boyutpedia Chapter 82 Begging for Mercy
Chapter 82 Begging for Mercy
Having been rebuffed by Zhang Beichuan, Shi Tiezhu became even more uneasy.
When Shi Tiezhu walked into Shi Qiang's yard with a sullen face, Chen Lirong and Shi Jun were collecting eels in the yard, both of them with barely suppressed joy on their faces.
"Jun'er, with these three thousand jin, even after deducting the cost, we can easily make four or five hundred yuan!"
Chen Lirong's voice was filled with excitement, as if the money was already in her pocket.
Shi Jun grinned, "Sister-in-law, this is only the first day! Tomorrow and the day after, we'll collect even more, and the profits will be..."
"Oh, Second Uncle's here?" Chen Lirong's smile faded as soon as she saw Shi Tiezhu standing at the door, her words laced with sarcasm, "Why aren't you resting at home? Here to give instructions again?"
Shi Tiezhu was already fuming, and his face darkened even more upon hearing these sarcastic words.
But then I thought, why bother arguing with a woman?
"Where's Shi Qiang? When is he coming back?"
"I have no idea." Chen Lirong pouted. "Second Uncle, not to be mean, but people have to be enterprising. We can't just watch others eat meat while we don't even dare to drink the soup, can we? Qiangzi is doing this for the sake of our Shi family, wanting to help everyone earn more."
Shi Jun chimed in, "My dear second uncle, you don't need to worry about this anymore. This time it's definitely going to work!"
As Shi Tiezhu watched the two men's smug expressions, his sense of foreboding grew stronger.
He was too lazy to say anything more, turned around and walked to the gate of the courtyard, looking towards the direction of the village entrance.
Time passed second by second, and the sun gradually sank in the west.
Finally, the distant sound of a bicycle rattling along the dirt road could be heard.
Chen Lirong was the first to rush out, looking at Shi Qiang, whose pants had a hole in the knee.
"How did you fall? Have you found a way to buy it? How much does it cost per kilogram in the city?"
Shi Jun also quickly stepped forward, his face full of anticipation.
Shi Qiang raised his head and looked at the yard filled with all kinds of buckets, his lips trembling a few times.
"Say something! What's wrong?" Chen Lirong said impatiently, giving him a push.
Shi Qiang was pushed and swayed. Looking at his second uncle Shi Tiezhu's silent expression, he felt embarrassed.
"No...nobody wants it. In the city...nobody in the city buys it at this price...just a few cents a pound, and they only want a small amount."
"What?!" Chen Lirong's smile froze instantly, her voice turning shrill. "Over three thousand jin! We collected over three thousand jin, invested all our capital, and you're saying nobody wants it?!"
Shi Jun was also dumbfounded, his mouth agape, unable to react for a long time.
Their initial investment was only 600 yuan, and at a price of 0.22 yuan per kilogram, they could only collect a little over 2700 kilograms.
But everyone kept praising him, and since they were all from the same family, they said there was no rush for the money, and he could pay tomorrow.
Shi Jun, who was being held up, had no choice but to accept them with a smile.
But now no one wants these eels; they've all become a hot potato.
How is that possible?
Zhang Beichuan was sending thousands of kilograms of goods to the city, so why was no one willing to take them?
Shi Jun couldn't understand it, and neither could Chen Lirong.
Shi Tiezhu sighed heavily, closed his eyes, and the thing he feared most had still happened.
"You...didn't you say it would definitely work? Huh? What do we do now? It weighs over three thousand jin!" Chen Lirong pointed at Shi Jun's nose and cursed, so angry that she almost fainted.
"Sister-in-law...this...this can't all be blamed on me," Shi Jun muttered. "I thought...I thought..."
"What do you think you are!" Chen Lirong was so angry that tears welled up in her eyes. "Now look what's happened! I've lost everything, even my underwear! I don't care, you're the one who started this, you pay me back!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Jun immediately became displeased.
"Sister-in-law, we have to act with a conscience! Did I force you, or what?"
