Chapter 1 Eating Crabs
In the 1970s, before global warming began, central cities like Shicheng could have knee-deep snow in winter, and Jinshi, being further north, experienced even faster temperature drops.
By late September, the evening breeze had already carried a hint of coolness.
So when Xie Wei brought back an electric fan, Lin Qingqing was slightly taken aback: "Where did this come from?"
"I bought it," Xie Wei said cheerfully. "Haven't you always wanted a hair dryer?"
He had noticed Lin Qingqing glancing at the electric fan several times when they went shopping at the department store before. Later, after she finished showering, she mentioned the hair dryer again, and he didn't understand at the time, so he asked her about it.
Xie Wei had kept these things in mind, but he hadn't had the tickets before, so he couldn't buy them even if he wanted to. Until two days ago, he got a ticket for an electric fan, and took advantage of his break to buy it.
Lin Qingqing didn't react for a moment, and was about to ask how this could be a hair dryer when it was clearly an electric fan? But she realized what she was talking about and changed her words, saying, "I did want it before, but now that the weather is getting cold, I probably won't use it many times, right?"
"I won't use it much this year, I'll use it next year. I asked the salesperson, and they said a hair dryer can last for several years without breaking down." Xie Wei wasn't unaware that the weather was getting cold, but he happened to have a coupon for an electric fan. If he didn't buy it now, it would expire next year when the weather got hot, and he would have to find another way to use it then. He also thought about how his wife had been wanting one for a long time, so he might as well buy it now to make her happy.
But... his wife didn't seem as happy as he thought.
Xie Wei asked, "Aren't you happy?"
"No, I was just too surprised," Lin Qingqing quickly said, glancing at Xie Wei and scolding, "You didn't even tell me. I was stunned when I first saw it."
"I want to give you a surprise," Xie Wei said, hugging Lin Qingqing.
"I'm so surprised." Lin Qingqing looked up, smiled, and kissed Xie Wei.
Although she initially thought it unnecessary to rush to buy a fan as the weather was getting colder, she realized that appliances at this time of year are very durable, and a fan could easily last three to five years. She had even seen fans from over a decade ago that still worked. Thinking about it that way, there was no difference between buying it sooner or later, and although the temperature had dropped at night, it was still a bit hot during the day.
After Lin Qingqing finished speaking, she walked to the coffee table, picked up the plug, plugged it into the socket, and turned on the electric fan to test it.
The electric fan Xie Wei bought was made of iron and was quite heavy. The main body was blue, and it stood from the ground to knee height, with the airflow pointing downwards. The base of the fan was square, with the brand name in pinyin written on the left and a comb-shaped switch on the right, offering three adjustable wind speeds.
Lin Qingqing turned on the lowest fan setting, and the fan started spinning rapidly.
The fan blades were a bit noisy, but the wind was quite strong, and it felt a little chilly. Lin Qingqing tried the second and third speed settings, each one stronger than the last, but the fan blades also spun even louder.
Overall, the fan is noisier than in Lin Qingqing's previous life, and the airflow isn't as comfortable, but the airflow is quite strong, and the workmanship and quality look pretty good. It should last for three to five years without any problems.
Xie Wei saw Lin Qingqing bending over, facing the wind, and a smile appeared on his face, with the corners of his lips curling up.
Suddenly, Lin Qingqing opened her eyes, smiled, and pulled him in front of the electric fan, saying, "Why don't you give it a try?"
Xie Wei bent down, feeling the wind from the electric fan, and said, "The wind is quite strong."
"Yes," Lin Qingqing said with a smile, picked up a stool, put the electric fan on it, and started using it.
...
When Yu Xiuhong got off work, she passed by the Xie family's house and glanced inside. Seeing the things on the stool next to the coffee table, she turned and walked in: "Oh, you bought an electric fan?"
Lin Qingqing, who was sitting on the sofa enjoying the breeze, nodded: "Yeah, I just bought it today. Are you off work?"
"I got off work and went to the cafeteria to get my food," Yu Xiuhong said as she walked to the electric fan, reached out and touched it, saying, "It's so nice, how much did you buy it for?"
Lin Qingqing hadn't asked Xie Wei the price yet, she only knew that he took two hundred and fifty yuan from the cabinet and left, so she looked at him.
"A little over two hundred," Xie Wei said casually, holding a crab in one hand and brushing its shell with an old toothbrush in the other.
"So expensive!" Yu Xiuhong exclaimed in shock, clicking her tongue twice. "You guys are really spending too much. Summer is almost over, and you're still buying such an expensive electric fan."
