1994: Starting with unpaid leave

"Before I returned from Keshan County, I saw that a food processing plant there was about to go bankrupt and was transferring its equipment at a low price."

"I took a look and found that the factory has second-hand braising pots and pressure sterilizers."

"Even though it's secondhand, it's not cheap, and the production volume is probably not large. The boss asked for 15,000 right off the bat..."

"But I want to give it a try..."

While eating the food on the table, Dong Jianguo told the others about his plans.

He had originally planned to wait until he finished paying off the mortgage this month before bringing it up.

But today, spurred on by the story of the wealthy man, I decided to voice my thoughts ahead of time.

"Then give it a try! I can make braised eggs for you!" Xiuyun patted Dong Jianguo's arm to show her support.

Erzhuzi nodded: "Brother Jianguo, I'll follow you wherever you go, but let me make it clear beforehand, I have absolutely no idea how to make braised eggs..."

"Godfather! Godfather!" Yueyue hugged Dong Jianguo's neck tightly with her little hands and said in her childish voice, "My mom can also make braised eggs, they're sweet and delicious! They're even better than the ones sold outside!"

Dong Jianguo was knocked back by her bump, and quickly reached out to hug the soft little dumpling, laughing as he playfully flicked her nose:

"Really?"

"Yes! I'd be a dog if I lied to you!" Yueyue nodded emphatically.

"Okay, then your mom and godmother will make braised eggs together, and you can be the judge. Let's see who makes the best ones!"

"Chefs, I'm leaving this to you two."

Dong Jianguo picked Yueyue up and lifted her high, and Yueyue let out a silvery laugh:

"If we don't know how to use the machine, we'll learn. At worst, we'll waste a few more batches of eggs. As long as we're on the right track, what's a little cost?"

Dong Jianguo smiled.

Things haven't officially started yet, so there's no need to put too much pressure on everyone.

"My idea is that those machines won't sell anytime soon, so Xiuyun, you and Sister Hongmei should try making a few batches of braised eggs at home tomorrow."

"Then we distribute the braised eggs to customers who come here to buy eggs. We select the best-tasting eggs and write down the recipes."

"I'll first take a look around the North Third District to see if there are any other machines with lower prices, and while I'm at it, I'll keep an eye out for suitable locations to build a factory."

"So...we won't sell eggs anymore?"

"We sell, but only our people wholesale and supply restaurants. If the braised eggs really get on track, we can stop the retail business for a while."

"If we can turn it into a factory assembly line, we can help even more and more workers!"

"That's right! When Jianguo becomes the factory director, he'll definitely be better than that scoundrel Zhao Ruidong's father!"

"Hehe, of course! Come on, let's have a clink!"

"Ding!"

In the bedroom of the bungalow, several rough porcelain bowls and enamel mugs collided together, making a crisp and pleasant sound.

In that voice, there was aspiration for the future, as well as a promise to share weal and woe.

……

The next day, after Dong Jianguo finished collecting the eggs delivered by the Keshan County breeding farm, he was about to leave the bungalow to find the machines and factory when his pager went off.

Upon taking it out and looking at it, I couldn't help but frown slightly.

It was Secretary Guo from Hongqi Farm who came to see him.

Could it be that Zhang Cunyi has done something out of the ordinary?

Although he didn't want to get involved, Secretary Guo had been quite helpful with the egg business right now.

So Dong Jianguo immediately found the public phone at the convenience store and called back.

"Hey Xiao Dong, what's the deal with that guy surnamed Zhang?"

"He called me early this morning, asking me to order the delivery driver to drive into his alley and unload the goods for him!"

"How can they do things like this? A truckload of eggs weighs several thousand pounds! How long would it take the driver to unload them all by himself? Besides, why should he, the driver, do this job?!"

Dong Jianguo smiled bitterly to himself.

It's not that the driver can't do the job; as long as he gets paid, he works harder than anyone else.

However, given Zhang Cunyi's greedy nature, he probably wouldn't give the other party a single penny, which is why this trivial matter was brought to Secretary Guo's attention.

"Uncle Guo..."

"That's not all. The worst part is that that brat even tried to lower the price of our eggs. We agreed on 1 yuan per egg, but he only offered 2 yuan!"

"The goods were delivered to my door, and he's already haggling with me over the price. What does this brat take us old guys for?"

To be honest, Dong Jianguo had a good impression of Secretary Guo. He had always been a very kind old man when they met, but he didn't expect to hear such strong anger in his tone this time.

He hurriedly explained:

"Uncle Guo, I didn't know any of this. I told him yesterday that he can't just think about himself when doing business. Maybe he has his own ideas..."

"I don't care what the hell he thinks! I'm not selling my eggs to him anymore! Are you going to take this truckload of eggs or not? If you don't, I'll have the driver return them all!"

"what?"

Dong Jianguo was taken aback. He had just received 5000 jin of eggs from Keshan's poultry farm today, and there was almost no room left in the yard to put them...

However, at this point, it's best to follow up on what Secretary Guo was saying:

"Uncle Guo, please bring it over here... Can you contact the driver? Or should I come over?"

"No need, they left me a landline number, he should still be waiting there."

"Um, Uncle Guo, should I talk to my second uncle about this...?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and Secretary Guo thought for a moment before saying:

"Forget it, I'll just call your second uncle tonight and tell him. You just focus on selling your eggs; this has nothing to do with you!"

The phone rang and hung up immediately.

Dong Jianguo shook his head and paid the shopkeeper 3 cents.

Who would have thought that yesterday morning we were worried about not having enough eggs to sell, but this morning the egg warehouses are overflowing...

But... how should we explain this to Second Aunt?

After all, I had already given Zhang Cunyi the opportunity. As for the fact that he was useless despite the opportunity, I shouldn't blame myself for that, right?

I waited at home for twenty minutes, and the truck arrived at my door right on time.

As soon as the car door opened, the driver got out angrily and slammed the door shut.

"Master Wang, are you alright? Why are you so angry?"

Dong Jianguo handed him a cigarette and pulled him aside.

With a flick of his wrist, two ten-yuan bills were once again precisely slipped into the other person's pocket.

Master Wang patted his pockets and sighed:

"Damn it, don't even mention it. That bastard who received the goods acted like he owned the place."

"His alley is already narrow, and cars can't even drive in there, but he insisted that I wasn't a good driver."

"I asked him to move the entire tricycle of goods, and that bastard just asked me to do it for him! When I disagreed, he even went to Secretary Guo to complain."

"Holy crap, I've been delivering goods to the North Third District every day for three years, and I've never encountered anyone like this before!"

Dong Jianguo smiled and said, "There are all kinds of birds in a big forest. The fact that you haven't met any of them just means you haven't met enough people."

Master Wang gave a wry smile and patted Dong Jianguo on the shoulder:

"I'm not saying anything more, I'm just happy to deliver the goods to you. Boss Dong, let me unload the goods for you first, we'll talk later!"

"Hmm, Erzhuzi, we've got some work to do!"

Dong Jianguo called out, and Erzhuzi, who had rested enough, came out of the yard to help.

"There's a lot of cargo this time, so we unloaded the eggs in the bedroom since there wasn't enough space."

"good!"

Watching boxes of eggs being unloaded from the truck, Dong Jianguo couldn't help but find it amusing:

It seems that not everyone can run an egg business...