Chapter 123 is a limited edition
"We need 500 kilograms this time," Aunt Cao said, sitting across from Tang Garden, flipping through the notebook in her hand. "Everyone is very bold this year, and they act as if there is no such thing as speculation."
"Are Brother Cao and Sister Gu's colleagues at the station also like this?"
"That's them. Do you think they will stop arresting them in the future?" Aunt Cao looked outside the door and lowered her voice. "My son and daughter-in-law went to see a movie a few days ago and heard that someone was selling melon seeds at the entrance of the theater. Although they were sneaky, no one said anything. I guess they made some money."
"I don't know, but the situation is here," Tang Yuan turned around and looked outside. "In the past year or so, many educated youth have returned. There are no jobs to do, and the factory is really unable to recruit new people. If they don't find other ways to make money, will these educated youth just sit at home and wait for death?"
"That won't work. People will get tired of sitting for too long," Aunt Cao frowned. "In that case, it's not impossible to let them do some small business, just like the peddlers in ancient times. At least they can make some money."
"Yeah, so some things have to change." Tang Yuan counted the pearls and shells in the bag in his hand, took out money from the bag he was carrying, and placed it in front of Aunt Cao.
Aunt Cao subconsciously held the money, carefully moved it aside and took a look: "More?"
Tang Yuan winked at her.
The two had worked together many times before. In the past, Aunt Cao had always received a commission for the purchase and sale of food. Seeing her eyes, she immediately understood what she meant and smiled as she clutched the money on the table: "My son said that there will be more in the future. There are not many raised there, but many people keep some in their houses. Now that the news has spread, many people are willing to take it out and exchange it for money. You just wait."
"I'm sure you can trust Aunt Cao to do the job," Tang Yuan put the pearls and shells into a big bag, "I'll bring the food tomorrow. I can just send it to Aunt Cao's house now, right?"
As the situation changed, not only did other people become braver, but Aunt Cao also became much braver. Before, she would definitely not keep food in her own home, but now she dared to do so.
"Okay, bring you to my place, I can hide you well." Aunt Cao stood up and walked Tang Yuan to the door.
Tang Yuan nodded to her, turned around and left quickly.
Not long after she left, someone came over in a hurry.
Aunt Cao had already taken a beam scale in the house and skillfully weighed the flour the other party wanted. She then hurriedly sent the person away without much communication throughout the process.
However, after the person left, Aunt Cao subconsciously patted her chest and made sure that no one was watching outside, then she breathed a sigh of relief.
If her son and daughter-in-law had not said that the situation was different from before, she would definitely not dare to do this. Isn't this equivalent to opening the black market in her own home?
But... Aunt Cao touched the money in her pocket.
With this method, the money she earns every month is higher than the salary of her son and daughter-in-law.
She touched her face, feeling the heat on her face, not sure whether it was nervousness or excitement. If it weren't for this opportunity, she would never have known in her life that making money could be such a happy thing.
Ha ha.
…
"Two thousand kilograms of rice and two thousand kilograms of flour, right?" Tang Yuan wrote down Zheng Man's request. "If it's not urgent, I'll bring it over in a few days."
"Don't worry, they...are just selling small items anyway," Zheng Man covered her mouth and laughed dryly, "By the way, my sister's mental state has been much better recently."
Tang Yuan did not expose Zheng Man's "lie". After all, the grain production in Country M was high and the average price was low. It was more cost-effective for her to buy grain with US dollars and exchange them for Hong Kong dollars than to directly exchange US dollars for grain.
"I also heard from the people in the studio that Zheng Fu is doing well there and is very dedicated to her work," Tang Yuan said of what she knew. "It's better for her to go out and do something than to stay at home all the time."
"Yes, her complexion has become more rosy recently," Zheng Man smiled. "I took her to see a doctor before, and he told her to move more. But I am usually busy outside, and I am really worried about her going out by herself. I am also worried about her going to work in the factory or other places. When she goes to the studio, I pick her up every day. I am usually very relieved."
The two talked about the studio and Zheng Fu for a while.
Zheng Man didn't ask her about the studio's income. After chatting for a while, she talked about the clothes that caught her attention: "I saw a batch of them two days ago. The average price was only five yuan per piece, but the quality was not as good as the previous batch. Do you think it's okay?"
"The wholesale price is five dollars, and the production cost may be only three dollars. This kind of clothes is of poor quality and difficult to sell. But I can't be sure without seeing the clothes," Tang Yuan said, reaching for his wallet and taking out five hundred Hong Kong dollars from his wallet. "This way, if you see something suitable in the future, you can buy ten pieces at a time. If it's really not suitable, you can sell it when you sell hair bands and wallets. We will wholesale the suitable ones."
After the previous 10,000 pieces of clothing were sold out, Tang Yuan ordered another 5,000 pieces. Judging from Mona's sales situation, they should be able to sell for a while, so there is no rush for the clothes.
Zheng Man took the money and nodded: "Okay, let's take a look."
After talking about clothes, he talked about the tea business.
It is now October, and there is still autumn tea in Yunnan Province, but the quality is relatively poor. In addition, it is now time to pick coffee berries, and the amount of tea has been decreasing. Tang Yuan simply rejected the tea and let them focus on making coffee beans.
