After leaving the antique shop, Fang Jinzhu tightly held Shu Shu, pretending as if nothing had happened as they walked out of the market and into the parking lot.
She got into the car, closed the door, and fastened her seatbelt.
Only then did she take out her phone again.
[Postal Savings Bank: On September 13, 2023, at 14:58, Ling Qi’s account *5268 transferred 2,000,000.00 yuan to your account ending in 354. Balance: 2,000,563.25 yuan.]
It was real!
Fang Jinzhu burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. Then she leaned over the steering wheel and sobbed.
Her thin shoulders trembled as sorrow and joy mingled and flowed freely.
All the emotions that had built up over these days were now pouring out in a cathartic release.
Seeing her cry so heart-wrenchingly, Shu Shu in the back seat grew anxious and flustered. “Sister…”
The little one quickly stood up, leaning her small body through the gap between the driver’s and passenger’s seats toward the front. Her tiny hand reached out and rested on Fang Jinzhu’s shoulder, patting gently to comfort her. “Sister, don’t cry, okay? Shu Shu is here…”
The soft voice and the slightly warm little palm gently enveloped Fang Jinzhu’s chaotic emotions, and as the child patted rhythmically, Fang Jinzhu gradually calmed down.
Fang Jinzhu looked up, carefully wiping away her tears in the rearview mirror. Then she turned around, reaching her arms through the gap to hug Shu Shu tightly. “Shu Shu, from now on, you’ll never have to go hungry again…”
“Sister will work hard to make sure everyone in Northern Liao has enough to eat!”
Shu Shu’s short little arms struggled to hug Fang Jinzhu back, her big eyes sparkling with a glimmer of light. “Really?”
“Yes, really!”
“Sister is so amazing! Even more amazing than Uncle!”
Fang Jinzhu smiled brightly, started the Wuling mini-truck, and said, “Let’s go, Shu Shu! We have big things to do!”
……
After hastily buying a roadside steamed bun to fill their stomachs, Fang Jinzhu drove Shu Shu to an agricultural machinery rental company.
Although two million yuan had arrived in her account, she still needed to manage her resources wisely. The rental company provided harvesters and drivers, making it professional, convenient, and cost-effective.
Harvesting one acre of land cost eighty yuan. When the rental company owner heard that Fang Jinzhu needed to harvest five hundred acres of farmland, he grinned from ear to ear.
Business owners have a long-term vision. To win over a big client, he didn’t wait for Fang Jinzhu to bargain and generously lowered the price to seventy yuan per acre.
To avoid wasting time traveling back and forth, Fang Jinzhu also asked the owner to help arrange heavy-duty trucks and loading workers.
After the grain was harvested, threshed, and bagged, it needed to be transported into the city for hulling and then brought back to the Farm.
A five-ton truck cost eight hundred yuan per trip, and loading and unloading labor fees were calculated per person at one hundred and fifty yuan each.
Fang Jinzhu didn’t bother calculating how much the owner would earn as a middleman. She paid the deposit, provided the Farm address, and gave only one instruction.
The faster, the better!!
After leaving the agricultural machinery rental company, Fang Jinzhu drove to the largest grain and oil wholesale factory in An City.
With fifty thousand soldiers and civilians in Northern Liao starving, the five hundred acres of grain from the Farm were merely a drop in the bucket. She needed to scout the market for future preparations and, if the price was right, purchase additional supplies to stock up.
The prices of rice and flour varied widely.
The cheapest wholesale price for new-season rice was ninety-five yuan per bag, with each bag weighing fifty jin.
White flour was slightly cheaper but still cost eighty-five yuan per bag.
For ordinary daily life, this wouldn’t be considered expensive.
But considering that the soldiers and civilians of Northern Liao are currently struggling to even have enough to eat, this supply isn’t something that can be stopped in just a day or two. It needs to be provided long-term, until Northern Liao finds a sustainable way to make a living.
So every penny must be spent wisely.
Fang Jinzhu asked, “Boss, do you have broken rice or last year’s old rice and flour? I have a wide range of uses and need to consider costs.”
Apart from slightly inferior appearance and texture, old rice and flour have almost the same nutritional value—once eaten, they’re essentially the same. Besides, the soldiers and civilians of Northern Liao have already resorted to eating tree bark and yellow mud, so old rice and flour would already be a rare treat for them.
Seeing that Fang Jinzhu sounded like a big customer, the wholesale factory owner took her directly to the warehouse. “Miss, if you take all 30,000 jin, I’ll sell it to you at a loss for 0.8 yuan per jin.”
“Can I open them to take a look?”
Fang Jinzhu didn’t respond directly but instead asked.
Although the appearance and texture of the grain sent to Northern Liao didn’t need to be too particular, quality and safety had to be guaranteed.
Without hesitation, the owner opened one bag each of the rice and flour that Fang Jinzhu pointed to.
Fang Jinzhu took a small pinch of each, carefully chewing and tasting them.
“0.6 yuan, I’ll take as much as you have, pay in cash, and have it delivered to the Lifang Family Farm. How about it?”
After finding no issues, Fang Jinzhu stood up and looked sharply at the owner.
The owner trembled with excitement and suddenly understood.
So it’s for feeding livestock at the farm! That makes sense!
But livestock feed is usually mixed with hormone-laden rough bran. Why would this girl use broken rice and old flour for feeding?
Isn’t that too extravagant?
But that wasn’t his concern. What he should care about was his own business.
“Miss, if you’re not in a hurry, I’m familiar with several grain and oil wholesale factories in the surrounding cities. The total amount of grain of this quality is probably around 200,000 jin. If you can take it all at once, I’ll make the decision to give it to you for 0.6 yuan!”
“Deal!”
Fang Jinzhu agreed decisively. “I don’t care about the source of the grain, but it must be guaranteed to be of the same quality as what you just showed me. If the goods don’t match, I’ll hold you solely responsible. Is that okay?”
“No problem, no problem, Miss, don’t worry. It’s all grain from last season. Even if you didn’t want it today, we’d still have to sell it at a loss through e-commerce channels, which are aimed at the general public. We wouldn’t dare compromise on quality.”
“Good. As long as you guarantee the quality, I’ll need more later!”
“Miss, don’t worry, I’ll take full responsibility for the quality… Miss, your farm must be quite large, right?”
“Well, I just took over recently and plan to expand…”
“Tsk tsk, young and accomplished, Miss!”
“My family provided the funds for me to gain experience. I’m not just focusing on the farm—I plan to build an entire industry chain, so the demand later will be huge…”
To avoid raising suspicion with large purchases in the future, Fang Jinzhu briefly presented herself as a rich second-generation heir trying to make a name for herself.
She had considered the convenience of online shopping, but purchasing such large quantities online would be tracked by big data. Who knows if she might have bad luck and attract the attention of internet police, questioning her intentions?
Although it’s nothing illegal, such large quantities still require a reasonable explanation.
Physical purchases might only prompt a couple of questions from the owner, which can easily be brushed off, making the risk relatively lower.
Hearing this, the boss felt reassured and naturally showered her with flattery, “You have a discerning eye, miss. Your future is bound to be limitless! Let’s exchange WeChat and phone numbers, miss. If you ever need anything in the future, remember to contact me. You can trust the price and quality!”
“Alright…”
……
After leaving the grain and oil wholesale factory, Fang Jinzhu let out a slight sigh of relief and began focusing on the next task.
The fact that the Farm could connect to ancient times absolutely must not be revealed.
This meant that all the grain from the five hundred acres of land had to be transported by her and the two little ones.