Chapter 116: Halogen

This type of shed built with oiled felt was particularly common in the 1980s and 1990s when illegal construction was not a serious problem.

Especially with the acceleration of urbanization, more and more farmers have gone to cities to work, and housing cannot meet the needs of many people. Many people have set their sights on building huts in nooks and crannies to increase housing area.

The advantages of this kind of felt shed are obvious: it is easy to build and inexpensive. The disadvantages are also obvious: it is low, dark and damp, hot in summer and cold in winter. But for those who are in urgent need of a home, these are not a problem.

According to Huang Hongyi's idea, he originally wanted to build a lower shed. It was Huang Xinran's repeated insistence that he added three more layers of bricks. As a result, bricks and cement were not enough, so he went back and forth to buy bricks and cement again. The construction period was also extended by one day, which made him complain repeatedly.

Fortunately, Huang Xinran's persistence was necessary.

At least, the shed is not as short as it was originally, and it is not as hot as you live in it.

The thing that Huang Xinran was most dissatisfied with was probably the fact that the house had no windows. Instead, Huang Hongyi left cross-shaped brick holes when he was building the walls to allow air and light to pass through.

Even so, the brick shed is unique among the surrounding areas.

Fortunately, Huang Xinran remembered the warning of shooting the first bird out of the water, and kept the height of the house firmly under the original store height.

As the days went by, after Huang Hongyi finished building the house, Huang Xinran also expressed his thoughts on running the store for two days.

"Brother, I looked around carefully and felt that if we continue to stick to the old ways, we will probably make a lot of money. At least, it is difficult to make a lot of money just by making clothes."

It's no wonder that Huang Xinran suddenly had such a feeling. The tailor shop was indeed the largest source of customers. After the holiday of No. 3 Middle School, not many people came to patronize it. Even the previously stable cigarette business was affected.

The only thing that made Huang Xinran feel fortunate was that there were two old residential areas nearby that had to pass through this road.

Otherwise, business during the school summer vacation will probably be even worse.

"Sister, what do you think?"

Huang Hongyi was also worried.

With so many mouths waiting to be fed and the shop having no business, he was more worried than anyone else.

"We can also do some other small business. For example, sell some snacks or something."

Huang Xinran's words immediately aroused the two of them: "Sister, tell me what we should do. Just arrange it."

"It's very simple. We sell snacks and braised skewers. Our main target customers are primary school students. We string kelp, potatoes, tofu skin, etc. together, brine them, and sell them to primary school students. We sell them for 5 cents a skewer..."

This small business may seem small. All they have to do is brine the skewers at home and sell them near the school gate before the elementary school students get out of school.

The main buyers of skewers are primary school students. At the price of one cent per skewer, many students can afford it.

Of course, before the elementary school students start school, you can also take the brine skewers to the open-air cinema to sell them. After all, they are already brine-prepared, so it is easy to just carry them over and sell them.

When this method of making money was mentioned, everyone in the Huang family was really excited.

After they discussed it, the more they thought about it, the more they felt that this method was feasible: "As long as Hongyi and Ranran are busy in the tailor shop, I can do this. When I have free time, I can also help you with some work. And I can also earn extra income. This is good, this is good!" Liu Zhaodi praised repeatedly.

"Mom, don't count me in."

Huang Xinran quickly expressed his opinion, "I am waiting for news from Yun Chen. If he sends a telegram, I will have to take the children to follow the army. If I leave, how can you handle the work? It is better to call my sister-in-law or dad over while it is still early. With their help, it will be easier to do business."

"I'm not thinking of calling them after I get my business started."

Liu Zhaodi said sheepishly, "What if the skewers business is not good? They will have to spend a lot of money to come to the city, right? Haha..."

"That's fine."

Huang Xinran thought about it and agreed: "Then while I'm here, try making skewers. If the business is good, arrange for someone to take over as soon as possible."

After all, they are her parents and elder brother, so it’s okay for her to lend a hand.

