newbobooks Chapter 178
Chapter 178
After electricity reached the village, everyone became even more motivated. By the end of the month, the total output had exceeded earlier projections.On the day the contract expired, Song Nianchu personally went to the county to deliver the goods.
Whether Sun Wenshi had guessed that Song Nianchu would come in person or not, he was waiting at the entrance early in the morning. Seeing her, he immediately greeted her with a beaming smile.
"Comrade Song, you're here. Come in quickly and have some tea," Sun Wenshi said with extraordinary warmth.
"Alright." Song Nianchu didn't stand on ceremony with Sun Wenshi either.
As soon as she stepped into Sun Wenshi's office, Song Nianchu looked around, but it was empty.
A slight frown creased her brow. Xiang Tianyi hadn't come?
Today was the day the contract expired—had he been delayed on the road, or did he not intend to renew the agreement with her?
"Comrade Song, have some tea." Sun Wenshi poured her a cup.
"Thank you, Director Sun." Song Nianchu took the cup with both hands, took a sip of tea, and couldn't help asking, "Director Sun, is Manager Xiang not coming today?"
"That's right. He's been busy lately and couldn't make it. But don't worry—he's entrusted the contract matter to me. Here's the new contract; you can take a look." As he spoke, Sun Wenshi pulled a document out of his drawer and handed it over.
Hearing that he hadn't come but the contract was ready, Song Nianchu's anxiety vanished instantly. She set down her teacup, eagerly took the contract, and began flipping through it impatiently.
When she saw the order volume in this new contract, a look of delighted surprise settled on her face as she stared at Sun Wenshi.
"Director Sun, are the figures written here really true? There's no mistake, right?"
"They're all true. Manager Xiang had someone personally deliver the contract, and I called him to confirm it—that's indeed the quantity." Sun Wenshi nodded with a smile.
Song Nianchu looked at the contract in her hands, almost ecstatic. Because the new contract from Xiang Tianyi had doubled the order volume compared to before.
"Now that your village has electricity, your production capacity should increase significantly, right? Can you fulfill this order volume?" Sun Wenshi was delighted too. This time, since Xiang Tianyi had entrusted him to handle everything, he could also get a piece of the pie.
"Yes, we can." Song Nianchu nodded firmly.
"That's great." Sun Wenshi breathed a sigh of relief.
To avoid any unexpected changes, Song Nianchu immediately signed the contract. Sun Wenshi stamped it with the official seal. They each kept one copy.
Song Nianchu carefully stored the contract away. Once this batch of goods was completed, it would be time for the New Year, and the villagers would receive more money than they had before.
This winter, no one would have to go hungry or endure the cold again.
"Director Sun, I've made a slight improvement to the recipe for this flower gum soup. I'd like you to try it," Song Nianchu said, turning around to take a gift box of flower gum soup from her bamboo basket and placing it on Sun Wenshi's desk.
Sun Wenshi glanced at it. The packaging was exactly the same as before, and the recipe inside was probably the same too. After all, if it had truly been improved, Song Nianchu would have mentioned it beforehand. Her current explanation was just a polite way to get him to accept the gift.
"Alright, I'll take it." Sun Wenshi didn't refuse.
His wife was very fond of the flower gum soup Song Nianchu had developed and often asked him to buy some from the supply and marketing cooperative. Since Song Nianchu was offering it for free tonight, he naturally wouldn't say no.
"Oh, and there's this one too. Could you please pass it on to Manager Xiang?" Song Nianchu pulled out another gift box from her basket.
But this box was slightly different from the one Sun Wenshi had received.
"Is this a new product you've developed?" Xiang Tianyi's curiosity was piqued as he examined it.
"It's not exactly a new product—just some snacks I made casually. Manager Xiang made several trips to our village about the electrification issue before, so this is a small token of my thanks." Song Nianchu added, "I made them myself. They're not worth anything. I originally wanted to thank him in person, but since he didn't come, I have to trouble you, Director Sun, with the delivery."
"Alright, I'll be sure to give it to him." Sun Wenshi nodded.
"Thank you for your trouble, Director Sun."
"Don't mention it."
Song Nianchu smiled and stood up.
"Well, Director Sun, I won't disturb your work any longer."
"Alright, I'll see you out." Sun Wenshi didn't insist on her staying.
After seeing Song Nianchu off, Sun Wenshi returned to his office and picked up the phone to dial a number.
A moment later, an indifferent voice answered on the other end—Xiang Tianyi.
"What's the matter?"
"Comrade Song just came by, and the new contract was signed with her," Sun Wenshi said.
"Mm." Xiang Tianyi's voice sounded somewhat lackluster.
Sun Wenshi didn't ask further, but his gaze fell on the gift box beside him.
"She also brought you a gift box she made herself, saying it's to thank you for your efforts in getting electricity to their village."
On the other end of the line, Xiang Tianyi fell silent upon hearing this.
"This gift box is different from the flower gum soup ones. Do you want it? If not, I'll take it home to your sister-in-law." Sun Wenshi asked again.
"Since when is my sister-in-law lacking something as trivial as that?" Xiang Tianyi snorted coldly.
"Of course she's not lacking. But your sister-in-law is absolutely captivated by Comrade Song's cooking. She's been pestering me every day to buy her flower gum soup."
"If my sister-in-law likes it so much, I'll send her more next time. Don't touch that gift box of Song Nianchu's. I'll come by to pick it up later." Xiang Tianyi's tone was firm and unwavering.
Hearing this, a corner of Sun Wenshi's mouth curled into a smirk.
"Got it. It's your farewell gift—of course, I wouldn't really covet it. I was just teasing. Look how anxious you are."
"Who said I'm anxious?" Xiang Tianyi's voice raised a notch.
"Fine, fine, you're not anxious." Sun Wenshi didn't argue further, only muttered, "You have time to come pick up a gift box but didn't have time to personally sign the contract with Comrade Song. I don't know what's been keeping you so busy."
"That's different from your situation," Xiang Tianyi replied before saying goodbye and hanging up.
Listening to the dead tone on the receiver, Sun Wenshi smiled and shook his head.
He simply thought that Xiang Tianyi had run into some recent troubles, hence his erratic temper.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Xiang Tianyi sat at his desk. A rare, unreadable emotion filled his handsome eyes.
The words Sun Wenshi had just spoken echoed in his ears.
Made it herself ?
Xiang Tianyi took a deep breath, then got up and walked toward the door.
Back in Qinghe Fishing Village, Song Nianchu had already returned.
She didn't go home, nor did she go to the cannery. Instead, she headed straight to the village committee office.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw a group of little children crouched on the ground.