119: Kill and eat freshly

Jiang Fei opened the door.

Kang Ansheng stood in the hallway, carrying a cloth bag.

“I got your address from Zhao Rui; I wanted to talk to you.”

“Please come in.” Jiang Fei went to pour water.

Upon entering, Kang Ansheng saw an orange cat lying on the sofa, licking its paws.

It was about seven months old but as plump as a piglet, with a round, chubby face.

Discovering a stranger, the orange cat darted into the bedroom, peeking out with half its head to observe from the doorway.

Kang Ansheng’s heart melted instantly.

The little fellow is so cute.

Jiang Fei: “Mr. Kang, please have some water.”

“Thank you.” Kang Ansheng took the water and sat on the sofa. Just as he was about to take a sip, he suddenly froze.

On the opposite balcony, there was a translucent incubator, and the three eggs inside had slight cracks, clearly about to hatch.

Next to the incubator, a large glass tank held lively green shrimp.

Each one was quite large.

“With shrimp, chickens, and a cat, your home is almost a small farm.”

Kang Ansheng joked, then stated his purpose: “Su Liuyuan did a pre-sale for green shrimp a while ago. I heard about it too late and didn’t get any, so I’d like to buy some from you privately.”

“To be honest, the Planting Base has poultry and livestock, but it lacks aquatic products.”

“The extreme cold killed all the fish and shrimp in Qingyang City. We’ve searched outside before, but the aquatic products we brought back couldn’t adapt to the extreme weather and all died.”

“The fact that your shrimp can survive means they can reproduce in high temperatures.”

At this point, Kang Ansheng lowered his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

If they successfully bred green shrimp, they would inevitably sell them to survivors, taking business from Jiang Fei.

But the very existence of the Planting Base was to ensure more survivors could eat and live.

Kang Ansheng didn’t hide the fact that they would sell shrimp later: “Buying with gold isn’t cost-effective for you.”

“I can supply you with special cabbage long-term.”

“This is a new cabbage we’ve cultivated, resistant to both cold and heat. It hasn’t been sold in official stores yet, so you can make a profit first.”

Opening the cloth bag, Kang Ansheng took out a huge cabbage.

Unlike ordinary cabbage, the special cabbage was pure white and much larger.

One head was equivalent to two ordinary ones.

The cabbage could be eaten raw, so Jiang Fei tore off a piece and put it in her mouth.

It was crunchy, without the refreshing sweetness of regular cabbage, and had very little juice.

However, for survivors, just having vegetables to eat was a great blessing.

What Jiang Fei wanted, however, was not this.

“Does the Planting Base sell agricultural machinery?”

“My Boss wants to buy a rice transplanter and a rice ear press.”

“If you don’t sell them, renting them would also work.”

She wanted to plant rice in the Supermarket when she had time.

Rice seeds are rice, which can be eaten, brewed into wine, and made into sugar.

Rice husks can be used as feed, and rice stalks can be made into straw ropes, straw mats, fuel, and so on.

She had all other agricultural machinery, only lacking these two.

Kang Ansheng looked troubled: “We’ve never rented out agricultural machinery to outsiders…”

“Twenty green shrimp, twenty bags of fruit and vegetable seeds, and rent two agricultural machines for three months.”

“I only want two hundred special cabbages, to account for the future loss in green shrimp prices.”

“Deal!” Kang Ansheng agreed immediately.

Jiang Fei went to get a bucket for the shrimp, then pretended to pull bagged seeds from a cabinet to pack them.

“I’ll help you carry it downstairs.”

Mr. Kang was over fifty; carrying the special cabbage upstairs had already left him breathless. Carrying another bucket of water would probably make him collapse on the spot.

“No need, I brought a driver.”

Kang Ansheng called the driver to come up and carry the bucket, while he took the seeds.

“I’ll send people to deliver the agricultural machines within the next two days.”

“For the special cabbage, I’ll have someone deliver it to Ping An Supermarket, to save you the trouble of transporting it back and forth.”

Jiang Fei nodded, saw Kang Ansheng off, and turned around to see Big Yellow crunching on the special cabbage on the floor.

“Little glutton.” Jiang Fei helplessly picked up Big Yellow and placed him on the sofa, then put away the special cabbage.

She grabbed a green shrimp from the glass tank, deftly removed its head, peeled its shell, and deveined it, then boiled it, cooled it, and fed it to Big Yellow.

Freshly caught and eaten, how fresh!

—

In less than three days, the Planting Base delivered two agricultural machines by tow truck.

Jiang Fei drove the agricultural machines to an uninhabited area and stored them in the Supermarket warehouse.

The Branch was also finished with renovations, and Crippled Wang told her to come for inspection tomorrow.

The next day.

Under the cover of darkness, Jiang Fei retrieved two large trucks from the back gate of the community and filled them with supplies.

She went upstairs, called Su Liuyuan, and they each drove a truck to the Branch.

Crippled Wang, Yaos Father, and others waited for her outside the store.

Fearing Jiang Fei would forget their cooperation, Yaos Father came every day to help with the renovations, to maintain his presence.

The Shunli Supermarket sign had been taken down and replaced with Ping An Branch Fresh Supermarket.

Jiang Fei got out of the truck and pushed open the door to enter the Branch.

The sales area, as per her request, had three rectangular glass water tanks placed against the wall.

Opposite the water tanks were six double-sided shelves; the rest of the layout was the same as Ping An.

