Chapter 20

Professor Rao even sighed for a while, saying that there weren't many young people as thoughtful as Su Xinghui these days.

After dinner, Professor Rao took Su Xinghui to the school guesthouse. Since it was summer vacation, there weren't many people staying there. Professor Rao helped him open a single room, told him to rest early, and after agreeing on the time for the next morning, he went home to rest.

Su Xinghui paged Yu Gaoshan, which was the number Yu Gaoshan had given him today. Before long, he called back. On the phone, Su Xinghui told Yu Gaoshan that he would be returning to Menghuling tomorrow and bringing along an expert in breeding.

Upon hearing this, Yu Gaoshan immediately decided to go to Menghuling with him the next day. Su Xinghui said that he would page Yu Gaoshan again when he arrived at the bus station in the morning to tell him the departure time, so he could wait by the roadside in Qingyu Township and take the bus to Menghuling together.

The next morning, the three of them set off very early, but it wasn't until nearly noon that they finally arrived at the Menghuling Township Government. There was no helping it; the distance from Jiangcheng to Menghuling was over a hundred kilometers, and the road was difficult to travel.

In the morning, Su Xinghui had called Chen Hongfu at the bus station to tell him that an expert and a merchant were coming to the township for an inspection. Chen Hongfu was very happy; he hadn't expected that Su Xinghui would have already made progress on several matters after being in Jiangcheng for only two days.

When Su Xinghui brought Professor Rao and Yu Gaoshan to the township government, Chen Hongfu received the two of them grandly in his office.

By "grand reception," it meant he had also pulled in Township Head Dong Jianshu and Deputy Township Head in charge of the economy, Li Maofa. After all, Chen Hongfu was the Party Secretary, and these specific matters still had to be handled by the Township Head.

In short, this was already considered the highest-spec reception in Menghuling Township.

Dong Jianshu and Li Maofa had already heard about this from Chen Hongfu. They knew that Su Xinghui had gone to Jiangcheng this time to engage in specialty breeding in Yezhugou. They felt a bit uncomfortable because Su Xinghui hadn't consulted them before handling this matter.

Besides, if a small clerk could get this done, wouldn't it make them, the township heads, seem somewhat incompetent?

However, the discomfort was only fleeting. After all, engaging in specialty breeding was a good thing; it could not only increase the income of the farmers but also be very beneficial to the township's fiscal revenue. Therefore, both of them perked up to receive the two guests.

After chatting for a while, Wei Bingyi, the Director of the Party and Government Office, came to inform them that the dishes at the restaurant had been ordered and invited the guests to dine at the restaurant.

There was only one restaurant in Menghuling Township, and the owner's name was Fatty Zhang, so the restaurant was named after him. The entire staff of the restaurant consisted of two people: Fatty Zhang and his wife. One was the owner and chef, and the other was the cashier, server, and kitchen assistant.

Menghuling Township was truly too poor; not many people could afford to eat at a restaurant. The only people who could dine here were the cadres who came to Menghuling to handle business. However, Menghuling was too far and too remote, and not many people were willing to come down to the countryside, so one restaurant was enough to meet the demand.

Chen Hongfu stood up and, along with Dong Jianshu and Li Maofa, led Professor Rao and Yu Gaoshan to Fatty Zhang's restaurant, which was not far away. Of course, Su Xinghui also attended the welcome banquet; this was his first time eating here since his rebirth.

Fatty Zhang's restaurant was very small. A slightly larger room could fit three or four tables, while another small room could only fit one table; this was considered the private room.

Now, a table of wine and dishes had already been set in the private room. Chen Hongfu greeted the guests and asked them to sit down, then asked with a smile, "Professor Rao, Boss Yu, shall we have some wine?"

Professor Rao waved his hand quickly and said, "I don't drink. You all go ahead."

Yu Gaoshan was also prepared to decline, but Chen Hongfu said, "Professor Rao is older, so that's fine. Boss Yu, you are so young, it wouldn't be right not to drink. Have a little, have a little. Our county's Shangjun Daqu is quite good."

Yu Gaoshan was also a drinker at home. Seeing Chen Hongfu so enthusiastic, he nodded and agreed to have a little.

There was no wild boar or bamboo rat meat on the table today; those two things were rare in the township. However, there were wild rabbit and pheasant, as well as some home-style country dishes, all of which were quite tasty. Chen Hongfu urged Professor Rao to eat and encouraged Yu Gaoshan to drink, making sure they were well-fed and well-watered.

