"Xiaoyuan, can we...can we just sit here?" Manhua sat nervously on the small stool.
Ning Yuan turned back, looked at Man Hua and smiled: "Sister Man Hua, let's get started. You can watch how I do the work first."
Then, she looked up and gazed around, her big eyes darting about.
Whenever someone made eye contact with her, she would immediately put on a bright smile: "Big brother/uncle/little sister/sister/auntie, come and see the fresh wood ear mushrooms, mushrooms, smoked fish, and cured meat from the mountains... No tickets required! It's free to look!"
Ning Yuan has bright, dark eyes, rosy lips, and long, black braids hanging down to her chest. A soft wool scarf makes her baby face even more adorable. No matter how you look at her, she appears charming and innocent, which makes people feel good about her.
With all the selling she's done these past few days, her sweet and charming tongue has become quite adept.
If it's an older uncle or aunt, Ning Yuan will immediately start talking about how wild mountain products like wood ear fungus and mushrooms are good for your health and can prolong your life.
The medicinal herbs like He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) dug up by Man Hua are especially recommended.
If it's a young man, Ning Yuan recommends all kinds of meat that can fill his stomach and satisfy his cravings;
If it's a young woman, she'll sell the meat, mushrooms, and herbs together, saying that stewing them together can beautify the skin!
Many people were persuaded and bought things after haggling over the price.
Sometimes when customers buy more, Ning Yuan will offer a buy-three-get-one-free deal, or round down the price.
If the other party doesn't have enough money, Ning Yuan will also accept vouchers such as industrial coupons, cloth coupons, and snack coupons.
Some people inquired about prices but didn't buy, and Ning Yuan didn't react with a dark face or roll her eyes like the others. Instead, she smiled and said they could think about it and come back next time, giving them a way out.
Within an hour, they had sold more than half of their goods at their stall; business was booming.
Manhua watched in astonishment: "Xiaoyuan, you're amazing! Your words are so clever!"
Ning Yuan kept talking, her mouth dry, and took a swig from her old military water bottle: "It's nothing, I'm just a little more talkative, saying one thing to one person and another to another."
People in that era were simple and honest, and the sales clerks in state-run stores received fixed salaries and all had deadpan expressions; no one was enthusiastic about promoting anything.
She's enthusiastic and has a sweet tongue; if she uses some sales techniques from later generations, business is never bad.
Ning Yuan smiled at Man Hua and said, "Sister Man Hua, just do whatever I say!"
When she first came to the black market, she was clumsy and timid.
After all, she had never sold anything in her previous life, but she still learned by doing, didn't she? People always have to push themselves to grow!
Manhua nodded and began to clumsily imitate Ning Yuan, enthusiastically promoting her products.
Although she wasn't as eloquent or skilled as Ning Yuan, she was still able to sell her wares. Every time she closed a deal, Man Hua felt excited and full of a sense of accomplishment.
By noon, apart from the ingredients prepared for the county guesthouse, the two had sold out of almost everything on their stall.
Manhua, as if in a daze, stared blankly at her cloth bag, clutching it tightly: "Xiaoyuan, I...we sold out, is that true?!"
The bag contained a full thirty-one yuan and sixty-seven cents, as well as some cloth coupons, snack coupons, and even an industrial coupon that could be used to buy a clock.
Such a large sum of money is equivalent to a month's wages for a city worker!
Even if half of it belongs to Ning Yuan, she can still get more than 15 yuan, which is half a month's worth of food expenses for her mother-in-law that the family of four has to pay!
She made so much money in just half a day! Manhua felt like she was dreaming!
Ning Yuan understood her excitement. She herself had made a fortune selling goods and felt like she was floating on air.
She reached out and patted her shoulder: "Sister Manhua, it's true."
Manhua looked at her excitedly: "Little sister, from now on... from now on I'll work for you!"
This was the first time she realized what Ning Yuan meant by "living off the land and water"!
As Ning Yuan packed her things, she smiled and said, "Life in our village will only get better and better!"
Then, she glanced discreetly at the market entrance, where two figures were moving about in the crowd, staring in her direction.
She turned to Manhua and smiled, "Alright, let's go eat!"
Manhua nodded, carefully packed her bag, and excitedly left the flea market with Ningyuan, carrying her basket on her back.
