CHAPTER 546: CHAPTER 329: COINCIDENCE

Luo Ye’s words made Li Xiaobei slightly excited as she shook the other’s arm and requested, "Luoluo, can you... can you go help me keep an eye on things, please?"

"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Luo Ye glanced at the time, feeling a bit hesitant. There was still an hour before lights out, and if Hang Menglin came looking for her, she would have to explain again.

"Grandpa booked a train ticket for 5:10 a.m. tomorrow. After Wang Liqiang sends Grandpa back, he’ll go straight to the company in the suburbs." Li Xiaobei looked at Luo Ye expectantly: "Luoluo, you can definitely make it back before lights out."

"Okay." Luo Ye agreed and stood up, rummaging through the cabinet to find a box of donkey-hide gelatin and two bags of oatmeal. "Luoluo, put down the stuff!" Li Xiaobei pushed her anxiously.

"Little Bei, based on what you’ve described, your Grandpa surely doesn’t indulge himself in food or clothing. I know you’re not the type with blind pride, and you wouldn’t mind, so these little gifts might not do much, but they are a token of my sympathy." Luo Ye said while pulling her outside: "Don’t waste time, or it’ll be lights out soon."

"It’s one thing to say that, but it’s embarrassing to have you help me and yet still bring gifts, especially since these were specifically saved for after your surgery..." Li Xiaobei looked conflicted.

Luo Ye rebuked dissatisfiedly, "Little Bei, if you keep rambling, I won’t go."

Li Xiaobei hurriedly smiled and appeased: "Okay then, please thank Luoluo on behalf of my Grandpa. He has probably never had such good things in his life."

Luo Ye pinched her lightly: "Nonsense! I can’t vouch for authentic donkey-hide gelatin, but oatmeal is sold in every major supermarket. Don’t people bring these kinds of stuff for relatives during holidays in rural areas?"

"Cookies, canned food, and oatmeal indeed commonly serve as gifts when visiting relatives during festivals, but Grandpa would never eat them himself, saving them for the children instead." Li Xiaobei reflected suddenly and slapped her head. "Luoluo, even if you give them, Grandpa won’t consume them himself; he will definitely share them with the little nephews and nieces."

"Then let him share. That’s the way elders think; they’re happier if the younger ones eat it than themselves. If you really feel sorry for Grandpa, make him eat some before you leave the guest house, that way he can at least try a little, right?"

"Right, Luoluo, you’re so smart!"

Watching the cheerful Li Xiaobei, Luo Ye sighed quietly to herself and quickly went downstairs, putting an arm around her.

...

Inside the guest house room, Grandpa Li was casually chatting with Wang Ligang: "Ligang, come visit Little Bei when you have time in the future. She’s a sincere kid. After my visit, there shouldn’t be any issues between you two!"

Ligang scratched his head naively: "Thank you, Fourth Grandpa, for making this special trip. My dad is just overly suspicious, please don’t take it to heart."

"I won’t." Grandpa Li waved his hand: "No one would be at ease. There have been too many who changed their hearts and consciences after getting into college; can’t blame him for being cautious."

All the while keeping silent, Wang Liqiang stood up to salute: "Fourth Grandpa, after all, Ligang only has a middle school education. No matter what, our Li family is sincere. Rest assured, with us brothers around here, Little Bei won’t be wronged."

Grandpa Li chuckled: "I’m at ease, very much at ease!"

While they were engaging in small talk, there was a knock at the door. Wang Ligang promptly got up: "It must be Little Bei." Before he could go to the door, it was pushed open. Little Bei rushed in, pulling Luo Ye along excitedly, "Grandpa, this is Luo Ye I mentioned to you, she has been a great help to me."

"Hello, Grandpa Li!" Luo Ye greeted with a smile.

"Luo Ye, hello!" Grandpa Li quickly got up and gave a comical salute. Luo Ye held back her laughter and returned the salute, repeating: "Hello, Grandpa Li!"

Li Xiaobei praised with a smile: "Grandpa, you learn so fast." She then pointed to the other two to introduce them to Luo Ye: "Wang Liqiang, Wang Liqiang; Liqiang is Ligang’s brother; he just transferred to our school."

"Hello!" Luo Ye took the opportunity to greet them, sizing up Wang Liqiang, about 176cm tall, slightly thin, with short hair, long eyebrows, small eyes, but with a very upright nose, a spirited young man. By appearance, he was above average and quite matched with Li Xiaobei.

Although Luo Ye came with a purpose, she couldn’t dominate the conversation. This felt a bit like accompanying a friend on a blind date. If a guest were to act pickier than the host, what would be the intention?

Obviously, Wang Liqiang took Luo Ye as just another student, like Li Xiaobei, and he tried hard to think of topics related to school, but since it was not his forte, he often turned red with embarrassment.

Seeing this, Luo Ye asked with a light smile, "I heard from Little Bei that Mr. Wang is currently working in a labor protection company, and became the business manager within a few months. Tell us about your work, please."

"Our company’s boss is really great, treats the employees generously and sincerely; I respect him, and naturally, I work especially hard. The old staff have all become sly old foxes; I couldn’t stand it and wrote a suggestion to the boss. After a bit of back and forth, and because my performances weren’t bad either, the boss made me the sales manager.

