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Chapter 35: Signing the Contract
No one spoke that night. The next morning, not long after the sun rose, there was a knock on Li Yi's door.
Li Yi, who had already completed 20 push-ups, opened the door to find Wei Sanpao standing outside.
When did this kid get up so early?
When he worked at the factory, he was lazy and would typically only open his eyes at noon.
"So early?" Li Yi asked.
"Haha, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. So, I got up a little earlier!" Wei Sanpao answered with a grin.
Noticing the red, bloodshot eyes, Li Yi smiled knowingly. "You didn't sleep all night, did you?"
"No."
Wei Sanpao wanted to maintain his tough image, but when he saw Li Yi's scrutinizing gaze, he immediately gave in. "I was just a bit anxious."
"Old Third, it's just a small business. Why are you so worked up?"
Wei Sanpao scratched his head, feeling embarrassed. "Brother Yi, 15,000 yuan is no small amount!"
Li Yi patted him on the shoulder and reassured him, "Don't worry, I've already taken care of everything. Just wait for the money."
"If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility with you!" Wei Sanpao said firmly.
"Just remember that," Li Yi replied, smiling.
Li Yi then asked, "How about Xiaowu and the others? Are they still sleeping?"
Wei Sanpao quickly replied, "No way! Today is such an important day, I made sure they were awake."
"Are they up?" Li Yi asked again.
"Of course! I woke them up long ago. They're all having breakfast at the shop downstairs."
Li Yi pulled a face, knowing that this would be the result.
"Alright, get ready to head out," Li Yi said.
When they reached the front desk on the first floor of the hotel, Xia Xun was already waiting for them. She smiled and said, "I spoke with my parents. They are now at the orchard. Come with me!"
The orchard was quite far from the city. They took a bus for nearly two hours before arriving at the county where Xia Xun's family lived.
Once they reached the county, Xia Xun's father was waiting for them at the station, driving a tractor.
They all hopped on the tractor for nearly an hour before finally arriving at the orchard.
The orchard was vast, sprawling across several hills!
In addition to apples, there were also pear and peach trees.
Xia Xun gave them a brief tour of the orchard. Through her explanation, Li Yi learned that the orchard covered thousands of acres and was the main industry of their village. Many of the trees were over ten years old, which was the perfect time for fruit production. The fruit farmers were experienced, ensuring that the apples were of top-notch quality and excellent taste.
By the time they arrived at the orchard, a crowd of people had gathered at the entrance. Based on their attire, they were all fruit farmers from the village, eagerly watching and waiting for something.
When they saw Li Yi and the group arrive, their faces lit up, and they quickly surrounded them.
"You must be Mr. Li, right? I heard from the boy at the Xia family that you want to buy our apples?" one of the fruit farmers asked.
Li Yi quickly stepped forward to meet them.
"Hello, uncle. We're buyers for the Jiangnan Meat Processing Plant. We're planning to purchase a batch of apples, about 500,000 kilograms!" Li Yi explained.
"That's fantastic! We won't have to let our fruits rot in the fields! Just let me know when you want them, and I'll arrange for them to be picked!" the farmer said, clearly excited.
"Hold on a minute," Li Yi said. "Let me inspect your fruits before making a decision."
"Of course, no problem! I can assure you our apples this year are top-notch. They're sweet and large!"
"Alright, let's take a look," Li Yi replied.
Accompanied by the farmers, Li Yi started inspecting the orchard as if he were a high-ranking official on an inspection tour.
It was clear that the climate in Yandong was perfect for growing apples. Although the trees weren't very tall, they were heavily laden with fruit.
The apples were large, each weighing at least 700 to 800 grams.
Li Yi picked a few and tasted them one by one. They were crisp, sweet, and of excellent quality.
After inspecting the orchard for over ten minutes, Li Yi nodded in satisfaction. These apples were fresh, and if transported to Jiangcheng, there would be no problem selling them.
"Uncles and aunts, your apples are great, and we're satisfied with the quality. We can sign the contract today. Once signed, the fruits will be secured by us, and they can no longer be sold to anyone else. Do you understand?" Li Yi asked.
"Yes, yes, if we sign the contract, we won't sell to others!" the farmers responded eagerly.
"That's right, they must not be sold to anyone else."
With that settled, the contract signing took place at Xia Xun's house. Li Yi signed a purchase agreement with 17 fruit farmers from the village, agreeing to buy 500,000 kilograms of apples and 100,000 kilograms of pears.
The contract price was set at 0.04 yuan per kilogram for apples and 0.05 yuan for pears—about one cent higher than the wholesale market price.
Li Yi had taken the initiative to raise the price. Even though he didn't have the money yet, he knew the price of these fruits would rise dramatically in the coming days, possibly even several times by the end of the month.
Making money was inevitable, but Li Yi didn't want to exploit the farmers. Raising the price slightly was the right thing to do.
As Li Yi always believed, short-term gains were fleeting, but maintaining a good reputation was essential. He didn't want to betray his conscience over a few extra yuan.
Additionally, the contract stipulated that Li Yi would pay a lump sum deposit of 1,500 yuan, with the remaining balance to be paid once the fruits were shipped.
After finalizing the contracts, Li Yi instructed Da Chu and Wei Zi to stay behind and manage the orchard. He, along with Wei Sanpao, left with 500 kilograms of apples to return to Jiangcheng.
Securing the fruit was just the first step. The real challenge lay in finding a way to sell these apples at a high price.
Moreover, heavy rain was soon expected in Yandong, and if the apples weren't picked in time, they would be destroyed by the storms. Therefore, all the apples needed to be harvested before the rain hit.
However, the fruits couldn't be stored for too long once picked. They had to be kept in the right environment.
Fortunately, Li Yi had already planned for this. The meat processing plant had its own cold storage facilities, and many of these were currently underutilized due to the factory's low production capacity.
Li Yi intended to transport the apples to Jiangcheng, store them in the cold storage, and then sell them after repackaging. This would incur some extra costs but would allow him to sell the apples at a higher price.
However, this task had to be handled personally by Li Yi, as only he could ensure everything went smoothly. This wasn't something ordinary people could manage.
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