In Zeng Xiang's room, Ye Zhao was signing various documents brought by Qi Lian'an. Ye Zhao had been too busy recently, and he was afraid that his trip to Gangcheng would have to be postponed again.
Brother Xiang, who had just finished boxing practice, was holding a towel in his hand.
"Hey..." he called her.
Ye Zhao raised his head. Zeng Xiang said nothing. He gestured back and forth with the towel. In the blink of an eye, a red rose appeared in his hand.
"Wow!" Ye Zhao immediately clapped excitedly, and said with admiration: "Brother Xiang! How did you do that? Teach me quickly, I want to learn."
Zeng Xiang raised his eyebrows slightly. He was very pleased with Ye Zhao's admiration.
He demonstrated how to turn a rose into a flower with bare hands. "Hide the rose behind your hand. When you move the towel left and right, secretly hide the rose inside the towel. The movements should be quick and the expression should be relaxed... It's that simple."
Ye Zhao got the hang of it right away. She put the rose aside and said, "I'll make flowers for Zeng Xiuqun later."
Brother Xiang: “…”
Ye Zhao signed the documents, and Zeng Xiang put the documents back into the file bag. He said, "Uncle Qi has basically reached an agreement with them, and they should be able to sign and finalize it tonight."
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Our new company should not be called Qiaozhi, it should be called Zhaoxiang..."
Surrender is just the right way to deal with Song Rongji.
Zeng Xiang smiled and said, "The next company can be called Zhaoxiang."
Ye Zhao and Zeng Xiang jointly opened a company in Gangcheng. "Qiao" comes from the "Qiao" in Zeng Erqiao's name, and "Zhi" comes from the name of Ye Zhao's original mother. The English name of Qiaozhi Company is even funnier, it is George, which literally means George.
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "If we start another company, we can call it Page."
"Why?" Zeng Xiang didn't understand.
Ye Zhao realized that Brother Xiang didn't understand the joke, as it was still more than ten years before the birth of the "Peppa Pig" animation.
She was just about to find an excuse to explain when Aunt Feng stood at the door and knocked, "Young Master, Miss Ye, it's time to drink the soup."
Ye Zhao stood up and said with a smile: "Mother Feng, don't call me Miss Ye, just call me Xiao Zhao."
Aunt Feng said, "I'm not used to calling you by your name. I feel embarrassed."
"What's there to be embarrassed about? I drink soup every day..." Ye Zhao walked up to Feng Ma, "Feng Ma, lend me your handkerchief."
Feng Ma was an old-fashioned nanny who always kept a handkerchief under her arm. She took out the handkerchief and handed it to Ye Zhao. Before she could ask Ye Zhao what she wanted to do with her handkerchief, Ye Zhao said, "Just watch it. Don't blink."
Ye Zhao solemnly showed the handkerchief back and forth, and before Feng Ma could react, a rose appeared in front of her.
"Ouch! A magic trick!"
"It's for you!"
Aunt Feng took it over shyly and said with a smile, "Miss Ye, you really like to make an old man like me happy."
Brother Xiang looked so excited that he wanted to roll his eyes. He gave her the flowers and then turned around and gave them to the nanny.
Ye Zhao smiled: "As long as you are happy, what soup do you want to drink today?"
Aunt Feng said, "Fish maw and abalone stewed with chicken soup is especially suitable for girls."
Mother Feng felt something was wrong. How could she be bought by a flower? She turned around and said to her young master, "This soup is suitable for both men and women to drink more."
In just one year, Brother Xiang has grown up. He will no longer compete with Ye Zhao for favor. Just let him be pampered, especially in front of his mother. He has already faced the reality.
After drinking the soup, the two went downstairs together. The eldest young master took his guitar and went to find Xiaotian to play musical instruments and enjoy life, while Ye Zhao went to the company to continue his work.
Zhaohua is going to hold a meeting today, mainly regarding the development of the Xiangxi Village vegetable base. Sun Qinfang and Huang Dongliang are both coming from the town.
Huang Dongliang first reported on the progress of the contract signing with the town government. It can be basically confirmed that they will be able to enter the village and start work by the end of August.
