"Come work with your brother in town! If you do a good job, your brother will treat you to a state-run restaurant every month. You know the state-run restaurant, right? The food there is all cooked by master chefs, it tastes amazing. Your brother will treat you to whatever you want." Liang Xiaobao waved his hand, looking very ambitious.
“I don’t want to eat the food at the state-run restaurant. I want to eat fried dough sticks and wontons,” Zhou Jiaxiang said, shaking his head.
The fried dough sticks and wontons that Zhou Jiaxiang was unable to eat have almost become an obsession.
"Tch! Kid, you really don't know what's good for you. A fried dough stick costs a few cents, a bowl of wontons costs two mao, while a meal at a state-run restaurant costs several yuan!" Liang Xiaobao said sullenly.
Although the promise of "eat whatever you want at the state-run restaurant" was just a pie in the sky for Liang Xiaobao to make to Zhou Jiaxiang.
However, such a large pancake was not as tempting to Zhou Jiaxiang as a fried dough stick or a bowl of wontons, which made Liang Xiaobao feel frustrated.
"Brother, I love wontons and fried dough sticks. How about... you just treat me to one of these right now?" Zhou Jiaxiang looked at Liang Xiaobao expectantly.
"Oh ho! You want me to treat you to food without doing any work? You must be some kind of abacus bead that has come to life!" Liang Xiaobao exclaimed.
This was the first time Liang Xiaobao had encountered such an elusive child as Zhou Jiaxiang.
Trying to take money from his pocket before he's even started working?
No way!
"Brother, what kind of work do you want me to do? All I know is sweeping. Do you need someone to sweep the floor?" Zhou Jiaxiang asked obsequiously.
Zhou Jiaxiang wanted to cling to the leg that could buy him fried dough sticks and wontons.
"Go away, my mom can sweep the floor, why do you need to sweep it?" After saying that, Liang Xiaobao realized that he seemed to have been led astray by the kid in front of him.
After talking for so long, Liang Xiaobao still doesn't know anything about this kid's background!
"Tell me your name? Where do you live?" Liang Xiaobao asked.
“My name is Zhou Jiaxiang, and I live in Zhoujia Village. My grandfather is Zhou Fugui, my grandmother is Ding Ermei, and my mother is Ding Xiaocui…” Zhou Jiaxiang hurriedly reported his family situation.
"Stop, stop, stop! Who wants to know what your family members' names are? It's all nonsense." Zhou Jiaxiang was stopped by Liang Xiaobao before he could finish reciting.
"Brother, you ask, and I'll answer, okay?" Zhou Jiaxiang asked cautiously.
"How old are you?" Liang Xiaobao asked after looking Zhou Jiaxiang up and down.
“I’m eight years old,” Zhou Jiaxiang said, puffing out his chest.
Fearing that Liang Xiaobao would look down on him for being too young, Zhou Jiaxiang quickly added, "Brother, don't look down on me just because I don't know how to do many things now. I'm very smart. As long as you keep your word and treat me to wontons and fried dough sticks, no matter what it is, you can teach me a few times, and I guarantee I'll be able to learn it."
Liang Xiaobao stroked his chin and pondered for a moment.
He Bo is too rigid; he forbids people from doing many things, and working for him is too slow to make money.
On the other hand, it's Brother Cao's side...
How about we send this kid to try out for Brother Cao's side first?
Anyway, he just needs to bring his men over; whether Brother Cao thinks they're good enough or not is Brother Cao's business.
What if this kid is a promising talent? Wouldn't he have an endless stream of money to spend in the future?
Having made up his mind, Liang Xiaobao said, "Kid, here's what we'll do. I'll take you to broaden your horizons and introduce you to Brother Cao. If Brother Cao thinks highly of you, then you can work hard for him. As long as you do well, you'll be living the high life, not just eating wontons and fried dough sticks, but also enjoying the finest food every day."
"Alright! Brother, then I'll trouble you." Zhou Jiaxiang's face lit up with a smile.
