Chapter 53

"Damn capitalist, he's out there playing with his girlfriend and doesn't even think to come and help us. Does he know how to be considerate of women at all!" After handing a golden apple with a smile to a couple, Li Yijing pouted and complained.

Xu Meizhen stretched lazily, a gesture that made her ample figure appear even more alluring. She said to Li Yijing in a languid tone, "Isn't the boss employing us to exploit our labor? Do you think he's giving you fifty yuan just for fun?"

Li Yijing pursed her lips and said softly, "But we can't just stand here and do nothing!"

"Oh, I get it, you're jealous. Why don't you just drive his girlfriend away and take her place!" Xu Meizhen teased, pinching Li Yijing's face. "Look at this little face, it's so soft it could drip water!"

Li Yijing's face turned bright red from Xu Meizhen's teasing. She mustered her strength to hit her, but Xu Meizhen dodged. Frustrated, Li Yijing said, "Xu Meizhen, I bet you have a crush on the boss! Why don't you try it yourself instead of pulling me into it!"

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around. We have more customers coming," Xiao E, who was standing nearby, said.

Although this girl named Xiao E was quiet among her peers, her words carried the most authority. Xu Meizhen and Li Yijing exchanged glances and stopped talking.

"Merry Christmas! We have various apples of peace here. Red represents passion and bravery, orange represents wealth and abundance, purple represents nobility and elegance..." Li Yijing enthusiastically introduced to a young couple.

"I saw you had golden apples of peace earlier, where are they now?" The boy looked around the stall and asked loudly.

Li Yijing was delighted. The boss, Cheng Jemin, was quite generous with the commission on golden apples, giving one yuan per apple, which was ten times the commission for regular apples.

Even though she knew Cheng Jemin, the evil capitalist, made more money, such a commission was still quite attractive. She pointed to the Christmas tree and said, "The golden apples are all hanging on the Christmas tree, symbolizing nobility and brilliance. However, they are more expensive, twenty yuan each."

"Here, we'll pick them ourselves." The boy took out twenty yuan from his pocket and walked towards the Christmas tree.

Before Li Yijing could put the money in her pocket, the boy said, "Where are the golden apples? There's nothing here!"

The four girls, who were busy attracting customers, rushed over and saw that the lush Christmas tree still sparkled, but there was nothing under it.

The golden apples were sold out! There were fifty of them!

"There's one more," Xiao E pointed to the very top of the Christmas tree and said with a smile, "The last golden apple on the Christmas tree has been found by you. I believe it will bring you peace and happiness."

Watching the young couple leave happily, the four girls all smiled. Li Yijing seemed to have an idea. "Xu Meizhen, go tell the boss that the apples are sold out and get him to work instead of flirting!"

"Xiao E, you should go. I think only you are suitable to be the messenger!" Xu Meizhen glanced at Cheng Jemin, who was whispering to Gu Xixi, and said with a smile, "This Cheng senior has a good business mind for coming up with the idea of selling apples of peace. If you follow him, you won't be poor for life!"

Xiao E hit Xu Meizhen and looked at Li Yijing. "Li Jing, you go."

Li Yijing pouted but obediently ran towards Cheng Jemin.

"I think you hired these girls with ulterior motives. What are you looking at?" Cheng Jemin was being pulled by the ear by Gu Xixi, who was warning him playfully. Under her grip, Cheng Jemin felt both pain and pleasure.

Cheng Jemin kept looking over, actually paying attention to his stall. Of course, having such vibrant young girls around was also a pleasure to the eye.

"Xixi, I swear, I'm content with you. I really don't have those thoughts."

"Just because you don't have them now doesn't mean you won't in the future. I have to keep a close eye on you, you flirt!" Gu Xixi leaned in and whispered in his ear, "In the future, I'll implement the 'Three Light' policy: exhaust your time, empty your wallet!"

Hearing this, Cheng Jemin laughed. This joke was already well-known, referring to the 'Three Light' policy wives implemented on their husbands: exhaust their time, empty their wallets, and fill their bodies.

Cheng Jemin looked around and pulled Gu Xixi into his arms, grinning mischievously. "I want the third light right now!"

