A small plot of land in a mountain village

"Back up, back up again, slowly, okay." A long blue truck reversed onto the wide road between the two ponds.

The truck was long, so someone naturally had to direct it from behind; otherwise, it would be troublesome if it retreated into the pond. This task naturally fell to the fat guy.

"Come on, let's unload!" the fat man at the back of the truck shouted.

The shout was naturally directed at Zhang Niu. The truck was full of plastic crates, a plan Zhang Niu and Fatty had come up with together. These plastic crates were the kind commonly seen in the market for carrying grapes.

"Fatty, you've ordered quite a few plastic crates." Zhang Niu opened the car door and immediately saw rows of red plastic crates inside.

"I just wanted you to pack more cherries. These are all 15-pound packs, which is the perfect size. Go up and take a look."

I grabbed the car door and climbed inside. The car was full of plastic baskets; a quick sweep revealed at least a thousand.

"Where did you find so many plastic crates?" A truck full of red plastic crates—that's quite a lot of energy.

"I have a lot of friends. These days, if you have connections, it's easy to get anything done," he said with a smile.

"Have all these plastic crates been unloaded?" Looking at the truck full of plastic crates, Zhang Niu was unsure what to do.

"Of course, we can just pile them up on the open ground by the pond. Anyway, this place is spacious, so there's no problem."

The plastic baskets were tied together in groups of ten with red rope, which saved Zhang Niu a lot of effort. Everyone in the yard who could help came to assist.

"Two thousand plastic crates." He handed over the last set of plastic crates.

"That's a lot, isn't it? It can hold 3,500 jin?" Liang Shan said.

"Yeah, but I didn't let you fill it all up at once! You all need to know that it's all about taking it slow and building up." The fat guy started bragging about his business skills.

"Everyone knows that if we pack a thousand kilograms and go to the provincial capital, sales will be great. When we go there again, the price will skyrocket, won't it?" Li Guang had been chatting quite a bit with the fat guy these past few days, letting down his city-man's "mask" in this place.

"That's right, Zhang Niu, you're young, so you should learn and listen more. Don't be shy." Chairman Zhang is an old man after all, and it's true that experience is the best teacher.

Zhang Niu humbly accepted the suggestion, admitting he hadn't even considered this possibility and was planning to pack them up and sell them.

Two thousand plastic crates were piled up by the pond, forming a red Great Wall. No sooner had they been placed than those rascals, the wild boar cubs, came out to cause trouble.

"Go away, go away, go away! You can't play here, or I'll dock your food tonight!" he shouted at the piglets circling the plastic basket.

If we don't come up with some methods, they'll really think we're easy to bully. This is the experience Zhang Niu has gained. To deal with wild boars that weigh around 100 pounds, the only way is to cut their food rations.

As soon as the shout was finished, the wild boars scattered and ran towards the tall grass where ducks were raised in the distance, a place that looked like it was going to become their base camp.

"Ah, Niu, you wild boar are really sensible." Chairman Zhang couldn't help but praise you a few times.

Shaking his head, he said, "Stop talking. That's just how these guys are. If you don't discipline them for three days, they'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles."

"Isn't this because you spoiled it? If this were in the village, I would have grabbed some firewood and given it a good beating long ago. Next time, this wild boar will know better," Liang Shan suggested, citing an old method from the village.

After moving the plastic crates, the driver parked the truck on the side of the mountain road.

In the afternoon, as everyone was enjoying the cool air in the pavilion, the sound of a horn blaring echoed along the mountain path.

"Who's coming up now?" Several groups of people have come up these past few days, it's been quite lively.

Large trucks parked on the side of the mountain road occupy a lot of the road.

"Wow! Could this be a tourist?" the fat man exclaimed, a broad smile on his face.

A white van suddenly appeared ahead, pulling up along the side of the mountain road. The location it occupied was absolutely perfect.

"Brother Cheng, this car is annoying, isn't it? It takes up so much of the mountain road." Meimei pouted in the back seat and said unhappily.

"Is this the place you're talking about?" a short-haired young man asked from behind.

"Yes, it's right here. You'll see it once you turn the corner. It won't be a wasted trip, so don't worry."

The two people in the car were Cheng Ge and Mei Mei, who had come by motorcycle last time. After returning last time, they quickly remembered that the cherries were about to ripen, so they hurriedly rented a car with their friends.

"What a beautiful place! Look at those piglets running around."

