Chapter 159
With resentment towards the supply and marketing cooperative, Amu set up a stall at the end of the street where he had hidden to avoid the supply and marketing cooperative's pursuit and could not run away. It's not that no one had come to collect his goods, Amu simply followed the collectors, wherever they went, he followed them, because that was all his property, and if they took it away, he would have no food to eat, so he could only follow them to eat.
If Amu had dared to do this two years ago, the Red Squad would have dealt with him. But now the Red Squad has long since disappeared, and the person in charge of him is just a street office clerk, who makes a lot of trouble every day and can't stand Amu's pestering, so he finally returned the goods to Amu.
After getting his things back, Amu decided to go to this street because his first sale was made at the end of this street, so he returned to this street to set up a stall. The street office knew that he was difficult to deal with, so they simply turned a blind eye to him. Gradually, Amu's stall business became better and better, and his family's life also improved.
The villagers found out about Amu's way to make money and followed suit. When the street manager took away their goods, they naturally asked Amu, who led them out of the village, for help. Amu did the same thing and got the goods back for them. Naturally, those people were grateful to Amu and gave him face.
Amu was inspired by Xia Juhua's initiative to increase his fares, so he did not go against the street, but took the initiative to pay management fees to the street. At first, the street did not dare to collect it, so Amu collected it from the stall owners every day and kept a record for the street.
Once, an elderly widower in the street's jurisdiction fell ill, and the street could not afford the money for the old man's medical treatment. Amu showed up with the management fees he had saved and solved the problem for the street. The street then realized that although the management fee of 20 cents per stall per day did not sound like much, it would be quite a lot if collected over a long period of time.
Therefore, it was legitimate for Amu and his friends to set up stalls on this street - the street believed that they collected management fees, which was equivalent to providing Amu and his friends with a small market, even if the market was set up on the street, because they collected management fees, it was under the leadership of the street. And because most of the people who came to sell things were farmers, and they sold seafood that they caught themselves, it was the same as the big market in the countryside, so of course they could continue to sell.
Gradually, this street became famous. The things sold here were not only seafood, but also many people with extensive connections who brought goods from the port from somewhere and sold them here.
Amu was not polite in collecting management fees from such people, charging two yuan for every two cents a farmer paid, and those people actually paid it obediently - they could set up stalls openly on this street without having to hide from people like a rat crossing the street.
The street had generated revenue and was very polite to Amu, which helped Amu's position in the market rise. Now, anyone with a long stall had to be polite to him so that they could safely intercept Xia Juhua and the other two from other stalls.
Xia Juhua and the other two listened to Amu's story as if it were a legend. They all felt that Amu was extremely courageous, as he had actually managed to drive an entire street market.
Surprised as she was, Xia Juhua confirmed the price with Amu again. It was indeed as Qi Weidong said. Amu's price was nearly one-third cheaper than that in the supply and marketing cooperative. Take dried shrimps for example.
"Can you still make money at this price?" Xia Juhua, who always bargains with others, is now worried about Amu.
Amu waved his hand nonchalantly: "We are friends. I don't make money from you."
Xia Juhua was very moved after hearing this. Last time, she felt that Amu's hard work was worth more than fifty cents. She didn't expect that her momentary kindness would get such a great reward today.
She said to Amu sincerely: "I need a large quantity. If you don't make money, isn't it a waste of time? This won't work. If you are like this, I don't want your goods anymore."
"You need a large quantity, so how much do you want? More than 100 kilograms like last time? It's only more than 100 kilograms. We can harvest it ourselves. I'll still sell it to you for 3.5 yuan." Amu insisted that he didn't want to make money from Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua counted the money she brought with her and said, "I need a thousand kilograms."
If he needs 1,000 kilograms, Amu will be in a dilemma - he now sets up a stall every day and needs to purchase goods from others, and sometimes the purchase price is more than three dollars and fifty cents.
