Chapter 57 [Update 1]
Three hundred dollars!
At that time, many cadres’ salaries were not that high!
I guess he earns more than the brigade secretary.
Now all the patrol work and confusion are gone!
I can earn 300 yuan a month. Even after deducting rent, utilities, I still have at least 100 yuan left, right?
If I could have 120 yuan a month, that would be 1,500 yuan a year, which would be enough to pay for my granddaughter's tuition for two semesters a year.
When he thought of this, Grandpa Jiang, who was originally feeling a little depressed and uncomfortable because of quitting his mountain patrol job, suddenly straightened up. His waist and legs were no longer sore, and the sky even turned blue.
At noon, Jiang Ning prepared stir-fried lotus root slices with green peppers and braised pork with pickled mustard greens for Grandpa Jiang.
Except for the braised pork with pickled mustard greens, which remains the same all year round, the rest of the dishes in the cafeteria change according to the seasonal vegetables available in the market.
For example, right now is the season when lotus roots are on the market, and the lotus roots on the market are extremely cheap. In order to save costs, the school cafeteria will buy lotus roots. Every day they either stir-fry lotus root slices or lotus root shreds. The lotus roots they buy are not the good lotus roots in the middle, but the small lotus root nodes at both ends and the flat long lotus root nodes, which the locals call lotus root shit.
This kind of lotus root is not as easy to sell as the one with a round middle section. People who sell lotus roots usually cut off the small and long lotus root nodes at both ends, send the middle lotus root section to the market, and send the cut lotus root nodes at both ends to the small canteen near the school. In order to reduce costs, the school canteen will also buy such lotus root nodes at a low price.
The taste and nutrition of these lotus root nodes are no different from the round lotus root segments in the middle, they are just smaller and flatter, and do not look as good as the lotus root in the middle. When cut into circles, they are just right for making fried lotus root slices.
Grandpa Jiang was born and raised by the river, and his hometown’s riverbank was covered with wild lotus roots. He could tell at a glance what part of the lotus root the slices came from. He ate a piece of the slice with disdain and said, “Are these just little lotus root shit?”
The chef in the cafeteria has good cooking skills. The lotus root slices are fried to be fresh, crispy and tender, and are dotted with a little chili, which makes people's appetite just by looking at it.
Jiang Ning ate with gusto: "So many lotus root slices for only two taels of meal tickets."
If it wasn't cheap enough, there wouldn't be such a large quantity.
In Jiang Ning's opinion, as long as there is no problem with food hygiene, it doesn't matter which part of the lotus root you eat.
Grandpa Jiang only ate the lotus root slices, but he didn't touch a piece of it. He pushed it in front of Jiang Ning and pretended to be disgusted: "I don't eat this stuff, you can eat it."
Jiang Ning directly extended her rice bowl in front of Grandpa Jiang: "I have it too. The sisters who serve food in the cafeteria like me very much. They always serve me a lot of food."
Grandpa Jiang was happy when he heard this.
He thinks his granddaughter is perfect in every way and no one would dislike his own eldest granddaughter.
He thought of Jiang Ma, his smile faded, and he sighed secretly in his heart.
"You are growing up, you need to eat more meat to grow taller. Alas, you don't even have 200 grams of meat on your body." In his eyes, his granddaughter is always thin. After she went to college, she had obviously gained a lot of weight, but every time she came home, the grandfather would still say with heartache when he saw her: "You have lost weight, you have lost weight, are you not eating well?" Then he would take out the salted fish and pork that he usually didn't want to eat and steam them for Jiang Ning to eat.
He was reluctant to eat the longan and red dates that his children bought for him. He kept them for Jiang Ning to bring back to school, fearing that she would not eat well at school.
Those longan and brown sugar have become infested with worms, lumped together and changed their taste because they have been stored for too long.
Jiang Ning ordered two portions of braised pork in brown sauce just to prevent Grandpa Jiang from asking her to eat the meat. While eating, she said, "Too much meat, I feel sick of it. I can't eat any more. Grandpa, you eat it."
It was the first time that Grandpa Jiang heard someone say that one could get tired of eating meat. At the same time, he felt that people's lives were really getting better and better. He dared not even think that his granddaughter could say that she was tired of eating meat.
He did not refuse his granddaughter's kindness and picked up a few pieces to eat.
The cooking skills of the cafeteria chef are really good. The braised pork is fat but not greasy, and the sour fragrance of the snow vegetables is just right.
