Chapter 18 Finding faults
The bookstore manager immediately asked Lin Shu curiously what kind of ointment her son was talking about, "Where did you buy it? How much is it?"
Lin Shu immediately pretended to be an unsophisticated person and waved her hands in a hurry, "I don't sell ointments, this is made by my father himself."
Hearing that she didn't sell ointments, the man wanted to buy it even more.
Lin Shu repeatedly explained that this was just made by her father-in-law for his own use, and he couldn't make it without medicinal materials, and he didn't sell it.
The bookstore manager's attitude changed 360 degrees from before. "Are medicinal herbs rare? I know the director of medicinal herb purchasing at the county hospital. I will buy some from him then. How about your uncle help me make a few jars?"
Seeing that Lin Shu looked hesitant, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will give you hard work pay. After all, I am a bookstore manager. I won't lie."
Lin Shu shook her head. "No, no, we dare not engage in speculation or we will be arrested and sent to labor reform."
The crackdown on speculation and profiteering in Toucheng these days is very severe.
In the spring and early summer, when there is a shortage of food, there will always be famine in the countryside. Some people will carry their eggs and chickens to the city to exchange for food coupons and money. The lucky ones can get what they want, but the unlucky ones will be caught by the city management committee. The minor ones will have their money confiscated, and the serious ones will be sentenced to speculation and sent directly to the labor reform farm.
The bookstore manager smiled and whispered, "You people from the countryside don't understand. This matter is specially for those of you who don't understand."
After that, he lit a cigarette and waited for Lin Shu to ask questions with an unfathomable look.
Lin Shu didn't ask, but turned to Fang Dihua who was going to buy ice cream and said, "Mom, don't you want to buy books?"
Fang Dihua was confused about whether to buy a two-cent popsicle or a six-cent ice cream.
Normally, since I gave my third daughter-in-law two yuan, I don’t need to buy her anything, but seeing that she was reading a book and had no intention of buying ice cream.
Fang Dihua was a little reluctant to spend the money, but she also felt that she should buy a popsicle for her son’s wife.
She saw the bookstore manager squinting at Lin Shu with a lecherous look, and immediately frowned and strode over, "Buy it."
Lin Shu smiled and said, "Mom, do you want to eat popsicles? If you want to eat, buy it."
Fang Dihua: I’m not that greedy!
The bookstore manager was originally thinking about how to trick the pretty young wife into giving him the recipe, but he turned around and saw the old lady.
Wow, this old lady is tall and strong, a little taller than him.
He immediately took a step back. The old lady’s momentum was too strong for him to bear.
Lin Shu went in with her mother-in-law to buy the books they needed.
Fang Dihua and Lu Laodi wanted to buy a complete set of Selected Works of Mao Zedong and a set of Capital.
The bookstore manager was surprised when he heard this. He knew a lot more than just words. Could he be a village cadre?
In order to get close to them, he served them very enthusiastically. "Auntie, is your uncle a village cadre or a barefoot doctor?" He
can make ointments and read such exquisite books. He must be a village cadre.
Fang Dihua didn't have a good impression of him, and she was even more unhappy about spending money. She kept a sullen face and said, "Neither."
The bookstore had a sufficient supply of Selected Works of Mao Zedong.
Fang Dihua compared it with the one at home and bought the other four books in the set. Each book cost 72 cents.
It was not cheap, but Fang Dihua didn't even blink.
Capital is not available.
Lin Shu: "It shouldn't be, boss, please look for it again."
The bookstore manager flipped through the purchase order and said with a smile: "It really is. But it has never been sold and has become a reserve."
He and the clerk struggled to find it from the bottom of the box. It was not just the original but the annotated version, the 1963 edition, a set of three volumes, and the total cost was three yuan and sixty yuan.
Fang Dihua calculated that this Ma Daxian is really expensive, more expensive than her leader's book, and much more expensive than the Stove Prince, the door god, and the like.
But this book can be read for a lifetime, and the Stove Prince has to be invited every year, so it is not expensive in comparison.
She gritted her teeth and paid.
