While Zhang Tianxing was attending school, Liang Juan here encountered an unprecedented crisis.
"Juanzi, how about this, you've been contracting the shrimp ponds for some time now, and you've spent quite a bit of money recently, haven't you?" said the village party secretary, Liang Chaohai, with heartfelt earnestness.
"Indeed, I told you I wouldn't bother with this shrimp pond anymore, but Tianxing flatly refused, saying it could make a lot of money," Liang Juan said with a worried frown.
Speaking of her son, her face lit up with pride. Zhang Tianxing was a well-known and wealthy university student in the surrounding villages. The "tiger-head Benz" he drove home during the Lunar New Year had blinded countless onlookers.
However, this shrimp pond had become a persistent worry for Liang Juan. During the New Year, she wanted to discuss some matters with Zhang Tianxing. But Zhang Tianxing was almost too busy to breathe, dealing with issues like employment for the disabled and class reunions.
But as the saying goes, grown children rarely stay under their parents' wings. When she asked him if they should just give up on the shrimp pond, considering they already had a restaurant and a canned food factory, what more could they possibly want? Zhang Tianxing absolutely refused to budge, directly suggesting they hire a few more people.
"Forget it, I'll just consider it my misfortune. If I hire others, who will be as dedicated as I am? It seems I'll just have to work myself ragged for a while." If the earnings today were meager, she was determined to abandon this artificial breeding operation for good.
"How about this, Juanzi, if you're not going to raise them, let the village take over directly. What do you say?" Liang Chaohai said with a smile. It seemed Liang Juan wasn't very keen on this shrimp pond. Perhaps he needed to persuade her more to let the village have it.
Upon hearing this, Liang Juan was about to agree but then paused. Wait a minute, last year alone, this shrimp pond had cost a significant amount of money. "I can transfer it, but let's see how much you're willing to pay. Since Zhang Tianxing is not home, I'll make the decision on his behalf."
Just as Liang Chaohai was about to speak, the accompanying accountant, Li, interjected, "What money needs to be exchanged? Let the village take it over. Besides, whether these crayfish can be successfully raised or not is still up in the air. Have you forgotten last year's incident where the crayfish pond was flooded?"
Hearing this, Liang Juan immediately became displeased. So, you're here to get something for nothing? You expect to take over this hundred-acre shrimp pond with just a few words and no investment? There's no such logic in the world. This is impossible, and I absolutely cannot agree. Last year, just the feed for the crayfish cost six figures, it pained me to death. If Zhang Tianxing hadn't started making money, I wouldn't have been willing to invest this much. I'd never seen so much money before.
"Secretary Liang, Accountant Li, if that's how you're going to talk, then please leave. No matter what, we've invested real money. Do you think you can just take it all away with a single sentence? Is that reasonable?" Liang Juan was not someone to be trifled with, especially now that her son was capable, giving her the confidence to speak her mind. Having money in her pocket certainly gave her an imposing presence.
Hearing Liang Juan's words, Liang Chaohai and Accountant Li's expressions turned grim. She had hit the nail on the head regarding their intentions, but they truly didn't have the money to compensate Liang Juan.
"Juanzi, how can you speak like that? When your family had nothing, wasn't it I who found you a job? If you're unwilling, then consider it as if I never said anything," Liang Chaohai said angrily, turning around and pulling Accountant Li out.
Accountant Li, looking perplexed, followed him out. After a while, he asked, "Secretary, why did you come out? We could have reasoned with Juanzi nicely, perhaps offered a little more money, and she might have agreed." They were both acting on behalf of someone else, their objective being the hundred-acre shrimp pond in Liang Juan's possession.
Seeing the backs of the two receding, Liang Juan began to ponder here. It was truly troublesome for her to be here. If her son hadn't jokingly said that whether he could marry a wife in the future depended on how well the crayfish were raised, she wouldn't have been foolishly tricked by this scoundrel to come here. She would never have stayed here. Thinking back to the series of events last year. Those were the achievements of Tianxing and Liang Cheng. From having nothing to reaching their current position, it was almost unbelievable to recall.
Without delay, Liang Juan found Liang Cheng and told him about Liang Chaohai's visit. Upon hearing that Liang Chaohai wanted to take back the shrimp pond with just empty promises, Liang Cheng became furious. "Sister, you absolutely cannot give up the shrimp pond. Don't say anything else, but if this year's market is the same as last year's, do you know how much money this hundred-acre shrimp pond can earn?"
Liang Juan said irritably, "Tianxing has been saying the shrimp pond makes money since last year, but so far, it's cost tens of thousands. If you guys hadn't made some money last year, when would we have ever seen tens of thousands?" Liang Juan was primarily uncertain. As the saying goes, even with a million in the bank, farming doesn't count. A slight natural disaster or misfortune could wipe out all the farmed animals, leading to total ruin, it was that dramatic. She thought that the canned food factory was doing well, and it would be better to focus on managing that. After all, that was money they could see. She had no idea whether the crayfish would live or die.
Seeing Liang Juan's attitude, Liang Cheng had no choice but to break down the numbers for her. "Last year, Tianxing started his business with crayfish. Moreover, he even opened a crayfish hot pot restaurant in Zhonghai. If the family's shrimp pond isn't in operation, he'll have to source crayfish from elsewhere. We can't guarantee the quality of external crayfish. Do you remember why Wang Pangzi went to jail last year?"
"It was because he got food poisoning from eating spoiled crayfish," Liang Juan finally realized. It seemed she still had to be this hardworking old mother and take care of this shrimp pond for him.
"Sister, the shrimp pond will start generating profit soon. In the spring, we can start selling shrimp fry. By summer, the adult crayfish will be ready for harvest. I estimate that this hundred-acre shrimp pond will earn at least a million," Liang Cheng said to Liang Juan after some calculation.
"You're just trying to trick your sister, taking advantage of her lack of education. A million? You might as well scare me to death," Liang Juan said, completely disbelieving the figure Liang Cheng had presented. She thought he was just joking.
Seeing the expression of the "Old Buddha" Liang, Liang Cheng decided to reveal the truth. "Sister, do you know how much that car Tianxing drove for the New Year cost?"
"Wasn't it tens of thousands? Tianxing said that car wasn't worth much and was considered company property," Liang Juan said dismissively. The car looked good and was quite generous. In this area, very few people owned cars.
"Zhang Tianxing really knows how to talk. That car must be at least over a million. Our Tianxing has really become something," Liang Cheng chuckled. Zhang Tianxing was too bold with his words. A car worth tens of thousands? If that's the case, I'll give you a million, and you buy me dozens of them.
"What, over a million!!" This figure completely exceeded Liang Juan's imagination. This little rascal's wings had grown strong, and he dared to buy a car worth over a million. He was truly defying her. What would happen if something went wrong? Thinking of this, Liang Juan realized she was worrying unnecessarily. She was now so far removed from Zhang Tianxing's life.