The group of people who had just stepped out of the car unanimously agreed that the place was very nice, and that the combination of mountains, water, and bamboo houses was particularly fitting.

"That's right! Otherwise, why would I have brought you here? The main reason is that the cherries here are about to ripen at this time of year."

In the city, cherries have just hit the market, and the price has reached thirty yuan per jin (500 grams), making people sigh that this fruit is really expensive. One jin of cherries can buy several jin of pork.

"Come on, the boss is inside that bamboo pavilion," he said to everyone.

"Let's go!"

It turned out they were old customers. Zhang Niu recognized the two people leading the way as soon as they got off the car. The three men and three women walked towards them.

"welcome!"

"Hehe, I didn't expect the boss to still remember us." Brother Cheng said with a smile as he came up.

"It's only been a few weeks, but you can still recognize this person."

The others looked around the place. Frogs were croaking in the pond outside the bamboo pavilion, and black fish were surfacing. It was indeed a good place to relax after a long day at work.

After some casual conversation, Zhang Niu led the group to the bamboo house to arrange rooms.

After a short rest, they set their sights on the red cherries in the orchard; there were so many cherries here.

Zhang Niu naturally knew that Brother Cheng and the others had come here to rest and also wanted to pick cherries. He took out a plastic basket and handed it to them to pick the cherries themselves, and then weighed them when they came back.

Without saying much, the group headed straight for the orchard. Before they left, Zhang Niu reminded them to watch out for the saplings under the trees.

Zhang Niu didn't plan to sell the cherry trees in the front yard; he wanted to keep them for himself. He had tasted the cherry trees outside; they had a fragrance, but it wasn't as strong as the ones inside. That was probably the biggest difference between the two.

Laughter could be heard from the orchard from time to time; it was obvious that it came from picking cherries.

Li Guang and his wife were busy applying face masks early in the morning, but this time they used cherries from outside. After a simple overnight treatment, their fair skin had a rosy glow, which made the baby's mother happy, so she asked Li Guang for help early in the morning.

As Li Guang emerged, he kept muttering to himself, "This beauty treatment is really a troublesome thing."

"Why are you only coming out now? Didn't you get conscripted today?" After finishing his work, this guy started fishing in front of the pond, hoping to catch a few forkedtail.

"This woman is such a hassle. She's been busy since early morning, and she's only just come out now." He sat down in a chair and picked up his fishing rod.

The fat man chuckled. "This is your wife. If it were a mistress, I bet you'd rush over there like the wind, believe me."

"What are you talking about? I'm not that kind of person." Hearing this, I still had to retort.

The two of them burst into laughter.

Cheng Ge came out of the orchard with a plastic basket full of cherries.

In the evening, Zhang Niu returned home and gathered many people to prepare to pick the first batch of cherries the next day.

The next morning, a gentle breeze blew by.

It happened to be a Saturday, and early in the morning, in addition to the villagers, there were also many children, including girls. The crystal-clear cherries looked quite appealing to them.

"Let's pick cherries!" Zhang Niu shouted at the top of his lungs.

The happiest of all were the little kids, who were always willing to help. Despite their small size, their tree-climbing skills were top-notch; they scrambled up the cherry tree in no time.

The little kids who climb the tree first pick a few clusters to taste. When the cherries, which have a milky aroma, are all smelled out, they exclaim that the cherries are really delicious and leave a fragrant taste in their mouths.

The little girl under the tree looked up pitifully at the cherries on the tree.

The little girl who climbed up the tree threw down a lot of cherries, saying, "Let's all have a taste!" She rolled her eyes at the little boy in the tree opposite.

Sweetie and Baby quickly banded together with the village girls to fight the little boy.

The little children each carried a small bamboo basket. They picked cherries and put them in the baskets.

"I've picked my fill!" he shouted as soon as he filled his basket, looking at the little girls, puffing out his little chest, and scrambling down the tree.

"My place is full too."

The little kids on the trees in the distance shouted and climbed down to eat some cherries.

Bamboo baskets were placed on the open ground, each basket could hold 150 jin (75 kg). When the little boy came back with his small bamboo basket full, he would gently pour it into these bamboo baskets.

"Be careful climbing the tree, watch your step," he said to each of the little kids who came back.

"Okay, I'm the best at climbing trees." After pouring the cherries, she ran off towards the orchard.

Watching the children coming and going, I guess I'm using child labor, hahaha.

On the grass nearby, there were baskets of cherries already packed, neatly stacked together.