Lin Shu quietly pulled her aside and said to the bookstore manager, "Oh, these books are all damaged. Look, the cover is damaged by water, it's yellowed and moldy, and the spine is broken."
In fact, the cover is yellowed because it was damp underneath, and it's not damaged. There is a crack on the spine, but it's not broken.
But when buying things, you always have to find faults and ask the boss to give you a discount.
Lin Shu picked out the faults in all five books and said it in a very exaggerated way.
Fang Dihua looked at her in surprise. Is she still the timid and timid little wife?
In the past, let alone asking her to bargain with others, even if she was asked to talk to a strange man, she couldn't raise her head or open her mouth.
Now she is really standing up!
It seems that the class she took in her dream was very useful. Fang Dihua suddenly wanted to take it too.
The bookstore manager initially thought that Lin Shu was just a pretty young wife from the countryside who must have never seen the world, but now he was confused by Lin Shu's talk of having seen the world.
He gave Lin Shu one dollar and two dollars for a book that cost three dollars and six dollars.
Fang Dihua looked at Lin Shu with a very pleased look in her eyes. She would buy her an ice cream when she got out later!
The most expensive kind!
After buying the serious books, Lin Shu picked out comic books for the children.
The most popular comic books in this era were anti-enemy themes, of all kinds, such as "Plain Guerrillas", "Tunnel Warfare", "Landmine Warfare", "Gunshots", etc.
Lin Shu picked out a few books that were not so stiff, and also picked out a set of "The Great Trouble in Heaven" and "Nezha Trouble in the Sea", a total of 20 books.
The comic books were 7 cents each, a total of 1.4 yuan.
Lin Shu saw that there were a few comic books torn by children, as well as a few newspapers and torn and smeared picture books. She said to the bookstore manager: "Boss, we bought so many, you can give these to us."
The bookstore manager did not refuse, anyway, those damaged ones could only be kept and sold as waste paper.
Fang Dihua knew that she had got a great bargain. It was not easy to find a piece of paper with words in the countryside, and here were fresh picture books.
Fang Dihua stuffed all the books into the big cloth bag she brought with her, strode to the old lady and bought Lin Shu a stick of the most expensive cream ice cream for six cents!
She came back and stuffed it into Lin Shu's pocket.
Lin Shu looked at her in surprise. Her mother-in-law was such a stingy person. She usually didn't want to spend a penny. She refused to go to the hospital for eye pain. But she was so generous to buy her an ice cream?
Six cents!
There was still one cent left for an egg.
Fang Dihua: "It's melted!"
Lin Shu took a small bite. Wow, it was so sweet and fragrant. It really had a rich creamy aroma!
It tasted like the cream ice cream that grandma bought for her when she was a child!
Although she had eaten so many expensive and exquisite ice creams in her previous life, Lin Shu felt that the ice cream that her mother-in-law bought for her and the ice cream that her grandma bought for her when she was a child were the most delicious ice creams she had ever eaten in her life!
She smiled with bright eyes, ate a few small bites, and finally bit off a piece of ice cream and held it in her mouth, passing the remaining two-thirds to Fang Dihua, "Mom, I dare not eat too much, my stomach hurts."
Fang Dihua: "Then eat slowly."
Lin Shu: "Don't melt it!"
Fang Dihua saw that she really didn't want to eat anymore, so she took it and ate it up. While eating, she thought that she should have bought a two-cent popsicle earlier. It would be a waste to eat such a big piece of ice cream.
The bookstore manager watched the bumpkin mother-in-law and daughter-in-law eat an ice cream, and continued to tell them about the lithospermum ointment.
Now the children are not nagging, it really works.
The bookstore manager was also a state-owned employee. State-owned employees working in a small county town basically had connections. He had relatives in the municipal management committee, and through them he knew other friends. He often used the bookstore as a cover for speculation and profiteering. Since he had a share of the money, no one would arrest him.
He thought that Lin Shu's comfrey ointment was more effective than floral water, and it would be a pity not to sell it!
Fang Dihua frowned, a little fierce, "Why do you always encourage us to speculate? You have no good intentions!"