Sun Qinfang's technicians are short of manpower, and Ye Zhao doesn't want to poach more people from the Huicheng Vegetable Base. She said, "The technicians we invited from Shandong to grow off-season turmeric were great. Xiaofeng asked him about it, and he has a team there. It's very appropriate to invite them over, because we're also going to grow turmeric next, and we need this kind of talent."
Gan Xiaofeng said: "They have a team of four people and will be here next week."
Sun Qinfang asked: "Is it possible to plant turmeric in this season?"
Ye Zhao nodded: "Plant, plant all the highlands that have not been soaked by water with small yellow ginger. I asked the technicians, we can plant three crops of ginger a year, breaking the previous method of planting one crop a year."
Sun Qinfang didn't know Ye Zhao's plan yet, so she worried: "We grow so many small yellow gingers, can we sell them?"
"Sister Sun, don't worry about the market. I have my own plans." After growing these small yellow gingers, Ye Zhao had no plans to sell them.
Sun Qinfang said: "Every village has to reserve some land for food production. I am worried that there may not be enough land for growing vegetables."
Gan Xiaofeng: "Yes, recently we have been relying mainly on Sister Lan to purchase from other places to support the supply. The quarantine procedures for supplies from other places are particularly troublesome. Dingsheng Fenghua's order volume is far more than we imagined. Shengheji has recently signed several major customers, and our vegetable base is simply unable to supply them all."
Huang Dongliang didn't know that Zhaohua's business had grown so big. He suggested: "Have you considered building a vegetable base in Changling Village, which participated in the selection before?"
Ye Zhao was still thinking about this a few days ago. She said, "Changling Village is next to the provincial road, so transportation is more convenient. Brother Liang, why don't you talk to Director □□ about Changling Village as well? If the conditions are right, you can sign it together."
Huang Dongliang: “Okay.”
Speaking of transportation, Sun Qinfang was reminded of something. She said, "Should we pave the road in Hongbao Village with cement or asphalt now? After the last flood, the road was too difficult to travel on. The villagers had to pick up stones and sand to pave the road. Otherwise, there would be no way to transport the vegetables out."
Ye Zhao has always wanted to pave the way, but he has no money.
She looked at Sister Song, "Can we come up with the money to pave the way now?"
Sister Song is now in charge of the finances, and Sheng He Ji's finance department also reports to her. She smiled and said, "Zhao Hua's money has all been invested. Sheng He Ji has some money, so why not borrow some from Sheng He Ji..."
Ye Zhao nodded. Sheng He Ji was also her sole proprietor, so she had the final say: "Then borrow money from Sheng He Ji and repair the road as soon as possible. Everyone will benefit."
Huang Dongliang smiled and said, "This is probably the first asphalt village road in our county."
Ye Zhao: "Brother Liang, please talk to Mayor □□ and see what support the town can give. After all, this road is not our Zhaohua's private property. It will benefit everyone."
Huang Dongliang: "As far as I know, the town really has no money. It should be possible to ask for some preferential policies, and manpower should also be available."
"You go and communicate."
After the meeting, Ye Zhao called Huang Dongliang to his office alone to talk to him about Xiao Huangjiang.
Ever since the ginger plague virus was detected in the roots of turmeric soaked in floods, Huang Dongliang has been monitoring turmeric in various places.
Huang Dongliang whispered: "Some of the small yellow gingers have started to turn yellow, but it has not attracted any attention yet. Everyone thinks it is a normal phenomenon after the flood."
Once infected with ginger plague, there is no way to save the plant. This season's yellow ginger is doomed.
Ye Zhao said: "If yellow leaves start to appear now, someone will probably notice something is wrong in a few days."
The timing was just right. Qi Lian'an would be able to finalize the follow-up arrangements by tomorrow at the latest.
It was already three or four o'clock when he came back from the company. When he walked to the gate of the courtyard, he met Li Ruixiang coming back from the cafeteria. She said to Ye Zhao, "Your father came to the cafeteria to look for you."
"What did he come to me for?"