After inspecting the first floor, Jiang Fei went upstairs to the second floor.

A an iron door with a fingerprint lock was installed at the stairwell to prevent customers from sneaking up.

The second floor was originally a large open space, and Jiang Fei had Wu Dayong divide it into a reserve area, a separate office, and two small lounge.

The reserve area contained four large iron shelves, two large water tanks, one office desk, and one small filing cabinet.

Finding no issues, Jiang Fei descended the stairs, satisfied.

“All the goods for the Branch are in the truck compartments. Everyone, let’s start stocking them.”

“One truck downstairs, one truck upstairs.”

Su Liuyuan took the key to open the truck compartment doors.

When they saw the supplies in both compartments, everyone was stunned.

Twenty barrels of live green shrimp, ten boxes of dried vegetables and mushrooms, ten boxes of dried fruits and roasted nuts, ten boxes of pre-cooked meals, and ten boxes of fresh vegetables and fruits.

There were also two large freezers connected to small generators, containing various frozen meats.

Crippled Wang couldn't help but ask, “Boss, did you rob the Planting Base?”

Only the Planting Base in the Safety Shelter had fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat products.

“My Boss sent them.”

Hearing this, Crippled Wang rubbed his hands with a fawning smile: “Can you introduce me to your Boss?”

“I’ve been a middleman for many years, I have experience. Besides what I give to the Boss, I’ll give you an additional third of the gold and supplies I earn.”

He had supply channels, but compared to the Boss's, they were simply incomparable.

Jiang Fei: “Not right now. The Boss doesn’t want that many middlemen. If there’s a need in the future, I’ll find you first.”

With two stores, plus Yaos Father's channel, if another person were added, the amount of goods to carry would be too much for her to handle alone.

She only regretted not having the ability to clone herself!

“Then I’ll await Boss’s good news.”

With Jiang Fei’s assurance, Crippled Wang happily went to work.

With many hands, the goods were quickly stocked upstairs and downstairs, including the two hundred special cabbages sent by Kang Ansheng.

The items on the first floor all had corresponding price tags.

Jiang Fei didn't hold an opening ceremony.

Ping An’s reputation was already big enough; there was no need to seek more attention.

The goods in the store were the best advertisement.

“Boss Yao, remember to register your fingerprint on the second floor before you leave.”

“Those goods upstairs are for you to sell.”

Glancing at Yao Jin, who was busy in the distance, Jiang Fei said meaningfully to Yaos Father:

“I will take good care of Xiao Jin.”

Her original promise to Yaos Father to let him stay and learn was just a precaution.

Your son is in my hands; don’t even think about reneging on the debt!

Understanding Jiang Fei’s unspoken meaning, Yaos Father patted his chest and guaranteed: “No matter whether the goods can be sold to the rich circle or not, I will pay for any shortfall in gold!”

Jiang Fei was relieved and asked Su Liuyuan to call Jiang Zhengkang from next door.

Su Liuyuan’s energy was limited; he couldn’t manage two stores, so someone had to be found to be the Branch manager.

Jiang Xiaoshi wasn’t an employee, and Zhou Wanqing was too gentle and weak to hold the fort. The only suitable candidate was Jiang Zhengkang.

Yao Jin was completely out of Jiang Fei’s consideration.

He was too foolish and likely to run the store into the ground.

She had been observing Jiang Zhengkang for a long time.

Normally, when customers tried to badger for discounts or played the pity card to ask for credit, Jiang Zhengkang would refuse them and forcefully kick them out of the store.

He was no longer timid as before, nor would he abuse his sympathy.

He was the first to arrive at the store every day to clean, and he was quick and efficient.

Anyway, Su Liuyuan was right next door and could check on his work from time to time.

At this moment, Jiang Zhengkang entered the store.

“Fei Fei, what do you need me for?”

Jiang Fei gave him the main door key: “From now on, this store will be managed by you. If you don’t understand something, can’t do something, or can’t make up your mind, ask Su Liuyuan.”

“I can’t! I can’t do this kind of thing!”

Jiang Zhengkang subconsciously tried to return the key, but Jiang Fei stopped him.

“Uncle, the acting store manager has a one-month probation period. If you don’t do well by then, I’ll find someone else.”

Hearing Jiang Fei’s address to him, Jiang Zhengkang’s eyes instantly reddened.

He thought Fei Fei would never acknowledge him in this lifetime… “Thank you, Fei Fei.” Jiang Zhengkang clenched the key in his hand, secretly vowing never to disappoint his niece!

As for the Branch salesclerks, Jiang Fei was too lazy to recruit and interview, so she kept Han Yang and two schoolmates.

Their wages and benefits were the same as Zhou Wanqing’s.

After all, with such a big incident involving Yao Jin, the three of them—Han Yang included—not only didn’t run but also didn’t take advantage of the chaos to steal anything, which proved their character.

Yao Jin and Niu Er also stayed at the Branch as laborers.

If Ping An got too busy, they would go help there, essentially serving as utility people for both stores.

Jiang Zhengkang was responsible for training them, and the first task was cleaning.

Although the store had air conditioning and wasn’t hot, Yao Jin had never done manual labor and irritably threw down the mop.

“I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Niu Er quietly advised him: “You should just bear with it. Boss Jiang will complain to the Big Boss.”

Thinking of the bruises on his body, Yao Jin picked up the mop resentfully and mopped the floor furiously, as if venting his anger.

He polished the floor until it gleamed, hoping to blind the poor wretches!