After eating a few pieces, Grandpa Jiang said he didn't want to eat anything. Seeing that Jiang Ning didn't want to eat either, Grandpa Jiang said helplessly: "Then take it back for your second brother to eat."
When Jiang Bai took the ceramic bowl filled with braised pork from Jiang Ning, he realized that Grandpa Jiang had actually arrived in Wucheng.
"What is Grandpa doing in Wucheng? Is he not patrolling the mountains anymore?"
They have followed Grandpa Jiang on mountain patrols since they were young and grew up in the mountains, so in Jiang Bai's established thinking, Grandpa Jiang has always been tied to mountain patrols. At this time, he has not considered that Grandpa Jiang is getting older and is no longer suitable for mountain patrol work.
Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai talked about the reason why Grandpa Jiang stopped patrolling the mountains. Jiang Bai had actually thought about this issue. He wanted to work and earn money as soon as possible so that his grandfather could retire earlier.
Unfortunately, after graduating from high school in his previous life, Jiang Bai went to work as an apprentice in an auto repair shop, hoping to learn a skill from a master. He worked for others for several years in vain, and his ears and hands were cracked from the cold in winter, but the master did not teach them real skills.
It was Jiang Bai himself who was interested in this area and had some understanding. Over time, even if the master did not teach him, he would occasionally see it and slowly figure it out on his own. Later, he became a master and started to get a salary. After working for a few more years and accumulating some funds, he finally opened his own auto repair shop.
Just like Jiang Ning, when he finally made it and Jiang Ning graduated from college, Grandpa Jiang was gone.
In the evening, Jiang Bai also came to Jiang Ning's shop.
Jiang Bai then realized that Jiang Ning actually opened a store here and bought so many clothes!
He turned around and looked at Jiang Ning in surprise: "Where did you get the money?"
Jiang Ning looked innocent: "Just... the royalties."
Grandpa Jiang had heard from Jiang Ning before that if her composition was published in a magazine, the magazine would pay her royalties, so he didn't think much of it when he heard their conversation.
Jiang Bai was shocked. Is the fee so high?
He asked her about the shop rent again, and Jiang Ning showed the rental contract to Jiang Bai.
The contract stated that the rental period was for three years, and the rent was 75 yuan a month. Seeing such a high rent, Jiang Bai's heart suddenly tightened. 75 yuan was equivalent to half a month's salary for many people nowadays.
He looked at the few clothes left in the store and found it hard to imagine whether selling these clothes would be enough to pay the rent. He also doubted whether Grandpa Jiang was willing to do business and sell things.
It really seems that Grandpa Jiang doesn't look like he is good at doing business.
Grandpa Jiang was very upset that his grandson looked down on his business and said, "What's so difficult about this? If someone comes to buy clothes, just sell them to them. I have sold more than 20 pieces today."
Grandpa Jiang proudly took out all the money from today's sales and handed it to Jiang Ning.
It was the first time that Jiang Bai saw so much money.
After hearing what Grandpa Jiang said, Jiang Bai, who had only sold loaches and eels, thought that he could only make one or two yuan for each piece of clothing. But when he thought that he could make more than 20 yuan by selling more than 20 pieces a day, he would make a monthly profit. Jiang Bai was shocked.
He looked at the street with some suspicion, as it was finally bustling with activity because school was over. Then he saw that Grandpa Jiang's shop door was half closed because it was time to go home from school.
Instead of opening the door when there are finally some people on the street, they close the door. But when there is no one on the street during the day, they open the door. Can clothes really be sold this way? Can you still sell more than twenty pieces a day? Why did he sound so unconvinced?
It's just a fairy tale, right?
Grandpa Jiang is still proud of himself for selling so many clothes in a day. With this money, he can earn enough money to pay for his granddaughter's high school tuition, as well as college tuition.
Well, there aren't many clothes left in the store.
He asked Jiang Ning with some concern: "Ningning, did the young man say when he would send some more clothes after he went back? Several people came to buy clothes today, but there are no sizes left." Otherwise, he could make a few more dollars.
When Jiang Bai heard the word "young man", alarm bells immediately rang in his heart. He turned to ask Jiang Ning: "What young man?"
