Chapter 169 The Kids

Lin Shu said that there was not enough white sugar and rock sugar at home, so Father Lu went to the Party Secretary, the team leader, and Zhang Peijin's house to borrow sugar. Fang Dihua also asked all the old partners' families. Xu Xiaoyou also went back to snatch Xu Yaoyao's sugar jar, which made Mother Xu so angry that she wanted to vomit blood.

Seeing the kids fighting so hard, and the grandparents followed suit, Lin Shu also softened her heart.

A row of cute kids looked up at you expectantly, can you bear it?

Really can't bear it.

Sister Lu and Sister Lin also surrendered and washed hawthorns, while Hou Bo and Lu An went to cut reeds and sharpen sticks.

Lin Shu led everyone to work for two days, boiling all the white sugar, rock sugar, and some candy for children, which added up to four or five pounds, into syrup, and made a small mountain of candied haws and a basket of sugar-frosted hawthorn balls.

Panpan and Tiantian organized Hou Bo, Lu Ping, and Lu An to carefully calculate the cost. They calculated how much they had to sell to make a profit and how much they could make.

Hawthorns are 1.2 yuan per pound according to the market. There is a hawthorn forest in this commune, but it is basically provided to the city or canning factories to make canned hawthorns. Generally, it is not available.

Sugar is 76 cents per pound, and you need sugar coupons, which are very rare.

It is too expensive, the same price as meat.

Not only is it expensive, but it is also hard to come by. You can’t buy it even if you have money.

How many people’s work points? How many days’ work points? That’s all the cost.

So Panpan felt that he couldn’t sell it cheaply, and had to sell it to rich kids at a high price.

The children in the village knew that Panpan and his family made candied haws at home, and thought they could exchange it like lamb skewers, so they ran home to ask their parents to exchange eggs for them.

They were used to it. If they wanted to eat the good things in Panpan and Tiantian’s house, they would exchange eggs. They never thought that they might not exchange them.

The bright red candied haws dipped in amber caramel, the bright red hawthorn balls wrapped in snow-white icing, just looking at them makes you drool, so delicious!

The members had just received their food and dividends, and the family had saved some eggs. This time, they were not stingy and took the initiative to go to Lu's house to exchange for candied haws.

Lin Shu didn't care. It was inconvenient to make so many eggs and carry them with her. She could exchange some of them. She

was not afraid of not being able to sell the eggs. In addition to eating them at home, she also gave some to Jiang Weidong regularly.

The steel mill bought them at a price higher than the supply and marketing cooperative, and gave 6.5 cents for each egg.

Panpan didn't agree, and he got anxious, "Wait for us to come back, and we'll make them again when we come back. Then you can exchange them!"

This is going to be sold at a high price in the county!

It doesn't count in the village!

But the children were too greedy. They loved candy as much as meat. If you didn't let them exchange, they would gather in a circle and cry in front of you.

"Panpan, good Panpan, sweet, sweet... you are the best..."

Well, they all learned to act like spoiled children from the two kids.

In the end, Panpan had no choice but to let them exchange one egg for two candy balls.

Oh, it was a big loss. An egg was only 5.5 cents for the supply and marketing cooperative, but he wanted to sell a candy ball for at least 4 cents in the city, and if it was easy to sell, he could even sell it for 5 cents.

He kept persuading them, "It's really expensive, don't exchange it, the sugar is too expensive, one hawthorn needs to be dipped in three cents of sugar."

Although the members thought the candied haws were really expensive, forty of them were exchanged, which made Panpan feel very sad.

His heart was so upset that tears were about to flow out.

Wow, luckily he picked smaller hawthorns to exchange for them.

He said to Lin Shu aggrievedly, "Mom, how about... let's cook another big pot of tea leaf eggs."

Lin Shu wiped his tears and said with a smile, "Tea leaf eggs may not be sold in the county, or we can go to the province to sell them?"