Lin Qingqing explained, "This summer will pass, but there will be next summer. The electric fan won't break after just a few days of use."
Although that made sense, Yu Xiuhong still felt that over two hundred yuan for an electric fan was too expensive, so she quickly withdrew her hand from the fan, afraid of breaking it and having to pay for it herself. Turning her head, she saw Xie Wei busy washing crabs and asked, "Are you planning to steam crabs tonight? They're not very tasty."
Crabs have hard shells and little meat, and they are very difficult to eat, so people don't eat crabs much at this time.
Lin Qingqing had never seen anyone eat crabs since she transmigrated here, so she was quite surprised to see them for sale at the market today. Hearing that they were cheap and didn't require a ration coupon, she decisively bought a few to steam.
After hearing Yu Xiuhong's words, Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "I'll buy it and try it out."
Yu Xiuhong only gave that one reminder and didn't say anything else. She watched them busy themselves and then went home. She brought back two bunches of greens from the market, planning to make a greens soup and stir-fry some lotus root cubes for dinner, enough for the mother and son.
After Yu Xiuhong left, the crabs were mostly cleaned. Xie Wei pressed the crabs that were about to crawl out of the iron basin back in, tied them up with a rope, and asked, "Steam them now?"
"Hmm." Lin Qingqing took the iron basin into the kitchen, put the crabs one by one into the steamer, put ginger slices on each one, drizzled Shaoxing wine on them, and then put them on the coal stove to steam.
While the crabs were steaming, Lin Qingqing was also busy. She stir-fried some greens and then made a mushroom soup.
Vegetable and mushroom soup are easy to make. Once the crabs are steamed, the vegetables are stir-fried. Lin Qingqing mixed soy sauce, vinegar, minced ginger, and sugar to make a sauce, and the meal was ready.
The crabs sold in the market were all collected from the communes below. They were not the famous varieties of crabs that would become famous in later generations, but just ordinary crabs. The female crabs were only the size of a palm.
Lin Qingqing took a handful of crabs, cut off all the crab legs, and then opened the shell. She found that although the crabs were not very big, they had a lot of crab roe and the crab meat was very tender.
Lin Qingqing finished dismantling the crab and saw Xie Wei pull off the crab's legs and bite them directly with his teeth. She stopped him, saying, "Eat it like this." As she spoke, she picked up a crab leg, separated the lower leg from the upper leg, and then stuffed the lower leg into the upper leg to push out the crab meat.
Xie Wei saw her actions and imitated them.
Lin Qingqing watched as she used scissors to cut off the crab legs in front of him, then broke the crab apart, throwing away what needed to be thrown away and keeping what needed to be kept.
Xie Wei watched her practiced movements and asked, "Do you eat crabs often?"
Lin Qingqing paused, remembering that crabs were cheap at this time and ordinary families were not interested in eating them. She said, "When I was a child, we didn't have much to eat. When I was really hungry, I would go and catch crabs. After eating a lot of them, I learned how to cook them to make them taste good."
At this time of year, you can find wild crabs along streams, riverbanks, mudflats, and caves. Since not many people eat them, the production brigade generally doesn't care whether the members catch them or not. Those who are really craving meat will catch them to eat. Xie Wei also caught some when he was a child, but he was too young to know how to cook them, so he just roasted them over a fire.
But Xie Wei's situation was different from Lin Qingqing's when he was catching crabs. The children in the brigade all grew up like him, going up and down the mountain and down the river to catch fish and shrimp, mainly for fun.
Unlike Lin Qingqing, a young girl catching crabs to satisfy her cravings must mean she's desperately craving meat.
Thinking of this, Xie Wei asked, "Do we still have any meat ration coupons at home?"
When Xie Wei received his salary at the end of August, he also received meat coupons, grain coupons, and other ration coupons, which he handed over to Lin Qingqing. Since the family had only eaten meat twice in the past two weeks, Xie Wei suspected that they had run out of meat coupons, which was why Lin Qingqing had bought crabs.
Lin Qingqing didn't know what Xie Wei was thinking. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "There are still two meat coupons, each for half a catty, and one fish coupon."
Because meat and fish coupons were valid for one quarter, expiring at the end of December, while the meat coupons she received based on her household registration were only valid for the current month and expired afterward, Lin Qingqing had previously used her own ration to buy fish and meat, keeping the meat and fish coupons for later.
They had eaten meat at noon, and Lin Qingqing assumed Xie Wei was asking because guests were coming over, so she added after speaking, "Who's coming over for dinner?"
"No," Xie Wei shook his head and said, "What I meant was that you shouldn't be stingy at home. If you want to eat meat, just go and buy it."
