Song Tan's Notes

Xiao Yang's efficiency is extraordinary.

Before Qiaoqiao even got out of the car, he had already excitedly made a video call to share the good news:
"Qiaoqiao! Thanks to you, I managed to get another 200,000 yuan from my parents! When you come, whatever you want to buy or try, we'll have the money."

This wasn't the first time he'd tried to squeeze money out of his parents.

But in reality, judging from his lifestyle during the time he lived at Lao Song's house, Xiao Yang himself was not the kind of person who was extravagant.

Song Tan, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Xiao Yang, what do you need so much money for?"

Finally, someone asked this question!
This was a major event that Yang Zhengxin had been planning for a long time!
But at this moment, with his sister and brother in front of him, there was naturally nothing to hide.

"I'm preparing to start my own business."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the car straightened their backs.

Tang Xiaodong was even more surprised:
"You're not even an adult yet, and you're already planning to start a business? And isn't starting a business a legitimate thing? Why are you beating around the bush like this when you're asking for money?"

Yang Zhengxin looked on with a sigh:
"You don't understand."

“I’ve heard my parents say for a long time that it’s fine for rich kids to eat, drink, have fun, drive luxury cars and watch, but they’re afraid of starting their own businesses!”

"When you start a business, you're going to lose big."

"I feel like I can't handle hardship, I have a bad temper, and I don't have any new ideas, so I'm not going to start anything. Once I'm an adult, I'm going to just sit back and live off my savings!"

The last sentence was spoken with great force and was exceptionally bold.

Everyone:...

Only Yanran murmured, "I used to be terrified of people saying I was a freeloader and lacked ambition. Now I'm begging my parents to support me. If I could be a complete failure with no worries about food and drink, that would be the ultimate happiness..."

If you said this to any working person, they would probably just nod in agreement.

Even though working at Lao Song's house is very comfortable.

But they are still students!
Endless papers to write, manuscripts to revise, experiments to conduct, and data to collect...

The moment I open my eyes, I'm out working!
That's Yang's ambition, isn't it...

"Then...isn't this a contradiction?" she asked curiously.

Xiao Yang rallied his spirits: "I'm so smart, and I've even won a gold medal, how can I just do nothing? If word gets out that I was a prodigy who failed to achieve anything as a child, my parents will lose face!"

“When they’re not doing well, my carefree life gets affected. So I’ve decided to start my own business as soon as possible—I already have a plan.”

He readily shared his "great undertaking" with everyone in the car:

"When I get to university, I'm going to build a team to develop a mini-program. If I hire people to do the work, we'll have to split the profits, right? I don't want to give up my say in this, and this is all my savings."

"So what kind of field are you developing mini-programs for? Is it related to artificial intelligence, which is all the rage right now?"

Qi Lin couldn't help but ask as well.

After all, Xiao Yang is a top-notch science student, and he even won a gold medal in the International Science Olympiad. This is different from other subjects; if you don't know something, you really don't know it at all.

They found this quite fascinating, always feeling that starting a business could potentially lead to something big.

Xiao Yang opened his mouth, babbled for a while, then couldn't help but sigh:
"Brother, what you're talking about is too high-end. How much wealth do I have to dare to burn something like that?"

"I develop mini-games! Like those games you guys play, like pouring water bottles, shooting stars, catching geese, and stuff like that. I develop these kinds of games! They're both profitable and fun."

And if word gets out, this new type of game company seems pretty trendy.

For a moment, no one knew what to say.

If you say he's ambitious, he certainly is; but his entrepreneurial ideas...

Only Song Tan exclaimed in admiration: "You're already ahead of everyone else! After graduating from university, nobody wants to work. You've just graduated and you already have your own company, so you can just sit back and relax."

"Isn't that right?" This is like Bo Ya meeting Zi Qi! It has to be his sister, otherwise most people simply couldn't understand!

Yang Zhengxin was overjoyed and beaming with pride:

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but the competition is fierce right now, and I estimate that I’ll need to invest a lot of money in marketing and promotion. If I ask for money later, it won’t seem like I’m starting my own business. That’s why I’m saving up for it.”

The car fell silent for a moment, and everyone sighed, feeling that Xiao Yang's future career seemed quite promising.

But then again, despite all this chatter, Xiao Yang hasn't strayed off-topic:
"Qiaoqiao, have you booked your tickets? When are you coming? Do you know how to buy tickets? I'll book them for you. Once you arrive, I'll show you how to buy your return ticket step by step..."

