“Alright, go back and talk to Uncle Sun for me. I can pay the lease yearly for the hills, with a contract starting from at least ten years minimum. Of course, the longer the better. Third Brother, you decide how to handle it. If there’s any request from the village, we can discuss it as well.”
“Okay, no problem,” Sun Bingnan agreed without hesitation, believing his father would be happy to hear this. “Sis, what do you want to rent two hills for? I’m telling you, all the mature trees on the hill were chopped down and sold by the village. What’s left are just small trees. You should know that you can’t grow crops on our hills.”
Their family did have a hill planted with fruit trees though.
“That’s the second thing I wanted to discuss with you, Third Brother. I’m planning to raise chickens on the hill. Next year, I want to expand our ready-to-eat food business. It would be best if we could use our own chickens for the raw materials. I remember your eldest and second brothers are both at home. See if they’re willing to raise chickens with me. I’ll pay them a monthly salary.”
Sun Bingnan sat up straight when he heard this, “They’ll be willing, definitely willing.”
Lin Chuxia laughed, “You haven’t even asked them yet. How do you know they’d be willing?”
Sun Bingnan didn’t mince his words when talking to Lin Chuxia.
“You don’t know, Sis. My eldest and second brothers are so envious of Lanlan and I working in the city and earning wages. They’ve always been looking for opportunities to be introduced to work. My sisters-in-law though, they can’t bear to leave their homes and children. If we really let my eldest and second brothers come out to work, they worry they might become too wild. They’ve even fought over this issue. If they can earn salaries at home, only fools wouldn’t do it.”
“Alright, then we’ll tentatively settle on this. You go back and ask about the hill lease and also hint about the chicken raising to your eldest and second brothers. But remember, you’re the one renting the hill and raising the chickens for Qin’s Bun Shop.”
Sun Bingnan understood instantly, “Don’t worry, Sis. You can trust me with this job. I definitely won’t let those people from the Lin Family cause trouble for you.”
Just as they finished their conversation, Sun Lanlan and Cai Jun came back from outside.
Sun Lanlan was wearing a smoke-colored cold-proof jacket, but it was the red scarf around her neck that added a splash of bright color, making her small face look cute and charming.
Cai Jun was dressed in a jacket that made him look very spirited.
The two of them walked into the Bun Shop one after another, chatting and laughing.
Lin Chuxia and Sun Bingnan saw both of them at the same time, and Sun Bingnan winked at Lin Chuxia.
Lin Chuxia asked in a low voice, “What’s the situation with these two now?”
Before Sun Bingnan could reply, Sun Lanlan had already raised her voice, “Chuxia, how come you have time to hang around here today? If I’d known you were going to be at the shop, I wouldn’t have gone out.”
“Why did you go out?”
“A few days ago, some people broke some plates and bowls, and we didn’t have enough in the shop. I told Third Brother to go buy them, but he insisted on having Cai Jun and me go instead, saying we should get out and breathe some fresh air after being in the shop all the time. I say he’s just trying to be lazy. You have to dock his bonus.”
After saying that, she even made a face at Sun Bingnan.
“Third Brother, I’m dead tired; you go help Cai Jun with unloading.”
Sun Bingnan smiled and nudged her, joking that she was being overly delicate.
Cai Jun, upon seeing Lin Chu, greeted, “Mr. Lin,” then signaled for Sun Bingnan to help with unloading.
Still with the same cheerful demeanor.
Lin Chuxia commented casually, “Cai Jun has a good temper, always cheerful whenever I see him.”
Sun Lanlan nodded in agreement, “He’s just a nice guy. I have to say, my Third Brother actually did a good thing for the shop this time. Someone like Cai Jun is really suited to be a shop assistant; he fits the recruitment criteria for our shop perfectly.”
“He does meet the shop’s criteria. What do you think about him?”
“I think he’s fine. He’s quick and earnest at work. I plan to give him a little bonus this month as an encouragement. Right, Mr. Lin, what do you think?”
Lin Chuxia: “…”
Is this girl genuinely naive or just pretending to be? Does she think I’m asking about Cai Jun’s work situation?
“Manager Sun, you handle it as you see fit. Managers do have this kind of authority.”
I can’t monitor every employee’s performance all the time. The authority to issue bonuses has long been delegated to each manager, who report on employee performance at the end of the month for me to review.
“Why did you buy such a color for your cold-proof clothing? It makes you look like an old lady,” Lin Chuxia shifted the topic.
Sun Lanlan looked down, “Isn’t it dirt-resistant? This one piece is my one month’s salary. I can’t afford to wash it frequently, otherwise it won’t be warm anymore.”
“The scarf looks nice, not like your usual taste,” let’s see what you say this time.
Sun Lanlan noticed Lin Chuxia’s teasing glance, and following her gaze to Cai Jun, her face turned red, “What are you thinking? This was given to me by Granny Su. She thanked me for protecting her before. I’ve been wearing it for more than half a month now, and you only noticed it now?”
Lin Chuxia: “…”
I really did overthink it. Turns out this girl is genuinely naive.
But seeing her reddish and flushed face, she probably isn’t without thoughts about Cai Jun.
Let nature take its course, after all with Cai Jun working here in the shop, and with Sun Bingnan, the third brother around, it’s only a matter of time before these two develop a relationship.
…………
Sun Bingnan returned to the village that day, and after a couple of days, Lin Chuxia received a letter.
“My dad said that the village committee has discussed it, they can lease the mountaintop to us for a maximum of twenty years. As for after twenty years, it depends on the situation. If we want to extend the lease, we can have priority.”
Lin Chuxia thought for a moment; twenty years was indeed quite long. These twenty years of reform and opening up had been a time of rapid development.
“How much is the rent?”
“My dad’s original words were, he planned to charge one hundred and twenty yuan per mountaintop per year. For a long-term lease, it would be one hundred yuan per year. The village is in urgent need of money, so could we possibly pay the rent for five years upfront?”
Sun Bingnan needed to consult Lin Chuxia about this since he could not decide on his own.
The annual rent for a mountaintop was one hundred yuan, so five years’ rent would amount to one thousand yuan.
Worried that Lin Chuxia might have objections—after all, the bare mountaintops didn’t seem to hold much promise—he further explained.
“Miss, my dad told me to tell you not to think the rent is too high. The village really needs the money. Think of it as making a contribution to the village. If you’re really tight on funds, you can pay three years’ rent first.”
To outsiders, the mountaintop was being rented by Sun Bingnan, but Mr. Sun was aware of the real situation.
“No need, just pay for five years upfront,” one thousand yuan to rent a mountaintop for five years, and the contract itself was for twenty, she was already making a major gain.
Sun Bingnan thought that Lin Chuxia was considering the village’s interests and was greatly touched. He also spoke highly of the village, “My dad said, these few mountaintops being leased to us, we can use them with confidence. Whether we’re planting fruit trees or whatever, we’re in charge for these twenty years. No one in the village will interfere.”
Lin Chuxia beamed, “Then please thank Uncle Sun for me. Next year, when raising chickens, I will indeed need the village’s support.”
“Don’t worry, when I go back and talk to my eldest and second brothers, they’ll be willing to work with you. You know the status of us Sun Brothers in the village, with my elder brothers watching over the mountaintops, no one will dare cause trouble.”
This was also the reason Lin Chuxia was willing to rope in the eldest and second brothers of the Sun Family.