That's exactly what Qiao Qiqi wanted to hear: "Then I'd like to thank you in advance."
Time was limited, and Qiao Qiqi still had somewhere she wanted to go, so she immediately said goodbye to Aunt Li and left.
After leaving the house, she counted the two baskets of apples she had just bought and found that she had made a total of 57 yuan. She hadn't expected to earn so much in just over half an hour.
She immediately found a secluded spot, filled a basket with apples and pears from her spatial storage, and hurried toward the meat processing plant she had just passed.
She noticed this place when she came last time, and just now she came here specifically to take a look around. She found that there were quite a lot of people coming and going at the factory gate.
That's right, these apples can't be sold openly.
Qiao Qiqi thought for a moment, then went around to the back of the factory, where she happened to see three men squatting outside the back door, smoking and chatting.
Qiao Qiqi's eyes lit up, and she immediately carried the basket over quickly, pretending to rest, and put the apple basket down.
Again, a corner of the cloth covering it was accidentally revealed.
She seemed not to notice at all, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and asked with a smile, "Brothers, can I ask you for directions? Do you know how to get to the bus station? This county is too big, I've gotten lost and can't find my way back."
It was common to be asked for directions in the county, so none of the three men suspected anything.
One of them pointed to the road ahead and said, "Take the right turn at this intersection, and once you reach the main street, keep walking east for about five or six intersections. I can't remember the exact number, so you'll have to ask someone for directions. Otherwise, even if I tell you too much, you won't remember it."
Qiao Qiqi nodded, "Okay!" Then she turned to look at the tall courtyard wall in front of her, "Big brother, you're employees of this factory, right? Is this factory huge? Do you make a lot of money in here?"
The three men could tell he was from the countryside and didn't know much, so they chuckled and said, "Yeah, you earn a lot, much more than you farmers. Would you like to come work for us?"
"Of course, it would be great if I could, but I know that you need connections here, and I definitely can't do that," Qiao Qiqi waved her hand, feigning shyness.
Seeing that he still knew how to cultivate relationships, the others couldn't help but laugh.
One of them saw that she was carrying a basket of apples and asked, "Where are you going with all these apples? Are you visiting relatives?"
Qiao Qiqi pretended to only then notice the apple was showing, and immediately pulled the black cloth off it, hurriedly explaining, "Yes, I'm here to visit relatives. I won't disturb you any longer, I'll be going now."
The three exchanged a glance, fully understanding the meaning behind the excuse.
One of them happened to be craving fruit these past few days, so he said, "Alright, stop pretending. How much are your apples? I'll buy a few pounds to take home for my kids to enjoy."
Another person who heard about the child was also reminded, "My child was also asking for apples a few days ago, so I'll buy a few pounds too."
Seeing that the other one had spoken but the other hadn't, Qiao Qiqi generously took out a fruit knife and cut a few pieces for them to try. "These apples are imported, they're delicious, you should try them."
After tasting it, the three of them were immediately amazed. "This apple is really delicious! I've never eaten such a delicious apple before!"
"I haven't had anything this sweet in ages. How much is it per pound? I'd like to buy more."
Qiao Qiqi simply held out one palm, "Five cents a pound."
Upon hearing this, the three of them discussed it and decided that one of them would buy six jin (a unit of weight), and another would also buy six jin. Seeing that Qiao Qiqi didn't have a scale, they simply calculated the two as one jin. The last person, who originally didn't want to buy any, also bought six jin because it was a good deal.
Just as the three men finished buying their cigarettes, two more men came out for a smoke.
Hearing that there were apples here, each person bought four pounds.
After seeing that the others had gone back, Qiao Qiqi stood at the back door for a while, and sure enough, someone came out soon after.
In less than 20 minutes, the whole basket of apples was sold out.
Seeing that it was almost time, Qiao Qiqi quickly found a place to change her clothes and ran towards the bus station.
I rushed back just three minutes before departure.
Lin Chunying had been waiting anxiously, and when she saw her finally return, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh dear, you child, why did you take so long? You almost missed the bus back."
Qiao Qiqi sat down and took a couple of breaths. After she had shared the popsicles she had just bought with the two of them and calmed her breathing, she said with a grin, "I went to take care of something important. I know what I'm doing."
Seeing that the person had returned, Lin Chunying stopped talking to her.
It was past four o'clock when the three of them returned to the village.
Qiao Qiqi first took Lin Chunying back, then picked up Chenchen from the Qin family, put the things she bought back at home, told Chenchen and Xinxin to stay at home and not go out, and then headed to the Su family.
This was just the right time to go and make dinner. Qiao Qiqi wondered how Aunt Su had managed to eat lunch. She had originally planned to tell Aunt Su when she went to get the letter of introduction in the morning, but since Qin Huai had already gotten the letter for her, she didn't say anything.
However, since Uncle Su already knows that she went to the county, Aunt Su must know as well and will try to find a way.
No matter what, she was going to take a look anyway.
Entering the Su family's courtyard and finding no one there, Qiao Qiqi went to the kitchen first. Finding no one there either, she then went inside. "Aunt Su, are you home?"
There was no sound from inside the house, but Qiao Qiqi could see people working in the backyard through the back window.
Qiao Qiqi immediately turned around and went to the backyard. "Aunt Su, I'm back."
Zhang Hongyan had vaguely heard the sound earlier, but because it was so faint, she thought she was hallucinating. Now that she saw Qiao Qiqi had actually arrived, her face lit up with joy. "I thought you had gone to the county and wouldn't be coming over tonight. Why are you back so quickly?"
Qiao Qiqi walked over with a smile and saw Zhang Hongyan picking green beans. She immediately started helping her pick them. "This morning, I took Xinxin and my mother to the hospital for a checkup. We had a bowl of noodles for lunch, and then went to the department store in the afternoon before coming back."
After saying that, Qiao Qiqi asked how they had lunch. Aunt Zhang said that Grandma Zhao from next door had made corn porridge for them.
Corn porridge is the kind of food that keeps you full the longest. Although you feel full when you eat it, you get hungry again very quickly. Summer days are long, and you can't eat dinner until it's almost dark. If you hold out until then, you'll definitely be starving.
Upon hearing this, Qiao Qiqi knew it wouldn't do, so she immediately went back and made dough with buckwheat flour and white rice flour. Because of the time constraints, she specially added a packet of yeast.
While waiting for the fermentation process to complete, she went back to the garden and picked a few eggplants, dug up a few potatoes, and pulled up a few scallions.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
