Chapter 76 The sisters-in-law’s little plot

"Juanjuan, you haven't finished the two bags of milk powder you bought last time...how can this be embarrassing?" Zhou Qiuhe wanted to refuse.

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Anyway, I won't listen to anything you say. If you can get your Dongbao to say no, I'll take it back."

This sentence made Zhou Qiuhe laugh.

Dongbao is only seven months old and can’t even call mom yet, so how could he say no?

She held Xia Juanjuan's hand gratefully: "Juanjuan, thank you so much!"

"What are you thanking me for? When I wasn't home, weren't you the one who took care of Xiaowen and the others? And every few days, Third Brother would fetch me a jar of water without saying a word. Didn't I thank you for that?"

Xia Juanjuan said, and then asked calmly: "Third sister-in-law, I just heard you doing some calculations, and you didn't use any paper or pen to calculate. You have studied arithmetic, right?"

Zhou Qiuhe's expression froze, and then she raised her hand to rub her hair nervously, and said softly: "Ah... I learned some from my father when I was a child. My father was a landowner before the founding of the People's Republic of China... He was the accountant of a wealthy family..."

Xia Juanjuan understood and thought it was no wonder.

But this is easy to deal with.

Xia Juanjuan said with a smile: "Third sister-in-law, if you dare to plan to learn to read in front of others, I just know a way that can allow you to earn 7 work points every day during the winter when you are idle, and you can also get extra money."

As far as Xia Juanjuan knew, Zhou Qiuhe had always been seen by outsiders as an honest, uneducated village woman, and it was obvious that she had deliberately concealed the fact that she had received education. As for the reason, it was self-evident.

If she didn't dare, Xia Juanjuan wouldn't plan to continue.

Zhou Qiuhe was stunned for a moment, her eyes shrank instinctively, but then she couldn't help being moved.

The land that can be harvested during drought can earn 7 work points every day. In a month with 30 days, that is 210 work points!

During the busy farming season, a woman can usually earn a full eight work points a day, and during the idle farming season she can only get six to seven.

Moreover, Dongbao is only a few months old now. No matter how hard she works, she still has to take time to take care of the child. When doing farm work to earn work points, this will be deducted points. In the end, it is good enough to get 4 work points a day!

How could she not be tempted?

Zhou Qiuhe swallowed her saliva and finally asked in a trembling voice: "Juanjuan, you...you tell me, what is the method? As long as it is not illegal and as long as I can really earn enough work points, I...I dare to do it!"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's definitely not illegal. Wouldn't that be harmful to you?"

As he spoke, he told Zhou Qiuhe about the salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative in the town.

However, she did not mention the salary increase or the possibility of becoming a regular employee in the future.

These should all be obtained by Director Zheng specifically for her, and it is not certain whether he can guarantee to give them to others.

She had made up her mind to refuse, and had no right to recommend Zhou Qiuhe on behalf of Director Zheng.

But seeing that Director Zheng hired her simply because she is good at arithmetic and has a good memory, then Zhou Qiuhe can only be better than her, not worse!

After all, Zhou Qiuhe not only knows how to read and do arithmetic, but she can also use an abacus! Her business ability is amazing!

Therefore, Xia Juanjuan planned to take the liberty to recommend Zhou Qiuhe to Director Zheng next year.

Zhou Qiuhe was a little skeptical: "Will Director Zheng agree? Wasn't it Song Xiuyue who did it before? Does this still require recommendations from the village? So many young girls and wives are eyeing it, how can it be my turn?"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Why do you think Director Zheng mentioned this to me directly? Isn't it because the people recommended by the surrounding communes are not very good? Don't worry, if you don't have the ability to do this job, I wouldn't mention it. If there are other people who want to grab it, at worst, let them compete with you to see who is better at keeping accounts and using abacus beads! Even I will lose to you!"

Zhou Qiuhe gained some confidence after hearing this, and nodded solemnly, saying, "Juanjuan, you have a lot of ideas, tell me, what should I do?"

How to do it?

You definitely can't rashly run up to Director Zheng and arrogantly ask him to change the candidate.

Xia Juanjuan thought about it, told Zhou Qiuhe about her plan, and then went home.

Soon it was the day that Director Zheng and Xia Juanjuan had agreed to go to the county to purchase goods.

Xia Juanjuan arrived at the town early in the morning with the introduction letter from the commune. Just like last time, she took a bus with other employees from the state-owned store.

On the way, they happened to "meet" Zhou Qiuhe who was going to the county to visit relatives. At Xia Juanjuan's request, Director Zheng agreed to let Zhou Qiuhe take a ride.

When they arrived at the county seat, Zhou Qiuhe asked to help unload or count the goods. Because of Xia Juanjuan's guarantee, Director Zheng reluctantly agreed.

Xia Juanjuan helped Director Zheng do the calculations, and he did it mentally every time. At the county supply point, the accountant was still calculating the numbers, and Director Zheng read out the results in one breath while he was still doing calculations with his pen.

Even Zhou Qiuhe, who had not abandoned the mental arithmetic skills she learned from her deceased father over the years, secretly admired him.

"In this stall, the wholesale price of ten meters of Dacron is 4.24 yuan per meter, ten meters of thick twill cotton cloth is 7 yuan per meter, ten meters of linen is 2.4 yuan per meter, and five catties of wool yarn is twelve yuan per catty. The total is... 196, no, it's 197.4!"

Xia Juanjuan said as she counted the goods.

Director Zheng had given up the struggle and directly recorded the number Xia Juanjuan said in the account book.

The accountant at the supply point was still doing calculations with his fingers. His pride did not allow him to give up, but he had not calculated it yet.

At this time, Zhou Qiuhe, who was standing by, suddenly straightened up and said with a trembling voice: "The amount just now seems to have been calculated... wrong! It should not be 197.4 yuan, but 196.4 yuan!"

Xia Juanjuan curled her lips and smiled. Director Zheng and the accountant at the supply point looked up at Zhou Qiuhe in unison, with surprise in their eyes.

Zhou Qiuhe shuddered a little. She had rarely experienced such a situation, so she acted very unconfident.

The air was somewhat quiet. At this moment, the accountant's fingers instinctively moved on the last bead on the abacus.

With a "pop" sound, it cuts through the air crisply.

The accountant looked down at the number displayed on the abacus, and then said in shock: "It's... it's 196.40 yuan. It's a mistake of one yuan."

Director Zheng looked at Xia Juanjuan, then at Zhou Qiuhe. If she still didn't understand what was going on at this moment, then she would have lived in vain for more than 30 years!