Vice Director Wei Wei came out to meet Zhang Tianxing.
"Boss Zhang, we've submitted the list. We hope you can achieve great success and contribute to the development of Yangcheng."
"It's my duty. I'm just a small businessman, a crawfish seller." Zhang Tianxing felt a bit amused and helpless.
Back at the crawfish shop, Zhang Tianxing froze as soon as he entered. His mother was actually here. This was a bit strange; she should be at work at this hour.
Liang Juan looked at Zhang Tianxing and said directly, "Xiaoxing, our factory is going to have layoffs. I might be laid off, and if I continue working, I'll only receive 50% of my salary. Your father asked me to ask for your opinion."
Zhang Tianxing suddenly realized, "That's perfect. You and my second uncle can go raise crawfish together. You're idle anyway, and otherwise, my second uncle would have to hire someone."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Liang Juan immediately stopped responding.
Well, it seemed his suggestion didn't sit well with his mother. He could tell his mother still had feelings for the factory.
She still wanted to work at the factory, but in Zhang Tianxing's view, the light bulb factory would eventually go under.
The money they had was squandered by several leaders. No new production lines were added, and the processes weren't improved. They just kept producing the same old light bulbs.
Didn't people in the future start popularizing energy-saving lamps and various light strips? These old light bulbs were products destined to be eliminated.
With no ambition to progress, layoffs were completely normal.
However, Zhang Tianxing had no intention of saving the light bulb factory. He was already struggling to manage the crawfish business alone.
Finally, Liang Juan asked with some doubt, "How many people does it take to raise crawfish? Do you need to hire people?"
"Mom, it's like this. This year, we plan to lease fifty mu to start with, to test it out..."
Before Zhang Tianxing could finish speaking, Liang Juan interrupted him.
Liang Juan looked at Zhang Tianxing with disbelief, "What did you just say? Lease how many mu?"
Zhang Tianxing looked at his mother, confused. "Fifty mu."
Liang Juan slapped the back of Zhang Tianxing's head. "You little rascal, you've made a bit of money and gotten a bit cocky, haven't you? Fifty mu! What if you lose money?"
Zhang Tianxing was about to say they wouldn't lose money, but then he thought, in this world, no business was guaranteed to be profitable.
"Mom, it's like this. Think about it, my plan is..."
Seeing her expression, he sighed. He might as well reveal some of his plan, or else his mother's gaze looked like she was about to disown him.
Zhang Tianxing believed this plan was feasible. Firstly, he didn't plan to buy crawfish fry. He didn't even know where to buy them, so he could only breed wild crawfish himself.
This season was just right. In a little over two months, they could harvest a batch. It wasn't a big problem, at most it would be some wages for workers and the cost of crawfish feed.
However, this wouldn't be a huge burden for Zhang Ji Crawfish.
After listening, Comrade Liang Juan finally nodded, "Alright, I'll go into crawfish farming with your second uncle."
Zhang Tianxing grinned, "It's not you and second uncle working together, Mom. After a while, you'll be doing it yourself."
These words terrified Comrade Liang Juan. "Xiaoxing, what will your second uncle do then?"
"Of course, my second uncle will take over the crawfish barbecue stall. Or you can come here."
"Always joking around, never serious. By the way, you've submitted your college applications. When will you get your acceptance letters?"
Zhang Tianxing replied with a smile, "Probably in about a month. When I get into college, I'll open a crawfish shop near the school."
Everyone present laughed when they heard this.
"You're already struggling to keep up with just this one crawfish shop, and you're thinking of opening another one near the university?"
Zhu Dayong chimed in, "Auntie Liang, let him open it. Then I'll have free crawfish to eat."
"Hmph, do you think we'll be going to the same school?" Zhang Tianxing said dismissively.
"Did you do that on purpose, kid? Have you forgotten that we filled out our applications together? If our scores are similar, where else would we go if not the same school?"
Zhang Tianxing remembered something. "Mom, you've come at the right time. You can help out at the shop for a bit. I'm going to my second uncle's place to see how the crawfish pond is coming along. If we miss these few days, it'll be too late to cultivate the fry."
Liang Juan nodded upon hearing this. "Alright, business is important. You only know how to boss your mom around. I'm destined to do all the hard work."
Zhang Tianxing chuckled, "It's not for free, I'll pay you a salary."
He rode his bicycle all the way. Alas, in this era, there were only a few cars in an entire county. Travel was basically done on foot.
He really missed the transportation of his past life. This rough road… he would have to repair roads himself in the future, otherwise, transporting crawfish would be a problem.
Forget it, for now, he'd use a three-wheeled cart for transport. This didn't require much from the road; as long as there was a road, it could go.
A capable wife can't cook without rice. He didn't have much money on hand. He couldn't even afford to build a dirt road, let alone pave one.
Arriving at Yan Village Township, he saw his second uncle's place was still bustling. His second uncle was the only one left buying crawfish; the few who had followed suit had already stopped.
People from the industrial and commercial bureau had visited and inspected the crawfish from several places. Those with problems were sealed on the spot.
Fortunately, it didn't delay the delivery of the crawfish. Those two places were in a bad state, their managers were still in police custody.
"Why is Liang Cheng okay? Why are they arresting us? We're all buying crawfish."
"Let me explain. Although you all buy crawfish, the crawfish bought by him are safe to eat, while yours can cause food poisoning."
"It's because you bought contaminated crawfish and didn't filter them out."
Seeing Zhang Tianxing arrive, Liang Cheng immediately said to those present, "Let's go to the fields to take a look. The village has approved fifty mu of paddy fields for us. There's something I don't understand. Aren't ponds better? Why do you insist on farming in paddy fields?"
"Second uncle, it's like this. The waste produced by crawfish settles at the bottom of the pond, and over time, the bottom needs to be cleared. If it's paddy fields, it's much more convenient. There's no need to clear it; the rice can absorb and break down the waste."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's explanation, Liang Cheng nodded. He didn't understand these things and realized he needed to study hard in the future. Otherwise, if Zhang Tianxing poured his hard-earned money into it and he still didn't understand, they would lose money.
"Have you signed the lease contract?"
"Not yet."
"Sign it as soon as possible. And one more thing, if we have a bumper harvest this year, we'll expand the scale next year."
"Okay, that can be arranged. Another fifty mu then."
Zhang Tianxing grinned, "Second uncle, aren't you thinking too small? We should start with at least five hundred mu."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Liang Cheng almost fainted. He couldn't even imagine it. Five hundred mu! The lease fee for a year would be an astronomical sum.