I'm so excited!

Qiaoqiao said honestly, "Everyone says that you should bring a gift when you visit a friend's house, but I haven't decided what to bring yet."

"Oh dear!" Yang Zhengxin said, "Do we need to talk about this about our friendship? I'm staying at your house, do you expect me to bring anything with me?"

"I brought it," Qiaoqiao said earnestly.
“Your dad called two huge trucks and delivered so many farm machines! My sister said the cheapest one costs several thousand yuan, it’s a very, very big gift.”

Xiao Yang said seriously, "That was a gift from my dad. He wanted me to have more fun, so he gave it to me voluntarily. It has nothing to do with our friendship."

Therefore, I reiterate: "Just your presence is enough; nothing else is needed—"

He suddenly shut up.

Then he chuckled and changed his tune, "But thinking about it, it makes sense. You'll definitely have more than just me as a friend in the future, so it's true that you should be more polite when visiting other people's homes."

"Okay, you don't need to bring anything else. Peaches, pears, vegetables, fruits, green pepper sauce, beef jerky, braised pig's trotters, eggs... anything is fine. I'm not picky at all!"

He was very sincere and understanding: "We are all farmers, so we are fine with what comes from the land."

Song Tan, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but laugh.

Lu Chuan glanced at him and commented, "With Xiao Yang's brains, he might actually succeed in starting a business if he went to university."

No wonder he always manages to get money from his parents. Other families might not have this ability to generate so much wealth.

But Qiaoqiao didn't know that!
He only heard Yang Zhengxin mention nothing about cigarettes, alcohol, tea, milk, etc., which was quite different from what was said online.

Moreover, what they said makes sense. Everyone farms, so of course the produce from the ground is better. Their family's produce from the ground is definitely better.

So he nodded solemnly: "Then wait for me, I'll go back and get ready, and then I'll go."

After thinking for a moment, she continued answering his previous question:

"You don't need to buy the ticket, my sister will buy it for me. You don't need to teach me either, I've flown before, I know how to buy a ticket."

"Good good."

Yang Zhengxin was overjoyed, but just as he was about to hang up, he suddenly remembered something:
"Wait a minute, Qiaoqiao, look at this refrigerator in my room, isn't it a bit small?"

The phone screen shook, revealing a normal double-door refrigerator, which, compared to the one in Song Tan's home, had a capacity of about four or five hundred liters.

This is the typical refrigerator capacity for a family of several people.

But for Xiao Yang, it was only placed in his room.

"Small?" Qiaoqiao didn't understand this, but—

"The one in our living room looks similar to this." Refrigerators and freezers are another story.

"Small? Of course it's small!"

Yang Zhengxin was already worried:
"You're definitely coming! What if you bring too many local specialties and the fridge can't hold them all? Let me tell you, never put good stuff in the fridge downstairs, or you'll never find it when you want it."

He gritted his teeth and said, "Wait a minute. I've had this refrigerator for several years now. I'll tell my dad I want to get a new appliance and ask him for the money!"

Oh dear, you mentioned upgrading the e-sports room and the indoor sports area before... This time, you've updated the excuse to say you're upgrading the appliances in the rooms...

With Qiaoqiao's family's specialty products as bait, his dad would definitely agree no matter what, right?

—Dad, my dear dad! Your big son is here!
……

The drive from Baiyu County back home takes four hours, and Lu Chuan was in charge of driving the whole way.

Song Tan thought she could take a short rest, but she didn't expect to get another call as soon as she arrived in Yuncheng.

The person making the call was Chen Yuan.

She sighed; calling at this time could never be good news.

really.

As soon as the call connected, the other party said:
"Boss, over here is Gu Laosan's family, the one with the five-acre vineyard. Minghe is in charge of keeping an eye on things in their garden. Since you left, this is the second case of them passing off inferior goods as superior ones today."

All in all, only three hours have passed.

Song Tan frowned: "Did they do it themselves?"

"Ah."

Chen Yuan explained.

The Gu family didn't use those iron fences; instead, they had a wooden frame with wire mesh outside. The owner was in a corner receiving grapes handed over by his relatives.

Five acres of vineyards—that's something you can do quietly, no doubt.

