novelraw Chapter 536 - 527: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 15
Chapter 536 - 527: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 15
After Anning and Li Zhifang left, Li Zhicheng was quite happy and said to Liu Ru, "Ever since Lao Si married this wife, his vigor and spirit have changed completely, and life has been more prosperous."
Liu Ru was also very happy for Li Zhifang, "Today’s fourth sister-in-law is much better than the former one. You can tell she’s really down-to-earth, unlike the one before..."
Li Zhicheng then discussed with Liu Ru about finding a few more factories, to provide Anning and the others with more sales channels. If that still wasn’t enough, he had classmates in the City who could help connect them with some big factories.
By the time Anning and Li Zhifang were heading home, it was almost dark.
The weather was particularly cold that day, and it looked like it was going to snow.
The two of them rode their bicycles back home, their feet frozen and cold upon arrival.
Anning couldn’t care about anything else and went straight to warm her feet on the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed).
After all, Liu Yuzhen was her own daughter. Despite her young age, she knew to care for her and brought the warm water bottle she had heated up earlier, waddling to the kang to give it to Anning.
Anning hugged Liu Yuzhen and kissed her, "Oh, my girl is so good, really knows how to love her mom."
Liu Yuzhen giggled and kissed Anning back, "Mom, have some candy."
She held a piece of candy in her palm, which was almost melted.
Anning laughed and bit into it, "Mommy has had some, now Yuzhen should have some too."
Li Zhifang was also unbearably cold, but he was a man and didn’t stay warm on the kang like Anning, despite warming himself by the fire below.
He saw Anning laughing with Liu Yuzhen in her arms and also smiled and asked Liu Yuzhen, "Do you have a piece of candy for your uncle too?"
Liu Yuzhen thought for a bit, then took out another piece of candy from her pocket, "Uncle, have some candy."
Li Zhifang was happy today, and he laughed as he accepted the precious candy offered by Liu Yuzhen and ate it.
With the candy in his mouth, he started to count the money they had earned from selling vegetables with Anning.
As they were off-season vegetables, the prices were quite high. Although they hadn’t brought a lot of vegetables that day, they made a good sum.
After counting, just that small amount of vegetables sold for quite a few US $10 bills.
"We, we’re really making money."
Li Zhifang rubbed his hands together; he was really excited.
He had farmed for so many years, thinking that farming could only secure food and clothing, but he never imagined farming could make him rich.
Today, however, he saw hope.
Thinking about all the vegetables he grew, if they all sold, how much money would that be?
Moreover, vegetables like leeks and spinach aren’t harvested just once; they regrow quickly after being cut.
Anning put the money away safely and then said to Li Zhifang, "You go borrow a truck after dinner. Tomorrow we’ll cut more vegetables and drive them to the county to sell."
"Alright!"
Li Zhifang agreed, feeling an endless surge of energy at the thought of making money.
The next day, early in the morning, not only did Anning and Li Zhifang get up early, but even Li Baolai, Zhang Fengfeng, and the couple Li Zhikang also came to help cut vegetables.
Six people worked all morning and cut a full cart of vegetables.
Li Zhifang and Anning didn’t even have time for breakfast before rushing the cart into town to deliver vegetables.
They arrived in the county just as dawn was breaking. Both were tired and hungry from the morning’s work, but the thought of selling the vegetables quickly gave them peace of mind, so they didn’t rest and went straight to the wool spinning factory.
The workers and the cafeteria at the wool spinning factory took half a cart, and the rest was taken to the paper mill.
After selling a whole cart full of vegetables, Li Zhifang had money in his hands, so without disturbing Li Zhicheng and his wife, he and Anning found a small restaurant and had a hearty meal.
After eating, the two of them drove the cart back to the village.
When they returned, Zhang Fengfeng was still at home helping with the children.
Anning took out the roast chicken she brought from the City and said with a smile to Zhang Fengfeng, "Mother, I’ll have Jingyu call my father over, and we can all have dinner together tonight."
"Sure."
