Chapter 050 It's Hard to Find
"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect that I would have to take it from you again after I gave it to you earlier."
"What's there to be embarrassed about? I have it in my hand. If Aunt Cao wants it, it will benefit both of us," Tang Yuan put the packages of bacon wrapped in oil paper in the basket that Aunt Cao had prepared in advance, and asked casually, "Are you going to visit relatives before the New Year?"
"That's right. My daughter-in-law has a job above her, and she's just one step away from it. Although we can always get some good things at the train station, it's almost the New Year, and everyone is more or less short of things," Aunt Cao trusted Tang Yuan very much and told her more. "I exchanged some bacon with you earlier, but people didn't know and thought I still had some at home, so they came to exchange it. I can't say it's all gone, but luckily you have some."
The purpose of these bacon is not to bribe the superiors, but to build good relationships with relevant peers. After all, each position is unique, and the more people who agree, the greater the chance of getting the position.
Tang Yuan's eyes turned, thinking this was a good opportunity, and whispered, "Auntie Cao, if you have any other needs, you can tell me, maybe I can help you find a solution."
"Really?" Aunt Cao asked excitedly.
"Yes," Tang Yuan nodded, "but this matter only needs to be known by you, me, and your son and daughter-in-law."
"I understand," Aunt Cao said with a smile, "Then I'll talk to my son and daughter-in-law. Their colleagues may have some special needs. If so, you have to help me think of a solution."
After saying that, Aunt Cao handed over the ordered money.
There are ten pounds of bacon in total, one piece weighs sixteen pieces per pound, a total of sixteen pieces.
Tang Yuan took the money, spoke to her a few more words, and then left with the basket.
Not long after she left, Aunt Cao's son came back in a hurry: "Mom..."
"Don't worry, I have some here," Aunt Cao took out the basket of bacon, "There are ten pounds of bacon in total, which should be enough for you."
Aunt Cao's son stood in front of the basket in a daze: "Did you really get it?"
"Of course, who am I? How can I not get it in exchange?" Aunt Cao said proudly, "But if you had told me you needed it earlier, I wouldn't have exchanged bacon for eggs. I'm in a hurry now. Fortunately, I have a way."
"I didn't expect to have such an opportunity," Aunt Cao's son stretched out his hand and opened a bag of bacon. He knew the quality of the meat was good. "It's different from the bacon I brought before."
"That's definitely different. It's not like we're returning the original bacon," Aunt Cao glared at him. "You don't believe me, your mother?"
"How could that be? I definitely believed it, but this bacon is hard to find. I thought..." Aunt Cao's son wrapped the bacon again, "Thank you, Mom. You are amazing."
After hearing this, the dissatisfaction in Aunt Cao's heart immediately dissipated: "By the way, let me tell you, you can ask over there to see if they have any other needs. I can still find a way to help you."
"Other needs?" Aunt Cao's son was stunned for a moment, then ecstatic, "Is it really possible?"
"Just tell me, I'll ask for you," Aunt Cao blinked and patted the back of her son's hand, "Anyway, you know it yourself, don't tell anyone, I'm your mother and I'm very capable."
"Mom, I'm sure you can handle this," Aunt Cao's son praised, picking up the basket. "Then I'll take the bacon first. I'll let you know if I need anything else."
After saying this, he left in a hurry.
Arriving at the train station, he immediately saw his anxious wife and hurried over to her: "Mom found some for us, a total of ten kilograms, enough."
"Did you really find it?" Gu Lan pulled the basket in his hand, "What are these?"
"Yes, I opened it and looked. It is indeed bacon. It is well packaged, one kilogram per package, which is convenient for us to use," Cao Hairong said quickly. "With these, the next thing will be much easier. By the way, my mother also said that if I need anything else, I can tell her."
"She has connections?" Gu Lan raised her eyebrows, suddenly remembering something, "Is she the girl who exchanged eggs with our mother before?"
"No matter how things come, they have connections, so it's easy for them to get things done," Cao Hairong said without caring about those things. "Let's ask around separately. Your chances of getting promoted this time are already great. We can't let others get it first when we have the advantage."
"I didn't expect our mother to be so lucky. I thought this bacon was hard to find." Gu Lan smiled, and the anxiety she had felt because she couldn't find the bacon before had completely disappeared.
"She is a good person and has good luck," Cao Hairong said, "I won't say more. Let's go and do our work first."
He shared some of the bacon with Gu Lan, and then the two of them went about their business separately.
…
"The Chinese New Year is just over a month away. Meat is the best seller now. If we don't go find Sun Dong, we have to find a way to sell it. Otherwise, what will we do if we can't sell the meat after the Chinese New Year?"
"Is Sun Dong still silent?"
"No, there was no movement at all."
"Didn't someone follow Sun Dong? What's his situation?"
"I followed him, but I lost him every time. But I've checked the area. It's a very busy residential area. He may have hooked up with the residents there and delivered the meat directly to them."
"If he can sell it, so can we!"
"But what if someone reports it..."
"Brother Guo is still in prison. I have elderly parents and young children to take care of. If I get arrested, what will I do in the future?"
