Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Indeed, the distance from Zhao Da'e's hometown, Dongtaizi Village, to Kaxian County (the original name was too long, so we will use the abbreviation Kaxian County from now on) is too far, especially since there are still four or five miles of mountain road ahead. It is estimated that more than half of the water will be spilled before it even reaches its destination.

"Don't worry about that. How it's transported here is my business, and I can guarantee it will be convenient for you to use and healthy to drink," Zhao Da'e promised.

"Alright, how's the price calculated?" Kuang Shouyi asked. "Too expensive won't do, I can't afford it. Hahaha..."

"One cent per pound, I, Zhao Da'e, always do things with a clear conscience. Absolutely no cheating, young or old. One cent per pound of water, and you can brew a pot of tea for just one cent. How convenient and cost-effective!"

"Okay, it's settled then. One cent per pound, that's really cheap." Kuang Shouyi agreed without hesitation. After all, tap water costs three or four yuan per liter, and one pound of water costs 0.3 yuan. Compared to that, it is indeed about the same price as tap water.

"If it really tastes good, I'll introduce you to a few clients later. My younger brother, Kuang Shouxin, works at Hongda Steel Factory, which has several thousand employees. But we'll have to wait until your Kangxi Spring water arrives before we can talk about future deals. By the way, you're not going to bring us a whole big iron barrel, are you... that wouldn't look very good."

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll come back in ten days or so, and next time I'll bring water. You really are my good nephew, always thinking of me when you have business. Thank you so much!" Zhao Da'e chuckled.

Kuang Shouyi laughed and said, "You're so young but so clever."

"Then I'm leaving, nephew, let's chat another day." Zhao Da'e walked out aggressively.

Kuang Shouyi was both amused and exasperated. He could only shake his head with a smile and continue the meeting.

Today, Zhao Da'e chartered Xiangzi's rickshaw, so Xiangzi was still waiting for Zhao Da'e to come back and get in the rickshaw. Xiangzi asked, "Little Aunt, where are we going later?"

"Where are the plastic factories that make water buckets?" Zhao Da'e asked.

Xiangzi, who had long frequented the area around the county town, was very familiar with the surroundings. He said, "Over by the small river bend, there's a state-owned plastics factory that can produce all kinds of buckets. Their workshop director's surname is Shan, and we all call him Shan Laowu. Once, I took him out, and he said that business had been bad lately, the factory was almost shut down, and a large group of people were only receiving minimum wage. There wasn't much work to do."

"Little auntie, do you have some big business deal to make? I'll help you find him. At least we know each other, which will make things easier. And we won't get scammed, right?"

Zhao Da'e did the math and realized that he hadn't made a single penny from this operation, and had even lost today's fare. He needed to get a whole bunch more buckets, and if he couldn't sell the water, he'd suffer a huge loss. Since Xiangzi knew someone there, he wondered if he could get some on credit, or at least work a smaller batch first, so he could manage financially.

"Xiangzi, are you very familiar with him?"

"We're actually quite familiar with each other, though I'm a bit biased towards one another."

"That's good." Zhao Da'e nodded. "Let's go find him later and ask Shan Laowu out for a meal. Is it possible to get him to come out?"

"No problem at all. If I can't even get someone to come out for a meal, then what have I been doing all these years in the county town? Leave it to me," Xiangzi said confidently.

So Zhao Da'e and Xiangzi split up. Zhao Da'e went to the supermarket and bought two cartons of good cigarettes and two bottles of good wine, intending to give them to Shan Laowu as a gift. When asking for a favor, one should have the right attitude. Although Zhao Da'e didn't know exactly how much merchandise would be needed, at least he could make a good impression and perhaps have a smoother cooperation in the future.