Seeing her angry, the bookstore manager was frightened and waved his hands, "Auntie, it's nothing, don't worry." He pointed at the children and said distressedly, "Look at the children, they are bitten every day. Auntie, you have such a good recipe, take it out to benefit everyone."
Fang Dihua: "Go to the hospital to buy it."
The bookstore manager: "The hospital doesn't have it, and even if they do, it's not as effective as ours. It won't itch so much if you apply it."
No matter how useful it is, Fang Dihua just doesn't agree to sell it. Her family's special situation must be careful.
If she gives it to the hospital, it's okay if the hospital gives it as a reward, but if she gives it to a private person, it will be suspected of speculation.
Of course, she can give it for free, but she can't bear to do it.
Why should I give it
away for free? Finally, the bookstore manager said, "How about this, I will go to the hospital with you and talk to the director of the hospital to see if the hospital can entrust you to make this ointment. Isn't this speculation? When the time comes, you can help the hospital make the ointment, and the hospital can pay you for your service."
After several attempts, he knew that the old woman was stubborn and timid. She was not willing to take the risk of speculation, nor was she willing to give it away for free. Then the only way was for the hospital to give her a clear way out.
However, in this way, he would have to share the money from selling the ointment with the director.
Soon he thought of a way. Such a good ointment should not be sold in the hospital. The hospital would not make much money if it was sold cheaply. It would be more profitable to put a few bottles inside to make a show, and then take most of it out and sell it privately at a high price.
At that time, many good medicines could not be bought from the hospital.
Especially in the countryside, anti-inflammatory drugs are chloramphenicol and tetracycline, and antipyretic and analgesic drugs are analgin,
all of which have serious side effects. Drugs with fewer side effects, such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, can only be bought in the city. Fang Dihua still looked unhappy.
Lin Shu had been thinking about how to persuade her mother-in-law to go to the hospital for an eye check, and whispered, "Mom, let's go and try."
Fang Dihua: "I'm sure they can't give you much money, and it's not worth the effort. If you delay us from earning money and food, it's not worth it."
In Fang Dihua's view, the most important thing in life right now is food.
Lin Shu whispered, "At least we will have ointment to use in the future."
The bookstore manager immediately began to brag about helping to get food coupons. After all, if you want to trick people into promising you something, you have to make empty promises.
"Auntie, you are just honest people who have never been to a big city to see the world. Let me tell you, the speculators in the provincial capital are really powerful. I know a buddy who has relatives in a winery and a tobacco factory. He sells tobacco and alcohol and makes thousands of dollars a year, but no one catches him for speculation. You guys in the countryside selling a few eggs and vegetables is not speculation, it's just a way to make a living."
Fang Dihua curled her lips, "It's only a matter of time."
The bookstore manager: ..."
He nodded at the old lady who was selling popsicles on the roadside, "Look at that lady. She's been buying popsicles there in the summer for the past two years. There are bookstores, state-owned hotels, movie theaters, schools, county guesthouses, and tailor shops nearby. Business is very good. She sells a truckload in the morning and a truckload in the afternoon, and no one investigates her for speculation."
Fang Dihua was not stupid. She was the only one who could sell while others could not in this area. She must be state-owned like the supply and marketing cooperative.
As for how the money was credited, she didn't know.
She nodded: "Okay, let's go and take a look."
The bookstore manager immediately told the employees in the store to keep a close eye on the children at the door.
They rode their bikes straight to the medicinal materials purchasing office behind the county hospital to find Manager Yan, whom they knew.
Lin Shu didn't expect that the county hospital was not a two- or three-story building with red bricks, but a large courtyard with green bricks and gray tiles. Look at the walls with polished bricks, which are quite exquisite.
She suddenly remembered the gossip that Lu's wife had secretly told her: it is said that the large courtyards near the county hospital and the county committee are the courtyards of her father-in-law and mother-in-law.
Her father-in-law and mother-in-law are well-known landlords in the county, super misers, and are said to have sold opium and flattered the Japanese.
Well, of course he was shot.
This article should be published on August 1st, starting from Chapter 22, and I'd like to say hello to my babies in advance.
——Thanks
to the little angels who cast mines: 23476342 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of Buer Frosted Glass; 5 bottles of Qingmei Wuwu;