"This idea is feasible, but we don't have a venue!" Liu Yifeng was tempted.
"We can rent land for that. In the countryside now, many plots are left idle. Young people don't want to stay in the village farming, so the land sits empty anyway. If we rent it, wouldn't it also increase the income for some people in your village?" Du Ziheng had already thought of this.
After hearing Du Ziheng's words, Liu Yifeng pondered for a moment. The method was good, but the initial investment would be a considerable sum. Not to mention buying chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep to raise, just the venue, various equipment, and labor costs would easily exceed a million yuan. After all, if you're going to do it, you should do it well. But he didn't have much money left. Building greenhouses for vegetables alone would cost at least five to sixty thousand. Although he had made a lot of money selling crayfish, all of it had been invested in the vegetable greenhouses. What remained, about one hundred to two hundred thousand, was not enough. Even if he scraped money together from all sources, if it all went to waste, the loss would be huge. Therefore, he had to be more prudent and not jump at every suggestion.
"Brother Liu, what do you think?" Seeing Liu Yifeng remain silent, Du Ziheng couldn't help but ask.
Hearing Du Ziheng's voice, Liu Yifeng snapped back to attention, "Brother Du, this method is indeed excellent, but I don't have that much money on hand right now. You know all my money is tied up in the vegetable greenhouses."
"I can lend you the money. We can split the profits fifty-fifty when we start making money. Actually, I understand your concerns. You're thinking that it's a different industry, right? But we can't be confined to just one profitable circle. Look at the bosses of listed companies; how many of them don't have multiple businesses? Although we are just small vendors, we should also have dreams! Moreover, once we get the agritainment up and running, I'm confident our business will boom." Du Ziheng said with full confidence.
Seeing Du Ziheng's confidence, Liu Yifeng felt that he was indeed being too cautious. He was still young; even if he lost money, he could make a comeback. But if he missed this opportunity, it would be gone. A unique agritainment like this would likely be the only one in the entire county. As they say, scarcity breeds value. With this thought, he slapped his thigh and declared, "Alright, let's do it as you suggested, Brother Du."
Du Ziheng had been waiting for this: "Great! I'll find a professional team right away to design the family park, and then I'll show you for your approval. As soon as the design is approved, we'll rent the land and start construction."
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you. I don't know much about these things." Liu Yifeng hadn't been involved in anything like this before and felt that his participation would only be superfluous.
Du Ziheng nodded, "Leave it to me. You focus on getting the vegetable greenhouses ready. I have a feeling your vegetables will be a hit at Longteng Hotel. With such a famous hotel promoting your produce, what sales channels do you need to worry about?"
"Hahaha, then I'll take your good wishes, Brother Du. I also hope our agritainment will have a constant stream of customers."
After breakfast, Du Ziheng rushed back. Since Liu Yifeng had agreed to cooperate with him, there was no need to waste any more time. He had to get the design draft ready quickly to start construction as soon as possible.
Liu Yifeng also drove back, but he didn't go home directly. Instead, he drove to the back mountain to see if his watermelons had ripened. He hadn't been there for a week. After spraying them with growth enhancers, he had hardly paid any attention to them.
Arriving at the back mountain, Liu Yifeng marveled at the bucket-sized watermelons. He had only been away for a week, and the watermelons had grown by at least a third. Each watermelon, by estimation, weighed at least forty to fifty jin. The sight was quite impressive. He remembered Tong Tong saying that one could judge the ripeness of a watermelon by its surface gloss. If the surface still had a lot of small hairs, it generally meant it wasn't ripe enough. Secondly, by tapping it, if the sound was hollow, it was definitely ripe. Third, by looking at the vine; if the vine was older, the watermelon was more mature, and vice versa. Finally, by looking at the "eye" of the watermelon; if the eye appeared relatively large, the watermelon was more mature. As far as he could see, the watermelons were almost all ripe.
