My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 23 Meeting Erzhu

"Brother, what are you saying? You think I wouldn't trust the stuff you bring in?"

Liu Xingeng laughed and said.

But despite saying that, he still obediently grabbed a handful of peanuts from the donkey cart.

After rubbing off the dried mud, I peeled off the shell and tasted it.

As soon as Liu Xingeng put the peanut in his mouth, he frowned, slightly surprised, after only chewing it a couple of times.

Then, unable to resist, he peeled open two more peanuts and threw them into his mouth.

Seeing this, Chen Ling laughed, "How are these peanuts, Mr. Liu?"

"good, very good."

"It tastes even better than last time."

“Brother, I got ripped off a couple of years ago, so I don’t usually tell people the absolute truth, let alone raise the price. But I’m making an exception today.”

"Your greenhouse peanuts are really good. It seems that growing peanuts in winter is still feasible. They taste better than in spring and summer."

"I'll raise the price by five cents, I'll take them all. From now on, whenever you have peanuts, bring them to me."

"Is it possible?"

Liu Xingeng held up one finger and said with a serious expression.

In this day and age, grain and oil are purchased in bulk and distributed out in large quantities.

For example, pressing 3,000 catties of peanuts into oil.

The extracted oil was distributed to department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, grain and oil shops, village sales outlets, and so on.

Some weigh several hundred kilograms, while others weigh only a few dozen kilograms.

They were all sold individually.

They weren't individually bottled or properly packaged with labels; they were sold in jugs weighing ten or twenty kilograms.

They all carried oil jugs to buy oil.

Therefore, if the price difference for grains is calculated in cents, the price difference for cash crops used for oil extraction, such as peanuts and soybeans, is calculated in mao (a unit of currency).

The lowest price increase was five cents, equivalent to 0.5 mao, then one mao, and two mao.

So Chen Ling shook his head when he heard this, "You get what you pay for. If my peanuts were graded by an inspector, they would be at least two grades better than ordinary peanuts. You only raised the price by five cents? That's a bit too low."

"This is low? Then what price do you think is appropriate?" Liu Xingeng retorted.

"I'll raise the price by two cents, to one dollar and one pound. From now on, I can have as much as you want, how about it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xingeng frowned. "One yuan and one jin is too high. You can't even find it for this price in the county town..."

In fact, Chen Ling had already tested the yield of oil from the peanuts.

It is indeed better than regular peanuts.

But that wouldn't be too surprising.

However, more important than the amount of oil produced is the taste of the oil extracted from Chen Ling's peanuts.

It's much more fragrant than regular peanuts.

This morning, his family used this oil to stir-fry the vegetables.

Goodness, it smells amazing...

Not to mention the dishes, the steamed buns were used to soak up all the oil and soup in the plate.

This is why, after tasting Chen Ling's peanuts today, he readily agreed to raise the price by five cents.

After all, the peanut oil from yesterday was so fragrant, and today's tastes even better, so how could the oil produced be any worse?

“Brother Fugui, you know how small the price difference for peanuts is.”

"You'd rarely find even 9 cents a pound. Others raise prices by a few cents or dimes, but I'm going to raise it to a dollar a pound. You'd rarely find that price even in the city. How much more do you want me to raise it for you..."

"Look at me, my little business is really not going to grow any bigger."

Liu Xingeng shrugged, looking quite troubled.

"A few cents? Brother, that's not fair. The smallest price difference for oil pressing is five cents, not a few cents."

Chen Ling gave a half-smile.

There's a saying: "Grain is never short of rations, and oil is never short of cents."

This means that the profit from the three staple grains is always one or two cents, or five cents more, while the profit from oilseed crops can be as much as a few cents less.

"This...brother, you're quite the expert."

"How about this..."

Liu Xingeng hesitated for a moment, "It's not that prices can't be raised, but I can't make much money even if it's only one yuan per kilogram."

"If you ask for 1.1 yuan per jin, I'll have to pay extra."

"Unless you, Brother Fugui, you only supply peanuts to my family from now on."

"I'll raise the price by two cents just because of the quality of your peanuts, and give it a shot."

Chen Ling shook his head: "Supplying only to you is definitely not enough..."

Chen Ling would never agree to a buyout.

"However, I can assure you that we have supplies available all year round, as much as you need."

How about this guarantee?

Liu Xingeng was quite surprised to hear this: "Supply all year round? As much as you need?"

Chen Ling nodded, "Yes, we have as many as you need, all year round."

"Would I lie to you when I grow crops in greenhouses?"

Influenced by his wishes, the freshly harvested peanuts only need to interact with the cave and the real world overnight to dry thoroughly and completely, thus saving the step of drying them in the sun outside.

It can be said that Liu Xingeng wanted Chen Ling to plant and harvest the crops so that they could be supplied directly without the need for drying them.

"Besides, Mr. Liu, we always deliver the goods first and then pay. If the goods don't meet your standards, we can't do business, right?" Upon hearing this, Liu Xingeng glanced at Chen Ling, then reached into the peanuts on the donkey cart, forcefully probing inside, and pulled out a handful of peanuts.

I peeled off the shell and tasted it.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, one dollar it is."