When they come back from the county, they can pack up and stay in Qizhou for a few days, then go to the city to attend the second sister's wedding, and then go home for the New Year.

Hearing that they are going to the province again, the two boys are satisfied.

They have to leave early tomorrow morning, so they have to pack up tonight.

Hou Bo and Lu Ping and Lu An are not idle either. They tied two straw baskets with straw to hold candied haws, and then put them in the city and sell them.

The rest are packed in small and large baskets.

Sugar-frosted hawthorns were placed in small baskets, and bunches of candied haws were placed in large baskets. The bottom was padded with clean oilcloth and covered with clean cloth.

The sticks for the candied haws were all reed stalks that Hou Bo's brothers cut by the river and washed clean.

Lin Shu dipped the candied haws herself, which was a real test of her craftsmanship. She poured a thin layer of syrup on each candied haw, which should not be too thick or too thick, so that it would be delicious and save syrup.

Overall, it was a great success!

The next morning, when it was still dark, the branch secretary and the team leader drove to greet the advanced elements who were going to the county.

Tiantian, Panpan and the others also went to bed early. Xu Xiaoyou also slept here and went together in the morning.

As a result, they were too excited at night and could not fall asleep for a while. Now, except for Xu Xiaoyou, the other three kids were all sleeping soundly.

Lin Shu and Sister Lin helped them put on their clothes, wrapped them in quilts and carried them to the mule, letting them continue to sleep.

Two mules could not accommodate so many people, so Brother Lu and other young people rode over, which was faster than the mule.

Fang Dihua did not go this time. She had to look after the house and cook. In addition, she gave her second sister-in-law a two-day holiday. For five yuan, she could go to the commune or go back to her parents' home.

The two girls, Lu Xiuxiu and Hou Ying, are not good at being in a lively atmosphere. Lu Xiuxiu is a little socially anxious, while Hou Ying comes from the big city of Qizhou and is not interested in the small county town at all.

They would rather stay at home to make clothes, read comic books, and whisper to each other.

Hou Jianwen and Sister Lin don't like to go to such occasions. After all, they are from the province and have seen all kinds of big scenes.

Lin Shu was in the same car with the children, covered with a big quilt and dazed on the road.

Later, the children woke up, lay in a row in the quilt, wearing hats with only their eyes and mouths and noses exposed, and competed to see whose breath flew the highest. They

also asked Sister Lu and Lin Shu to be referees, laughing all the way, and the branch secretary and the team leader sounded a few years younger.

It was already past ten o'clock when we arrived at the county, just in time for the meeting.

Panpan and Tiantian had been to the county hospital with Father Lu, so they were quite familiar with the county town.

The main reason was that the county town was not big, and one could see the end of the street from the street entrance.

It was the first time for Xu Xiaoyou and Xiao Houwei to come to Qing County Town, and they found everything new and interesting.

Xiao Houwei pointed to the broken sections of the city wall and asked, "What are those lumps of bricks?"

Tiantian could answer this because she had heard her grandfather talk about it before.

When the four olds were destroyed, people toppled the city wall. Now there were still sections of the city wall left around, and many people secretly picked up large blue bricks to build houses and walls.

It is said that they are very strong and easy to use.

When they arrived at the small square in front of the county revolutionary committee, Hou Bo and the other two were already waiting there.

They came by bicycle.

Panpan and Tiantian told Lin Shu that they were going with their brother and would not accompany their mother to receive the award.

They had been to the commune to receive the award before. It was said that receiving awards in the county and city was not as interesting as in the commune, because the city cadres were well-educated and eloquent and loved to talk. They would talk for half a day and everyone had to sit down and listen.

This was too torturous for the children.

Although she was relieved about Lu Ping, Lin Shu still gave him a few instructions and gave him a handful of change, asking him to take his younger brothers and sisters to play, buy whatever they wanted to eat, and buy comic books if they wanted to read.

