Chapter Ninety-Six: Counterattack

After hanging up the phone, Zhong Di let out a long sigh—how exhausting! Even more tiring than a day’s work. Soon, however, he composed himself. This attempt to smear his name might not cause any real harm, but the sheer unpleasantness of it was revolting. It was like being bitten by a dog; you might want to bite back, but the disgust lingered regardless. Since that’s the case...

Zhong Di made up his mind. Deep down, he knew he should have expected something like this from the very start, though he hadn’t thought it would come so soon.

“How did it go, Zhong Di?” Shao Hong, from the bunk above, called down. He’d overheard enough to piece together what had happened; though Sun Miaomiao’s words had been unclear, Zhong Di’s responses were easy to catch. Shao Hong cared a great deal about the orchard’s development.

“It was Huari behind the smear campaign. It’s not a big issue—Dongyang will cover for us—but from now on, we can’t let Huari off so easily.”

“Starting tomorrow, double the free-range chickens we supply to Dongyang, double the vegetables, begin offering whole lambs, and add some rabbits and pigeons as bonus items.”

Zhong Di’s expression darkened. He’d never been particularly ambitious, but now that someone had gone so far as to insult him to his face, he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

Earlier that day, his sister had suggested Huari was the instigator, though it hadn’t been confirmed. Now he knew for certain.

“Alright, but how will we supply the whole lambs?” The rest was easy enough—just a matter of counting stock—but lamb was another story. Would it be one a day, or every few days? It needed proper planning.

“Let’s start with one every three days. We’ll monitor the quality; if it drops, we’ll extend the supply interval.”

Officially, Zhong Di was talking about their various livestock, but in truth he was referring to the Wild Sand Immortal Buds.

“That won’t be enough lambs. At this rate, they’ll be gone before long,” Shao Hong thought. This wasn’t a sustainable plan.

“It’s fine. I’ll handle it,” Zhong Di replied. He planned to talk to his father about it; the sheep pen was still understocked—doubling the numbers would be easy. Buying another twenty or thirty sheep was no trouble.

“Alright, I’ll arrange for one every three days.”

“Oh, and another thing—see if you can gather any wild oleaster from nearby. Our feed mix already includes medicinal herbs; I want to add oleaster berries and check the impact on quality.”

The idea had just occurred to Zhong Di when he remembered the berries scattered around the area. Usually, wild pheasants ate them, but if he collected them for their free-range chickens, it might not improve the flavor, but it would help further mask the presence of the Wild Sand Immortal Buds.

The more mysterious the blend, the better. Let everyone wonder what the secret ingredient really was.

“No problem,” Shao Hong agreed. After chatting a bit longer, the two began to prepare dinner.

“Remember when we roasted that whole lamb? There were plenty of organs left. How about lamb offal stew tonight?” Zhong Di suggested. If Shao Hong was up for it, they would make it.

“Sure. Are you going to eat the lamb testicles?”

“No, not the testicles. I’ll just have the offal and the trotters. Let’s make some spicy lamb trotters.”

When it came to testicles, Zhong Di was a bit disgusted. How could anyone eat that? Then again, people were just as enthusiastic about chicken rumps, so perhaps it wasn’t so surprising.

“Alright, let’s stew the trotters first, with plenty of chili.”

Elsewhere, Sun Miaomiao hung up her call and glanced at her phone’s wallpaper. She used to have a photo of a six-pack abs as her background, but her mother had seen it, so she switched to something more modest.

“Honestly, it’s just meeting the parents!” she muttered, then dialed her father.

“Hi, Dad. I’ve spoken to Zhong Di. He didn’t mention anything about compensation.”

Her father had wanted to offer financial compensation, but Sun Miaomiao had spun the story differently. If Zhong Di had known it was about money, he surely would have accepted.

“Alright. Step up the pressure on Huari. Don’t give them any breathing room,” her father instructed.

He hadn’t wanted to push things too far, but since Huari had started suppressing them and was intent on monopolizing the Kuren City restaurant market, he couldn’t tolerate it.

Monopolies stifle innovation. Though Dongyang was the leading company in Shache County, they had never tried to suppress any local restaurant. Healthy competition was one thing—but Huari was out for monopoly. Until they’d dealt with Huari directly, they hadn’t realized its strength lay not in its own operations, but in the capital backing it. After one acquisition after another, the company had grown, and with it, its efforts to squeeze out new local businesses—an unhealthy monopoly harmful to the market as a whole.

With the decision made, father and daughter ended their call.

The next morning, Zhong Di broke with his usual habits and slept in. The night before, he and Shao Hong had feasted on lamb trotters, roasted lamb kidneys, and offal, staying up late. The meal had been satisfying, but left him utterly exhausted.

So Zhong Di indulged in a rare lie-in.

Shao Hong was already gone, likely up and working for hours. They’d gone to bed at the same time, yet Shao Hong was so diligent—how did he manage it? Wasn’t he tired?

Zhong Di glanced at the clock; it was already after nine. He’d slept straight through the morning.

Once up, he found most of the chores already done. The uncles working on the house were finishing up, and in the distance, Shao Hong was cleaning the chicken coop—urgent work that couldn’t wait.

“Zhong Di, take a look at this final financial statement,” called Zhong Hui as she stepped out of the storage room, which she’d turned into a makeshift office. Half the space was cleared, making it suitable for her needs.

Zhong Di took the statement and scanned it—nothing out of order, just the usual expenses, all reasonable.

Since the business license had been issued, they had a company account, and Zhong Di’s card was used as the operating account. Everything was accounted for, and taxes were paid in full.

“By the way, sis, when you have time, could you ask your husband to come with me to Kuren City?”

After handing back the statement, Zhong Di asked.

“Sure, tomorrow or the day after is fine. What’s up?”

“Dad’s leg is almost fully healed. I want to take him for a check-up, and while we’re there, buy two vehicles for the orchard and some small machinery.”

Looking at the accounts, Zhong Di saw there were ample funds. The recent expenses for building and digging the fish pond had been significant, but income was strong as well. Just the payments from Dongyang were enough to cover everything, not to mention revenue from hosting clients, fruit picking, and big customers like Qian Weining.

He planned to buy two vehicles: a truck for transporting goods, and a cheap car for his sister’s commute. The distance was manageable in summer, but winter would be brutal.