Chapter 125

What else can the two leaders say? If they can afford horses, they can also afford saddles. Not to mention Yang Detian, even if it is Deputy Director Gu, who is only the deputy director of the supply and marketing system of L Province, it would be no problem for him to allocate diesel for a few harvesters to such a small unit as Ping'anzhuang Brigade.

Because Xia Juhua was from L Province, it was Deputy Director Gu who answered her: "Comrade Xia Juhua, don't worry. I will do my best to coordinate after returning to the province and will definitely guarantee the diesel supply for your Ping'anzhuang Brigade."

Xia Juhua had the reaction the leaders had hoped for. Not only did her eyes sparkle, but her face also turned red with excitement. "Then Deputy Director Gu, while you are coordinating, could you also ask them to install three-phase electricity instead of two-phase electricity for Ping An Village?"

At this time, Xia Juhua was thinking that instead of Deputy Director Gu handling one thing, it would be better to solve all the problems of Ping'anzhuang at once, and completely forgot that oil allocation and electricity installation were the responsibilities of two different departments.

Don't blame her for being so anxious. She had experienced a lot of hardships in installing electricity in rural areas in her previous life: two-phase electricity is for civilian use, which is OK for household appliances, but three-phase electricity is needed for large machinery. Ping'an Village was originally connected to two-phase electricity in her previous life, so when Xiawo Brigade wanted to open a brick factory, they had to pay for a three-phase power line.

Yang Detian and Deputy Director Gu looked at each other. Instead of delving into the issues of the oil and electricity departments, they asked, "Captain Xia, do you have any research on electricity?"

Xia Juhua's heart skipped a beat, knowing that she had spoken too quickly, but she quickly made amends: "When I wrote to Technician Xue for advice, he told me that if I wanted to use the machine, I had to connect it to three-phase electricity."

After hearing this, Yang Detian and Deputy Director Gu realized that Ping'anzhuang Brigade had another "specialty". All the male members there could leak vermicelli, which was an incredible thing in the current rural areas.

So the two of them nodded in unison and assured Xia Juhua that the Ping'anzhuang Brigade would definitely have three-phase electricity before they sent the gift out.

"Deputy Director Gu, have you ever considered, at your supply and marketing cooperative, purchasing all the vermicelli from Ping'an Village and allocating them to other areas?" Yang Detian felt that since Xia Juhua attached so much importance to the collective interests, it would be a good long-term solution to find a way out for the vermicelli from Ping'an Village and increase the income of everyone in the Ping'an Village brigade.

If you want to reward someone, it's best to reward them with what they need most.

Deputy Director Gu smiled bitterly and said, "Director Yang, you know that our supply and marketing cooperative and grain station are two different systems. Although some of the vermicelli is sold in the supply and marketing cooperative, most of it is still allocated within the grain system."

Yang Detian could only smile bitterly when he heard this - he was in charge of external procurement and had no say in internal allocation. Moreover, the barriers between the various lines were obvious. Although many systems had established institutions in the regions and counties, they were not under the leadership of the local leaders, but were directly managed by the higher-level institutions.

For example, the supply and marketing system where Deputy Director Gu works has such a problem.

Xia Juhua, who was leaving Deputy Director Gu's room, didn't know that the two leaders were worried about the sales of Ping'an Village's vermicelli, otherwise she would have asked them without hesitation not to worry about Ping'an Village: Qi Weidong had been through a lot in the autumn and winter, and the little vermicelli that Ping'an Village had left was not enough for him to sell except for the ones he handed over to the grain station, so there was no need for the supply and marketing cooperative to mix it.

At this moment, Xia Juhua's heart was not as calm as she looked on the surface. She had kept her hands in her money pocket since she left the house - two thousand yuan, half of what she had earned through hard work and thought over the past few years of her new life. How could Xia Juhua really be as indifferent as she appeared to be!

After returning to her room, Xia Juhua finally took her hands out of her pockets, and took out the two thousand yuan with her. There were no hundred-yuan bills at that time, and the two thousand yuan was in two neatly stacked large stacks.

Comrade Yang Detian's money should have been taken out directly from the bank. The two large stacks were brand new and looked a little thinner than the same amount of old money. They lay neatly on the bed sheets, looking very rare.

