Chapter 109: Fortune’s Favor

It was past nine in the morning.

The sun, hanging high in the southeastern sky, had grown fiercely hot, angrily shooting scorching rays to bake everything on the earth.

On the south side of the road, east of the intersection of National Highway 107 and South Ring Road in Pingyang City, some people stood under the blistering sun. They pointed and discussed something while looking at the dozens of acres of mostly flattened and roller-compacted empty land to the south of the road. Piles of cement, lime, gravel, and sand were stacked on the empty ground, along with four concrete mixers. Dozens of workers were busily engaged in hardening the road surface.

Several tractors transporting red bricks were parked on the empty ground. The drivers, sweating profusely, unloaded the bricks and stacked them into neat piles.

Su Cheng wore a faded, yellowish army-green tank top, deep gray homemade shorts stitched by a country woman, and a pair of plastic sandals. On his head was a straw hat, making him look like an old farmer going to work in the fields. His bronze-colored face glowed with joy. He pointed at the outer wall of the yard of the Fukang Combine Harvester agency sales office at the westernmost edge of this wasteland. “Tear down that entire yard. We won’t build the office building first. Next to the three rooms of the sales office, build six more rooms east-west to serve as offices and employee dormitories. Then rebuild the wall next to the main gate to enclose a small courtyard. Oh, and be careful when demolishing the wall, don’t ruin the bricks and asbestos tiles or anything.”

Yan Hongqiang, wearing sunglasses, nodded. “Alright, I’ll remind them later.”

Chen Yufang stood nearby holding a light blue parasol. She also wore a sun hat and sunglasses, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt, a black knee-length fitted skirt, and silver high-heeled sandals, appearing quite fashionable and capable, with an elegant air. She raised her hand and pointed at the empty construction site. “First, build the simple single-story houses on the north side of Zone A. Then prioritize the construction of the west-row office building and the two-story building south of the west gate. Starting from the southwest corner heading east, erect ten large warehouse units. Leave the foundation for the east row of Zone A reserved. Hurry up with the budget in the next few days. If funds are sufficient, we can build two-story shopfront houses.”

“Absolutely, absolutely.” Yan Hongqiang nodded repeatedly, then asked, “Is the gas station going to be enclosed within our parking lot?”

Chen Yufang smiled. “According to what I told you, reserve a plot for them in the design diagram. Let them build their own wall even.”

“Good.” Yan Hongqiang nodded with a smile.

At this time, Su Chunfeng was sitting at a small table in the small spare parts room between the north room and the reception room of the sales office. He was reviewing his lessons with a fan blowing on him.

Now, regarding the construction of the logistics park, he didn’t need to worry anymore.

Moreover, he didn’t know if it was the Feng Shui Magic Array set up by Shi Linheng that, while helping Hongyun Construction Company prosper, also indirectly aided Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd. Or perhaps, Chen Xian’s network within government departments and Chen Yufang’s public relations skills played a huge role—on the very day the logistics park broke ground, more good news arrived. To respond to the call of national economic development policies and also to promote Pingyang City’s economic growth, the Pingyang City government provided financial support through fiscal allocations to some medium-sized enterprises and key projects.

The Wantong Logistic Park project received three million yuan in supportive funds allocated by the Pingyang City government.

Thus, Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd. quickly obtained relatively ample funds. Consequently, they made bold revisions to the plan, canceling some original plans, aiming to basically complete and perfect various supporting facilities for Zone A of Wantong Logistics Park within the first phase of construction.

Moreover, on the third day of construction, the owner of a private gas station proactively came seeking to build a gas station outside the north gate of Wantong Logistics Park.

After two days of negotiation, the location, area, and price were settled.

The gas station would pay a one-time land use rental fee for five years, amounting to three hundred and fifty thousand yuan.

“Su Chunfeng, are you there?”

A girl’s voice called from outside the reception room door.

“I’m here!” Su Chunfeng quickly answered and stood up to go out—he had made plans with Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei to go play at the city park and zoo today.

The door to the reception room was pushed open, and Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei walked in smiling.

Zhang Lifei wore a white dress and red mid-heeled sandals. At sixteen, her slender figure was gradually developing, hinting at some curves.

Wang Haifei wore a light blue short-sleeved T-shirt, black capri pants, and a pair of clean but worn white sneakers fraying at the edges. Developing feminine traits later, she was thin and tall, slightly taller than Zhang Lifei who wore mid-heeled sandals. The fierce summer sun made her originally darker skin appear even more tanned. Coupled with her plain, unnoticeable attire, she clearly looked like a country girl. However, her delicate and pretty features, oval face, especially her clear, star-like eyes, were enough to completely overshadow the flaws in her clothing and skin tone. She seemed to exude a fresh, rustic charm.

Because of the heat, both young, pretty girls had sweat beads all over their foreheads, with strands of hair stuck to them.

“It’s so hot, wow.” Zhang Lifei stood under the ceiling fan, lifting her slender, fair arms as if enjoying it immensely. She tilted her face back, squinting her eyes. Her long neck was smooth as jade, extending down to reveal a rather enticing patch of snowy, smooth skin at the open collar button, dipping into the slightly raised area beneath the fabric.

