Chapter 55 Looking at People Through a Crack in the Door
"Hebei, Shijiazhuang or Tangshan, these two places are close to Beijing, and it's convenient to travel back and forth," Su Laoda said.
Li Banxia nodded and then told the eldest daughter-in-law about the situation of Li Sansao's family.
The eldest daughter-in-law laughed, "What's the big deal? They're all relatives. Mom, just let my third aunt and the others do as they please. My sister-in-law won't mind."
"Okay, on behalf of your third aunt, I thank you and your sister-in-law."
Li Banxia patted his eldest daughter-in-law's hand, urging the two of them to set off quickly.
"Go over there and find out the situation first. If the price is right, buy it directly. If there are any changes, call your grandma's house. If you can't buy it today... you don't have to work the day after tomorrow, so you can look again on Monday. If you can't make it back in time, call the school to ask for leave. Be careful and vigilant in unfamiliar places. You two should try to go together. Boss, don't leave Yao Yao alone in the hotel, understand?"
"Oh, Mom."
The eldest daughter-in-law looked at Li Banxia with a smile, and Li Banxia touched her face, "What's wrong?"
The eldest son's wife shook her head.
"I feel that your nagging and fussing concern is just like my mom's."
Li Banxia chuckled, "Alright, go ahead."
Su Laoda supported his wife's arm and walked out in step with her. After taking two steps, his wife suddenly stopped, gently shook off Su Laoda's hand, turned around and walked two steps to Li Banxia's side, reaching out to hug her.
Li Banxia froze, too afraid to move.
"W-What's wrong?"
The eldest daughter-in-law hugged her and nuzzled her temple, saying, "Mom, you're so good to me. I like you more and more now."
Li Banxia felt a lump in her throat when she thought of her lost grandson.
She gave a soft "hmm," and said, "It's good that you're here. Mom really likes having a daughter-in-law like you."
She raised her hand and patted her eldest daughter-in-law on the back.
Watching the young couple leave, Li Banxia patted her somewhat stiff face. Through the glass of the window, she could vaguely see the outline of a slightly sunken eye socket.
Furthermore, due to frequent childbirths, relying on her good health, she didn't properly observe postpartum confinement, and became increasingly overweight, to the point that her waistline was no longer visible.
Li Banxia touched the "spare tire" around her waist and sighed softly.
Being overweight isn't the culprit; a sub-optimal health condition is.
Hearing the argument between Old Man Su and Second Brother Su outside, Li Banxia snapped out of her reverie, changed into an inconspicuous cloth bag, wrapped the gold nuggets in newspaper and put them inside, changed her clothes, picked up the herbs she had gathered, and prepared to go to Master Chang's house first before taking care of her own business.
After delivering the medicine, Li Banxia explained the precautions for brewing it to the couple in detail, chatted for a few minutes, and then hurriedly took her leave.
When Master Chang saw her off, Li Banxia told him about her desire to transfer her job.
"You're about to be promoted to a permanent position, and your salary will double. Why would you sell it?" Master Chang asked in surprise.
Li Banxia smiled but remained silent.
Master Chang realized it must be related to Su Lao Er and felt quite sorry. "Then I'll keep an eye out for you. The tractor factory has good benefits. As long as we spread the word, people will come knocking on our door soon. How much are you planning to sell it for?"
"We'll resell it for the same price we bought it for."
Master Chang frowned. "The cost of using connections and favors also needs to be factored in, which is almost two hundred. Leave this to me, I'll handle it for you, don't worry about it."
"Thank you, Brother Chang."
Master Chang laughed, "Alright, go ahead and do your thing. I'll let you know if there's any news, and you can have Min'an sign it."
"good."
After leaving the Chang family home, Li Banxia first made a phone call to tell her third brother and sister-in-law, "If Sister-in-law Yao doesn't mind, let her and her family do as they please."
Li Sansao happily thanked him on the other end of the phone.
"...It's just an information gap. The earlier you know, the earlier you get in, and the more opportunities you'll have."
