Chapter 357 Keeping a Calm
Song Hai opened the canned food jar and took a sniff; the spicy aroma alone was enough to whet his appetite.
"It tastes good; it must have been made by drying out the moisture."
Song Lubai said, "Yes, it needs to be dried for a few days when it's made. You can taste it; it has a lot of seasonings in it. My family also makes our own sauerkraut, which can also be stored for a long time. We made it in January, and there's still a little bit left. We put it in a cool place, and it's still edible."
"However, we haven't decided how many radishes the regiment can plant this year. After all, we have more than 700 new educated youths in our regiment, and the demand for food is high. We are not sure how much we can send out. If you want some, you can tell us in advance, and we will prioritize you when it is ready."
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Song Hai hadn't expected her to actually leave, and stopped her, saying, "What about your shoes...?"
Song Lubai said, "We plan to go and check out other department stores, as well as neighboring counties, and ask around there too."
Song Hai said, "That's too much trouble. Even if you go, the price you'll probably only be a little higher than what I offered."
Song Lubai said sincerely, "Brother, the price you offered is really too low. It's not that I'm unwilling to pay you, but I really can't afford to pay you that price. There are about a hundred women in our group who make shoes, and they are all waiting for us to pay them. After deducting costs and wages, the profit is too small. If the group thinks the shoemaking team is not good enough, they may stop us from working at any time."
"Sorry, brother. I'll come back to you when there's another opportunity to work together. We need to hurry up and get going while it's still light."
"See you next time, brother."
Seeing Song Lubai turn and leave without looking back, Song Hai chased after her and stopped her, saying, "Nine cents, that's the highest price I've offered. I only got you nine cents because we're from the same hometown and relatives. No one else would have offered this price!"
Nine cents is acceptable, but it's still one cent short of Song Lubai's expectations.
Once the shoes entered the supply and marketing cooperative, they could easily sell for 1.2 yuan. Now was the perfect season to sell single-layer shoes, and Song Hai felt he couldn't let such a lucrative opportunity slip by.
She turned around and said with a troubled look, "Brother, business is business and personal is personal. I still think the price you gave me is a bit low. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. We'll go to a few more places. I'd rather work harder myself than make things difficult for you to give the supply and marketing cooperatives an explanation."
He was willing to raise the price, which put Song Lubai at ease.
At worst, I'll just have to visit a few more places, go to all of them, and compare prices to find the best deal.
Song Hai never expected this girl from his village to be so cunning.
She looked so serious as she said, "I don't want to put him in a difficult position," which seemed like she was thinking of him, but in reality, she was pressuring him to raise the price.
"Brother, try some dried radish at noon. If you like it, I'll bring you more next time I come. If you want to buy our products, you'll have to let me know in advance."
Song Lubai turned around again and left without looking back.
Song Hai scoffed inwardly: Let's see how long you can keep up this act!
one two three…
Hey! Why isn't it stopping?
Having already reached the door, Song Lubai thought to herself, "Are you really not going to take it anymore?"
Ugh! If they won't raise the price, then she'll go ask somewhere else.
"Hey girl, don't go yet!"
Song Lubai had already walked three meters out the door when she heard this, and the tension in her heart eased, a triumphant smile curving her lips.
She turned around with a puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong, bro?"
Song Hai waved to her from the courtyard, "Come back first, let's talk some more."
Damn it, this girl is almost thirty years younger than him, yet she's more composed than him.
Song Lubai said with a kind and understanding expression, "Brother, don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. Once the dried radishes are ready in the fall, if you want some, I'll try to find a way to give you a discount. As for these shoes, we'll think of something else."
Song Hai thought to himself, "She's really good at pretending!"
"Come on, girl, let's go inside and talk."
Song Lubai stood motionless in the courtyard. "Brother, we need to hurry up and ask other families. We can't waste any more time here."
Song Hai had no choice but to hold his nose and ask, "What price do you want? Tell me. If you go to other places, they definitely won't offer as much as I do. Why waste your energy?"
Song Lubai held up one finger and said, "One yuan a pair. We promised the regiment before we delivered the goods that it would be one yuan a pair so that we could give the workers 10 cents for each pair of shoes. Brother, for the sake of our family, I'm telling you the truth. If it's less than one yuan, we definitely can't give it to you."
Song Hai planned to set the price at 1.2 yuan. If the purchase price was 1 yuan, the supply and marketing cooperative would make 2 mao (0.2 yuan).
He pondered for a moment and said, "Ninety-five cents, that's the highest I can go."
Song Lubai stood up, muttering, "Brother, don't waste my time anymore. I won't make things difficult for you. You can't give me as much as I want. If I don't complete the mission, I won't be able to go back to the regiment to explain."
Seeing that she was about to leave again, Song Hai said with slight annoyance, "Fine, fine, one yuan it is! We need to inspect the goods here! They have to be brand new shoes with few defects. We won't accept goods that are too bad."
Song Lubai almost burst out laughing at her success.
She suppressed a laugh and said seriously, "Don't worry, brother, these goods have all been inspected and are of very good quality. I'm not afraid of your inspection."
"Brother, when will the payment be settled? Our workers are in a hurry to get paid. If we don't get paid, they might start to slack off."
Song Hai's confidence has returned.
As the purchaser, the delivery party has the final say on whether they want money and when they want to receive it.
"Young lady, you've worked in the supply and marketing cooperative before, so you should know that the accounts are only settled at the end of each month. Please wait a bit. This rule wasn't set by me. We have to wait until the accounts of the supply and marketing cooperative are settled before we can settle the payments for each item."
Song Lubai nodded and said, "The accounts aren't urgent. You can pay me after you've settled everything. I'll make some more dried radish when I get back and bring you a jar next time. If I'm not coming, I'll have our Director Liu bring it over. You've helped me a lot this time, and I really need to thank you properly."
Song Hai laughed and said, "Next time, bring your husband to the city so our family can have a meal together."
Song Lubai readily agreed.
Immediately afterwards, Song Hai found the purchasing department to inspect and count the goods. Since it was the first time they had wholesaled these products, Song Hai himself was also present to watch and count them.
While the people there were inspecting the goods, Yang Xiue quietly walked up to Song Lubai and whispered to ask how much they were being paid.
Director Liu's gaze also shifted over.
Song Lubai gestured with one finger.
Yang Xiu'e's face lit up with joy instantly.
Director Liu gave Song Lubai a thumbs up.
Standing diagonally opposite, Song Hai was so angry at the sight of the three's dispute that his nose almost twisted out of shape.
If you want to be happy, can't you wait until you leave this place? Why do you have to be happy right under his nose!
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