1672 Good News and Bad News
“That’s right, Qiao Mei. Just based on the calculations, we need more than 100,000 dollars and we haven’t even gone into the details yet. We definitely need to prepare at least 150,000 dollars first. We only have 80,000 dollars in our accounts now. If we use all this money, we won’t be able to continue running the factory,” Qian’e said.
Qiao Mei’s seeds would start growing as soon as they were planted in the ground. There was no need to worry about the growth process at all. The biggest problem now was manpower. If there was not enough manpower, everything else they did was just a waste of time.
Now that she was calmer, she also felt that the deadline was too tight and it could not be done in time. Moreover, the price she agreed to was very low and she could not make much money at all. At this rate, it would be good enough if she did not lose money.
However, no matter how difficult it was, she had to work hard to complete this project and not let everyone down.
“I’ll think of a way to deal with the manpower issue. Let’s go and buy the materials we need and the trucks which Lu Huai needs. Give me a rough idea of how much money each of you needs. I’ll total up everything, then Qian’e and I will go and prepare the money later,” Qiao Mei said melancholically.
Lu Huai and Deng Fan went to one side to do their sums. Qian’e sat beside Qiao Mei in a daze and it was very quiet all round. Suddenly, Qian’e yelled out, “Oh! In that case, our factory will need two more workshops to handle these seeds. Otherwise, we won’t be able to make it in time during the packing stage!”
Qiao Mei sighed. There were also a lot of workers needed to do packing. She suddenly wondered if she had bitten more than she could swallow? Was she really going to end up failing this time?
At this moment, Xia Zhe walked into the living room. He seemed to have received some good news. He looked happy and had a wide grin on his face.
“Why are all of you gathered here?” Xia Zhe asked.
“Having a meeting…” Qian’e said wearily.
Xia Zhe walked to Qiao Mei and said mysteriously, “I have both good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
Qiao Mei said without thinking, “Bad news.”
There could not be anything worse than having to plant crops on 1,000 mu of land.
“You can continue to stay in the capital for a while, but I have to head back to the army base the day after tomorrow,” Xia Zhe said.
When Qiao Mei heard that, she felt as if she had been hit by a bolt of lightning. There was indeed something worse than planting crops on 1,000 mu of land. At such a critical moment, Xia Zhe was not going to be by her side. She suddenly felt very frustrated.
Was it going to be very difficult for her to push through this time? Would she fail this time?
“Then what about the good news?” Qiao Mei asked as she tried her best to control her emotions.
“The good news is that since our troops have been involved in many missions recently, the higher-ups have decided to let us do something else and learn other skills. Given that it’s the peak period for farming, we can go and help the farmers. I’ve applied to the higher-ups to bring a team to work at your land. The higher-ups have already approved it!” Xia Zhe said happily.
Qiao Mei’s current project was one that would help the country’s development and was very important to the country’s foreign trade policy in the future. Everyone was willing to lend her a helping hand if they could.
Everyone’s eyes lit up. Qiao Mei could not believe her own ears and asked Xia Zhe to repeat what he said just now. Xia Zhe patiently repeated what he said. It finally struck everyone that this was really happening.
“About 8,000 people, but not all of them will come here. Some of them will be going to smaller projects elsewhere,” Xia Zhe said.
Qiao Mei also heaved a sigh of relief. She looked at Xia Zhe and asked, “How do you know about this? Did Eldest Brother tell you about it?”
“I guess you can say that. Eldest Brother and I had discussed this matter some time ago. Although I’m the one who put up the suggestion to the higher-ups, it’s Eldest Brother who’s helping with the important documents and procedures. Eldest Brother has taken this matter into consideration when doing the planning,” Xia Zhe told her honestly.
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