"That's quite fast," said Liang Shan, who was walking out of the orchard.

"Yes, the fruit trees aren't very tall yet, so the cherries are hanging quite densely. If the trees were taller and the cherries were more spread out, it wouldn't be as fast to pick them."

"That's right, I'll go over there and see if I need any help." Liang Shan walked into the orchard.

After Liang Shan left, Zhang Niu continued his task of loading cherries.

The freshly picked cherries were plump and translucent, and Zhang Niu, who was packing the cherries, would occasionally eat a few.

Bright red birds circled overhead, watching the little boy picking cherries from the trees.

Cheng and the others were quite surprised; they hadn't expected to run into cherry picking. They'd eaten quite a few cherries that had fallen yesterday. In the bamboo corridor, they saw Baby's mom applying a face mask. Curious, they went up to ask, and now, well, everyone says a woman is worth five hundred ducks, and now they've all gathered together, discussing beauty.

When the girls learned that cherry blossom face masks could beautify their skin, they were overjoyed and dragged their boyfriends inside to prepare for a full face mask treatment.

Mommy, I have to apply a face mask first thing in the morning now. My skin changes every day, and I have to look in the mirror every now and then. Women's love of beauty is an age-old truth.

Children's shouts could be heard from time to time in the orchard. The villagers who were invited were all surprised by the early ripening of the cherries. Some of them had planted a few trees at home, but their cherries were still green and unripe.

The early-ripening cherries naturally earned Zhang Niu special respect. It's true that educated people are different; even planting cherries can make them ripen much earlier, which brings in a lot of money.

"Ah Niu, this is someone who's here to see you." The fat man led in a middle-aged man with a mustache.

"Hello, I'm a fruit merchant from the provincial capital, my surname is Hu." He took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Niu.

I took a quick look and saw that he was a fruit vendor. These days, times are changing, and everyone has to print out a dozen business cards and put on the title of manager.

"I wonder what brings Boss Hu to this small place?" For some reason, Zhang Niu looked at the boss with the mustache in front of him with a displeased expression.

"I'm in the fruit business. I saw your orchard and came in to see if you had any fruit to sell." As he spoke, he kept glancing at the baskets full of cherries behind Zhang Niu.

It seems they're looking for fruit vendors. At this time of year, many vendors come down to the countryside to buy fruit cheaply. I naturally knew they were after my cherries.

He chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, but I've already given all the fruit to Mr. Qian." He pointed to the fat man sitting on the stool.

The fat man knew what he was up to as soon as he heard that. "Yeah, you see that plastic basket outside, right?"

Upon hearing this, Boss Hu was surprised that the fat man was also in the same industry, but he still said, "So you're in the same industry. I wonder if you could spare some for me? There's plenty of fruit here anyway."

I've never seen anyone so shameless. "I'm sorry, you see my truck? This fruit isn't even enough for one trip. I'm sorry." His tone wasn't as casual as before.

Mr. Hu, the owner of the truck, also saw it. He was just taking a chance. If he could get a share of the profits, he could make a fortune at the current prices.

"Sorry to bother you, remember to look for me next time you sell fruit." I left reluctantly, determined to come back earlier next year. This orchard is a money pit!

As soon as Boss Hu left, the two men burst into laughter. "That guy with the mustache, he's really shameless. If I didn't have this truck here, he probably wouldn't have left so stubbornly."

"Yes, the vendors are driving the price down like crazy right now. Last year, plums were only three cents a pound, but they were selling for more than a dollar in other places."

"Isn't this what fruit vendors are best at?" The fat man was quite knowledgeable about the ins and outs of selling fruit tree seedlings.

Zhang Niu chuckled. If a dealer isn't skilled, how can he make any money?

"Did you catch any forkedtail this morning?" Then, changing the subject.

The fat man waved his hand. "Don't even mention it. Three of my fishing hooks have broken. I only came here because I didn't have any more hooks."

"What! Three fishing hooks broke? You're really unlucky." He said with a smile. Even this guy has his day.

"No, I have to go out and buy some fishhooks. I have to stick to this." He stood up and walked outside indignantly.

Then I heard a car horn.

The bamboo baskets in front of me were all filled, so there must have been quite a lot of cherries. Luckily, I had asked a lot of the older women in the village to come and help, paying each of them thirty yuan.

A plastic basket filled to the brim weighs exactly fifteen pounds, no need to weigh it, it's standard.