At first, the old employees definitely didn’t accept it, thinking I only climbed up so fast by brown-nosing, but I didn’t argue with them, just kept my head down and worked. In one month, my performance was better than all of theirs.

Then they said my success was all due to connections. When I heard that, fine, let’s switch roles. After another month, my performance was still higher than theirs.

Now, they seem to accept me on the surface, but I guess they still have some small thoughts in their hearts. However, I’m confident that, one day, they will be truly convinced of me..."

When Wang Liqiang speaks of his work, his spirit is immediately invigorated, and through his words, a full confidence is revealed, as if he’s implying that in some ways he can match up to Little Bei.

Little Bei took advantage of Grandpa’s inattention, opened the oatmeal, made it for him, and also opened a small bottle of donkey-hide gelatin, put a straw in it, and brought it all to Old Sir Li: "Grandpa, this is from Luoluo for you, please taste it."

"This kid, such naiveté, how can she allow you to spend so much, and even opened it for you, bringing cold and hot at the same time, not afraid of people laughing." Grandpa Li hurriedly looked at Luo Ye: "Child, you’re also a student, how can we accept your things, this..."

Luo Ye cut him off: "Grandpa, I didn’t buy these with money, it’s fine as long as you don’t despise it."

"How could I despise it, how dare I despise it..." Old Sir Li while speaking reached his hand into his back pocket, turned around with his hand full of jujubes: "Child, don’t despise it either."

"Grandpa, as you say, how could I despise it? I really like eating jujubes." Luo Ye grabbed one, took a bite, seemingly inconspicuous dry jujubes, sweet and soft, with an excellent texture. Luo Ye tasted another one and looked at Grandpa Li: "Grandpa, did you sun dry these jujubes yourself or did you buy them?"

"Dried them ourselves, the autumn jujube harvest was good this year..." Elder Li shook his head with a sigh: "The jujube merchants saw we had a lot of stock, pushed the price down to 50 cents a pound. Dried like this, not pressed for weight, selling for 50 cents a pound is almost like giving it away. The village is planning to cut down the trees this winter and plant new fruit trees in spring."

"What a pity to cut down such a good variety..." Luo Ye thought for a bit: "Grandpa, how many dried jujubes like this could the village have?"

Old Sir Li thought for a moment: "Oh, there’s a lot of them. With such a low price, no one is willing to sell. There are about a dozen households with jujube gardens in the village, the most having four or five thousand pounds, and the least several hundred pounds. Just Little Bei’s family and her uncle’s family have over three thousand pounds. And if you count the neighboring villages, that number would be even higher."

"Is the quality all similar to this?"

"Xing, these are actually better; I brought these as snacks for the road, all the small ones." Although Elder Li was curious, he still cooperated and replied.

"How about this, if the quality is better than this, I’ll take all the jujubes from the village." Luo Ye ignored the flabbergasted looks of the others and continued: "Considering the market price for this kind of jujube quality is over four yuan per pound, I’m willing to buy in bulk for three yuan eighty per pound, is that okay?"

Old Sir Li stood up abruptly, glanced at Luo Ye, then quietly sat back down, Wang Ligang and Wang Liqiang’s expressions were similar to Old Sir Li’s.

"Luoluo, you...are you serious?" Li Xiaobei asked hesitantly, based on her understanding of Luo Ye, he’s not the type to brag without substance, but this proposal seemed too incredible.

"Of course, would I joke about something like this?" Luo Ye smiled, looking at the silent group: "I have a friend who runs a hotel, and also a few nursing homes. Jujubes are an excellent health food for the elderly, and they need to purchase a large amount every year.

Previously, the supplies were independently purchased by the stores, and the quality was very inconsistent. Grandpa Li, please give me your bank book account number, and I’ll transfer some advance payment to you first thing tomorrow. You can help me with the initial collection, and later I’ll have my friend send someone to assist you, is that okay?"

"Child, really...really? Yes...yes, of course...it’s okay..." Elder Li was thrilled and speechless, three yuan eighty a pound, my goodness, how much could they sell their own for?

"Fourth Grandpa, I think Luo Ye is being very generous; we should also be righteous. How about we lower the price a bit?" Wang Ligang did some quick calculations: "How about three yuan? What do you think?"

Elder Li nodded repeatedly: "Right! Right! Look at me getting all muddled, only focusing on the excitement. Three yuan is already scarily high. When I go back and tell everyone, for sure many won’t believe it."

"Let’s settle on this price then." Luo Ye thought for a moment: "I do have one request, next year, don’t intersperse crops in the jujube garden.

You can convey this request, Grandpa Li. If anyone doesn’t take the advice, we won’t buy their jujubes when they come to market. This is also for long-term consideration. Is that okay?"

Elder Li’s face flushed with excitement: "Yes, with such a price, taking care of the jujube garden is better than anything. Child, if this works out, you’ll be saving the whole village. Next year’s school fees for the children won’t be a worry anymore."

"Alright then, I’ll call my friend and ask him to draft a contract to sign. This way, it will be easier for you to handle when you go back." Luo Ye said standing up: "There’s a phone that takes a magnetic card around the corner, I’ll be right back."

The time for the next update, before 8 o’clock. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)