Shi Qiang slumped down at the gate of the courtyard, holding his head in his hands, not knowing what to do for a moment!
Looking at the three panicked people, Shi Tiezhu felt both angry and helpless.
"Now you're in a hurry? Where were you all before? I told you not to rush things, that haste makes waste, and to figure things out first, did you listen?"
Shi Qiang raised his head, his eyes filled with regret, knowing that he was the only one who could help solve the problem now.
"Second Uncle... I was wrong. What should we do now? So many eels can't be sold. If they stay too long and die, they'll be worth even less!"
Shi Jun also rushed over, but seeing Shi Tiezhu's gaze, he was a little embarrassed to speak.
"What else can we do?" Shi Tiezhu sneered. "Go find Zhang Beichuan, admit your mistake, and see if he's willing to take over."
"What?" Chen Lirong shrieked, "Go find him? Is that even possible, Second Uncle?"
Shi Jun also thought the idea was unreliable, muttering, "Go find him? Isn't that just handing your face over to be slapped? I'm not going!"
"Not going?" Shi Tiezhu stared at him. "Then you'll have to figure it out yourselves!"
Chen Lirong opened her mouth, but was immediately speechless, her face turning red and white in turns.
Shi Jun gritted his teeth. "Second Uncle, Zhang Beichuan... can we take him? If we keep competing with him for business, he'll definitely hate us..."
"Whether you hate them or not, you have to try." Shi Tiezhu sighed. "Otherwise, you might as well all be prepared to be dumped in the ditch tomorrow."
Once he calmed down, Shi Qiang listened to their back-and-forth argument and struggled to his feet.
"I'll go... I'll go beg him!"
Zhang Beichuan, who had come all the way home to wait, was teasing his mother and her two daughters who had just come home from school, making them giggle and laugh.
Hearing footsteps outside, Zhang Beichuan stood up and glanced at them. He knew exactly what was going on, but his face remained expressionless.
"What's up?"
Shi Qiang's face burned with embarrassment. He took a deep breath and said, "Brother Xiao Chuan, I... I'm here to apologize."
Zhang Dequan and Lan Xiuying, who were busy preparing dinner, exchanged a glance but did not say anything.
"Apologize? What makes you say that?"
Shi Qiang stood there, rubbing his hands, and recounted in detail how he had been turned away in the city during the day.
As he finished speaking, his voice grew softer and softer.
"It was my foolishness, I shouldn't have had such improper thoughts... Brother Xiaochuan, could you... could you help me?"
The courtyard quieted down. Shi Tiezhu, who had followed him all the way, was too ashamed to look at him with such a humble demeanor.
Zhang Beichuan was silent for a moment, then smiled.
"Help you? Why should I? When you were stealing my business, didn't you ever think this day would come?"
"I know...we were wrong." Cold sweat beaded on Shi Qiang's forehead. "You're a magnanimous person, please help us this time. You can set the price, just don't make us lose too much money..."
Zhang Beichuan glanced at him with a smile, then mentally calculated that he might as well take advantage of something that was free.
"Alright, considering we're all from the same hometown and see each other all the time, I'll make an exception and help you this time."
Upon hearing this, Shi Qiang felt a little relieved.
But Zhang Beichuan's next words completely shattered his spirit.
"Then we'll buy it back at 8 cents per pound."
"Eight points?" Shi Jun shouted. "Zhang Beichuan, don't go too far!"
"See, I told you, but you still disagree." Zhang Beichuan glanced at Shi Qiang, whose face was ashen, and said with a smile, "Then forget it, you can dump it in the ditch yourselves, I don't need this stuff anyway."
Although this price is destined to be a huge loss, on second thought, is there any better offer now?
Shi Qiang gritted his teeth; losing a little less was better than losing nothing at all.
"Okay, eight points it is!"
"Sorry, I've changed my mind. Five points now!" Zhang Beichuan grinned.
Anyway, he was confident that Shi Qiang and Shi Jun were in control, and he wasn't afraid of them disagreeing at all. He was willing to drag them all out and take them down if they dared.