Fickleness is human nature, and Li Haochen is no exception. Driving his newly bought little Aima, he had long forgotten about the electric scooter he bought a few months ago back in his hometown.
This place used to be not far from the Binjiang Seafood Market, but it wasn't within the range of this single bar of battery power.
As it turned out, it broke down in less than ten minutes. Well, the new electric scooter only had one bar of charge.
Fortunately, it wasn't too far. After getting off and pushing for about ten minutes, he reached his destination.
"Brother Li, what's going on?"
"Hey, I just bought it and it's not charged, so I'm pushing it here."
Gu Xiaonian was quite thoughtful. He immediately took Li Haochen's electric scooter, brought it inside to charge, and then came out with a pot of tea.
"Xiaonian, where are they?"
"Delivering goods to Boss Huang."
"Brother Li, Boss Huang mentioned a few days ago that he wanted to take more goods. What do you think?"
After pouring Li Haochen a cup of tea, Gu Xiaonian sat down. The shop wasn't busy; the daily stock wasn't enough to sell, and it was all pre-ordered by regular customers in the group.
"How much?"
"200 jin."
Two hundred jin wasn't much. The mussels in the spatial sea could still last for a while. Li Haochen thought for a moment and agreed, "No problem. Tell him later."
"By the way, that Boss Bi you mentioned..."
"Brother Gu..."
Before Li Haochen could finish, a loud voice sounded from outside the shop.
"Brother Li, speak of the devil, and he shall appear."
Gu Xiaonian came out, chatted with Bi Yuanhang at the door, and led him in. "Brother Li, let me introduce you. This is Boss Bi, Bi Yuanhang. Brother Bi, this is our boss, Li Haochen."
"Boss Bi, hello, hello!"
Li Haochen stood up and shook hands with him enthusiastically. While shaking hands, he took a closer look at Bi Yuanhang. He was burly, with a buzz cut, large hands, and a lingering smell of cooking oil. His first impression was that of a head chef.
"Boss Li, hello!"
Bi Yuanhang was not one to beat around the bush. As soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point.
"Boss Li, we roughnecks aren't that particular. I'll take it at 5 yuan, but you have to guarantee that they are all this big."
This was a win-win situation, and Li Haochen naturally had no objections. If it weren't for the fact that the supply of mussels in the spatial sea hadn't increased yet, he would have taken as much as he could.
"You're straightforward. Happy cooperation!"
After the cooperation, Li Haochen also mentioned the matter of the chopstick factory in his hometown.
Bi Yuanhang agreed without much thought; it was mutually beneficial. It didn't matter where the chopsticks were sourced as long as they were safe and hygienic. Moreover, the price Li Haochen offered was slightly lower. Saving a little bit here and there could add up to significant savings over the year.
During their conversation, Li Haochen was surprised to learn that Bi Yuanhang's shop consumed as many as 3,000 chopsticks every day.
This made Li Haochen extremely surprised. He had found another major consumer, and the income from his hometown could be increased a bit.
The cooperation was settled, and the little Aima was fully charged. Li Haochen didn't stay any longer, as he had many things to do.
He ate a bowl of miscellaneous offal noodles at a roadside stall and then went home. It was noontime, and feeling restless at home, he decided to go and do some seedling cultivation.
"Truly a slave to pleasure," Li Haochen cursed himself and walked towards Butterfly Bay.
Ever since he got that peculiar handcart, the efficiency of seedling cultivation had skyrocketed. Of course, it would be perfect if he could add an engine and convert it into a walking tractor, but that was just a dream.
Another issue was the harvesting and cutting of coconuts. He still had no better solution. If he could solve this problem, he could complete the seedlings for a whole town in three days.
"Thinking too much is useless. Just get to work!"
Before long, a diligent little bee appeared in the coconut grove, constantly shuttling between the grove and the beach, working hard and sweating.
Li Haochen didn't overwork himself. He stopped when he felt it was enough.
Lying on the beach, looking at the never-dark blue sky, Li Haochen wondered, "Now that I'm so rich, why am I still working so hard?"
This hint of lethargy was uncontrollable, like poison invading his heart and quickly spreading throughout his body.
Lying down felt so comfortable. What was the point of doing this?
Yes, what was it all for? He had plenty of money, wouldn't have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life, and had a house, a girlfriend, and money. So, what was the real purpose?
Li Haochen's current state was like being possessed by a inner demon. His eyes were vacant, and negative emotions seemed to be constantly expanding, slowly drawing him into the world spawned by the inner demon.
It was like sinking into quicksand, slowly being dragged down into the abyss.
"Why, what is it all for?"
He murmured to himself, his eyes slowly closing as if he had fallen asleep.
"Ah..."
Suddenly, a thunderclap flashed in his mind. Li Haochen sat up abruptly, looking around in fear, his heavy breathing and turbulent emotions not calming down for a long time.
"Responsibility? Or..."
Li Haochen stood up, looked towards the summit of Jiuzhou Island, and began to climb.
Strangely, it looked close, but it took over an hour to reach the top.
Reaching the summit and looking down at the entire island, it was the first time he had ever looked at it so seriously. It was truly vast.
Standing at the top, he felt an indescribable sense of comfort.
Thus, Li Haochen stood there, gazing into the distance...
After a long while, Li Haochen's lips curved upwards, and he thought, "This must be the mission of gaining this space!"
Returning to the beach, Li Haochen jumped into the sea and swam towards the farther mussel bamboo pillars, diving down to check on their growth and reproduction.
All ten bamboo pillars were covered with mussels the size of thumbs, a dense black mass, clustered together like bees.
At this rate, they could be sold in about two months. It was a pity that there were only ten pillars now.
"I have to work my butt off tomorrow, hehe!"
That's right, tomorrow was the monthly grand ebb tide of the spatial sea. There was only one hour, so he really had to work himself to death.
Having set the time, he left the space and walked home.
"Oh no!"
As soon as Li Haochen entered his doorway, he tripped over a large cardboard box on the ground, falling onto the floor like a turtle.
Fortunately, the cardboard box cushioned his fall. Otherwise, he would have been covered in scratches and bruises.
"Ah, Haochen, are you alright?"
Murong Yanran heard the noise and ran over. Seeing Li Haochen lying on the ground, she asked with concern.
"I'm fine. Why are there so many boxes?"
"It's the Pothos. I bought them to put in the new house to get rid of the smell."
Murong Yanran helped Li Haochen up and helped him brush off the green leaves and coconut mud that had gotten on his head.
What the heck, green leaves?
Li Haochen looked at the few Pothos leaves that Murong Yanran had brushed off and wished he could stomp them into dust.
The color green now didn't signify vitality and spring-like vibrancy.