Chapter 6: Making Sachets is Black, Really Black
The colleague who gave Ning Jia the sachet was cheerful and always recommended all sorts of food, household items, and toys. Within a few days, the whole company knew that Ning Jia had a friend who studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and made sachets that could calm the nerves and help with sleep.
As soon as she arrived at work that morning, many of her colleagues came over to ask her about the sachets.
Ning Jia was both surprised and delighted. She hadn't expected the "soft advertisement" to spread so quickly. Unfortunately, she hadn't prepared in advance and had only brought two or three sachets, which were quickly taken by the people who arrived first.
"Really? I was thinking of buying one so I could get a good night's sleep tonight."
Someone said disappointedly, and seeing that others had the same reaction, he rolled his eyes and immediately took out his phone to transfer forty yuan to Ning Jia:
"Jiajia, I've already paid. Next time you get a sachet, you have to give me one first."
Ning Jia readily accepted the red envelope and then took out her notebook to write it down. "Don't worry, I'll bring a sachet tomorrow, and I'll give it to you first."
Seeing this, the others also took out their phones to transfer money to Ning Jia, saying, "I've transferred the money to you too, don't forget to bring me a few next time."
In the blink of an eye, Ning Jia received more than a dozen red envelopes. She buried her head in her notebook, filling two pages with notes, while her colleagues kept reminding her, "Remember to bring your sachets!" "I was ahead of her, give me mine first!" "I bought three, don't forget!"...
Faced with everyone's enthusiasm, she realized that 99% of the people in the company had very poor sleep, and quickly reassured them:
"Don't worry, everyone. I'll talk to my friend and ask her to make more so that everyone gets one, everyone gets one."
At 6 PM, Ning Jia left work with a clear conscience. Today was a member's day promotion, and she planned to buy some fruit and exchange some sachets with the little people.
Recently, she has been leaving get off work on time, which used to be quite conspicuous among the people who lingered. But today, when she was packing her bags to leave, a colleague offered to cover for her, saying, "Jiajia, hurry up and go, take some more sachets back. If Boss Zhao comes, I'll say you went to the restroom."
Ning Jia was both amused and exasperated. In fact, after experiencing the joy of refusing to work overtime that day, she had already decided to leave work on time from now on. However, she still thanked her colleague for her kindness.
A warm spring breeze caressed her face, and under the bright sky, Ning Jia rode her bike while happily doing mental calculations:
One sachet costs forty, ten sachets cost four hundred, twenty sachets cost eight hundred, thirty sachets cost one thousand two hundred... If this stuff could be mass-produced, wouldn't she make a fortune?
That evening, the little people in the garden were astonished by Ning Jia's extravagant gesture.
Previously, Ning Jia would only bring a bag with a few kinds of fruit each time, but today she carried a heavy bag, acting suspiciously, and no one knows how much food she brought.
After greeting the little creatures, Ning Jia spread out a makeshift picnic mat made from a colleague's discarded takeout insulated bag and enthusiastically laid out various foods on the ground:
"Today's food is very plentiful~ Chief Canglan said before that you can eat other foods besides fruits, so I brought extra."
"Wow, what are all these?"
Guoguo stared wide-eyed as Ning Jia took out one unfamiliar food item from her bag, then another, and another... she was completely overwhelmed.
"This is a fruit cucumber. It's crisp, tender, and sweet, and it's very juicy. It can both fill you up and keep you hydrated," Ning Jia said, pointing to a cucumber that was almost as tall as a little person.
"It's too much trouble for you to drink dew normally. Eating some cucumber is the same as drinking water, how convenient!"
"This is a carrot, a rabbit's favorite. It's crunchy, slightly sweet, and very nutritious," Ning Jia said, pointing to a giant orange carrot that was taller than a person.
"This is a cantaloupe, this is a grape, this is an orange, this is a kiwi..."
"And this, cherry radish, is small and perfect for holding and eating, but it might be a little spicy, so kids who can't handle spicy food shouldn't try it."
...
Ning Jia became more and more excited as she spoke, and finally, as if showing off, she pulled out a large red basin—
"Ta-da! There's this too!"
With the weather getting warmer lately, strawberries, which were once a rarity, have become ubiquitous. Almost every fruit shop displays bowls of strawberries. Ning Jia bought two large bowls for a good price of 19.9 yuan each, one for herself and one for the little people.
"Ah, it's strawberry!" Guoguo remembered the name strawberry very clearly and blurted it out.
"These strawberries are sweet and sour this time, much better than last time," Ning Jia assured her. "Don't believe me? Try one!"
Ning Jia's fruit and vegetable stall was bustling with activity when Cang Lan arrived with He Meng and the others.
Canglan's gaze swept over the colorful array of food, and she looked somewhat taken aback:
"The food you brought today... is far too much. It's enough to feed my people for several days."
She then narrowed her eyes and looked at Ning Jia again:
"If I may ask, is there something you need us to do for you?"
Ning Jia secretly broke out in a cold sweat. As expected of the chieftain of the Little People tribe who managed dozens of people, she had discovered this. So she stopped hiding it:
"To be honest, I'd like to get more of those calming and sleep-inducing sachets."
She glanced at Canglan, feeling that the other party could see right through her little schemes, so she simply told him the whole story honestly and promised to buy other things for the little people when she made money in the future.
