"Beiping, what's wrong with you? Is there no food at home? Didn't your mother bring back ten catties of grain yesterday?"
Tao Shengli scratched his head, his honest brows furrowing.
"No, no."
His uncle was still as simple and honest as ever. Ye Beiping put on a forced smile and took out the popsicle from behind him: "Uncle, here you go."
Upon seeing that it was an ice pop, Tao Shengli waved his hands repeatedly: "No, you can have it. This stuff is very expensive. How can your uncle eat this?"
Ye Beiping shoved the popsicle directly into Tao Shengli's hand.
"Uncle, take this."
He then secretly leaned close to Tao Shengli's ear and said, "This is what I'm selling now, so just take it."
People around Tao Shengli, seeing him holding an ice pop, joked:
“Victory, your nephew is so filial to you.”
"You're willing to let me eat something so expensive."
"Let's eat quickly, we want some but we don't have any yet."
...
Hearing this, Ye Beiping knew it was time to do business: "Uncle, aunt, brothers and sisters, do you want popsicles? I have some. But it costs money, and I have to pay for them. If you want some, you can buy them from my brother. Consider it me running errands for you."
After saying that, he pointed in the direction of Hou Baolin and Wu Di.
Everyone did see a donkey cart.
Upon hearing that popsicles were for sale, one of the girls immediately asked, "How much are they?"
Ye Beiping could tell from the other person's clothes that she wasn't from the village and was probably a female educated youth or something similar.
"Four cents a piece. Nobody in the countryside sells this stuff, and it's expensive here."
"It's a bit expensive." The girl was somewhat reluctant.
Ye Beiping immediately said, "Classmate, you're an educated youth, right? Here's what we'll do: you educated youth can gather ten people to buy them together, and ten sticks will only cost three mao (0.3 yuan). I'll give you a discount of one mao. Consider it my payment for our country's knowledge; I'm willing to give you educated people a discount."
"Really?" The female educated youth's eyes immediately lit up. It was also three cents in the city, and it was three cents here too. She immediately started gathering the educated youth, wanting to buy popsicles.
Tao Shengli grew anxious and, while eating his popsicle, tugged at Ye Beiping's wrist: "Beiping, won't you lose money like this? How can you sell things like this?"
Although he was from the countryside, he still understood the principle of making money and never losing money in business.
Upon hearing this, Ye Beiping smiled, leaned closer, and whispered, "My purchase price is only one cent, and if I sell ten for three cents, I can still make two cents."
"Really?" Tao Shengli was somewhat skeptical.
"certainly."
Ye Beiping patted Tao Shengli's hand and said, "Uncle, don't worry, I won't lose money. I'll send two over to Grandpa and Grandma later. It's so hot, they'll help cool them down."
When Tao Shengli heard that he was going to give his parents popsicles, he didn't say anything.
No matter how much money Ye Beiping spent to support his maternal grandparents, Tao Shengli would not object.
Suddenly, an older woman next to me asked, "Shengli, ask your nephew if we can get a discount if we buy ten. My son and daughter have never tried this stuff before."
When you go to the countryside, no one comes to sell popsicles, and farmers can't go to the city, so there are many people who have never eaten popsicles.
These popsicles were first sold in rural areas in the 1980s.
Some areas closer to the county seat may have had them by the mid-1970s, but most of the more remote areas only started in the 1980s.
There are no businesses near Pingba Village because no one has yet discovered the business opportunity.
"Sure, of course!" Ye Beiping agreed without Tao Shengli even needing to speak. "Just tell them that Tao Shengli's nephew said he can sell ten for three cents. They're all my brothers, so it's easy to talk to them."
"Okay, okay." The older woman also started rummaging through her pockets to find someone to collect ten sticks.
On the other hand, Tao Shengli's gaze towards Ye Beiping changed. Why hadn't it changed in such a short time? His nephew had become so good at business.
"Uncle, why are you looking at me like that?" Ye Beiping felt a little uneasy under his gaze.
Being stared at like that by a grown man would make anyone feel uneasy.
Tao Shengli frowned slightly: "Beiping, how come I never realized you were such a good liar before?"
Looking around, he said in a low voice, "You're clearly making money, but you have to talk like everyone's doing you a favor so you can get a discount."
"Ha ha."
Upon hearing this, Ye Beiping laughed and explained, "The way of business, the way of business."
After the uncle and nephew had been reserved for a while, Ye Beiping even said that he would send meat over tomorrow, he ran back to the donkey cart.
“Beiping, Beiping, Taoping Village is much richer than our Pingba Village. We just sold more than thirty sticks, and two of them even bought ice cream.” Hou Baolin, who was collecting the money, looked at the small bills in his hand and was very happy.
Ye Beiping glanced at the fact that more than half of the people in the field had started eating popsicles, and he felt a little uneasy.
“Taoping Village is indeed richer than our Pingba Village. Their grain production is also higher. The two villages are only a few miles apart, but the difference in land is so great.”
Otherwise, how could his uncle, Tao Shengli, support a family of three by working alone?
They even provided financial assistance to their family from time to time.
"Let's go into the village and see if we can sell some more. It looks like we'll sell out of these popsicles after visiting two more villages."
“Yes.” Wu Di opened the bedding, glanced at it, and nodded, saying, “There aren’t many left. I estimate they’ll be sold out in just one village.”
When the three of them entered the village, Ye Beiping also took two popsicles to his maternal grandparents' house.
When I entered the house, I found my grandmother peeling corn.
"Grandma?" Ye Beiping called out with a smile from behind his grandmother.
The older grandmother, a little slow to react, glanced back and, upon recognizing her eldest grandson, beamed with joy: "Beiping! What brings you here? Where's your sister?"
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