In the boundless fields, Liang Cheng said to Zhang Tianxing with a serious face, "Little Xing, I know you've achieved things unimaginable to ordinary people recently, but as your elder, I have something to say."
"Second Uncle, just say what you want to say, I'm listening."
"You should know that I started working from a young age, and I've been in many restaurants. I've seen many rise and fall."
Zhang Tianxing nodded, Liang Cheng was considered well-traveled in the Liang family.
"Later, I started my own restaurant. Along the way, I've seen many restaurants that were booming at their opening, only to end up closing down."
Second Uncle was here to lecture, let's listen to his life wisdom.
"Second Uncle, generally speaking, if a restaurant is popular at its opening, and as long as it doesn't mess up later and maintains its quality, it shouldn't go out of business, right?" Zhang Tianxing pondered and said.
"You're right and wrong. Anyone who opens a restaurant does it for profit, so no one wants it to fail. It's just that sometimes it's due to cost-cutting, and sometimes it's due to innovation."
Listening to Liang Cheng, Zhang Tianxing was lost in thought. "Second Uncle, I understand what you mean. You're implying that crayfish are a new species, and no one has raised them before. So we're starting small now, and 500 mu next year is a bit risky, is that what you mean?"
Liang Cheng nodded. Zhang Tianxing was indeed educated; he understood things quickly. It was a pity he still had to go to college, as one couldn't have both academics and business, a great regret in life.
"Second Uncle, perhaps I didn't explain clearly. For the fifty mu this year, we've only invested and have no output yet."
Hearing this, Liang Cheng's expression changed slightly. "Little Xing, clarify what you mean, so I can have a better understanding."
"Here's the thing. For the fifty mu this year, I've recently introduced crayfish into them. The ratio of male to female is about one to two, and then they are artificially bred."
"Then how will you make money?" Liang Cheng asked the question that concerned him most. He didn't understand industrialization or scaling.
Liang Cheng only cared about one thing: his nephew's money wasn't made of wind, and it couldn't be wasted for nothing.
For families living in rural areas, the cost of learning business was too high. Paying for it once could mean a family could never recover.
"It's like this, Second Uncle. This year we invest, this autumn they'll breed, and by next spring, the fry can be out of the ponds. We can sell the fry or raise them ourselves."
Liang Cheng didn't respond after hearing this, only saying softly, "Little Xing, your plan is perfect. I can't find any flaws in it."
"Second Uncle, just tell me the 'but,' your main point is coming later." Zhang Tianxing said honestly.
"Have you considered that no one might want your crayfish fry, and they'll all end up with you?" Liang Cheng's expression was serious. This was no small matter.
"Yes, otherwise I plan to lease five hundred mu of ponds next year and raise them myself. The leasing fees will be earned back easily."
"Do you have confidence?" Liang Cheng was full of doubt. The plan was too perfect, making him hesitant to believe it.
"Of course, Second Uncle, have you forgotten how many crayfish we sell every day?" Zhang Tianxing said confidently.
This single sentence dispelled Liang Cheng's concerns. Indeed, the sales of crayfish this year had been noticeably good.
"Then, Little Xing, aren't you going to college soon? What will happen to your crayfish restaurant then?"
"Second Uncle, that's not my crayfish restaurant, it's ours. You'll be in charge then. You're the head chef, so you can manage the restaurant. My mom and aunt can handle the rest," Zhang Tianxing said with a smile.
Liang Cheng sighed, "Little Xing, you're more capable than I am. When I was your age, I was still an apprentice in a restaurant. You can now run a barbecue stall on your own and even created the crayfish brand. That's truly remarkable."
"It was all by chance. I was just messing around when I was bored. It's like our ancestors' graves are smoking, everything just happened to align. If I hadn't been free after the college entrance exams, and your restaurant hadn't closed down, all these things happening together led to the birth of Zhang Ji Crayfish."
"Alright, Tianxing, I basically agree with everything you've said. I'll finalize the leasing matters with the village and the township in the next couple of days."
"Second Uncle, I trust you to handle it. In a couple of days, we'll look at which wild crayfish are suitable for stocking in the ponds as fry."
Liang Cheng nodded. He trusted his nephew, Zhang Tianxing, to handle things. In ancient times, he would have been a man of courage and wisdom.
Those classmates who were with Zhang Tianxing were also good. The two girls were quite pretty, but he wasn't sure if they were interested in Zhang Tianxing.
During high school, parents were very strict about dating. However, Liang Cheng, as a businessman, knew one thing.
It was better to facilitate than to block. Only when children understood things themselves could they act. Knowing is easy, but doing is difficult; this is an eternal truth.
Those children were all good. Two of them seemed to come from good families, and the children were capable of hard work. Their parents had never complained.
It seemed that those young companions would achieve great things in the future, Liang Cheng judged.
...
At Gao Tianming's home, Hu Hui complained to Gao Hongqiang, "After our son graduated from high school, he's nowhere to be seen all day. If I didn't see him sleeping at home in the morning, I would forget we even have a son."
This was complaining about her son being out all day. Gao Hongqiang comforted her, "The child is with his classmates; they're starting a business together."
"Is that starting a business? Zhang Tianxing is the one starting it; Xiaoming is just a waiter..." As she said this, Hu Hui felt a pang of sadness.
Her son had never caused them trouble since he was little, but who would have thought that after graduating from high school, he would go to be a waiter for his classmate.
It was true that the crayfish tasted good, but no matter how good it tasted, she saw less and less of her son. As a mother, she had complaints.
"And that crayfish poisoning incident a while ago, you helped quite a bit, didn't you? Otherwise, Zhang Ji Crayfish would have closed down."
Gao Hongqiang chuckled wryly, "What are you talking about? I don't have that kind of capability. There was originally nothing wrong with it. If there had been a problem, I would have sent Xiaoming home immediately. But you know, Xiaoming has become much more sensible and often buys things for home."
"Yes, give Xiaoming some pocket money, and Wen Qing is also there, give the child some money to buy whatever they want."
"I gave it to him, but he refused. That rascal said his current salary is higher than mine, which almost drove me crazy," Gao Hongqiang said with a smile.
"Really? Take some time to visit there more often. If the children need any help, you help them, so Xiaoming doesn't get taken advantage of there."