Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 17: Parents go to the provincial capital

Time passed quickly, and before long it was the weekend again. Feng Yiping was eager to return home, and together with Feng Wen, they trekked through the mountains and rivers from school and arrived home in just over twenty minutes. So you see, it's good to be young! He clearly remembered that on subsequent occasions, they had walked these mountain paths several times, stopping to rest, and it had taken them an hour or so to complete the journey, and they had been exhausted.

Today's meal is particularly good, with fish and meat. The meat is stir-fried with chilli and smells delicious. The grass carp that the nephew gave them, they didn't want to eat it yesterday, so they kept it in a basin. They didn't kill it until this morning, and half of it was left marinated in oil. This half was cut into pieces, fried in oil first, and then added to the tender tofu. They cooked the soup over a low heat, and by now the soup has turned a milky white. Sprinkle on a handful of spring onions, it's delicious.

Feng Zhenchang has not returned yet, so Mei Qiuping first served her son a big bowl of it and watched him eat. 'Where's Dad?'

'Picking up sand. He already carried a load yesterday.'

'Oh,' Feng Yiping said with joy, 'you've already thought it through?'

'We have. My cousin called yesterday and I asked him. We can do it. These two days we will pick the early chestnuts from the trees, make a basketful to start with, and try frying them. My cousin will be back by then. If the taste is right, we can start collecting the chestnuts and get ready to go out. So while the weather is good these two days, we will pick a few loads of sand to bring back, so that if the weather changes in the next two days, we don't have to wait for it to dry out after bringing it back.'

'Oh, that's great,' Feng Yiping was very happy. To make money, they don't have many options at the moment, and fried chestnuts should be a relatively sure-fire business with low risk. If all goes well, then the few hundred yuan a month will make a big difference to the family's situation.

More importantly, if this works out, at least his parents will respect and seriously consider some of Feng Yiping's ideas in the future, and they will also want to discuss things with him when they encounter problems, which is also a major goal Feng Yiping wants to achieve.

Feng Yiping was surprised that his parents were so decisive and got things done as soon as they were decided. He also thought about the money issue. It seems that the royalties, on which he had pinned high hopes, could not help at the moment. 'What about the money? I know that chestnuts will be harvested this month, and it is estimated that it will not be easy to get rid of those people who originally owed us money, who will come to demand payment in person, borrow money if they have no money, and so on.'

'Oh, we've already discussed this. Once we've collected the chestnuts, we'll sell the pig to the trader in town. Your father also said that we can sell it in the next couple of days to save trouble, but I want to keep it for a few more days.'

That's a good idea. Feng Yiping also understood what his mother meant. It's not that he doesn't want to sell it, but that if the pig is kept for one more day, it will grow a little bit more. A few days down the line, even if it grows a couple of catties, it can be sold for a few more dollars.

It wasn't until Feng Yiping had finished making two bowls of soup that Feng Zhanchang returned with two large bags of river sand. He was also very happy to see his son.

Feng Yiping could tell that this happiness was different from the previous time he had learned that he had come first in an exam and had been named a model student. This happiness was the kind of happiness that comes from seeing your son, despite his young age, being able to help out the family in a big way, as if he had already grown up. From that day on, Feng Yiping also felt that his parents had begun to treat him like an adult.

A few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, those families that had planted early-maturing chestnut varieties began to harvest their chestnuts one after the other. By the time Feng Yiping returned for another weekend, their chestnuts were ready to harvest too. His brother-in-law had also returned, and his parents served them the results of their attempts after a few tries and asked them to taste them.

Feng Yiping's younger brother-in-law was almost thirty years old. He had always practised kung fu blindly, following the Wulin manual, but it seemed that he still hadn't mastered it. He had a good figure, with naturally curly hair, and looked very smart in a leather jacket and jeans.

When he saw Feng Yiping, he rubbed his head and said, 'Not bad, Yiping, not only do you get good grades, you also have ideas for the family. You've grown up!'

Feng Yiping laughed, 'Younger brother-in-law, you have good taste and you look very handsome!'

Mei Yiliang also laughed, 'Right, I have good taste!'

Feng Yiping trotted a few steps, looked at the finished products made by his parents on the table, and then said, "We can go to my mother-in-law's house!'

'Haha," Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping couldn't stop laughing, and Mei Yiliang chased after them, about to tap him on the forehead with his finger, "You're unbelievable, you dare to make fun of me now.'

Feng Yiping quickly begged for mercy, "Uncle, business is important, what do you think of these chestnuts?'

In the dustpan on the table were the chestnuts that Feng's parents had just fried. There were about two catties, and they exuded a sweet aroma. Feng Yiping carefully turned them over to look at them. They were not bad at all; each one had been fried until it split open.

He picked one up and found that the shell was easy to peel, and the membrane inside was separated from the chestnut flesh, which could be torn off with a few gentle strokes. This time, they were fried in tea oil and candied sugar brought back by his brother-in-law, and the taste was also very good, except that because they were freshly harvested chestnuts, they had a bit more moisture.

Mei Yiliang tasted a few and nodded, 'The taste is good, but since the family fries a small amount at a time, it will be a bit more difficult to switch to a large pot.'

