Director Sun looked worried. “Don’t say anything, can you step outside for a moment?” He turned to Xu Shengwu, speaking kindly, because he wasn’t sure what this young man who drove a truck did for a living. Being so young and driving such a vehicle, he didn’t dare to easily offend him.
Xu Shengwu, a little surprised, stood up and left the room.
Father Xu finally lost his temper. “Director Sun, can I speak now?”
“Speak!” Director Sun took a quick sip of water to hide his embarrassment. This situation was truly awkward.
“Here’s the price list. You can take a look. I think these prices are quite fair. Some people in our village used to sell vegetables to small grocery stores, and they didn’t get prices this good. Especially for wild goods like mushrooms, the prices were even lower before.” Father Xu grew quite upset just thinking about it. He used to be angry but couldn’t say anything.
Director Sun looked at the price list, and the more he read, the happier he became. The prices were definitely excellent. If they could consistently supply restaurants, their commune’s economy would surely grow. They might even break into the top ten in the commune economic rankings! When he thought of this, Director Sun felt a surge of energy, standing tall and proud like a rooster. “Brother Xu, I agree to this. When can we sign the contract?”
“Wait until my daughter comes back this evening. She’s the one who set this up. She finishes work at half past six,” Father Xu explained.
Director Sun was afraid that things might change suddenly and couldn’t wait. He looked at Father Xu directly. “I have time now. How about we go find your daughter right away? Let’s figure out this contract. I think the sooner we sign it, the better.”
Father Xu nodded and made a request. “I hope to add one more point when we sign the contract.”
Director Sun looked a bit confused. “What should we add?”
“We must give priority to buying vegetables from our village. Even if there aren’t many vegetables later, our village’s produce must be bought first,” Father Xu stated boldly. His daughter had said this deal was for the people of their village. So, they should get the best terms. He knew he needed to be pushy here, risking everything and being completely shameless. If Director Sun didn’t agree, he wouldn’t leave.
When Director Sun heard this demand, he didn’t hesitate at all. He nodded immediately. “Okay, okay, okay. Even if I only buy from one village, your village will get the quota.” After all, the economic benefit would go to their commune.
Director Sun was quite fair and didn’t lower the prices too much, allowing the villagers to still earn a good amount of money.
Director Sun and Father Xu left the office. Xu Shengwu walked over and called out to Father Xu, “Dad, should we go back?”
“Dad?” Director Sun froze, his face turning red instantly. This young man was Brother Xu’s son? He’d been making a fool of himself for most of the day, thinking he was an important big shot? This was the old man’s son. Why had he never seen him before? Why had he changed so much? Director Sun just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He didn’t want to see either the father or the son. But for the sake of the commune’s economy, he had no choice but to push through.
“Brother Xu, this is your son?” he stammered, looking embarrassed. “I thought he was from the restaurant’s purchasing side. Oh, if he’d said he was one of ours, I wouldn’t have made him go outside.”
When Father Xu heard this, he immediately understood why Director Sun had been acting so strangely. He held back a smile and introduced, “This is my third son. He works for the transportation team now and isn’t home often, so you haven’t seen him!”
Hearing that it was the Xu family’s third son, Director Sun suddenly understood. He hadn’t seen the third Xu son in years; he’d changed so much.
“Director Sun, let’s take the truck to the county town!” Father Xu suggested. They’d already been sitting around for a while; he didn’t want to waste more time riding back and forth.
Director Sun was overjoyed. This would be his first time riding in such a vehicle. Once inside, Director Sun poked his head out, feeling incredibly proud.
“Director Sun, what are you doing?” his subordinates asked, very curious. Director Sun pretended to be secretive. “You’ll know when we get back.” Xu Shengwu glanced at Director Sun, then, having finished his task, drove the truck towards the county town.
The three of them drove straight to the restaurant’s entrance. Such a large truck stopping there drew a crowd. Xiao Zhang also came out, wanting to ask Xu Ying if the deal was going to happen.
Xu Ying and Xiao Zhang were about to find a quiet spot to talk. As they stepped out, Xu Ying spotted her third brother’s truck. She quickly understood the situation. Seeing Xiao Zhang, she immediately smiled. “Brother Zhang, this is great news! I told the leader of our commune about this business, and he said that old friends are better than distant relatives. We’re all old acquaintances, so naturally, he wanted to give me some face. It’s done. And it wasn’t necessarily my third brother and the others who drove here.”
When Xiao Zhang turned and saw the large truck parked outside the restaurant, he was shocked. His mouth fell open. “Did your third brother drive that truck?”
“Yeah,” Xu Ying nodded.
Xiao Zhang was no longer calm. After talking with Xu Ying a bit more, he learned two important things: her third brother drove a truck, and everyone in the transportation company drove large trucks. But the transportation company was hard to get into, and this truck wasn’t just something you could borrow. Besides working, Xu Ying’s third brother must have a big position there. And the commune leaders sold her face to Xu Ying? This young girl was so young, yet even the commune leaders had to respect her. There had to be something very special about her. Xiao Zhang no longer dared to look down on Xu Ying. Especially knowing that the commune director had come in person to discuss cooperation, Xiao Zhang felt sure that Xu Ying had powerful people supporting her.
“Hello, Director Sun, Xu Ying has told you about our cooperation. If you think it’s okay, please look at the contract, and let’s sign it.” Just in case rivals tried to snatch the deal, Director Sun had prepared several contracts, some for multi-year terms.
Director Sun felt a wave of dizziness as he read the contract. Once this was signed, their commune would have this income for at least a few years.
Xu Ying quickly looked at Director Sun. “Director Sun, Brother Zhang from our restaurant really wants to cooperate with our commune. If you think there’s nothing wrong, you can sign.”
Director Sun looked at Xu Ying and smiled brightly. This girl was truly impressive.
Xiao Zhang saw this and realized Director Sun had a very good relationship with Xu Ying, which made him respect Xu Ying even more. He no longer thought of her as just a young girl he could easily outsmart.
Director Sun looked at Xu Ying with a beaming smile. “After we take a break, let’s go to my uncle’s house for a meal!”
Xu Ying agreed with a smile. “Okay, Uncle Sun.”
To show his goodwill, Xiao Zhang added, “Yingying, I heard that Liu Chou’s place has a new dish. If you have time another day, Brother Zhang, I’ll treat you to it.”
Director Sun saw this and thought that Brother Xu’s daughter was amazing. She had such a good relationship with the restaurant’s buyer. How could the village’s good fortune be far behind? He had no worries about the contract being broken at all. Brother Xu was capable, his son was smart, and his daughter was brilliant. Just the fact that he rode in the truck was enough for him to boast about when he returned.
After Xiao Zhang left, Xu Ying looked at Director Sun and brought up an important matter. “Director Sun, the buying process has been agreed upon, but gathering goods from village by village is a big job. We need to be very careful with weighing and pricing the produce, and no one should be trying to sneak extra money. I think we need to find someone knowledgeable to be in charge of this.”
Father Xu was in such a good mood now. He wanted to fly back to the village and tell everyone about this huge news.