Chapter 141

Since 1983, the canning factories on the island have been in trouble. Not only the canning factories, but also many state-owned factories have entered a period of stagnation in recent years. Not only the canning factories, but also the state-owned restaurants and supply and marketing cooperatives have been greatly impacted.

After the reform and opening up, those who dared to work hard became self-employed. At first, there were only one or two people who tried to set up small stalls on the street. Later, when they found that there was no business, more people set up stalls. The biggest advantage of these self-employed people is that their food is cheaper than that of state-owned restaurants, they don’t need tickets, and their attitude is good, and they are very enthusiastic to treat customers.

At this time, the attitudes of the staff of state-owned hotels and supply and marketing cooperatives could not stand up to comparison.

As for the canneries on the island, workers were out of work, so some of them became self-employed, while others were too desperate to go out and start their own business. They had no experience, and being a self-employed person was not like the past when you could get a stable salary from working in a factory. You had to invest money first, and you also had to face the risk of losses.

By 1984, more than half of the employees at the cannery had been laid off, and the remaining dozen or so were expected to be out of work soon.

Many of them are fishermen from the island. Without their jobs, they don’t know what to do.

However, Yueyue brought up something with Lin Tao - she wanted to sell canned seafood. The canned seafood was the same one she had made before and brought to Zheng Hongxing. In the past few years, Zheng Hongxing had also written to Yueyue, and every time he would ask Yueyue to make some more for him to send.

"Mom, last time I saw a classmate's mother selling melon seeds and other things. Her business was pretty good. I also want to sell things. Everyone says that the seafood I make is delicious. I think I can definitely sell it." Yueyue said.

Lin Tao actually saw that self-employed people were a big trend and there would be more and more of them in the future. But she never thought about making money from self-employed people. First, because her and Li Chengxi's salaries were enough to spend and the family had saved a lot of money, and second, she never thought about giving up her job as a teacher to make money from self-employed people.

But now that Yueyue mentioned it to her, Lin Tao did not object, but said: "Mom doesn't object to this, but you have to convince me with facts. Now while you have time during the holiday, I will take you and Xingxing to the market in two days. If you can sell the seafood you made, Mom will support you."

Mom didn't object. Yueyue was very happy and agreed immediately.

When Li Chengxi came back in the evening, Lin Tao told him about this. Not surprisingly, Li Chengxi also supported Lin Tao's approach and let the child give it a try. No matter what the result is, let her see the result, instead of undermining the child's confidence from the beginning and strangling the child's ideas in the cradle. This is Li Chengxi and Lin Tao's point of view on raising children.

"Yueyue's cooking skills are inherited from you. The food she cooks is really delicious." Li Chengxi said.

Lin Tao nodded and asked, "If Yueyue sells these things and does well, I will definitely support her. Will this have any negative impact on you?"

Li Chengxi said: "It's okay. The current national policy is to support independent entrepreneurship. As long as you follow the national policy, do what the policy allows and don't do what the policy does not allow, nothing will go wrong.

After hearing what Li Chengxi said, Lin Tao felt relieved.

After they finished talking about the child, Li Chengxi talked about his own affairs: "I'm going to Beijing for a meeting in two days. Tell me what you want to bring. I'll buy it for you after the meeting."

Lin Tao said, "Now that you mention it, I really remember that the facial cream you bought me last time is almost used up. It's very useful. Please bring me another set. Also, buy me some fabric, the same fabric that Yuting uses. I think it would be great to make you a coat."

Li Chengxi said, "I have to make them for you, Dad, and the kids. I can't even wear out all the military uniforms."

Lin Tao said, "No, I have already thought about how to make it for you. Then you can buy more and I will make one for each of our family members. What did Yuting say when she came back last time? Didn't she say that there are also parent-child outfits? That is, parents and children wear the same clothes."

"Okay." Li Chengxi nodded, and as they talked, the two of them got together again.

Li Chengxi has to go to Beijing for a meeting, which will take at least a week. He won't be able to see Lin Tao for a week, so he has to do some things before leaving.

Yueyue did what she said. The next day, she asked Lin Changhai to accompany her to the non-staple food factory and bought a lot of seafood. She also went to the canning factory and bought more than twenty cans.

The canning factory now processes a small amount of cans every day, and the cans are simply not used up. If Yueyue comes to buy, the factory will naturally be willing to sell them to her.

In the past two days, Yueyue made more than 20 small jars of seafood. Even Xingxing didn't go out much, and helped her sister make these at home.

Chen Shuifen asked Yueyue how she could make so many cans, and Yueyue told her that she was going to sell them. Chen Shuifen then said to Lin Tao, "Teacher Lin, why did you let Yueyue sell things?"

While helping Yueyue cut peppers, Lin Tao smiled and said, "Aren't there a lot of people who are self-employed now? There are also quite a few families on our island who have become self-employed, right?"

Chen Shuifen said, "Yes, they did become self-employed, but they did so because the canning factory was about to close down and they had no work to do. You are doing well in the school and are still the principal. Your husband has become a teacher. Why do you still need to become a self-employed person?"

After that, he lowered his voice and asked Lin Tao: "Teacher Lin, I also want to ask you, is it really that good to be a self-employed person now? Last time I wanted to ask Li Xue if it was really that good, but she kept talking about it and didn't get to the point. She talked for a long time but didn't say whether it was good or not. I was annoyed by her and just left."

Lin Tao smiled and said, "People who are not good don't want to talk about it, and people who are good are afraid that others will rush in to share a piece of the pie with them if they talk about it. Sometimes people are like this. But I can't say whether it is good to be a self-employed person or not. Yueyue herself proposed to sell these, so I support her to give it a try. After Yueyue tries to sell them, I will tell you whether it is good or not."

