Chapter 33: What Is It This Time?

Village Chief Hua stood alone in the night, feeling quite unsettled. He felt as though he could smell the pungent stench of a tipped vat of vinegar—the unmistakable, sky-high reek of jealousy.

"Come now, no rush. Have some water first," Party Secretary Li said, pouring a glass for Ji Ling and urging her to sit and rest a moment.

Ji Ling felt at ease. This Secretary Li was a shrewd operator; whether his politeness was genuine or feigned, she was happy to accept it.

Ji Ling reached into her bag, pulled out the letter of intent, and handed it over. "Here, Uncle, take a look at this first."

At first, Secretary Li didn't think much of it, but as he read, he straightened his posture. He looked up at Ji Ling, then back at the document. Composed as he usually was, his hand holding the paper couldn't help but tremble. "Is... is this real?"

After speaking, he pinched himself hard. "Ouch!" His eyes lit up. He smoothed back his hair, slapped his thigh, and sprang to his feet. "Hehe, hehe." In his excitement, he nearly lunged forward to embrace Ji Ling to express his joy.

Shen Yi’s expression darkened, and he quickly stepped in to block him. "Secretary Li, that’s inappropriate."

Secretary Li just kept grinning, flashing his teeth. It took a while for his scattered wits to return. "Right, right, quite right. Mustn't frighten our golden goose."

"Uncle, for an order of 600 blankets, I’ve done a rough calculation. We’ll need 2,200 jin of wool, excluding waste. Our Taihu sheep produce about 6 jin per sheep, which means we need roughly 370 sheep. How do we bridge this gap?"

"Ah?" Secretary Li was taken aback and sat back down. "When you first came to propose this partnership, I thought it might actually work, so we increased our flock. We have about 150 now."

"So, we are currently facing a shortage," Ji Ling said, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Well, what about your village..." Secretary Li glanced cautiously at Ji Ling, then swallowed his words. If Ji Ling hadn't been hurt, she wouldn't have kept such a massive order from her own village. Even though he usually played the role of the caring, sympathetic uncle well.

Ji Ling looked up at him, deciding not to hide it. "Of those 370 sheep, 150 are reserved for my village, but I won't be providing them just yet. I need you to keep this a secret."

Secretary Li quickly made a zipping motion over his lips. "Don't you worry. That old fox won't get a piece of this." He didn't ask how Shixi Village would manage 150 sheep; since Ji Ling brought it up, she surely had a plan.

"We can add more, but we’re still short by about 70," Secretary Li said. He wanted to bite off more than he could chew, but he knew he’d choke.

"Hongqi Village raises sheep too. We’ll partner with them," Ji Ling said, revealing the plan she had formed before even signing the letter of intent. "I just need you to play along." She smiled deviously.

Secretary Li instantly caught her drift and grinned widely. "Understood. You can count on me to pull the wool over his eyes."

Hongqi Village was known for being relatively well-off, and their village chief, Wang Lei, was constantly strutting around and showing off. This was the perfect opportunity.

Having settled everything, Ji Ling strolled home with Shen Yi, yawning several times along the way.

"You’re so tired. Why don't you rest tomorrow, get a good sleep, and we can find another time later?" Shen Yi held her hand, worried she might stumble in her daze.

"No need. We already agreed on going to your place, and putting it off isn't right. Besides, once the formal contract is signed, I’ll be even busier." Ji Ling pushed open her gate. Her family was already asleep. "You should head back, get something to eat, and get some rest."

"Alright. Sweet dreams."

Ji Ling closed the door. Shen Yi stood in the night, looking toward the village administration buildings, his eyes dark and inscrutable.

"Knock, knock, knock! Knock, knock, knock! Ji Ling!"

"Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang! Ji Ling, come out!"

Early in the morning, just as Ji Ling was sleeping soundly and finally relaxing her stiff bones, she was jolted awake by the headache-inducing pounding at her door.

What now?