Chapter 29: What is the name of the steel factory owner?

Chen Xiang first added a few pieces of wood into the stove to make the fire burn more vigorously.

Then he took the remaining sweet potatoes and buried them in the sand.

In the following time, Chen Xiang was also busy. She tidied up the messy rice dumplings leaves and cleaned up the sand that spilled on the car deck.

Even the loofah used to sweep away the loose sand was made brand new by her.

After Chen Xiang finished all this, she finally had some free time.

She found a place to sit down, stretched her legs, and tapped her sore legs with her fists. She hadn't rested the whole morning and now that she had relaxed, she was indeed a little tired.

Chen Xiang rested for a while, then ran to the guard booth to find Lao Xie.

Ask him how long the first class in the county high school is, what time the class ends, and how long the break is between classes.

Old Xie felt embarrassed after eating a sweet potato as big as the little girl's. So when he saw Chen Xiang coming over, he naturally became very enthusiastic.

I told Chen Xiang everything that happened in school, including the situation of boarding students.

He said the children usually stay at school until Saturday night, go home and return to school Monday morning.

There is no cafeteria in the county high school, so whether students live on campus or go to school as a day student, they need to bring their own meals.

At noon, the school will arrange several large pots to heat up meals for the students.

After hearing this, Chen Xiang had a better understanding of the county high school. She asked again, "Brother Xie, I have never been to the county town. You are a native of the county town, so you must know where the busiest places are, right?"

Old Xie paused for a moment and said, "If you want to talk about a lively place, it's the steel factory."

"Changling Steel Plant?"

"Yes, it is the Changling Steel Plant. More than half of the people in the surrounding counties work in the steel plant, including most of the parents of these students."

Chen Xiang sighed: "Workers are the most popular nowadays."

"That's right. Before Changling had this steel plant, the people were so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat. Now, every household can't live without meat for every meal."

"Speaking of which, we have to thank the boss of the steel factory. However, I heard from others that the boss seems to be a well-known figure in the capital. I don't know why he suddenly ran to Changling, a remote place."

Chen Xiang was a little curious: "What's the name of the steel factory owner?"

"Guan Zhen."

Old Xie: "I saw him cutting the ribbon for a steel plant more than a decade ago. I even went to join in the fun."

When Chen Xiang heard the name Guan Zhen, she always felt it sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere, but she could not remember where.

She smiled and said, "This name sounds quite domineering."

Old Xie stood up and replaced the beehive coal in the small stove in the guardhouse, and replied: "If he doesn't have some ability, he won't be able to suppress this name..."

At this point, Old Xie's eyes lit up and he gave Chen Xiang some advice: "Hey, young comrade, why don't you go to the steel factory at noon to take a look."

Chen Xiang: "What time do they get off work at noon?"

Old Xie thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's 11 o'clock, but there is a big cafeteria in the steel factory."

"Xie Brother, they have a cafeteria in the factory, but they may not have roasted sweet potatoes! I'd better go there, maybe I can sell a few on the way." Chen Xiang decided to go to the steel factory to take a look.

"Okay, it's not far from here anyway, it's near Heping Village."

The two chatted for a while, and as it was almost 7:50, the students were about to finish their classes, so Chen Xiang returned to the car and took out the roasted sweet potatoes to let them cool down.

After she finished doing all this, a shrill bell rang in the school, signaling the end of class.

Chen Xiang pushed the cart close to the wall, waiting for the students to come and stand behind the wall so that she could easily pass the sweet potatoes in.

After a while, children in royal blue school uniforms came jogging over.

From a distance, he started shouting:

"Sister, are the sweet potatoes ready?"

"I'm the first one here, can I queue up..."

Chen Xiang smiled and said, "Okay, okay, come one by one, don't crowd us."

Then she pointed at the girl standing in the front and asked, "Classmate, which sweet potato do you want?"

The female student leaned over the fence, put her arm through the gap, and pointed at the sweet potato she liked: "That one, the one on the far left. I think it's the biggest."

"Okay, I'll wrap it for you right away."

—

There was only a ten-minute break between classes, and after selling about a dozen copies, the bell rang.

Chen Xiang's hands moved faster, and she handed the wrapped sweet potato to the last student, urging him, "Okay, okay, we won't sell it anymore. Go back to class."

Some students who arrived later went back when they saw that they couldn't get in line.

There are also those who are so bold that they refuse to go home when the bell rings and insist on buying a portion of sweet potato: "Sister! Hurry up! I have to go to class!"

Chen Xiang was helpless. She knew that she had to go to class, so why didn't she go back earlier...

She took the money and quickly packed a copy for him.

Once there is a chance, there will be two. When the bell rang for class, she sold five more in a row, and then the boys ran into the teaching building.

After all the students had left, Chen Xiang counted the remaining ones.

She never expected that she could sell 21 big sweet potatoes in the ten-minute break, earning more than 80 cents. You should know that nowadays the monthly salary of workers is only about 40 yuan.

On average, about three or four yuan a day!

But she only earned 80 cents in just ten minutes...

Such a perfect opening is a good omen for smooth sailing in the future. Chen Xiang was so happy.

She hid her wallet and gave Lao Xie a sweet potato before leaving. She said goodbye before riding away to the steel factory.

When passing the department store, Chen Xiang paused in her riding.

After thinking carefully for a while, she pushed the tricycle to the entrance of the mall, gathered her strength, and shouted a few times:

"Baked sweet potatoes—"

“Fresh hot baked sweet potatoes.”

This Xinglong Department Store is the only shopping mall in the county and is operated as a state-owned joint venture.

They sell everything, including the most popular brands. For example, the most popular items right now are electrical appliances, refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, radios, and hair dryers.

They also sell Phoenix brand 28-inch bicycles, Shanghai brand watches, and gold jewelry.

What I bought on the second floor were clothes, hats, shoes and the like.

Being able to work as a salesperson here is extremely remarkable. When you walk outside, you will feel that you are superior to others. You get a state-owned enterprise salary and a decent job.

Being a salesperson here is more stressful than being a teacher...

Chen Xiang called out a few more times, and soon two women really came out of the department store. They were wearing white shirts with dark blue suits on the outside, which outlined their slender waists, and they were wearing small black leather high heels.

As soon as they stepped out, they were frozen into a ball by the cold outside.

He trotted over with his arms folded, trembling, and asked, "How much are the roasted sweet potatoes?"

Chen Xiang: "One is two cents, buy two for three cents."

The price this time is different from that sold at the school gate. The sweet potatoes just sold were large ones, so this time we have to sell the small ones.