Canglan listened thoughtfully, but did not give an immediate answer, only saying that she would discuss it with her clansmen before making a decision.
But other little people overheard their conversation and replied without hesitation, "As long as there's always this much food, I'm willing!"
The others chimed in, "We want delicious food! We want lots and lots of food!"
The previous food crisis had left a deep scar on many of the villains, and upon hearing that there would be a continuous supply of food in the future, everyone clamored to agree.
Cang Lan smiled helplessly and spread her hands towards Ning Jia, "It seems there's no need to discuss it anymore."
Ning Jia was overjoyed and quickly said:
"Since everyone has agreed, I will bring more food over the next few days, and I hope you can offer more sachets in exchange."
She held up five fingers as she spoke, "At least fifty sachets a day, is that alright?"
The little people all nodded, indicating that they had no objections.
He Meng happily munched on a strawberry and said, "Great! This way I can exchange for even more fruit! Hehe, I'm going to eat fruit three times a day!"
Ning Jia chuckled, looking at He Meng's smug face, and thought to herself, "This one can be considered to have achieved fruit freedom."
Unlike the others, Bai Su, who was standing next to Cang Lan, did not show any joy on her face. Instead, she whispered, "Stupid He Meng," but He Meng, who was immersed in anticipation, did not hear her.
After reaching an agreement with the dwarfs, Ning Jia left work early every day to buy a lot of fruit at the supermarket. Because Cang Lan said that it was not convenient to cook in the garden and that they were afraid of being discovered by the giants, Ning Jia mainly brought fruit as her food.
Anyway, buying fruit doesn't take much effort, and she's full of energy.
In the past few days, almost every colleague at Ningjia Company has been carrying a sachet, and everyone looks radiant and much more energetic than before, obviously because they slept well at night.
The craze for the sachets spread far and wide, even reaching the neighboring companies. People from several nearby companies came to buy sleep-aid sachets from Ning Jia, and the sachets' reputation spread further and further.
Seeing the ever-increasing extra income, Ning Jia brought more and more food to the little people, and her requirements for the sachets also became more and more demanding...
That evening, although Ningjia's fruit and vegetable stall was still very well-stocked, the little people who came to exchange sachets for food all seemed listless and lacked their usual energy.
Ning Jia was completely oblivious to this, still absorbed in the idea of making as much money as possible.
"He Meng, could you standardize the design of the sachets? Just make sure that every single one looks similar to yours."
Ning Jia handed He Meng an apple while pointing to the sachet He Meng had placed in her hand and asked a question.
What?
He Meng, her face tanned a wheatish color, had two large dark circles under her eyes. She asked, bewildered:
"Aren't sachets for helping people sleep? Why are they made to look the same?"
Ning Jia said matter-of-factly, "It looks better this way, and we can sell more of it."
He Meng: ...
She turned to look at the other members of her tribe, then suddenly whispered:
"Um... we've had plenty of food lately, but herbs are getting harder and harder to find. Could I stop making sachets?"
Several little figures nearby overheard this and started arguing, saying they didn't want to make sachets anymore.
Ning Jia immediately shook her head, "How can that be? I've already collected the money for the next batch of pre-orders."
She softened her tone and patted He Meng's little head:
"Making sachets isn't difficult. Just put in a little effort, and you'll definitely succeed. Besides, the more sachets you make, the more food you can exchange for. Next time, I'll bring some fruits you haven't tried before..."
Ning Jia gently comforted her. He Meng opened her mouth, looked at Ning Jia with some difficulty, then looked at her own little hands stained green with vanilla, and didn't know what to do. Tears fell in large drops. Seeing He Meng cry, the other little children nearby were also overcome with sorrow and started to cry loudly.
The once joyful garden was suddenly filled with tears and wailing.
No, why did you suddenly start crying?
Ning Jia was completely dumbfounded. She awkwardly reached out to wipe He Meng's tears, but was afraid of rubbing too hard and scratching the skin off her face. Finally, she pulled a tissue from her pocket, tore off a small piece, and handed it to her.
"I'm sorry, don't cry."
He Meng took the tissue, which was bigger than her face, and covered it with her face as if washing it. She wiped her snot and tears vigorously, and sobbed, "I never want to make sachets again. Making sachets is so tiring. It's hard to find herbs, and then you have to make them all the same..."
Ning Jia's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, she felt a strange sense of familiarity with the scene, and then it dawned on her:
Oh no, I've become a heartless capitalist!
Looking back on everything that has happened recently, in order to make money, I have used all sorts of coercion and inducement to make the little people work harder to increase production, and I also want to standardize production and not allow the little people to rest... This familiar process of exploitation, this familiar set of psychological manipulation tactics, it's so shady, it's really too shady!
Ning Jia was filled with shame, finally understanding what it meant for a dragon-slaying hero to become a dragon himself. Alas, it seems that once someone becomes a boss, they easily lose their humanity.
Seeing He Meng, who is usually full of energy, looking so listless after being tormented by her, she felt a rare pang of guilt:
Although I was very reluctant to give up the income from selling sachets, the little people crying in front of me were really too pitiful!
She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose conscience over money. "Fine, I'll return all the money to those people, and you don't need to make sachets anymore."
A note from the author:
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