Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 830 - 454: Contracts are Not a Substitute for Character

Chapter 830: Chapter 454: Contracts are Not a Substitute for Character

Having successfully attended the "Three Classes," he felt even the sun’s rays were less scorching. Full of a sense of achievement, he returned to the cattle farm.

Then he waited by the office phone, ready for the notoriously elusive Miss Xu Xiaoyan to call—he remembered the public phone number at her school’s gate, and was prepping to give her a ’surprise’ by telling her that he went to school today.

But before he could surprise her, the old party secretary from the village to the west brought a ’surprise’ of his own. After some idle chatter upon seeing him, the old secretary revealed his purpose, "Boss Yan, we had an agreement that you’d send someone to guide them on how to cultivate mushrooms. They said they were busy these days but would be done soon. Yet, no one showed up this afternoon. Is there some urgent work at the farm?

Yan Fei had already noticed the folks from those two families outside the office and asked irritably, "Old secretary, I admire your effort to enrich the villagers, running around with your old arms and legs. But why didn’t you ask why I stopped those five fools from going over? Why don’t you ask why those two families don’t even come in anymore? What do you mean by ’about to finish’? My people were supposed to finish their work for them, right?"

At these words, the old secretary’s face lost its initial composure. He had come because those two families reported that no one had come today, suggesting maybe the farm was too busy. But now, hearing Yan Fei’s words, he realized that things weren’t as simple as he thought.

Yan Fei didn’t feel like waiting for more nonsense from the old secretary, and after a pause, he continued, "I sent five people over as advisors, and they came back each time more tired than from working here. This morning, I went over and saw only those five working in the two greenhouses, while those from your village who built them just stood around. And there, those two brothers were smoking—I never said you could smoke in the mushroom greenhouse. Don’t they know that can hamper mushroom growth?"

"All the greenhouses are for mushroom cultivation, but mushrooms have already sprouted in mine, while those two families are just waiting for my people to do the work, right? Enjoying free labor feels good, huh? They don’t have to pay wages, and the mushrooms are still for me to grow, aren’t they?"

He was actually quite glad for Old Liu’s suggestion back then: fungus seedlings and cattle manure can’t be free, or else he would have instructed them for nothing. There really are all sorts of people—’smart’ ones are everywhere! They want to learn to grow mushrooms when they see others doing it, but why don’t they realize they have to do the work themselves?

The old secretary began to understand after Yan Fei put it this way. He had arrived feeling confident, thinking it was just to appease those two families. He wasn’t unfamiliar with what kind of people they were, but he thought they’d be more committed after investing their own money to build the greenhouses. Little did he know, those two families had crossed the line and offended Boss Yan!

Seeing Old Liu trying to say something with an apologetic look, Yan Fei poured him a glass of water, softening his tone, "Old secretary, have some water, don’t rush. This is not anyone’s fault. It’s purely their own doing. Look at their attitude—arriving without even entering, having you ask me without explaining the specifics. Even if they came in now to apologize, it would ease my mind a bit, but look at them now. These people are not worth your help, and they won’t appreciate it. You might as well help a few who are worth it, at least they would remember the kindness, right?"

"I’m just an old man now, not really expecting them to appreciate me. I just hoped to lead a few in the village to prosperity. I didn’t expect this... sigh..." The old secretary could hardly bring himself to drink water. Disappointed by the situation, he still had to inquire, "Then Boss Yan, when do you think someone could go over and advise them again?"

"Don’t worry so much, we may not have a written agreement, but my word is reliable," Yan Fei reassured the old secretary before continuing.

"But forget about those two families. As for when someone will go and instruct them again—that will wait until I’m in a better mood. For now, let them figure it out themselves. As for the others, most of the mushrooms are nearly sprouting, hmm, some already have. I don’t think there’s really a need for further guidance, they can just come over if they have questions. I won’t ignore a real issue, but as for those who think they are clever and bully an honest man, I won’t bother with them."

"Well, you see..." Upon hearing this, the old secretary felt a tug at his heart. Those two families were either worried about messing things up and affecting the yield, or they were just lazy and counting on others. In any case, they were dragging their feet, and it wasn’t sorted out even now!

"Look, old secretary, don’t plead for them. It makes both you and me uncomfortable. Let’s leave it at that, those two families can figure it out on their own! Don’t they have mouths to ask others how it’s done? You can’t keep worrying and end up doing their work yourself, then hand over the earned money to them, can you?" Yan Fei was still waiting for the call and couldn’t have Old Liu wasting his time. He almost outright hurried him to leave.

