Chapter 6 Competitors
For Zhang Yunfeng, who is very happy to make money, the happiest thing every day is selling flue-cured tobacco.

Every morning around five o'clock, the two brothers would get up, pack up, and head straight to the Jiangchuan City Tobacco Station in the dark.

They are always the first to sell flue-cured tobacco at the tobacco station.

On the way back at nine o'clock, Zhang Yunfeng drove the tractor while Zhang Yunqi lay on the tractor bed and took a nap. Due to severe lack of sleep, basking in the furnace-like sunshine on the bumpy mountain road, he also felt like he was lying on the big round bed in a room with an unbeatable sea view, hugging Fan Bingbing.

It was almost twelve o'clock when they got home. They skipped the time for lunch and rest. Taking the kettle and lunch prepared by Zhang's mother in advance, the two brothers drove the tractor to the remote village to purchase flue-cured tobacco. But flue-cured tobacco was not so easy to buy. The smokers were very cunning. Zhang Yunqi acted like a salesman in later generations, smiling, offering good cigarettes, saying nice things, his throat was sore, but he still had to smile to make his face as bright as a chrysanthemum.

The person who did this was very angry, but he had a good attitude.

To make money, you have to suffer a little.

As a middle-aged man who has experienced rebirth, he has developed a sense of awe for the unknown world and his age. Perhaps the younger he is, the more likely he is to have fantasies and count on some "noble person" to make him successful. When he gets older, he knows that this is impossible and all opportunities come from unremitting hard work!
In his spare time, Zhang Yunqi did not rest either, as he had to tutor Ji Ling with her homework.

Regardless of whether Ji Ling was willing or not, he always found ways to get in the way. Fortunately, his eloquence was not bad, so Ji Ling didn't hate him. The bad thing was that his professional level was not up to standard. He had already returned most of the junior and senior high school knowledge to the teachers, especially in English. He couldn't even spell "good morning".

Actually, it’s not his fault. He has been out of school for more than 20 years, and apart from a few English words, he has mostly useless knowledge.

But since he was going to be Ji Ling's teacher, how could he not have some skills? As a grown man, he didn't want to be looked down upon by a little girl like Ji Ling. In the evening, he took some time to systematically flip through the junior high school textbooks, but found that he couldn't remember many knowledge points. With the spirit of asking questions, he found his eldest sister Chunlan.

This little girl has amazing grades and is very sensible. She often helps Aunt Zhang with housework. When she has free time, she studies at home on her own. Her hard-working spirit is a bit like her in her previous life. The Zhang family's academic mastery is not something that comes for nothing.

Zhang Chunlan was a little puzzled. Her second brother was the top scorer in the high school entrance examination, but he came to ask her questions. She felt strange and asked, "What questions are you asking?"

Zhang Yunqi opened the exercise book and showed it to her.

Chunlan glanced at the questions and turned to look at Zhang Yunqi, as if she was looking at a fool: "You can't even answer such a simple question, how did you get the top score in the high school entrance examination?"

Zhang Yunqi felt insulted. "Hey, little girl, you're going to take the high school entrance exam next year. I just wanted to test you in advance! Do you really think I can't do it?"

Chunlan pouted: "Second brother, you have changed a lot recently. You have even learned to brag."

Zhang Yunqi almost vomited blood.

It's impossible to ask this question, as he can't let the secret slip. It's really pitiful to be the top scorer in the senior high school entrance examination. He took the exercise book and figured it out by himself.

In the evening, after dinner, he went to work in the tobacco curing room.

He would try to do as much farm work as he could, and he didn't care how tiring it was. After all, he and his eldest brother used to be the main labor force in the family. Now the two brothers were concentrating on selling flue-cured tobacco, and most of the farm work fell on Aunt Zhang alone. She was in poor health to begin with, and with the endless housework inside and outside the house, you can imagine how hard it was for her.

But Zhang's mother seems to be very happy recently, with a smile on her face. Maybe the family's situation has improved a lot, the two brothers are doing well, they are well-off, and they have a guaranteed net income of 400 yuan a day. Their living standard has skyrocketed. They are tired of eating fat pork that other families can't afford, and now they only buy lean pork.

Aunt Zhang felt so happy, and she wasn't as easily angered as before. She just missed her husband when she went to bed at night. If only he were at home, he could enjoy a good life. But now he's eating prison food and suffering so much!
Mother Zhang only thought about this matter in her heart. She never mentioned it in front of her family, nor did she allow her children to mention it.

