Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Chapter 163 This girl has such great courage!

Qin Rushan raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

"The guaranteed price I promised to my fellow villagers was six cents per pound."

Li Xiaotao spoke at lightning speed, her logic frighteningly clear: "This price is double that of Zhan Laosan's. The villagers must be ecstatic. This supply is absolutely secure; no one can take it away."

"Six cents?" Qin Rushan scoffed. "What are you after? To act like a living saint?"

"I'm hoping this path will work, hoping to kick that bloodsucking Zhan Laosan out of the game! I'm hoping that in the future, the villagers can all live a good life by growing melons!"

Li Xiaotao's eyes hardened. "Give the villagers six cents, I won't raise a single cent. I just want these melons to get out!"

She took a deep breath and unleashed her final trump card—

"Captain Qin, let's make a bet. I'll settle for you at six cents a pound. That means you're buying all these tens of thousands of pounds of melons for six cents each. As for whether you sell them for ten cents, fifteen cents, or twenty cents in the provincial capital, that's entirely up to your skill. Any extra profit is your convoy's!"

"You mean, the entire price difference is mine?" Qin Rushan was genuinely surprised this time.

This girl has such great courage!

Even if you buy it for six cents, and sell it for ten cents in the next city, you still make a profit of four cents per pound.

A truckload of four tons, that's eight thousand jin.

Eight thousand catties multiplied by four cents equals three hundred and twenty yuan!

With three vehicles making one trip, the net profit is nearly a thousand yuan!

These days, a worker's monthly salary is only thirty or forty yuan. This trip is equivalent to the monthly salary of dozens of workers!

And this is just a conservative estimate; what if it were actually brought to the provincial capital...?

The profits are enough to drive anyone crazy.

"Yes! I don't want a single extra penny," Li Xiaotao said firmly. "But I have one condition."

"Speak." Qin Rushan's gaze had changed; he was no longer looking at a young girl, but at a business partner on equal footing.

"The convoy must arrive at Lijia Village tomorrow to load all the melons onto the trucks and take them away!"

Li Xiaotao gritted her teeth, "I'll show the whole village that even without that stinking piece of dog shit, Zhan Laosan, the earth will still turn, and life will still be prosperous!"

Qin Rushan stared at Li Xiaotao for a full five seconds.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter.

"Great! That felt good!"

Qin Rushan abruptly stood up, his tall frame exuding an air of arrogance. "The bold get rich, the timid starve. These days, it's a fool not to make money! Since even a woman like you has this guts, if I keep hesitating, what kind of man am I!"

He yelled directly at the door, "Yang Dong! Get the hell in here!"

Yang Dong, who was eavesdropping through the crack in the door, was startled by what he heard and quickly pushed the door open and rolled in.

"Brother Qin, what...what's wrong?"

"Go! Tell Monkey and Dazhuang from the second team to give those three newly serviced Jiefang trucks a thorough second inspection!"

Qin Rushan waved his hand dismissively, exuding an air of authority, "Fill up the tank, pack the tarpaulin! Tomorrow we're going back to Lijia Village with your Sister Peach to pick melons!"

"Three fully operational vehicles?" Yang Dong's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Brother Qin, are we going to have a big battle?"

"Enough talk! If this trip goes smoothly, everyone on the team will get an extra ten pounds of pork next month, and their bonuses will be doubled!"

"Alright! Just you wait and see!"

Upon hearing that there was meat and money involved, Yang Dong immediately perked up. He turned and dashed out like a cannonball, shouting as he ran, "Brothers! Grab your weapons! Big work is here!"

Inside the office.

Li Xiaotao's tense shoulders finally relaxed, her palms were covered in cold sweat.

This was actually a risky move.

Giving six cents to the transport team actually squeezed her own profit margin. You could even say that she was just helping the villagers on this trip, without getting anything in return.

But she had a bigger picture in mind.

As long as we get the road open this time and connect with Qin Rushan, the agricultural products of Lijia Village will be able to be transported out continuously.

More importantly, her prestige in the village will be unmatched, and her father, the village secretary, can finally stand tall.

Moreover, with the connections of the transport team, if she wanted to smuggle some electronic watches, bell-bottoms, or the like from the south, it would be a piece of cake.

This is the key to making individual businesses grow bigger and stronger!

"Young lady, since it's a collaboration, let's sign a contract."

Although Qin Rushan was generous, he valued rules in business. He took out paper and pen from his drawer and said, "Words are meaningless; let's put it in writing. You have to cover this six-cent guarantee. If the goods don't match the description, or if the villagers back out and refuse to sell, you'll have to compensate for the loss of this truckload."