Lu Ping refused to take it: "Auntie, I have money."

He was now doing the accounting for the brigade, and it was not in vain. Big Brother Lu had to give him some rewards from time to time.

Even the team leader and the secretary would reward him with a couple of yuan in pocket money.

Lin Shu and Old Man Lu would also give him some on ordinary days.

He didn't have much opportunity to spend money if he didn't go out, so today was a good time to bring some out.

They were already busy taking out the candied haws and sticking them on the straw bundles. Lu Ping and Lu An helped tie one straw bundle to the front of the bicycle, so that the other could be carried to other places to try.

The big and small straw bundles were tied to the back seat of the bicycle, and the money from the straw bundles was used to replenish it.

The children walked on their own and didn't need to take a car.

Several children waved to the adults, "Bye, we're going to sell candied haws."

Lin Shu was still a little worried and asked, "What if the red armbands in the county market catch you?"

Although no one caught them selling tea eggs in the market, it was just because they were holding lunch boxes. If you push the cart in a big way now, you can't be sure that people will ask about it.

Hou Bo said, "Third Aunt, we will first check the environment and go to places where there are no red armbands."

Mainly go to places like guesthouses, supply and marketing cooperatives, movie theaters, state-owned hotels, and schools.

In addition to elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools, the county town also has high schools.

Panpan: "Mom, don't worry, the red armbands won't arrest us for occasionally selling things. They are arresting familiar faces."

He had consulted Doctor Yan, and Doctor Yan said that now some people are selling breakfast quietly and no one is arresting them.

They told Lin Shu not to worry, and on the way here, they saw someone carrying a basket to sell steamed buns and dumplings, and no one was arresting them.

Lin Shu thought about training them, so she followed the main force to the Revolutionary Committee.

Lu Ping was about to take his brothers and sisters to the cinema, when an old lady came over with two children, a boy and a girl.

Seeing the candied haws, the two children immediately ran over with joy, "Grandma, buy some candied haws!"

The little boy ran fast and asked when he got to the front, "How much is a string?"

Lu An was very nervous because it was his first time selling something. He thought to himself, if Panpan said four cents a piece, wouldn't that mean 40 cents a string? That's too expensive, people will definitely not buy it.

It's fine if they don't buy it, but if they show a look of disdain and say, "It's too expensive, are you crazy about money?", how embarrassing it would be.

He wanted to say 30 cents a string, a string of eight large ones and ten small ones.

Panpan was faster than him and said crisply, "Fifty cents a string!"

Lu An was so scared that he didn't dare to move. He nervously glanced at the old lady who followed him, waiting for her to get angry and scold him.

The little boy didn't know the market price, he just looked at it greedily, and subconsciously stretched out his tongue to lick it.

The old lady came over, but she didn't show any disgust, but she frowned slightly, "Why is it so expensive? Where are your parents?"

Panpan immediately said, "It's not expensive, it's hard to buy sugar. It costs 50 or 60 cents to buy a pound of sugar tickets, and another 76 cents to buy sugar. If you can't buy sugar tickets, you have to buy expensive sugar."

The old lady knew this, after all, she also sold popsicles in summer. She smiled and said, "Fifty cents a string is not cheap, 40 cents."

Lu An couldn't help but agree. 40 cents, someone took the initiative to give it, it's not a small amount!

Panpan: "Grandma, no, we can't do that. We made the candied haws secretly without telling our family and sold them secretly. We would be beaten anyway. Four cents is our starting price. It would be such a loss if we don't make any money."

The old lady laughed and asked, "Whose children are you?"

She saw that the children were all well dressed, with thick cotton coats, cotton shoes and hats. The girls even had hair flowers on their hats. They didn't look like children from ordinary families.

Besides, ordinary families couldn't make candied haws, let alone buy so much candy and hawthorn.

She guessed that they were children from the families of the cadres of the Chengguan Brigade, and probably several families got together. When

Panpan said fifty cents, Lu Ping and Hou Bo supported him and didn't change their words.