Jiang Ning: "It's... the supplier of these clothes. Their garment factory closed down and couldn't pay the wages, so the factory used the clothes in the warehouse to pay the wages. He took so many clothes and wanted to sell them in Wucheng. He was unfamiliar with the place and couldn't speak the language. It just so happened that I had a shop but hadn't figured out what to sell, so I cooperated with him. I provided the shop and he provided the clothes. He made 70% and I made 30%. We sold clothes together. Now that the clothes have been sold out, he went back. The remaining profits are mine. When the clothes are sold out later, he will send them here."
"They have a lot of inventory in the factory, and the employees are selling it."
Jiang Bai wanted to find any loopholes, but he couldn't. Who could blame it on the fact that in this day and age, there are bankrupt factories and laid-off workers everywhere? It is very common in this era for factories to go bankrupt and be unable to pay wages, so people have to use clothes to pay for them.
Moreover, the clothes had already been sold in the store, and the money was in Jiang Ning's hands. If she said she was cheated, there was nothing to be cheated of. The money she had was enough to cover the rent of the store for half a year.
He added: "Tell me in detail about that young man."
"They have all gone back home, their homes are hundreds of kilometers away, and I don't know if we will ever see each other again. What can I say?"
Although the gossip about Jiang Ning taking GG was very popular, Jiang Bai was a senior high school student and basically studied in school except on Sundays. Even on Sundays, he was mostly studying. Few people would pay attention to the gossip outside. Therefore, Jiang Bai was completely unaware of the sensational gossip circulating in Wucheng.
Jiang Ning didn't want Jiang Bai to ask her further, and the evening self-study time was almost up, so she told Grandpa Jiang: "Grandpa, you should close the store at this time every day from now on. There aren't many clothes in the store, and they will probably be sold out in a few days. Just sell them casually, don't get too tired, I'll put the hot water here for you."
Grandpa Jiang didn't feel tired at all. He waved his hand and said, "I know, I know. You guys go read your books and study your lessons. I know everything."
Where can I sell clothes casually? That’s a lot of rent for a month!
Grandpa Jiang was thinking about whether he could take the clothes back to Shuibu Town to sell them.
Shuibu Town is an ancient town with a long history. It has convenient water and land transportation and is connected to the neighboring city of Wucheng. There are factories such as Tanshan and Cement Factory in the middle. Every time there is a market, people from all over the country gather in Shuibu Town. Shuibu Town is so crowded that people are crowded together and the flow of people is extremely large.
The clothes in my granddaughter's shop are sold cheaply. If they are taken to the market in Shuibu Town and sold, they can not only provide cheap and good clothes to the people in their town, but also avoid paying rent and still be able to sell the clothes.
Given how busy their market is, these clothes would probably be sold out in just one morning.
He looked at the many out-of-stock sizes of clothes in the store with some melancholy. The clothes were good, but there were just not enough of them.
In Grandpa Jiang's simple thinking, all small stalls that do not require rent are his first choice. What he has experienced since he was a child are all markets and temple fairs. People in the towns and villages below are also used to selling things at temple fairs and markets.
The rent of seventy-five yuan a month is almost as much as his monthly salary as a mountain patroller.
In the next few days, Grandpa Jiang's shop sold at least twenty pieces every day, and sometimes even sold thirty or forty orders a day, including shoes.
Uncle Wang Yong's clothes were mailed on Sunday. According to the speed of post at that time, Jiang Ning estimated that it would arrive in a week. She was not in a hurry these days. She attended classes as usual at school during the day and continued to attend competition classes at night. She brought water and food to Grandpa Jiang on time after school. On Saturday, she went to the Internet cafe to write. After sending out the 15,000 words she had written, she went to the post office to check the mail.
The mail from Uncle Wang Yong finally arrived.
Just looking at the portion, Jiang Ning was really shocked.
Jiang Ning was very suspicious whether Uncle Wang Yong had sent her all the accumulated inventory in his factory last year.
She actually guessed it right. There were not only winter clothes that were piled up last year, but also spring and summer clothes.
Some of the fabrics had been piled up for a long time and had turned a little yellow. Uncle Wang Yong charged her by weight. If the price was really calculated for each piece, the price was incredibly low, but the materials of the clothes were all good quality.
Grandpa Jiang still wanted to pull his cart to get the stuff, but according to Jiang Ning's idea, it would be much easier to call a tricycle and pull it back with one cart.
But the packages were really big and there were too many of them. The tricycles at that time were too small to pull them all back. Now she was the only one at the door of the post office. She could only leave the packages temporarily in the post office and said she would go back and call someone for help. The people in the post office told her to hurry up because they would close at five o'clock and there would be no one in the post office after five o'clock.
