"Hanging? Hanging noodles? My God, is this really hanging noodles?"
Xiao Jiu smiled when she saw how excited the old lady was.
"Auntie, isn't that just noodles? Ten pounds in total, one yuan per pound!"
"One yuan per pound?" The old lady exclaimed in surprise, then realized she had spoken too loudly and quickly covered her mouth.
"No, honey, this is way too expensive!"
Xiao Jiu shook her head. "Auntie, how can you say the price I'm offering is expensive? I'll sell you the pastries for one yuan per pound, and the noodles only have salt in them. The pastries have oil, broth, and even eggs. My noodles are absolutely a fair price. Go check the black market; local grain coupons alone are three yuan per pound, and national grain coupons are five yuan each! Mine are made from real white flour!"
Although her noodles would be the cheapest kind in later generations, they were definitely a high-quality product in this era.
To make it easier to sell, she sealed the noodles in paper for most of the night, one packet containing one pound of noodles.
"How much do you sell these vegetables for?"
"Two bunches of greens are five cents, a bunch of celery is five cents, and a head of cabbage is five cents. And this oil is two dollars a bag, and a bag weighs one pound (in a plastic bag)."
The old lady looked at this and touched that: "What kind of oil is this?"
"Soybean blended oil".
"None of them are cheap!"
Xiao Jiu admitted, "The black market price is even higher than mine. I only brought it over because your family is easy to get along with..."
"Then wait a bit. They'll all be back from get off work soon, and we'll need to discuss how to buy it."
Xiao Jiu understood, and then took out a piece of paper and added all the ingredients together.
"Ten pounds of noodles, ten yuan; ten bunches of bok choy and spinach, twenty bunches, that's five yuan; ten bunches of celery, five yuan; ten cabbages, five yuan; ten bags of oil, twenty yuan; that's forty-five yuan in total. I'll give you a 20% discount, so it's 41 yuan. Ma'am, if you want all of these, how about I give you a four-yuan discount?"
"Well... my family is large, but we don't need this much,"
“Auntie, it’s winter now and the New Year is coming soon. Even if you can’t eat it all yourself, you can find a reliable family to share it with.”
"What's the point of celebrating the New Year now? There's no meat, no eggs, no flour, nothing at all."
Xiao Jiu pursed her lips. "I can get meat, but it's expensive, three yuan a pound. I didn't dare to buy it because I thought it was too expensive! Eggs aren't sold by weight anymore, they're sold by the piece, fifty cents a egg, so expensive, who can afford that!"
Upon hearing that a little wine could bring in meat and eggs, the old lady was so happy that she slapped her thigh.
"You can really deliver meat and eggs?"
Xiao Jiu nodded, "Sure, but only if you can accept the price."
Thinking about the meat in the cold storage, it's time to deal with it. We can take out half a carcass, thaw it, and then string it together with hemp rope, one pound at a time.
"when?"
Xiao Jiu calculated the time.
"I'll deliver it to you around dinner time tomorrow night."
But are you really okay with this price?
Did she underestimate the purchasing power of this era?
"My two sons and daughters-in-law are both permanent employees, and I, the old man, haven't retired yet, so it's like five workers in one family."
Everyone wants a good New Year, and there's a meat shortage right now. If you can really get some, we'll take it for three yuan.
"Including eggs, please bring us some too. If you have chicken or fish, that would be even better."
Five workers? That's definitely a wealthy family. Perhaps the harmony in the family is due to the two sons being of similar abilities.
Xiao Jiu quickly did some mental calculations, "How much do you want?"
The old lady thought about her relatives and said, "We need a hundred eggs, and twenty catties of meat, is that alright?"
Xiao Jiu immediately nodded, "Okay, no problem, then please settle this bill for me first."
I'll leave now. After you've eaten tomorrow, I'll bring you the remaining meat and eggs.
The old lady looked at the vegetables and noodles, thinking that it was almost Chinese New Year and she couldn't be without anything.
With a determined effort, he counted out forty-one yuan for Xiao Jiu.
As soon as the money was handed over, she grabbed her wrist with her other hand.
"Then... will you give me a discount on the meat and eggs?"
Xiao Jiu shook his head. "These are all expensive to buy. We basically only make money from running errands."
but……
If you can eat this much in the future, I can give you five extra eggs as a reward, how about that?
Five eggs cost two yuan and fifty cents!
The old lady could tell that this was the limit her youngest daughter could handle, so she didn't press the matter and readily agreed.
"With your words, our business can last. Before the New Year, I'll try to find you a batch of fine grains, white rice and white flour."
"Oh, really? That's great! Just like you said, if I can't finish it all, I can share it with my relatives."
At this time, every household is short of food and oil, you've really saved us from our urgent need. Okay, it'll be your price!
Seeing that the old lady was honest, Xiao Jiu wanted to befriend her, so he generously carried his bamboo basket out the door.
"Auntie, I'll go back first. I'll have my aunt wait for me at home tomorrow. It's not easy for me to come to the city, so I want to see everything."
"Okay, we'll cook your dinner tomorrow night. Drive carefully!"
With such a reliable person in mind, Xiao Jiu was unwilling to take the risk of selling to other stores. If, like last time, she ran into an incompetent person, it would be a loss.
After leaving the family compound, Xiao Jiu found a place to enter her spatial dimension and first placed the meat outside the warehouse to thaw.
She discovered that the weather outside the warehouse was the same as outside, so food didn't keep well, which is why she cooked outside.
After struggling to push the half-portion of pork out in a small cart, he changed his clothes, put down his bicycle, and headed to school.
I made 41 yuan today. Tomorrow I'll sell a few more frozen chickens and fish, which would be a big business worth over 100 yuan.
Judging by the time, Sister Ye Zhen should have gone home by now, so I decided not to wander around outside and went straight back to school.
I'm thinking about what excuse I can come up with tomorrow to ask for leave.
When we got near the school, we found a shady spot to go in, and steamed some rice in the rice cooker. We also stir-fried a plate of spicy and sour shredded potatoes outside, and steamed a box of pre-made steamed pork with vegetables. With one meat dish and one vegetable dish, we ate it with rice and enjoyed it immensely.
After finishing the meal, while strolling around the warehouse, I ate another pound of fresh strawberries.
When I came out of the space after eating and drinking my fill, I was carrying a bag of peach shortbread, which I was going to take to the dormitory to share with everyone.
As soon as I entered the dormitory, I sensed that something was wrong. When I saw Zhou Shengnan, who had returned sometime earlier, crying in her quilt, I had a bad feeling.
"Why is Sister Shengnan back at this time? What happened?"
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