The atmosphere at the wine table quickly became lively. Chen Hongfu, Dong Jianshu, Li Maofa, and Wei Bingyi toasted Yu Gaoshan frequently, all saying that he was the God of Wealth for Menghuling and that they must treat him well. Yu Gaoshan couldn't hold up even if he could drink, so he could only say that he had to go to Yezhugou in the afternoon and wouldn't be able to go if he drank too much.

Hearing Yu Gaoshan say this, the three of them slowed down the pace of their toasting. However, their target shifted to Su Xinghui. Chen Hongfu toasted Su Xinghui first, saying that he was a great hero of Menghuling for inviting the expert and the boss so quickly.

Then, Dong Jianshu raised his glass to Su Xinghui and said, "Little Su, you're quite capable. You've done such a great thing for the township without making a sound. Come, I'll toast you!"

Su Xinghui heard the underlying dissatisfaction in Dong Jianshu's words. He raised his glass to Dong Jianshu and said, "Township Head Dong, that day in Yezhugou, it was just an idea of mine. This trip to Jiangcheng was just to test the waters; I didn't think I would actually get it done, so I didn't report it to you, thinking I would report it to you once there was some progress. It was also thanks to Professor Rao and my brother Gaoshan being willing to help and coming with me; this can be considered the township's luck! I will punish myself with three cups as a self-criticism."

After saying this, Su Xinghui drank three cups of wine in a row. Each cup was five qian, so the three cups added up to one and a half liang.

Su Xinghui's words untied the knot in the hearts of Dong Jianshu and Li Maofa, and also made Dong Jianshu feel that he might have been a bit petty, actually holding a grudge against a subordinate who had just started working not long ago.

Dong Jianshu poured himself another cup of wine and smiled, "Little Su, don't overthink it. I didn't mean anything else. Your work is proactive and enthusiastic, which is a good thing. If this matter is accomplished, you will indeed be a great hero of the township. Come, Maofa, I'll join you in toasting Little Su."

Li Maofa also picked up his glass and drank it down with Dong Jianshu, which made Su Xinghui say he didn't dare.

Chen Hongfu watched this scene with a smile. He was very satisfied that Su Xinghui was able to resolve the dissatisfaction in the hearts of Dong and Li. After all, they would have to handle the specific implementation of this matter in the future, and it wouldn't be good if they had any dissatisfaction in their hearts.

Chen Hongfu also looked at Su Xinghui with new eyes. This young man was very mature; how could he have misjudged him before?

Rao Songnian and Yu Gaoshan were also quite surprised by Su Xinghui's performance. Was this how a twenty-something-year-old young man should behave? Yu Gaoshan was very familiar with Su Xinghui, but now he felt that he couldn't quite understand him anymore. Was he too good at talking now?

However, this was certainly a good thing. The two of them were just surprised and didn't take it to heart.

After the meal, Chen Hongfu asked Wei Bingyi to take the two guests to the township government's reception room to rest for a while before going to Yezhugou in the afternoon.

After Wei Bingyi took the two to the reception room, he had Dong Jianshu, Li Maofa, and Su Xinghui enter his office to discuss the specialty breeding matter. This matter was progressing too fast, and they weren't mentally prepared for it.

After entering the office, Su Xinghui took the initiative to pour water for the three of them, poured a cup for himself, and then sat down in the lower seat.

Chen Hongfu asked, "Little Su, is this Boss Yu your cousin?"

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Yes, my aunt's son."

Chen Hongfu said, "Then that's very close. Do you think the possibility of him signing an exclusive sales contract with the breeding farm is high?"

Su Xinghui said, "There shouldn't be any problem. He has always been in the fish-selling business, delivering fish to restaurants of all sizes in Jiangcheng. He has many connections in this regard, and it will be very easy to exclusively sell such a small amount of game. By then, I'm afraid our breeding farm won't even be able to keep up with the supply."

Dong Jianshu asked, "How is the market? We can't afford to lose money."

Dong Jianshu also knew about cases where farmers had lost money on specialty breeding in the past, so he was a bit worried.

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Township Head Dong, please rest assured. My cousin has inquired about it. The price of wild boar meat is at least two or three times that of domestic pork, and the price of pheasant meat is about the same. Bamboo rats are even more expensive, at least several dozen yuan per jin. The cost of raising these things won't be very high, so it's definitely profitable."