Gu Xixi's face turned bright red, and she pushed Cheng Jemin's hand away. Just as they were getting intimate, Li Yijing ran over and said, "Senior, the golden apples are sold out, and... the regular apples are running low too!"

Cheng Jemin knew exactly how many golden apples each stall had been allocated. Hearing that the golden apples were sold out, he was taken aback.

Fifty golden apples meant a thousand yuan. Five hundred regular apples meant two thousand five hundred yuan. Even if only a hundred regular apples were left, that was still three thousand yuan.

The stall had already made three thousand yuan, and it was only eight o'clock!

"I'll get more stock."

As he spoke, Cheng Jemin called out to Sun Xiaozhu, who was nearby. "Xiaozhu, call Zhihai and tell him to bring more apples of peace, especially the golden ones, as soon as possible."

Sun Xiaozhu agreed and ran towards the phone booth. Watching him run, Cheng Jemin's smile grew wider.

Just as he was about to call out to Sun Xiaozhu to slow down, his pager beeped.

"Stall 24 needs golden apples of peace. The other apples are also sold out. Hurry up and deliver!"

Stall 24 was the provincial teacher's college! Cheng Jemin's face lit up even more. He couldn't wait for Sun Xiaozhu and turned to walk towards the phone booth.

"Beep, beep, beep"

Before he could put his pager back in his pocket, it beeped again. Cheng Jemin glanced at it, thinking the girls were being frivolous with his money. Just because he would reimburse them didn't mean they should call twice.

But when he looked closely, he saw, "Stall 15, bring more golden apples. Urgent!"

"Beep, beep, beep"

Another message appeared on his pager. He opened it to see, "Stall 21 needs five hundred regular apples. Deliver within ten minutes, urgent!"

...

"Brother Cheng, I've called. Brother Er Meng said he'll bring them over soon." Sun Xiaozhu ran over, out of breath.

Seeing Sun Xiaozhu panting, Cheng Jemin rubbed his head and smiled. "Xiaozhu, are you tired?"

"Calling isn't tiring." Sun Xiaozhu looked at Cheng Jemin with a hint of confusion and laughed.

"If you're not tired, call Zhihai and tell him to deliver the apples to these places according to their respective areas." Cheng Jemin handed Sun Xiaozhu a small note with the addresses.

Sun Xiaozhu looked at the crowded note and ran to the phone booth like a flash. At that moment, he was running as fast as the wind.

After receiving Sun Xiaozhu's first call, Sun Zhihai, while helping Sun Er Meng load the truck, said, "It looks like business at the square is good. This way, Director Cheng can at least break even!"

Sun Er Meng carefully placed a box of golden apples and laughed. "Selling apples for twenty yuan each, I'll drive slowly to make sure none of them fall!"

Sun Zhihai smiled and was about to say something when Sun Er Meng pedaled the borrowed tricycle and sped off towards the square.

"Brother Zhihai, the steamed bun is ready. Have one first," a young man in his twenties handed a steamed bun to Sun Zhihai and smiled.

Without looking up, Sun Zhihai said, "Xiao Wu, you have it first. I'll eat later."

"Brother Zhihai, you should have it first! Brother Er Meng only ate half before rushing to deliver the apples."

Sun Zhihai was satisfied with the attitude of his fellow villagers. After living away from home for so many years, he always felt like a successful man returning to his hometown. In his own view, what did he, Sun Zhihai, have? The company he talked about in grand terms was actually just a small operation.

Thinking about this, Sun Zhihai smiled. "Er Meng is delivering to the square, where there are more people and sales are faster. I think the other places will sell about half."

Xiao Wu nodded, admiring the well-traveled Brother Zhihai, who was the most capable person in the village.

"Beep, beep, beep"

Sun Zhihai's pager beeped. He took it out and looked at the number, puzzled. "Xiaozhu just called, didn't he?"

But when he opened the message, a series of messages came in. "Stall 24 needs golden apples of peace. The other apples are almost sold out. Hurry up and deliver."

"Stall 15, bring more golden apples. Urgent!"

"Stall 21 needs five hundred regular apples. Deliver within ten minutes, urgent!"

...

Looking at these messages, Sun Zhihai took a moment to react. He put the steaming bun aside and shouted, "Everyone, get moving! We have a big job!"

PS: This week is a tough one. Please support the little cat!