Chapter 187 Zhao Xiaoyu Buys Jade
The captain's eyes lit up instantly, and his voice rose eight octaves with excitement: "It really worked?!"
“It’s all thanks to my aunt’s husband knowing Director Wang of the supply and marketing cooperative,” Lin Baozhu added with a smile, “otherwise the business wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”
Li Xiaoxian quickly took out the purchase and sales slip stamped with a red seal from his pocket and solemnly handed it over.
The captain snatched it away, his eyes quickly scanning the paper—when he saw the words "Order two hundred flowers, six cents each," his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets!
"Good heavens! Just a few scraps of cloth sewn together, and one flower is worth six cents?!" His voice trembled.
"That's right, Captain!"
Lin Baozhu smiled and pulled out six brand-new ten-yuan bills from her cloth bag: "This is a deposit of sixty yuan from the supply and marketing cooperative! The remaining balance will be settled upon delivery!"
If the purchase and sales order excited the team leader, then this stack of real banknotes was like a heavy hammer hitting his heart!
How many years has Da Ge Ba Village been poor? While other villages' factories are thriving, they are struggling to even pay back their debts to the commune!
He hadn't had high hopes for the hair accessory business, but now he felt a surge of excitement rush to his head!
"Let's go to the brigade headquarters! Let's have a good talk about this!"
The captain's voice was loud and clear. He grabbed Li Xiaoxian's arm and his eyes welled up with tears of emotion.
The brigade headquarters was packed: the brigade leader, the accountant, the village party secretary, the women's director, and Lin's mother, whose face was glowing. The purchase and sales slip with the "wealth code" written on it and the sixty shiny deposit bills were placed on the small wooden table in front of everyone, attracting all eyes.
"Baozhu, are these hair ornaments... easy to make? How many can one person make in a day?"
"Besides hair ornaments, does the supply and marketing cooperative need anything else? There are plenty of skilled craftspeople in our village!"
“Precious Pearl…”
“Precious Pearl…”
The questions came at her like a barrage of bullets. Lin Baozhu, with a calm smile, answered them one by one:
"My mom and Da Ni made more than thirty flowers in the past two days. Experienced people can make them even faster! The cost comes to about 15 cents per flower!"
"The autumn harvest is peak wedding season, and our hair accessories are brighter and prettier than those from the supply and marketing cooperative, so we don't have to worry about selling them! Besides, with my aunt's husband and Director Wang's connections, once our dried rabbit and braised rabbit are ready, we won't have to worry about sales either! As for the rest..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over everyone, "Let's make this headpiece a hit first, then we can slowly expand!"
These words moved the captain so much that he grabbed Li Xiaoxian's hand tightly and shook it vigorously:
"Comrade Li! You are a great benefactor to our village!"
The village party secretary chimed in with a broad smile, "Yes! It's all thanks to Comrade Li's connections! Otherwise, we wouldn't even know which way the supply and marketing cooperative director's door faces!"
Everyone looked at Li Xiaoxian with gratitude and eagerness—this connection was the golden bridge to prosperity for Dageba Village!
"Captain, you flatter me!" Li Xiaoxian quickly waved his hand, cleverly steer the conversation back on track:
“Baozhu asked, and I have connections, so how could I not help? Besides, if it weren’t for the righteous help from the villagers of Da Geba Village last time, my wife and daughter… sigh!”
Lin's mother immediately understood and replied:
"This is what they call good deeds being rewarded! Our village helped you back then, and now you're helping our village get orders. What a coincidence! Brother-in-law, if you ever have any difficulties in the future, just let me know! Don't be shy about asking the brigade leader!"
Having been presented with such a clear message, Li Xiaoxian naturally didn't hesitate and quickly replied:
"To be honest, there really is a difficulty..."
His expression turned serious. "Everyone knows my family's situation. My mother, brother, and sister-in-law are all...in jail. Today, the village head of Lijiazhuang brought people to the hospital to force me to raise my nephew...We can't stay in that village anymore! I'm thinking of...transferring my household registration to our Dageba Village! Firstly, to cut off any thoughts of that place, and secondly, so that it will be legitimate for me to run orders for our village in the future. I don't know if the village head..."
The captain was overjoyed—keeping the man there would secure the deal, wouldn't it? He took a puff of his pipe, feigning contemplation:
"Settling down here... you need to think this through! Once you move here, you'll be completely cut off from Lijiazhuang! It'll be difficult to go back!"
"I've thought it through!"
"As long as I can protect my wife and children, anywhere is home! The wheat harvest has already been distributed, and we haven't even started work on the autumn planting. As for the house and our private plot in Lijiazhuang... let the village take them if they want!"
"good!"
The brigade leader slapped his thigh: "You're a smart guy! I'll take care of the household registration for you! The land for the house will be allocated right away! Then we'll have the able-bodied men in the village help build the house!"
He waved his hand enthusiastically, "Keep up the good work! Our Da Geba Village will be great from now on!"
"Thank you, Captain!"
Li Xiaoxian's voice trembled with excitement: "Don't worry! I'll do my best to do a good job in sales!"
Taking the opportunity, Lin's mother suggested, "Captain, I think that open space at the east end of the village, not far from my house, would be nice? It's close by, so we can look out for each other if anything happens!"
"Alright! That spot will do!" the brigade leader readily agreed. Next, they busied themselves with tasks like allocating residential plots, dividing up private plots, and gathering skilled women to learn how to make hair ornaments... the village was a hive of activity.
After Lin Baozhu and Li Xiaoxian settled everything, they rode their bicycles back to the town hospital, and it was nearly evening. Lin Baozhu hurriedly said a few words to her aunt Guo Rongrong, then picked up Li Dani and headed towards Dageba Village, facing the setting sun.
Just as we reached the village entrance, a figure suddenly darted out from the side of the road, spreading his arms wide and blocking the middle of the road!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Zhao Xiaoyu!
She was wrapped in a worn-out floral cotton-padded jacket, her hair was disheveled, and her head was wrapped in thick gauze. Her face was pale, her eyes were sunken, and her bruises were dark. Her former pretentious aloofness had vanished, leaving only a paranoid madness.
"Lin Baozhu! You stop right there!!"
Seeing this, Li Dani jumped off the car in a flash, rolled up her sleeves, put her hands on her hips, and yelled, "Whose mad dog wasn't leashed and is blocking the way?!"
Zhao Xiaoyu ignored her, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Lin Baozhu's face:
"Jade pendant! Where's your jade pendant?! Take it out now!"
The smile on Lin Baozhu's face froze instantly, and her eyes turned as cold as ice.
Seeing that Lin Baozhu did not answer, Zhao Xiaoyu's voice suddenly became shrill: "Speak up! Where is your jade pendant?!" She even reached out to grab Lin Baozhu's arm!
"Get out of my way!" Li Dani reacted quickly, shoving her hard and making her stumble. "Keep your dirty hands away from my cousin!"
Zhao Xiaoyu staggered to her feet, shouting recklessly, "Sell it to me! Sell me your jade pendant! I'll pay! Ten yuan! No, twenty! No, no, thirty, is that enough?!"
She had a dream last night that she was in a strange place with a spring. Around the spring, various precious medicinal herbs were planted, including ginseng that was as thick as a white radish and lingzhi mushrooms that were as big as umbrellas.
There was also an endless expanse of land, planted with crops, surrounded by various fruit trees, and several large shopping malls that would only exist in modern times...
In the end, everything was condensed into a single jade pendant, the very one that Lin Baozhu had stolen from her...
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