Mei Qiuping said, 'It's not like we're cooking a Manchu Han Imperial Feast for the emperor. After cooking for so many years, I think I can handle it. It's just that it's hard to control the heat in a big pot. That's no problem. I can cook it in a big pot and it won't be any worse.'

Well, Feng Yiping believes that, but he still has to find fault with it. 'These ones look fine, except that they're not all the same size. You still have to pick them, and the ones that are all the same size look better.'

Mei Qiuping became a little anxious. If they went on like this, her family would not be able to gather more than 400 kg of chestnuts. 'As long as they taste good, I don't think it matters!'

'Mom, no matter what other people do, we must do it well in order to sell more than others. Besides, someone will come to the village to collect the leftover chestnuts, and they can still be sold for money,'

Feng Zhenchang made the decision: 'We'd better sort them. If I were buying them, I wouldn't be happy to see that the big ones are small and the small ones are big. I probably wouldn't come back to buy again.' It seems that he has already considered the issue of repeat customers.

'In addition, after the chestnuts are peeled and sorted, we still need to let them dry for two or three days, so that the flavour is more authentic. That way, they will keep well when we take them to the provincial capital, otherwise they will still go mouldy and rot.'

Mei Qiuping was a little reluctant. If they were dried for two or three days, they would lose a few catties in weight, which would mean losing tens or hundreds of dollars. But her son was right. If they weren't dried, the chestnuts would go mouldy and rot over time, which would be even more a waste.

The decision had been made. At dinner, Feng Yiping asked his brother-in-law, 'Brother-in-law, you know the provincial capital well. Is there a place with a concentration of schools, whether primary schools, middle schools or universities, and preferably with a lot of girls? Are you familiar with such a place?'

Mei Yiliang pondered for a moment, 'Primary and secondary schools are certainly not concentrated, but universities are. What you mean is that you don't go to places like the farmers' market to find a school, especially one with lots of girls?'

'Yes,' Feng Yiping said, "for one thing, places like the farmers" market are in good locations, but there are also a lot of arguments and trouble; for another, most of the people buying food are housewives and retired old ladies and gentlemen, and they pay attention to value for money, so they definitely think it's more cost-effective to buy chestnuts and cook or stir-fry them themselves. The reason for looking near the school is that, for example, at the primary school, when the parents pick up their children, if the children see our stall, they will argue for it and cry and make a fuss if their parents don't buy it. Generally, parents will give in to their children, and as for the fact that there are more girls, of course it is because girls like these things more than boys.

The three adults were a little surprised. The parents were a little surprised and proud, while the brother-in-law gave a thumbs-up. 'I didn't realise that you had it all figured out. I'll go back to the provincial capital and look around. Places like this must exist there. I'll rent a house nearby.'

'And,' Feng Yiping said, 'university students have more free time. In primary and secondary school, we could only wait until the afternoon when school let out. So we sold near the university at other times. In the afternoon, when primary school let out at four or five o'clock, we went to the primary school.'

'That's no problem. I know that nowadays many universities have affiliated primary and secondary schools that aren't too far away,' said Mei Yiliang.

The brother-in-law stayed at home for four days, helping to collect the chestnuts, and then Feng Zhenchang and Mei Qiuping got up early and worked late, spending a whole three days to peel all the chestnuts.

It wasn't an easy job, and after three days, both of them had sore backs and couldn't sit straight. Fortunately, the weather was good these days, with crisp autumn air and bright sunshine. They picked out chestnuts of even size, less than 300 catties in total, and Mei Qiuping took care of drying them. Feng Zhenchang went to Zhi Ming's house to help peel chestnuts. They were now confident and discussed selling them at least 400 to 500 catties, of course, of even size, and paying at the end of the year.

While the couple were busy, they were waiting for a call from Mei Yiliang's side. Feng Yiping, meanwhile, was in a better mood at school. He attended classes every day, went to the homeroom teacher's house to look for Teacher Zhu, and found time to write. At the same time, he anxiously awaited word from the magazine with high hopes.

Finally, just after the National Day holiday, Mei Yiliang called his sister and brother-in-law to inform them that the location had been found, the house rented, and he had almost prepared everything they would need, including the petrol barrel stove. His sister and brother-in-law could prepare to go to the provincial capital.

Feng Zhenchang hurriedly bought the pig, and Mei Qiuping arranged all the family matters. She handed over the keys to the neighbouring Feng Weidong's house and asked them to look after it. The couple took their own 200-odd kilograms of chestnuts and 100-odd kilograms of rice, divided into three loads, and asked Dong Ming for help. The three of them carried the load to the side of the road, then stopped a tractor and transported it to the town. Then, full of hope, they boarded the bus to the provincial capital.

Three days later, the couple called Mei Jianzhong and said that they had settled in well and had sold 13 catties on the first day.

Another week passed, and on October 16th, the day of the Chongyang Festival, the postman came to Mei Jianzhong's house, saying that he was looking for something to drink. He handed him a package, which should have contained books. The addressee was written as Mei Jianzhong, transferred to Feng Yiping, and a remittance slip was quietly given to him, for the amount of 2,300 yuan.