Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Is the money earned in Chapter 438 enough?

Chen Hui nodded and said, "Okay, hurry up and raise them. From now on, our family's eggs, duck eggs, chicken, and duck meat will all depend on you. Oh, and vegetables too. I bet you'll grow more than you can eat yourself. Hahahaha." He suddenly laughed and said to Xia Maosheng, "Then Xiaowei will drive his Omega to the entrance of the farmers' market and squat down to sell vegetables."

Xiao Wei was taken aback, then thought for a moment and said, "Damn, that's a real problem. Who's going to eat all that? What's the point of all this land? Plant flowers? Plant trees? But we can't plant it all with flowers, can we?"

Chen Hui said, "Look, the west end is wide, with ponds and wells all over there. You can build two or three buildings there, it's up to you. Then, excluding the school-run factory area, this area is long and narrow, and it's even curved. You can leave some vegetable gardens at the far east end, near the neighborhood committee, and then in the middle, how about we build a small park?"

Xiao Wei looked at Chen Hui and said, "You have such a huge park and zoo right here, and then you build a park in your own backyard? It's just separated by a wall, am I crazy?"

Chen Hui thought for a moment and curled his lip. Indeed, there was such a big park right outside the door. It would be crazy to build another park.

Xia Maosheng said, "How come the Zhang family has such a large piece of land? The government just agreed to it?"

Chen Hui said, "There weren't many people from Fengtian here at that time. It was all farmland and wasteland. And as they said, they were soldiers who came in after the liberation. They must have been cadres. Back then, it was under military control. Who would dare to control the military? It wasn't like they were bullying men and women. It's not normal to build houses on wasteland to settle families. Didn't they say that it came with vegetable plots?"

Xiao Wei said, "Rural people value their land. It's normal for a large family to cultivate ten or twenty mu of land. Back then, it certainly wasn't a big deal. Even now, in rural areas, there are plenty of families cultivating twenty or thirty mu of land."

As soon as Xia Maosheng opened his mouth, Chen Hui said, "This area used to be rural. It was full of farmers, even a few years ago. Only the area around the airport was somewhat prosperous. Just think about it, would the city have built the airport here? It's not even as good as Dadong. The Liming Factory area is much better than this."

Xiao Wei said, "The area around Liming Factory used to be rural wasteland. It only became lively after Liming Factory recruited a large number of workers and built houses."

Chen Hui said, "Yes, a few years ago, wherever there were factories and industries, that place would be prosperous. It's not quite the same now. Commercial development is too fast now, and all urban development is starting to revolve around commerce."

Xia Maosheng said, "First, the country has begun to pay attention to commerce and the private economy. Second, there is no other way. A large number of small state-owned factories have stopped production and closed down, and the number of unemployed people has doubled every year. If we don't engage in commerce, these people will become a big problem, just like in the early 80s, there will be chaos. If you can make a living by doing some small business, who would bother with anything else? So this is an inevitable trend, mainly because the population has increased."

Chen Hui nodded and said, "It is indeed related to the population. Actually, many factories are still doing well and can survive, but they were dragged down by others. One worker represents one family, and the factory is only so big, with limited profitability. At first, everyone was doing well, then they were left with only scraps, and then the pot was smashed. There weren't enough benefits for the unemployed, the retired, and others. Your two families are the culprits. You have so many children, but look at my family, I'm the only one."

Xiao Wei said, "I'm sorry, my family is from the countryside. We grow our own food and have nothing to do with you city people."

Chen Hui was taken aback and looked at Xia Maosheng, who raised his hand and nodded, saying, "My family is the culprit, so I've decided to repent and contribute to the development of our country."

Chen Hui scoffed and hit Xia Maosheng with his chopsticks: "You'd like to, but do you dare to have the baby?"

Xia Maosheng said, "The family planning policy was implemented too late. If it had been implemented right after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there would be so much less trouble now."

Chen Hui said, "Nonsense. Back then, the country was short of manpower. We needed manpower for war, construction, and farming. To ensure food production and alleviate the contradictions brought about by industrial construction, our country divided people into agricultural households and urban households according to primary and secondary industries. However, people back then certainly couldn't have imagined the current situation. This kind of forced determination of a person's identity based on relationships has actually created too many contradictions. Farmers, you know."

Xiao Wei said, "Alright, what's the point of saying all this? Have you eaten? If you've eaten, go back."

Chen Hui and Xia Maosheng downed their drinks, and the three of them stood up and walked out. Xiao Wei called the boss over to settle the bill.

Back at the Dianye residential area, Chen Hui parked his car downstairs at Chen Xiao's apartment building and said, "You two walk back, I have to go upstairs to tell my wife the good news, bye-bye." He then jogged upstairs and left.

Xiao Wei and Chen Hui looked at each other, then walked back with their umbrellas, looking dejected. Although it wasn't far, it was still several hundred meters, and their shoes were wet by the time they got downstairs.

They opened the door, changed their shoes, and sat down in the armchairs. Aunt Wang, Xiao Hong, and Geng Hui were probably still sleeping; it was unclear whether they had eaten lunch. Xiao Wei went to check the kitchen, but Aunt Wang had kept it so clean all day that it was impossible to tell what was going on.

Xia Maosheng said, "They should have eaten already. With Aunt Wang here, how could we let them go hungry? You're just worrying unnecessarily."

Xiao Wei nodded.

Xia Maosheng asked, "Does graduating from this training program mean the cake shop can open a branch?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Yes, I plan to sign a three-year contract with anyone willing to stay and work after graduation, then pursue further studies to familiarize myself with cake management and operations, and then start opening branch stores. I think I can open four to five branches in Longcheng, and if it's easy to find a place, I can open a few more. The radius of influence of a cake shop is not large because this kind of thing has some troublesome requirements for preservation and transportation."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Okay, I happen to have some time off. Let's go back and look for a place together. I'll ask some friends."

Xiao Wei said, "After the cake shop opens, the food factory will also need to expand its production capacity accordingly. Our current sales volume is not large. Apart from those consignment points, our own sales volume is almost non-existent. But once the branches open, each store will be a product sales point, and the volume will increase rapidly."

Xia Maosheng asked, "Should we increase equipment or manpower? Is the space sufficient?"

Xiao Wei said, "The location is sufficient if we don't make major adjustments to the products. We can just add a few more machines, and with the help of trainees, we can operate it. But I think we should also prepare to move to a different location, or rather, prepare to open a branch factory."

Xia Maosheng said, "So tell me, should we still buy this courtyard or not? I feel like this courtyard is a bit of a double-edged sword. The location is quite good, but its utilization value is already apparent. Maybe we could just demolish the old building and rebuild it."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "You've been obsessed with buying and building houses these past few days. All you talk about is rebuilding. Aren't you making money? Are you planning to go years without any dividends?"

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "I don't think the money is of much use once it's distributed to us. It's better to buy land and build houses, which would be permanent wealth."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, then go back and ask around, see if it's for sale. If the price is right, we'll buy it and rebuild. My goodness, will we earn enough this year to build a house?"

(End of this chapter)