Tiantian said at this time: "Grandma, hawthorn is a traditional Chinese medicine. It can help digestion and promote blood circulation. Don't eat too much. Buy a bunch for three people. Two or three pieces per person is enough. It's sour and sweet, helps digestion and quenches thirst. How good."

The old lady laughed, "Oh, such a young child knows so much."

Fifty cents is not cheap, and it can even be said to be quite expensive. After all, a pound of sugar is only 76 cents, and a pound of third-grade pork is only 76 cents.

But the old lady is happy.

It's not like she buys it every day.

Today, the county held a commendation meeting, and her sons and daughters were commended. She was very happy.

Just buy one for the two children to sweeten their mouths.

The old lady paid, picked a large candied haws, gave each child one to share, and went to the Revolutionary Committee together.

Looking at the backs of the old lady and the other two, Lu An was stunned, "Really?"

Fifty cents! Not five cents!

Oh my god, grandma only gave five cents as New Year's money during the Chinese New Year, and other people didn't even get two cents.

One cent for a piece of orange candy.

Two cents for a White Rabbit!

Seven cents for a comic book!

Oh my god, fifty cents for a candied haws, so shameless, how dare you ask!

The way he looked at Panpan was different.

Panpan glanced at him and muttered to them, "We have to be able to talk about the expensive things we sell."

How to say it?

Panpan has experience, you have to be able to tell stories.

Tiantian said that hawthorn has medicinal uses, it can help digestion, promote blood circulation and relieve blood stasis. This is an additional story, which makes people feel that candied haws are not just candied haws, but also have additional benefits? Then it's not a loss to buy it and eat it, right? Although it is expensive, it has many effects.

He also said that he stole hawthorns and sugar from the house to make candied haws. Anyway, he would be beaten when he returned home, so of course he had to make money. This is also a story.

As for why he said that, he didn't know the reason, but he knew that it would be easier to sell at a high price if he said that.

This is how he sold tea eggs!

This is also how my uncle sold sanitary incense. My uncle told people that he felt sorry for the villagers who didn't have enough food to eat, couldn't wear warm winter clothes, and couldn't afford electricity, so he wanted to make some money to improve everyone's situation.

Lu An was a little unconvinced. After all, he was a big boy and Panpan was a little kid. How could he be worse than a little kid?

He said, "Then... aren't you fooling people?"

Panpan: "Yes, if you want to sell something more expensive, don't you have to fool people? And what we sell is Tanghulu, it's not fake."

Lu An: "Then... isn't that dishonest?"

Panpan's eyes widened, "Brother, we have to make money, we just need to sell real Tanghulu, it's not fake."

Besides, 50 cents a string is not expensive, he didn't sell it for 5 yuan, right?

She heard from her second aunt that someone bought milk powder, and a bag of milk powder that cost 2 yuan sometimes sold for 10 yuan.

What should I say?

Lu An said to Lu Ping and Hou Bo, "Brother, what do you think? I feel guilty."

He thought that a string of candied haws cost at most 30 cents, after all, the original cost was less than 20 cents.

But Panpan's reason was that hawthorn and sugar were hard to come by, and we couldn't use the original cost to calculate, because once they were used up, they would be gone. If we want to make more, we have to buy sugar on the black market, and the cost would not be 76 cents, but maybe 1.5 yuan.

Eating a bright red, sour and sweet hawthorn in the middle of winter is a pleasure, just like an old man drinking a little wine or a child eating egg cake.

It's only occasional, and occasional luxury has to be expensive, otherwise the enjoyment will be reduced by half.

Don't believe it?

Dried sweet potatoes are cheap, and you can get a small bowl for 10 cents, so do you enjoy it?

Tanghulu is expensive, but do you enjoy eating one?

My uncle said that there is a Lao Mo'er restaurant in the capital, where they eat steak cakes and a meal costs ten yuan.