"Just based on the quality of these peanuts, and the fact that you said you could have as many as you wanted, I'll take a gamble."

Chen Ling smiled upon hearing this.

"Okay, how many kilograms do you want this time, Mr. Liu?"

Liu Xingeng thought for a moment and said, "There's been a lot of demand for peanut oil lately, let's reserve three thousand catties for now."

"Okay, let's unload this truck first, then I'll go get the rest."

Chen Ling nodded.

Three thousand catties is just enough; we don't have any more at the moment.

We have to go back and plant them again.

……

One p.m.

Chen Ling delivered the five donkey cartloads of peanuts to Liu Xingeng.

Three thousand catties of peanuts were traded, and three thousand three hundred yuan was received.

There were also two jars of goat milk bought from Liu Xingeng's house in the cave.

There were also two jugs of oil that Liu Xingeng gave me, pressed from the peanuts from yesterday's truckload.

After loading the goods onto the donkey cart, Chen Ling sat down and cracked the whip.

"Let's get the donkey and go eat."

Liu Xingeng had originally invited me to stay for lunch, but his family had unexpected guests, so it seemed like he had something to do.

Chen Ling decided not to stay any longer and figured he could just find a place to eat in the county town.

After leaving the western part of the city, Chen Ling found a nice restaurant, ordered two ounces of liquor, some sliced ​​pork liver, and ate noodles with it.

With wine and food, Chen Ling, who was hungry, ate to his heart's content.

After having eaten and drunk his fill, Chen Ling saw that the weather was indeed warm enough in the afternoon, so he went to a department store, bought a fishing rod, and prepared to go fishing on the riverbank south of the county town.

"The quality of things from this era is really solid."

Chen Ling touched the fishing rod and exclaimed in admiration.

The fishing rod he bought was black, thick, and heavy.

He didn't know what brand it was, and he didn't ask the shop owner. He just tried it on and found it comfortable to hold, so he chose it.

"Hey, Fugui, I haven't seen you for a few days, what brings you to driving a donkey cart?"

As Chen Ling was driving the donkey cart and playing with his fishing rod, someone suddenly called out to him, accompanied by the sound of a motorcycle engine.

Chen Ling looked up and saw a man in his thirties, wearing a light yellow leather jacket, with arched eyebrows, narrow eyes, and a short haircut, riding on a Jialing motorcycle.

Upon seeing him, I parked my motorcycle on the side of the road not far from him, squinted at him, and smiled.

"Hey, it's Erzhu! What are you doing here?"

Chen Ling was stunned for a moment, then smiled and recognized the person in front of him.

The short-haired young man in front of him was Chen Erzhu. Since he only returned to Chenwangzhuang a few times a month, this was the first time he had seen the man since he woke up from his coma.

After greeting Chen Erzhu, Chen Ling noticed that there was a woman on the back of Chen Erzhu's motorcycle. She was heavily made up, had long curly hair, and was wearing a red open-necked sweater. She was clinging tightly to his waist.

When Chen Ling looked over, the woman winked at him ambiguously.

"Little Fugui, you've gotten even more handsome in just a few days."

Chen Ling then remembered that this person was also an acquaintance.

She was Chen Erzhu's lover, a wealthy woman who ran a freight company in the county town.

Her name is Sun Yanhong, but everyone calls her Sister Hong.

This Sister Hong has an extraordinary older brother; he's a prominent figure in the county.

He was also one of Chen Erzhu's backers.

After being released from prison, Chen Erzhu used this connection to get a job at a sand quarry in the county town, and he has been doing quite well in the years since.

"Sister Hong has become even more beautiful in just a few days."

Chen Ling smiled insincerely.

He cursed inwardly, "Damn it, this old woman is so old and still loves to flirt with men, it's really disgusting."

Little did Sun Yanhong know that Chen Ling was secretly criticizing her. She was very pleased with his words and even gave him a flirtatious wink.

"Little Fugui really knows how to talk."

Chen Erzhu laughed along, then said with a hint of smugness, "I'm taking Sister Hong to a dance. What are you doing in the county town? Why are you riding in a donkey cart?"

"If I'm not mistaken, this is from Fifth Uncle's family, right?"

Chen Ling nodded and said he wanted to borrow a donkey cart to pick up some things in the county town.

"Hey kid, that's not fair. You come to the city to haul things, why are you using a donkey cart..."

"I'll ask my brother to arrange something for you. Sister Hong has a car that's much better than your donkey cart, isn't it?"

Chen Erzhu shouted loudly, making no attempt to hide the boastful tone in his voice, as if he was afraid others wouldn't know how capable he was now.

Chen Ling smiled and said a few polite words, saying it was just a small matter and there was no need to trouble Sister Hong or anything like that.

Chen Erzhu pretended to be displeased, blaming him for being too formal, and then said, "I haven't seen you for a few days. I was just saying I'd go back to the village to find you in a couple of days. It just so happens that we met today, so I thought I'd let you know in advance."

“My greenhouse will be under construction in a couple of days. You’re just sitting at home doing nothing anyway, why don’t you come and help your brother out?”

(End of this chapter)