Chapter 87: A New Moneymaking Opportunity

One night connected two years, the fifth watch divided them.

On New Year’s Eve, Su Chunfeng stayed up with his parents and younger brother. The family of four sat around the television watching the Spring Festival Gala, chatting and making dumplings as they welcomed the new year. The atmosphere was warm and happy.

These past two years, the family’s life had been smooth sailing, getting better and better.

A Combine Harvester had completely lifted the family out of their financial struggles, making them one of the well-off households in the village. Before winter began this year, the foundation for their new house was laid, ready for construction to start after the New Year when the weather warmed up. After winter set in, the family had a telephone installed and a small heating boiler for warmth. So even when it was freezing outside, the house remained cozy. Amidst all this busyness, Su Cheng also took out another loan from the Credit Cooperative. Together with their savings, they spent over 160,000 yuan to buy a 6.8-meter freight truck. Its official load capacity was 1.5 tons, but in reality, it could carry up to 12 tons—in those days, this was considered a big freight vehicle.

As for the issue of overloading…

Well, it wasn’t a matter of whether it was serious or not; it was just how things were everywhere across the country.

After Su Cheng bought this truck, the transport business for almost all external sales of the company run by Li Sheng—which, after expansion, was officially renamed the “Yuwang Agricultural and Livestock Feed Factory”—was taken over by Su Cheng.

Apart from the good relationship between the two families, the shrewd Li Sheng had also done some careful calculations. With foresight, he had pushed aside dissenting opinions and decided to hire vehicles for transport rather than buying a truck himself to keep all the profits. Buying a truck would require hiring a driver, along with daily expenses, vehicle maintenance, and other costs, which would add up. Besides, Li Sheng, who was busy day in and day out, didn’t have the mind to worry about vehicle operations every day. Hiring a vehicle was simpler, saved effort, and saved time.

The Feed Factory business was booming more and more, so Su Cheng’s freight truck was almost never idle, naturally earning quite a bit of money.

Moreover, Su Cheng was an extremely hardworking and diligent person. The farthest sales channels for the Feed Factory didn’t exceed two hundred kilometers, so he didn’t even hire a driver. He worked alone from dawn till dusk. Occasionally, when the Feed Factory had no work, Su Cheng would drive to the main roadside in Pingyang City to look for jobs. In those days, there weren’t many freight vehicles. Many factories had trouble shipping goods and were desperately looking for trucks, eager to establish connections with freight truck owners to become regular customers.

So, less than two months after Su Cheng bought the truck, got all the paperwork in order, and officially hit the road, he had already netted over thirty-one thousand yuan in pure profit.

Business was thriving, and the family’s circumstances kept improving. Sometimes, when Su Cheng and his wife Chen Xiulan talked in private, they couldn’t help but sigh and say, “It’s mostly thanks to our Xiaofeng.”

Having such a son was a blessing and good fortune.

Buying the Combine Harvester was the idea of their eldest son, Su Chunfeng. Buying the freight truck was also Su Chunfeng’s idea. This child seemed born with a clever mind—hardworking, eager to learn, sensible, and with far-sighted vision. Additionally, for the High School Entrance Examination, Su Chunfeng scored high and got into County No.1 High School without having to pay tuition, which was another honor. On usual weekends when Su Chunfeng came home, he helped his parents with all the chores around the house and the fields…

When neighbors talked about it, who wouldn’t praise him with envy?

Not only was the eldest son sensible and promising himself, but he also disciplined his younger brother, Su Chunyu, so well that he now knew to study hard. In this year’s Final Exam, Su Chunyu surprisingly ranked eleventh in his class.

Great! Another one likely to go to university in the future!

If in a few years both sons went to university…

In Su Cheng’s words: “By then, the two of us could ride an airplane and dance disco, happy enough to reach the sky!”

On New Year’s Eve, the more the couple thought about it, the happier they felt. Coincidentally, the Spring Festival Gala was showing a comedy sketch, making them laugh so hard they couldn’t close their mouths. Su Cheng, in high spirits, waved his arm and said, “Xiaofeng, go get the liquor. Mom… stop making dumplings for now. Cut some cooked meat and make a cold dish. I’ll have a couple of drinks with Xiaofeng.”

“What a character, you still have to get up early tomorrow for the fifth watch,” Chen Xiulan said with a smile and a playful scold, but she still got up to prepare the dishes.

Su Chunfeng, like a child who hadn’t grown up yet, was overjoyed by his father’s affection. He chuckled as he got up to fetch a bottle of white liquor, a small wine pot, and two small cups. His younger brother, Su Chunyu, also sensible, went to move the small table over and placed it beside them—the dining table was occupied by a large cutting board for making dumplings.

Everything at home during the New Year was readily available, so before long, Chen Xiulan had stir-fried a dish of green peppers with pork head meat and sliced a ham sausage, mixing it with cilantro, chopped green onions, minced garlic, vinegar, and sesame oil to make a cold dish.

Placed on the small table, the two dishes made a decent spread.

Su Chunfeng poured wine for his father, and the two chatted while drinking.

Chen Xiulan continued busily making dumplings, while Su Chunyu edged over to the table, picking up chopsticks to eat the dishes. Occasionally, he would glance longingly at the wine cups, pouting and thinking unhappily to himself: “It’s not fair. Why can’t I have a couple of drinks? I’m a middle school student now. How come my brother could drink when he was in middle school?”

Sipping his drink, Su Cheng said cheerfully to Su Chunfeng, “Xiaofeng, your dad is thinking of selling the Combine Harvester after the New Year and buying another freight truck, hiring two drivers. What do you think?”

