CH 104

He probably felt that Da Zhuang’s mother was laughing at him for not wearing clothes, so Xu Fan entered the west wing to put on some clothes. But putting on clothes was too difficult. Xu Zhao stepped forward and taught Xu Fan how to wear his clothes step by step.

However, Xu Fan’s arms and legs were too short. As soon as he bent over, he became a small ball of flesh. Xu Fan was able to put on his shorts by himself, but he couldn’t put on his short-sleeve shirt at all. Xu Zhao didn’t force it and helped Xu Fan get dressed. He then smiled and said, “Xu Fan is so amazing! You can get dressed by yourself now.”

He was complimented!

Xu Fan was extremely happy as he slid down from the bed and optimistically said, “Daddy, I-I can p-put on my shoes m-myself. I-I can wear my shoes.”

“Okay. Put them on yourself.”

His shoes were simple little sandals. As long as his foot was inserted and he used a bit of force, he would be able to wear them. Xu Fan didn’t lack any strength. He put both sandals on in a single breath, then stretched out his little foot to show Xu Zhao. “Daddy, look. I put them on.”

“So amazing!” Xu Zhao praised Xu Fan.

Xu Fan nodded fiercely. “Mn, I’m amazing!”

Xu Zhao rubbed Xu Fan’s tender little face and said, “That’s right. We’re amazing. Let’s go wash up and eat breakfast.”

“Wash up and eat breakfast.” Xu Fan repeated after Xu Zhao.

For breakfast, they had home-cooked porridge, steamed buns, and salted vegetables. They also heated up a pig trotter and gave Xu Fan half.

After eating, Xu Zhao started work. His seedlings were very successful. Da Zhuang’s father was also just finishing up plowing everything. Xu Zhao headed to the county town to obtain steel pipes, greenhouse curtains, iron wires, bamboo strips, shade net, etc. He then built greenhouses with Da Zhuang’s father and the others.

Before renting out Da Zhuang’s father’s land and in order to make it easier to build Xu Zhao’s greenhouses, Da Zhuang’s father specifically exchanged his five mus of land with the other villages so that the five mus of land were all connected. Xu Zhao had originally planned on building conjoined greenhouses, but the cost was too high. Therefore, he continued to build independent greenhouses.

After greenhouses were built on a total of seven mus of land, Xu Zhao and the other began planting the seedlings into the soil, then quickly watered, fertilized, and added sun protection. The sun protection was the most important part for the summer vegetables. However, Xu Zhao didn’t need to worry about this. Da Zhuang’s father, Zhang Xiaohu, and the others would punctually check on them everyday.

Moreover, he didn’t have to worry about cold snaps, blizzards, etc. for the summer vegetables. Therefore, Xu Zhao and the others didn’t have to work as hard as they would in the winter. At the end of summer and beginning of fall, the vegetables entered the market. Although they entered the market along with everyone else’s vegetables and they didn’t have a price advantage, since Xu Zhao had steady customers from the steel factory, Jiang Ping Restaurant, Jiefang Restaurant, etc. and had his own stall, they were still able to make a bit of money.

All the villagers who worked for Xu Zhao received a salary of 20 Yuan a month, as Xu Zhao had promised.

20 Yuan!

Everyday, they helped with watering, pulling weeds, fertilizing, harvesting vegetables and whatnot. These were all things that farmers knew how to do, and they were able to earn 20 Yuan a month. It was really easy to earn money. Many villagers coveted this job and desperately wanted to work for Xu Zhao.

Xu Zhao knew the minds of these people very well, so he found the village secretary to gain the people’s attention. The village secretary specially used the village’s loudspeakers to broadcast the entire village. He analyzed this matter from the perspective of the country as well as the benefits and interests of South Bay Village. He held a village meeting from afar. Although Xu Zhao didn’t understand what the village secretary was saying, the village secretary was indeed able to manage all the villagers.

The villagers greatly admired Xu Zhao. Xu Zhao seemed to have become the model citizen of South Bay Village. The villages were also proud to have Xu Zhao as a citizen of their village. When they encountered people from outside their village, they stood tall and straight. Not only had Xu Zhao become popular in South Bay Village, he was also popular in neighboring villages.

