Jiang Yue took the money and waved to the old man with a smile: "It's delicious, I'll buy it again next time!"

I don’t know if it was because the old man’s twin grandsons came into the compound to show off the French fries they bought, but within a few minutes, several parents were dragged out by their own children and ran straight to Jiang Yue.

"Are you selling French fries? The kind with ketchup? Do you have any more? How much? Give me two!"

"I want two too!"

Jiang Yue originally thought that the French fries would not be sold out today, and planned to eat them as snacks with Ningning on the way back. Unexpectedly, they were all sold out in less than ten minutes.

Moreover, when parents in the government staff quarters bring their children out to buy food, they don't ask the price. They just order two portions and pay directly. It's not like at the vegetable market where most people think the price is too expensive when asked, and they bargain or insist that Jiang Yue pay more.

Of course, there were people who questioned Jiang Yue's high prices. An old lady complained that it was too expensive after paying, and she calculated, "A pound of potatoes is five cents, and medium-sized ones can weigh about four. With the amount you sold, you can't even get one potato. Even if your cost is one cent, you're still selling for a dollar. This is too shady!"

The old lady became angrier and angrier as she spoke. She felt that she had been wronged and wanted to snatch the fries back from her grandson on the spot. "You are a profiteer! I don't want the fries anymore. Give me back my money! Otherwise, I will sue you at the joint defense team!"

Her little grandson was only four or five years old. He had already eaten several French fries, which were very precious to him. Suddenly, the oil paper bag in his hand was snatched away by his grandmother. He immediately refused to accept it and started to cry loudly.

"Granny is bad! Give it back to me!"

Jiang Yue was a little unhappy when she heard the auntie say that she would go to the joint defense team to sue her, but she didn't show it on her face. She still explained politely: "Auntie, that's not how you settle accounts!"

The old lady was pestered by her grandson so much that she could only hand the fries back to him. However, she still kept asking Jiang Yue for money. "I don't care! Anyway, your fries are only worth two cents at most. Give me ten cents! Otherwise, I'll go find the joint defense team!"

"Auntie, you said my fries are only worth two cents. You only calculated the cost of the potatoes. OK, let's do as you said. One serving of fries costs one cent of potatoes. But potatoes can't be turned into fries by themselves. I have to process them! The labor cost is not much, so let's count it as three cents."

Before the aunt interrupted her, Jiang Yue continued, "I know you must be thinking, isn't it just cutting French fries? Anyone can do it, right? But think about it, you can buy cloth and make clothes at home, so why do you have to go to a tailor shop? Isn't it because the clothes made by the tailor shop look better?"

"It's the same with the French fries I sell! You can make them at home, but they won't be as delicious as mine! Do you think the people who buy them are stupid?"

"And most importantly, French fries need to be fried. If they want to taste good, they need a lot of oil. You know how hard it is to buy cooking oil and oil coupons are hard to come by, right? I'll just calculate the cost of the oil to be three cents."

"That's only seven cents?" the aunt said unconvinced.

"My ketchup is made with an exclusive secret recipe. It only costs three cents. My cost alone is ten cents. How can I be considered a profiteer if I make two cents in profit?" Jiang Yue retorted.

"And if you want your money back, you have to give me back the fries first! You can't just take my fries and ask for money, isn't that like eating a free meal?"

The aunt looked down and saw that her grandson's mouth was stuffed full, obviously afraid that she would return the fries.

"Humph! No more retreating, let's go!"

Jiang Yue's mouth was dry after talking for so long, so she picked up the kettle and drank some water.

"Comrade, you can't calculate it that way. Although you did pay for the labor cost, you didn't just cut one potato at a time, did you? Similarly, when you fried French fries in oil, you didn't just fry one serving at a time. Your oil can also be reused."

Jiang Yue was drinking water when she suddenly heard someone talking behind her. She put down the kettle and turned to see that it was a tall and thin young man with a pair of peach blossom eyes, delicate features, and most importantly, he had a bookish air about him that made people feel comfortable just by looking at him.

But what he said made Jiang Yue uncomfortable.

"So what? Comrade, are you questioning whether I sell French fries at a high price?" Jiang Yue looked the man up and down with a vigilant look.

"That's not the case!" The young man smiled gently, "Don't get me wrong, comrade. I just think your way of settling accounts is wrong. I don't mean to question it."

Jiang Yue: “…Oh!”

Seeing Jiang Yue's disdainful look, the young man smiled with his eyes curved even wider. "You said that one serving of fries costs one cent, but you can't just make one serving at a time, you should make at least twenty servings. So, the cost can be reduced to less than one dollar. Conservatively speaking, you can make at least two dollars in net profit from twenty servings of fries."

Jiang Yue was about to leave with the backpack on her back. When she heard this, she turned around with a more alert look in her eyes, "What do you want to do by telling me this?"

Jiang Yue was somewhat shocked at this moment. The man's calculations were almost correct. She was worried that this man was an undercover sent by the joint defense team. Was he trying to sting the law?

"Don't misunderstand me, comrade! I have no ill intentions. I just want to discuss something with you casually!" The young man noticed that Jiang Yue was on guard and hurriedly explained.

"I don't believe you!" Jiang Yue snorted coldly and decided to ignore this man. She had sold all her fries anyway. If the man was really a member of the joint defense team who came to check on her, she only had leftover ketchup and sour plum powder in her backpack. If they accused her of reselling them, they would need evidence!

After saying that, Jiang Yue took Ningning's hand and walked away.

The young man looked at Jiang Yue's back, smiled slightly, and turned to walk into the agency's family compound.

Gu Ye saw from afar that Jiang Yue finished talking to an old lady and then chatted with a young man. This time he was too far away to hear the content of the conversation. He only saw that Jiang Yue seemed unhappy.

"Ningning, let's go home!" Jiang Yue was not affected by the successive questionings from the aunt and the man.

This is how business works. You will definitely be questioned at the beginning. Take French fries for example. Jiang Yue admitted that she did not sell them cheaply, but as she said, she also paid the labor cost.

If she works for half a day and only earns a few cents in total, why bother?

Moreover, French fries were not available in that era, and things were expensive because they were rare, so her price certainly couldn’t be too low.

Besides, if the price she set was really ridiculously high, there wouldn’t be so many people willing to pay for it.

Jiang Yue had already bought vegetables when she arrived in the morning. She had just gone to the big market yesterday and bought a lot of things, so she only bought pork and a few handfuls of fresh green leafy vegetables today. She wrapped the pork in lotus leaves and placed it at the bottom of the backpack to ensure that the smell would not affect the French fries on the upper layer.

Gu Ye followed Jiang Yue and Ning Ning all the way. The two walked too slowly. Ning Ning was jumping all the way and looking at flowers and grass with Jiang Yue. Gu Ye became annoyed by following them.

After finally reaching the entrance of the 179th Division, Gu Ye watched Jiang Yue and Ning Ning go in before he appeared.

"Hello, Captain Gu!" The sentry immediately stood at attention and saluted Gu Ye.

After returning the gift, Gu Ye walked straight to the family quarters without stopping.