Chapter 156
Zhou Jiani walked into the house and took out the braised pork and meat buns she had bought from her bag. Before her mother could scold her, she said, "Mom, you said I've lost weight too. Think about it, I eat in the company cafeteria. As a cadre, I have to be frugal and simple. I can't eat delicious food every day, right? I have to eat well when I get home."
Yu Huifang laughed angrily: "I've missed out on food since you came back. I just thought you should save the money you earn instead of just buying things for the family."
Zhou Jiani hugged Comrade Huifang's arm and said with a smile, "I know, I know. I'm saving it."
Yu Huifang slapped her in annoyance.
Jiaping and Jiaan didn't care about that and just ate with their mouths full of oil.
The next day when Zhou Jiani went out, she hung a large basket on her shoulder and rode her bike with one hand on the handlebars. When she left the dormitory, Liu Ailing was coming back from buying groceries with a basket on her arm. They walked towards each other and didn't talk this time. But Zhou Jiani didn't know that when she turned out of the dormitory area, Liu Ailing went back and stood at the door to watch her. She didn't look away until she saw her turn the corner again.
Liu Ailing had a good plan. She wanted to rely on her familiarity with the surrounding terrain and then judge where Zhou Jiani might go based on which direction she turned.
In the end, I looked around but found nothing. It was neither the way to the First Department Store, nor the direction to the Second Department Store, nor the direction to the station.
"Why did you go to Xiaoyangzhuang? There's no tram passing by Xiaoyangzhuang..."
After returning home, Lu Cuifang said, "That damned girl Zhou Jiani ran away again. I heard from the neighbors that she went to sell her baskets. Can't you do what she can do? You should go out and try. I don't expect you to become a commune cadre, but at least you can get a job at the factory over there and earn some money to help support the family. The family relies on your father alone, and with so many mouths to feed, we can barely make ends meet. You haven't been home for over six months, and every time you come back, you carry half a bag of cornmeal. Look at that girl from the Zhou family. One day she brings hairtail, the next day she brings meat, and she also brings home tons of food. Look at you, I really raised you for nothing, and you don't get any benefit from the family..."
Liu Ailing lowered her eyelids and waited until her mother finished speaking before she said, "Okay, then give me some money and ask my dad to leave me a bicycle, and I'll go out for a walk too."
She didn't consider supporting her family, but she wanted to leave the countryside.
Lu Cuifang said unhappily, "I still have to give you money? I want you to pay some money back home..."
Liu Ailing said, "I only have enough money for the return ticket. You know I just came from the farm and don't have much money. Zhou Jiani isn't going to the department store this time. She wants to take over the surrounding districts and counties. I was thinking, if I can negotiate with one or two stores, I can help the villagers sell their own products and make a profit from the difference."
Lv Cuifang didn't quite understand any of this, but she understood the price difference and immediately perked up. She whispered, "Do you think Zhou Jiani made any profit from the price difference?"
Liu Ailing frowned and thought for a moment: "She probably didn't think about making a profit from the price difference, because after she finished the negotiation and went back, it became a business-to-business deal. How much goods could she bring in herself?"
"That's right." Lu Cuifang laughed proudly: "That silly girl, I thought she was so smart."
He painfully took out five dollars and handed it over, saying, "If you don't have the ability, you'd better stop as soon as possible. Even if you can't make money, you have to give me these five dollars back."
Liu Ailing laughed hurriedly, "I understand, mother, but don't tell anyone about this before it's done. Even if it's done, don't tell anyone, lest they find out what's going on and try to trip us up."
Lu Cuifang said unhappily, "I don't know as much as you do."
Liu Ailing put the money into her pocket, feeling a little upset. Her mother gave her five dollars and told her to pay it back in full if she couldn't do it. The meaning was that if she couldn't make the deal, she would have to compensate the family for whatever she spent.
She lowered her head to hide the mockery in her eyes, turned around and walked out to Xiaoyangzhuang. She would have to wait until the evening to discuss her father's bicycle.
Riding a bike is fast, but it is not close enough for Liu Ailing to walk there. She was sweating when she got there and did not see Zhou Jiani. She asked and found that there was no passing bus nearby.
"Where did she go?"