Even if the payment for goods from the Ping An Zhuang editing team was much more than this, and even if Xia Juhua saw much more money than two thousand yuan when she was the production team leader and organized dividends, it was not hers.

The two people on the bed both have the surname Xia!

With these two thousand yuan, plus the more than four thousand yuan in the bank, Xia Juhua believed that when Qi Weidong built the agricultural and trade market again, she would have no problem buying at least ten or eight stalls, not to mention investing in the business. Then she could really live a retirement life of making snacks every day to kill time and collecting rent every month.

Thinking of this, Xia Juhua couldn't help but chuckled twice, but soon she couldn't laugh anymore: she thought of her friend's illustration compensation, which was a sum of tens of thousands. If it came into her hands at that time, building the agricultural and trade market would have nothing to do with Qi Weidong, she could build three or four of them by herself.

Unfortunately, it was just a thought. Xia Juhua regretfully put the two thousand yuan carefully together with the money she brought from home. After counting the money, she found that forty yuan was missing. Then she remembered that she had bought forty kilograms of cashew nuts today and left them at the booth of her friend from Country G.

However, Xia Juhua was not worried that her friend would take away her 40 kilograms of cashews, thinking that she could just go get them tomorrow. Because she had an extra 2,000 yuan in her hand, and she had just thought of Qi Weidong's agricultural market, Xia Juhua also decided to go to her friend's booth tomorrow and try to exchange the 2,000 yuan for cashews - these things really taste delicious, and the price is about the same as fried peanuts. Xia Juhua believed that if she brought them back, Qi Weidong should be able to sell them for a good price.

As a result, during breakfast the next day, Deputy Director Gu called Xia Juhua to his table again and asked her about her plans. When he heard that Xia Juhua had bought cashews for one yuan per pound, he became very excited.

Although the country has a special foreign procurement department, they mainly purchase bulk materials and strategic materials. It cannot be said that they disdain small foods such as cashews, but they can only be said to not take them seriously.

So Deputy Director Gu decided to follow Xia Juhua to his friend's booth. If Xia Juhua could bargain for a good price, he could also purchase some of the produce to enrich the supply of non-staple food for the people in the province.

Xia Juhua obviously couldn't refuse Deputy Director Gu's request, so she simply gave up resistance and asked, "Deputy Director Gu, when Director Yang and I went to Country A's booth yesterday to discuss prices, I felt that Country G should also have rubber. Do we need it? If Country G has it, how much do you want to pay for it?"

Deputy Director Gu was stunned. As I said before, the provincial supply and marketing systems also have some purchasing power at the Expo. Deputy Director Gu has not just stayed in the room these days, he has signed many orders.

But he never thought that he could also purchase rubber.

Now that Xia Juhua had mentioned it, Deputy Director Gu was tempted - there were also several rubber product factories in L Province, all of which were in a state of undersupply and semi-shutdown. However, the purchase of rubber had always been in the hands of Director Yang and his department. Deputy Director Gu's original idea was to take advantage of the opportunity of Xia Juhua's negotiation to get more quotas for the rubber factories in L Province.

But the quotas we get are not as great as the initiative we have in purchasing by ourselves!

"Wait for me a moment. I'll go ask Director Yang for instructions." Deputy Director Gu didn't even bother to eat, and hurriedly put down his chopsticks and left. Seeing the leader walking so quickly, the people at the table didn't know whether they should keep up or continue eating, and they were a little confused for a while.

The translator had just gone to pick up the food, so he didn't hear the conversation between Deputy Director Gu and Xia Juhua. However, he had become quite familiar with Xia Juhua these days, so he asked directly, "Sister Xia, what is Deputy Director Gu busy with? Do we need to wait for him?"

Xia Juhua received some resentful looks from her tablemates and said with a confused look on her face: "Just now, Deputy Director Gu asked us to wait for him here." So don't go hungry for free meals anymore, it's a sin.

The translator looked at Xia Juhua helplessly as she picked up the chopsticks again and reached for the side dishes. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the exhibitors from the other two tables of L Province were observing what was happening at their table. He sighed silently and looked at Deputy Director Gu's secretary.