"I don't know. I looked carefully from the cafeteria to the canteen and asked you when you would come. I said you seldom come. Fortunately, you warned me before, otherwise I would have almost let it slip that you were in a meeting at the company. Your father asked you to go to the factory to find him."
Ye Zhao didn't want Ye Dingguo to know clearly what she was busy with, so as to avoid him interfering in her affairs.
However, Ye Zhao had enclosed such a large piece of land in the village, and Ye Dingguo should have heard something about it, but the details he knew might be similar to those of others. He thought that she had made some important friends and bought the land for someone else.
Ye Zhao rode her bicycle to Irene Toy Factory to find her father.
Ye Zhaoti bought a bag of popsicles from his own store and put them on Secretary Liu's desk, asking her to distribute them to the people in the office.
The girls in the office didn't wait for Secretary Liu to distribute the food. They were very tactful and came forward to get it themselves. "Thank you, Xiaoye."
When Secretary Liu saw Ye Zhao coming, he hurried to the boss's office and knocked on the door to remind him.
Not long after, Gao Yueyue, who was taking a nap, was kicked out of the room by Ye Dingguo. Gao Yueyue has now replaced Director Liang as the office director of the old factory, and Director Liang has been transferred to the branch factory.
Gao Yueyue saw Ye Zhao in the corridor and smiled warmly, "Xiao Zhao, I haven't seen you for a long time. What have you been busy with recently? I asked Li Ruixiang and she also said that she seldom saw you."
Ye Zhao said perfunctorily: "I'm busy earning tuition money."
"You must be joking." Gao Yueyue patted her arm and said, "Go quickly. Your father is waiting for you."
She spoke to Ye Zhao in a friendly tone, and let everyone below know that she, Gao Yueyue, was different from Bai Yunlian, and that she could live in peace with the boss's daughter.
Ye Zhao didn't have as many inner thoughts as her, she was simply too lazy to say more.
Entering Ye Dingguo's office, there are several photos hanging on the wall, two of which are photos of Ye Zhao and city leaders after he won the top score in the college entrance examination. This is the thing Ye Dingguo is most proud of recently. He will introduce everyone who comes to the office carefully.
The two sofas against the wall were put together to form a bed. I guess Ye Dingguo and Gao Yueyue were taking a nap here.
Ye Zhao didn't sit on the sofa, but pulled out a chair and sat down with disdain.
At this time, Ye Dingguo was opening the drawer of his desk. He took out a mobile phone, walked over, and said as if showing off, "Let me show you something fun, a high-tech product."
Ye Zhao took the brick-like mobile phone. As a child who grew up in a city of technology, in her eyes, it was just an antique.
"What catches your eyes?"
"Why doesn't it look good? Mobile phone, big brother!"
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Give it to me? If it was given to me, then I will reluctantly admit that it looks good."
"What do you, a little kid, need this for?" Ye Dingguo said, taking the mobile phone back in his hand, looking at it from left to right and liking it very much.
Ye Zhao teased her father and asked him to make a choice: "Do you like this mobile phone, or do you like Gao Yueyue?"
Ye Dingguo's face darkened, and he held up his father's dignity, "What are you talking about? It's rude."
"How am I being unruly?" Ye Zhao said as he put the household registration book on the table. "I'll return the household registration book to you. If you like Gao Yueyue, you can marry her. I'll immediately call her aunt."
Ye Zhao understood her father's thoughts. He was so free now that it was impossible for him to marry any woman in the short term.
Ye Dingguo's mentality had indeed completely changed. He smiled and said, "The household registration booklet is with you. Please keep it safe and don't lose it. I need to get it from you again."
It seems that his mentality has changed a lot. The fact that the household registration book is not in his hands has become a good excuse for not being able to marry anyone.
Ye Zhao asked: "What do you want from me?"
"Hey. As your father, do I have to have something to ask you?"
"I asked you what you wanted from me. I didn't tell you that you had to have something to ask me."
"..." Ye Dingguo was speechless. This made his mind tangled. This daughter would talk back to him every time they met.
After a long while, he said, "I found that you are very lucky for dad. Since you returned to Shenzhen, dad's fortune has been very good. The orders for the new factory have been scheduled until next year."
