Zhang Liunian and others couldn't bear to watch. In this day and age, only the Cai family was as wasteful as Old Cai. Everyone else was economizing, and many were still going hungry.
The Cai family, with both parents working in the factory, had very good living conditions, which was why their youngest grandson had developed such a habit.
"Isn't that our Director Zhao? Why are you here?" Old Cai, seated at the head of the table, noticed Zhang Liunian and his party immediately, put down his chopsticks, and walked out.
Zhao Zhijie looked at his family's dining habits with dissatisfaction, his voice involuntarily becoming stern, "Old Cai, your family's dining practices are against our factory's principles, especially regarding not wasting food. Although your little dumpling is young, you can't smear food on your own brothers' faces. This is disrespect and waste of food..."
Zhao Zhijie launched into a scolding. The recently retired Old Cai was made to blush but couldn't refute because it was the truth.
"Director Zhao, you're right. I will never let Little Dumpling waste a grain of rice again. Director Zhao, what brings you here today?" Old Cai suppressed his displeasure, a smile plastered on his face.
"I almost forgot the main reason. I'm here to talk about your Little Dumpling. Do you know he hit my granddaughter at kindergarten?"
"Is there such a thing? We don't know?"
"Your Little Dumpling is no longer small; he's almost six years old. How can he bully Huabao at kindergarten? We're here to demand an apology for Huabao."
"..." For such a minor issue, they still wanted an apology. This Zhao Zhijie, having just become director, was too overbearing, Old Cai thought to himself, but kept a neutral expression.
"Little Dumpling, come here quickly and apologize to Director Zhao's granddaughter, or you won't get dinner later." Old Cai turned and called his youngest grandson over, asking him to say sorry to Huabao.
But Little Dumpling was the apple of the family's eye and had never been treated this way. Upon hearing he had to apologize to Huabao, he immediately threw his bowl and started crying.
Seeing his grandson cry, Old Cai went to comfort him, but the boy wouldn't listen. He had no choice but to apologize to Huabao on behalf of his grandson.
"Old Cai, if you don't discipline this grandson of yours, he'll be ruined. You even have to step in for such matters. You'll have yourselves to blame later," Zhao Zhijie found himself thinking for the first time that his grandson wasn't as good as his granddaughter; at least his granddaughter wouldn't cry at the drop of a hat.
"Director Zhao, I can't help it. My Little Dumpling did wrong. I apologize to Huabao on his behalf. I will educate him properly later so he doesn't provoke Huabao again."
"It's best that way, or next time I won't just ask for an apology." After saying this, Zhao Zhijie left with Zhang Liunian and his daughter.
After Zhang Liunian and the others left, Old Cai immediately spat towards the door.
"He really thinks he's someone important. If it weren't for Yan Guoguo's good relationship with him, it would never have been his turn, a mere kitchen supervisor, to become director." Old Cai was truly angered by Zhao Zhijie, otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken ill of him in front of the whole family.
Old Cai's three sons nodded in agreement. The eldest seemed to have an idea, his eyes darting around for a few moments before he smiled.
Zhang Liunian, unaware of the events here, had already returned home.
That evening, Zhang Liunian alone calculated his total assets. With the pickles, lobsters, and the money he got from Hong Fei, he had about 4.6 million.
His daily operating expenses were around 500,000. He could at most use 4 million to buy the department store.
If he added the more than 2 million for the food factory to build the staff dormitory, his total would be just over 6 million.
Moreover, that 2 million could only be used for one month. After the time was up, it had to be returned immediately, or it would affect the construction of the dormitory.
Therefore, he was still short of money, very short. It seemed he really needed to sneak into the Tang family's old residence again to see if that room was really made of gold. If it was, then buying that house would solve everything.
However, even if he discovered something now, he couldn't do anything; everything had to wait until he acquired the house.
Furthermore, even if he acquired the house, he would need a plausible reason for these things to materialize. He couldn't have so much money appear out of thin air.
After much thought, what he could do now was still to make money.
But how could he earn millions before next month?
Zhang Liunian thought for a long time and suddenly recalled two events that had happened around this time in his previous life. The first was that garlic prices would rise this month, from one jiao per jin to three jiao. The reason seemed to be a disaster for garlic in the north, requiring garlic from the south to be transported north, hence the sharp increase.
There was also another matter. A private factory in their provincial capital that made pure rice wine seemed to be in urgent need of a large amount of fresh paddy. In ten days, they would come to Nancheng to purchase the autumn harvest, buying as much as they could. However, the purchase period would only last five days, making the time very tight.
Because of the urgency, they managed to drive up the price of their paddy to a new height, from the original 1 jiao per jin to 5 jiao, a five-fold increase.
Many villagers who sold grain did not believe such high prices at first. After selling and receiving the money, they worried about further disasters. Amidst their complex emotions, the buyers left after five days of purchasing grain.
The Shili Brigade where Zhang Village was located was remote, and by the time they received the news, the buyers had already left.
Zhang Liunian remembered this so clearly because he was in Nancheng at the time and had witnessed both events firsthand, so he remembered them clearly.
Both of these events could now generate money in a short period. Zhang Liunian leaned more towards buying paddy because the return on investment was higher, and it didn't require a specific quantity; they would buy whatever was available.
Besides, the brigade members had already stored their paddy at home, making it the perfect time to buy paddy.
After repeated consideration, Zhang Liunian decided to go back to the village to buy paddy, whatever they had.
He would invest the money here first, and ten days later, he would sell these goods, which would then have quintupled in value.
By then, buying two department stores and one food factory would certainly be much easier.
With his decision made, Zhang Liunian slept soundly.
The next day, after breakfast, Zhang Liunian entered the machinery factory with Zhao Zhijie. He first settled the accounts for the packaging, mixing, and slicing equipment he had sent over previously.
Then, he settled the payments for the lobsters and braised meat that had not been collected during this period. Finally, he revealed his intention to rent large trucks and buy a pickup truck for himself.
Although Zhang Liunian had never learned to drive in this life, he knew how to in his previous life. Now that he had millions, it was time to get a car.
Upon hearing that he wanted a car, Zhao Zhijie immediately took him to choose one. Arriving at the car depot, Zhang Liunian first selected fifty large trucks and paid the rental deposit for half a month. Then, he chose a small pickup truck, paid the full eighteen thousand yuan on the spot, and found an old driver to teach him on-site.
The old driver was somewhat reluctant, thinking Zhang Liunian was presumptuous, placing himself among geniuses, and expecting to learn to drive after just two lessons – a sheer fantasy.
"Young man, it's not that I don't want to teach you, but driving truly depends on talent. When I learned to drive, it took me a year. You saying you want to learn now is impossible." The old driver's words were very polite. If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Liunian was Zhao Zhijie's nephew, he would have pointed at Zhang Liunian's nose and called him arrogant and conceited.
Learning to drive wasn't something that could be grasped at a glance; it required talent and experience. Someone who had never touched a car couldn't possibly achieve it.
Zhang Liunian smiled, understanding their thoughts, and replied, "Master, just teach me. If I can't learn it by noon, I promise not to bother you again."