For three consecutive days, Li Haochen meticulously planned his schedule, dedicating time to planting over two thousand coconut seedlings and installing five to six hundred bamboo stakes daily. The remaining hours were spent on the fields.
After three days of diligent work, all the plots were successfully planted. By next March, there would be abundant vegetables, enough to sell.
That morning, after enjoying a loving breakfast, Li Haochen rode his bike towards the warehouse. Li Rendong was scheduled to drive and deliver the first batch of chopsticks today. He couldn't return empty-handed, as maximizing profit was key.
Quite a few of the coconut seedlings were ready for transplanting and could be taken back to the village to plant.
Despite having installed over two thousand bamboo stakes recently, the warehouse was still largely occupied by them. The remaining space was insufficient to accommodate the over one hundred boxes of chopsticks.
Li Rendong was not expected until the afternoon, leaving ample time to install more bamboo stakes and free up space.
Li Haochen bought several large steamed buns and placed them in the warehouse. After changing into his diving suit, he prepared to install the bamboo stakes. To speed up the process, Li Haochen first removed the movable bamboo piece in the center of the stakes, allowing him to carry over a dozen at a time.
He would first insert these bamboo pieces and then bring the stakes to slot them in. This method was inspired by observing the movement of zebras on the African savanna in the show "Man and Nature."
This method indeed proved much faster. In just one morning, nearly a thousand stakes were processed, a third faster than before.
At noon, he took a break to eat some buns for lunch and then continued. He worked until three in the afternoon before stopping, prompted by a call from Li Rendong.
Looking at the warehouse, half of the space had been cleared, a commendable achievement.
Although warehouse space had been cleared, the coconut seedlings had not yet been moved out. Li Haochen immediately rushed back and forth. Fortunately, moving things out was quick. However, the coconuts needed to be stacked neatly, otherwise, if scattered everywhere, they would take up the entire warehouse.
It took about an hour to stack over two thousand coconuts into seven layers, forming a pyramid. This saved a lot of space, but the base needed to be secured with something.
While contemplating whether to move out more coconut seedlings, a rumbling sound echoed from outside the warehouse. Upon checking, a red semi-trailer truck, seventeen to eighteen meters long, was parked outside. It was undoubtedly Li Rendong.
"Dongzi, you've worked hard."
"I'm used to it, but it's a bit wasteful, hehe!"
It was indeed wasteful. With only over a hundred boxes of chopsticks, they occupied only a quarter of the truck's space. It was a huge loss for a large truck not to be fully loaded.
However, Li Haochen had paid for the truck, so he had the final say.
"How's the truck?"
"Very good. It's a J6 tractor unit with powerful engines, not inferior to foreign ones."
Li Haochen didn't know much about cars, but if Li Rendong, an experienced truck driver for many years, said it was good, then it must be.
"Let's not unload the goods yet. Let's go eat."
"No, I've already eaten. I'll finish unloading and loading the coconut seedlings first. I need to rush back; the village is waiting."
"Alright then!"
The conch shop was now stable, so there was no need for all three people to be there. Li Haochen transferred A Long to assist with loading and unloading at the clothing factory and for deliveries.
As Li Haochen and the others began unloading, A Long arrived in a Wuling Hongguang mini-truck, which had just been registered and was ready for operation.
"A Long, this is my brother Li Rendong. You'll be responsible for coordinating with him from now on."
"Hello, Brother Dong!"
A Long offered Li Rendong a cigarette, and they lit them up, enveloped in smoke. Soon, they became acquainted.
Indeed, a cigarette was a good bridge for building relationships.
With A Long's addition, the three unloaded and loaded goods very quickly, finishing everything in an hour.
Seeing their hard work in helping him, Li Haochen wanted to give them more money, but he thought it might not be appropriate. So, he gave each of them two packs of Classic Red Double Happiness cigarettes.
Li Rendong left. The next delivery would be after the New Year. With just over a hundred boxes of chopsticks, they would take more than a month to sell. Thinking about this, Li Haochen felt a pang of melancholy.
"The sales volume is still too low."
Shortly after, A Long also loaded a truck full of chopsticks and set off for deliveries to their respective locations.
In the evening, A Long brought some good news. The Dongyang Fast Food Group's twelve stores in Binhai consumed over twenty thousand pairs of chopsticks daily. This excited him for quite some time.
However, his joy was short-lived. The sales volume still did not meet his expectations. If this continued, he would incur significant losses.
Besides driving rural development, the factory was also meant to make money. Even if it didn't make a profit, it shouldn't lose money. Only by making money could he be motivated to grow bigger and stronger, bringing more income to the countryside, thus ensuring the factory's sustainability.
To continue operating, Li Haochen decided to take the initiative.
After dinner, Li Haochen carried a box of chopsticks horizontally onto the footboard of his small Aima scooter. Murong Yanran was very curious, "What are you going to do with that big box late at night?"
"A salesman, hehe!"
With the large box in between, Li Haochen had to spread his legs wide. Fortunately, his legs were long enough to reach the foot pedals on both sides; otherwise, his feet would be dangling in the air. Even so, with his legs spread wide, it was quite tiring.
Li Haochen's destination for the night was the old town of Binhai. Although the economy there might not be as good as in the city center, it was undoubtedly the biggest consumer of chopsticks.
The old town was a concentration of migrant workers, with countless street-side night snacks and barbecue stalls. Most of them used disposable chopsticks, unlike the shops in the city center, which used reusable plastic chopsticks.
Arriving in the old town around nine in the evening, it was the beginning of nightlife.
Li Haochen pushed his scooter into an alley. It was already lively inside, with barbecue stalls, stir-fried snails and rice, and various other food vendors. Within a few dozen meters, there were no less than ten stalls. Although the business wasn't booming, it was decent.
"Boss, one stir-fried snail, one stir-fried rice noodle, and a bottle of Wanglaoji."
Li Haochen sat down at a stall and ordered some food. Promoting products couldn't be rushed. If he had directly approached the boss and said, "Boss, look at the quality of my chopsticks, they're great and cheap," no one would have paid him any attention.
However, coming here to patronize the stall first and then discuss business was different. As the saying goes, "He who has eaten from your hand is beholden to you."
While waiting for the food, Li Haochen carefully observed the chopsticks on the table. They were 4mm thick and quite soft, clearly made from bamboo pith, unlike his own 5mm thick chopsticks.
After devouring all the noodles and snails, Li Haochen called the boss to settle the bill.
"It's 67 in total. You can give me 65."
Li Haochen swept the 67 over. Upon hearing the WeChat notification sound, the boss was stunned. What kind of foolishness was this?