"Oh, so what? You couldn't even bear to give me a cell phone, and you're talking about this!"
Ye Dingguo stood up and walked back to his desk, took out a small wallet and handed it to her: "This is for you."
Ye Zhao knew that Ye Dingguo's car was an Audi, so she asked, "Can I drive your car?"
"What do you mean my car? This is a new car! Just bought!"
Ah, what a waste of money. The car started to depreciate as soon as I bought it, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were just wasted!
Luckily it wasn’t her money that was wasted!
"You might as well give me the cash." Ye Zhao, who was short of money, muttered softly.
Ye Dingguo protested loudly: "Isn't this car money? What do you need so much cash for? Don't be fooled!"
After receiving the car keys, Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Why don't you give me the mobile phone as well?"
Ye Dingguo waved his hand quickly: "No, you are a student, what do you need a mobile phone for? I have asked someone to register you for the driver's license test. I have signed up for the fastest class. You can get the license in half a month. You can drive to school in the future."
"It takes more than half a month to get a driver's license?" Is it so efficient to get a driver's license in this era? But she can drive, so as long as the process is fast enough, she will have no problem.
"The car is parked in the factory's parking space. Once you pass your driver's license test, you can drive away."
Before leaving, Ye Dingguo reminded him again: "Ye Zhao, you are a college student, you should have a better vision, don't look for a partner in the village, do you hear me?"
Ye Zhao smiled awkwardly but politely, pretending not to hear, took the car keys and household registration booklet, and left.
When Zeng Erqiao got home, she heard that Ye Zhao's father had given her a car, and she said with a smile, "Your father regards having children as an investment. If the child is excellent, he will double the reward. If the child is not excellent enough, then he will continue to stay in Wancheng, right?"
Ye Zhao gave Aunt Qiao a thumbs up: "Very insightful!"
"So, take whatever he gives you in the future, and don't be polite to him."
Ye Zhao smiled: "I wasn't being polite with him. I asked him to give me the mobile phone, but he refused."
After picking up the table and preparing to serve the dishes for dinner, Comrade Ye Zhao, a good socialist youth, asked Feng Ma to eat with him. Feng Ma waved her hand and smiled, "No, no, I'm in this business, and we have our own rules. I'll eat in the kitchen later."
After Aunt Feng entered the kitchen, Aunt Qiao whispered to Ye Zhao, "Don't be polite to her. She usually eats better than us."
After saying that, Aunt Qiao called inside, "Xiangzi, it's time to eat."
The weather has been sunny these days, so Old Mrs. Luo would take a walk in the garden after breakfast.
Just as he came out of the gate, he met Qi Lian'an. Old Lady Luo waved to him, called him over, and asked, "I heard from Jiaming that Shen'er's six shops were all mortgaged to the bank?"
Qi Lian'an knew that he couldn't keep this secret from his family, so he quickly said, "Yes, the young master arranged it."
“How much is the mortgage?”
"I asked someone to help me with the loan and I was able to get a loan of 30 million yuan."
"Where's the money? What did you use it for?"
Qi Lianan said awkwardly: "Old lady, this matter... the young master doesn't allow us to talk about it."
Old Mrs. Luo walked into the garden. "You can't even tell me?"
Qi Lian'an hurriedly followed and said, "Why don't you call and ask the young master directly, old lady?"
"Forget it, I won't embarrass you."
After Qi Lian'an left, Sister Hong followed and said with a smile: "Young Master has his own ideas. Anyway, the money is not much, so don't worry about it."
Old Mrs. Luo had heard some rumors, but she was too disdainful to share them with Sister Hong. She wanted to walk around alone, so she waved her hand and said, "I'll walk by myself. Don't follow me. Just go and do your thing."
Sister Hong didn't dare to leave, but she didn't dare to follow, so she could only watch from a distance.
The Luo family’s garden is very large. Old Mrs. Luo walked around the garden twice and stopped only when she felt relaxed both physically and mentally.
After returning to the room, Mrs. Luo changed her clothes and said, "Call Xu Yan and ask her to come over."
Guo Xuyan's home is very close to the Luo family. They are both on the same mountain range and only a few minutes' drive away.