The leader left just now without asking him to follow, so the secretary thought it was better to listen to Xia Juhua and wait here. He followed Xia Juhua's example and continued to eat, and the people at one table followed suit. The people at the other two tables breathed a sigh of relief and ate much faster - what if the leader came back soon and they would be hungry again.

Deputy Director Gu did not disappoint everyone and returned ten minutes later. By then everyone had finished their meal, but no one had moved. There were only three tables of people from Province L left in the cafeteria.

"Have you all finished eating?" After seeing this situation, Deputy Director Gu had nothing to understand. He waved his hand to the people at the other two tables and said, "You should go to the venue. Even though it's the last day, don't slack off. We in L Province have made a good start, and we must end it well."

The encouraged people stood up one after another. The team leaders from various regions expressed their determination to lead the team away to Deputy Director Gu, while Section Chief Zheng glanced at Xia Juhua.

Xia Juhua shook her head at him. Section Chief Zheng walked away helplessly. After taking a few steps, he looked back and found that Deputy Director Gu, who was always serious, was smiling and talking to Xia Juhua.

Could it be that I saw it wrong? Section Chief Zheng couldn't believe his eyes. When he looked back, Deputy Director Gu and his party were only three steps away from him: "Section Chief Zheng, Xia Juhua said that all the exhibits in your Chengping area have been sold out. You can take a break today."

Section Chief Zheng did not want to admit that he had any lazy thoughts, so he explained to his leader with a smile: "Although the exhibits are sold out, a friend heard about our exhibits from someone else yesterday afternoon and found our booth and asked to sign an order with us." So can the summer chrysanthemums be returned?

It was still impossible to return it. Deputy Director Gu had already brought Xia Juhua and the translator, followed by the secretary, to the booth of the friend from Country G. The friend complained as soon as he saw Xia Juhua, saying that he had agreed to come to get the cashews yesterday, but he waited until the exhibition closed and Xia Juhua did not show up, which made him very disappointed.

Xia Juhua of course apologized first, and then asked her friend how many cashews were left. Her friend's companion weighed them and told Xia Juhua that there were still 420 kilograms. Xia Juhua, who had more experience, naturally asked the translator to clarify whether 420 was kilograms or the jin she was used to, and as expected, she got the answer of kilograms.

It was not until Xia Juhua paid 840 yuan that Deputy Director Gu believed that she could really get cashews at a low price from her friend, and he couldn't help coughing. Xia Juhua smiled and asked her friend: "If I buy more, can you make it cheaper?"

The friend spread his hands and said, "No more, all are here, all given to you."

Xia Juhua smiled kindly: "Not now, but after you return to China, can you send it to me?"

The translator quickly stepped forward and clearly conveyed Xia Juhua's meaning to the friend. The friend was stunned for a moment, then immediately smiled and said, "Xia, are you going to discuss an order with me? You are really my lucky star. If that's what you want, how about 1.90 yuan per pound?"

Almost instinctively, Xia Juhua asked, "Is it your own country's currency?" That would be a big win.

My friend shook his head after hearing the translation: "No, this time we are talking about RMB, your own currency."

After Xia Juhua found out that the unit of measurement her friend mentioned was still kilograms, she went back to discuss with Deputy Director Gu and decided that Province L would first try two tons. Of course, she couldn't give the money to her friend all at once, even if he took the initiative to lower the price for her. Xia Juhua was only willing to pay a 30% deposit, and she also asked her friend to compensate her twice the compensation if the goods could not be delivered on time.

"Xia, this is not you." The friend said with a hint of complaint, but still signed the order with Deputy Director Gu.

Only after the deposit check was paid did Xia Juhua ask the question that Deputy Director Gu was most concerned about: "Do you have rubber in Country A? How much do you have?"

The friend looked at Xia Juhua in confusion and asked, "We all heard that you bought all the rubber in Country A yesterday at an unprecedentedly low price."

Xia Juhua was not proud of this. She followed her friend's example and said, "I didn't buy it. I just happened to see it. So do you have it? If you do, can you sell it to me?"

The friend's companion came over and the two chatted for a long time. Xia Juhua was not in a hurry and slowly looked at the things in the booth. Deputy Director Gu was even more patient and introduced Xia Juhua: "Their coffee is good, why don't you buy two bags to try it?"