These days, the new changes in the Zhang family can be seen by people inside and outside the village. Wow, look at the momentum, this formerly impoverished family is now the first to start getting rich. There are many people who flatter them and many who are jealous. When the old ladies in the village chat, they all say that the two sons of the Zhang family are so poor that they resell flue-cured tobacco to the city without fear of being cheated.

The old idea was that selling flue-cured tobacco was just short selling in their eyes, but no one dared to do it like the Zhang family. They all thought that the Zhang family must be so poor that they would take such a risk.

As the saying goes, like father, like son. Zhang Liushun, an honest farmer, actually stole cables from a power plant at the beginning of the year. They are state property! He was sentenced to more than two years in prison. Hey, it's all hard work, poor guy. Look at the bunch of people in his family, plus his sick wife. Life is really hard!
These gossips would occasionally cause ripples in the small fish pond of Yunxi Village, but the Zhang family's life was still getting more and more prosperous and eye-catching. At the end of July, Zhang Yunqi was surprised to find that other tobacco dealers had appeared in the village. One of them often bumped into him, and they met several times when they were collecting flue-cured tobacco in the same village.

Naturally, both parties were not in a good mood. Zhang Yunfeng was even a little indignant, thinking that others had taken away his business.

Zhang Yunqi pulled him aside and said that everyone makes a living based on their own abilities, so there is no need to be angry. Besides, there are so many farmers selling cigarettes, and it’s not like we have nothing to buy, so there is no need to get angry.

Having said that, he still cared about it in his heart. Later, he asked someone and found out that the tobacco dealer was from Xiahe Village and his name was Zhao Siping. He had an elder brother named Zhao Qiren, who was the director of the Fengyang County Tobacco Management Office. Therefore, his method of selling cigarettes was simple, crude and unscrupulous. He bought low-quality flue-cured tobacco in the countryside and directly took it to the Fengyang County Tobacco Station to sell it at a high price. For example, they could sell the low-grade flue-cured tobacco that cost 5 cents per pound for 4 yuan per pound.

This is the price of first-grade flue-cured tobacco!

Zhang Yunqi could only sigh that there were too many smart and capable people. He had only been in this business for a month, and these people were already following suit, and their greed was even more ugly. Fortunately, he had never planned to do this flue-cured tobacco business for a long time. It was already the end of July, and he could only do it until the end of August at most, earning tens of thousands of yuan to let his family live a comfortable life, and then find a longer-term and easier way to eat and wait for death.

On July 7, Zhang Yunqi and his brother went to Shiling Village to harvest tobacco.

He has been to Shiling Village twice and has a good relationship with the tobacco farmers in the village. His purchasing prices are well-known. He purchases tobacco according to the standard price of Fengyang County Tobacco Station. The farmers are happy to sell tobacco to him. Before five o'clock in the afternoon, he had collected a full truck of flue-cured tobacco.

On the way back, Zhang Yunqi drove.

Soon after he left the village, he heard a rumbling sound coming from behind. He turned around and found a tractor coming from behind. He didn't recognize the driver at first, but as the car got closer, he realized it was Zhao Siping, the tobacco dealer from Xiahe Village. He was short and stocky, with dark skin and a gold chain around his neck. Sitting on the back seat of the car was a tall and strong man, his nephew Zhao Dazhui.

Zhang Yunqi and Zhao Siping have met many times in recent days. Although they are in the same industry and are enemies, both of them make a living based on their own abilities and they get along peacefully.

Zhao Siping drove very fast, as if he wanted to overtake.

The dirt road was very bumpy, and Zhang Yunqi had no intention of engaging in a dispute. He slowed down his car to let Zhao Siping's tractor pass first. However, he didn't expect that after Zhao Siping overtook him, he suddenly made a sharp turn and placed the tractor horizontally in the middle of the road.

Zhang Yunqi was startled and quickly stepped on the brakes. The friction between the tires and the ground made a harsh sound and the car stopped just in front of Zhao Siping's tractor.

Zhang Yunqi was quite annoyed, but before he could say anything, Zhao Siping and his nephew Zhao Dazhu rushed over arrogantly and shouted, "You two, get off my feet!"

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(End of this chapter)