Unexpectedly, Xia Juhua continued, "Not only dried shrimps, I also need 1,000 kilograms of kelp and laver. Just sell some to me at a lower price, and don't try to make a profit. I want to buy your goods because I believe you can guarantee the quality, and I don't trust anyone else."
Seeing that Amu was still going to refuse, Xia Juhua said to him bluntly: "To be honest with you, our brigade has opened an instant noodle factory, and we need some seafood seasonings. This time I bought seafood to test the proportion of the seasonings. When we everyone really start, these seafood will not take working long. Then you will have to supply us for a long time. You have a big family to support, and if you don't make any money, in your family will starve to death? You still have to make money, just don't make too much."
At the end, Xia Juhua made an intentional joke. Before Amu could react, Qi Weidong became anxious: "Auntie, didn't we agree to purchase the goods and sell them ourselves? Why are you purchasing goods for the instant noodle factory now?" The instant noodle factory hasn't been built yet, why are they in such a hurry to purchase goods?
Xia Juhua understood Qi Weidong's desire to make money, but what she cared more about was the variety of flavors when instant noodles were produced in large quantities to supply the troops. Anyone who has eaten instant noodles knows that it smells good and tastes good at first, but when you eat too much, you will always get annoyed and have to prepare a few more flavors to season it.
In the future, instant noodles are likely to go to the battlefield with the soldiers. In her opinion, temporary benefits are not as important as ensuring that the soldiers have good food.
But not many people knew about this situation, and now was not the time to talk about it openly.
Liu Xi and Amu were very moved, and they looked at Xia Juhua with admiration. Amu gritted his teeth and said to Xia Juhua, "If you say that, I will sell you the dried shrimps for four yuan per pound, and I will make fifty cents per pound. Don't think I make too little, sometimes I can make three yuan. The kelp is ten cents per pound, and the seaweed is five cents per pound. It can't be higher."
Who is the buyer and who is the seller? Xia Juhua looked at Amu in surprise, who looked determined, and was speechless for a long time.
Qi Weidong finally found his voice and asked Amu: "If I want to buy from you, will it be the same price as my aunt?"
He thought about it. Although industrial products can make more money, they are not easy to carry. It would be more convenient for him to buy the same things as Xia Juhua and check them together. If he really likes industrial products, he will bring Li Lin with him next time so that they can have help when moving things.
Amu had no objection to Qi Weidong's desire to take advantage of the situation, and he readily told Xia Juhua that if she needed seafood next time, she didn't have to come to Guangzhou in person, but could just send him a telegram.
Xia Juhua was a little worried that if the quantity was too large, it would be difficult for Amu to arrange the supply, but Amu told her that the villagers now had more money and were more willing to do the lucrative Hong Kong goods business. It was easy for him to collect the seafood - there were not many people selling seafood on this street, otherwise the stall owner would not have been so angry because of his obstruction.
Not because they are afraid that the goods will fall into their hands, but people setting up stalls on the street generally don't dare to yell at Amu - now he not only collects management fees, but also has the right to allocate stalls.
After hearing Amu say that he had the right to allocate stalls, and then looking at his stall at the end of the street, it was not difficult to understand why he was so excited when he heard Xia Juhua's words about caring for the members of Ping'an Village.
Xia Juhua introduced Qi Weidong and Liu Xi to Amu, and told him that after returning to the team, he might not be able to take care of the sale of seafood, and these two people would contact Amu in the future.
Although Amu said that it was easy for him to receive the goods, it would take more than one day to receive all the goods Qi Weidong wanted. Xia Juhua exchanged addresses with Amu, gave him the phone number of the Ping'an Village Brigade, and took Qi Weidong and the others to see the fresh things on the street.
After waiting for two days, Amu found Xia Juhua at the guesthouse and told her that he had collected all the goods. He asked Xia Juhua when she would come to check the goods.
Now that the goods were ready, she naturally had to go and take a look. It wasn't that she didn't trust Amu, but the rules of doing business couldn't be broken. After checking the goods, weighing them, and settling the bill, Xia Juhua only had more than 300 yuan left of the more than 5,000 yuan she brought.