Ning Yuan led Man Hua straight to the state-run restaurant where Sister Zhang worked.
As soon as she arrived at the entrance, she saw a tall figure waiting for her at the restaurant entrance.
Ning Yuan smiled and waved, calling out, "Chen Chen!"
Chen Chen pushed his cart against a telephone pole and greeted Ning Yuan with a smile when he saw her arrive: "Little sister-in-law!"
When Manhua saw Chen Chen, she couldn't help but be stunned. Wasn't this the leader of the inspection team?
After all, Chen Chen's height of nearly 1.9 meters is very eye-catching in the south, and it would be difficult for Man Hua not to remember him.
Ning Yuan saw through Man Hua's intentions at a glance, and introduced her in a graceful and generous manner—
“Sister Manhua, this is Chen Chen. He used to be a colleague of Rong Zhaonan. Zhaonan treated him like a younger brother. Sometimes when I came to sell goods and couldn’t catch the oxcart, he would take me there.”
Rong Zhaonan said that Chen Chen was three years older than him, but less intelligent, so he became his underling.
Ning Yuan then introduced Man Hua's identity to Chen Chen.
Chen Chen politely extended his hand to Manhua, saying, "Since Sister-in-law Ning Yuan calls you 'sister,' I'll follow suit and call you 'Sister Manhua.'"
Manhua shook hands with Chen Chen somewhat awkwardly. She usually didn't have the right to deal with "leaders"; it was always her father-in-law who received her.
However, seeing Ning Yuan's poised and confident demeanor, she felt somewhat relieved and stopped having any further thoughts.
The three of them ate three bowls of noodles together at Sister Zhang's shop. Ning Yuan also gave Sister Zhang the glutinous rice cakes, eggs, and some mountain produce that Aunt Fang had given her.
Sister Zhang hesitated for a moment, then accepted the gift, scoldingly, "You're always so polite every time you come."
She paused, then smiled and said, "By the way, Zhang Er said that the leaders from our bank and the county public security bureau came to the guesthouse for dinner last time and said that the local produce was delicious. They'd like to occasionally improve the meals for the bank and bureau staff in the canteen. Can you afford to supply that?!"
Manhua's eyes lit up, and she subconsciously looked at Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan smiled sweetly, her big eyes crinkling: "Thank you, sister. I'll go to the guesthouse later to discuss it with Brother Zhang."
Hey, this is the day she's been waiting for; the market will gradually open up.
However, productivity couldn't keep up, and rationing fish, meat, eggs, milk, etc., was definitely not enough for everyone to consume and fill their stomachs.
The guesthouse is frequented by leaders from various units. Since they have eaten her mountain produce, others will inevitably covet it and will eventually have the opportunity to supply it to the canteens of other units in the county.
If they could make a profit of several hundred yuan a month by starting a business in the county town, they wouldn't be able to supply that many mountain products, even if she and Rong Zhaonan worked as hunters in the village.
Her first step was to develop Manhua as her sales downline. As long as Manhua could see the profits, the old Party Secretary could also see the profits, which would encourage everyone to go into the mountains to harvest goods and hunt during the off-season!
This little road for doing business will never be closed!
After hearing Ning Yuan's story about supplying goods to the county guesthouse, Man Hua was utterly impressed: "Xiao Yuan, you're really quick-witted, you're amazing!"
Ning Yuan smiled and said, "Sister Manhua, why don't you rest here with Sister Zhang for a while and think about which families in our village are trustworthy and can participate in the buying and selling of mountain products? I need to go to the post office to call my mother."
Manhua nodded vigorously, then deftly pulled out her notebook: "Okay!"
She knew that Li Yan had come early that morning to tell Ning Yuan to call home.
I'll just take stock of today's accounts here, and then figure out a list of families in the village who can participate in buying mountain products, as well as the rules and regulations.
Ning Yuan and Chen Chen went out, but instead of heading to the post office, she went down a secluded path.
Chen Chen walked with her for a while, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Sister-in-law, weren't you going to call home?"
Why do they deliberately choose to go into these deserted, secluded alleyways?
Ning Yuan suddenly spoke without any expression: "Chen Chen, you should have noticed someone is following us, right? Find a secluded place, catch them, and then..."
She paused, then smiled, revealing a row of small, white teeth: "Give them a beating!"
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