Volume One, Chapter 25: The Best-Selling Fruit

Meng Xiaohan did not actually leave! Instead, she took Hei Zi and ran up the mountain. As for Li Tianhu seeking out Guo Dong to discuss business, as long as it did not involve her, it had nothing to do with her.

Beside the small pond, Li Tianhu wore a forced smile; it was clear he was asking for a favor.

"Alright, if you have something to say, say it quickly. I’m busy here!" Guo Dong was blunt with Li Tianhu. The way they spoke to each other had been the same since they were children; it was a habit they couldn't break.

"Guodong, I know you have your own ideas. You think planting these vegetables will make money, and make it fast! But given the current situation, it’s not a question of speed, but a question of whether you can make money at all." Li Tianhu was the same as ever, attempting to clear the air and persuade the other with words before getting to the point. "The mess of things you’re planting now won't make you any money. So, I have a great idea. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, you’re guaranteed to make a profit!"

Li Tianhu chuckled, gesturing toward the fish ponds not far down the mountain. "See that? The fish ponds. Let’s lease them. You won’t have to worry about a thing; I’ll handle everything myself. We split the profits fifty-fifty, how about it?"

Guo Dong curled his lip, staring at Li Tianhu. "You mean I pay for the lease, you manage it, and in the end, we split the money fifty-fifty?"

Li Tianhu nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at grain.

"Do I look like a fool to you?"

"What do you mean? Are you afraid of losing money?"

Guo Dong shook his head, retorting, "I put up the money, I take the risk, and in the end, I split the earnings with you? Why?"

Li Tianhu paused for a moment, then quickly added, "Fine, forty-sixty, I take forty, you take sixty. Or seventy-thirty, that works too!"

Seeing that Guo Dong wasn't even interested in entertaining him, Li Tianhu grew anxious. He had long wanted to lease those ponds but lacked the capital. Furthermore, because the location wasn't connected to their own village, he couldn't get support from his father. With Guo Dong currently riding a wave of success and having some spare cash, partnering with him was undoubtedly the best path.

"You're overthinking it. Even if I lease the whole thing, I can just find two people in the village to help for a bit of daily wage. Why would I need to partner with you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tianhu stood up abruptly. "Guo Dong, you son of a bitch, you’re not being fair! In all the villages around here, when it comes to fish farming, no one is better than me. If our village had decent ponds, I wouldn't be begging you."

He threw his things down and started to walk away. After a moment, seemingly unable to let it go, he turned back and said, "One last chance: twenty-eight split. You don't have to worry about anything. You can just be the silent partner. How about that?"

He had expected Guo Dong to haggle with him for a while longer, but to his surprise...

"Fine, we'll do it your way. But I can't lease all those ponds; two is the most I can manage."

"Why?" Li Tianhu couldn't fathom what Guo Dong was up to.

"Not enough money, and half of the land below belongs to Xiaohan’s family. I can't exactly go around grabbing her family's property."

Li Tianhu gritted his teeth and nodded firmly. "Alright, it's a deal. Two is fine, as long as you can secure them. I’ll clear the ponds and stock them with fingerlings tomorrow."

Leasing the fish ponds at current village rates wouldn't cost much; the main expenses were the fish fry and the feed. Although Guo Dong had never raised fish, he knew that even for just two of those ponds, the annual operating cost would still be tens of thousands. However, he wasn't worried at all. Fish farming was already part of his plan; it just happened that Li Tianhu had brought it up himself. Whenever he had a spare moment, he could just pour a few drops of spirit water into the ponds, and the fish would be a guaranteed success!

Watching Li Tianhu run down the mountain in high spirits, Guo Dong shook his head with a wry smile and turned his gaze to Meng Xiaohan, who was playing nearby. She had been keeping an eye on the situation. Seeing the outcome, she giggled and ran back over with Hei Zi.

"What's going on? Tianhu was being all mysterious. Was he trying to get you into some kind of trouble?"

Guo Dong blushed and quickly said, "What trouble? He wants me to lease the village fish ponds."

"And you agreed?" Meng Xiaohan’s face lit up, and she sat down beside him. The faint fragrance radiating from the young girl constantly hit Guo Dong’s senses.

"Yeah, I agreed. Raising fish—it’s hard to lose money on that!"

Hearing this, Meng Xiaohan seemed quite excited. "Of course you won't lose money. You should ask my dad about this; he’s an expert at it. Also, leasing the ponds isn't expensive; it's only about a thousand per mu. I’ll go back and discuss it with him."

Guo Dong felt a bit uneasy. He realized that ever since his peaches started making money, the entire village had been watching him. Every little move he made caused a huge stir, as if his affairs were more important than their own. Take this fish farming business, for example—first Li Tianhu volunteered, and now Meng Xiaohan was getting excited about it, too.

Guo Dong let out a bitter laugh. "Hei Zi, let's head into the mountains!" He dusted off his pants, stood up, and started walking toward the hills.

...

In Hongwu County, at the Le Xiang Supermarket, in the fruit section, customers were gathered around the produce shelves, pointing and whispering, while staff members struggled to maintain order.

"Everyone, please listen to me. The honey peaches are truly sold out. Our manager is trying to figure something out, but this is all we were allocated. It’s no use crowding here," a clerk in charge of the fruit section pleaded earnestly.

Ever since the peaches hit the shelves a few days ago, they had caused quite a sensation. Le Xiang was a large supermarket chain with branches not only in Hongwu County but elsewhere as well. With only tens of thousands of pounds of peaches in total, there wasn't much left once they were distributed among all the branches.

At first, everyone had adopted a wait-and-see attitude due to the high price of the peaches. But once someone bought a pound and tried them, it was game over. Within just three days, all the honey peaches on the shelves had sold out. As for the rumors online about the use of pesticides, the customers didn't care in the slightest. These days, when people could eat fruit this delicious, they didn't care about such things. Who didn't have a little spare cash?

It could be said that the fruit was a massive hit. Some families were even buying them and letting them rot without eating them, just for the sake of having them.

"What do you mean 'not much'? I checked before I came. You guys unloaded several trucks of these peaches. How could they be gone in just a few days?"

"We came here specifically for the peaches today. They were here yesterday—how are they gone now?"

"Young lady, talk to your manager. We don't need much, just two or three pounds each to take home and taste—that would be enough."

The young girl in charge of the area looked bitter. She picked up a small megaphone and addressed the crowd: "Please, don't be anxious. I will call the manager and discuss it to see if we can get a few more. But let’s make an agreement: the quantity won't be large. Please form a line and come one by one, alright?"

While things were in chaos there, Guo Dong had no idea that the honey peaches he grew would cause such a stir. At that moment, he was just wandering aimlessly through the mountains.