Twenty minutes later, they arrived at a local restaurant. Li Yuzhu said, "This is a local restaurant, let's stop and have a meal!"

Dong Qing said, "That works too."

Dong Qing parked his car in front of a restaurant. They got out and went inside. Li Yuzhu ordered two bowls of noodles.

Dongqing carried a bucket of water from the restaurant and said to his wife, "Yuzhu, come with me to add some water to the car."

Li Yuzhu nodded and walked out of the restaurant with her husband.

Dong Qing carried the bucket to the front of the car and placed it on the ground, then put it on the front tire. He took the bucket from Li Yuzhu and filled the water tank.

After filling the car with water and returning to the restaurant, they found a place to sit down.

Seeing that her husband was working too hard driving and that a bowl of noodles was only enough to fill his stomach without providing any nutrition, Li Yuzhu glanced at the prices of the dishes, including stir-fried pork intestines with star anise, and said, "Boss, bring me a plate of stir-fried pork intestines."

"Okay," the restaurant owner said.

There weren't many customers at the restaurant; at that moment, only the couple was eating there. Not long after, a plate of stir-fried pork intestines was served!

Li Yuzhu handed the chopsticks to her husband and said, "Eat up!"

Dongqing took the chopsticks from his wife and started eating. He picked up a piece of pork intestine and put it in his mouth. After eating, he said, "Why aren't you eating? Hurry up and eat!"

Li Yuzhu said, "I still have to drive tonight, so you should eat more. A bowl of noodles is enough for me."

Dongqing handed a pair of chopsticks to his wife, saying, "I can't eat this much by myself. Listen to me, eat up."

Li Yuzhu reluctantly took the chopsticks and ate with her husband.

After they finished their meal, Li Yuzhu got a kettle of hot water from the restaurant, and she and her husband walked out of the restaurant, got into their car, and continued their journey.

The road was paved with asphalt in the late 1970s, and there were very few vehicles in the early 1980s, so the road surface has remained in excellent condition. Li Yulin accelerated with a high speed, and by 3 a.m., he had already driven 500 kilometers. Li Yuzhu woke up and asked, "Are you sleepy? If you are, take a nap!"

“I’m not sleepy, you go to sleep! We’ll be in the county town soon. Sleep less when we get there. This truck is really good. It can carry such a big load, and even with a high-performance engine and heavy throttle, it doesn’t emit black smoke or burn oil. This truck has just passed its break-in period. We can run it for three years without any major repairs.”

In his previous life, Dong Qing had driven all kinds of cars, and he could tell the quality of a vehicle just by driving it.

Li Yuzhu said, "Really? I'm a complete novice when it comes to driving, but I always feel that this car is very powerful. There are no cars or people on the road at night, and the road is so wide. Can you teach me how to drive? If I learn to drive, I can help you. It's too tiring for you to drive all the time. Your body won't be able to take it if you keep doing this."

“Okay.” Dongqing stopped the car, switched places with his wife, and explained the basic driving skills to her.

Li Yuzhu started the car, and then Dong Qing said, "Put it in first gear, accelerate and slowly release the clutch, yes, just like that, keep accelerating to increase the speed, depress the clutch to shift to second gear, accelerate and release the clutch, yes, just like that, don't change gears for now, once you feel comfortable in second gear, then shift to third gear."

Ten minutes later, Li Yuzhu shifted to third gear, and Dong Qing said with a smile, "Not bad! Don't drive for so long if you're just learning to drive. If you get tired, let me drive."

"Don't worry, I'll learn as soon as possible, I just want to help you."

Under her husband's supervision, Li Yuzhu drove more than 80 kilometers in one go.

Upon arriving in a county town, Dongqing said, "It's almost dawn, let's pull over and park the car! We've already driven 600 kilometers, let's try selling here after daybreak."

Li Yuzhu nodded, turned the steering wheel and parked the tractor on the side of the road. After parking, she jumped off the tractor.

Dongqing took a mat from the back berth and handed it to his wife. He then grabbed a tattered quilt and a pillow and got off the train. They walked to the sidewalk and spread the mat and quilt on the ground.

Li Yuzhu took out the fried dough sticks her mother had made at home from her bag and handed them to her husband, then took a piece of dough for herself and put it in her mouth.

After they finished eating their steamed buns and drinking some water, they lay on the ground facing the sky, looking at the stars. She asked, "How much profit do we make from transporting our goods this far?"

Dong Qing said, "The profit should be more than double. That is to say, if we buy goods for 8,300 yuan, after deducting the cost of fuel, we can make about 15,000 yuan. I am being conservative with this figure, it may be higher. We will only know how much we can make after we sell the goods. I can only give you an approximate figure now."

"Such a large profit margin?" Li Yuzhu asked in confusion.

Dong Qing said: "The main reason is that right after the reform and opening up, the situation here is the same as in our hometown. In our hometown, we have goods but can't sell them. Here, we need goods but can't get them all. Even if we have some goods, they are very expensive. We have a large profit margin, and wholesalers have an even larger profit margin. It's that simple. Nobody does business that doesn't make money. Stop talking and get some sleep. It will be dawn soon."

They gazed at the stars in the sky and soon fell asleep. When they woke up, the sun had already risen in the east.

The morning dew dampened Li Yuzhu's long hair. She stood up, walked to the car, got in, took out a bag, sat down next to her husband, took out a wooden comb and mirror from the bag, propped the mirror on the ground, and picked up the comb to smooth her messy hair.

Just then, a middle-aged man on a bicycle walked towards them, got off in front of Dongqing's tractor, and asked, "Master, how much is a bundle of blue-rimmed coarse porcelain bowls?"

Dong Qing said, "We only do wholesale, not retail. Are you a wholesaler?"

“Wholesale, of course,” the middle-aged man said.

Dong Qing said, "A first-grade bowl costs nine yuan, a second-grade bowl costs seven yuan, and a third-grade bowl costs five yuan."

Li Yuzhu was surprised by the price her husband asked for. The average price of a bundle of rough porcelain bowls was three yuan. How could her husband's asking price not surprise her?

"Your price is too high. Take it over to me. If the price is reasonable, I'll keep the whole truckload of goods," the middle-aged man said.

Dong Qing said, "Alright, you lead the way!"

After Dong Qing finished speaking, he and his wife packed their luggage on the ground and put it in the car, and they got in together.

Dong Qing started the tractor and followed behind the middle-aged man on his bicycle.

After running about two kilometers, they arrived at a local product wholesale company. The middle-aged man said to a female sales clerk in the store, "Quickly open the door."

"OK."

After the saleswoman finished speaking, she took the key, walked to the front door, unlocked it, and opened the door.

Dong Qing drove the car into the yard. After the tractor was parked, he jumped out of the car first, and Li Yuzhu followed her husband out of the car.

The middle-aged man said, "Please come to my office to talk."

Dong Qing said, "Okay."

Dong Qing responded and followed the middle-aged man toward the office with his wife.

On his way to the office, Dong Qing looked around the wholesale company's premises. The wholesale company was very large, with several warehouses in the yard and ten storefront showrooms in front.

They followed the middle-aged man toward the office.

They entered the office, and the middle-aged man said, "Please have a seat, both of you."