Liu Yifeng casually picked a ripe watermelon. He planned to take it back and taste it first to see if it was sweet. If it was, he would take some to the county town to sell the next day. The reason he didn't want to sell in the town was that the local consumption level was not high. He planned to sell each jin of watermelon for at least six yuan, which would make each one cost at least two to three hundred yuan. Who would be willing to spend two to three hundred yuan to buy just one watermelon?
He laboriously loaded the watermelon into the car and then drove the van home. As soon as he pulled into the yard, he saw his father playing with a spinning top with Tong Tong.
"Daddy, you're back!" Tong Tong, seeing Liu Yifeng, ran over excitedly.
Liu Yifeng patted Tong Tong's head and asked with a smile, "Did Tong Tong eat breakfast?"
"Yes, Grandpa cooked noodles for me and put two eggs in them. I'm so full."
Looking at Tong Tong's adorable appearance, Liu Yifeng teased, "Tong Tong is full, so you can't eat watermelon anymore?"
"Watermelon? Did Daddy buy watermelon?" Tong Tong's eyes immediately lit up. Of all the fruits, watermelon was his favorite.
"Don't we grow watermelons at home? Why waste money buying them from outside?" Liu Chunsheng also walked over.
Liu Yifeng smiled without answering, turned around, and opened the trunk, taking out a forty to fifty jin watermelon. Seeing such a large watermelon, Tong Tong exclaimed, "Wow, what a big watermelon!"
"Where did you buy this watermelon? We can't possibly finish such a big one!" Liu Chunsheng had only gone to see the watermelons a few times when they were first growing. Later, he was too busy with other matters and hadn't been back.
"Dad, this is our own watermelon!" Liu Yifeng said with a smile.
"What, this is ours?" Liu Chunsheng couldn't believe what he heard. It had only been a little over a month, and not only were the watermelons ripe, but they had also grown so big. How did they grow like this?
"Of course. If you don't believe me, you can go to the back mountain now. All the watermelons in our field are this big."
Upon receiving confirmation, Liu Chunsheng became very excited, "Such a big watermelon, one can sell for at least forty or fifty, right?"
Liu Yifeng laughed, "Selling a watermelon this big for forty or fifty is a huge loss!"
"Forty or fifty is not little? It's the season for watermelons, and production is high. They are selling them for only three to four mao per jin. So, selling them for forty or fifty each would be about one yuan per jin. This price is already quite high. Do you still want to sell them for two yuan a jin?" Liu Chunsheng asked.
"Even two yuan a jin is too cheap for me. I plan to sell them for six yuan a jin."
"Six yuan a jin? Are you trying to make money too greedily? Others sell them for five or six mao, and you're selling them for six yuan, a tenfold increase. At such a high price, who would buy them?"
"Can other people's watermelons be compared to ours? Their watermelons are all sprayed with pesticides, and they're not big. Any of our watermelons could be considered a king-grade melon when taken out."
"Even so, you can't start by selling them for six yuan a jin. Even if your watermelons are excellent, people will be scared away when they hear the price," Liu Chunsheng still felt that selling at six yuan a jin was a bit far-fetched.
"Let's not discuss the price for now. I'll cut the watermelon now, and the three of us will taste it. Then you can tell me if it's worth six yuan a jin." Saying this, Liu Yifeng carried the watermelon to the water pump well, placed it in a large basin, and began to wash it. After washing, Liu Yifeng got a kitchen knife from the kitchen. A regular fruit knife was too small to cut through the watermelon, and even the kitchen knife was a bit difficult.
When the watermelon was cut open, the flesh was exceptionally red and very juicy. Most importantly, it was seedless, so one could eat it directly without spitting out seeds. Seedless watermelons also sold for a few mao more per jin than seeded ones in the market. Seeing the bright red flesh, Liu Yifeng's throat bobbed, as it looked extremely appetizing. He first cut a large slice for his father and then cut a slice for Tong Tong. Liu Chunsheng and Tong Tong took their slices of watermelon and eagerly began to eat.