Liu Chen spent over six million yuan late at night. After signing the contract, he took a photo and sent it to Old Master Chen.
He originally wanted Old Master Chen to see if he could help arrange this batch of pork. However, just a few minutes after sending the MMS, Liu Chen received a call from Old Master Chen.
"Hello? Chenchen, where did you get such a large batch of cheap pork? Is this meat of yours legitimate and good quality?"
Liu Chen was already in bed when he received the call. He sat up to answer, leaning against the headboard. Hearing Old Master Chen's questioning tone, he recounted the day's events.
"Hahahaha!!! Good! Good! Your Tsinghua University education has paid off! Chenchen, do you know what our Meili Ham Sausage factory needs the most?"
Liu Chen, asked such a question at past eleven at night, was completely bewildered and could only tentatively reply, "Talent?"
"Ah, we are indeed short of that, but materially speaking, what our Meili brand ham sausage needs most recently is pork!
Due to the geographical environment of our S Province, there are very few large open spaces suitable for establishing mega pig farms. Thus, most farms are small-scale, with a maximum of a few hundred pigs ready for market.
If the quality of this batch of pork is acceptable, we can even sign a long-term supply agreement with them. Of course, all this depends on the quality of the meat once it arrives and we inspect it. But, Chenchen, well done!"
Listening to Old Master Chen's words on the phone, the corners of Liu Chen's mouth gradually turned upwards. Perhaps it was the many recent events that made Liu Chen feel he wasn't as smart as the senior students in the lab, nor did he have a trusting and supportive relationship like the club president and Senior Sister Qian Yuan.
All these happenings made him, deep down, perhaps begin to admit that he was just an ordinary person, an ordinary person who was a bit lucky.
It was only now, hearing Old Master Chen's praise, that Liu Chen suddenly remembered that in faraway S Province, his mother had found her happiness, and Old Master Chen was willing to spend a huge sum to pave the way for his future.
At this moment, a word he had rarely spoken in two lifetimes escaped Liu Chen's lips.
"Grandpa, thank you. Goodnight."
Old Master Chen, who had been chattering and praising Liu Chen, fell silent upon hearing his words. Then, a long, hearty laugh erupted.
"Hahahaha!! Silly child, you are my granddaughter, why thank me? Alright, alright, goodnight. Young people should sleep early so they can be beautiful."
After Old Master Chen finished speaking, the call didn't end. Liu Chen watched the communication time on his phone slowly increase, as if he could picture Old Grandpa Chen in S Province stubbornly waiting by his phone, unwilling to hang up first.
"Goodnight, Grandpa," Liu Chen said again, and then hung up.
Before going to sleep, Liu Chen checked the lock on the master bedroom door. After confirming it was securely bolted, he got into bed and snuggled into the warm down quilt. Listening to the sound of the evening breeze blowing outside, a smile on his face, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
...
At Xingfu Pig Farm in the capital of H Province, Xue Youqian repeatedly looked at the bank notification text message on his old Nokia phone.
"Over six million yuan, just transferred like that? It's not fake, is it?" Xue Youqian shook his head. "It must be real. This is a bank notification. This Tsinghua University, indeed impressive. A nineteen-year-old female student alone has over six million in liquid assets."
As Xue Youqian was sighing, his old Nokia began to ring:
"I'm looking up at the moon above
So many dreams are flying freely"
Seeing the blinking screen—Manager Yu from Sanhui—Xue Youqian's face no longer showed the usual haste to answer. Instead, he turned the volume down to the minimum and set the phone aside.
Xue Youqian stood up, humming "I'm looking up at the moon above" and dancing, he walked to the display shelf behind him. He took out a tin of aged Pu'er tea, a gift from someone, peeled off the outer paper, and broke off a small piece from the tea cake. He held it in his hand.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Late at night, the door to the pig farm owner's office was knocked on from the outside. Xue Youqian was startled, his hand trembled, and a tiny bit of tea dust fell from the small piece of Pu'er in his hand.
"Who is it! Coming to the farm in the middle of the night?" Xue Youqian swallowed, glanced around his office, and then put the broken piece of tea cake into the pocket of his cotton pajamas.
Having done so, he unhurriedly went to open the door.
"Old Xue! I thought you were asleep? You didn't answer my call? What's wrong, you don't want us at Sanhui to buy your pork anymore?"
Seeing Manager Yu, who was about 1.6 meters tall and wearing thick, bottle-cap glasses, standing at the door, Xue Youqian smiled and waved his hand.
"Brother Yu, what are you saying? Everyone knows your Sanhui factory is large-scale. The main thing is, the price you're offering this time is too low. Seven yuan per kilogram, that would mean I'm losing money on every pig."