From watching TV all her life, Xia Juhua knew that coffee was a fashionable thing, but many people her age were not used to drinking it, and were often the target of ridicule on TV. Therefore, coffee was not among her choices yesterday, and she did not want to try it today either.

The friends there had already finished discussing it, and it was the person who had dealt with Xia Juhua who spoke up and told her through a translator that he did have rubber, but not as much as Country A, only 10,000 tons.

However, the friend deliberately asked the translator to tell Xia Juhua that the rubber he had was of very good quality and had better stretchability than that of Country A, so the price could not be the same as that of Country A.

Xia Juhua laughed again: "What are you thinking? They were able to sell 280 yuan a ton yesterday because of the large quantity. People didn't have to go to several stores to buy it. They were willing to pay a high price of 280 yuan. I didn't buy it yesterday because they had too much quantity and didn't sell it separately. In fact, I can't buy all your 10,000 tons today, so it doesn't matter who I buy it from. I just asked casually, but I didn't expect you really have it."

Can't buy all the rubber even if we have 10,000 tons? The friends looked at each other and said, "Xia, we can't sell the rubber separately. We must sell all of it together."

Xia Juhua told them regretfully that she had limited money and a limited budget for buying rubber, so she couldn't buy so much rubber. If their price was too high, she would have to go to other countries' booths to ask.

"How much money did you bring?" The friend asked anxiously when he heard that Xia Juhua was going to another booth.

"If you can sell it to me at a lower price than Country A, I can pay you a 10% deposit." Xia Juhua said calmly.

Yesterday, only 10% of the deposit was paid for 50,000 tons. Today, Xia Juhua didn't think it was necessary to pay more. She even asked her friend to look at the order she had just signed. "I will pay you whatever price you want for cashews. I won't bargain. If you sell well when you go back, I will write to you to place an additional order."

My friend hesitated for a while, then murmured to his companions, and finally said with gritted teeth: "Will you really place an additional order in the future?"

Xia Juhua nodded confidently: "Not only cashews, if you have rubber in the future, I will also place an additional order. But as you know, our country has also begun to plant rubber on a large scale, so the next quotation cannot be more expensive than this time."

Deputy Director Gu wanted to remind Xia Juhua that her friend had not quoted a price so far, and that they were talking about the price of rubber from Country A yesterday, so why did they talk about the next time? However, seeing that Xia Juhua was confident, Deputy Director Gu chose to continue to be a quiet listener.

"Two hundred and seventy yuan, it can't be any less than that." When the translator translated this sentence, his tone was full of surprise, but Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "Two hundred and sixty-five yuan, I really don't have enough money to pay the deposit."

Not only was my friend convinced, but Deputy Director Gu was also convinced - compared with yesterday's price, they felt that 280 yuan was already the lowest price possible. As a result, my friend took the initiative to reduce the price by 10 yuan, but Xia Juhua asked for another 5 yuan reduction.

If my friend's Chinese was better, he would definitely ask Xia Juhua: How can you have the nerve to say that?

Xia Juhua would say, isn't it a bit too much to expect a rural woman who wants to bargain down the price of cabbage to pay the seller's quoted price?

It was obvious that my friend had given up resisting and only asked Xia Juhua not to forget her promise and to place additional orders in the future. When he found out that it was Deputy Director Gu who took out the check, my friend was very numb and didn't even complain.

Deputy Director Gu looked at the contract in his hand and felt that it was a little unreal. He whispered to the translator, "Have you read the contents carefully? Are there any traps? Is the delivery date clearly stipulated?"

The translator kept nodding, and his eyes were full of admiration when he looked at Xia Juhua.

At this moment, Xia Juhua suddenly said to her friend: "Look, the cashews I bought at the beginning were all one yuan per pound, and I didn't bargain with you either."

The translator quietly took a step back, wanting to let people know that he and Xia Juhua were not that familiar with each other.

But after hearing all these words, my friend smiled and said to Xia Juhua, "Do you still want cashews? There, there, they still have some left. They are in stock. I will take you to buy some."

Xia Juhua actually didn't think her friend was joking with her, and the two of them actually walked towards the next booth, and the translator had to look at Deputy Director Gu. Deputy Director Gu was still holding the two contracts that he had obtained without any effort, and signaled to the translator to follow Xia Juhua: he wanted to see how many cashews Xia Juhua wanted to buy, and whether she could eat them all by herself.