Hearing that Xu Zhao was single, many people secretly wanted to introduce their relatives to Xu Zhao. However, Xu Zhao firmly stated that he wasn’t interested. He then focused his entire attention on the vegetables for the end of the year.

If he did well, his income would be three or four times more than the summer vegetables, which would lay a solid foundation for a systematic production line for the future.

Therefore, Xu Zhao was particularly attentive. According to the foundation of the summer vegetable greenhouses, he strengthened the big greenhouses, by adding trimming, setting up small sheds, digging ditches for the cold, etc.

At the same time, Xu Zhao also gave his vegetable greenhouses a name. He originally picked “Sanwa Agricultural Ecology Limited,” but Cui Dingchen changed it to “Zhaoyang Agricultural Ecology Limited.”

Xu Zhao thought about it and decided to listen to Cui Dingchen, so it became Zhaoyang Agricultural Ecology Limited. He specially used the two tiled buildings in the courtyard as temporary offices and hired two permanent workers. Including Da Zhuang’s father, Xu Zhao now managed six employees. When it was busy, he would find villagers from their village to help out as day laborers.

Xu Zhao refined his work everyday. He would take out his small notebook and use the theory and practice to grow vegetables and manage it. Once everything was on the right track, he handed the task of planting vegetables to Da Zhuang’s father and Father Xu. However, the final decision was still in Xu Zhao’s hands. Xu Zhao most important task was developing the market.

They now planted eight mus of greenhouse vegetables, and the growth was very good. Under the introduction of old customers, Xu Zhao had gained a lot of new clientele. Therefore, while he was planting the winter greenhouse vegetables, the fall greenhouse vegetables were sold to the customers.

Therefore, Xu Zhao had income everyday. It was just that riding the bicycle to deliver the vegetables everyday was a bit troublesome. He wanted to change to a motorcycle. A motorcycle would be a lot more convenient, so a thought of buying a car sprouted in his heart.

But cars were too expensive.

And he didn’t have a driver’s license in this era. He had to take the driving test first. He asked Cui Dingchen about the related costs for the driving test and found it would add up to 10,000 Yuan. Xu Zhao immediately decided to postpone it. He would still use his bicycle to deliver vegetables for now. He would occasionally have Da Zhuang’s father deliver them. Da Zhuang’s father had now learned how to ride a bicycle.

Xu Zhao became much more relaxed. When he was busy thinking about how to increase his sales channels, the phone in the office rang. Xu Zhao answered professionally, and he heard Cui Dingchen’s laughter from the other end.

Xu Zhao was embarrassed.

Cui Dingchen asked, “Are you busy?”

Xu Zhao said, “It’s okay.”

Cui Dingchen said, “That’s good. I’ll happen to be back in a couple days.”

He was finally coming back.

Although Cui Dingchen called Xu Zhao often, Cui Dingchen had followed the truck on business for three months this time.

Hearing that he was coming back, Xu Zhao earnestly said, “It’s good that you’re coming back.”

“Mn,” Cui Dingchen lowered his voice and said, “Did you miss me during this time?”

Hearing this, the tip of Xu Zhao’s heart trembled, and the trembling continued to spread to the rest of his heart, causing it to beat fast and more erratically. Xu Zhao was suddenly speechless. He then heard Cui Dingchen’s pleasant laughter from the other end.

“Are you being shy again?” Cui Dingchen asked.

Xu Zhao held the phone feeling both embarrassed and happy.

Cui Dingchen sweetly sighed and said, “Since you won’t say it, then I will, okay? Xu Zhao, I miss you. I also miss Xu Fan.”

Xu Fan asked in surprise, “You miss Xu Fan?”

“Mn,” Cui Dingchen replied.

Xu Zhao was very puzzled. He loved Xu Fan and liked every single part of Xu Fan, but Cui Dingchen hated kids. It was already good if he didn’t hate Xu Fan, but he actually said he missed Xu Fan. Xu Zhao couldn’t understand it. He then heard Cui Dingchen say, “I miss it when he’s sleeping.”

Xu Zhao asked in confusion, “Why when he’s sleeping?”

Cui Dingchen replied, “He isn’t nosy and is very similar to you.”

T-this kind of longing was very particular—

Xu Zhao was speechless and said after a while, “H-he may not remember you again since it’s been three months.”