Lin Qingqing felt a warmth in her heart, but still said, "It's not easy for me to cook meat by myself. Let's wait for you to come back." Their family usually eats meat once a week, so it doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or later.
Xie Wei knew immediately that she had misunderstood, so he explained clearly, "What I mean is, if you crave meat in the future, buy meat and eat it. Don't make yourself suffer by eating crab."
Lin Qingqing was stunned when she heard this. She realized what they had said and couldn't help but laugh.
She was laughing so hard that Xie Wei, confused, asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"N-nothing." Lin Qingqing laughed weakly and leaned on Xie Wei. After she recovered, she said, "You misunderstood. I bought crabs not because I was craving meat. You forgot, we had meat for lunch."
"So you bought crabs?"
Lin Qingqing straightened up, used her chopsticks to pick out some bright yellow crab roe, and brought it to Xie Wei's lips. After he swallowed, she asked, "Don't you think crab is delicious?"
"It's delicious..."
“Just like I buy meat when I want to eat meat, and fish when I want to eat fish,” Lin Qingqing said while eating crab roe. “I buy crabs because I want to eat them and I love to eat them. There aren’t that many reasons, so you don’t have to worry about me depriving myself.”
Xie Wei suddenly realized and said, "I'm glad you like it."
...
Because crabs are in season, they will frequently appear on the Xie family's dinner table for some time to come.
However, Lin Qingqing doesn't always steam the crabs she buys. Sometimes she makes spicy crab, sometimes crab meat lion's head meatballs, and sometimes crab meat tofu. She can make more than ten different dishes with the same crabs.
Yu Xiuhong, who doesn't like eating crabs, couldn't help but wonder when she saw Lin Qingqing buying crabs every few days: "Are crabs really that delicious?" Before the season was over, she bought a few crabs to steam at home.
After tasting it, Yu Xiuhong thought the taste was alright, but there was little meat and it was hard to separate. She would be happy to eat it if it were given to her for free, but to pay for it... well, never mind.
Shen Yufen, on the other hand, learned how to make braised pork intestines from Lin Qingqing. Although she didn't make this dish often because she didn't want to waste flour, Jiang Feng would always eat two extra bowls of rice whenever she made it. Hearing that Lin Qingqing had been eating crabs lately, she asked her for a couple of tips. After learning how to quickly dismantle crabs, she also learned how to make spicy crab and crab meat lion's head meatballs.
Crabs were never seen on the Jiang family's dining table before. Jiang Feng was quite surprised to see spicy crabs on the table when he returned from the camp and asked, "Why did you think of cooking crabs?"
“I saw that Commander Xie was eating at home, so I asked my sister-in-law to teach me two dishes.” Shen Yufen pointed to two large dishes on the table and introduced them to Jiang Feng. “This is spicy crab, it’s spicy, and this is crab meat lion’s head meatballs. My sister-in-law said it’s a Jiangsu dish.”
Jiang Feng didn't know about crab meat lion's head meatballs, but he had heard of their fame. Upon hearing this, he rolled up his sleeves, picked up a lion's head meatball, and took a big bite. The lion's head meatballs were soft and fluffy, rich but not greasy, and most importantly, tender. Jiang Feng nodded as he ate, "My sister-in-law is quite skilled in cooking."
"That's right," Shen Yufen said with a smile, and then offered him some spicy crab.
Although the crab meat lion's head meatballs were easier to eat, Jiang Feng still preferred the spicy crab meatballs, and ate half a bowl more rice for this dish. If the lion's head meatballs hadn't filled him up, he felt he could have had another half bowl of rice.
So after this feast, crab became another dish on the Jiang family's menu.
Thanks to the Xie and Jiang families, the number of people eating crabs in the residential compound has increased significantly compared to previous years. Although some people share Yu Xiuhong's opinion that it's not worth spending money on crabs with little meat, others are willing to spend money on them. After all, crabs don't taste bad; they're just a bit difficult to peel. It's nice to eat them occasionally for a change of pace.
Of course, there are downsides to this too, such as crabs being harder to buy than before.
Because crabs don't fetch a good price, the commune below doesn't put much effort into catching them, only occasionally sending over a basket. That basket used to take two or three days to sell. But now, with more people eating them, one basket isn't enough; Lin Qingqing has been told at the market several times that the crabs are sold out.
However, because so many people were asking about it, the salesperson who was selling crabs reported it to their superiors, who then instructed the purchasing team to make sure they told the brigade about it when they went to collect the goods.