As a result, they saw that every time the friend came to a booth, he would laugh and tell others that all his cashews had been bought by Xia Juhua, so they had to take out their own cashews and ask Xia Juhua to choose: "Xia will place additional orders later." The friend promised these people who had a similar skin color to him.

Whenever Xia Juhua went to a booth, she would taste the cashews and ask about the price. A friend helped her talk and bought 700 kilograms of cashews at the price of 90 cents per kilogram!

Those friends even discussed it with their friends in Country G, and decided that they would approach the Chinese foreign affairs department to negotiate and directly deliver the cashews to Xia Juhua on her train back to Province L, so that Xia Juhua would not be unable to carry back so many cashews by herself.

A friend came forward and said that the shipping cost could be saved, so Xia Juhua naturally nodded in agreement.

After hearing the translation, Deputy Director Gu thought that Xia Juhua didn't bring enough money, so she discussed with her friends how to save on shipping costs, and was ready to ask the secretary to help pay. Xia Juhua had already taken out the money herself, paid without blinking, and said to the seller: "In the future, my additional orders will be for friends in Country G, you can just contact him."

After hearing what Xia Juhua said, the friend from Country G assured his friends of the same skin color that he would transfer goods to them once Xia Juhua's order arrived. Those people were so angry that they kept waving their arms at him and Xia Juhua, forcing the two to quickly leave the booth.

"Robers." The friend left the booth and reached out to Xia Juhua again: "Xia, I'm waiting for your good news."

"Okay, I'll write to you as soon as possible." Xia Juhua assured Roberts again.

"Phone, I have to make a phone call." Roberts thought writing letters was too slow.

Deputy Director Gu nodded at Xia Juhua, and Xia Juhua agreed to make the call before bidding farewell to the reluctant Roberts.

"Comrade Xia Juhua, are you willing to work in the provincial supply and marketing system?" Deputy Director Gu asked this question as soon as he left the Country G booth.

Xia Juhua was really confused. Why did they suddenly think of letting her work in the provincial supply and marketing system? The money she had was almost enough to support her in her old age. How could she support herself well in the provincial capital where she was unfamiliar with the place?

So she shook her head and said, "Deputy Director Gu, you see, I'm already this old. If I go to the provincial supply and marketing system, it will be embarrassing for you. Let's just forget it."

How could we just let it go like this? Deputy Director Gu felt that he had to make Xia Juhua a member of the provincial supply and marketing system no matter what. If nothing else, then in the future, when the supply and marketing system wanted to buy something, with Xia Juhua on the case, would they still be worried about not being able to buy it or buying it at a high price?

On the way back to the booth, Deputy Director Gu kept lobbying Xia Juhua, telling her about the various benefits of the provincial supply and marketing system: a fixed salary, guaranteed food supply, government reimbursement for medical treatment, a pension when old, and even housing...

Faced with all the benefits listed by Deputy Director Gu, it would be a lie to say that I was not tempted. Although Xia Juhua was full of ambition, she was already in her forties and approaching fifty, and had seen the social development of her previous life. She knew that although the supply and marketing system was still prosperous now, it would be hit hard in less than ten years and would have almost no place to stand. Ordinary employees in it would have difficulty even getting a guaranteed salary, let alone medical care.

At my age, I can barely recognize common words and I don't even have a diploma. If I go to the supply and marketing system, I will just be a worker, and an ordinary worker who is old and about to retire. How will they rank me?

Even if she was assigned a grade, it would at most be one or two grades higher than the young people who had just joined the work. How could that little salary be compared to what she could earn in a few days of being assigned to the position? Instead, she was tied to the provincial capital, and she didn't even have the opportunity to sell things secretly with Qi Weidong.

Who can she ask for her pension? The supply and marketing system itself can't even pay wages.

Deputy Director Gu didn't know that Xia Juhua had thought so much, and he kept persuading her to agree. Xia Juhua was not a person who didn't know what was good for her. She could hear that Deputy Director Gu really thought that being able to work in the provincial supply and marketing system was a great thing for her, so she had to say that she would go back and think about it.