After making the call, Li Banxia went to the train station and bought a train ticket to Jinzhou, Liaoning. Calculating the time, she traveled to several places before the train departed and sold a few of the small gold nuggets she had.
Two pieces weighing 20 grams, two pieces weighing 30 grams, and one piece weighing 10 grams, totaling 110 grams. The price varied from place to place; some bought it for 91, some for 92. In total, it sold for 10,070 yuan.
Having never had so much money in her hands before, Li Banxia clutched her cloth bag tightly throughout the entire train journey.
After a six-hour drive, it was already past 5 p.m. when they arrived. The banks were all closed, so Li Banxia decided to find a restaurant to eat first. Under the pretext of withdrawing money, she struck up a conversation with the young couple who ran the restaurant.
"...I heard from the younger people at work that the bank has a quota now, such as how many people need to subscribe to the national bonds."
The young couple laughed and said they weren't sure, "but a lot of people suffered heavy losses from those debt issues a couple of years ago, so now with these new bonds, nobody dares to buy them anymore..."
“That makes sense, there are risks. My brother even asked me to find out the price, saying he wants to buy it.”
Following their lead, Li Banxia subtly inquired about the opening and closing prices, trying to gauge the price difference between the opening and closing prices and those in Shanghai.
The man in the young couple frowned and thought for a moment, "In a small place like ours, the price is probably face value. Who would be foolish enough to buy it at the high prices of a couple of years ago?"
"They might also sell it at a lower price..." the woman added from the side.
Having figured things out, Li Banxia chatted with the young couple for a few more minutes before leaving the restaurant.
Following the directions provided by the young couple, she found the bank, checked into a hotel not far from it, and inquired about the national vouchers from the hotel owner.
The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly, "You can't buy any denominations. If you buy five-yuan notes, you lose five yuan; if you buy ten-yuan notes, you lose ten yuan; a hundred-yuan note for a piece of paper is a waste..."
Li Banxia thanked them and rested at the hotel for the night. The next day, he carried a cloth bag and wandered around Jinzhou. Many people knew about the national coupons, but few recommended buying them; most people were not optimistic about them.
Li Banxia obtained a crucial piece of inside information from an old man who worked as a gatekeeper in the bank's residential compound.
In order to complete the task assigned by the higher authorities, the bank planned to sell each 100-yuan national banknote with a discount of two yuan, making each one 98 yuan.
The more you buy, the lower the price becomes.
This price is definitely lower than the transaction price in Shanghai.
Li Banxia quickly did some mental calculations. She had brought 10,000 yuan, which could buy 100 national coupons with a face value of 100 yuan each. 100 multiplied by 2 equals 200 yuan. Even if there was no premium in Shanghai, she could make a net profit of 200 yuan with each transaction.
If five more pieces can overflow from there, that's seven pieces. One hundred multiplied by seven equals... seven hundred!
One trip costs 700, two trips cost 1400, that's her annual salary.
Li Banxia gasped.
Moreover, she had a feeling that the premium in Shanghai would definitely be more than five yuan.
Another point is that if she buys a hundred tickets, the price will definitely not be less than two yuan less!
After resting for another night and adjusting her condition, Li Banxia went to the bank as soon as it opened the next morning.
Several women were huddled together sighing, wondering how they could possibly sell so many government vouchers.
Who would fall for a scam once and then fall for it a second time?
Upon seeing Li Banxia enter, the woman standing in the middle glanced at her from head to toe, then turned her face away in disgust and continued to complain to the others.
"I want to buy 100 yuan national coupons. Which counter do I go to?"
Several people looked over at the sound, and the woman curled her lip, "Ma'am, a coupon is worth a hundred yuan. Look at yourself, what item on you is worth a hundred yuan?"
"Don't do that."
A round-faced girl who seemed to have a good temper shook her head at the woman and smiled as she greeted Li Banxia, "Sister, how much do you want to buy? Five yuan, ten yuan, or..."
“I’ll buy 10,000 yuan worth of national coupons, each with a face value of 100 yuan.” Li Banxia smiled as well.
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
The woman chuckled.
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