Liang Xiaobao's ability to paint a rosy picture is quite impressive. Zhou Jiaxiang is full of enthusiasm right now, as if he can immediately enjoy the fragrant fried dough and wontons.
Liang Xiaobao led Zhou Jiaxiang around the streets, and finally they saw Cao Laoliu and his gang at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.
The supply and marketing cooperative is selling defective cloth today without requiring coupons.
Although it's described as defective fabric, the material itself is actually good. Most of it has minor flaws during the dyeing process; some have misaligned patterns, others have a small dot or something similar, but these don't affect the garment's wearability. Unless you're an expert, you wouldn't be able to spot the dyeing imperfections.
The fabric had only been there a short time when it arrived, and after being recorded in the accounts, it was immediately put on the counter for sale. It cost 35 cents per foot, no coupons required, and there were only ten bolts in total. First come, first served, and once they were sold out, they were gone.
As soon as the notice was posted, the fabric counter was immediately crowded with people.
"Comrade, I need three feet of cotton cloth."
"Comrade, I need five feet of khaki cloth."
"Comrade, I need five feet of Dacron."
...
Shouts rose and fell.
Huang Xiuhong and Huang Shujuan also strained to squeeze in, and just as they were about to reach the counter, they were pushed out by several burly middle-aged women.
"Sister Xiuhong, what should we do?" Huang Shujuan asked.
"Let's try one more time. I refuse to believe we can't buy fabric today." Huang Xiuhong tossed her braid around her neck, rolled up her sleeves, and began a new round of "conquest."
There's khaki fabric for sale today that doesn't require a ticket. Huang Xiuhong needs it to make pants for her fifth brother, so she definitely wants to try and get some.
Huang Shujuan hurriedly followed.
There were too many people, and as they squeezed together, Huang Xiuhong and Huang Shujuan got separated.
Behind Huang Xiuhong followed a short young man who looked to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old.
The young man had a mustache and his eyes kept darting around at the women around him, including older women, young girls, and wives.
The man with the mustache squeezed through the crowd, but in less than two minutes, he was "squeezed" out of the crowd again.
"Sixth Brother," Liang Xiaobao called out to the young man.
The young man was none other than Cao Laoliu, whose real name was Cao Jianye.
Liang Xiaobao's shout made Cao Laoliu pause in his hand as he was stuffing the item into his pocket.
Zhou Jiaxiang, with his sharp eyes, noticed that Cao Laoliu was stuffing a handkerchief into his pocket.
The handkerchief was pink with fine checks and looked a bit old. It was wrapped into a small rectangular shape.
In this day and age, pink items were generally considered to be for women. Few men would use pink handkerchiefs.
Why is this Sixth Brother using a woman's handkerchief? Could he be a pervert? Zhou Jiaxiang thought to himself.
"Liang Xiaobao, what's wrong? You're not sticking with your Boss He today, are you coming to me instead?" Cao Laoliu said with a wicked grin.
"Sixth Brother, this is my newly acquainted younger brother. Do you think he's suitable for your line of work?" Liang Xiaobao pushed Zhou Jiaxiang towards Cao Laoliu.
"I'm busy right now! You brought people here at this time, are you trying to ruin my business?" Cao Laoliu frowned.
"Sixth Brother, how could I dare to ruin your business? There are so many people here today, Sixth Brother must be making a lot of money... Anyway, there's still plenty of time! I'll just take up a little of your time. What if he's a good prospect? You'll be able to make even more money in the future, right?" Liang Xiaobao said, winking at Cao Laoliu.
"Alright, I'll take a look at him." Cao Laoliu then walked to Zhou Jiaxiang's side, took Zhou Jiaxiang's hand, looked at it carefully, and even squeezed it.
Zhou Jiaxiang was a little scared and pulled his hand back.
Cao Laoliu's hand gripped Zhou Jiaxiang's hand tightly, like an iron clamp.
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