Ten yuan!

For us farmers, we can't spend fifty cents a day, so how many days can we eat with that ten yuan?

Isn't that expensive?

Then there are still people eating it!

What he wants to sell is the part that has money to enjoy.

Panpan thinks there is nothing wrong with him.

Lu An is a little confused, his mind is not that flexible.

He insists that there is no need to fool people, just sell things honestly, people will buy if they think it is good, and not buy if they think it is expensive, there is no need to fool people.

Lu Ping and Hou Bo did not argue about this. They thought that they were just here to experience selling Tanghulu. There were only so many of them. They could buy and sell them with a hammer. As long as they didn't lose money, it didn't matter how much they sold.

Finally, Hou Bo suggested that they sell separately, "Lu An should sell some, Pan Pan should sell some, and we should have a competition."

Lu Ping was worried about Pan Pan and wanted to take care of the children.

Hou Bo smiled and said, "Brother Lu Ping, you and Lu An should go together, and I will follow Pan Pan and the others."

There were just two bicycles, and one of them pushed one.

Xu Xiaoyou and Xiao Hou Wei would definitely follow Pan Pan and Tian Tian.

They agreed that the price of one stick should not be less than 40 cents, and they would see who sold more and who sold faster.

Lu An pushed a candied haws stick stand, and would come back to get more after selling. Anyway, the county town was so big that they could easily run into each other.

Lu An and his elder brother went to the cinema first. He thought that the person he was dating would be willing to buy candied haws sticks.

Pan Pan took his friends to the county hospital.

He thought the hospital was a good place to sell food. Tea eggs were popular in the past, and candied haws sticks must be popular now.

On the way to the hospital, a young couple passed by. The man was wearing a black scarf and the woman was wearing a red scarf. They were obviously paid workers.

Panpan immediately called out, "Handsome uncle and beautiful aunt, let's buy some Tanghulu and eat them together."

Tiantian and Xu Xiaoyou were responsible for promotion, and little Houwei was the atmosphere group.

"The sour and sweet Tanghulu makes you feel sweet and happy after eating it."

"The bright red Tanghulu makes your life prosperous!"

Little Houwei performed the classic dance moves of "Our Motherland is a Garden" that he learned in kindergarten, "My heart is beautiful! Bright red! Fiery!"

The two young people were just dating, and the man thought that buying a Tanghulu for 50 cents and eating it with his partner was romantic and sweet.

Is it the Tanghulu that you are eating?

It is the mood and the sweetness of holding hands!

Another one was successfully sold.

The children were full of confidence and continued to march towards the hospital. On the way

, they would tell anyone with children who were well dressed that they wanted to buy the candied haws. They would sell five candied haws before they even got to the hospital. Passersby were also curious, wondering who these children were. There were no adults around, and it was really rare to see a few children pushing bicycles and selling candied haws.

The key point was that these children were pretty, well-dressed, clean, polite, and had a lot of auspicious words to say.

When they saw an old lady, they would say, "Grandma, you are energetic and look plump. You will definitely live a long life." When they saw a child, they would say, "This little girl has a sweet smile, as sweet as our candied haws."

Who wouldn't want to see it?

Even if they thought it was expensive, they would still buy it for this reason.

When they arrived at the hospital gate, they happened to see a young couple holding a little boy. The boy had a white net bag on his head, and it was obvious that his head was broken and had just been bandaged.

The little boy leaned on his father's shoulder, whimpering.

The young mother felt so distressed that she tried to comfort him.

At this time, they heard the tender voice of a child saying, "Tanghulu, Tanghulu that strengthens the spleen and stimulates appetite, sour and sweet hawthorn tanghulu!"

The little boy was originally listless and had no appetite and didn't want to eat. When he heard someone calling him, his mouth was instantly filled with saliva, and he stood up all of a sudden, "Mom, I want to eat Tanghulu."