The next day, Lin Tao took Yueyue and Xingxing to set up a stall in front of the cinema in the city.

Because the cinema has a large flow of people, and most of the people who come to watch movies have some money on them, it is more appropriate to sell to them.

Yueyue was very smart about this, and she even bought a foam box of popsicles to sell together with the seafood. The seafood tasted a bit spicy, but when eaten with the popsicles, it not only didn't feel spicy, but it was also very refreshing.

Wang Qingming also came with them. The three children were selling things together. Lin Tao felt more at ease and let them sell here while she went to the Education Bureau for a meeting.

Wei Yingzi had been promoted to the director of the Education Bureau two years ago, and had expressed to Lin Tao that she wanted to transfer her to the Municipal Education Bureau, believing that Lin Tao was very capable and that her talent was being wasted on the island.

However, after careful consideration, Lin Tao rejected Wei Yingzi's kindness. First, when Principal Xu left, she promised him that she would manage the school well. Second, she also liked to teach children. After going to the Municipal Education Bureau, although her work content was related to education, she no longer taught students.

However, after she politely rejected Wei Yingzi, she recommended another candidate to Wei Yingzi, that was Xiao Shengtian.

Xiao Shengtian has already graduated from university. He is very capable and was the top scorer in the province. He was supposed to stay at the school to teach, but he resigned for other reasons and has not found a job yet. Lin Tao introduced him to Wei Yingzi, who was very satisfied with Xiao Shengtian and valued him very much.

In recent years, Shancheng has been vigorously promoting the theory that studying is useful, so that everyone pays attention to the issue of children's education. However, many children from poor families still cannot afford to go to school, especially girls. Not to mention studying, they have to help with housework when they grow up. Some people don't even know a few words in their entire lives, and some people don't even know how to write their own names.

Wei Yingzi said: "We who work in education must find ways to ensure that all children can afford to go to school."

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On the other hand, Lin Tao's meeting hadn't even ended yet, but Yueyue's canned seafood had already been sold out.

There were still a few popsicles left, and Yueyue said she wouldn't sell them and they could eat them themselves.

There were two old popsicles and a mung bean popsicle left in the popsicle. The mung bean popsicle was more expensive and tastier than the old one. Xingxing wanted to eat the mung bean popsicle, but Wang Qingming gave the mung bean popsicle to Yueyue, and he ate the old popsicle with Xingxing.

Yueyue tore open the bag of the popsicle and licked it. It was cool and sweet. While eating the popsicle, she counted the money. After deducting the material cost from today's income, Yueyue found that they actually made twelve yuan today.

Twelve dollars a day, that’s three hundred and sixty dollars in a month of thirty days. That’s too much!

Her mother's monthly salary is only more than 90 yuan, and her father's salary is higher, 220 yuan a month. The combined salary of the two is not as much as she makes from selling seafood?

Yueyue's hand holding the money trembled slightly, and she was very excited. She hid the money in the pocket inside her clothes to ensure that it would not fall out. Since she saved her annual savings, Lin Tao has been sewing a pocket inside the clothes she made for her for several years.

He waved his hand and said, "I made a lot of money today. If you want to eat something delicious, I'll treat you."

Xingxing said, "I want to eat beef noodles."

So the three of them went to eat beef noodles together. They did not go to a state-owned hotel, but to a private noodle shop. This noodle shop was opened by a couple. The boss and the boss' wife were very enthusiastic and would not deliberately neglect the three of them just because they were half-grown children.

As soon as the three of them walked to the door, the proprietress welcomed them in warmly, wiped the table and chairs with a rag, and asked them what they wanted to eat.

Yueyue ordered three bowls of beef noodles, which were served quickly. The noodles in this noodle shop are very chewy and the beef smells very fragrant.

Yueyue whispered, "No wonder there are so few people in state-owned hotels. Not only are the food in these restaurants delicious, but the people there are also warm and welcoming. They are not like the state-owned hotels, where people always have stern faces, as if others owe them money."

Xingxing nodded and agreed: "And they're very slow to make it. You have to wait a long time to buy a few buns, and you can't rush them."

The brined beef slices were delicious, and Yueyue exclaimed in praise after taking just one bite. However, there wasn't much beef in the bowl of noodles, only five slices per bowl.

At this moment, Wang Qingming took the initiative to put the beef in his bowl into Yueyue's bowl.

Yueyue asked: "Why did you give it all to me?"

Wang Qingming said: "I don't like beef."

Yueyue: "Well, no wonder Aunt Xu always says you're a picky eater."

Xingxing said, "Brother Qingming, if you don't like beef, just give it to me. Why are you giving it all to my sister? I'm still growing."

Wang Qingming glanced at him and said, "You are picky about food and don't like to eat green vegetables. You should eat more green vegetables."

As he spoke, Wang Qingming put the vegetables in his bowl into Xingxing's bowl: "Finish it."

Xingxing's face wrinkled into a ball, and her mouth flattened: "Brother Qingming, you are partial. You always favor my sister."

Yueyue smiled and snorted, saying, "Who told you to get to know him later? We've known each other longer than you, so we have a better relationship. You should finish your vegetables quickly. Eating more vegetables will help you have a balanced diet."

After the three of them had eaten the noodles, Yueyue bought another basket of steamed buns and went to wait for Lin Tao outside the Education Bureau.

They waited for a while before Lin Tao came out. She was a little surprised to see the three of them and asked, "Have you sold all your products?"