Upon arriving at the department store, Huang Qinqin reminded Xu Junhui, "Remember to ask about the packaging for me, okay?"

"I remember, don't worry."

Hearing Xu Junhui's reply, Huang Qinqin felt relieved and walked into the department store. She hadn't gone far when she heard someone calling her.

"Qinqin, wait for me!"

Huang Qinqin looked at Fang Chuchu and said with a smile, "Good morning! You're here so early today?"

Because Xu Junhui always drives Huang Qinqin to work, Huang Qinqin arrives at the department store ten minutes or more early to avoid Xu Junhui being late.

Fang Chuchu, on the other hand, usually only appears in the office right on time.

Huang Qinqin was quite surprised to run into him at the entrance of the department store today.

"I got up early today, so I arrived a little early. Is that pickled vegetable you're holding? Let me help you with it."

Actually, Fang Chuchu didn't get up early; it was because she learned yesterday that Huang Qinqin was the one who saved Nuonuo back then.

Fang Chuchu wanted to ask what had happened, which is why she came early. She had asked Fang Hui and the others before, but they refused to tell her.

Fang Chuchu helped Huang Qinqin carry the pickled vegetables, and the first thing she did after sitting down in the office was to move her chair next to Huang Qinqin.

Just as I was about to ask about Nuonuo, colleagues started arriving at work one after another, and they began greeting others one after another.

Finally, everyone arrived, and no one greeted or spoke to them anymore. Fang Chuchu asked softly, "Qinqin, what exactly happened when Nuonuo got lost?"

“I’ve asked my older brother and the others several times, but they won’t tell me. Can you tell me? I just want to know who took Nuonuo away.”

Huang Qinqin felt that Fang Chuchu's family must have their reasons for not wanting to tell her. As an outsider, it wasn't really appropriate for her to say anything.

"Actually, I don't know much either. I just accompanied my second brother to take Nuonuo to the police station."

Then, making an excuse to go see Manager Gao, he went out, saying, "Manager Gao is back, I'll go over there first."

After saying that, he immediately picked up the pickled vegetables and walked out of the office.

......

"Good morning, Manager Gao. I have something I'd like to discuss with you. Are you free now?"

Huang Qinqin stood at the door and asked politely.

"Come in and talk when you have time."

Manager Gao looked at Huang Qinqin, who had come to see him so early in the morning, and asked casually, "Why did you come so early? Is there something you need?"

Huang Qinqin placed the various pickled vegetables she was holding on the table and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"It's nothing important. I just happened to go to the village yesterday and brought you some pickled vegetables."

"Two of them are ones you've tried before, and the other two are new. I figured that if we had more variety, we'd sell more."

Manager Gao looked at Huang Qinqin, who was very serious, and knew that she wanted to bring more benefits to the village. However, considering that this matter would also benefit the department store, he decided to let her go.

He decided to turn a blind eye: "Okay, I'll take them home and try them today. If they taste good, having a couple more won't be bad."

"Also, when we sell it in the department store, we can't use this kind of packaging."

Manager Gao looked at the pickled vegetables that Huang Qinqin had brought over today. They were all wrapped in lotus leaves and placed in a basket.

The last time she brought it, it was in an empty fruit can. So Manager Gao didn't think anything was wrong.

Huang Qinqin smiled sheepishly: "Of course not, we're already looking for suitable packaging."

"We will definitely use bottles or jars for packaging. Don't worry, Manager Gao."

Manager Gao nodded, as long as it's not the current packaging, it's fine. Then he asked, "Approximately where does this pickled vegetable cost?"

"You know, no matter how delicious pickled vegetables are, they can't possibly be worth much money."

Huang Qinqin knew this, of course. Her original intention in having this idea was not to make a lot of money for the people of Huangjia Village.

Instead, they wanted Huangjia Village to exchange its surplus, though low-value vegetables, for some money.

Because in most villages, the surplus vegetables just rot in the fields and are used as fertilizer.

Huang Qinqin had done a rough calculation beforehand. Based on the fact that a pound of vegetables in the city costs about 3 to 5 cents, three pounds of fresh vegetables can be made into one pound of pickled vegetables.

The cost of a pound of pickled vegetables is about one cent.

However, the cost of seasonings and bottles must be added on, so the cost per pound is estimated to be at least two cents.

This is without even considering the profit margin, and the price of the bottle is still unknown, so Huang Qinqin is not sure what it will cost.

He had no choice but to say something clever: "Of course, a jar of pickled vegetables should only cost about two cents. At most, it certainly won't cost more than two and a half cents."

The exact quantity of pickled vegetables in a jar is still uncertain...

Manager Gao was quite satisfied. The cost was two cents, and they could sell it for three cents. It wasn't expensive, considering a jar of pickled vegetables contained quite a lot.

......

Zhang Yumei and Xu Fang first registered Chen Mai and Chen Liang.

Registration is actually very simple; they just need to provide their household registration information and pay the tuition. It's two yuan per semester, which already includes the cost of textbooks.

After paying the tuition, the teacher reminded us, "School starts on September 1st, so please remember to have your child come to class then. They can eat lunch at the school cafeteria or go home."

"If you eat at the school cafeteria, you need to bring your own lunchbox and food coupons."

Xu Fang carefully wrote it down and said gratefully, "Okay, we understand, thank you, teacher!"

After leaving the school, Xu Fang asked, "Big brother and second brother, are you planning to eat at school or go home after school starts?"

Actually, the Xu family's home isn't too far from the school, so they can eat at home. However, if they don't want to walk back and forth, eating in the cafeteria isn't a big problem either.

However, Chen Mai and Chen Liang did not make a decision immediately. Instead, they looked at Xu Hongxia and asked, "Cousin, are you eating at home or at school?"

Xu Hongxia pointed to herself: "Me? I'll eat at home. The food in the cafeteria isn't as good as what I eat at home."

"Then let's go home and eat."

Zhang Yumei felt particularly gratified to see her younger children discussing things with her. In recent months, Xu Hongxia has also become much more sensible.

"Then you should go home with Sister Hongxia. Your aunt will have Sister Hongxia pick you up from school."

Anyway, both the high school and elementary school are nearby. They're just a short walk away.

Xu Hongxia had no objection. She was quite happy to have someone accompany her to and from school: "Okay, then I'll go home with my brothers."