Chapter Thirty-Two: Forced Purchase

Yang Yi, who was following along, grew increasingly frustrated the more he listened. Was it because he hadn’t asked for enough, or offered too low a price?
“You should’ve said earlier! If you’d told me beforehand, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. These eggs of yours—I’m willing to pay one hundred and fifty per kilo.”
For eggs this delicious, never mind one hundred and fifty, even two hundred would be reasonable. Doing the math, that’s only ten per egg.
Nowadays, any random bread or little cake outside sells for twenty or thirty, sometimes even forty.
Eggs with such exquisite flavor—ten apiece, is that really expensive?
“Forget it, forget it, let’s stick to one hundred. This time it’s for real, no more price hikes.”
After listening, Zhong Di thought it over and decided not to be greedy. A profit of one hundred per kilo was already plenty; there was no need to raise the price further.
Besides, he’d just settled the rate—selling to one person for one hundred, then to Yang Yi for one hundred fifty, that didn’t seem right.
As for adjusting the price for Dongyang? That was even less appropriate.
Soon, Zhong Di gathered up the eggs from the coop. Weighed them, and there were actually ten kilos.
“Pack them all up for me. Xiao Xin will transfer the payment in a bit.”
Ten kilos—enough for a pretty good sports car. Of course he wanted all of them.
“I still have to supply others. I’ll sell you five kilos, alright? In a couple of days, I can save up more for you.”
After thinking it over, Zhong Di made this decision. By afternoon, he could probably collect another ten kilos. Today, he’d deliver ten; tomorrow, he’d make sure to gather fifteen for delivery.
“I want all ten kilos. If you don’t sell them to me, you’re looking down on me. I’ll tell Su Rou about it.”
“If you do sell them to me, I can help promote you. I see your orchard is pretty much ready—soon to be open, right?”
He was joking, but how could he let the other five kilos slip away? Here, five kilos of eggs meant fifty thousand in profit. The math was clear.
“Fine. I’ve never heard of anyone buying things by force.”
With things said to this extent, Zhong Di had no choice but to agree.
“That’s because your eggs are excellent. Alright, I’m in a hurry. Xiao Xin will send the payment.”
Yang Yi took the eggs and left without saying much more. He did seem quite pressed for time.
Whether it was for his little cousin’s eating disorder or his own sports car, Zhong Di couldn’t tell.
He opened Xiao Xin, received Yang Yi’s transfer, and went back to his room to lie down.

He thought to himself: hiring someone would do. Day by day, although his earnings were increasing, the workload was piling up, too.
At first, he could manage, but as he continued, it was becoming overwhelming. If this went on, how would he ever enjoy a relaxed life? Wouldn’t it only get more exhausting?
With income assured, hiring help wouldn’t be costly. Just from eggs alone, he was making sixty thousand a month. In a year, factoring in the off-peak seasons, it would amount to three or four hundred thousand.
Subtracting the cost of feed and other expenses, net profit would still be around three hundred thousand. Hiring someone shouldn’t be a problem.
The only issue was the Wild Sand Immortal Sprouts. He needed to seriously consider how to keep this secret.
As for expanding the scale, Zhong Di had no interest. For him, earning enough to spend was plenty; money could never be fully earned.
Combined with fruit picking in the orchard, he could easily make fifty or sixty thousand. In a place like Shache County, that counted as high income—more than enough for him.
While Zhong Di was pondering, his father called.

“Hello, Dad. Is something up?”
“If there’s nothing, can’t I call you?”
Zhong Tian’s temper flared as soon as he heard his son.
“Yes, yes.” Zhong Di quickly softened.
“Didn’t you mention wanting to buy sheep before? I asked around for you. Just wanted to ask—how much money do you have on hand for buying sheep?”
When it came to business, Zhong Tian stopped joking. After dealing with neighbors all morning, he locked the gate and finally had a moment to himself, just as he received the news.
A nearby small farm didn’t want to raise sheep anymore and was planning to switch fields, so they wanted to sell off their flock.
The price was reasonable, so he wanted to check with his son. With all the spending lately, he figured Zhong Di probably didn’t have much left.
“I’ve got money. How many sheep?”
Zhong Di’s interest was piqued. Anyone from the Northwest loved lamb, and now that his orchard was up and running, a roast whole lamb would be a hit.
Even if it wasn’t for profit, it would surely attract plenty of customers.
“How many sheep are there? You plan to buy them all? They have over a thousand grown sheep, and more than a thousand lambs. Just tell me how much you have; buy a few to raise, that’s enough.”
Further investment would probably require ten or twenty thousand, and hiring help would take several thousand more.
“Sixty thousand, Dad. Buy half grown, half lambs.”
After a quick calculation, Zhong Di made up his mind.

“What—sixty thousand? Where did you get that? Last time your mother only gave you sixty thousand. Don’t tell me all the things you’ve bought lately were on credit?”
Zhong Tian’s heart skipped a beat. He had a rough idea of what his son had bought recently, and expected maybe one or two thousand left—enough to buy a dozen lambs, perhaps. He hadn’t expected so much.
“I signed a long-term contract selling eggs—one hundred per kilo. They paid a hundred thousand deposit for long-term supply.”
He hadn’t told the family yet, but since his dad asked, it was best to explain. Otherwise, the money wouldn’t make sense and couldn’t be kept secret.
“What—one hundred per kilo? Such a big deal, why didn’t you tell the family... Never mind, you decide for yourself. I’ll handle this for you.”
He’d initially planned to scold his son—a contract worth so much money could easily be a scam—but then thought better of it.
His son had proven his intelligence since getting into university; compared to other youngsters, he was much more capable. This kind of thing didn’t need parental interference.
He’d eaten the eggs himself and found them delicious, but never expected they could sell for such a high price. It seemed his son’s return home was promising after all.
After hanging up, Zhong Di rested until the sun wasn’t so harsh, then got up for work.
He spent the entire afternoon finally connecting the drip irrigation lines—a task he’d had to rush overtime to finish.
Setting up drip irrigation was a skilled job—not heavy, but tedious. Next spring, he’d buy a seeder and lay mulch and drip lines all at once.
Intercropping peppers and tomatoes would be convenient, and leafy greens could have their own plot. Now that he was making a profit, he’d reduce the more troublesome vegetables—just enough for picking.
That evening, Zhong Di went as usual to water the Wild Sand Immortal Sprouts, and checked on the rabbits. Their fur was starting to grow—soft and adorable.
Woo woo... woof.
Yu Sheng’s bark suddenly reached Zhong Di’s ears, coming from the direction of the three hundred native chickens.
Could something be happening? This forest area had its share of chicken-stealing carnivores—yellow weasels, foxes, even wolves, they said.
Could it be a yellow weasel stealing chickens?
With that thought, Zhong Di quickly grabbed his flashlight and headed toward Yu Sheng.
Cluck, cluck!
Several chickens started clucking. At night, chickens were well-behaved and hardly ever made noise; if they did, there was definitely a reason.
Maybe it really was a yellow weasel stealing chickens. Zhong Di quickened his pace.