Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 732 - 367: Pang Fa Enters the Scene_2

Chapter 732: Chapter 367: Pang Fa Enters the Scene_2

Yan Fei was listening, and as he heard the change in the topic, he responded, "Why would I boil water by myself here? These are watermelons, right? Just eat!"

Ma Yongming didn’t hold back, he took a melon from the side, punched it, and the melon cracked. He ripped a piece off and gnawed at it while continuing, "He isn’t making much money selling at the wholesale price. And he won’t be able to sell this much every day. Selling retail when the weather gets hot isn’t feasible. The meat will spoil after a day. Speaking honestly, he might make more money when he would kill one cow at a time. He could sell raw meat first, then cooked meat, combined sales of beef offal and beef head meat may bring more profit than the current situation."

"So what do you suggest?" Yan Fei asked. "Should he continue selling one cow at a time in the future?"

"If you say this to him, he’ll definitely refuse." Seeing Yan Fei still hadn’t grasped the idea, Ma Yongming patiently continued, "Why not let him help you here? You pay him, tell him your thoughts clearly, don’t let him worry about not being able to sell out and can’t tally with you. You’re short-staffed now, having him here could also save you the trouble of calling him over each time there is work."

"If I give him beef to sell, he would earn more even if he adds just a little bit of money to it than working!" Yan Fei questioned.

"I already told you, he thinks he owes your family. Even if he’s making money, he’s apprehensive about not being able to sell everything and delaying your business. How much do you think he can earn by peddling watermelons in villages the whole day? It’s just that he doesn’t want to see your watermelons being wasted. Your business is growing, I think in the future, you’ll definitely give more than just that bit of money to those you hire. Have him work with you, it gives him a stable income. He’s not young anymore, he should settle down and get married. He may be poorly educated, but he’s not dumb. Working along with you, he could be a good help."

Ma Yongming took a rest and continued slowly, "No matter how disruptive he is now, he’s relying on you for his livelihood. Now you need his help, but later as your business grows and you face big clients, what if they bring a big truck and take away all your beef? And if you plan to sell dried beef instead of raw beef in the future? Just like you said, if you provide him beef to sell, isn’t that like him begging you? He wouldn’t really have the face to do so, would he? Better to have him join you now and when your business grows bigger, having him work with you is much better than him working aimlessly, right?"

Yan Fei understood Ma Yongming’s thoughts now. He thought Pang Fa was too unstable with his erratic working methods.

This is an era when everyone seeks stability, willing to work in a state-owned enterprise for a secure job with a monthly salary of three hundred, even if a private enterprise might offer a salary of three thousand. Only when the situation at home is really urgent and in need of money, the majority would choose the secure job. Even now when many state-owned enterprises don’t have much work, there are still people paying a lot just to get in.

In reality, young people sometimes find this hard to understand. Spending thousands or tens of thousands to buy a job, and then earning a few hundred each month. Some, who have paid a lot more, even if they worked for three, five, even eight to ten years, without eating or drinking, couldn’t earn back what they paid. But people are still willing to buy these jobs.

Compared to running a small business or being a roving street vendor like Pang Fa, Yan Fei’s cattle farm now is a better choice. Because everyone believes he’s making more and more money, and his business will grow bigger and bigger in the future. For people with no better options, receiving a stable salary from the cattle farm is much better than being a street vendor—even if a street vendor can earn much more than the salary.

People from different eras think differently. In this era, even an employee of a state-owned enterprise that is going bankrupt and can’t pay the salaries, is considered more prestigious and respected than someone who has their own shop on the street, because the former is state-owned. When it comes to dating, being an employee, even though everyone knows that they can’t get their salary, is easier than someone running their own business—until they are laid off en masse and stay home, and then it’s too late!

You can tell just by looking at Ma Yongming, though he is a contractor and considered affluent, if it weren’t for his shrewdness, his wife might not be with him now!

After all this talk, the fundamental reasons are twofold—firstly, people coming from poverty don’t have a sense of security and always want a place where they can get a stable meal; secondly, traditional thinking plays a decisive role.

What Ma Yongming said represents the thoughts of the majority. In fact, some people have asked Pang Fa, "You and Boss Yan have a good relationship. He even lets you sell his beef, why doesn’t he let you work on the cattle farm?"

This reasoning is hard to explain.

After considering for a brief moment, Yan Fei asked, "So what does Brother Fa think?"

"If you won’t broach the subject, do you think he’s going to bring it up himself? Go talk to him." Ma Yongming said with a chuckle, then turned to get the workers’ attention. "Alright, that’s enough. Time to get on with our actual jobs. Start pulling up the stakes for the foundation; the bricks, sand and cement should be arriving soon..."

Yan Fei, on the other hand, jogged over to Pang Fa’s side: "Brother Fa, I want to discuss something with you..."

Pang Fa appeared embarrassed: "Don’t listen to your Uncle Ming’s nonsense, I’m perfectly fine as I am!"

Yan Fei stood straight up, pointing to a large plot of land: "When the greenhouses are up here, I’ll need someone to cultivate mushrooms. The person I hire must be able to teach others so that farmers raising cattle can grow their crops in additional small plots, making a bit of income and also not having to worry about disposing of the manure. The only person I can rely on to run errands for me is Heizi; the others aren’t up to it. If you find it dull doing what you’re doing now, why not move over?"

Pang Fa was still cradling a watermelon and appeared a little embarassed: "Well, I’ll consider it..."

Ma Yongming, having directed the workers, came over and immediately chided: "Are you really still acting high and mighty? Do you think Yan Fei should give you ’three invitations to the thatched cottage’? Do you actually believe your talents go beyond the point of serving Zhuge Liang as a shoe-shiner? You’re out making what seems like a lot of money, but is it sustainable? With Yan Fei, you never have to worry about food or drink, and you can keep all the money you make. What the hell are you still thinking about..."

Finally getting a bit impatient, Pang Fa relents: "Well then, as soon as I’ve sold these watermelons, I’ll come over."

Yan Fei let out a chuckle: "Fantastic! When you come, bring your belongings and pick whichever room you like. I need to make a trip to the township government office. In the meantime, could you please estimate how much the cart full of watermelons would cost? Don’t bother weighing it, just give a rough estimate."

Turning to Ma Yongming, he then asked, "Uncle Ming, is there anything else you need me to do?"

Ma Yongming waved him off: "Off you go! Today, we just need to dig the foundation, and once you’re done, remember to get the wood ready quickly."

Yan Fei waved cheerfully to the group and kicked to life his motorcycle, heading straight to Mayor Chen’s office at the township government.

Upon entering and seeing that no one was in Mayor Chen’s office he decided to speak his mind: "Uncle Chen, I’m planning to sow some forage grass. Uncle Pan told me there’s a policy about converting farmland back to forests and grassland, is that true?"

Stunned, Mayor Chen then burst into laughter: "Yan Fei, Yan Fei, come in, come in, take a seat. You’re truly my saviour—my timely rain. I’ve been so vexed about this matter these past few days, scratching my head till it’s about to go bald and still not figuring out a solution. Come on in, let’s discuss it in detail!"

With Mayor Chen explaining, Yan Fei understood what the policy of converting cultivated land back into forests and grasslands entailed.

It was quite strange. The county’s initial purpose in implementing the policy wasn’t much about protecting the environment, but rather related to poverty alleviation funds.

Indeed, there are odd happenings every year, but this year had an abundance.