Not long after, Guo Xuyan came. Old Mrs. Luo was sitting on the sofa playing with a little cat. This little cat was picked up from the yard before, and she had become very clingy recently.
Old Lady Luo saw that Guo Xuyan looked very unhappy and asked, "You haven't slept well recently?"
"I take sleeping pills. Sometimes I can sleep, and sometimes I can't." Guo Xuyan sat down next to Old Lady Luo. The little cat came over and rubbed her calf. She bent down and touched the kitten's head.
"have you seen a doctor?"
"I have an appointment, but I haven't gone yet."
After Sister Hong served tea to Guo Xuyan, Old Lady Luo asked her to go downstairs, "Tell the kitchen to make some longan, lotus seeds and bird's nest soup for Xuyan. This soup is soothing and good for insomnia."
Sister Hong responded, closed the door and went out.
"You can't keep being like this. Weren't you feeling better recently? Why can't you sleep again?"
Guo Xuyan sighed and forced a smile, "What can I do? I can't control it. I want to sleep, but I just can't."
Old Mrs. Luo said, "After you finish this art exhibition, take a break first. Let's go abroad to relax."
Guo Xuyan raised his head slightly and looked at Old Lady Luo: "Just the two of us?"
"Who else do you want to take with you?"
Guo Xuyan took the cat toy from the old lady and played with the kitten. She said, "No one can take care of it."
"If your parents are here, you can go with them."
Guo Xuyan nodded: "Okay, I'll make the arrangements. Where do you want to go? Europe?"
"You can go to Europe." Old Mrs. Luo said, "I called you here today to remind you of something." "What is it?"
"You'd better think about recognizing your relationship with the Song family again."
Guo Xuyan really hasn't had the energy lately, but the matter has already been delayed once, and pushing it back again would seem insincere. She isn't afraid of other people's gossip, but she's afraid that Song Xinyi will misunderstand her, as children are quite sensitive nowadays.
"Godmother, what news did you hear?"
Luo Shen is making trouble, but this is all uncertain and a trade secret, so it's not easy for Old Lady Luo to say it out.
She only said, "Although the Song family claims to be a ginger candy family, and their ginger candy is indeed delicious, the Song family has only become rich in recent years. As the overseas market has expanded, they have also become rich. But the Song family is particularly rude. The father and son of the Song family once stuffed a female actor into my house! So for all these years, we have no contact with the Song family."
"Actress" is a nice term. In fact, the Song family father and son gave Grandpa Luo Shen a famous prostitute. Back then, Old Lady Luo had dealt a heavy blow to the Song family.
Guo Xuyan knew about this matter. Old Mrs. Luo had said before that she had let it go. Why did she suddenly bring it up again
She said, "You mean, it's better not to acknowledge this godparent?"
"It's always right for you to listen to me. Let's go out and relax, and just get this matter out of the way. If they bring it up again later, they can say that I disagreed and you pushed me out. What can they do to me, an old lady?"
Guo Xuyan put down the cat toy and said, "This may not be good for Xinyi."
"You can continue to be nice to that little girl, give her gifts, and coax her. But don't acknowledge her as your godparent. There's no need to bring up these relationships."
Old Lady Luo specifically called her here to talk about this. It was obvious that she had been thinking about it for a long time. Guo Xuyan nodded, "I understand."
The kitten was biting the feathers of the cat toy. The room was very quiet, with only the ticking sound of the clock gently tapping on the eardrum.
Old Mrs. Luo looked at Guo Xuyan. She held her hand and asked with a little heartache: "Did you encounter anything recently? Seeing you look so haggard, I feel heartbroken."
Guo Xuyan bit his lip and smiled, "I'm fine."
"I know you have a lot of things in your heart. You don't have to force yourself here with me."
Guo Xuyan still smiled, and as he smiled, he leaned lazily on the sofa, teasing the kitten with his fingers. He didn't know when, his tears could no longer be controlled and flowed out.
Old Mrs. Luo took a tissue and handed it to her silently. Guo Xuyan was sobbing, and neither the mother nor the daughter said anything.