"I won't go either. I just married a wife, I can't let her live as a widow. It's fine if she lives as a widow, but if she cheats on me, I won't go anyway. If it really doesn't work, I will sell her to Sun Dong at a low price."
"You might as well sell it to me instead of selling it to him at a low price," Liu Zhiyong glared, "Give me the meat, 40 cents a pound, and I'll sell it for you."
"This is too low..."
"Then you sell it yourself?" Liu Zhiyong looked at the people around him and made up his mind. Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk, and he must earn this money before the New Year no matter what!
…
"I was scared to death."
“It’s terrible.”
Tang Yuan rarely saw the brothers Sun Dong and Sun Feng in the dilapidated house where they were trading. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrows when she heard what they blurted out after seeing her: "What's so scary?"
They both looked up at her and said in unison: "Liu Zhiyong has been arrested!"
"Liu Zhiyong? The man who quarreled with Zhao Zhiqiang? Why was he arrested?" Tang Yuan asked in surprise. She did not expect to hear such news today.
"He went to sell pork, but was reported and caught red-handed," Sun Dong's face turned pale. "Those people were afraid that he would betray them, so they came to me overnight and wanted to sell the pork to me."
"If you accept the pork now, they won't bring people to look for you, right?" Tang Yuan asked. Although this might not be the case, there is indeed a risk.
After all, speculation was indeed illegal at that time, and once caught, one would definitely go to jail.
"I think so too. Liu Zhiqiang has just been arrested. If he betrays some people, it would be too dangerous for me to take the pork now," Sun Dong raised his hand, patted his cheek, and tried to convince himself, "If I take over now, I won't be able to make money. No way."
Tang Yuan lowered his head and sat on a horizontal log: "How much is one pound of pork now?"
"Fifty cents," Sun Dong said, looking at Tang Yuan who was looking up, "but if we want both, we can get them for forty cents a pound."
"In this case, you can double your profits just by selling pork. No wonder you are tempted," Tang Yuan said, expressing Sun Dong's thoughts. "If you make it into bacon and sell it, you can make even more money."
"Sister Fang, do you think this business is promising?" Sun Dong sat in front of her.
"As long as you are not afraid of being caught." Tang Yuan looked at him with a smile.
Sun Dong's face changed again: "How can I not be afraid? I don't want to go to jail. But if I think about it carefully, it would be a loss if I don't sell such cheap pork. * "
"They should know the people around you," Tang Yuan crossed his arms, "and Liu Zhiyong had just been arrested, so they must be keeping a close eye on him. With a little investigation, they will find out that Liu Zhiyong is in cahoots with the guy named Guo. In this case, the people behind him will probably want to get rid of him all at once, or maybe they had this idea before, but just didn't find any concrete evidence."
Tang Yuan thought to himself and continued, "If that's the case, not only can you not contact them, but you also have to inform Zhao Zhiqiang and tell him not to go to the mountain again during this period of time."
"Sister Fang, do you mean that someone behind us will be watching us?" Sun Dong looked at her curiously.
"This is someone else's job. If it were you, what would you do?" Tang Yuan asked him, "The premise is that as long as you catch these guys, you will get a promotion and a pay raise."
"Then I will definitely take the blame," Sun Dong said without hesitation, and then his face turned even paler. "Forget it, forget it. I can't make this money. I will inform Zhao Zhiqiang when I get back. Afeng and I will take turns to look after the pigs these days. He has to stay away."
"You two should also be careful. Zhao Zhiqiang knows about your existence and may expose you," Tang Yuan reminded the two. "I don't want to cause any trouble with you two."
“We understand.”
After getting the nods from the two, Tang Yuan still felt it was not stable enough, so he increased the egg trading time to ten days. The weather was cold at that time, and the eggs could be stored for a month without going bad, so even if it was increased to ten days, there was no need to worry about the egg quality.
And the situation turned out to be just as expected.
Although Tang Yuan had no contact with the brothers Sun Dong and Sun Feng afterwards, everyone knew the news that someone had been arrested. In the next few days, there were reports that people were arrested for speculation and even pork was confiscated.
After the pork was tested and confirmed to be free of problems, it was released into the market, causing many people to stock up on pork.
As for Tang Yuan, she did not go out to do business during this period. Apart from going to the scrap yard to collect sweaters every two days, she also went to chat with Aunt Cao.
The two of them chatted openly, and sometimes she went empty-handed, so even if someone looked at her a few more times, they wouldn't notice anything wrong.
But in this case, what we talked about for two days was really the issue of transaction.
"Three to five kilograms, seven to eight kilograms will do. If there's extra, my granddaughter can eat it, too," Aunt Cao whispered to Tang Yuan, "but it's hard to find. The weather's getting cold, and it's hard to find in the south. Please help me try, and if there's really nothing, forget it."
"If it's anything else, it might be hard to find, but I do have a way to find this one," Tang Yuan gave a definite answer, "Don't worry, Aunt Cao."
Aunt Cao was surprised: "Can you really find it?"
Tang Yuan nodded: "Yes."
She was telling the truth. If it was something else, it would indeed be difficult for her to find, but if she just wanted apples, she could just go to the market in Hong Kong and spend money to buy them.
The market in Hong Kong is open and there is a considerable demand for vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. Now is the apple season, so it is easy to buy a few pounds of apples.