"..." So urgent, they don't have that much money at home?
Jiang Qingqing was full of worry, while Zhang Liunian looked relaxed, "Don't worry, I'll handle the money."
"I believe you."
Pulling her into his embrace, Zhang Liunian began to fantasize about their future life.
"Tonight, I'll ask the village chief to buy the land behind our house, and we can build a larger house with blue bricks and tiles. Hua Bao will have a room, our little sister will have one, and we'll have one. We can also set aside a vegetable garden, saving us the trouble of picking vegetables from the educated youth dormitory."
The picture Zhang Liunian painted was so beautiful that Jiang Qingqing also began to yearn for such a wonderful life.
"I'll listen to you. I support whatever you want."
"Qingqing, you're so good."
"..."
After a period of affectionate banter, it was time for work again.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, Zhang Liunian set up his stall at the construction site, with 120 jin of crayfish meat, 30 jin of braised meat, and a pot of braised dishes.
He earned 179 yuan after selling out.
As soon as he finished packing the money, Zhao Zhijie appeared again. He was there to have dinner with Zhang Liunian and to inform him that the crayfish delivered to their factory tomorrow had been increased to one thousand jin.
The two went to a private restaurant. As soon as they were seated, Zhao Zhijie asked Zhang Liunian if he had secured the cooperation.
"Thanks to Uncle Zhao, we signed the contract this morning, and there will be no problem supplying crayfish to the factory from now on." Zhang Liunian personally got up to pour tea for Zhao Zhijie, expressing his gratitude.
Zhao Zhijie took the teacup and took a sip, "That's good. Remember to send us a thousand jin tomorrow."
"Okay," Zhang Liunian nodded calmly, not batting an eye at the mention of a thousand jin.
Zhao Zhijie was somewhat surprised by his attitude; he had noticed it a few times before.
This Zhang Liunian, no matter how many jin he said they needed, always remained calm and collected, showing no surprise or excitement.
This situation was completely inconsistent with someone his age.
He was like a mystery, seemingly born in a remote village where he had seen little of the world.
Yet, when faced with cooperation involving thousands of jin, he could remain composed and unflustered.
If it were him, he wouldn't be so calm.
This was a thousand jin of crayfish!
Just hearing the quantity was enough to make one excited, but he showed no reaction at all.
He truly was an unusual young man.
"The dishes are here, let's eat!" Zhang Liunian prompted when the food was served.
The two began to eat and chat, and the conversation eventually turned to Yan Guoguo.
"Old Yan asked me to thank you on his behalf. He's temporarily busy dealing with matters at the factory.
Once he's dealt with those people, he'll personally treat you to a meal."
Zhao Zhijie also spoke with great emotion about Yan Guoguo.
Who would have thought they would meet Comrade Zhang Liunian?
If they hadn't met him, what would Old Yan's fate have been?
"No need, Uncle Yan has helped me a lot." Zhang Liunian was already satisfied with the two jobs he had secured and the cooperation he had obtained.
But Zhao Zhijie and Yan Guoguo didn't think so. Zhang Liunian informing them of the truth would allow Yan Guoguo to avoid many major issues.
Now that Yan Guoguo had sent Qian Xuehai to prison and dealt with the people he had won over, he would be safe.
"You're too modest. You've shown great kindness to Old Yan; two jobs are not enough."
Zhao Zhijie took a bite of the stir-fried pork slices but, for some reason, felt that something was missing from the meat. He sighed, "I'm so used to your crayfish meat that I can't eat anyone else's cooking now, including my own."
"I'll send you and the others some braised meat tomorrow. I believe you'll like it." Zhang Liunian knew that the current dishes had very few ingredients, unlike him, the prince of seasonings, who put a lot of ingredients in everything he cooked.
How could it not be fragrant?
"Braised meat? I've heard them talk about it and have wanted to try it for a long time. If it's delicious, you can send it to our factory too."
This was Zhao Zhijie's intention to expand cooperation with Zhang Liunian, which made Zhang Liunian very happy.
"That would be great. Thank you in advance, Uncle Zhao."
Zhang Liunian clasped his hands in a gesture of gratitude. Zhao Zhijie smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "What are you doing? Your dishes need to be delicious for us to cooperate, not just good."
"You'll be satisfied."
"Uncle has confidence in you. So, now that you've secured the crayfish from Daming Lake, do you have plans for what's next? For our factory, the daily demand is at most two thousand jin." Zhao Zhijie had noticed that with so many people in their factory, if each person had a portion, less than two thousand jin would be enough.
Zhang Liunian also had his own plans and was not surprised by this number. After a moment of silence, he said, "I want to find a factory to cooperate with in the southern city."
"Will it be the same method as ours?" It was quite a long way from the village to the southern city. It was hot now, and by the time the dishes arrived, the taste might not be so good.
Zhao Zhijie had thought of this, and Zhang Liunian had already considered it.
"For factories that are too far away, I plan to teach them how to cook another type of crayfish and sell the crayfish directly to them."
Selling the crayfish directly was more convenient and labor-saving.
"Sell crayfish? And teach them how to cook crayfish?"
Zhao Zhijie murmured a couple of times, and an idea formed in his mind. "I have a few apprentices working in state-run restaurants. If you want to sell crayfish, I can introduce you."
His actions were indeed a bit confusing to Zhang Liunian, "Uncle Zhao, you're being too good to me."
To put it bluntly, his own father wasn't as good to him as Zhao Zhijie was.
Zhao Zhijie, however, smiled, "I have no children, but I love to eat and cook. When I tasted your 'Flying Dragon in the Sky,' I felt a sense of admiration for your talent.
Later, after interacting with you, I felt that you were no ordinary young man.
So, I wanted to befriend you. Please don't mind."
Zhao Zhijie's words were sincere. Initially, he was just curious about the ingredients of 'Flying Dragon in the Sky,' then he was impressed by his culinary skills, and finally, he admired his demeanor.
"Uncle Zhao, if you don't mind, I can be your adopted nephew." Zhang Liunian also felt a good impression of Zhao Zhijie for helping him so much.
Since he had no children, why shouldn't they recognize a relative?
When Zhao Zhijie heard this, he was overjoyed. "Good, good, good! Then I, Zhao Zhijie, will finally have a nephew?"
"I have an adopted uncle too," Zhang Liunian said with a smile.
The two looked at each other and smiled, then agreed on the crayfish sales cooperation for the next day.
After a satisfying meal, they parted ways.
As Zhang Liunian approached the yard entrance, he saw his daughter clashing with Zhang Datou again.
"You bastard, you bastard! You caused my mother to disappear, I'll beat you to death!" Zhang Datou, upon learning that his mother, Tu Meili, had been arrested by the police and no one was cooking for him anymore, became extremely angry and rushed over to hit Hua Bao.
Hua Bao was not to be trifled with either. She had been eating well and sleeping well these days, her legs were not weak, and her eyes were clear. Seeing Zhang Datou bullying her again, she immediately grabbed his ear and started fighting, "You're the bastard, you are! I have a father and a mother."
"Ah, my mom said you're a bastard, that you were picked up. You don't deserve to wear new clothes or eat delicious food. You deserve to be beaten!"
Zhang Datou was repeating the words he had heard from his own parents.