"In that case, apologies for the intrusion, Manager Yang," Chen Lishu said, rising to leave.
The man was momentarily stunned. He had assumed this young woman, faced with trouble, would be indecisive. A little pressure, he thought, and she would surely fall into disarray.
"How about this, I see you're a young woman, it's not easy for you. I'll give you two fen."
Chen Lishu chuckled inwardly. So, he was indeed here to pick up a bargain.
Two fen. Even cabbage was more expensive than that, and this didn't even account for labor or transportation costs. She might as well have thrown it into the fields.
Without another word, Chen Lishu left the medicinal materials company's gate without looking back.
It was past nine in the morning, but the summer sun was already quite glaring. Chen Lishu stood at the entrance of the medicinal materials company for a while before turning towards the sugar factory.
Hu Si'er and Lin Da Zhong had also planted over ten mu of sugar beets. Generally, sugar beets were harvested after the grain was collected in October, before the first frost. That was still over three months away. However, fearing a situation similar to the one with the medicinal materials company, Chen Lishu felt it was better to prepare early.
The sugar factory was different from the medicinal materials company. Sugar was a daily necessity, and the more raw material, sugar beets, the better. Therefore, when Chen Lishu mentioned having over ten mu of sugar beets, the other party expressed their willingness to purchase them. The specific price would be determined by the grade after harvest, but it would definitely be consistent with the purchasing station's prices, generally six or seven fen per catty. If the quality was good, it would be seven fen; if the beets were smaller, it would be six fen.
Chen Lishu was very satisfied with this price. After a verbal agreement, she left the sugar factory.
With one of the two matters settled favorably, Chen Lishu's mood was no longer as dejected as before.
Glancing at the time, it was almost noon. Chen Lishu had intended to go to the small courtyard to find Lin Qi, discuss some matters, and have lunch together. To her surprise, he wasn't there. Chen Lishu had to find a place to eat a simple meal by herself.
Fearing missing him again, Chen Lishu had to wait for him at the small courtyard. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long before Lin Qi returned.
"Sister Chen?"
Chen Lishu nodded. "Have you had lunch?"
Lin Qi nodded. "I grabbed a bite on my way back from delivering goods."
"For the next period, I want to send you to the medicinal materials companies in the surrounding counties." Chen Lishu then explained her plan.
"If they send their own vehicles, it will be at least five fen. After all, our transportation distance is long, and the vehicles are not convenient."
Seeing Lin Qi nod, Chen Lishu asked a few more questions about the shop's situation before leaving.
Upon arriving at the bus station, she just caught the bus that was about to depart. Chen Lishu dared not delay and quickly hurried over.
After dinner, she paid a visit to Zhang Changhe's home.
The Zhang family had also just finished dinner. Zhang Changhe was sitting in the courtyard, listening to the radio and smoking his pipe. Seeing Chen Lishu arrive, he quickly called his eldest son to bring a stool.
"My grand-niece, you must have something important to discuss, coming here?"
At this time, no brigade leader lived as comfortably as he did. With the mountainous land contracted out, the brigade not only cleared its old debts but also had paved roads, and the village even had access to transportation. In the past, whenever they went to commune meetings, everyone discussed how much grain that brigade had harvested, or how that brigade had acquired a new tractor that year. While he felt envious, he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. What was there to say if his brigade members were not ambitious? At the end of the year, other brigades could convert a work point into two or three fen, while they could only get just over one fen.
Now, it was good. After the household responsibility system was implemented, everyone was very motivated. Especially since Chen Lishu contracted the barren mountains and needed help, anyone willing to work could earn some money.
Hearing his question, Chen Lishu smiled. "Uncle Zhang, I'm here to talk about cooperation."
"Oh?" Upon hearing her words, Zhang Changhe's expression became serious. He raised his hand and turned off the radio, his pipe held in his hand, forgotten. "What kind of cooperation does my grand-niece want to discuss?"
"Isn't it encouraged now for brigades and communes to run enterprises? I want to cooperate with the village to set up a construction company."
Zhang Changhe opened his mouth. "Grand-niece, you want to start a company?"
Having been a farmer his whole life, he used to think that companies were things from a world away. He never imagined that someone would approach him to start a company one day. Zhang Changhe was a bit stunned.
But being a village cadre, he quickly regained his composure and said, "Grand-niece, tell me how this company is to be run."
The commune had indeed issued some documents before, but if it had nothing to do with everyone, they wouldn't even organize study sessions. He hadn't paid attention to it at all.
"As policies improve, urban construction is also being prioritized. Besides infrastructure, housing shortages have always been a problem. State-owned construction companies alone will certainly be overwhelmed."
Through Chen Lishu's explanation, Zhang Changhe began to understand a little. Put simply, it was about organizing people to build houses.
"Last year, Er Zhu also worked for you for a period."
Chen Lishu nodded. "Yes, but that was without affecting the production team's work. If a construction company is established, once we win a bid, we will have to work year-round."
Zhang Changhe nodded. There was no such thing as having it both ways when doing anything. If you wanted to make money, you had to choose one path.
"Grand-niece, what are your plans?"
"To establish a company, we definitely need registered capital. And it's a construction company. For future bidding and project negotiations, the registered capital cannot be too little, otherwise, it won't look good."
Chen Lishu paused and then said, "I have two plans now. The village and I will jointly invest. After deducting costs, future profits can be divided equally according to the proportion of investment. Or, I will provide the capital, and the village will only be responsible for providing a name and cooperating, receiving ten percent of the dry shares annually."
Initially, Zhang Changhe hesitated when he heard about the team contributing money. But upon hearing Chen Lishu later say that she would provide the capital and the village only needed to receive dry shares, Zhang Changhe strongly agreed.
However, this matter was not his alone; it required the village party branch to hold a meeting to decide.
"I'll call a meeting with everyone in the next few days. I'll let you know after we've discussed it."
Chen Lishu nodded, spoke a few more words with Zhang Changhe, and then rose to take her leave.
Zhang Changhe called the village cadres together for a meeting the next day.
"Registered capital of one hundred thousand yuan? Our village account doesn't even have a tenth of that." Village accountant Zhou Fugui exclaimed in astonishment.
Sun Yuzhu said, "I think receiving dry shares is fine. The village doesn't have to spend money or worry about anything."
Another team leader said, "I also think receiving dry shares is reliable. Big Girl Chen said she makes money, but building houses is not a small matter. What if we lose money? How will we explain ourselves to our superiors and the villagers?"
Basically, most people agreed to receive dry shares, and two others abstained. Just as Zhang Changhe was about to announce the result, Zhou Fugui suddenly spoke, "Although we are receiving dry shares, we are the ones who facilitated this matter. If our team recommends a few people to go there, she shouldn't refuse, right?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and their minds began to stir. Gu Jia Lao Si had approached someone before, and Zhang Jia Er Xiao Zi had also gone. Zhao Qi was also mentioned, who reportedly earned sixty to seventy yuan a month, which was much more than what could be earned from farming.