Wang Haifei stood beside Zhang Lifei, her hands clasped lightly in front of her, smiling as she looked at Su Chunfeng.

“Quick, sit on the sofa. I’ll bring the desk fan over to cool you…” Su Chunfeng said as he went into the inner room to get the desk fan, plug it in, and turn it on. He added with a slightly complaining tone, “I told you to pick a cooler day. You had to choose this scorching hot day to come out.”

“Pfft, what’s wrong with a hot day? It’ll be cool in the park,” Zhang Lifei said nonchalantly, pulling Wang Haifei to sit on the sofa.

“Cool off first. I’ll go tell my mom.” Su Chunfeng walked outside smiling. His mother was in the simple kitchen, ladling mung bean soup into two kettles. “Mom, my two classmates are here. We’re going to play in the city in a bit. Can you give me some money?”

“Sure, wait a moment.” Chen Xiulan replied with a smile.

The construction site had been operating for over half a month. Except for occasional rainy days when the workers rested, work never stopped. Even right after the rain when it was muddy, the workers would sweat profusely while busy on the site. Chen Xiulan couldn’t bear to watch, so she suggested to her husband to cook two pots of mung bean soup daily for the workers to relieve the heat. Su Cheng didn’t object. He knew his wife had a kind heart. Being from ordinary farmer backgrounds themselves, they kindly believed that treating these workers better would make them work more diligently, resulting in better construction quality.

How did the saying go?

Being kind to others brings kindness to oneself.

After ladling the mung bean soup, Chen Xiulan stood up smiling, wiping her hands on her apron. “How much do you need?”

“Fifty yuan should be enough. I’ll bring back whatever is left.”

“Who came?” Chen Xiulan asked, smiling as she took money from her pocket to give to her son.

“Zhang Lifei and Wang Haifei.”

“Oh, those two girls?” Chen Xiulan thought for a moment, then simply took another fifty yuan from her pocket and stuffed it into Su Chunfeng’s hand. “When going out with girls, boys should be generous. It’s hot; remember to buy them chilled drinks and ice cream. Oh, I’ll ladle two bowls of mung bean soup. Drink it before you go.” As she spoke, Chen Xiulan turned and walked to the kettles filled with mung bean soup, poured two bowls, and carried them toward the room.

Su Chunfeng quickly stuffed the money into his pocket and stepped forward to help carry the bowls into the room.

Chen Xiulan followed inside, chatted warmly with the two pretty girls for a few sentences, then went out to carry the mung bean soup with bowls to the construction site. Her enthusiasm made Wang Haifei and Zhang Lifei quite shy—after all, they were girls and had been to Su Chunfeng’s home several times. Now that Su Chunfeng’s whole family had moved to live at the shop in Pingyang City, they came again… if word got out, wouldn’t people laugh?

After drinking the mung bean soup and waiting for Chen Xiulan to return from the construction site while enjoying the fan, the two girls politely said goodbye to Chen Xiulan and followed Su Chunfeng out.

Chen Xiulan saw them off at the door and reminded, “Chunfeng, don’t let your classmates pay for anything.”

“Okay, I know.” Su Chunfeng agreed, both amused and embarrassed.

Now, Wantong Freight Forwarding Agency Co., Ltd. had a loan of several million yuan. Logically, the Su family’s situation should be quite tight. However, Su Cheng and Chen Xiulan, comforted by their son Su Chunfeng, had become more open-minded—the bank debt was a company loan and shouldn’t be mixed up with the family’s finances. Moreover, this seemingly staggering loan of several million wasn’t actually that much. Just a gas station occupying that little piece of land paid over three hundred thousand. Once the parking lot officially started operating, how much money would they earn from renting out so many rooms? At the very least, these dozens of acres of land sitting here were of considerable value.

Anyway, since the family finances and the company couldn’t be mixed, their economic situation naturally remained quite comfortable—the Credit Cooperative loan was already paid off. That freight truck at home, after deducting all expenses, could still earn six or seven thousand yuan a month. In these times, an ordinary laborer working a whole year might only earn six or seven thousand, right?

When taking the bus, Su Chunfeng proactively bought the tickets. The starting fare was five mao; for three people to get to Pingyang City Park, it cost one yuan and five mao.

Getting off at the park, admission was eight mao per person, which Su Chunfeng also paid in full.

By the time the three entered the park talking and laughing, it was already past ten in the morning.

The sun grew even fiercer. However, the park, with its lush vegetation and elegant environment, occasionally had cool breezes. Plus, with shade everywhere, it felt quite pleasant.

Two boys and one girl, three teenagers, walked happily chatting under the shade by the park lake.

Zhang Lifei asked, “Chunfeng, earlier at your shop, we saw such a large area under construction. Is all that your family’s?”

“Yeah, a company opened by two families jointly contracted it.” Su Chunfeng smiled.

“Such a huge place, how much money does it take to contract it?” Wang Haifei asked with some surprise.

“Less than two million,” Su Chunfeng said casually and lightly. “Including construction, the first phase will cost around six million or so.”

“What?”

Not only Wang Haifei, even Zhang Lifei was greatly astonished.