After everyone had made the plan, Huang Xinran went out to buy seasonings and ingredients.

In addition to the potatoes, kelp, tofu cakes and tofu strips that were agreed upon at the beginning, Huang Xinran also bought pork intestines and pork lungs, and of course did not forget to buy pork and beef brisket.

Liu Zhaodi's eyelids twitched when she saw this: "Ranran, didn't you say 5 cents a skewer? This meat is not cheap, I'm afraid it will be a huge loss."

"Mom, these vegetarian dishes like tofu fruit are 5 cents a string, meat is 1.5 cents for two strings, and beef brisket is 1 cent a string. The cost is high, so they are naturally more expensive. You will know when they are ready, it is not a loss!"

"Okay, Mom will listen to you."

Although she still had doubts, Liu Zhaodi did not try to stop it.

Anyway, we are just trying it now. If we really don’t make any money, at worst we can just feed our family.

After buying the ingredients and bringing them home, Huang Xinran started making halogen dishes that afternoon.

Cut the kelp into small squares, cut the meat into pieces and skewer them with bamboo sticks, blanch the washed pig intestines, pig lungs, beef brisket, etc., remove the foam, and then stew them until cooked.

Afterwards, add the brine and pour all the brine skewers into the mixture and simmer over low heat.

"I counted the number of skewers. There are about 1,000 skewers in this pot. After deducting the cost of the ingredients I bought today, if I can sell all of these skewers, I can make a net profit of about 30 to 40 yuan just from this pot of halved vegetables. Of course, this is assuming that all of this pot of halved vegetables is sold out."

In reality, the accounts are not calculated in this way.

There is always some loss in brine, brine can be reused, and seasonings such as salt, oil, and chili pepper are not easy to calculate. In the end, the net profit is definitely around 35 yuan.

In fact, Huang Xinran still calculated based on low cost. Generally speaking, the net profit of making food is between 60-80%.

The reason why it is so high is that when they make skewers, they do not include labor, store rent, water and electricity, etc. in the cost. After all, the labor is all their own, so naturally they do not pay wages. The store rent is already there, so it does not need to be calculated. Not to mention water and electricity, etc., the store has not even started paying for water and electricity.

“So many?!”

Everyone took a deep breath. The current first-level wage for workers is only about 32 yuan. In other words, they can earn a month's salary of a worker by selling a pot of shashlik?

"Mom, that's not how it works."

The first-level salary of workers seems to be only 32 yuan, but in fact, they have a lot of hidden benefits, not to mention the gifts during the New Year and other festivals, but also the performance bonuses. Not to mention, there is also a seniority salary, five insurances and one housing fund... All in all, it is far more than the 32 yuan they get.

"You can make money from doing business, but it has a bad reputation."

The eldest brother Huang Hongyi had a frown on his face, but a smile on his lips, which made his face look very strange, just like his heart at the moment, which was in a struggle between conscience and desire.

"Brother, do you still want to work in the factory?"

Huang Xinran couldn't help laughing. In fact, the eldest brother had always wanted to work in the factory, because workers were always popular in those years. But later she got married, and the younger brother dropped out of school and secretly signed up for the army despite the opposition of his family. He didn't tell his family until the day he left, which made his parents furious. But the younger brother left home, and there had to be a pillar left in the family. For this reason, the eldest brother had to give up the idea of ​​working in the factory...

Thinking of his younger brother, Huang Xinran shook his head quickly. "Although doing business may not have a good reputation, the money you earn is real. Brother, it's not easy for my sister-in-law to take care of two nephews now. Everything needs money... Have you forgotten that when my father sent the sewing machine to me last time, he was still talking about the production team asking us to pay the fine..."

The family planning policy was implemented here very early. Although it is not mandatory to have only one child, having a second child will result in fines, eating more expensive food, not being able to divide private plots, etc. Even when you go to school, you have to pay extra money to study.