng dreamed of Fushan Village, of his grandmother, of his elder sister, and even of... himself. No, not himself, but that person. An Fusheng saw him eating with his grandmother and elder sister under the old pear tree in the courtyard. He saw his elder sister chatting and laughing with him, and he even heard... his grandmother say, "Even if you're alone, you should eat well."
An Fusheng suddenly realized that his grandmother was looking at him when she spoke, and that she was talking to him!
Tears welled up again, and An Fusheng wiped them away haphazardly. Just as he was about to get up, Grandma Jiang came in.
"Grandma, are you hungry? I'll get up and cook for you right away." She probably went to bed too late last night, because it was already past ten o'clock when she woke up. The Jiang family had already gone to work. Grandma Jiang was in poor spirits and had a strange temper. She often didn't eat at mealtimes, and when it wasn't mealtime, she would look for food everywhere.
Jiang's mother left breakfast for Jiang's grandmother and An Fusheng. An Fusheng heated up the breakfast, ate with Jiang's grandmother, and then said goodbye to her: "Grandma, I'm leaving now. Take good care of yourself at home."
Grandma Jiang: Where are you going?
An Fusheng: "Go back to Nancheng, Fushan Village... I can't go back. I can't see the mountains anymore, I can't find my way home..."
An Fusheng didn't notice that Grandma Jiang sighed, which was rare for her: "Child, you are here, this is your world. Live well in your own world. Everything has its own destiny, and everything is cause and effect."
“Do I really belong to this world? But there’s no Grandma here… My father and mother are in the mountains… Why am I all alone here? And why am I living in someone else’s body?” An Fusheng murmured.
...
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