Fortunately, there was enough money for the return trip, so Xia Juhua called the number left by Director Yang and told the person that she wanted to buy a ticket back to Chengping District tomorrow, and then asked someone to help her see if the things she bought in Yangcheng could be shipped back with the car.
Thanks to Director Yang's phone number, otherwise the train would not agree to transport the thousands of kilograms of goods. With the help of the supply and marketing cooperative leader, the formalities were handled smoothly, and Xia Juhua didn't even have to pay for the shipping fee.
Not only the shipping fee, but also the sleeper berth tickets for Xia Juhua and other two people, the leaders of the Yangcheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative refused to charge for them, stating that Director Yang had already made arrangements before they left that Xia Juhua and her group would be considered on a business trip for the ministry, and that the ministry would reimburse their tickets.
Even if Xia Juhua insisted on giving the money to the other person, he refused with a smile on his face. Although his smile was very friendly, his attitude was very firm, that is, he would not accept the money. Xia Juhua had no choice but to give up.
This time, Director Yang's instructions went beyond that. As soon as they got on the train, the conductor came to the compartment of Xia Juhua and the other two and asked them if they needed anything and whether they wanted their hard sleeper to be converted into a soft sleeper.
Xia Juhua quickly rejected the conductor's kindness and wanted to give him the special products she bought, but was also rejected by the conductor with a smile. The conductor was very attentive along the way. When getting off the train, Xia Juhua and the other two didn't know how to thank him.
Because Liu Zhishuang had called in advance, he came to pick her up with a semitrailer from the regional supply and marketing cooperative. It would take two full hours to pick up the consigned sea goods, so Liu Zhishuang suggested that Xia Juhua go home and rest for a while.
Xia Juhua had been gone for seven or eight days, wondering if the road had been repaired. She was already eager to go home, so she had no mood to go home with him. She casually found the clothes and toys she had bought for An An in Yangcheng, packed another bag for Liu Zhishuang to take home, and then sat at the station with Qi Weidong waiting.
Liu Zhishuang had never been able to object to his mother's decisions, so after much persuasion, he finally got his mother to agree. They went to the state-owned hotel in front of the station and ordered a bowl of noodles. The few of them ate while waiting.
"I think the noodles at home are still delicious." Liu Xi swallowed the last mouthful of noodles with satisfaction and said to Xia Juhua with emotion: "Although there are many kinds of snacks in Guangzhou, I always feel that they are all too small and I can never be full no matter how much I eat."
Liu Zhishuang's eyes lit up when he heard this: "What snacks are there? Tell me about them."
Liu Xi counted the snacks in Yangcheng on her fingers, and Liu Zhishuang almost drooled when she heard it: "Mom, next time you go to Yangcheng, you must take me with you."
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "Liu Xi went to carry things for me. If you follow me, I will have to worry about you."
"I'm two years older than Liuxi. You don't need to worry about him, so why should you worry about me?" Liu Zhishuang was so unconvinced that he wanted to pull Liuxi to stand up and compare with him, so that his mother would agree to take him with her next time.
Liu Xi comforted him: "Just wait, if I go to Yangcheng next time, I will take you with me."
Liu Zhishuang didn't believe him, thinking that Liuxi had this opportunity only because his two brothers left home, otherwise one of them would have gone with them. However, he didn't know that Xia Juhua had already given Liuxi the task of connecting with Amu, and he would have many opportunities to go back and forth to Yangcheng in the future.
When the goods were ready to be picked up and loaded into the car, Liu Zhishuang reluctantly said to his mother, "Mom, don't worry about us. We will go back to be with you during the Chinese New Year."
As the car got closer to Pingde County, Liu Xi suddenly asked Xia Juhua a question: "Sister-in-law, do you think the road in our brigade has been repaired?"
Calculating the time, it should be about time. But Xia Juhua had been away for a few days and had not bothered to call the brigade. She was unsure and naturally could not answer his question.