The problem is, Chen Yuan and his group have received professional training!
Even if one person can't oversee a place far away, when it comes to shipping and packing, one only needs to focus on the area in front of them.

The boss was pacing around the garden like a thief, and Minghe had already noticed something was wrong.

Now that all the good stuff from my own garden has been sold, how could I feel uneasy or guilty when I'm happy?

Then the other party pretended to sway back and forth.

Thinking that Minghe hadn't seen it, he quietly stuffed a basket of grapes inside.

The first time Minghe pointed out that basket, it was with a hidden meaning:
"This one doesn't pass."

The bunch of grapes may be large, but they have clearly been manipulated.

It's important to know that grapes don't all ripen at the same time; some ripen faster, and some ripen slower. To ensure that grapes are of the same quality, color, and size, proper management is necessary.

After putting in a lot of effort in scientific management, because the work was done in detail, the overall results were relatively uniform.

And this bunch of grapes still has small, pruned stems on top!
But Minghe didn't know that he had taken someone else's. He just thought that Gu Laosan wanted to make more money and was using inferior products from his own garden to make up the difference.

He therefore said firmly, "I'm giving you this warning. If it happens again, I'll just withdraw."

This is absolutely true.

But in this world, there are always many people who won't turn back until they hit a wall.

Minghe found a suitable spot to keep watch, and saw that Gu Laosan had received the message and quietly left, only to return with a basket of food.

What else is there to say?
Minghe was preventing people from packing the boxes, and the people packing there looked at each other, not knowing who to listen to.

Gu Laosan shouted loudly:

"What are you standing there for? I'm the one who paid! He's just a security guard!"

The security guard didn't retaliate; he simply let go and called to report the incident.

Chen Yuan made a quick decision: "I'll tell the courier that there's no rush to pick up the goods there."

With such a large volume of sales across Baiyu County, the deliverymen are working non-stop. They haven't even finished dealing with this pile of goods yet, let alone going to Gu Laosan's house!

As for Gu Laosan hauling the goods to ship himself—oh dear, there's no one at the county's express delivery point, where am I supposed to ship them!

Dug the goods within the city yourself? How much money would you make? You wouldn't dare charge such low single-item shipping fees.

In short, Song Tan was prepared for this and responded just as decisively:
"You call the village party secretary, and I'll inform the county leaders—before you make the call, send the message out in the village group chat first."

He paused for a moment and then said, "I'll open the backend now and cancel all their orders."

No, no?

Surely no one still thinks that people buy these grapes because they genuinely want to eat them?
Both buyers and sellers know perfectly well what drives Qiao Qiao's loyal fans.

However, when Song Tan opened the backend, the apology statement was much more thorough than the detailed introduction:
[We apologize, but due to allegations that Gu Laosan's family in Baiyu County stole substandard products from relatives in an attempt to pass them off as genuine, all orders placed through this link will be cancelled to protect the legal rights of all customers.]

[At the same time, to thank everyone for their trust and to apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment caused, after a successful refund, you can contact customer service with your original ID to apply for a sample pack of green pepper beef sauce (approximately 20g)]

Thank you for your understanding and support.

She posted the message without worrying that customers wouldn't see it.

Because anyone who buys something from the store won't be satisfied unless they check the shipping progress a hundred or eighty times a day.

Even if she really forgets, it doesn't matter; she'll proactively cancel before the deadline.

However, I'll hand this task over to customer service representative Zhai Min when I get back.

He could only sigh again, "Making money is really not easy."

Lu Chuan chimed in, "Yes, you and Qiao Qiao are both too worried."

The three people sitting in the back row: ...

I want to say something, but I don't know what to say.

The commission is five yuan per pound, which sounds like a lot, and it actually is a lot!
How many kilograms were sold in the entire Baiyu County!

And so far, only this one store has encountered problems, and it's the one with sales of only a little over a thousand orders...

If this is not easy, I wonder if bending over to pick up money will cause back pain?
At the same time, everyone sighed again:
"In fact, many agricultural brands have had their reputations completely ruined because of this kind of thing."

People as decisive as Tao Zhuangzhuang are not uncommon in life, but they are truly rare.

You'd even tell him your bank account and password—he's your closest friend, someone you've known since childhood.

Those were the elders who treated you so well when you were little, saving every penny and secretly giving you pocket money because they were worried you wouldn't have enough to eat at school...

Sigh. (End of Chapter)