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Chapter 664: Chapter 654 The Arrivals Come in Waves
While she was cooking, the door to Shen Yunfang’s home had already been knocked four times, all by people asking if they could also come work with her the next day.
Shen Yunfang turned no one away. After all, her place operated on the principle of distribution according to work, and anyone trying to shirk wouldn’t make a dime, so she accepted as many people as came to her.
Meanwhile, the word spread by those who visited was that Captain Li’s family lived well. Out of season they were cooking meat, and oh, the aroma that wafted out was enough to make people drool.
Of course, Yunfang wasn’t aware of this yet. She used the biggest iron pot in the house to stew a pot full of lamb ribs, and after they were done, she took two-thirds of them and put them directly into the space, leaving one-third in the pot with a few potatoes. She then turned the heat down to simmer and continued to stew them slowly.
When Hongjun came home around six o’clock, the lamb ribs stewed with potatoes were already out of the pot.
"Hurry and wash your hands, we’re eating," Yunfang said, beginning to carry the dishes out as soon as she saw him enter.
Pangpang and Manman also ran out, one grabbing slippers to flatter their dad, and the other trying to please their mom by helping to bring out the rice bowls.
Comrade Li Hongjun enjoyed being pampered by his daughter; after washing his hands, he lifted her up and headed to the dining table, "Ah, today’s meal is pretty good, my girl, your mom is in a good mood, we are in for a treat again."
"It’s all thanks to your kids; this was your daughter’s choice," Yunfang didn’t take the credit and pointed to the lamb ribs, "and this was your son’s choice," she added, pointing to the cucumber mixed with pig’s head meat.
"My girl is always thoughtful," Hongjun said and planted a kiss on his daughter’s cheek.
Manman giggled happily.
Pangpang watched the two across from him and declared with disdain, "Childish." He had picked up quite a lot from his classmates.
Yunfang couldn’t stand his little airs and, taking a leaf from Hongjun’s book, pulled her son into her embrace and planted a kiss on his cheek, "My son is thoughtful too."
Trying to keep a serious face while wanting to laugh, Pangpang amused his parents so much they laughed out loud. Ah, their own child was truly adorable.
After some family interactions, they began their pleasant dinner.
They weren’t some grand family following the custom of silence during meals and bedtime, so Yunfang liked to chat with the kids about their day at school while eating, learning more about their academic life.
Manman, with her little mouth, told her mother all about the significant and trivial happenings in her class, not even sparing the details of who had wet their pants during lessons.
Hongjun and his wife listened with joy, occasionally asking questions to encourage their daughter to expound on the details.
Seeing them like this, Pangpang lowered his head and muttered, "Childish."
After the two little ones finished their meal and ran outside to play with their friends, it was then the couple’s turn to chat.
Yunfang then shared the events of the afternoon with Hongjun.
Hongjun nodded, "That’s how it should be. You must establish rules from the very first trial; that way, it’ll be easier to manage later on. We are hiring the military wives to work, out of consideration for them, but they mustn’t develop any sense of entitlement, or we’ll end up at a loss."
"Yeah, Zhang Chunwang was pretty intimidating; just this once, and I think the team will be easier to manage in the future. And before you came back, there were already four groups that came by to say they wanted to work tomorrow. I agreed to all of them, and I expect more might come looking," Yunfang said as she began clearing the table.
"Definitely, they began to hesitate, but once they saw others getting paid, of course, they couldn’t hesitate anymore. Besides, the wages you’re offering aren’t low at all. Sitting at home brings in no money, so any woman who knows how to manage a household must now be wanting to earn some extra cash at your place." Li Hongjun helped his wife clean up the table together.
"Oh, by the way, Old Ma called today looking for you. He told you not to go out tonight because he’ll call at seven."
"All right, then I’ll just stay in tonight. It’s a good opportunity to wait and see who else wants to go tomorrow. I’ll give Chunwang a call later this evening, so he can arrange to send a car to pick them up." Shen Yunfang figured that Ma Liguo was probably getting in touch with her because there was another house available in the Capital.
At that moment, there was another knock at the door.
"Alright, I’ll finish up here; you go answer the door." Li Hongjun promptly took the bowl and chopsticks from his wife’s hands and told her to go greet their visitor.
Shen Yunfang straightened up her clothes and opened the door with a smile. Sure enough, it was another military spouse, with the same purpose as the previous visitors. Her answer remained the same: anyone was welcome to work as long as they weren’t late tomorrow morning. However, how much they could earn would depend on individual capability.
No sooner had she seen the visitor out than the phone at home started to ring.
Shen Yunfang hurriedly sat down on the sofa to answer the call. As expected, it was Ma Liguo calling.
After exchanging pleasantries, they got straight to the point.
"Yunfang, this year I’m planning to get two railcar loads of sea fish. Are you still interested?" Ma Liguo had tasted success last year and, inspired by Shen Yunfang’s big move in buying a house, decided to make the most of his connections while he still had them and really buckle down these next two years. He was set on buying a courtyard house next to Li Hongjun’s so they could be neighbors in the future.
Only then did Shen Yunfang remember, amidst all the busyness, she had forgotten about the time of year. At this time last year, they had already started preparations in the Capital.
"Have you got in touch with them over there? How much fish can you get through?" Shen Yunfang’s mind started to spin with thoughts.
"I’ve contacted them. I haven’t let up all year, you see. I’m thinking we need a rough estimate to let them start preparing on their end."
Shen Yunfang thought about the greenhouses full of vegetables she was currently pushing out to market. After all, whether it was herding one sheep or two, she had to find buyers. If she could get some sea fish as well, there probably wouldn’t be a problem.
Having made up her mind, she said, "Okay, I’ve got some connections on my side too. Help me get in touch with them over there. If it’s possible, ship four railcar loads of seafood to me, like we did last year. Focus on sea fish, and for the rest, just pair up whatever comes."
"Wow, looks like you’ve got quite the pipeline. I thought two railcar loads would be plenty, but it seems I don’t have quite the guts you do," Ma Liguo teased.
"Haha, the bold thrive and the timid starve. As you’ve said, we don’t know how long we can maintain the connection over there, so while there’s a chance, why not bring over more? Z Province is so big, not just four railcar loads—I could handle forty, and still have buyers for all," bragged Shen Yunfang confidently. She knew as long as one wasn’t afraid of hard work, there was always demand at this time of year.
"That’s it, I can’t chat with you any longer. You always manage to lead me astray. Now how am I supposed to be content with just two carloads?" Ma Liguo said, a hint of resignation in his voice.
"Hehe, don’t put all the blame on me. I’m not carrying the can for you."
"Alright then, let’s both go for four carloads. I’ll get in touch with them right away to confirm the numbers. And you, get your Li Hongjun to pitch in and deal with the railcars."
"Okay, I’ll talk to him in a bit. Someone’s here, so I won’t keep you any longer. Is that all you wanted to talk about?"
"That’s right, you go on and get busy."
So Shen Yunfang hung up the phone and went to open the door again.