After arriving at the county town, Qi Weidong unloaded his things first. He asked Xia Juhua, "Auntie, why don't you leave some with me?" If they were left with him, they could be sold on the black market together, and all the money earned would belong to Xia Juhua. If they were transported back to Ping'an Village by car, they would become the property of the Ping'an Village Brigade.
Xia Juhua said without hesitation: "Don't keep them, just ship them all back. If the factory is built quickly, these things won't take long." Before mass production, she still had to test out the proportions of the seasonings, because she really needed these seafood.
Qi Weidong already knew her temper, so he didn't try to persuade her. He let Li Lin and the others carry the things into the house, and he followed Xia Juhua and the others to Ping'an Village. Even after they were far away from the county town, the car was still moving steadily forward, without any of the bumps that they had experienced on the morning of departure. Xia Juhua rolled down the window and stuck her head out to look at the road.
It was already completely dark, and it was pitch black all around. How could one see clearly? Qi Weidong said to Xia Juhua with a smile: "Auntie, why don't you just look forward? The car lights ahead are shining brightly."
Yes, I was really confused. Looking forward and looking under the car were the same. Xia Juhua looked greedily at the road surface clearly illuminated by the headlights.
Under the illumination of the car lights, the road surface is like being covered with a layer of bright yellow coat, stretching straight into the distance. The occasional flashes of light merge with the car lights and are quickly thrown far away, decorating the lonely night.
The last few times I walked back to Ping'an Village at night, I couldn't see so many lights. Xia Juhua said with some emotion: "Now more and more families have electric lights."
Liu Xi replied proudly: "That's not as good as our Ping An Village. Now every house has a light bulb in front of the main house, so it's not dark at all when walking on the street."
Speaking of lighting the light bulb in front of every household's main room, it was Sun Zhaodi who came up with the idea when she was worried about Xia Juhua. Unexpectedly, it led to the trend of the entire Ping'an Village. If the light bulb in front of someone's main room is not lit at night, the neighbors will definitely knock on the door to see if something has happened at home.
After listening to Liu Xi's introduction, Qi Weidong couldn't help but sigh at the great changes in Ping An Zhuang. He thought back to the first time he came to Ping An Zhuang, Liu Zhiquan was trembling with fear when selling vermicelli, while the entire production team was as happy as if it were New Year's Day just to earn two kilograms of sweet potatoes for every kilogram of sweet potato vermicelli.
Nowadays, every family has some spare money to light up unnecessary lights in front of the main house. How long did it take?
The one who brought about this change was Xia Juhua, who was sitting in the car with him and staring at the asphalt road in front of the headlights. Qi Weidong did not express his feelings out loud, fearing that he would interrupt Xia Juhua's train of thought - he knew that the significance of this road to Ping'an Village was no less than that of pulling electricity.
If the electricity supply has brought convenience to the production and life of Pingan Village, this road has brought greater hope to Pingan Village. This hope was also created by Xia Juhua and the people of Pingan Village.
However, the people who participated in the creation became the entire Ping'anzhuang team, and accordingly, the burden on Xia Juhua's shoulders became heavier.
"Hey, driver, turn right, turn right quickly." Seeing that the driver was about to pass the brigade headquarters, Liu Xi hurriedly reminded him and also woke up Xia Juhua who was lost in thought.
"Are we there yet?" Xia Juhua asked when she saw the driver slow down and park the car in front of the brigade headquarters.
Liu Xi said hurriedly, "Sister-in-law, I heard you say that these seafood were bought for the instant noodle factory. Then why don't we unload them directly at the brigade headquarters to save the trouble of transporting them from home?"
Xia Juhua asked the driver to restart the car and told Liu Xi, "Let's put it at home first. I still need to study the proportions of the ingredients. Besides, the factory is nowhere to be found. If we unload it at the brigade headquarters, there will be no one to manage it. What if it goes bad?"
That's exactly what happened. Liu Xi shook his head in embarrassment and said, "I forgot about that."