"Ah Niu is probably going to make a fortune from these cherries this time," said the gossipy woman who was busy packing cherries.

Yesterday evening, Zhang Niu went back to recruit people, and the gossipy woman signed up.

"That's right. I heard from Aunt Zhang that these cherries are going to be transported to the provincial capital to be sold by ourselves."

"Yes, yes, you see that big truck outside? It can carry several thousand cherries. We're not afraid of having too many, we're just afraid of not having enough cherries."

The women sat together, baskets filled with cherries. For them, who were used to farm work, packing cherries was a very simple task.

The little girls were running around in the orchard, making quite a racket, but after a while they ran inside to catch butterflies.

"I have a white butterfly here too, everyone come quick!"

They run wherever they're called. Even Bao Bao and Tian Tian follow, especially Bao Bao who's carrying the cat. The cat is always getting Bao Bao to "conscript" him early in the morning.

With the current weather, the cherries are stored in breathable plastic baskets, so there's no fear of them spoiling, and Zhang Niu isn't too worried about that.

By noon, a dozen or so middle-aged women were carrying baskets of cherries.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

"It's just work, what's so hard about it?" the gossipy woman said with a smile.

Packing cherries is a delicate task; you might break the whole bunch if you use too much force. With this lady helping, I feel much more at ease.

He pulled out a few old-fashioned bills from his pocket. "I don't have any change here. You can divide it up when you get back!"

"It's okay, we'll divide it up when we get back."

Zhang Niu gathered the remaining cherries from the last basket into a box, and there were still quite a few left. He told them to take them home and eat them themselves; there weren't many, and it wouldn't hurt to try them.

Everyone kept saying thank you, saying they had already tasted the cherries while they were being packed.

"Wow, Niu, you've got a lot of cherries this time! These plastic baskets are almost full!" It turned out to be Chairman Zhang from the orchard.

"It must be a bumper harvest. I never expected that the first year's planting would yield so much."

By evening, more than a thousand of the two thousand plastic crates had been filled.

In the evening, a group of people enjoyed the eight-pound forkedtail fish that Fatty had caught that afternoon. This type of fish has no scales, so when frying it, you need to use plenty of oil and a high heat to make the fish meat very tender and boneless.

Sweetie and the others really liked the braised forktail. It had few bones, so Chairman Zhang wasn't worried that Sweetie would choke on it.

The next day at five o'clock, Zhang Niu got up, called the sleepy Fatty, and together they got into the car and headed towards the provincial capital.

Once the truck got on the highway, its speed increased significantly. With fewer cars on the road, the trees on both sides kept receding into the distance.

They arrived in the provincial capital around 7 a.m., and Fatty immediately took Zhang Niu to the largest fruit wholesale market in the province—Da Senlin.

The Great Forest Wholesale Market has a history of more than ten years, and basically all the freshly harvested fruits are traded here.

When Zhang Niu and his group arrived, there were already many vehicles parked outside, and people kept coming up to talk to them; these were all guides from the market.

The three of them ate some breakfast and prepared to go inside to take a look. The driver went back to the car and looked at the car full of cherries.

This fruit market covers a large area, and delivery trucks are busy loading fruit inside.

"How's this place? Lively enough, right?" he said to Zhang Niu, who was looking around.

"Yeah, it's lively." The surroundings were noisy, with the sounds of bargaining rising and falling.

This was Zhang Niu's first time in this place. If it weren't for Fatty bringing him here, he wouldn't have known this place even existed.

"I forgot to mention, I know this place very well, so there's no need to be afraid of the local bullies."

If there's a vegetable market tyrant, then the fruit market must have one too. I didn't expect this fat guy to have such good connections. I don't know if it's true or not; this guy loves to brag.

This idea was quickly dismissed. Along the way, he kept running into acquaintances who greeted him. He walked and stopped frequently until he reached a corner of the market.

"Fatty, why did you bring me here?" she asked, looking at the corner in front of her, confused.

"Hehe, you don't understand. This is a place that most people wouldn't dare to put their cherries. This corner belongs to one of my buddies. We'll have someone move a whole basket of cherries here later. We can just call out and we won't have to worry about people not coming to buy them."

Zhang Niu had no idea about the intricacies involved.

The two then found a deliveryman from the market to bring over baskets of cherries.

The first chapter is now available! I hope everyone will support it. (To be continued. For more chapters, please log in to support the author and read the official version!)