Actually, the reason the production brigade used to catch crabs was because the kids had nothing else to do, and they figured even a fly's leg was still meat, so they let the kids catch crabs. Sometimes, when the vegetables weren't weighed enough, the crabs would be given away as extra at the market. Now, they've heard that city people's tastes have changed, so the people in the production brigade are starting to get creative.
Crabs are definitely worthless compared to meat, but they are still more expensive than vegetables. In the end, it's more cost-effective than growing vegetables, so another group of older children were arranged to catch crabs.
As a result, the amount of crabs purchased at the market increased from one basket to one crate, and then from one crate to two crates. Residents of the family compound no longer had to worry about not being able to buy crabs if they went too late, while the village committees below gained revenue, and the children earned more work, creating a virtuous cycle by chance.
Of course, Lin Qingqing didn't work at the vegetable market and was unaware of these things.
...
After the weather turned cold in October, Xingfeng arranged for a transportation company to ship a batch of new clothing back to them.
This batch of clothing consists of ten styles, including two sweaters, one with a turtleneck and one with a low neck, each available in three colors.
There are two trench coats, one short and one long. The short one is for autumn and is only a thin layer, while the long one is for winter and is slightly thicker. They are available in khaki and black. The two trench coats also have slight differences in style.
Two coats, like the trench coats, come in short and long versions for autumn and winter, but only in black. There are also two cotton-padded jackets, both winter wear. One is similar to the one Lin Qingqing had Chen Xiufang make last year, but with improvements in both fabric and style. The other is a knee-length cotton-padded jacket, both available in black and red.
Finally, there are two skirts. One is a thicker, long dress that can be worn as an inner layer, and the other is a midi skirt with an A-line silhouette, similar to a midi skirt that was released in the summer.
After the clothes were shipped back, Lin Qingqing reorganized the counter.
More than a month has passed, and Xingfeng's clothing has not only opened up the suburban market, but people from the city center, the north and west of the city have also come to buy clothes. However, because the number of people is not large, it will take some time for Xingfeng to gain a foothold in Jinshi.
But that's from the brand's perspective. For the clothing counters managed by Lin Qingqing, the accumulated customer traffic was considerable. In September alone, the sales revenue of the counters under Lin Qingqing's management more than doubled compared to the usual sales revenue of the wardrobe counters. In October, only halfway through, Lin Qingqing had already achieved three times the sales target.
On the contrary, after Xingfeng's specialty store started to thrive, the women's clothing at Miao Hui's counter next door stopped selling. Therefore, despite mobilizing relatives and friends to support her business, she was unable to reverse the downward trend in sales. To date, her sales revenue is less than half of what it was in September.
However, Miao Hui was an exception. Lin Qingqing's counter was booming, which inadvertently increased customer traffic for other counters. In addition, with the support of bonuses, everyone's attitude towards customers changed from the past laxity to enthusiasm and gentleness. Over time, Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative also built a good reputation.
Now, the customer base of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is no longer limited to nearby residents; people from residential compounds and even further afield are happy to buy things from Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative. After all, who doesn't want to hear nice things when buying something? Nobody's a masochist.
The reputation of Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative has also brought in many new customers. These new customers always browse upstairs and downstairs when they visit the cooperative, which brings a lot of sales to Lin Qingqing's counter, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
Not only the Xingfeng counter, which Lin Qingqing was in charge of, but all the other counters saw significantly better business than before. When the accounts for September were reconciled at the beginning of October, all counters except the wardrobe counter, which Miao Hui was in charge of, experienced a certain degree of increase in business. Director Gao was pleased, as the holiday benefits were much more generous than in previous years.
Seeing the benefits distributed during the National Day holiday, everyone was full of energy, and their attitude towards Lin Qingqing gradually changed.
Because she was illiterate and entered the supply and marketing cooperative through her status as a military wife, many people looked down on her when she first joined, even though they didn't say it. They thought she was only good because she married a good man; otherwise, she would still be farming in the countryside.
However, because Lin Qingqing was sweet-talking, quick at accounting, and learned things very fast, people eventually found her quite clever. But at the same time, she was also a bit stubborn; no matter what others said about it being unnecessary, she wouldn't change her welcoming attitude towards customers. Later, because of her actions, people's attitudes towards her fluctuated slightly, but when she agreed to Miao Hui's suggestion, they felt she was too honest and straightforward.
Even now, seeing the people coming and going at the supply and marketing cooperative, the ever-increasing sales at their own counters, and Lin Qingqing achieving three times the performance target in just one month, everyone's opinion of Lin Qingqing has changed once again.
This girl is quite capable!
