The Green Oxygen Fruit and Vegetable Supermarket business was booming, and the planting base in Kushan required time and manpower. Each man brought another person from home to help.
The supermarket's supply of fruits and vegetables couldn't keep up, yet instead of being criticized by customers, they were understood. Customers believed that such delicious produce must be pure, natural, green food without any chemical additives. Good things were worth waiting for.
As winter arrived, everything entered a state of rest, but the planting base was still busy. This was because the Spring Festival period was a peak time for families to purchase large quantities of ingredients for their dining tables.
Li Wanzhen's breeding farm’s chickens and rabbits were ready to be sold, but relying solely on her mother and people within the Kyoto circle was not enough for sales. Three hundred of the five hundred greenhouses were converted, leaving two hundred to grow large cabbages and carrots specifically for feeding the chickens and rabbits. The seeds for these vegetables were provided by her mother-in-law, and the chickens and rabbits particularly loved the produce. Their fondness for the food led to faster growth and more egg production, causing her to shift from worrying about the animals' growth to worrying about the sales of the chickens, rabbits, and wild eggs.
Ouyang Meihua placed her hands on her daughter-in-law's sides. "Grandma, can you stop pacing back and forth? Are those chickens and rabbits more important than my grandchild?"
That's right, Li Wanzhen was pregnant. She discovered her pregnancy only after the breeding farm officially opened. If she had found out earlier, or if the farm had opened later, Ouyang Meihua would not have allowed her daughter-in-law to start a breeding farm. Now, she was worrying about sales again. "Go ask your younger aunt."
"Right!" Li Wanzhen smacked her forehead and turned to walk out. Ouyang Meihua hurried after her.
Tian Jing watched the anxious Ouyang Meihua. "You're asking me about this too? When you started the breeding farm, didn't you consider sales?"
Li Wanzhen said sheepishly, "My mother's thinking was too simple. The purchasing power of people in the Kyoto circle isn't that strong, and she's too embarrassed to personally go out and promote them."
Tian Jing looked at Li Wanzhen in surprise. "So, the result of your and your mother's discussion was to make the breeding farm this large?"
Li Wanzhen lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers. "Our ambitions were too grand."
Ouyang Meihua glanced at her sister-in-law. "Alright, Wanzhen is about to give birth. She's been personally involved with the breeding farm and has put in a lot of effort. She's been very dedicated."
Tian Jing rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Protecting her own so completely was quite something. "Go find Wei Xiaoyong. Have his fruit and vegetable supermarket sell them on consignment."
"Right!" Ouyang Meihua clapped her hands. "Let's ask Xiaoyong for help. I heard their fruit and vegetable supermarket is doing very well."
Hearing this, Li Wanzhen turned to leave again. Ouyang Meihua also prepared to follow. Tian Jing held her forehead. "Eldest sister-in-law, Wanzhen, call Wei Xiaoyong instead."
"But..." Li Wanzhen hesitated. "When we ask someone for help, shouldn't we go in person?"
"Call him," Ouyang Meihua helped her daughter-in-law sit down. "Xiaoyong won't mind these things. Tiantian, what's Xiaoyong's phone number?"
Tian Jing felt that with her eldest sister-in-law's tendency to experience pregnancy brain alongside her daughter-in-law, she wouldn't be able to remember a phone number for long. Out of kindness, she directly dialed Xiaoyong and asked him to come to the courtyard house to discuss something.
Wei Xiaoyong arrived quickly. Upon hearing about selling wild chickens, wild rabbits, and wild eggs on consignment, he appeared troubled. "Captain Tian, the supermarket is designated as a fruit and vegetable supermarket. Consigning wild eggs is fine, but live animals like wild chickens and rabbits are not."
Tian Jing asked, "What about after they are slaughtered?"
Wei Xiaoyong shook his head. "They would need to be sent to the slaughterhouse for inspection before they can be sold."
Tian Jing pondered. "Eldest sister-in-law, have your eldest brother take some wild chickens and rabbits to the slaughterhouse leaders and see if they are willing to purchase and slaughter them for sale. During the Spring Festival, there's a large market for all sorts of food."
"Okay," Ouyang Meihua stood up. "I knew you'd have a solution."
Wei Xiaoyong also stood up. "Aunt Ouyang, the wild eggs can be sold in the supermarket. They can be transported out with the vegetables on a regular basis."
Ouyang Meihua nodded. "Alright, I'll arrange that first, and then I'll discuss the wild egg matter with you." The two of them left the courtyard house while talking.
Li Wanzhen sheepishly fiddled with her fingers. "I've caused trouble for my parents."
