Zhao Lao Er got anxious: "Is it necessary to bother Father and Mother with such a small matter?"
"Second brother, do you think this is just a small matter?" the third brother's wife exclaimed incredulously. "The milk is in trouble, and we can't make any milk tea at all. How are we going to solve this problem if we don't tell Mom and Dad?"
"At worst, we won't order from him." Zhao Lao Er gritted his teeth.
Zhao Laosan sighed: "This is the last resort. We've already paid the money, and if we switch milk sources, Boss Zhao probably won't give us a refund."
When we were getting milk from Li Xinxiang, we settled accounts daily. Later, we switched to Mr. Zhao's milk, and it became a weekly settlement. We had to pay in advance for the milk to be delivered.
Mr. Zhao spoke very sincerely at the time, saying, "This milk is different from other things. It only has a shelf life of one or two days. If I deliver it to you without charging you, and something unexpected happens and you don't want it anymore, I will have nowhere to sell it."
“I’ll take the money first. All these cattle are here, and the cattle farm has been running for many years. Everyone around here knows what kind of person I am, Lao Zhao. I can’t possibly run away, right?”
After thinking about it, the Zhao family realized that what the other party said made sense, so they agreed.
After ordering for a month, they felt that the milk was quite good and became increasingly convinced that their decision to switch milk sources was very wise and correct.
Not long after, Boss Zhao came to the door himself, rubbing his hands together to discuss with the Zhao family.
He said, "I came here out of necessity. Yingying is pregnant and we are short of money. I was wondering if we could extend the settlement period a bit, perhaps once a month or once a quarter?"
This is taking too long. The Zhao family members looked at each other, clearly unwilling.
With a sincere smile on his face, Boss Zhao said, "I won't let you lose money. How about this, if you agree to settle accounts quarterly, I'll give you an additional 10% discount on the original price."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lao Er and his wife raised their eyebrows, their eyes revealing their interest.
Seeing that there was a chance, Boss Zhao rubbed his hands and said, "I'm already selling at a loss at this price. It's the dead of winter, the coldest time of year, so the cost of milk is high and there are few buyers. If it were summer, you could only order milk for one or two months with this amount of money."
Zhao Lao Er turned to look at Old Master Zhao: "Dad, look..."
Seeing his second son's eagerness, Old Master Zhao cleared his throat and said, "Let's discuss it first."
“Okay,” Mr. Zhao nodded. “I understand your concerns, but I’m right here, I can’t run away. Besides, we’re really relatives, I can’t let you family members down.”
They all share the surname Zhao, and tracing their ancestry back reveals some kinship ties. However, in rural areas, people who live close by are generally related by blood or marriage.
Mr. Zhao stood up and said as he walked out, "If you've made up your minds, come find me at the cattle farm. I'm usually there. But try to think about it as soon as possible. I've already discussed this with several companies I work closely with, but I'm only planning to sign contracts with two of them."
At this point, he gave a simple, honest smile: "Two companies are my limit. I can't just sell the cattle farm at a loss, can I?"
Zhao Lao Er saw him out and nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, saying, "You're right, we'll try to come find you tomorrow."
"Okay." Boss Zhao left satisfied.
Back home, Zhao Lao Er excitedly said, "Shall we make a decision?"
The third son's wife glanced at him, then looked at the expressions on Old Master Zhao and Old Lady Zhao's faces, and tentatively said, "This is a large sum of money after all. This is all the revenue our shop has ever generated since it opened. I think we should be careful."
"Be careful of what?" The second son's wife straightened up immediately when she saw someone argue with her, and looked at the third son's wife with a sidelong glance. "Would my husband ever harm the family?"
"Second sister-in-law, I'm not worried about you, I just think we need to be careful around Boss Zhao." The third son's wife sighed.
"Why would Boss Zhao want to harm you? His business is so big." The second son's wife pouted.
She turned to look in the direction of Grandpa Zhao and Grandma Zhao, and said frankly, "Dad, Mom, we've already inquired about it. Boss Zhao's cattle farm is the largest in the surrounding area, and it has a good reputation. I don't think he needs to ruin his reputation for our little bit of money."
At this point, she seemed to remember something and snorted coldly, "On the contrary, I found out about the cattle farm that Jiang Bai used for us. It's a newly opened one, and it seems that Jiang Bai is the mastermind behind it all. He chose a woman who was abandoned by her husband and has a bunch of children to be in charge."
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "That woman has been abandoned by men, what good can she be? I don't think her cattle farm will last long. We made the right decision to move here."
Zhao Lao Er raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where did you find out all this?"
"That's what those women at the village entrance said." The second son's wife didn't say that it was Xiao Li from the village entrance who told her. Her husband was Wang Mazi, and he knew some inside information. He didn't want Xiao Li to talk about it casually, as if he was afraid of causing trouble.
Zhao Lao Er nodded and said, "If Jiang Bai's cattle farm is really run by a woman, then we really can't use it anymore."
If we don't get milk from Li Xinxiang, then Boss Zhao is the only option left.
The Zhao family all believed that the milk tea shop could last a long time, so Old Master Zhao nodded: "Then tomorrow, the second and third sons will go to Boss Zhao and finalize this matter."
"Okay." Zhao Lao Er's face was full of joy.
The money for this quarter was split equally between the second and third sons. The majority of the money came from the milk tea shop owners, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao. Since the cost of ingredients couldn't be covered by the elderly's retirement savings, the second and third sons pooled their money and sent it to Mr. Zhao's cattle farm, even signing a contract.
What seemed like a sure thing suddenly went wrong, leaving both families feeling heavy-hearted.
Zhao Laosan said, "This quarter has only just begun. If he doesn't admit there's a problem with the milk, or doesn't refund the money..."
They were pretty sure that Boss Zhao wouldn't return the money.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lao Er felt a pang of sorrow and said, "If all else fails, we'll just have to use theirs again."
Zhao Laosan was taken aback upon hearing this and said, "But this milk is unusable."
"Didn't no one notice the difference today?" Zhao Lao Er interrupted him, then paused, remembering the old lady who had just asked about the weak milk flavor, and lowered his voice, "Since no one's causing trouble, let's just let it go for now."
"If someone really refuses, shall we lower the price?"
"If the price is lowered, surely someone will be willing to buy it?"
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