Seeing Yan Fei’s firm stance, the old secretary said no more. With a heavy sigh, he got up, his body quivering slightly.

What hurts the most is not swords or sticks, but human hearts!

As he was about to leave, Yan Fei kindly advised, "If you want the villagers to prosper, it can’t be done this way. There must be hardworking and capable people among them. Spend your efforts persuading a few well-off and hardworking families—it’s better than dealing with those two. They are truly hopeless. Those two smokers, the first time you came, I didn’t refuse to help, and their faces looked so dissatisfied, as if I owed them money. Why bother with such people?"

With a sigh, the old secretary replied, "They came to me, so I thought if I could help, I would, but who knew they’d be so sneaky? Don’t worry, this isn’t your fault. I’ll explain the situation clearly to those families when I get back."

After sending off the old party secretary, Yan Fei didn’t make a big deal out of it.

From the very beginning to the end, the old party secretary didn’t mention the contract with the fingerprint, which told Yan Fei that contracts were indeed important, but in the countryside these days, what mattered most was one’s character. Those two families had a bad reputation and had done something despicable, so if Yan Fei continued to buy their mushrooms in the future, others would say Boss Yan was noble and righteous. If he truly decided not to buy their mushrooms, others wouldn’t say anything either.

Fairness lies in the human heart.

Yan Fei, anxious for the phone call, decided not to go for a meal. It was quite serendipitous, as it wasn’t long after the old party secretary had left that the girl paged him.

He glanced at it and immediately picked up the phone, his hand flickering with afterimages as he dialed the number—he was afraid that if he was too slow, the girl would walk away after her call.

As soon as he dialed, the other party picked up, and he immediately said excitedly, "Wife, was I quick to return the call? I’m lucky you haven’t left yet, haha..."

But to his surprise, after a moment of hesitation, a male voice came through: "Who are you looking for? Are you looking for the girl who was in line before me? She hung up and left. I’m about to make a call..."

The guy was also baffled, his hand still hovering midair without having dialed a number when he heard someone speaking from the receiver. Luckily, he seemed to be experienced in making calls and reacted swiftly. He remembered that when he picked up the receiver, the phone had indeed rung half a ring.

Yan Fei was startled by the male voice from the other end as well, but he quickly figured it out and answered, "Yes, yes, yes, sorry about that! She didn’t ask me to call her back, I just happened to be near the phone, so I returned her call. Has she walked far? Could you help me call her over?"

"Sure!" There was nothing wrong with that. They were all college students; he could surely shout for someone without fussing over a little wasted time.

As Yan Fei listened to the guy calling for someone, soon the girl’s voice came from the receiver, "Yan Xiaofei, is that you? Didn’t I tell you not to call me back? I had already left!"

Yan Fei chuckled, "Of course, it’s me, haha! I’ve been waiting here since school ended. How about that? Surprised or not?"

The girl was indeed surprised, but after her initial delight, she asked the question she cared about most, "How was it going to school? Did you understand the lessons? If you don’t get it at first, you should ask the teacher, or else you won’t be able to keep up later..."

The girl was concerned to the point of confusion, forgetting that the afternoon classes in high school were generally not very important, and so was Yan Fei, righteous and confident, "Of course, I understood. Don’t worry! I’ve memorized nearly half the textbook in one class..."

That was purely bluster, with only three periods in a day, one of which was physical education, yet he had the nerve to make such a claim. History was all about memorization, just the content from the textbook, and with his memory, there was surely no problem. As for geography, he was someone who traveled everywhere, and with his astonishing memory, he understood latitude and longitude better than the average student, making the textbook knowledge quite easy to grasp.

The girl was just happy that he went to school and had very low expectations of him, practically absurd, as long as he showed up at school. She didn’t even ask which classes he attended and immediately said cheerfully, "That’s great! I’ll reward you later. Keep it up. Has the cow farm been busy these days? Any problems?"

"Of course not, it’s been very quiet," Yan Fei certainly wouldn’t bother the girl with the cow farm issues, always picking out the good parts to share. Soon he had her laughing happily.

After a long conversation, the girl casually glanced back and saw the helpful guy who had called her earlier standing beside with a deadpan expression. She remembered that others were waiting to use the phone and hurriedly said to Yan Fei, "Okay, okay, I won’t talk to you anymore, we can talk about it next time! There’s a long line here, and everyone is waiting to use the phone..."