“Isn’t that your fault then?” Cui Dingchen’s tone was very gentle as if he wasn’t blaming him at all. On the contrary, he gave the other party a sense of affection.

Xu Zhao asked, puzzled, “My fault? Why is it my fault?”

Cui Dingchen said with a light, “Of course it’s your fault. You should have instilled the idea into him.”

Xu Zhao asked, “What idea?”

Cui Dingchen earnestly said, “That I’m his future big dad.”

“…”

Cui Dingchen continued, “You should say it to him at least three times a day. Morning, noon, and night. This way, it will be easier for us to become a family. What do you think?”

“…What do I think? It’s still a bit early for this.”

Cui Dingchen asked, “Are you saying our relationship isn’t stable yet?”

Without waiting for Xu Zhao to answer, Cui Dingchen said, “Then, when I come back this time, I’ll officially greet your parents and settle this matter.”

“…Youngest uncle.”

“Hmm?”

“You actually are really good at speaking.”

“I’m only good at speaking with you.”

“…”

Cui Dingchen’s words of love were very smooth. Xu Zhao’s face was flushed red as he listened to the sweet words. When he hung up the phone, he was in a daze since Cui Dingchen would return soon. His daze was finally broken by Xu Fan.

“Daddy!”

Xu Zhao hummed in reply.

Xu Fan’s milky voice called, “Where are you?”

Xu Zhao replied, “I’m working.”

Just as Xu Zhao finished speaking, he heard footsteps from outside the door before the door was pushed open. Xu Fan giggled as he entered. His small meaty hand held two handfuls of dates as he said, “Daddy, here are dates for you.”

Xu Zhao glanced at the big red dates and asked, “Where did you get the dates from?”

Xu Fan’s small meaty finger pointed outside as he said, “S-Second Uncle shook them from the tree. Da Zhuang, Erwa, and I picked a lot from the ground.”

So it was Xu Youcheng.

Xu Youcheng seemed to have changed for the better. Not only did he treat Xu Erwa better, he also treated Xu Fan well. He resembled a dad and a second uncle even more now.

It was naturally good that he had changed for the better. Xu Zhao smiled, took the dates, and took them to the courtyard to wash. He then ate them with Xu Fan. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the height wall in front of the main hall. In fact, it was just an ordinary wall. In order to record Xu Fan’s height, Xu Zhao had Xu Fan stand in front of the wall every three months to mark his height. Therefore, it was called the height wall.

It was time to measure his height again so Xu Zhao immediately pulled Xu Fan and said, “Come and measure your height.”

Xu Fan cooperated and stood against the wall and asked, “Daddy, did I grow taller?”

Xu Zhao looked at the distance of the two marks and said, “Only a little bit.”

Xu Fan asked, “W-why only a little bit?”

Xu Zhao replied, “I don’t know either.”

Xu Fan thought before asking, “Daddy, is it because of the God of the earth?”

“What?”

“Is it the God of the earth? The God of the earth pulled my leg, so I can’t grow taller?”

“Why would the God of the earth pull your leg?”

“Because the God of the earth lyks1 me.”

“…” Xu Zhao’s temple twitched twice, but he didn’t didn’t break Xu Fan’s “magical imagination” as he said, “Yes, the God of the earth likes you. When he likes you even more, he’ll let go of your leg and let you grow even taller.”

“Mn, the God of the earth is a good person. He’s on the same level as the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven.”

“That’s right. Go find your grandpa to play. Daddy needs to go work.”

“I want to go work with Daddy.”

Xu Zhao lowered his head to look at Xu Fan.

Xu Fan tilted his small meaty head and said, “I-I won’t speak.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Xu Zhao walked toward the main hall.

Xu Fan carried the toy car and padded along behind Xu Zhao.

The father and son arrived at the office. Xu Zhao sat in front of the simple desk to work, and Xu Fan played with his toy car beside him. Xu Zhao glanced at Xu Fan, and Xu Fan immediately said, “Daddy, I won’t speak.”

“…”

Xu Zhao didn’t pay Xu Fan any mind and picked up the pen to start writing when the phone rang.

“Hello?” Xu Zhao answered the phone.

A stranger’s voice sounded from the other side of the phone, “Hello, are you Xu Zhao of Zhaoyang Agricultural Ecology Limited?”