Under Zeng Yaozu's planning, the supermarket in City Z flourished.
However, no matter how good the sales were, the daily output was fixed at 30,000 catties.
Zeng Family's vegetable store had 5,000 catties, and the supermarket had 25,000 catties.
Every day, they would buy about 10,000 catties of vegetables from the villagers.
The villagers who had signed a contract with Xiao Lingyu were very happy. Now, they could earn more than 100 RMB a day just by selling vegetables to Xiao Lingyu. This was something that they didn't dare to imagine before.
Those who were worried about Xiao Lingyu scamming them could only watch with regret and envy. But there were some who tried to test Xiao Lingyu.
"Lingyu, these vegetables of mine were also grown from your Little Cattle King's feces. I can sell them to you now, right?" A middle-aged woman said shamelessly, "Look at these vegetables. They're fresh and juicy. You have to buy them!"
Xiao Lingyu looked at the vegetables in her basket and shook her head, "Auntie Liu, it's not that I don't want to accept your vegetables, but your vegetables have been treated with pesticides. You know about my requirements. The vegetables have to be grown using Little Light's manure, and they must not be treated with pesticides."
Auntie Liu was still smiling as she tried to convince Xiao Lingyu. She grabbed a handful of cabbage and said, "Lingyu, look at how tender these vegetables are. Plus, if you don't say anything about the pesticides, how would the customers know, right?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded and said, "Auntie Liu, the customers won't know." Then she said seriously, "But as the boss, I can't lie to my customers."
Auntie Liu's face darkened when she heard that. She said unhappily, "So you still won't accept them?"
Xiao Lingyu saw Auntie Liu's changed face and said directly, "Auntie Liu, if your vegetables are indeed grown according to my requirements, I'm willing to buy your vegetables even if you haven't signed a contract with me.
"However, your vegetables are not only treated with pesticides, but they are also not grown from Little Light's manure. I can tell from a glance.
"I won't destroy my own branding to benefit a few people. Otherwise, once my customers find out, who will trust the Taoyuan Village brand anymore?"
Auntie Liu said bluntly, "But if you don't say anything, no one will know."
Xiao Lingyu said sharply, "My customers are rich and noble. They have a very discerning mouth. They can taste the slightest difference. Therefore, I will not take such a big risk for your family's vegetables.
"Furthermore, I'm a businesswoman now. What is the most important quality of a business person?
"It's honesty!
"A business person without honesty will go bankrupt eventually. Or Auntie Liu, do you want me to go bankrupt?" Xiao Lingyu shot a sharp gaze at the woman.
Auntie Liu's face turned red from Xiao Lingyu's stare. Especially when she heard the last sentence, she was shocked and quickly said, "Lingyu, of course, I won't hope for you to go bankrupt. It's fine that you don't want to buy my vegetables, but how can you accuse me of that?"
Taoyuan Village was getting rich thanks to Xiao Lingyu. Every family had some money. They could buy meat and new clothes. There were even many families that bought appliances, such as televisions and refrigerators. There were also more vehicles like motorcycles.
In the past, the villagers of Taoyuan Village had to rely on public transport to go to the county town on the market fair day. However, on normal days, they would have to walk.
But that was not a problem now. More families started to invest in a motorcycle. They could use it to go to town or to visit relatives.
When at least half of Taoyuan Village went to the town to purchase motorcycles, the boss was overjoyed. In half a year's time, he had sold so many motorcycles that he had earned hundreds of thousands.
These were contributions brought by Xiao Lingyu. Xiao Lingyu had brought riches to the village. Therefore, who would want to see Xiao Lingyu's business fail?
Although many people were secretly jealous and envious, few really wanted Xiao Lingyu's business to go bankrupt.
Therefore, when Auntie Liu heard Xiao Lingyu's words, she was shocked. If people found out, she would be scolded to death by the villagers.
Auntie Liu quickly put the cabbage back into the basket and said embarrassedly, "Look at the time. I still haven't cooked yet. I need to go back." Auntie Liu quickly ran away.
Xiao Lingyu's eyes turned cold. 'These people are really crazy from jealousy. It was their decision not to sign the contract with me at first. They were worried that I'd scam now, but now that the other villagers are making money, they feel uneasy.
'They think they can sneak the low-quality vegetables into my supermarket. Do they think I'm stupid?'
If Xiao Lingyu didn't reject Auntie Liu, more people would follow in her footsteps and force their low-quality crops on Xiao Lingyu. If Xiao Lingyu said no, she would offend the whole village. Therefore, no matter who it was, as long as the crops didn't fit her requirements, Xiao Lingyu would not take them!
...
The tales of Auntie Liu soon spread throughout the village. The other villagers who had the same idea changed their minds. Since Xiao Lingyu didn't accept Auntie Liu's crops, she wouldn't accept the others. Because they didn't fit Xiao Lingyu's requirements.
Xiao Lingyu was a principled person. Auntie Liu's failure made the onlookers disappointed.
"How can Xiao Lingyu be like this? These vegetables look so good. She refused to accept them just because they were treated with pesticides. It's really infuriating."
"You can't blame her for this. Back then, she had already said she'd take any vegetables that were planted according to her request. You didn't want to listen to her. How is it her fault now?"
Auntie Liu said unwillingly, "But... but these dishes are so good-looking."
"Sigh, no matter how good-looking they are, she won't want them. Plus, if you really think so highly of your cabbages, you can go to sell them in town."
Auntie Liu said with an unpleasant expression, "Why would I do that? It's difficult to sell them in town, and it's time-consuming to travel there. How can there be any profit?"
"Then, you have to eat them yourself or feed them to the chickens."
Auntie Liu, "..."
...
Xiao Lingyu did not care about these discussions.
After City Z supermarket had steadied, she turned her gaze to a reservoir in Taoyuan Village.
The reservoir was very large, about 500 to 600 acres wide, and it was sandwiched at the foot of the two mountains.
"What? You want to contract the reservoir at Mali Slope?" The village chief's eyes widened when he heard Xiao Lingyu's words.
Xiao Lingyu nodded and said, "That's right."
The village chief asked in puzzlement, "Why?"
Xiao Lingyu smiled and said, "Village chief, of course, I'm contracting the reservoir to raise fish. Why else would I contract a reservoir?"
The village chief frowned slightly and said, "Lingyu, two years ago, someone contracted this reservoir to raise fish, but in the end, they lost a lot of money. So, I really want you to think this over carefully." The village chief was really surprised by Xiao Lingyu's request. For him, Xiao Lingyu had planted vegetables, contracted hills, set up a company, and so on. She had already done a lot.
But now, she wanted to contract a reservoir to raise fish. Did she have too much money?