He had been persuading her for so long, if anyone else had listened to him they would have happily agreed immediately, but Xia Juhua actually said she would consider it. Deputy Director Gu couldn't say he was angry, he just felt a little regretful.

However, since Xia Juhua agreed to consider it, it was not completely impossible. He still took Xia Juhua back to the L Province booth with a smile on his face.

The booth was a bit deserted on the last day. The few people who walked by were just trying their luck. There was no one who was still eager to sign an order as Chief Zheng had hoped.

Fortunately, there are two contracts with Country G in hand, and Deputy Director Gu does not think that the deserted booth is due to people's lack of enthusiasm at work. He even persuades Xia Juhua to go back to the room to rest first, and she does not need to do anything about dismantling the exhibition.

Xia Juhua took the opportunity to say, "Deputy Director Gu, this is my first time in Guangzhou and I want to see the world. Can I take half a day off and buy some local specialties to bring back to the villagers?"

As soon as she said this, the people at the booth were tempted, but unlike Xia Juhua, they still had some of their exhibits left and needed manpower to dismantle the exhibition, so they naturally did not dare to ask for leave easily. They could only watch Xia Juhua leave with ease.

When Xia Juhua said she wanted to see the world, she really wasn't lying - she brought 500 yuan with her when she came, and she unexpectedly received a 2,000 yuan reward yesterday, so the total was no more than 2,500 yuan.

In the past two days, she bought 2,280 kilograms of cashew nuts, spending 2,140 yuan. In addition, she spent more than 100 yuan on cocoa powder and tobacco leaves. She only had a little over 300 yuan left, and she really couldn't buy anything.

My vision is still shallow. Xia Juhua laughed at herself in her heart - she took 500 yuan when she left home, which she thought was a lot and she could buy a lot of things. Who knew that when she really spent money, she could only buy three or four things and then she ran out of money. What else could she do but be shallow?

It has to be said that after making money over the years, Xia Juhua's vision has become higher rather than shallow. If you don't believe her now, she will stand there and shout that she has no money with only 300 yuan in her pocket. Even though this is Guangzhou, people will still throw bricks at her.

In an era when the average wage per capita is only 20 to 30 yuan, if you say that you have 300 yuan in your pocket and you are broke, who else would they throw the bricks at if not you?

Fortunately, Xia Juhua only despised herself in her heart, and then asked around and found a local food supply station. There was no other way, food is the most important thing for people, and with Xia Juhua's experience, she couldn't think of anything else worth buying besides food.

Whether it was smuggled electronic products or colorful new clothes, they were not likely to appear in any corner of Guangzhou at that time. All Xia Juhua could do was to buy some local specialties and go back to try them or give them to Qi Weidong to earn some New Year money before the New Year.

This is when the benefits of participating in the expo come into play. Originally, the grocery stores only supplied local residents with grocery coupons, but during these days, non-locals who attended the expo could use their exhibition badges to purchase some local specialties.

In order to ensure that the exhibitors would not return empty-handed, the variety and quantity of goods supplied were increased. Xia Juhua was almost the first exhibitor to come shopping, and she fully enjoyed the fun of buying whatever she wanted without a ticket.

However, Xia Juhua had a clear purpose. As soon as she entered the grocery station, her eyes were fixed on the crooked dried shrimps: L Province also has coastal areas, but Chengping area is not included. In addition, due to the unified purchase and sales, the little shrimps allocated to Chengping area every year can never reach Pingde County.

So after living for several years, Xia Juhua still hasn't tasted dried shrimps. Now that she sees them, of course she wants to buy as many as she can.

"How much is a pound of dried shrimps?" With the help of the exhibition certificate, Xia Juhua was able to hold the dried shrimps in her hands. They were quite big and dried in the sun. The faint fishy smell made Xia Juhua want to put one in her mouth.

The salesperson spoke the same Mandarin as the Yangcheng reporter and told Xia Juhua that it was 1.3 yuan per kilogram, and because she had an exhibition badge, she could buy up to 5 kilograms. Xia Juhua was moved and started to negotiate with the salesperson: "Comrade, the expo will end in the afternoon, and we still have to dismantle the booth. After the booth is dismantled, you should all go home. That's why everyone sent me here to help them buy some things. So see if I can buy back all their shares?"

