Li Ping was dumbfounded, secretly blaming her older brother for coming up with such a terrible idea. Now she was in an awkward situation. If she suggested going to sleep with Wang Yan, Wang Yan would be the first to disagree. Ye Chen'er was really something, would it kill her to let her take advantage of him a little?
That night, Wang Yan secretly went to the woodshed, grabbed a handful of firewood from each pile, and quickly ran back to the house. Tonight she could finally get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow she had to go out and chop firewood. Sigh, it's so cold.
School was starting in a couple of days, so Ye Chen'er and Liu Limin took their books and notebooks to Mushroom Village Elementary School. They wanted to heat up the building so the students wouldn't be cold when they came to class.
The school's woodshed was piled high with firewood, which villagers would casually leave as they passed by. Their children studied there, and the two teachers were so good at teaching, so what did a few bundles of firewood matter?
The three rooms were heated with kang (heated brick beds), and two people picked up feather dusters and started cleaning. They cleaned the rooms thoroughly in one morning. If they heated the kang for another half day, the cold air in the rooms would be driven away.
When Village Chief Ma saw the white smoke rising from the ancestral hall—oh, now it's the school—he knew the two educated youths had gone to heat the kang (a traditional heated brick bed). His satisfaction with them increased, and he picked up the two envelopes from the kang and went to the school.
"This is your salary for both of you. Please keep it safe. I hope you will work even harder to teach and educate these children well in the future."
The two men opened the package and found a brand-new five-yuan bill, along with a few ration coupons. Five yuan a month was a great deal, especially for Liu Limin, who only had a few cents left. If he didn't get paid soon, he wouldn't even have toilet paper.
“The town has paid you wages, so you won’t get any work points here. However, you can still earn work points if you work every weekend. Also, the children are on holiday during the busy farming season, so you can work if you want work points.”
Village Chief Ma's words made Liu Limin even happier: "Village Chief, I work every weekend, and I also work during the busy farming season."
Ye Chen'er nodded: "I'll come too."
Village Chief Ma finally felt a little relieved. He knew that the educated youth from the neighboring villages were all lazy and cunning, and of course, there were some good ones, but none of them were as good as the educated youth from Mushroom Village.
Ye Chenming and Bei Nan had already entered the black market under Mao Tou's guidance. Their winter hats were large and thick, and their scarves covered their mouths and noses completely. Apart from their eyes, no one knew who the other was.
Ye Chenming had already sold the sweet potatoes. They were two cents a pound, and he earned two yuan for carrying one hundred pounds of sweet potatoes. With Maotou's help, Ye Chenming used the two yuan to buy two pounds of white sugar. He walked around the market and sold it for two yuan and forty cents, making a net profit of forty cents.
Then Ye Chenming gave Maotou one cent and Beinan one cent of the four cents he had earned from selling sugar. Beinan was stunned by Ye Chenming's amazing move, while Maotou nodded inwardly, thinking that he was a capable person.
Ye Chenming was very happy. His first attempt was successful. He had money on him, but he couldn't act rashly without knowing the situation.
"Maotou, you take charge of purchasing, and Beinan and I will take charge of shipping. How about we split the profits equally?" Ye Chenming suggested.
"Your name is Ye Chenming, right? How much money are you planning to spend on the goods?" Maotou asked.
Ye Chenming thought for a moment, then took out ten yuan and handed it to Maotou: "Beinan and I will each contribute ten yuan."
Mao Tou nodded. He still had five yuan on him. He took the ten yuan and went through a door. Ye Chenming and Bei Nan were waiting at the door.
This time, Mao Tou brought out raw pork, which cost the same as sugar, nine cents a pound. There were fourteen pieces of pork in total, each piece weighing one pound, leaving six cents. Bei Nan took four cents, picked up half of the pork, and started wandering around the market like Ye Chenming.
Ye Chenming just said that the starting price is 1.2 yuan, 1.15 yuan for more than three jin, and 1.1 yuan for more than five jin.
The two men, one in the north and the other in the south, found a place to sit down. They sold a piece of meat and then took another piece out of their baskets. In less than an hour, all the pork was sold, earning a total of 2.4 yuan. On average, each of them earned 0.8 yuan.
Bei Nan was a little excited, while Mao Tou was a little stunned. The older brother inside was his cousin, who would always give him the best-selling items so he could earn some pocket money, but he just couldn't earn a single penny.
Because nobody in the market buys his stuff. They're all big cotton-padded coats and big hats, so why can't he sell them? Ye Chenming shook his head, indicating that he didn't know. Who knows how you sell them?
On the way home, Bei Nan took out the nine cents to return to Ye Chenming. She didn't have a single penny on her, so how could she take someone else's money for no reason? Ye Chenming refused.
“Bei Nan, this path is your friend, I’m just using your connections, so take the money and go there whenever you have time. It’s good to earn some pocket money.”
“Okay, we’re free these next few days, let’s go again tomorrow. I’ll bring some money with me, and we can use the money to buy some eggs.” Bei Nan thought about the half-basket of eggs left at home.
However, I need to tell Nan Nan about this, just in case my dad finds out, Nan Nan can help me cover for him.
Yan Xiaonan was shocked by Bei Nan's audacity. This guy not only went to the black market by himself, but also brought the educated youth with him. What a troublemaker!
"Third Brother, if you want to exchange eggs, use the white rice or cornmeal at home to exchange for them. As for how to earn pocket money, you'll have to figure that out yourself."
Bei Nan is still young. With his small-scale efforts, when will he ever be able to save enough money to buy eggs? You know, an egg costs five cents.
Bei Nan nodded: "Nan Nan, what about Ye Chenming? He doesn't have any rice to exchange for."
"Third Brother, if Ye Chenming is capable, he can naturally exchange for eggs; it's just a matter of time. If he's not capable, your help will be in vain."
"Nan Nan, can you do me a favor? I only have four yuan. Ye Chenming gave me the capital today. We made two yuan and forty cents. I got eighty cents, and the remaining ten cents was from selling candy. So now I have four yuan and ninety cents," Bei Nan said honestly.
They opened for business on the very first day! They've got some skills, huh? Wait, North and South should only have two yuan. Where did the other two yuan come from?
"Third Brother, it seems you have two extra dollars," Yan Xiaonan said, looking at Bei Nan.
Bei Nan was startled. How did she let it slip? "Nan Nan, it was money that Grandma was giving to Second Uncle's child, but I didn't want to give it to that ungrateful child, so I kept it."
Yan Xiaonan shook her head: "Brother, Second Uncle is an ingrate, but the two older brothers are not. Grandma gave them New Year's money because it was her way of showing her love. How can you ruin Grandma's wishes?"
Bei Nan was almost scared to death by Yan Xiaonan's words. "Yes, that's Grandma's kindness! No, I have to go to the post office to send the money. I'll go right now."
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