Ouyang Meihua sought out Tian Jing as soon as she returned.
Tian Jing asked her to taste the melons from the Wang and Niu families. If the taste was similar, she was to mix in a small amount.
Ouyang Meihua was surprised, "Doctoring the produce?"
Did she need to doctor it? She was being honest.
The watermelons from both families tasted too uniform. How could an entire patch of watermelon be uniformly sweet with such high quality? There had to be some imperfections to make it seem real.
"No, we lost a tenth of a yuan, we have to make it up elsewhere."
Ouyang Meihua didn't believe it, but her respected younger sibling, Tian, had told her to do it.
The Niu and Wang families had both planted two mu of watermelon. They had sold some for eight fen, and now being told they could sell it for nineteen fen, had shocked both families.
"Do our melons taste better?"
"Yes, we didn't taste them before, so we sold them for eight fen. That was a bit unfair to you."
"It's alright, it's alright."
They had expected to earn eight hundred yuan before, and now their earnings had doubled. What more could they ask for?
Ouyang Meihua warned them to keep their mouths shut about the price.
For over half a month, not only were the melons from the two families and the Niu and Wang families sent to the national highway.
Even Li Jianguo's twenty mu of watermelons, and the melons from the captain and the party secretary's families were sent to the national highway.
This was because the melon buyer said he could accept some melons with a worse taste for grading and selling.
With Tian's approval, the melons from the three families were bought out at thirteen fen a jin.
Ouyang Meihua counted the money and cursed Xiao Hu for making ill-gotten gains last year, earning just as much without breaking a sweat.
Tian Jing glanced at her, "Last year Xiao Hu didn't sell them retail in the provincial capital. He sold them in surrounding counties and cities. You know how much he earns, and he still has to support the subordinates you abandoned. It wasn't easy for him."
"Alright, alright, I won't scold him anymore. This year, we need to keep our income hidden."
Her family earned seventeen or eighteen thousand, and her sibling's family earned twenty-five or twenty-six thousand, and that was with only two hundred seedlings planted under an mu of apple trees.
Li Jianguo, with his newly opened land, though his watermelons were smaller, still earned about ten thousand. What kind of debt couldn't be paid off with that?
Tian Jing nodded, "Of course, just say it's similar to last year, let them guess. How much of a price difference did you make?"
Speaking of this, Ouyang Meihua was very happy, "I made five or six thousand yuan. No wonder so many people are willing to drive large trucks for long-distance transport. If they bring their own goods, they can earn a lot of money. Li Guo is happier earning this price difference than collecting the watermelon money."
"Do you want to drive long-distance?"
"I'm not going, it's too tiring. I'm not short of money. The large trucks are for the convenience of the team's self-sufficiency and sales, and to speed up sales of vegetables on two routes. I'm very busy."
"Since you're temporarily free, take Chen Suozhu with you."
"Okay, I'll take him out to see the world."
...
When the work on the hills wasn't busy, Li Zhengguo brought the laborers to the vegetable sheds, as they needed to change the seedlings.
Li Weikang worked alongside them, saw a lot, and learned a lot.
Although he couldn't calculate large sums, he calculated in increments of one hundred, but he still couldn't figure out exactly how much Li Zhengguo earned.
Because beyond one hundred, he couldn't count anymore. He knew Li Zhengguo had earned over a hundred hundreds, and that extra amount was immeasurable to him.
That night, as he lay in bed resting his tired waist, he couldn't help but recall his uncle's words.
He still couldn't understand what his father and grandfather had plotted.
Li Shengguo and Li Jianguo both earned a lot, and the entire production team was making money.
But his father could only wait in prison for a reduction in his sentence, and his grandfather had already passed away.
At this moment, after finishing the watermelon work on the hills, he was busy in the vegetable sheds. The sheds were filled with the fragrance of fruits, and the vines were laden with tightly packed fruits.
His family had once had the opportunity for this, but because of what his grandfather had done in the past, Li Zhengguo knew that his grandfather was not qualified to buy seedlings from Tian Jing...
"Weikang." Seeing Li Weikang staring blankly at the melon vines in mid-air, Li Zhengguo called out to him.
"Hmm?" Li Weikang turned his head.
"If you want to eat some, you can pick one or two to taste. These aren't as big as watermelons."
"You can eat them yourself, or take them back for Weiwei to eat. I said I'd cover your lunch, but you refused. Consider this compensation for lunch."
Li Weikang swallowed. He found such temptation hard to refuse. "Then, when we finish work, give me a few, and I'll take them back."
Li Zhengguo nodded with satisfaction. Li Weikang was deliberately avoiding taking them himself, and deliberately suppressing his own greedy nature. Good, at least his character was still upright.
"I'll give you some every noon."
"Okay."
At noon, Li Weikang received two cucumbers, four small tomatoes, and a head of cabbage.
He cupped them in the corner of his clothes and ran happily towards home. These didn't need cooking; he could just wash them and eat them with rice.
A few days later, Li Zhengguo noticed that Li Weikang's steps were a bit unsteady, and he lacked his usual strength when working.
"Weikang, are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine, maybe heatstroke. I don't really want to eat."
Li Zhengguo quickly reached out to support him, "Let's go see Doctor Yang."
"I'm not going!" Li Weikang tried to pull away, but couldn't.
Li Zhengguo knew this boy was worried about the cost. "If your heatstroke is due to working for me, then it's considered a work injury, and I'll cover the consultation and medication fees."
"Then I'm still not going!"
"No!"
Li Zhengguo stared at his sallow complexion and, without allowing him to struggle further, picked him up.
Gag...
Li Weikang was already feeling unwell, and being treated so roughly, he immediately vomited.
Li Zhengguo ignored the vomit on him and patted his back.
After he finished vomiting and caught his breath, he supported him by the arm. "Let's go see the doctor. If you collapse, what will happen to Weiwei?"
Li Weikang no longer resisted and let Li Zhengguo drag him to Doctor Yang's house.
Doctor Yang took his pulse, then turned to instruct his apprentice, "Yuan Man, bring a bowl of salt water."
A bowl of water was quickly placed before Li Weikang. "Drink this first."
Li Weikang gulped it down. "Hey? My stomach feels much better."
Li Zhengguo asked Doctor Yang, "Does he have heatstroke?"
"No."
Doctor Yang shook his head and looked at the boy in front of him, who had become darker and thinner compared to before. "How many days has it been since you've eaten salt?"
"Salt? I haven't cooked anything for a few days."
Hearing how Li Weikang had managed his three meals, even Doctor Yang sighed. "Silly boy, you can't go without salt. I understand you don't want to cook, but you still have to exert yourself working."
"The sweat you lose also contains salt. If you don't eat salt, it's a miracle you haven't fainted. It's all thanks to your Uncle Zhengguo's attentiveness and kindness."
Li Weikang corrected Doctor Yang, "He's not my uncle."
"Well, even if he's not. Your body needs to rest for two days. Go back and rest, and cook properly."
"Thank you, Doctor Yang." Li Weikang lifted his leg and ran out of Doctor Yang's house.
Doctor Yang sighed, "You sent his father to prison, and now you're taking care of him. It's no wonder he doesn't appreciate you."
"I didn't plan to get along peacefully with him. Since he's not taking any medicine, I'll be going."
"Wait, what about the consultation fee?"
"How much is it?"
"Five yuan."
"Are you robbing me?"
"Yes, in Kushan, you are the richest."
"You just want to build a new house, don't you? I'll buy you the materials."
Doctor Yang stroked his newly grown beard, his face creased with a smile. "Then thank you very much."