Chapter Forty: All Unloaded

"Millet?"

"That's right!"

Xu Fei shared his idea of buying up the millet.

Zhang Liang was a bit incredulous after hearing it.

"Can this stuff really make money?"

"Of course it can."

Zhang Liang still looked confused.

"Come on, brother, since when did you not believe your Brother Xu?" An Laosan laughed, patting Zhang Liang on the shoulder.

"But in our village, every household relies on this millet to get by. No one has ever thought of selling it outside."

Xu Fei smiled, "I'll help you sell it. Xiao Zhang, you just need to help me collect it."

"Really?"

Xu Fei nodded emphatically.

"Brother Xu, how much are you planning to pay?"

Xu Fei held up two fingers.

"Twenty cents?!"

Zhang Liang was stunned at the price.

"That high?"

"Yes."

Zhang Liang asked worriedly, "Brother Xu, if you buy at such a high price, can you still make a profit?"

"I can."

Xu Fei told him how much he needed.

Xiao Zhang glanced at the millet in his house, jumped down from the kang, and said, "Brother Xu, my family's got about two thousand jin, inside and out."

"Great, I'll take it all."

"What!?"

"What's wrong, can't bear to part with it?"

Zhang Liang quickly shook his head.

"No, no, it's fine."

"Alright, after we eat, let's load it up."

Zhang Liang sat back on the kang.

"Brother Xu, you want so much—can you really sell it all?"

"Don't worry, it's not a problem." Xu Fei smiled, raising his wine bowl. "Come on, Uncle, let's have a drink together."

Zhang Liang's father looked at Xu Fei and said, "You're the benefactor of our Zhang family... I..."

He kept bowing to Xu Fei.

Xu Fei hurriedly helped the old man up. "Uncle, what are you doing? Zhang Liang and I are friends. I'm buying our family's grain, which helps him and also myself. There's no need to thank me."

Zhang Liang's father wiped away tears.

Xu Fei turned to Zhang Liang. "Can you collect another eight thousand jin?"

He had brought a thousand yuan this time, six hundred of which belonged to Zhang Mingyang and the other two.

When he said the amount—

Not just Zhang Liang, but even his father and An Laosan were stunned.

"Ten thousand jin?!"

"Xu Fei, you want to buy that much?"

Xu Fei smiled and nodded.

He took a bite of food and another sip of wine. "This wine is quite good. It's our local brew, isn't it?"

Looking at Xu Fei's calm demeanor, even An Laosan's gaze had changed.

"What are you looking at? Come on, Third Brother, let's eat and drink our fill. We still have work to do later."

"Alright!"

An Laosan and Zhang Liang both raised their bowls.

...

Five tons of millet.

The whole village where Xiao Zhang lived was in an uproar.

These country folks had never seen anything like it. Even when the village sent grain to the commune in the past, it was never this much.

One household after another followed Zhang Liang, bringing all their surplus grain to An Laosan's truck at the village entrance.

By around noon, Xu Fei's one thousand yuan was all spent.

The truck was piled high with sacks of grain.

This commotion even brought the village chief over.

The chief was a man in his forties, shrewd and worldly, but even he nodded repeatedly in Xu Fei's presence.

"Xiao Xu, if you need more, I can arrange with the commune. Just say the word, and you can have as much as you want."

Xu Fei nodded. "Chief Zhang, I'll see how sales go. If things go well, I should be back in about half a month. Then I'll have Xiao Zhang come find you."

Most people in this village were Zhang Liang's relatives. The village chief was, in fact, an uncle to Zhang Liang. He glanced at Xiao Zhang and, satisfied, patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, just have him find me."

Before leaving, Xu Fei pulled Xiao Zhang aside.

"There's thirty left on the stove at home, nothing else—buy something tasty for the kids and your father."

"Brother!"

"Say no more, there's no need for formalities between us." Xu Fei patted Xiao Zhang on the shoulder.

He climbed into the truck and waved to the villagers still lingering by the roadside.

The look in their eyes was as if a savior had descended. Even as the Liberation truck drove far away, the villagers still hadn't left.

An Laosan glanced in the rearview mirror. "Xu Fei, your Third Brother has seen a bit of the world, but you really impressed me today."

Xu Fei chuckled, "Third Brother, no need to say that."

"I'm serious," An Laosan said, turning with a look of sincerity.

Xu Fei smiled faintly.

Before dusk, the truck arrived at Director Shen's provisions shop.

At the back door of the shop, Xu Fei went inside.

As previously arranged with Director Shen, the shop's warehouse keeper was waiting there.

"What took you so long?"

The keeper, surnamed Bao, was a short man with a shrewd look.

Xu Fei approached with a smile and handed over a pack of Honghe cigarettes.

Director Shen had told him to do this.

Bao's expression softened a bit.

"Be earlier next time."

"Sure, sure."

Xu Fei grinned, motioning to An Laosan outside, and the Liberation truck drove in.

Bao turned to unlock the warehouse door.

"Unload here, stack it neatly, don't dump the sacks."

With that, he took out the Honghe cigarettes, stuck one in his mouth, and went off to smoke and drink tea.

An Laosan parked the truck.

"That guy isn't even going to help?"

Xu Fei shook his head with a smile. "We're the ones asking for a favor here, better do it ourselves."

He opened the truck’s side panels.

An Laosan worked from atop the truck, Xu Fei from below. Each sack weighed a hundred jin—half as much as the two-hundred-jin bundles Xu Fei was used to carrying in the workshop.

For him, it was a breeze.

In half an hour, the five tons were unloaded.

Xu Fei jogged over to Bao.

"Brother, we've finished unloading. Could you come take a look?"

"Alright," Bao replied, getting up with an impatient sideways glance at Xu Fei. "I haven't even eaten yet. Next time, make sure to come earlier, understand?"

Xu Fei nodded repeatedly.

Watching from the side, An Laosan slammed the side panels shut, glaring fiercely at Bao.

Bao entered the warehouse, gave it a once-over, and frowned. "What's this? Why so crooked? If we need to store other things, how are we supposed to fit them?"

Xu Fei hurried over and straightened the perfectly stacked sacks a bit.

"Alright, next time, make sure to come earlier. Otherwise, I won't wait for you."

Xu Fei followed Bao out of the warehouse, took two yuan—the last of his money—from his pocket, and handed it over.

"Brother, please take this and buy yourself something to eat."

Bao was surprised to see the two yuan. Cigarettes and now money—this was a first for him.

He couldn't help but look at Xu Fei with new respect.

After all, Director Shen had spoken for him.

"Alright, brother, next time you don't even need to tell Director Shen. I'll wait for you."

His attitude had changed completely.

Xu Fei was taken aback by how quickly the man could change his face.