Bai Guoguo finished the germination of the strawberries. Thinking that there was no seedbed yet, he filled a small cloth bag with two large bowls of cornmeal and planned to go to the house of carpenter Uncle Zhao to ask him to help make a few large wooden frames.
At that time, dig some garden soil, mix it with some river sand and mountain humus to grow strawberry seedlings.
Atomic soil retains water, river sand can keep the soil breathable, and humus soil is rich in nutrients. Mixing these three together is just right for growing strawberries.
Uncle Zhao’s house is not far from the Youth League Institute, and it only takes four or five minutes to walk there.
When Bai Guoguo arrived, the gate of the Zhao family's courtyard was wide open. Uncle Zhao had just finished lunch and was planing wooden boards with his apprentice in the shed.
"Uncle Zhao, it's me. I'm bothering you again!"
Bai Guoguo walked to the gate, smiled before saying anything, and shouted into the gate.
"It's Xiaobai, the educated youth. What do you want from me, old man?"
Uncle Zhao put down the plane and thought to himself, didn’t this young educated youth just buy the furniture not long ago?
"Well, I'd like to ask Uncle Zhao to make some shallow wooden frames. I brought a small amount of strawberry seeds from my hometown and want to try planting them."
"Oh, strawberries are a rare thing. I tried a few in Peking back then!"
Uncle Zhao looked up with a look of lingering reminiscence. Back then, he followed his master to Peking to make dowry furniture for a wealthy family. The maid in the young lady's room brought them a small plate of strawberries.
The strawberries are so fragrant and sweet, and the little maid's hands are so white and tender...
"Uncle Zhao, Uncle Zhao, what are you thinking about? Can you make a wooden frame?"
Bai Guoguo waved her hand in front of Uncle Zhao, feeling surprised. What was wrong with this uncle? Why was the smile on his face getting weirder and weirder?
"Oh, oh! It's nothing. I can make that wooden frame. I don't want any reward. If the educated youth Xiaobai grows some strawberry seedlings, I wonder if you can give me a couple. I haven't eaten strawberries in 30 years, old man!"
Uncle Zhao sighed again as he spoke.
"Okay, if the strawberries sprout by then, I'll give you a few, but I still have to pay you. Here's a small bag of cornmeal, is it okay with you?"
Bai Guoguo said as he handed over a small bag of corn flour weighing about two or three pounds.
"Don't be so polite to me, Dad. You can make wooden frames for seedlings with scraps. They are just worthless and usually used for burning firewood."
Uncle Zhao thought that the wooden frames for growing seedlings would not be made of good materials, so it would not be difficult to ask his apprentice to make a few for the girl using the edge materials.
He was also hoping that this young educated youth from the south could give him some strawberry seedlings!
"Okay, I won't be so polite to you, uncle. If the strawberries sprout, I'll definitely pick a few for you."
Uncle Zhao's apprentice looked at the old man and the young man pushing and shoving each other, shook his head in amusement, and silently picked up some leftover materials to make a wooden frame for Bai Zhiqing.
After making an appointment with Uncle Zhao to pick up the wooden frame in the afternoon, Bai Guoguo carried her small bag of corn flour back to the educated youth site.
After the announcement for the afternoon work started, Bai Guoguo reported to the Red Star Production Brigade office as agreed.
Today, the only people seen in the captain's office were He Gang's uncle, Captain He, the team's old accountant, and He Gang.
"Captain, Uncle Accountant, Captain He, I'm here to report."
"Bai Zhiqing, I heard from Gangzi that you want to be a brick kiln salesperson. We haven't heard of this position before. Can you tell us more about it?"
The team leader asked Mai Guoguo to sit down and talked about the salesperson.
Bai Guoguo understood immediately, this is how interviews are done in this era.
Before traveling through time, Bai Guoguo had traveled all over the country on business trips and had seen all kinds of scenes, so he was naturally not stage-frightened.
He expressed his thoughts and suggestions confidently on the spot.
"Dear leaders, the term 'salesman' is just something I made up, but I have some ideas and suggestions for this position."
"I've been asking about the situation at our brick kiln, and I've also had some thoughts about the debts owed by some of the surrounding brigades and communes."
"Our country is currently undergoing a massive rebuilding process and is thriving. However, there is a significant shortage of supplies in the market, and demand is far outstripping supply."
Bai Guoguo looked up at the expressions of the three people and saw that they were all listening patiently, so he continued.
"I think that no matter the surrounding communes or brigades, each place has its own local specialties. These specialties are not valuable locally, but if they are transported to big cities or a little further south, their value will double.
Factories in big cities also have industrial materials that our peasant brothers need. Can we conduct a resource exchange?"
Bai Guo looked at the two people with confused expressions, only He Li looked thoughtful, and then explained carefully.
"Then our brigade, the brick and tile kiln, and I as a salesperson can play a connecting role in the middle.
We can integrate the specialty products of several surrounding production brigades and communes that are in arrears to pay off the debts. After processing, our brigade will transport these materials to big cities or factories in exchange for the materials we need.
By the way, we can also promote the red bricks and tiles from our factory. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
This not only helps the surrounding communes, but also facilitates the factories in the city and brings orders to our brigade's brick kiln.
My job as a salesperson is to make contacts and run business everywhere!"
After Bai Guoguo finished speaking, a few gasps were heard, and the atmosphere around them became quiet. Fang Li belatedly raised his head and looked at the three people opposite him.
The team leader, the old accountant and He Gang all had the same shocked expression!
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