After walking around for a long time and not seeing anyone, Liu Ailing hurried back. As soon as she reached the downstairs of the dormitory area, she saw Zhou Jiani carrying a large basket down, pushing the bicycle with one hand, and riding away again.
Liu Ailing gritted her teeth and followed him out...
Zhou Jiani had no idea that Liu Ailing was staring at her like that, and she accidentally slipped her away twice.
The second time, she found a place to put the basket away, rode her bike to the vicinity of the station, found a corner to put the basket away, took a bus to the surrounding districts and counties, and strolled around for another day.
In the evening, I took the last bus back to Qiyang, took the tram to the vicinity of the Second Spinning Factory, found a corner to take out my bicycle, and took out the spicy kelp slices that I had ordered from the group, unpacked them and poured them into the lunch box, sealed it, took out the braised pig's trotters that I bought for noon today, and carried them all into the house.
Liu Ailing was cooking in the corridor. She glanced over here angrily and then looked away.
On the third day, Zhou Jiani went out again, pretending to go in and out two or three times, taking out the big basket she brought and putting it in the warehouse, and then taking the mini samples to Aunt Su.
What she didn't know was that when she went out in the morning, Liu Ailing fell behind her, but Zhou Jiani didn't take the usual route and went into the alleys. Liu Ailing didn't dare to follow too closely. She kept a little distance and turned a corner before she could see her out of sight. She didn't even know that Zhou Jiani had gone back twice.
Zhou Jiani left two sets of miniature bamboo baskets at the export company and sent the other two sets to the Friendship Store. She wandered around the store and then went to the post office at around 3:00 a.m. to call the village. Liu Tong answered the phone at first. Just as Zhou Jiani was about to ask him to call Qiu Zeming, she heard Liu Tong say, "Wait a minute, Zeming is coming..."
A muffled voice came from the other end of the line, accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity. It seemed that Liu Tong asked, "You're back so soon?"
Qiu Zeming responded with something and picked up the phone: "Hello, Jiani."
Zhou Jiani asked, "Where have you been?"
"I just got back from a trip to the county." Qiu Zeming said with a smile, "Grandma, uncles and aunts, are all doing well?"
Zhou Jiani: "Everything is fine, Comrade Xiao Qiu, I'm going to give you a task."
Qiu Zeming: "Team Leader Zhou, please give your instructions."
Zhou Jiani held the phone in her hand, her arm resting on the counter. Just as she was about to speak with a smile, she paused and looked outside. She saw Liu Ailing looking at her furtively. She burst out laughing, turned her back to the door, covered the phone and laughed, "There's actually a tail hanging behind me."
Qiu Zeming: "What's going on?"
Zhou Jiani: "It's okay, it's Liu Ailing, don't worry about her, let's talk about business, ahem..."
As soon as she coughed, Qiu Zeming knew that this serious matter must convey other information, and he couldn't help but say with a smile: "I'm all ears."
Zhou Jiani whispered, "Well, ahem, I have an order for a batch of baskets and large baskets. It's urgent. I need fifty three-liter baskets and thirty large baskets. It's very urgent, and it would be best if they could be shipped within three to five days. If our commune doesn't have them, you can go to Tianzizhuang Brigade of Donghe Commune and ask who has the goods on hand. I can place an order in my name, and I'll list a few brigades under our commune. You can go to our office in the commune and find Song Chao. Help him pass on the order. Those who don't have urgent orders can put them on hold and make this batch of baskets. Also, make sure everyone knows that these are the goods I want."
"Ask Uncle Sheng or Uncle Si for the price. They know the market price. It's two dollars higher than what we pay the dealership."
Qiu Zeming's eyebrows jumped. The person was too far away, and he couldn't communicate with him mentally. He asked vaguely, "You have already negotiated with the client, right?"
Zhou Jiani smiled: "Of course, I will go back and receive the goods myself." Don't blame her for getting rich.
Qiu Zeming felt relieved and hinted again, "You can collect it yourself, or give it to Brother Zhang from the transport team..."
What this means is that the transport team will provide a backup, so she doesn't have to put too much pressure on herself.
Zhou Jiani: "I know, if you need me, I will contact Brother Zhang."
Outside, Liu Ailing felt complicated.