“Sure, that works,” Su Chunfeng replied with a smile. “It’s up to you.”

“Your uncle also wants to buy a Combine Harvester. I thought I could sell it to him at a cheaper price,” Su Cheng said happily, glancing at his wife, Chen Xiulan. Then he continued, “This autumn, many people here bought new vehicles. Although most of them added a Rotary Tiller to do autumn tilling work, I reckon that come spring, they’ll all switch to Combine Harvesters. So, this business will probably only be good for another two or three years before it gets tough.”

Su Chunfeng smiled and said, “It depends on how you look at it. If you don’t have big ambitions, you could keep at it for over a decade without issues. It’ll always earn more than working a regular job year-round.”

“Yeah,” Su Cheng nodded, with a somewhat proud sense of accomplishment and big ideas. He smiled and said, “We’re just too busy now… Oh, and some time ago, the sales manager from the Combine Harvester manufacturer in the provincial capital called me. He wanted me to be the agent for sales in our Pingyang City. But where would I find the time for that?”

Hearing his father’s casual remark, Su Chunfeng was stunned.

He thought this job could be done!

Although in his previous life, he hadn’t been involved in commercial operations or done business, he was familiar with the concept of an agent. Especially in this era, when Combine Harvesters were starting to become widespread in the vast countryside and sales were climbing steadily, being an agent for Combine Harvester sales was definitely a surefire, profitable business.

“Dad, this business can work!” Su Chunfeng took a sip of wine and asked seriously, “How much does a Combine Harvester cost now?”

Su Cheng was taken aback and said, “For a complete set with a tractor, harvester, and Rotary Tiller, the cheapest would be fifty thousand, and a better one would be over sixty thousand… Oh, right, there’s also a special Combine Harvester that costs over eighty thousand. That thing can’t till land; it can only harvest wheat. But it harvests wheat faster—twice as efficient as a regular tractor-mounted Combine Harvester! And it’s less likely to break down. It’s just too expensive.”

“Did the manufacturer’s sales manager mention how the agent’s income is calculated?”

“For each one sold, we get three thousand two hundred,” Su Cheng said, putting down his cup. Now, he was starting to pay attention—his eldest son, Su Chunfeng, was clever, and whatever he said was usually right.

Su Chunfeng started counting on his fingers as he explained to his father: “Three thousand two hundred for one, thirty-two thousand for ten. Dad, currently, no one around here is doing this. Given how fast Combine Harvesters are spreading, if we sell them, we could probably sell thirty or forty a year, right? Besides, you’ve worked with Combine Harvesters for two years, so you know them much better than others. While selling the harvesters, you could also manage repairs and sell spare parts… When you add it up, that’s all money.”

“Hold on, let me think for a moment,” Su Cheng said, needing a moment to digest this. He stopped his son from continuing, lit a cigarette, and pondered carefully.

Beside them, Chen Xiulan, who was making dumplings, watched the father and son discuss making money, her face beaming with happy delight.

As an ordinary farm woman, she was already quite content with the family’s current living conditions. What made her happy now was that her husband and son were both using their brains to discuss how to do business and make money to make the family even happier and better off…

As for Su Chunyu, carefree and uninterested, he ignored these discussions, turned his attention to the comedy sketch playing on TV, and laughed so hard he nearly fell over.

Su Cheng had no mind for TV now; his head was full of thoughts about making money and business, along with what his son had just mentioned. After thinking for a long while, he frowned and shook his head, somewhat troubled. He said, “Xiaofeng, your idea is good, but the problem is… the investment is too big. Our family doesn’t have that kind of money. One machine costs tens of thousands. If we really sell them, wouldn’t we need to have several in the store? Where would we get hundreds of thousands for investment? A loan wouldn’t be a problem, but if we lost money, all the family savings we’ve built up over these two years would be gone.”

Su Chunfeng smiled and said, “Dad, I bet if you’re willing to be an agent, we won’t have to pay upfront. The manufacturer will handle stocking the goods—they’ll probably collect money for each one sold. Plus, you should negotiate the price, commission, transportation costs, and so on with them. You need to sign proper contracts.”

“If we don’t have to spend money, what are we afraid of? Let’s do it!” Su Cheng was delighted.

“We still need to spend some money,” Su Chunfeng said, half-amused, half-exasperated. “Dad, we need to rent a storefront. It has to be in a prominent location, not in the county town, but right on the ring road of Pingyang City. We also need to rent a large piece of land to park the vehicles and allow them to drive around a bit inside. I’m afraid the investment won’t be small.” As he spoke, Su Chunfeng realized that such an investment might be beyond the family’s means.

Sure enough, Su Cheng fell silent.

Having worked with Combine Harvesters for two years, he naturally knew how much space was needed to park seven or eight Combine Harvesters and have room for them to move around. And renting a storefront and land in a prominent spot by a main road on the edge of the city… how much would that cost? They had just bought the freight truck not long ago, still owed over ninety thousand in loans to the Credit Cooperative, and planned to build a house after spring. Each of these required money.

Su Chunfeng felt somewhat helpless too, for a moment.

He could, of course, imagine that renting the land and storefront alone would cost a lot of money.

After drinking a sullen cup of wine with his father, Su Chunfeng suddenly thought of something and asked, “Dad, you kept the contact number of that manufacturer’s manager, right?”

“Ah, that I have,” Su Cheng nodded. “When we had problems with the vehicle, we often contacted them to send parts.”

“Good,” Su Chunfeng nodded, thinking as he spoke. “It’s the New Year now, and everyone’s on holiday, so there’s no rush. Let me think of a way. This should be doable.”