I also made arrangements with the team leader and the others to pick zongzi leaves this evening and tomorrow morning.
The captain told Xu Ningyan not to worry about it, as they would take care of it.
The next morning, a package on the oxcart contained the thousand hair ties that embodied the hopes of everyone in the Unity Brigade.
There were two large baskets next to it, filled with fresh bamboo leaves for making zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).
With someone following her, Xu Ningyan couldn't put all her things into her spatial storage, so she bought a freight ticket directly when she arrived at the bus station.
Thanks to Xu Ningyan's strength, the two large baskets of zongzi leaves were carried to the county town and, with the help of others, loaded onto the bus.
When we arrived at the department store, we got out of the car and asked someone to watch over the place. We went inside and called for help, and they dragged us to the supply and marketing department.
Seeing the fresh bamboo leaves, Sister Yang couldn't resist picking up two to examine them. "These leaves are so fresh, were they just picked this morning?"
Xu Ningyan wiped the sweat from her brow: "That's right! I was thinking that the Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon, so I brought some fresh leaves, which will be perfect for everyone to use when making zongzi."
Sister Yang has been worried these past few days. The supply and marketing cooperative only sells dried bamboo leaves from last year, which don't make the bamboo leaves as fragrant as fresh ones.
Now that I've seen it, I've ordered two pounds of fresh leaves.
Hearing the commotion, people in the next office came over to see what was going on. Seeing that Sister Yang had placed her order first, they followed suit, and five or six of them ordered about ten kilograms of leaves.
Some busybodies would shout in the courtyard, and people from the family quarters would come running. "You want two jin? I want two jin!" and half of the two large baskets of bamboo leaves would be gone.
The logistics department saw the remaining half-basket, took it all, and sent it to the canteen.
In just one hour, both baskets of leaves were sold out, netting a profit of three yuan and fifty cents.
Only after the crowd dispersed did Xu Ningyan take out the hair tie.
I gave one to Sister Yang first. Because of her age, I chose a maroon one, which is just right for her.
Sister Yang smiled and put it on her head.
After counting the number and checking the quality, an invoice was issued.
Take this order and deliver it directly to the warehouse, then sell it from the warehouse counter.
Lin Hong, an old acquaintance, was in the warehouse and naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Xu Ningyan. She readily counted the items and put them into storage. Out of consideration for Xu Ningyan, she even had them immediately put on the counter.
Xu Ningyan secretly slipped her a pink one too.
Lin Hong was delighted with it and immediately put it on. She even took out a small round mirror from her bag to look at herself from all angles, extremely satisfied.
She wanted to talk to Xu Ningyan, but Xu Ningyan was worried about the sales of the hair ties and pulled her to the department store in front.
He secretly gave the hair ties he had prepared to Sister Hu, asking her to give one to each of the sales clerks at the counter and have them wear them on their heads.
For such a small favor, plus the free pretty hair tie, Sister Hu was happy to do it.
Soon, every salesperson in the department store had a hair tie on their head.
The color on everyone's head is different.
It immediately caught everyone's attention.
As the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, the department store was already crowded, especially with women who couldn't help but ask what the hair ornaments were and where they could be bought.
The warehouse staff had just delivered the hair ties to the front counter, and people saw them and, forgetting about buying anything else, all crowded towards that counter.
Without even asking the price, she shouted, "I want the pink plaid one!"
"I want two, one red and one green!"
"I want that one, the one with the ribbon bow!"
...
The sales clerk at the counter was sweating profusely and still couldn't keep up with everyone.
Two people from the counter next to us came over to help. One helped with the selection, one issued the invoice, and the other checked the invoice and delivered the goods. That was how they managed to keep things afloat.
After this group of people finished buying and left, the three sales clerks almost collapsed to the ground.
Standing a little distance away, Lin Hong and Xu Ningyan witnessed this scene. Lin Hong couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Although I knew this hair tie was pretty, I didn't expect it to be so popular!"
You should know that these hair ties are not cheap. Xu Ningyan sold them to the department store for 15 cents each, and the ones with bows were 18 cents each.
The department store sold them for 20 cents each, and the ones with bows for 25 cents each.
And so, those young women and wives bought them without batting an eye.
It seems that throughout history, women's money has always been easy to earn.
During lunch in the cafeteria, the news that the hair ties were selling well spread, and many people came over to chat and praise Xu Ningyan.
Xu Ningyan felt much relieved.
In the afternoon, quite a few women who had heard the news came to buy hair ties.
When the accounts were tallied up that evening, about two hundred hair ties had already been sold.
This is only the first day. Once the news spreads, I estimate that even more people will come to buy tomorrow.
A thousand hair ties would probably not be enough to meet demand.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xu Ningyan bought another 500 rubber bands, thinking that after returning to the Tuanjie Brigade, she could hand them over to Chen Fangfang to design more new styles to sell.
Those simple hair ties will be easy for everyone to make themselves, so they might not sell well.
But since this style is attractive and novel, there will definitely still be people who buy it.
The next day was Sunday, and Lin Hong had made an appointment with her yesterday to take her to visit the county town.
Xu Ningyan had tidied herself up early, took out a military green satchel embroidered with a red five-pointed star from her spatial storage, slung it over her shoulder, and went out.
The two arranged to meet at the People's Park, the largest park in the county.
People's Park is located in the very center of the county town. It is built against the mountain, and there are several springs at the foot of the mountain that converge to form a small lake.
On Sunday, many young people were dating and boating in the park.
There were also elderly people reading newspapers, chatting, and playing chess under the shade of the trees.
The two arranged to meet early, just as the sun was rising above the treetops.
Since she wasn't working, Lin Hong was dressed in a blue dress with a pink hair tie, radiating youthful energy. Standing at the park entrance, she attracted the attention of many young men.
Upon seeing Xu Ningyan, Lin Hong waved frantically.
As she got closer, Lin Hong couldn't take her eyes off Xu Ningyan's handbag: "Where did you buy this bag? I saw someone carrying it the day before yesterday, but unfortunately, it's sold out!"
Xu Ningyan said softly, "I saw someone carrying it, so I bought the cloth and asked the aunties in the brigade to make it for me. If you like it, I'll go back and ask them to make another one for you next time."
Lin Hong was naturally pleased and thanked her repeatedly. She also made it clear that she would pay for the fabric and the labor costs.
Xu Ningyan liked associating with people like Lin Hong who knew how to behave. After they made their agreement, she took out two vegetarian buns from her bag and handed them to Lin Hong: "You haven't had breakfast yet, have some!"
Lin Hong didn't stand on ceremony, took the steamed bun and started eating it while leading Xu Ningyan into the park.
The park wasn't very big; the two of them walked around it, went boating, and climbed a hill.
Standing on the mountaintop, the entire county town can be seen.
After enjoying the breeze for a while, the two rested enough before heading down the mountain.
After descending the mountain, we boarded a bus. Along the way, Lin Hong pointed out the locations of the cinema, theater, workers' cultural palace, and school.
It was almost noon, and after the two had lunch at a state-run restaurant, Lin Hong invited Xu Ningyan to come to her home for a visit.
Xu Ningyan was initially hesitant, but seeing that Lin Hong's invitation was sincere, she agreed.
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