She lost Zhou Jiani in the morning and simply didn't go back. She rode her bike around and strolled around. At noon, she satisfied her craving at a restaurant outside. When she was about to go back after a while, she unexpectedly saw Zhou Jiani there by accident.
"She's so elusive, and she's really scheming." Liu Ailing was furious, and didn't want to talk to Zhou Jiani anymore. She was thinking about going to the surrounding counties and districts tomorrow to ask around. As long as she could close a deal, she wouldn't have to do the hard work, and could ask her fellow villagers to make some baskets and send them over to sell.
She went back before Zhou Jiani finished her call.
On the other side, Qiu Zeming hung up the phone and rode his bike to the commune.
The people from the handicraft group haven't come down for several days, and in fact, the village cadres are the most panicked.
Hou Yongjun from the Nanwang Brigade was watching the processing workshop ship out goods while anxiously thinking of an excuse to go to the commune to ask what to do with the next batch after completing this batch of orders. He was afraid that the team would be angry and not give them any tasks.
He was envious of the achievements of the Qianjin Brigade, and now that the opportunity had come, he was afraid that a few individuals would ruin this good thing. He had been feeling so aggrieved recently that he felt like he had a few more wrinkles on his face.
But we can't afford to offend Uncle Su. In the past, the village had some money, but it was all earned by Uncle Su who brought people and goods out to exchange.
If he spoke harshly at this moment, it would seem that he was about to put down his bowl and curse his mother.
Not to mention that people helped him a lot in the election that year.
Hou Yongjun was so worried that he pulled his hair out. He went to the village supply and marketing cooperative and got two bottles of bottled wine, which were not broken up. He carried them in a net bag and went to Su Chenghai's house.
As soon as he entered the door, he smiled and said, "Uncle!"
Su Chenghai was sitting on the doorstep smoking his pipe. When he saw him come in, he said with a forced smile, "Oh, what's the wind blowing today? Captain Hou is blowing right into our house."
Hou Yongjun laughed, "Even if there's no wind, can't I come and see my uncle?" He held out the wine as if to ask for credit, "I'm bringing wine to my uncle."
Su Chenghai took a puff of his cigarette, still looking disapproving. He half-closed his eyes and said, "No price." He added, "I want to drink, and my apprentices will buy it for me. You are a team leader, and I'm afraid this wine of yours will give me heartburn."
He called out to his wife, speaking in a strange voice, "Hey, old lady, did our grandson get into trouble today? Come out and ask our captain. If he did, he should pay the money and bow to the emperor. I'm going to go back to the house to take a nap."
After saying that, he got up and went into the house, slammed the door shut, and disappeared.
Hou Yongjun felt a little embarrassed, but he dared not express his anger. He turned around and stuffed the wine into Aunt Su's hand, saying with a stiff smile, "Aunt, this is a gift from me to honor my uncle. I have things to do in the team, so I'll go take care of them first."
Aunt Su kept pushing it away, saying, "No, no, no, Yongjun, please don't make it difficult for me. Your Uncle Su has a bad temper. If I take something he doesn't want, he'll be mad at me. Just take it back quickly..."
He walked Hou Yongjun to the door and said with a low laugh, "Hey, don't blame the old man. He just felt that the village might not need him in the future. He thought you guys thought he was useless and threw him out. Now those young girls and boys can help the village make money, and he has become a waste..."
Hou Yongjun said helplessly: "Aunt, we don't think so..."
Aunt Su laughed and interrupted him, not wanting to hear his explanation at all: "I know, I know, it's okay, I'll go and talk to him later, Yongjun, go and get busy."
Hou Yongjun was pushed out and the door was slammed shut.
Hou Yongjun's face turned red, he stomped his feet in anger, and turned away.
As a result, when I arrived at the entrance of the brigade, I saw Comrade Song Chao, whom I hadn't seen for several days, and another newcomer in the Qianjin Brigade, Comrade Qiu, who had taught them the plastic greenhouse technology.
My heart was suddenly filled with joy and relief. I went forward to shake hands with them with great enthusiasm. With a hint of cautious flattery, I said with a smile, "Comrade Song, Comrade Qiu, please come in... Xiao Liu, make two cups of tea."
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