Hearing his question, Xia Qingqing, adhering to the principle of "since we're already here," also wanted to buy more things, so she asked, "What do you have here?"
Xiao Hui raised an eyebrow: "I have whatever you want."
Hearing this, Xia Qingqing couldn't help but silently complain in her heart, "What a boastful person."
But she definitely couldn't say that out loud, otherwise she was afraid she would get beaten up.
"Then get me 5 jin of fruit candy, 5 jin of brown sugar, 20 jin of rice, and 20 jin of flour. Do you have all of these in stock?" Xia Qingqing actually wanted a lot more, but she couldn't take them all at once. If the transaction went well, she would come back to buy more next time.
As soon as she finished speaking, the eyes of all three men in the room fell on her.
Xiao Hui thought to himself that his judgment was indeed correct; this young girl was a big customer, even richer than he had imagined.
"We have them all. Fruit candy is 1.5 yuan per jin, brown sugar is 1 yuan per jin, rice is 0.6 yuan, and wheat flour is 0.5 yuan. That's 34.5 yuan in total," Xiao Hui quickly quoted a string of prices.
Seeing that Xia Qingqing bought a lot, he specially gave her a discount, hoping to get more repeat customers.
Xia Qing checked the prices and, after confirming they were correct, said, "Okay, could you please get the goods for me?"
This time, Dongzi didn't need his boss to urge him. Upon hearing Xia Qingqing's words, he ran straight to the warehouse and returned carrying two full hands of things.
Xia Qingqing took out some money from her pocket and handed it to Xiao Hui: "Please count it, is it correct?"
“That’s right. Do you want me to have someone send the things back to you?” Xiao Hui glanced at Xia Qingqing’s small arms and legs, doubting whether she could carry something weighing dozens of kilograms, especially since the bag of cotton was particularly large and difficult to carry.
"No need, I can carry it myself," Xia Qingqing quickly refused. What a joke! She was planning to find a safe place to put the things into the system space after she got out.
She deftly put all the rice, flour, and other things into her basket, then easily picked up the bag of cotton and went out the door.
As soon as she left, the fat man shook his head and clicked his tongue, saying, "I didn't expect this young lady to be so generous. She spent more than two months' wages of a worker in one go."
"Yeah, it's all thanks to our boss. He just asked one more question and sold a ton of stuff," Dongzi said admiringly, giving his boss a thumbs up.
Xiao Hui smiled slightly without saying a word. Judging from the girl's quick action of taking out her money, he knew she was definitely not short of money.
On the other side, after leaving the courtyard, Xia Qingqing found a secluded spot and put everything from her basket into the system warehouse.
Then he divided the large bag of cotton into a small portion, about 6 pounds, and stuffed it into the basket.
She planned to take 6 jin (3 catties) back this time to make a cotton-padded jacket, and then find another opportunity to come to the county to bring back the cotton to make quilts. Taking too much at once would be inconvenient and difficult to explain.
After thinking for a moment, she selected four more pieces of fabric from the system's inventory: blue, military green, black, and blue with white floral patterns.
She originally wanted to choose all dark colors, but remembering Zhang Hongyan's instructions, she added the blue one with white floral patterns, otherwise she was afraid she would get scolded by her mother when she got home.
Xia Qingqing, carrying a basket full of things on her back, boarded the oxcart to go home.
An aunt sitting next to her suddenly realized that she seemed to see Xia Qingqing every time she went to the county, and couldn't help but ask, "Qingqing, what do you buy every time you come to the county? How come I always see you?"
As soon as she said that, all the women on the oxcart turned their attention to Xia Qingqing.
In the countryside, there's generally not much going on, so people rarely go to the county. Sometimes, if they're short of something like a needle or thread, they might ask someone they know to help them. It's really rare to find someone like Xia Qingqing who goes to the county once or twice a month.
Xia Qingqing instantly became the center of attention. She felt like cursing, but she still showed a shy smile and said, "Actually, I don't buy things every time. I just occasionally go to the county to visit my classmates."
She made up an excuse on the spot, thinking she could get away with it, but it immediately aroused the suspicion of those with ulterior motives.
"Oh, I see. Qingqing must have known a lot of classmates when she was in high school in the county town," the aunt said, looking at Xia Qingqing with envy.
Another auntie, quick-witted, said, "Qingqing, are all your classmates working now? They must be very well-informed about factory recruitment, right? If you know any inside information, remember to tell your auntie too!"
Upon hearing this, the others couldn't sit still any longer. Only then did they realize that Xia Qingqing seemed to have many connections in the city. Did her frequent trips to the county indicate that she knew some inside information?
For the next two hours, Xia Qingqing was constantly bombarded with questions as all the older women tried to establish a connection with her.
One said they watched her grow up, another said they were relatives within five degrees of kinship, telling her to let them know if she knew any inside information, and some even told her to remember them after she went to the city...
In short, there were all sorts of rumors, making Xia Qingqing wonder if she had unknowingly become a worker. This was something that hadn't even happened yet, and everyone was talking about it as if it were the truth.
After enduring until the oxcart finally entered the village, Xia Qingqing dismounted as if fleeing and ran home as fast as she could.
Seeing her daughter panting heavily, Zhang Hongyan asked, somewhat puzzled, "What happened to you? Were you chased by a dog?"
"Phew~, nothing, nothing," Xia Qingqing waved her hand and took the basket off her back.
"Mom, my classmate took me to buy cotton and cloth at the best price. I still have a few dollars left over from the money you gave me."
Zhang Hongyan took out a bag full of cotton and several pieces of cloth from her basket and examined them carefully: "Wow, this cotton and cloth are really good. Do you want to thank me, classmate?"
"Of course, thank you."
"Mom will start making cotton-padded clothes tonight, and will make one for you first," Zhang Hongyan said happily, touching the blue and white floral fabric.
Xia Qingqing nodded with a smile: "Okay, you, my dad, and Gou Dan should also make some. Our family is doing well this year, so we won't miss out on this new cotton coat."
Zhang Hongyan thought her daughter's words made sense, and a bright smile appeared on her face: "Okay, we'll do it, you can do it."
When Gou Dan came home from school that evening, he learned that he would soon be able to wear his new cotton-padded coat, and he happily ran back and forth in the yard.
He was the youngest in the family and was growing rapidly, changing every year. So many of his clothes were actually altered from old ones by Zhang Hongyan. Wearing new clothes was an extremely happy thing for Gou Dan.
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