After a long time, Guo Xuyan said, "Life is so tiring. Sometimes, I don't even know why I am alive."
"Who said it wasn't?" Old Mrs. Guo patted her gently. "But look at me. I lost my daughter and my son in old age. I'm still alive, aren't I? Look forward and don't look back. It's not a big deal."
Guo Xuyan took a moment to calm down, then sat up and said, "I'm sorry, godmother. I'm in such a bad state that I'm talking nonsense."
"You are like Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. You look free and easy, but you are actually worrying too much. It will be good for your health if you worry less, okay?" Old Mrs. Luo stood up and turned on the radio.
The two of them sat on the sofa, chatting idly, playing with the cat and listening to the radio.
The ginger plague of Xishan small yellow ginger slowly broke out as the leaves gradually turned yellow. When the news reached Song Rongji headquarters, no one seemed to realize the seriousness of the incident at first. After all, the off-season small yellow ginger purchased last time had not been used up, and there were still 40,000 to 50,000 kilograms of stock in the warehouse.
Moreover, there was a ginger plague last year, and the villages in Xishan Town adjusted their production in the first half of this year. They thought that some ginger fields in Xishan Town would be safe anyway.
It was not until the production department calculated the orders that had not been produced from September to December that it was found that at least 180,000 kilograms of turmeric were needed to cover production needs.
At the same time, news came from Xishan Town that the small yellow ginger was completely wiped out, and the relevant departments of Song Rongji were in a panic.
In the meeting room, everyone was discussing countermeasures. Ah Hua suggested: "How about we change the formula of Song Rongji ginger candy and use small yellow ginger produced in other regions instead of Xishan small yellow ginger?"
Mr. Liao is a veteran of the company. He has always disliked Ahua. The fact that he even suggested changing the formula shows how little he knows about Song Rong Ji!
However, Mr. Liao is old, but he is still smooth in his words: "Xishan small yellow ginger is completely different from small yellow ginger from other places. We have done countless experiments before, and only Xishan small yellow ginger can stimulate the fragrance of osmanthus. Changing small yellow ginger is equivalent to changing the soul. Everyone at Song Rongji Ginger Candy Factory knows that changing the formula is not feasible."
The head of the marketing department also said: "Our old customers only care about the taste, and the formula cannot be changed."
Ah Hua asked again: "What about the new overseas customer? Can we change the formula for his order? His order requires at least 100,000 kilograms of small yellow ginger. In fact, as long as we can deal with this overseas customer, we can find a way to solve the problem."
"When signing the contract, the overseas big customer specified that the raw material must be Xishan small yellow ginger. Moreover, if the delivery cannot be made on time, the customer must pay double the advance payment."
Song Tai asked, "How much did they pay in advance?"
"I paid a 20% deposit in advance, 10 million."
10 million deposit, not only do we have to pay 20 million, but this year's performance is still not up to standard, this is really...
In Mrs. Song’s first year in office, the performance was so poor that she felt like she couldn’t breathe smoothly.
Fortunately, there was no gambling this year, Song Tai thought, this was a blessing in disguise.
Manager Fu suggested, "I heard that Zhaohua has some inventory. Let's see if we can find a way to buy their inventory. In addition, I heard that their new vegetable base grows a lot of off-season Xishan small yellow ginger. According to estimates, it can be harvested in January next year. If we can buy this batch of ginger from Zhaohua and negotiate with major overseas customers to deliver it a month later, this problem can be solved."
Mrs. Song looked at Manager Fu, who was the most capable of the talents she had personally promoted. Mrs. Song nodded and said, "This method is feasible. You just have to put aside your old face and ask Zhao Hua and Ye Zhao for help."
As he spoke, Mrs. Song glanced at Ahua, who lowered his head and said nothing.
Mr. Liao: "Then let's split up. I'll go talk to the big customer about the extension, and Mrs. Song, you go talk to Zhaohua about buying small yellow ginger."
Mrs. Song nodded, sighed, and frowned, and gave enough money. She didn't believe that Zhaohua would not sell the small yellow ginger to Song Rongji. She still had this confidence.
(End of this chapter)