NOVPUB
Chapter 752: 742
Just as they were lecturing Goudan, the office telephone began to ring.
Zhang Chunwang glanced at the taller and shorter figures in the middle of the office and conscientiously answered the phone.
"Hey, it’s... wait a moment, your sister-in-law is here, talk to her directly." Zhang Chunwang handed the receiver to Shen Yunfang, "Sister-in-law, it’s Wang Anhua."
Shen Yunfang sighed, gave Goudan a glare, and then stepped forward to take the phone.
Behind her, Goudan kept making faces at Zhang Chunwang. He had always thought his second aunt was a very gentle person, but, heck, now he saw that wasn’t the case at all. When she got angry, she was even scarier than his mom. Who will save him now?
Zhang Chunwang saw but pretended not to notice; in front of the boss, it’s better to be quiet than to get scolded. Protecting himself was already hard enough, let alone looking after someone else.
"Mhm, mhm, okay I understand... Come back, draft the contract, and then run through each unit one by one; make sure to sign the vegetable contracts and we must receive a thirty percent deposit upfront. Otherwise, we can’t supply them with the vegetables... Mhm, if they don’t agree, then leave it. We don’t wholly rely on them; there are plenty of others who want to buy our vegetables... Mhm, that’s it." After giving instructions on the phone, Shen Yunfang hung up.
Turning around, she saw Goudan still standing there and asked angrily, "What now, are you planning to come home with me for lunch?"
"No, no, no, I won’t be going back, Auntie. I still have a pile of work to do." Goudan, as if startled, bolted out of the door.
"This kid, he just needs a lesson," Shen Yunfang shook her head helplessly.
Zhang Chunwang saw his sister-in-law had calmed down and probed, "Sister-in-law, did you figure out what’s going on with Wang Anhua?"
"Yes, she asked around. Someone told her it came from higher up. The units below don’t have a choice; they can’t offend the higher-ups over some greens, so they can only offend us," Shen Yunfang frowned.
"Higher up?" Which higher up?
"Seems like it’s the city leaders, not sure about the specifics." Shen Yunfang sifted through possible offended parties in her mind, but still had no clue.
"Alas, knowing the general direction is one thing, but not knowing exactly who makes it tricky," Zhang Chunwang also frowned.
"Anyway, let’s not worry about that for now. I’ve told Wang Anhua to come back and draft the contract, then revisit each government and enterprise unit. Those who want the vegetables must sign the contract and pay a thirty percent advance on the vegetable payment."
Zhang Chunwang frowned again, "Auntie, that’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?" If they did this, among the government and enterprise units, it would be good if even three or four out of twenty agreed to these terms.
"If it’s not harsh, we might end up only getting IOUs," Shen Yunfang said angrily, remembering the two IOUs she held.
Zhang Chunwang seemed to suddenly remember something, pulling out another IOU from his pocket and handing it to her. Yesterday five units were delivered vegetables, four reneged, not wanting the vegetables anymore, and the one that did took the vegetables but gave this IOU.
Shen Yunfang, expressionless, took the IOU, which was for just over two thousand nine hundred yuan. Now, with three together, the debts totaled over eight thousand yuan.
She sighed. It was no use getting angry; she stored the IOU away and sat Zhang Chunwang down to discuss in detail the next steps for the vegetable sales plan.
Glancing at her watch, it was nearly time to finish work. Staying here wouldn’t do any good; she had already given all her instructions, now they just needed to follow through. Shen Yunfang decided to go home for lunch.
"All right, I’m off work. Keep a close eye on things here, and if any wholesalers come by, entertain them a bit."
"Sure, you can count on me, I know what to do," Zhang Chunwang reassured her.
"Also, I hope everyone can take their work seriously during office hours. And those old men, gossiping around like nagging wives – what’s the point? You must emphasize this issue. We have to nip this bad atmosphere in the bud. If we keep letting it slide, what will become of us?"
"Alright, sister-in-law, I will definitely clamp down on their ideological education," Zhang Chunwang said with a face full of shame. Under his management, such an incident had occurred, and he knew he couldn’t shirk the blame.
Once Shen Yunfang got the satisfying answer she wanted, she picked up her bag, ready to go home.
"Okay then, you’re busy, I’ll be leaving."
She had just left the dormitory building, pushing her bike to go home, when she heard Zhang Chunwang calling out.
"Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, wait, there’s a phone call for you."
"Who is it?" Calling at this time, this person is really annoying, Shen Yunfang thought to herself with silent criticism.
"It’s a woman, I don’t know exactly who, but she said you would know once you take the call, and if you don’t, you’ll regret it," Zhang Chunwang said. He could detect the threat in the caller’s tone, and had no choice but to run out and call the sister-in-law. He always felt that the person calling had some connection with ’the higher-ups’.
But Shen Yunfang was more direct, immediately thinking of Shen Yingxue.
"Alright, I’ll go take it." Shen Yunfang parked her bike again and slowly walked back to the office.
"Hello? This is Shen Yunfang, may I ask who’s speaking?" Shen Yunfang picked up the phone and politely asked.
"Hehe, Yunfang, it’s me, Yingxue, Shen Yingxue, you know, I was looking for you a few days ago, you couldn’t have forgotten me so soon," the voice on the other end was extremely arrogant.
Shen Yunfang silently thought ’as expected’, but kept silent.
Shen Yingxue laughed on the other end for quite a while before she regained control and said, "Yunfang, I heard your farm ran into some trouble, vegetables can’t be sold, right? Well, well, look at the mess you’ve made. When I came to talk about a partnership, you proudly told me there wasn’t any left, and now, I really want to see—if the stuff I want to buy is truly gone."
Shen Yunfang’s face grew cold. There was no need to investigate anymore; this Shen Yingxue was the one sabotaging them from behind.
"Sorry, but my answer is still the same, our farm truly doesn’t have any surplus agricultural products left. It seems our cooperation is still out of reach. If you’ve called just to talk about this, I can only apologize. I have other matters, and can’t chat with you any longer," Shen Yunfang said and then hung up the phone. To her, every single word with such a person was an unnecessary bother.
"Hey, wait..."
With a click, the phone call was disconnected.
"Sister-in-law, is everything alright?" Zhang Chunwang asked from the side.
"There’s trouble. The person stirring things up from behind has shown up, it’s that Shen Yingxue who came last time, my former fellow villager. She’s targeting me," Shen Yunfang touched her cheek.
Ring ring ring...
"Hello..." Picking up the phone, Shen Yunfang answered casually.
"Shen Yunfang, don’t be in a hurry to hang up. I’m telling you, if you agree to cooperate with me, I can solve all the problems you’ve had before. After all, we’re friends, right? It’s better to have more friends than enemies when you’re trying to make it in the outside world. You don’t have to be so stubborn; that’s the reality—you can’t fight fate," the voice said.
With a click, Shen Yunfang hung up again. She couldn’t be bothered to listen to that woman’s nonsense.
"From now on, just hang up on this woman. No need to talk more with her," Shen Yunfang instructed before leaving work to go home and report the situation.
