Chapter 142 Crisis

Su Laoda choked on a mouthful of sweet potato soup, coughing until tears streamed down his face. He stared at Su Laosan with disbelief in his eyes.

He didn't even realize his voice had risen, "Say it again, how many?!"

"One hundred and twenty!"

Su Laosan glanced at Su Laoda and said, "Big brother, why are you reacting so strongly? It's the multiplication table, three times four is twelve, three times five is fifteen. You haven't forgotten it like Mom, have you?"

Su Laoda was speechless.

He caught his breath and said to Su Laosan, "You didn't finish junior high school, but you did finish elementary school. How can you calculate 30 times 40 as 120? If 30 times 40 equals 120, then what is 3 times 40? And what is 3 times 4? Come on, you calculate it."

Su Laosan: "...Three forty-two, that's also one hundred and twenty? Wait, that's not right..."

"Of course not!"

Boss Su sighed heavily, "Thirty times forty, there are two zeros at the end, it should be one thousand two hundred, how could it be one hundred two hundred? Where's the other zero? Did you eat it?!"

"Huh? One thousand two hundred?"

Su Laosan dipped his finger in his saliva and wrote an arithmetic equation on the table, muttering to himself, "Three times four is twelve, two zeros in sequence..."

As he was writing, his fingers paused, and he looked up in a daze, staring at Boss Su with his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

"Brother, it really is twelve hundred!"

Boss Su, "..."

He glared at Su Laosan with annoyance, "If it's not 1200, what, is it 120?!"

The eldest son's wife, who was listening nearby, almost burst out laughing.

Su Laosan was still exasperated, "1200? I can earn 1200 a month? I can earn more in a month than Mom earns in a year?"

Boss Su was speechless once again.

The eldest son's wife couldn't hold back any longer and whispered, "He didn't even drink, how dare he brag like that?"

Boss Su shook his head.

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice and said to his wife, "I guess she thinks she's daydreaming. But if you're going to dream, why not go a little further?"

The couple's banter brought a smile to Li Banxia's face, making her unable to suppress her laughter.

Su Laosan frowned. "Brother, sister-in-law, I haven't been drinking, and I'm not daydreaming. I'm serious. Let me do the math for you. A two-year-old hen costs four yuan. I add a delivery fee and a labor fee, and I can resell it for seven or eight yuan. Pig trotters have almost no cost. I can earn four or five yuan on each of those two trips. Ten chickens a day would be forty to fifty yuan..."

He took out the account he had settled with Li Banxia and explained it to the eldest son and his wife.

The young couple exchanged a glance, and the eldest daughter-in-law coughed lightly.

The eldest brother sighed and said, "Third brother, ignoring the fact that you miscalculated the money, your calculations seem pretty profitable, but have you ever thought about..."

"What?" Su Laosan looked at Su Laoda.

Su Laoda said, "How can you guarantee that you can sell that many? It's true that Grandma Liu is an acquaintance of yours and trusts you, but our area is only so big. Most of the residents are employees of nearby schools, department stores, and a few small workshops. Everyone's monthly salary is limited. Who eats old hens every day? And why would they spend a lot of money to ask someone to buy them from the countryside?"

"Brother, I've already inquired about it."

Su Laosan quickly retorted, "These old hens are in high demand at the market. Many people order in advance but still can't buy them. How could I not sell them if I deliver them to their door? Plenty of people are scrambling to buy them."

The eldest son's wife nodded in agreement.

I reminded him, "Have you ever considered that the high demand, pre-orders, and lack of availability might be a marketing tactic used by individual hens sellers to create the illusion that scarcity drives up prices?"

Su Laosan didn't understand and asked blankly, "What do you mean by marketing tactics?"

"They said that on purpose, to make everyone think that old hens are scarce and hard to buy."

The eldest daughter-in-law explained, continuing from the previous point, "Besides, it's just the countryside, not far from here. If they really want to buy an old hen, they don't have time during work hours, so why can't they go on their day off? They can save a few dollars each time, so why would they pay you to buy it for them?"

The more the couple talked, the more sense they made. Su Laosan's eyes suddenly became unfocused, and he sensed a growing sense of crisis.

"Then... does this mean I can't do this business?"

The young couple realized something was wrong with this reaction. It was a big no-no to destroy someone's confidence before they even started, so they quickly tried to salvage the situation.

Boss Su said, "Of course, this is just our guess. We've never done business before and don't know the ins and outs."

The eldest son's wife echoed her sentiments repeatedly.

He said, “Third Uncle, you should try it first. Everyone has enough money these days. Buying one or two chickens a month to improve our lives and supplement the nutrition of our children and the elderly is something many people are willing to do. Besides, it’s a rare day off, and everyone wants to relax and spend time with their families. Who wants to run to the smelly countryside?”

Finally, he clenched his fist in a concluding remark, "Third Uncle, you've earned this money through hard work, you're really capable!"

"Yeah?"

Su Laosan looked listless.

The young couple exchanged a glance and nodded in unison, afraid that Su Laosan might really refuse after they finished making their decision; cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

Su Laosan responded with an "oh," but his excitement had clearly subsided.

The eldest couple looked at each other, then went to see Li Banxia for help.

Li Banxia shook her head and said, "Let's eat."

After finishing their meal, Su Laoda squatted down next to the hand pump to wash the dishes. His wife pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. The two of them glanced at Su Laosan and whispered a few words to each other.

Whether Su Laosan noticed or not, he went back to his room after finishing his meal.

After the eldest son and his wife went back to their room, he came out carrying a Xinhua Dictionary, walked to the rocking chair, and called out "Mom."

Li Banxia hummed in agreement.

Su Laosan clenched the Xinhua Dictionary, then handed it forward after a while, saying, "Mom, you asked me to memorize the dictionary, and I've memorized it all. I haven't slacked off these past few days. If you don't believe me, you can check on me; I know it by heart."

Li Banxia opened her eyes and glanced at him. "No need to give it to me, you can take it and carry it."

Li Banxia closed her eyes again. Su Laosan glanced at the dictionary, clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and began to memorize it.

Although I still stumble a bit, this time I could quickly recall the next word without anyone reminding me, and I actually memorized all the ones I had missed in the past few days.

The eldest son and his wife, who were listening at the window, exchanged a surprised glance.

The eldest son's wife quietly praised, "Third Uncle's memory is quite good, why didn't he read it aloud?"

"He refused to study on his own. He wouldn't do his homework, wouldn't read his books, and would hand in blank exam papers. The school asked him to bring his parents in, and he dropped out of school. My mother was furious and spanked him terribly, but he still cried and shouted that he wouldn't study, that he would rather die than study. He lay in bed for a month, and he was so stubborn that he couldn't be pulled back by eight oxen..."

Su Laoda sighed softly, feeling a little sad. "Doing business isn't that easy. Lao San is sure to have a lot of hardship ahead of him. Jian Shu, how about we give our eldest brother a heads-up and ask him to keep that gatekeeper job for Lao San?"