Chapter 773

In early September, all the vegetable cooperatives in Pengjiawan, under the recommendation of experts from Jiangcheng Agricultural University, bought various high-quality vegetable seeds from Jiangcheng and began to raise seedlings on the reserved vacant land.

By the end of September or early October, the rice would be mature and ready for harvest. By then, these vegetable seedlings would be just right for transplanting; this farming season could not be missed.

These vegetable cooperatives also bought various materials for building vegetable greenhouses. After the rice harvest, they could immediately start building the greenhouses.

These days, Su Xinghui also went down to the villages every day to inspect the growth of the rice and the preparations for vegetable planting in each village. Looking at the thriving scene in Pengjiawanzhen, Su Xinghui was extremely happy.

To Su Xinghui's surprise, although the rice here had suffered from disaster in the summer, thanks to proper remedial measures, the growth of the rice was still quite good. The rice ears were heavy, and according to Luo Ping's estimation, the average yield per *mu* should be at least 500 *jin*.

500 *jin* was not much, but in the past, it was already considered a relatively high yield. In a year of such disaster, being able to have such a harvest made the people of Pengjiawanzhen extremely happy. They also believed that scientific farming could truly increase yields.

At noon that day, Su Xinghui returned from the villages. Just after finishing his meal in the canteen and wanting to return to his dormitory to rest, he saw a Citroën car drive into the town government compound. He stopped in his tracks and saw two people get out of the car: one was Ruo Ang, and the other was his assistant, Huang Zhaoxian.

Seeing that Ruo Ang had come, Su Xinghui was very happy. He was currently in need of money, but Ruo Ang hadn't come for seven or eight months. He had been wondering these days when Ruo Ang would come, and as it turned out, Ruo Ang had arrived.

Su Xinghui strode forward, reached out his hand to Ruo Ang, and said, "Mr. Ruo Ang, how did you find this place?"

Ruo Ang laughed heartily, shook Su Xinghui's hand, and said, "Mr. Su, you came here to work, you should have called to notify me. I set off from Jiangcheng this morning and went to Menghuling, but the people there said you had come here. We asked many people before we found this place."

Su Xinghui said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ruo Ang. I was transferred here temporarily. When I was transferred, I called the phone number I left for you, but no one answered."

Ruo Ang said, "At that time, I must have returned to France and was not in China, so I couldn't receive your call."

Su Xinghui reached out to shake hands with Huang Zhaoxian and said, "Mr. Huang, hello, welcome!"

After shaking hands with Huang Zhaoxian, Su Xinghui said, "Mr. Ruo Ang, Mr. Huang, come, let's go to my room and sit for a while. This is not the place to talk."

This was indeed not the place to talk. Seeing Su Xinghui talking to a foreigner, the staff of the town government looked at them curiously.

The three of them arrived at Su Xinghui's room. Su Xinghui invited them to sit and brewed a cup of tea for each of them.

Ruo Ang said, "The summer here is really too hot, so generally speaking, I don't come over in the summer."

Su Xinghui nodded, "The summer here is indeed very hot. Even I can't stand it. Haven't you noticed that I've been tanned?"

Ruo Ang laughed loudly, "Yes, if you hadn't taken the initiative to greet me just now, I might not have recognized you."

Ruo Ang's words made everyone laugh heartily.

After laughing, Ruo Ang said, "Mr. Su, do you have any new works recently? Can you take them out for me to see?"

Su Xinghui nodded, "Of course."

Su Xinghui took out all his paintings from the past few months from the cupboard. These seven or eight months, Su Xinghui had been too busy and had spent much less time on painting. However, he had still painted nine pictures, and now he took them all out.

Ruo Ang was a very serious person. He put on white gloves and looked at them carefully one by one, nodding as he looked.

Most of Su Xinghui's paintings this time were also landscapes, as well as various flowers and birds. There was a painting of lotus flowers that made Ruo Ang praise it endlessly.

This lotus painting was painted by Su Xinghui in Pengjiawan. In Pengjiawanzhen, lakes and ponds could be seen everywhere, and in the summer, these lotus flowers could of course be seen everywhere. In the painting, the green lotus leaves and the red and white lotus flowers were lifelike, as if a gust of wind blew, they could move.

Ruo Ang said, "This lotus painting is very well done, it's a fine piece!"

Su Xinghui smiled faintly. This lotus painting was indeed one of his more satisfying works.

When Ruo Ang saw a painting by Su Xinghui depicting flood fighting and disaster relief, he couldn't help but be moved. In the painting, dark clouds filled the sky, a bolt of lightning tore through the sky, and the Yangtze River below was like an angry giant dragon, with muddy waves filling the sky and crashing against the shore, hitting the long river embankment. On the embankment, there was a crowd as dense as ants, carrying sandbags to block the invasion of the waves.

These crowds appeared incomparably small under the natural power of the universe, and the monstrous waves seemed likely to swallow them at any moment. Yet, they faced the giant waves without hesitation, their figures appearing incomparably firm, possessing a special power that shocked the heart, making people feel that even if they were swallowed by the waves, they would surely be able to stand up from the waves in the next moment.

Ruo Ang looked at this painting for a long time without speaking. I don't know how long it had been, but he nodded and said, "In this painting, I see power."

Huang Zhaoxian also nodded, "Man can conquer nature, this painting is too well done!"

The title of this painting was "Man Can Conquer Nature," and Su Xinghui wrote these four big characters in the blank space of the painting.

Su Xinghui said, "This painting depicts the scene of our flood fighting and disaster relief this summer. Actually, I feel that my brush is still far from being able to express even a ten-thousandth of the scene at that time. That scene was really too infectious; everyone present would be infected and throw themselves into it without hesitation, even if it meant throwing in their own lives."

Ruo Ang nodded, "I think this is the human spirit. The greatness of humanity lies in this. If this painting were hung in my gallery, I think it would add a lot of luster to my gallery."

After looking at these nine paintings, Ruo Ang said, "Mr. Su, your painting level is getting higher and higher now, especially this 'Man Can Conquer Nature' painting, which can be called a fine piece that I have only seen in China in these few years. How about this: the other eight are 2,000 US dollars each, and this 'Man Can Conquer Nature' painting is 5,000 US dollars, for a total of 21,000 US dollars. Mr. Su, what do you think?"

Su Xinghui nodded, "That's fine, Mr. Ruo Ang, this price is very fair."

Ruo Ang laughed, "Mr. Su, as long as your paintings are sold to me first, my price will definitely satisfy you. I will still convert this money into RMB for you at the market price."

Su Xinghui nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Ruo Ang."

Ruo Ang took out a calculator and said while pressing it, "The current market price of US dollars to RMB is 8.53. Multiplied by 21,000 US dollars, it equals 179,130 yuan. Forget it, I'll give you 180,000 flat."

Huang Zhaoxian took out the contract. After signing the contract with Su Xinghui, he counted out 180,000 RMB and handed it to Su Xinghui. Su Xinghui took the contract and the money and smiled, "Then thank you, Mr. Ruo Ang."

This income of 180,000 would require paying nearly 30,000 yuan in taxes. He would still have more than 150,000 left. He wouldn't have to wait too long before he could pay off the money he borrowed from Xu Haimin.