Chapter 1512 Payday
Lu Huai frowned slightly and asked, “Throw out? Where do you throw them? Don’t tell me you really throw everything away? It would be a pity to throw away such nice stuff.”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean. Director Qiao will sell some of the substandard seeds to the factory staff at 20 cents a pound. Each of us can buy five pounds a year! Even the defective goods in the factory are a hundred times better than those lousy goods sold outside!” Chi Ze explained.

Lu Huai smiled and nodded. Qiao Mei was almost exactly like how Xia Wen described. She was really a money-grubber! She was born to be a businesswoman.

After they unloaded all the goods, they went to the canteen together for their meal. Chi Ze also asked his subordinates to come over and all of them chatted and laughed together. They even wanted to become sworn brothers!

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Lu Huai brought everyone to the large meeting room on the first floor of the administrative building to wait for Qiao Mei to pay their salary. By now, all the workshops and buildings had their own official names. Qiao Mei decided to do it this way in order to make it easier for everyone. Otherwise, if everyone came up with their own name for each building and workshop, no one would know where the other party was referring to.

“Brother, how long do we have to wait? We haven’t slept well for a few days. We want to go home!” Old Man Huang complained.

“Wait a little longer. It’s only 6 a.m. and they haven’t even started work yet. Why don’t you sleep here for a while and I’ll wake you up when Director Qiao comes,” Lu Huai said.

Qiao Mei prepared all the money and went downstairs with the finance staff. When she pushed the door open and entered, she saw a group of men sleeping together like a human pyramid. It was very amusing to her.

They were on the move all year round and would sleep in the truck when they needed to rest. They would not bear to spend money on a hotel room. Even if they slept under the bridge and out in the open, they would still be able to sleep well.

“Ahem. Everyone, wake up,” the accountant said, coughing twice.

Lu Huai was the first to wake up. He quickly woke the others and they all sat obediently in their seats, waiting for Qiao Mei to speak.

“I won’t waste your time with small talk. I’ll give you your salary now. Everyone gets 210 dollars as I’m giving everyone an additional bonus of 10 dollars as my thanks to you. I’ll pass the money for petrol and travel expenses to Lu Huai later. You can just look for him at a later time.” After saying that, Qiao Mei quickly distributed the money.

Qiao Mei was even considerate enough to ask Chi Ze to make arrangements for the factory’s private minibus to come and pick up the drivers and send them home. They had all had a tiring journey and it would be too tough for them to still have to drive home now. They could leave their trucks at the factory for now and come back to get the vehicles when they were less tired.

Along the way, everyone praised Qiao Mei for being efficient and that she was a nice person and a good client. They all looked forward to working with her again. Through this collaboration, Lu Huai also realized that Qiao Mei was a good business partner.

He decided to go home and discuss it with Xia You, so that he could finalize the matter that Qiao Mei mentioned.

Somehow, Zhao Kai heard the news about the seeds and immediately returned to the village to tell Zhao Liu about it. Along the way, he kicked up a fuss and everyone in the village soon knew that Qiao Mei had just bought 10 tons of seeds.

“Oh my goodness! This is a disaster! Dad! Hurry up and think of a way. We won’t be able to sell our seeds now!” Zhao Kai said in a panic.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Can’t we set up our own stall? All of you are cowards! Useless things!” Zhao Liu looked at his two sons in disdain.

Zhao Fei lay on the brick bed and looked at Zhao Liu mockingly. In his eyes, Zhao Liu was like a clown.

“You little asshole, what are you laughing at!” Zhao Liu asked as he pointed at Zhao Fei.

“I’m laughing at how ignorant you are! What else can I laugh at? Why do you think Li Gui was able to set up a stall at the entrance of the movie theater without getting bullied and even get protection from the higher-ups? That’s because her relatives have connections! You want to go out and set up a stall to sell seeds? You must be dreaming. As long as you’re still in the capital, they will come and find you!” Zhao Fei said.

“Who are you trying to scare! It’s legal to set up a stall now! No one will arrest me!” Zhao Liu said in disbelief.

“Yes, it’s legal now. Everyone can come out and start a small business, but you also need to have the approval documents. It’s still against the law if you don’t have the documents. You’ll still get arrested or fined. Besides, your seed harvest is so big. Who knows when you’ll be able to sell everything,” Zhao Fei said.