Since there weren't many clothes left in the store, Jiang Ning didn't play the recorded GG today.
When Grandpa Jiang heard Jiang Ning say that Wang Yong's package had arrived, he wanted to pull a cart to get it back himself, but Jiang Ning quickly stopped him: "You still think you are a young man in your twenties! If you had the time, how many pieces of clothing would you have sold in the store to save these two dollars?"
Grandpa Jiang was reluctant to spend the money, so he said, "Ask your second brother to pull it! We have a cart at home, why waste that money?"
Jiang Bai has classes on Saturdays and finishes school at 4pm.
As soon as school was over, Jiang Bai immediately left the school and went to Jiang Ning's shop to find Jiang Ning. When he heard that the clothes sent from the garment factory had arrived, he had the same idea as Grandpa Jiang, and he used a cart to pull them.
Seeing that he insisted, Jiang Ning thought that a boy of his age really had a lot of energy and strength that he had nowhere to release, so she let him go.
When he arrived at the post office and looked at the several huge packages, Jiang Bai was very doubtful. How could he sell all these clothes?
Because there were too many, one cart couldn't carry them all, so he divided them into two trips.
When he finally completed the first trip to the store, he saw his sister, who was supposed to stay at the post office waiting for him to make the second trip, already in the store with her packages, unpacking bags and hanging clothes.
The post office was not close to the shop, and Jiang Bai was very tired. He sat on the recliner that Jiang Ning bought for Grandpa Jiang, drank a glass of water, and rested for a while before getting up to unload several large bags of goods from the cart and piled them behind the curtain of the shop.
The owner of the egg cake shop next door saw that the shop next door was almost sold out and brought back so many packages. He asked Grandpa Jiang who was sitting at the door: "Grandpa, are you getting more stock?"
Grandpa Jiang smiled and said, "Yes, Boss Wang went back after selling out the goods. He knew that the store was running out of stock, so he sent some more."
Grandpa Jiang himself firmly believed that Wang Yong was from Jiangnan Garment Factory. When he saw his grandchildren bringing back so many goods, he was afraid that they would not be able to sell them all in Wucheng, so he couldn't help but look in the direction of his hometown.
The egg cake owner smiled and asked him, "What are you looking at, old man?"
Grandpa Jiang said with a smile: "My granddaughter's clothes are sold at a low price. I am thinking of taking them back to Shuibu Town to sell them so that the children in the countryside can also have new clothes to wear during the New Year."
This is his true inner thought.
When the hostess of the egg cake shop heard that the old man wanted to bring cheap clothes to their town to sell and provide welfare for the country children in their town, she immediately washed her hands and went to Grandpa Jiang's shop. She watched Jiang Ning and Jiang Bai sort out the clothes and picked out several pieces herself: "Little sister, I want these pieces. Please tell me the price."
Jiang Ning took a quick look and then revealed the prices. Just like before, the coat was thirty-nine and the sweater and pants were twenty-nine.
The owner of the egg cake shop took four pieces at once, a red cotton-padded jacket for herself, a dark blue down jacket for the shop owner, and one each for her two children.
The egg cake owner felt sorry for his wife when he saw her buying so much at once: "Why did you buy so much at once?"
The owner of the egg cake shop said, "Didn't you hear that old man say that he wanted to take the clothes back to his own town to sell? You know the clothes in those clothing stores in the center of the street are so expensive. If you buy one there, you can buy two here. I have to buy a few more while there are still some in the store."
Because she lived nearby, she went back and told her familiar neighbors. The neighbors had all come to buy clothes before, and when they heard that new clothes had arrived, they wanted to take them back to Shuibu Town to sell them. They hurried downstairs to check, but found that the shop was closed.
Jiang Bai was very puzzled as to why his sister closed the shop so early.
My sister really doesn't know how to do business. She didn't take advantage of the fact that there were still some people on the street on Saturday to sell the clothes quickly, but closed the shop at this time?
But this shop was not his after all, and with so many goods just arriving, it would take time to sort them out. Jiang Bai swallowed his words silently, thinking that neither his grandfather nor his sister knew how to do business, so he would have to come and help his sister tomorrow morning.
Otherwise, with so many clothes, it is estimated that they would not be sold out even before the Chinese New Year.
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