Zhang Fengfeng agreed with a smile, and the children, eyeing the roast chicken, were incredibly tempted.
However, Anning had always taught them to be polite and well-mannered, so even the youngest, Li Jinghan, appeared particularly sensible; none of them made a fuss about wanting to eat it right away.
Anning also called over Liu Qi, gave him US$10, and asked him to go buy some meat and also bring back some liquor.
Afterward, Anning tidied up a bit, then called Li Jingyan to help in the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Li Zhifang entered the room to count the money and, after securing it, also joined the kitchen.
He stood beside Anning watching her cook and thinking about the money he made today, he couldn’t help but smile first.
"Dad, what are you so happy about?"
Li Jingyan, who was tending the fire, saw her father smiling so foolishly and couldn’t help but ask.
Li Zhifang was especially happy, patting Li Jingyan’s head: "Dad made some money. This New Year, I can buy new clothes for Yan and get you a flower to wear. Aren’t you happy?"
Hearing this, Li Jingyan was also very delighted: "Really? That’s great, oh right, next time you go to the county, can you bring me back a few books?"
It was a good thing for the child to want to read books, and Li Zhifang agreed without hesitation.
That evening, Li Baolai and his wife Li Zhikang both came over, and the whole family gathered around for dinner.
Anning had stewed meat and stir-fried a few vegetables, plus the roast chicken, making for a very lavish dinner.
During the meal, Li Zhikang brought up his plans.
He said to Li Baolai, "Dad, after the New Year, I don’t plan to stay in the village anymore. I want to go out and see the world, find a furniture factory to learn some skills, see how they operate, and later, I plan to open a furniture factory in the City."
Li Baolai was silent.
After a long while, he said: "Don’t try to run before you’ve learned to walk."
It was a skeptical response to Li Zhikang’s idea.
Li Baolai had been on tenterhooks for a while when Li Zhifang started his greenhouse vegetable farming, and now Li Zhikang was thinking even bigger, wanting to start a factory. No matter how Li Baolai thought about it, it seemed risky.
On the contrary, Anning put down her chopsticks.
"It’s a good thing that Sixth Brother plans to open a furniture factory, but you also need to plan it well—where to source the raw materials, how to choose the factory location, where to find workers, and the issue of sales channels. All of this needs to be well-researched before a factory can be established."
Li Zhikang had already thought about these issues.
"I know that; I have made plans. In the factory, we will make both Chinese-style and Western furniture. I am skilled with Chinese-style furniture, but I am not so sure about Western ones. I want to find a factory to learn from."
Anning smiled: "Western furniture is much simpler than Chinese-style. If you are proficient in Chinese-style furniture, learning Western-style won’t be difficult. The processes are roughly the same..."
Anning explained the processes of making Western-style furniture to Li Zhikang.
Li Zhikang had a real knack for woodworking. Upon hearing this, he had a clear understanding and immediately asked Anning several questions, discussing them with her.
The more Li Zhikang talked, the more excited he became: "After what Fourth Sister-in-law has said, it seems I don’t even need to learn, I could just start working directly."
"You still need to learn."
Anning added more rice to her bowl: "After all, we have not seen any really good furniture styles in the village. You should go out and see the trendy furniture outside so we have a clear idea."
The dinner concluded amidst the discussion between Li Zhikang and Anning.
In the following days, Anning and Li Zhifang went to the county every day to deliver vegetables.
Later, as cucumbers and green beans came into season, they sold for even higher prices. By the end of the twelfth lunar month, more than half of Anning’s vegetables had been sold, and she intended to sell the rest during the first lunar month.
After all, during the first month, every family needs to entertain guests, hence the demand for vegetables would be even greater.
Even without guests, during the New Year’s celebrations, who wouldn’t want to eat something fresh? Thus, the vegetables during the first month were always more expensive than in the twelfth month.
With most of the vegetables sold and quite a bit of money earned, Anning started thinking about having a prosperous New Year. Just as she and Li Zhifang were planning to take the kids to the county for a stroll and to buy some New Year goods, Zhang Fengfeng came to find them.