Sun Bingnan was getting a beating from his dad in front of Lin Chuxia and Zhuang Jingshu, while he covered his head and begged for mercy.
"Dad, give me some face in front of Mr. Lin."
"Give you face? Have you given me face lately? Do you know how people in the village laugh at me?"
Sun Bingnan felt wronged, "When we first planted peach trees, I didnât ask you to make grand promises, and it wasnât me who told you to boast, so why blame me?"
Village Chief Sun was so angry he wanted to hit him again.
Lin Chuxia smiled with pursed lips, honestly, Third Brother Sun does keep his word.
At first, he said his dad was too boastful, and wanted to give him a little lesson. He didnât expect it to almost make the old man depressed.
Village Chief Sun also knew this wasnât the time to argue with his son. He looked at Lin Chuxia with bright eyes, "Chuxia girl, do you really have a sales channel?"
"Oh, Dad, you heard it just now. Wang Cheng has some channels, but yellow peaches donât sell well in our market here. We canât sell that much even when trying to sell far..."
The light in Village Chief Sunâs eyes dimmed again.
The yellow peaches on the two hills were planted for Lin Chuxia. If Lin Chuxia had a channel, she would definitely sell her peaches first.
Her peaches werenât even sold out yet; how could she possibly care about others?
Lin Chuxia poured a cup of brewed tea for Village Chief Sun and Sun Bingnan, and another cup of herbal tea for Zhuang Jingshu, then glanced at the two men.
"During this period, while I was in confinement after childbirth, no one told me about the situation at home. Third Brother, how much of our peaches have been sold, and how much is left? How are the fruit trees of the villagers bearing fruit?"
Sun Bingnan estimated for a moment and said, "Our peach trees were strictly managed according to the book and the technicians from the Forestry Bureau, and we used chicken manure from home during spring. From blossoming to bearing fruit, the process was early; not only are there many fruits, but their appearance is better too. However, only about two thousand pounds have been sold so far, about half. In comparison, the villagersâ trees are a little worse; only a few familiesâ trees have fruit, not many fruits either, just a few hundred pounds per family, mostly not exceeding a thousand pounds, and because theyâre hard to sell, they havenât sold much..."
Lin Chuxia listened while lightly tapping her forefinger on the table.
"So, go back and put aside other matters in hand first; in our village, purchase the yellow peaches according to the market price of hairy peaches, hand over the purchased yellow peaches to Wang Cheng. If they can be sold elsewhere, let them be sold. If not, bring them to Su Wensong and distribute them as benefits to the employees of Xiyang Food Factory, Bun Shop, and all employees of Xiyang."
Sun Bingnan laughed upon hearing this, "Mr. Lin, have you forgotten how many employees we have? If we really give benefits to employees, the villagersâ peaches wouldnât be enough to distribute."
Xiyang Food Factory now has nearly a thousand people, five pounds per person is nearly five thousand pounds, not to mention employees from other places.
This year the peach trees just began bearing fruit, so there arenât that many.
Lin Chuxia raised her gaze calmly, "Didnât Wang Cheng say his channel canât even consume our peaches? Letâs do it this way, if itâs not enough, use ours to make up for it. If there are leftovers, bring them to the city; there are plenty of restaurants and malls here with many employees."
Sun Bingnan sucked his teeth in surprise and glanced at his dad, then Zhuang Jingshu again, but couldnât help asking.
"Mr. Lin, sis, be honest with me, did you make me plant these peaches on a whim? Letâs talk about the thousands of pounds of peaches this year; how will you handle double the production next year?"
With no sales channel, it wouldnât be feasible for employees to eat peaches instead of meals.
Most importantly, for this year, management, medicines, chicken manure, all cost money.
Village Chief Sun also looked over.
Although Lin Chuxiaâs solution can alleviate the immediate crisis, stopping people in the village from scolding him.
But if they end up eating the peaches they planted, wouldnât that be a joke?
He hoped the road to prosperity through yellow peaches would gain some reputation for the village.
Whatâs the result?
They worked hard planting peaches to sell them, only to consume them themselves?
Good to say, but it doesnât sound good.
Lin Chuxia was confident, "Donât worry, there will naturally be sales channels next year."
Sun Bingnan sat upright, eyes brightened, "Have you already thought it out? Did you plan this when telling me to plant peach trees?"
Lin Chuxia nodded, "I plan to open two more production lines in the food factory next year. Iâve discussed with Director Xu from the machinery factory; he can help me get equipment for making canned fruit. By then, we can have two production lines for yellow peach cans. I didnât expect our fruit trees to be managed so well, bearing fruit this year with so much yield, so I made you worry."
She thought yellow peach trees generally bear fruit in three to four years; plus, getting pregnant and giving birth this year caught her off guard.
Village Chief Sun slapped his thigh excitedly, "I knew our Chuxia girl never does anything unreliable, and itâs just you boy, acting clueless."
He smiled brightly suddenly.
Sun Bingnan looked at the sky speechlessly.
How was he clueless in doing things? He returned to the village to plant yellow peaches following Lin Chuxiaâs directions.
He went to the Northwest to investigate and learn for several months, and brought back such good fruit tree seedlings; what about that was unreliable?
It was his dad that knew Lin Chuxia asked him to plant the fruit trees and started urging everyone to plant fruit trees without inquiry.
Now that the fruit trees are bearing fruit, he panics blindly.
"Uncle, go back and tell all villagers who planted yellow peach trees that Xiyang Food Factory will purchase all yellow peaches next year. Let them manage properly, and strive for good yield next year."
After Lin Chuxia spoke, she smiled again.
"As long as the fruit trees are managed well, I am confident weâll achieve advanced status within three years."
Village Chief Sun didnât expect Lin Chuxia to remember this thought of his, now feeling rather embarrassed.
"I... actually just wanted to do something real for the folks, whether advanced or not, as long as everyone benefits, I donât care."
"Dad, you can say those things to others, but Chuxia is not an outsider. Your tiny schemes might fool others, but not us?"
Sun Bingnan mercilessly exposed, making Village Chief Sun want to hit this punk again.
Lin Chuxia saw Village Chief Sun losing face and directly offered a way out.
"Uncle Sunâs thoughts are good, not wanting to be a general doesnât make a good soldier, and not striving for advanced wonât make a village chief a leader. Uncle Sun, rest assured, manage the peach trees in our Daqing Mountain Village well, and Daqing Mountain Village will definitely become a benchmark in our county."
One sentence, concerning face and substance, warmed Village Chief Sunâs blood through his veins.