Chapter 296 - 294: Got Rich

Chapter 296: Chapter 294: Got Rich

"Ming Yue, can you help me? Please? It’ll be so much faster if we pack together." Weng Liwen snapped out of it, shrinking back fearfully and looking pitifully at Li Mingyue, trying to win her over.

"Not a chance. My uncle is definitely waiting at the gate for me and my cousin right now. If I don’t go out soon, they’ll get impatient and just drive off. Are you going to ask your dad to find a car to take me home? Or do you expect me to walk back myself?"

Completely unmoved, Li Mingyue slung her luggage over her shoulder and left. She huffed to herself, ’So now she’s in a hurry? What was she doing before?’ Everyone had started packing early to go home today. Even if they hadn’t started ahead of time, they’d gotten most of it done last night. But for some reason, that Weng Liwen had to be different. While everyone else was packing last night, she was hugging a romance novel, giggling as she read. I even kindly reminded her back then, but she acted completely annoyed.

’Hmph. So *now* she knows how to panic?’

With Li Mingyue gone too, Weng Liwen looked at the empty dorm room and finally burst out crying with a WAH. As she cried, she cursed everyone else, especially Lin Qiao and Gu Nuan Nuan. She loathed them to her very core. She found a bag and haphazardly shoved all her things into it, then hastily rolled up her comforter and barely managed to stuff it into the closet. There was nothing to be done about the mattress pad and sleeping mat, so she just rolled them up and left them piled on the bed frame.

Carrying her bag, she was the last to leave the dormitory, looking quite pathetic. When she saw the impatient scowl on the old dorm supervisor’s face at the entrance, Weng Liwen started muttering and blaming Lin Qiao and Gu Nuan Nuan as she walked toward home. In her mind, if Gu Nuan Nuan hadn’t been in such a hurry to leave, Lin Qiao might have stayed behind to help her pack.

’Neither of them are any good. Hmph, just you wait. If I get the chance, I’ll make them pay...’

Of course, Gu Nuan Nuan and Lin Qiao had no idea about Weng Liwen’s curses. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have taken it to heart; at most, they would have laughed it off and paid it no mind. In this world, inexplicable resentment and people trying to trip you up for no reason were all too common. Sometimes the reasons were laughably petty—it could be as simple as someone taking a dislike to an inconspicuous accessory you were wearing...

"Are you guys going back to your hometown for the New Year?" After getting on the bus, the two sat in the back, and Lin Qiao leaned over to ask Gu Nuan Nuan quietly. "When are you guys heading back? My parents specifically told me to ask. They said the chickens and ducks they raised this year are excellent, and sales have been fantastic. Since the New Year is almost here, they even raised some extra beforehand to prepare for the holiday rush. They want to pick a few of the fattest ones before the New Year, slaughter and clean them, and send them over to you. Anyway, your family has a fridge, so you can store them."

"We are. My grandpa, grandma, and I will go back a couple of days early, around the 25th or 26th of the lunar month, to tidy up the house. As for my parents, my uncle, and my aunt, they won’t leave until the 29th or 30th. After all, the company doesn’t go on break until then, and year-end is the busiest time for events. There are a ton of year-end dinners for the main company and the subsidiaries, and they have to make an appearance at all of them."

Gu Nuan Nuan smiled. "If you’re coming, come before the 25th. But please, don’t let your parents slaughter and prepare the chickens and ducks beforehand. If you’re going to send them, just bring them over live. And don’t bring too many; two or three will be enough. We’ll take them directly to our hometown to slaughter and eat them fresh. The people in my family, whether it’s my grandpa or my uncle, can all handle preparing them. If you kill the chickens and ducks ahead of time and freeze them, the taste changes completely. Wouldn’t that be a total waste of your family’s amazing poultry?"

"Ah, that’s right! I forgot you’re taking them back to your hometown for the New Year. Of course you’d take the chickens and ducks with you. Who would eat them if they were left in the fridge at home? I almost messed things up. But I really thought things taken out of the freezer tasted the same as when they’re freshly prepared," Lin Qiao said, laughing as she playfully smacked her forehead.

"How could they be the same? The taste is worlds apart," Gu Nuan Nuan laughed. "Tell your parents not to bring too many. When we go back to our hometown, besides the New Year’s Eve dinner, we probably won’t have many chances to eat at home. If you bring too many, we won’t be able to finish them."

"Okay, I get it. I’ll pass it on. But you know what my parents are like; they might not listen to me on this," Lin Qiao said with a grin. "Even if they bring too many, it’s fine. Worst case, you can just take them to your hometown and give them away as gifts."

"This is the best time to sell chickens and ducks, and the prices are high. Why do that? You’re already constantly supplying our family with chickens, ducks, and their eggs. My grandma nags every time that you send way too much and we can’t possibly finish it all," Gu Nuan Nuan said, shaking her head in resignation.

"I can’t do anything about that. If I actually dared to tell my parents to send less, they’d roll their eyes at me. Our family’s livelihood is completely thanks to yours now. First, you gave us the idea and even lent us the startup capital. Then, your family found someone to teach us how to cultivate bamboo fungus and mushrooms. After that, once the chickens and ducks were grown, the orders from your company’s cafeteria came rolling in..."

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh as she spoke. "And that’s not all! Your grandpa and grandma helped us open up a sales channel in your neighborhood. Now, we’ve basically cornered the market for your whole residential complex. Most of the families have us make scheduled deliveries of chickens, ducks, and eggs every month. And when they found out we also have bamboo shoots, bamboo fungus, and mushrooms, they started ordering some of those too. My parents are grinning from ear to ear all day now. We have no trouble selling the poultry; our only worry is that our place is too small and we’re short-staffed. We even had to hire two people to help out a while ago."

She was overjoyed just thinking about her family’s financial situation this year. She leaned close to Gu Nuan Nuan’s ear and whispered with a smile, "My parents told me the other day that before the New Year, our family will be able to pay off all our debts and still have some savings left over."

"That’s wonderful news." Gu Nuan Nuan was also very happy for Lin Qiao’s family.

"Mhm, my mom and dad said this is all thanks to you and your family. So from now on, as long as our family is raising chickens and ducks, we’ll supply all the poultry, eggs, bamboo shoots, bamboo fungus, mushrooms—anything we have, it’s on us." Lin Qiao smiled so broadly her eyes narrowed into slits. "But even after we’ve paid back all the money we owe your family, we’ll still need you to help us keep it a secret."

She sighed and explained, "Sigh... ever since my parents started making money, my maternal grandmother has been hinting around, trying to find out how much we’re earning. She’s even thinking that if we’re profitable, the money she lent us should be treated as shares, as if she were a partner in our poultry business."