The reason Lin Qingqing is described as having ability rather than being cunning is because, although some people may not want to admit it, they cannot erase the fact that the supply and marketing cooperative's dramatic transformation was due to Lin Qingqing.
She successfully brought in Xingfeng Garment, which brought many customers to Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Her leading example of a friendly and welcoming attitude helped everyone retain these customers.
These are things that cannot be accomplished through "tricks".
Remembering the performance evaluation criteria announced at the previous meeting, most people in the store already considered Lin Qingqing as the store manager. So even though Lin Qingqing didn't ask for help, Sister He and the lady at the shoe and hat counter proactively came over to help her tidy up while she was busy.
However, Lin Qingqing hangs her clothes differently from others. While Miao Hui hangs her wardrobe piece by piece, regardless of whether it's a coat or a sweater, Lin Qingqing hangs them together in a matching way.
For example, Lin Qingqing would pair a khaki trench coat with a long skirt underneath, and she would also wear summer shirts and long skirts with the trench coat. Hanging clothes this way also has its advantages. Some customers come to the supply and marketing cooperative only to buy one item of clothing, but after seeing Lin Qingqing's outfits, they might be tempted to buy the whole set. If they have the coupons and money, they will buy all the clothes. Even if they don't have enough coupons and money, they will find a way to come back and buy them later.
Of course, Lin Qingqing doesn't constantly urge customers to buy all the clothes. If they don't have enough money or coupons, she'll ask them what clothes they have in their wardrobe and offer a few styling suggestions. If they have enough coupons but not enough money, she'll direct the customer to the fabric counter managed by Sister He and tell them which fabrics can be used to make similar innerwear.
It might seem like Lin Qingqing is earning less, but in reality, most people become her repeat customers because of her fashion advice, and she even brings in more customers.
Of course, that's a story for later. At this moment, Lin Qingqing's way of hanging clothes was troublesome and complicated, which slowed down their setup progress.
Ms. He was alright; she now completely trusted Lin Qingqing and believed that there must be a reason why she hung the clothes like that. However, Ms. Zhang, who managed the shoe and hat counter, thought it was a waste of time and said, "It would be much better to hang the clothes one by one. This is troublesome and a waste of time, not to mention that customers can't see the styles of the clothes when they come in."
"But they can see the overall effect." If they like the overall effect, most people will let her take the clothes down, so they can see the inner style. Besides, Lin Qingqing didn't wear the top underneath, and there were also a few seasonal tops hanging on the left side of the counter.
Hearing Lin Qingqing say this, Sister Zhang had nothing to say, but her expression was somewhat irritated.
Lin Qingqing noticed her emotions, smiled, and said, "You guys go about your business, I'll take care of the rest."
"It's alright, there aren't many customers anyway," Sister He said with a smile. It was almost time to get off work, and everyone, whether they had a job or not, was busy going home to cook dinner. If they passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, they would at most go to the first floor to buy some soy sauce and snacks, and rarely go up to the second floor.
Sister He was willing to help, but Sister Zhang remained silent.
Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "It's okay, I've finished tidying up anyway. I can take my time with the rest. You guys go about your business, it's almost time to get off work."
Before Sister He could say anything more, Miao Hui from the next counter snorted coldly, "They just don't want your help."
These words were spoken in a sarcastic tone, causing Sister He to frown slightly. Lin Qingqing then said, "I'm not unhappy, it's just that the counter is almost tidied up, there's no need to keep you two ladies here."
Sister He said, "In that case, I'll go back to my own business. Qingqing, don't be shy, just let me know if you need any help." She didn't pay any attention to Miao Hui at all.
Sister Zhang also said, "Xiao Lin, don't worry, we all believe you didn't mean it that way. Just say what you need to say. We're all colleagues, no need to be polite."
Lin Qingqing smiled and thanked him upon hearing this.
Only Miao Hui, seeing them all so harmonious, let out another heavy snort.
Miao Hui seemed afraid that others wouldn't hear her, so she deliberately hummed very loudly, but no one on the second floor paid any attention to her.
Before the assessment began, she always thought Lin Qingqing's plans would fall through, but because the sales of the wardrobe counter she managed dropped sharply, Lin Qingqing completed the assessment task in the first month. On the contrary, while other counters were thriving, her business was getting increasingly deserted, and she couldn't even hold her head up in the supply and marketing cooperative.
Miao Hui had disliked Lin Qingqing before, so it was natural for her to be upset under these circumstances. She would make sarcastic remarks from time to time, which everyone was used to.
No matter how sarcastic she was, it couldn't stop Lin Qingqing from getting a promotion and a raise.
Author's Note: First update
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