Hearing Xue Youqian still bringing up the price, Manager Yu's smile immediately faltered.
"Boss Xue, if you don't sell these pigs soon, the money you'll lose by keeping them will likely be considerable, won't it?"
Hearing Manager Yu's undisguised malice, Xue Youqian couldn't be bothered to play along anymore. Although Sanhui did have a large demand for pork, his Xingfu Pig Farm was not insignificant. If Sanhui hadn't reneged at the last minute when the pigs were ready for market, he could have found buyers.
If one family wouldn't buy, couldn't it be split among several?
"Little Yu, judging by your age, you're probably not yet forty, right?"
Hearing the address "Little Yu," Manager Yu's brow immediately furrowed. He opened his mouth to retort but saw Xue Youqian wave his hand.
"Little Yu, you are indeed young. Coming to see me this late, what do you want? I don't believe Sanhui Company would come to talk about pork acquisition at this hour."
Being told this, Manager Yu shut his mouth and remembered the purpose of his visit.
With a soft "哼," Manager Yu walked to Xue Youqian's side.
"Old Xue, I understand you want to sell pork, but you know the company's orders. As the newly appointed purchasing manager, how can I possibly deviate? However, I did inquire. My chairman's younger brother will be coming to H Province for a meeting in a few days. I can introduce you then, and we can slightly increase the price and sign a long-term contract. It shouldn't be a big problem."
Xue Youqian was stunned by what the short-sighted glasses-wearer said.
"Little Yu, are you out of your mind? The price you're offering, even if it's increased, can you raise it to nine yuan per kilogram?"
Manager Yu was now truly angry.
"Old Xue, I'm advising you because I've seen your good attitude lately! Don't be ungrateful! Your brain is the one with the problem! Nine yuan per kilogram, you might as well go rob a bank!"
Xue Youqian was too lazy to stand and talk to this idiot anymore. He pouted and sat back down in his boss's chair. He took the small piece of tea cake from his pocket and placed it in the large tea mug on the table, then took the mug to the water dispenser to fill it.
"Hey! What's your intention? It seems you don't want to sell those five thousand pigs, do you? Fine! Then you can just wait and take care of your five thousand pigs for the rest of their lives!"
After saying this, Manager Yu, with a face full of anger, strode out of the office. Once he was outside Xingfu Pig Farm, the anger on his face immediately disappeared. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.
"Hello? General Manager, yes, yes, I've conveyed your message. But Boss Xue's attitude has suddenly done a 180-degree turn. Yes, okay, okay. I'll ask my nephew at Xingfu Pig Farm tomorrow about the movements of those five thousand pigs.
General Manager, don't worry. Besides our Sanhui, who else can possibly take these five thousand pigs? He's probably just bluffing!"
After the call, Manager Yu quickly jogged out of the pig farm gate and drove away in his Santana.
...
At eight o'clock the next morning, Xue Youqian issued instructions during the morning meeting in his office.
"The batch of five thousand pigs ready for market will be slaughtered starting today. Full effort! Same old rules, process the pork well, store it in the cold storage. Once all are slaughtered, it will be sent to the customer's location."
Xue Youqian's words made Xingfu Pig Farm, which had recently been rife with rumors, forget about them and immerse themselves in the intense process of slaughtering pigs and processing pork around the clock.
Five thousand pigs, with the joint efforts of all the staff at Xingfu Pig Farm, took ten days to process all the pork. It was divided into several parts, packed into boxes of fifty jin each, and stored in the cold storage.
Three days after they were put into cold storage, twenty refrigerated trucks lined up neatly outside Xingfu Pig Farm's cold storage.
"My goodness, who bought our farm's meat? They're using refrigerated trucks for all of it, tsk tsk. That Sanhui, when they bought our pork, they weren't this grand."
"Sister Xia, you're right. Sanhui's processing plant is only two hours away from our farm. What would be the point of them driving refrigerated trucks to load the meat? They'd be out of their minds!"
"Hey? Two elder sisters, from your tone, the people picking up pork here aren't from our province? But in H Province, besides Sanhui, who else could handle this much meat?"
Manager Yu's nephew, wearing a plastic apron for feeding pigs and rubber boots, inquired while looking at the refrigerated trucks loading pork.
The two aunties, both over fifty, smiled broadly upon hearing "sister."
"They're not from H Province, they're from our neighboring S Province. You know Meili Ham Sausage, right? That's the company!"
'Uncle, the pigs from the pig farm weren't slaughtered for Sanhui, they were sold to Meili Ham Sausage from the neighboring province. They're even here to pick up the meat today.'
The nephew sent this message to Manager Yu. Manager Yu, who was currently entertaining the chairman's younger brother, saw the text message from his nephew, his vision darkened, his legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the floor.