As we were talking, the car arrived at Ping'an Village. As expected, there were still many lights in front of the main houses of the houses still on, dividing the night sky of the village into pieces. It was much more lively than the other villages we passed by.
The driver listened all the way, and only after seeing the actual situation did he say, "Auntie, your production team is having a really good time."
Xia Juhua was still modest: "We only rely on having an extra weaving group compared to other production teams, otherwise we wouldn't be able to generate electricity."
The asphalt roads I drove along told me that the situation was not what Xia Juhua said: Can such a good road be built in the countryside with just a weaving group? Not to mention where the money comes from, there is nowhere to buy the materials.
He decided that after returning to the region, he must have a good relationship with Liu Zhishuang. With his mother's ability, Liu Zhishuang would not be wrong in the future.
Sun Zhaodi, who had been helping Xia Juhua look after the house, came out when she heard the noise of the car. When she saw Xia Juhua and Liu Xi coming back, she turned around happily and called out to Chen Dongsheng, "Come out quickly, the captain is back."
Chen Dongsheng was not the only one who came out. Shuanzhu and Liuzhu ran much faster than Chen Dongsheng. While calling for auntie, they had already climbed onto the carriage and unloaded things with swift hands and feet, which scared the driver.
Seeing that Xia Juhua didn't take it seriously, the driver got out of the car with confidence. He wanted to help move the things, but Xia Juhua pulled him into the yard: "Come in quickly, you don't have to get involved, they can unload it right away."
Sun Zhaodi had also followed in, took two quick steps to open the main room, and pulled the light cord on the wall, and the yard suddenly became bright. The driver immediately saw that the light in front of Liu Zhishuang's house was at least 60 watts.
He was just thinking about how much money Liu Zhishuang's mother could earn in a year, which is why she turned on a 60-watt light in the yard. The woman who had just greeted Xia Juhua had already poured him a glass of brown sugar water and asked him to sit down and have a rest with a smile.
The driver was even more puzzled by her ease at Xia Juhua's house, and then he heard Xia Juhua introduce him: "This is Zhishuang's mother-in-law. We live next door. She helps me look after the house when I'm away. This water must have been freshly boiled by her today, not left overnight."
Sun Zhaodi could tell that the driver must be familiar with Liu Zhishuang, so she smiled at him again, "You must be tired. Wait a minute. I'll go cook for you guys."
Xia Juhua looked at the clock and saw that it was almost nine o'clock. She said hurriedly, "Don't bother. Just make us a bowl of hot and sour noodles. It's a good opportunity for Xiao Wang to try the food in Ping'an Village."
Xiao Wang was the driver. When Xia Juhua told him to eat Ping An Zhuang food, he agreed, "Yes, Xiao Qi kept talking about hot and sour noodles all the way. I'm craving for it."
As expected of an experienced driver, he became familiar with Qi Weidong so quickly. Xia Juhua thought this was something Liu Xi should learn more from.
Liu Xi, who didn't know he had been assigned a task, came into the house more than half an hour later and told Xia Juhua that all the things had been moved into the warehouse and he had to go home.
Xia Juhua asked him to finish eating with her before going home, but he didn't listen: "Sister-in-law, I have to go back quickly, otherwise my grandfather will know I'm back and will come looking for me soon."
Before he could finish his words, Liu Daxi had already followed Master Wu into the house. Xia Juhua quickly put down her bowl and stood up: "Master Wu, why aren't you asleep yet so late?"
Fifth Master sat on the edge of the kang and said, "Eat your food. I figured you would be home in half a day, so I thought I'd wait a while."
Liu Xi also came forward to greet Grandpa. Grandpa Wu looked at his grandson, who had changed significantly, and nodded with satisfaction: "You have learned a lot from going out with your sister-in-law, right?"
Liu Xi just smiled and nodded, and Wu Ye patted him and said, "You can eat too."
After Liu Xi picked up the bowl, Wu Ye asked Xia Juhua, "Did you take our way back? How was it?"
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