"No problem." Li Xiaotao took the pen, signed her name on the letter paper in a flamboyant style, and then solemnly pressed her red handprint on it.

"Li Xiaotao".

Qin Rushan looked at the name, blew on the still-wet ink, and a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes. "Alright, I'll remember you. If you encounter any difficulties in the county town in the future, just mention my name, Qin Rushan, and it will work."

……

At this moment, the atmosphere in Lijia Village was as oppressive as the sky before a storm.

Although the crowd had dispersed, many villagers who were still unwilling to give up were squatting by the wall smoking in silence in the courtyard outside the brigade headquarters.

I doubt it.

Li Fugui puffed on his pipe, looking worried. "Xiao Tao is just young and impetuous, she talks big without thinking. It's been almost several hours, and we haven't even seen a car."

"Yeah, why don't we go and beg Boss Zhan? Even two and a half cents would be better than letting it rot in the ground." Some people started to back down.

Li Youtian was restless in the brigade headquarters; the water in his teacup had long since gone cold.

"Secretary, how about... we prepare for both possibilities?"

Li Fugui cautiously suggested, "If all else fails, shall I call Zhan Laosan again to apologize?"

At this critical moment when everyone was filled with anxiety.

Suddenly, a plume of yellow dust rose from the dirt road leading to the village entrance in the distance, resembling a yellow dragon rolling on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, "Beep—Beep—!"

A powerful, deep, and penetrating blast of air from a horn resounded throughout the valley.

Li Fugui, who was squatting by the wall, dropped his pipe on the ground.

He suddenly stood up and squinted as he looked towards the village entrance.

At the end of the village road, where yellow dust filled the sky, a grass-green Liberation brand truck roared like a steel behemoth, tearing through the dull twilight of Lijia Village.

"drop--!!"

The air horn had a deep and domineering sound, completely different from the noise of Zhan Laosan's beat-up car.

"Holy crap... it's the Liberation truck! The truck's here!"

These days, only government-employed transport teams can afford to drive these kinds of vehicles!

The wheels kicked up dust and carried a strong smell of diesel fuel as they came to a steady stop in front of the brigade headquarters courtyard.

Before the car door even opened, the oppressive feeling made the surrounding villagers instinctively take several steps back, afraid of bumping into this precious behemoth.

"Clang!"

The heavy iron door to the passenger side was pushed open.

Under the watchful, bewildered gazes of hundreds of people in the village, a foot clad in black cloth shoes stepped out.

Immediately afterwards, Li Xiaotao's fair yet somewhat spirited face appeared.

She nimbly jumped off the high platform, casually brushed off non-existent dust from her trousers, her movements as graceful as a female cadre returning from an inspection.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Immediately afterwards, a young man with a buzz cut wearing a work vest jumped out of the driver's seat.

Yang Dong walked around the front of the car, his expression incredibly attentive, showing none of the arrogance typical of city drivers.

"Sister Peach, slow down! Your truck is in the back bed, let me unload it for you!"

Yang Dong nimbly climbed onto the truck bed, lifted Li Xiaotao's dilapidated old bicycle with one hand, and handed it down as easily as if it were a chick.

"Thanks, Brother Yang."

Li Xiaotao took the bicycle and said familiarly, "When you get back, please give my regards to Captain Qin. Tell him that this matter was handled very well, and everyone in Lijia Village will remember his kindness."

"Look at what you're saying, we absolutely have to do a great job on what Brother Qin asked us to do!"

Yang Dong chuckled, revealing a set of bright white teeth, and spoke in a loud voice, deliberately making sure the surrounding villagers, who were listening intently, could hear him clearly, "Sister Taozi, then let's meet first thing tomorrow morning! I've arranged everything with the convoy, I guarantee there won't be any delays!"

After saying that, Yang Dong waved to the crowd and jumped into the driver's seat.

The Jiefang truck roared to life, turned around and sped away amidst a sea of ​​awe, leaving behind only a plume of black smoke and the lingering smell of diesel fuel.

Only when the car's rear end was completely out of sight did Li Fugui seem to come back to his senses. He rushed to Li Xiaotao, his old face twitching with excitement.

"Xiao Tao...this...this is a vehicle from the county transport team?!"

Li Xiaotao pushed her bicycle aside and glanced at the faces around her, which were filled with shock and anticipation.

She didn't rush to answer, but instead walked to the large blue stone in the middle of the courtyard and stood on it.

At that moment, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on her, gilding her with a golden edge.

"Fellow villagers!"