"Don't overthink it," Tian Jing comforted her. "Since you've arrived, you've worked hard to integrate into Kushan. You haven't been fussy during your pregnancy, and your parents are very happy."
"Exactly," Mother Li entered, holding the running Xuanxuan. "You've done very well. We'll all think of ways to solve the sales problem together."
Ouyang Meihua returned soon after. "Wanzhen, your father has already driven to the county town. Xiaoyong also asked your father to go to the paper mill to customize cardboard boxes and egg cartons. Once the packaging is in place, the eggs can be sold. He also said that the pickled wild eggs can be portioned into small jars for sale in the supermarket. I didn't dare to decide and came back to ask you."
"Mom~" Looking at her mother-in-law's sweaty face, Li Wanzhen's tears fell. "I'm sorry, thank you to you and Dad."
"Silly girl," Ouyang Meihua grabbed a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to her. "We're family, why thank each other?" "Are you under a lot of pressure lately? Don't worry. If they don't sell, we'll take them to Kyoto and have Lili give them to the employees as benefits." Thinking of Jingyuan Company's employees being forced by the boss to accept benefits, each holding a chicken and a rabbit, Li Wanzhen couldn't help but chuckle. "Mom, I'm just a bit emotionally unstable. I'm fine."
"It's good that you're fine," Ouyang Meihua was relieved. "The breeding farm is just a small matter. We don't lack money, so don't worry too much about it. No one can get fat overnight."
"Mmm," Li Wanzhen nodded vigorously. The mother and daughter-in-law stayed for lunch before leaving.
Tian Jing's internal network phone rang. As soon as she answered, she heard Li Weiyan complaining, "Little aunt, quickly approve my leave." "Isn't Wanzhen about to give birth? I haven't gone back to see her even once." So, while Tian Jing was approving Li Weiyan's leave with the special training team, she also went to the maze to prepare a batch of antidote.
Zeng Jingrong complained about Captain Tian abusing her power. "Didn't you say that leave is not allowed without important matters?" Tian Jing retorted, "Isn't maternity leave important? You wouldn't be so heartless as to not allow maternity leave, would you?" Zeng Jingrong gritted his teeth. "When did maternity leave become relevant to men?" "Now," Tian Jing didn't care about his annoyance. "List maternity leave under regular leave." Zeng Jingrong was almost amused to death. "What if these young men take maternity leave every few days? After all, I don't see their wives' bellies."
Tian Jing smiled. "Then, based on the time, we can calculate if they are bigamous or have had too many children." Zeng Jingrong sighed. It was too difficult to be her captain. Tian Jing brought Ji Qing and Ji Xiang down the mountain for the New Year. Ji Qing hadn't been with his family for over half a year.
...
When Li Weiyan returned from his paternity leave, he saw his wife still busy in the breeding farm with her pregnant belly and tenderly blamed her for not taking care of herself. With her husband back, Li Wanzhen's anxiety disappeared.
A few days later, people from the slaughterhouse, accompanied by personnel from the Animal Disease Control Center, came to inspect the breeding farm. This was because the slaughterhouse staff had tasted the wild chickens and rabbits and determined they had significant market value. However, they were still concerned about the disease status of the wild game, so they brought the Animal Disease Control Center personnel with them. In fact, the Animal Disease Control Center personnel were already reassured upon hearing that the inspection was at a breeding farm in Kushan, as all breeding farms in Kushan had been vaccinated and fitted with leg bands. The slaughterhouse remained uneasy, as past vaccinations did not guarantee recent immunity, and large-scale sales for the Spring Festival market required extreme caution.
After personally inspecting the breeding farm, the slaughterhouse was satisfied. The farm was very clean, and the number of animals in each shed was only 500, providing ample space. The activity and living areas were also clearly demarcated. The Animal Disease Control Center randomly sampled animals from each shed and found them all to be healthy. The slaughterhouse placed an order for all the chickens and rabbits ready for sale, totaling 120,000. They also indicated that if the sales during the Spring Festival market were good, they would place an order with the breeding farm for the following year's Spring Festival.
Li Wanzhen leaned into her husband's embrace. "I've succeeded, haven't I?"
"Yes," Li Weiyan put one arm around his wife and the other hand on her belly, stroking it. "The little one will be able to help feed the chickens with you next year."
"Nonsense," Li Wanzhen lightly hit her husband. "Our child won't do these things."
"Then what will he do?"
"He'll learn martial arts from you or get a university degree like his uncle."
"Okay, okay. We'll follow the baby's mother's plan."