"We don't have any tea leaves. I'll send some more food to the warehouse," Tang Yuan said to Zheng Man. "We'll focus on food in the next few months. But I still say that we shouldn't confront the big gangs in Hong Kong, especially over food. We can't have conflicts."
There is not much coffee beans available, so there is a shop that specializes in selling coffee beans, which sells them from the autumn when tea leaves can be picked to the autumn of the following year.
As for the coffee trees planted in Yunnan Province in the past two years, they cannot be harvested until at least the 1980s, and by then it will be another business.
While she was thinking, Zheng Man nodded emphatically: "Don't worry, we will definitely not clash with those gangs. I'll trouble you with the food issue later."
Tang Yuan: “No problem.”
There was really no problem with food. Autumn was the season of bumper grain harvest. The amount of grain traded near her market was tens of thousands of kilograms every year. She drove to buy grain, and if her family bought 500 kilograms, it would not attract any attention at all.
She stored all the excess food in the warehouse in Hong Kong.
Even tens of thousands of kilograms of food would not cause much trouble in Hong Kong's market of several million people.
What's more, it was not her who was selling it. If someone was willing to sell it, she would be willing to make the money.
The day for meeting Mona arrived again. Tang Yuan parked his car near the market early and waited for Mona to drive over. She did come, but she drove a smaller truck that was bigger than the previous one.
As soon as they parked the car, Mona opened the door and spoke to her: "Your car is too shabby, but it is indeed very eye-catching and you can see it at a glance."
"Safety comes first," Tang Yuan smiled as she pushed open the car door and looked at her car. "It's a new car I just bought. How much does a car like this cost?"
"Twenty thousand dollars," Mona held up two fingers. "I want to get more goods from you to sell. I made fifty thousand dollars from the last batch of goods. My friends are jealous of me for meeting good friends."
As she spoke, Mona gently hooked Tang Yuan's neck and said, "We are good friends, right?"
Regardless of whether it was true or not, Tang Yuan could not deny it. Of course, this good friend could bring her mutual benefits, which was better than having bad friends.
"Of course we are good friends. I brought some new things this time. Maybe you will like them." Tang Yuan opened the door of the carriage and took out a big bag. "Here are some handmade sweaters. I think you can sell them."
"Handmade sweater?" Mona looked at the bag Tang Yuan opened and took one out. She said in surprise, "Wow, this is really well made. It's amazing. Are they all handmade?"
"Of course, not only are they purely handmade, but each one is different." Tang Yuan put the bag aside, looked at the color of the sweater in Mona's hand, took out a sweater of the same color from the bag, shook it out and put it together with the one in her hand.
When the two pieces are put together, it is easy to see the difference between them. They are indeed completely different styles.
"Great, I like them," Mona said, taking a liking to them. "How much are these sweaters?"
"Twenty dollars." Tang Yuan quoted a medium price.
Without the added fame of Xue Shiqi's handmade sweater shop, she naturally couldn't offer the same high price based on the wage levels in both places. However, the price of twenty US dollars converted into Hong Kong dollars would be one hundred per piece. If calculated in this way, the price is actually more expensive than the sweater she sold to Xue Shiqi.
But according to the wage level in Country M, if one sweater is knitted a day, twenty dollars per piece, that's six hundred dollars a month. If two pieces are knitted a day, that's twelve hundred dollars a month, which is barely the average wage.
By this calculation, the price she quoted was definitely a low price.
Sure enough, when Mona heard the price, her eyes lit up: "Give me all these sweaters, I want them all!"
"I can't put them in my car, so I took fifty pieces this time, plus clothes and hair bands," Tang Yuan showed Mona all the things in the car. "The sweaters are handmade, and there are not many of them. When you come over next time, I'll give you fifty each time, and you can sell them slowly."
"Only fifty pieces?" Mona peeked inside the car door. "The others can be less."
Tang Yuan patted her hands, raised the sweater in his hand, and asked her to look at him: "Mona, this is a limited edition."
"Limited edition?!" Mona raised her voice, and then immediately opened her arms to hug Tang Yuan, "Oh, yes, they are limited edition, you are so smart, Amy, I really like you more and more, you will always be my best friend."
"Of course, you are also my best friend," Tang Yuan replied with a smile, "Next time you come, I will bring you 100 sweaters, and a few ordinary clothes. You can sell them slowly."
Although Shen Wenyu and her colleagues started knitting this batch of sweaters in the summer, their abilities were limited. In a month, they could only knit 70 or 80 pieces at most, and now she only has a few hundred pieces in stock.
It is of course not possible for Mona to produce a large number of handmade sweaters, but she sells them as limited editions. A few hundred sweaters are enough. If she produces more, it will not be easy to use the gimmick of "limited edition".
"Okay, next time you bring me a hundred pieces, I will definitely be able to sell them well," Mona let go of Tang Yuan and looked at her eagerly, "You always bring me surprises, and I like everything you bring me."
Tang Yuan smiled: "Me too."
Love the big handfuls of dollars you bring every time.