Chapter 353 Pricing
The same rumor spread among the crowd, and the women noticed that Zhang Cui had been divorced twice and was ruthless, and that her daughter, the regimental commander's wife, might be the same.
But when the news got into the men's circle, all they would say to Feng Xiaolong was, "Since your family has this connection, why don't you make good use of it?"
Feng Xialong was deeply moved by what everyone said.
Wasn't the reason he couldn't be selected as team leader before because he didn't have connections?
After finishing work, Feng Xiaolong rushed home.
He waited at home until dark before Zhao Dongmei returned.
"You come home this late every day, waiting for me to cook for you?"
Feng Yaozu, standing to the side, patted his stomach and said he was hungry.
Feng Xiaolong got annoyed and told his son to shut up.
"I heard from others that you and the regimental commander's wife are related, and that her father is the uncle of the man you mentioned before, is that right? Why didn't you tell me about this?"
This kind of kinship might make Feng Xiaolong feel ashamed, but if he can really use it to build a relationship, then it doesn't matter how ashamed he is.
Zhao Dongmei's expression changed.
These past few days, she's been living in fear because of Shen Lingyu, and she never expected that the news would reach Feng Xiaolong's ears first.
At this moment, she regretted it even more.
"Who told you that? The regimental commander's wife's mother has already divorced her uncle, so they're not really relatives anymore."
Feng Xiaolong said, "Do you know why I wasn't selected as the team leader the other day? It's because I didn't have any connections! If you had told me earlier that you had this relationship with the regimental commander's wife, you would have had to keep in touch."
Feng Xiaolong sighed in regret, while Zhao Dongmei felt uneasy.
Zhao Dongmei explained, "If the regimental commander's wife's mother hadn't come to our regiment, I wouldn't have known that Song Lubai was her daughter. Even if I had known, it wouldn't have mattered."
Feng Xiaolong wouldn't listen. He said, "Tomorrow I'll try to get some good stuff. You go and get to know the regimental commander's wife."
Zhao Dongmei refused.
Holding her child and with her head down, she said, "Back then, my family and the regimental commander's wife's family didn't get along. What was the point of me going to give gifts? I was lucky if they didn't curse me out."
Feng Xiaolong said angrily, "You mean you not only can't help me at all, but you'll also hold me back?"
Zhao Dongmei didn't dare to say a word.
"Did you bring bad luck to your ex-husband? You look so unlucky now. What can you do all day?"
Feng Xiaolong raised his fist as if to hit someone, but when he thought of Tang Xuewen, who had been forced to live in the dormitory, he withdrew his fist, muttering nasty curses under his breath.
Feng Xiaolong spoke loudly, and the child started crying again.
Feng Xiaolong was furious. "Crying, crying, crying! All you do all day long is cry. You're a useless adult, and your child is useless too."
Finally, Zhao Dongmei couldn't help but say, "How can I be useless? My period hasn't come for two months, I might be pregnant again."
Feng Xiaolong was taken aback. "Really?"
Sensing the change in his tone, Zhao Dongmei breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gently.
Feng Xiaolong was happy again.
"You'd better give me a daughter. We already have two sons, and I really want a daughter now."
In the old society, daughters could be exchanged for other families to be child brides. Now it's a new society, and although that practice is no longer common, raising a daughter can still be used to exchange for food. Once the daughter gets married, her family will no longer be a weak and helpless one.
“My daughter is wonderful. She can help with chores around the house when she's five or six. Old Liu’s daughter is seven and she’s a real go-getter. She washes all the clothes in the house and sometimes even cooks. She’s very hardworking. If we have a daughter, she can help you with chores when she’s a little older.”
Zhao Dongmei originally wanted to have a son because she felt that if she had a son, Feng Xiaolong would treat her better and he wouldn't dislike her son so much. But after hearing what Feng Xiaolong said, she thought it would be good to have a daughter first. If she had a daughter first and then had a son later, Feng Xiaolong wouldn't care so much about Feng Yaozu.
The two stopped arguing, and Feng Yaozu patted his stomach and exclaimed, "I'm hungry!"
Feng Xiaolong said, "Have your mom cook for you."
Zhao Dongmei could only put the child on the bed before cooking.
Feng Xiaolong was about to leave when Zhao Dongmei asked, "Where are you going?"
Without turning his head, Feng Xiaolong said, "Go play cards. Save my food for me. I'll eat when I get back."
Zhao Dongmei didn't say anything more.
During the winter when things were quiet for a while, the men would gather to play cards. Zhao Dongmei went once and saw that their bets were either cigarettes or pennies, so she stopped caring.
Since everyone was broke, they could only play small games. Zhao Dongmei knew that Feng Xiaolong wouldn't listen to anything she said, so she could only let him be.
April has arrived in the blink of an eye, and the shoemaking class has been working for nearly two months.
Over the past two months, Zhao Hongying has inspected and approved 632 pairs of shoes, but the shoes have not yet been delivered, so naturally, the workers have not been paid.
At this time, Yang Xiu'e and Zhao Hongying were in the courtyard behind the supply and marketing cooperative.
Six hundred and thirty-two pairs of shoes were neatly laid out on the regeneration cloth on the ground.
At several tables, Xiao Feng from the regiment's finance department and Zhu Ying, the accountant from the supply and marketing cooperative, were both present.
The accounts for this batch of shoes were easy to calculate; the two of them quickly figured out the costs.
"With so many shoes, the cost of our fabric is 248 yuan, and the labor cost is only 6.32 yuan. Department stores don't sell cloth shoes. Other shoes start at at least 1.5 yuan. We can make a profit even if we sell our shoes for 0.5 yuan, but the profit is just too small."
Zhao Hongying said worriedly, "Every household can make cloth shoes. If we ask for a high price, will we be able to sell them?"
Song Lubai said, "Of course we can! We'll sell them in the city! Cloth shoes aren't rare items, so we don't need ration coupons to buy them. Comrade Xiao, will the regiment send someone with us this time to promote the shoes?"
Xiao Feng said, "We've already set the price here. The regiment has reported to the division headquarters, and the division headquarters has allowed our regiment to generate these revenues on its own. The regimental commander mentioned in a previous meeting that after we've completed a batch, we'll go to the city with the comrades from the supply and marketing department and ask Director Liu to help us pave the way."
Yang Xiu'e chimed in, "Yes, yes, I went to the meeting last time too, and that's what your Wei Yang said."
Director Liu came out of his office and called out, "Song Lubai, you'll be coming with us this time to deliver the goods."
Song Lubai also wanted to go out and see the world, so she immediately agreed.
"Then what price do you suggest we set?"
Zhao Hongying said, "If it's too expensive, no one will buy it, right? But if it's too cheap, it's not worth it."
Their shoe-making team wanted to do something big. Zhao Hongying was dreaming of opening a factory, but they only earned a few hundred yuan in two months. When would they ever be able to open a factory?
But Zhao Hongying has never seen several hundred yuan in her life. Earning several hundred yuan in two months is already a lot.
Song Lubai said, "Without sewing machines, it takes workers eight or nine days to make a pair of shoes. Each person can only make three or four pairs a month. It takes more than a hundred people to make these shoes. We can't sell them too cheaply. Let's set a price of one cent and go try it out. Sister Xiu'e, do you think it's too little to pay the workers one cent per pair of shoes?"
My hands were raw from pricking so many needles for a month, and I only earned three cents. It was like a joke.
If this goes on for too long, the workers will probably lose their motivation.
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