When Zhou Qiqi praised her like that, Deng Cuixiang gave a self-deprecating smile.
"Hey, what can I do? I'm just a country bumpkin. All I know is farming and pickling vegetables."
They're all ordinary people. They may appear carefree and indifferent, but deep down they might still have some lingering resentment.
How can you say that?
Zhou Qiqi didn't like her belittling herself like that, and rolled her eyes.
"I think Sister Cuixiang's cooking skills are quite good, and the taste is authentic. Why don't you take some time these next few days to make some chili sauce, pickled vegetables, or something, and try selling them?"
Deng Cuixiang's eyes suddenly widened, sparkling, but then she felt embarrassed.
"Can this thing even sell? Anyone can make it at home, who would pay to buy it?"
After all, the grain and oil stores in G City don't sell this stuff.
Why can't they sell?
Zhou Qiqi smiled, her eyes crinkling.
“Things are different now than they were a few years ago. People in the city have enough to eat and have some spare money. They are willing to spend money to buy things. Making chili sauce and pickled vegetables is troublesome. As long as you don’t sell them for too high a price, there will definitely be people willing to buy them.”
Deng Cuixiang nodded, agreeing with the idea, but she was still a little apprehensive.
"But I've never sold anything before, nor have I ever run a business, this..."
Zhou Qiqi pulled her arm, "If you do this..."
She talked on and on, and Deng Cuixiang's eyes lit up as she listened, wishing she could immediately throw down her hoe and start working on it.
Zhou Qiqi added, "If you do as I say, there will be absolutely no problem, it's just that it will inevitably be a little tiring and hard-working."
"This is nothing! I can endure any hardship!"
Deng Cuixiang patted her chest confidently.
"Young lady, to be honest, I've been thinking about sneaking into the black market to sell things for the past two years. I was thinking of selling steamed buns, noodles and the like, but it's inconvenient with my child with me."
Now that Jiang Xiangyang is in first grade, she finally has some free time and has been thinking about finding something to do.
Seeing Zhou Qiqi's successful clothing sales and Yingying's educated work as a translator, while she was left idle, she felt resentful for a long time.
Now that Zhou Qiqi had shown her the way, she was overjoyed and stretched out her arm to hug Zhou Qiqi's shoulder tightly.
"Why didn't you say you were thinking about my pickled mustard greens sooner! I still have about half a jar left, I'll fill it up for you!"
Before he could finish speaking, he bit his own tongue.
"Hey, stop pretending. If you pretend, you'll still have to go back and make it yourself. How about this, you bring Zhouzhou to my house for dinner this afternoon. I bought some pork at the market this morning, so I can make you some dan dan noodles with minced meat sauce! I guarantee it'll be authentic!"
How could Zhou Qiqi refuse? She nodded and said, "Okay! I'll go call Zhouzhou over."
Deng Cuixiang quickly pulled her back.
"Don't rush me, stop calling me. Help me with some work, and we can catch up while we're at it. You've been busy going to the hospital these past few days, and we haven't had a proper chat in ages."
As he spoke, he patted Zhou Qiqi's hand.
“I asked Xiangyang to call him. He hasn’t seen Zhouzhou these past two days, and he even asked me about her at lunch!”
"Sure."
Zhou Qiqi was thinking of letting Zhouzhou play with his friends more, so naturally she had no objections.
These past few days, rolling iron hoops has become popular among the little boys in the compound. Jiang Xiangyang isn't very good at it, and he's afraid of losing face in front of his younger brothers, so he's been secretly practicing at home.
But he found it boring to play by himself, so he wanted to drag Chen Duzhou along with him.
As soon as my mom assigned it to me, I immediately took off running to get someone, running like a whirlwind.
While Zhou Qiqi and Deng Cuixiang were busy cooking in the kitchen, the two children were playing in the yard.
Before the meal, Jiang Xiangyang and Shen Duzhou were still in the exploratory stage, and the iron ring rolled intermittently.
But after finishing their meal, Chen Duzhou still lacked energy and couldn't roll very far, while Jiang Xiangyang was already able to roll steadily and smoothly forward, having definitely mastered the basics.
The iron ring rolled on the bluestone slab, making a crisp sound. Jiang Xiangyang was overjoyed and ran to the slow-moving ferry boat that was hooked by the iron ring as it turned, showing off her little mouth.
The two children, one lively and the other quiet, one tall and the other short, were bathed in a soft golden glow from the setting sun.
Zhou Qiqi and Deng Cuixiang exchanged a smile, huddled together, and started whispering intimately to each other, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Life went on peacefully like this.
As the sun slowly set in the west, it shone on the No. 1 Garment Factory on the outskirts of the city, where everything was bustling with activity.
It was already 6:30 pm, but Mr. Ma, who was in his forties, was still full of energy, leading the workers in the workshop to work busily.
Deputy factory director Zhang Guoqiang was also busy. He had just finished checking the inventory in the warehouse when he hurried to the workshop.
"Master Ma, when will this batch of goods be finished?"
Master Ma was busy with his work, and he said this as he spoke.
"It'll be almost done. Just three more steps, at most an hour. You're taking the train to Huacheng tomorrow, right? Have you told Master Zhou about this good news?"
Zhang Guoqiang scratched his head.
"I'd like to talk to her, but I can't get through on the phone. I guess she's been busy with family matters these past few days."
Master Ma glanced at the large wall clock in the workshop.
"I guess you called at the wrong time. You should be able to reach someone if you call now."
"OK."
Zhang Guoqiang responded and was about to return to his office to make a call when he was stopped by Wu Shufen, the factory director's secretary, who chatted with him for quite a while. By the time he dialed the number, it was already past seven o'clock.
Just as I was hesitating whether to call, the operator on the other end answered.
"Hello, Red Star Academy, who are you looking for?"
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