Seeing the salesperson nodding as she listened, Xia Juhua agreed with what she said. She smiled and took out a paper bag of nearly half a pound of cashews from her cloth bag. She turned sideways to block other people's eyes and passed it through the cover of the container: "Thank you so much. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone when I go back."

After saying this, he put a sincere smile on his face and handed the paper package back inside.

The salesperson took the paper package, opened the slit and looked inside, then immediately bent down to put the package under the cabinet. When he stood up, he had the same sincere smile on his face: "According to the regulations, it is not allowed to buy on behalf of others, but since your tickets are for the second half of the night and you really can't come to our grocery store, I will make an exception for you."

After she finished speaking, the blush on her face subsided a little, and her voice became serious: "This won't be an example next time."

Xia Juhua nodded repeatedly: "That's right, thank you for your understanding, comrade. Next time we book tickets, we will definitely consider this carefully before booking."

"How many people did you save from attending the exhibition?" The salesperson's voice still contained a businesslike attitude.

Xia Juhua counted on her fingers carefully and finally figured out that there were thirty people from their province. The salesperson couldn't help but be surprised: "You have so many people from your province. Is there anything rare? Why are there so many people?"

While asking, his men skillfully weighed the goods and even considerately packed them into different bags at five kilograms each. Finally, they found an old sack and put all the goods in for Xia Juhua. Then they asked, "They are so old, can you carry them all by yourself?"

Before Xia Juhua entered the food station, she had already spotted a tricycle on the roadside, so she didn't think it was a problem: "I see there's a tricycle outside, I can just ask someone to take me there later."

After hearing what she said, the salesperson was even more convinced that she was participating in the exhibition. He kindly said, "This is an expo. We are worried that foreign friends or delegates will buy too many things and cannot take them back to the guesthouse. The city has made unified arrangements. From here to the guesthouse, it's 50 cents per trip, no matter how much the things are."

"Forget it," the salesperson walked out of the counter, looked back under the counter, and confirmed that the things he put there would not be discovered. Then he said to Xia Juhua, "You wait here, I will ask someone to carry the things for you. You can't move it yourself."

After a while, a short, thin middle-aged man came up behind the salesperson and pointed at the sack on the ground and said, "This is it. Take it to the guesthouse."

The skinny man looked thin, but he was quite strong. He bent over and exerted force, and the sack was on his shoulders. He muttered something to the salesperson, who waved his hand impatiently: "This is the market's standard price. If you don't want it, I'll find someone else."

Hearing that she was looking for someone else, the thin man carrying the sack walked briskly out of the grocery station in a few steps and put the sack into the tricycle that had been parked at the door with a bang.

Although Xia Juhua did not understand what the salesperson and the rickshaw driver said, she knew that the rickshaw driver wanted to increase the price a little - the items were heavy, the road was not short, and it was a rare job, so it was inevitable that he wanted to earn more.

Sure enough, when the salesperson was sending Xia Juhua out, he was still reminding her: "These are all unified regulations. If you break the rules, it will be bad when everyone comes to buy things after the exhibition ends tomorrow."

The other party was kind-hearted, so Xia Juhua naturally appreciated it and invited the salesperson to visit them if he had the chance. The salesperson accepted the offer without hesitation. Neither of them mentioned that Xia Juhua had never said which province she was from.

When they arrived at the guesthouse, Xia Juhua took out a dollar and paid the rickshaw driver. When the driver was about to give him change, Xia Juhua refused: "No need to give me change. Just don't tell anyone how much I gave you."

The driver was a little at a loss, until Xia Juhua dragged the sack to enter the guesthouse by herself, then he reacted, stuffed the money into his pocket, walked forward and grabbed the sack, and asked Xia Juhua which room she was in.

Xia Juhua didn't understand the first time, so the driver got a little anxious. The sack weighed 150 kilograms, so his face flushed and he asked again loudly. This call attracted the waiter, who finally understood what the driver meant. Xia Juhua didn't bother to thank the waiter and took the driver to the room.

After the driver put down the sack, he wanted to give Xia Juhua some change, but Xia Juhua refused again: "We are all farmers, it's not easy to make some money, and you helped me carry the things up, this money is what you deserve."