Chapter 96 1975
Xie Wei was even busier after the New Year than before. In addition to going to the military camp, he also had to take time to visit his superiors at their homes to offer New Year's greetings.
Lin Qingqing fared better. Aside from going to Commander Zhai's house after Xie Wei's wedding, which he had previously mentioned, she only went to Director Gao's house to offer New Year's greetings. However, her timing was unfortunate; Director Gao had guests over that day, and seeing how busy she was, Lin Qingqing left after only a short while.
Although we don't need to visit other people's homes for the New Year, we still have quite a few guests, including our current neighbors, as well as Yu Xiuhong and her husband, Li Chunying, and others who used to live in the same building.
Another reason might be because he got married, as some members of Xie Wei's group came to wish him a Happy New Year. Some came as a group, while others came alone with gifts.
When they arrived, Lin Qingqing treated them well, but whether or not to invite them to stay for a meal depended on whether Xie Wei was home; he could decide. As for the gifts they brought, she would accept inexpensive food, cigarettes, and alcohol, but would reciprocate with something, mainly apples, since she had bought a lot and had some left, and they would be presentable as gifts. However, Lin Qingqing wouldn't accept expensive food or items, fearing it might cause trouble for Xie Wei.
She did this not only when people from Xie Wei's group came to pay New Year's visits, but also when people from the supply and marketing cooperative came to pay New Year's visits.
Lin Qingqing accepted the sunflower seeds and peanuts that Zhou Xiaofang and the others brought, but she would reciprocate with food of similar value, or cigarettes and alcohol.
The cigarettes and alcohol given as return gifts were mostly from others. At first, Lin Qingqing wondered if this was inappropriate, but after asking around, she learned that this was the standard practice. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good to just receive gifts without reciprocating, and buying other things would be a significant expense, not to mention whether the supply and marketing cooperative would be open during the Spring Festival. Furthermore, the amount of cigarettes and alcohol given as gifts was so large that the family might not be able to finish them in three to five months, resulting in a waste of resources.
Therefore, many people will return the gifts given by A to B, or take them to C's house to pay New Year's visits. This way, there are exchanges between relatives and friends, the gifts are presentable, and it's also very practical.
But when Sister He and Deng Lingling brought bottles of Moutai liquor that cost seven or eight yuan each, and imported wool scarves that Sister He brought, Lin Qingqing refused to accept them.
Lin Qingqing refused the gift, and the two reacted differently.
Deng Lingling hadn't intended to buy such an expensive gift, not because she was stingy, but because she trusted Lin Qingqing's character and felt it would be a waste of money. However, her parents had a different perspective. They felt that since her boss had promoted her, she should definitely send something valuable; otherwise, if she didn't send one, and someone else did, would her boss still promote her in the future?
Deng Lingling was still young, and in the end, she was persuaded by her parents to come with her scarf.
So Lin Qingqing refused the gift, and Deng Lingling felt only regret and shame, realizing she hadn't resisted the temptation. Seeing this, Lin Qingqing patted her on the shoulder, comforted her, and even invited her to stay for a meal.
Although Sister He struggled with the decision, she ultimately followed her own inclinations and decided to send the Moutai. This was mainly because Miao Hui had lost the competition with Deng Lingling, and she felt a sense of shared misfortune. She suspected that Lin Qingqing's choice of Deng Lingling was not only due to Miao Hui's poor performance, but also because Miao Hui had deeply offended her.
Therefore, thinking about how she had overestimated herself and competed with Lin Qingqing for the position of store manager, Sister He felt a little uneasy. In order to save her relationship with Lin Qingqing, Sister He decided to go all out to surrender to Lin Qingqing.
So, after Lin Qingqing refused the gift, Sister He felt no shame. She only wondered if Lin Qingqing was unwilling to forgive her and whether she would have a better job opportunity tomorrow.
In her haste, Sister He secretly slipped away while Lin Qingqing wasn't looking.
If Sister He hadn't run away, Lin Qingqing probably wouldn't have said anything, just refused the gift. But since she ran away, things got out of hand. Lin Qingqing was afraid of causing trouble, so that very day she took the gift to Sister He's house and put it down in front of the whole family.
Sister He was surprised that Lin Qingqing would return the gift after she ran away. She was stunned when she saw Lin Qingqing at home. She only reacted after her husband spoke. She invited Lin Qingqing in and made arrangements to pour her tea, especially brown sugar water.
"No need, I only came to return something." Lin Qingqing put down the liquor that Sister He had brought to her house and said, "You came back in a hurry, you probably forgot to bring it."
Seeing what Lin Qingqing put down, Sister He and her husband exchanged a glance. Her husband pretended to be angry and said to Sister He, "Didn't I tell you to give the liquor to Manager Lin? What, didn't you make yourself clear?" Then he put on a smile and said to Lin Qingqing, "You misunderstood. This is a New Year's gift for you. Otherwise, it would be too awkward for us to come to your house empty-handed to pay our respects."
"It's not bad to come empty-handed. On the contrary, it's because you brought such an expensive gift that it's putting me in a difficult position. I'll leave the wine here for you. If there's nothing else, I'll head back now. I have things to do at home." Lin Qingqing said, turning and walking out.
Seeing that Lin Qingqing was about to leave in a hurry, Sister He's husband gave his wife a push. Sister He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Lin Qingqing, saying, "Manager Lin, I... I didn't mean anything by giving this gift. I just wanted to have a chance to compete if a new counter opens next year."
“I don’t quite understand what you’re saying. Didn’t you also compete for a cosmetics counter this year?” Lin Qingqing said.
This is also true, and Sister He cannot refute it.
Actually, it's not entirely unassailable to refute this; Miao Hui is a case in point. But if she said that, even if Lin Qingqing accepted the gift, she would still offend someone.
But Lin Qingqing wasn't stupid either, and she guessed what Sister He meant. She said, "I know that between Miao Hui and Deng Lingling, I ultimately chose Deng Lingling. Some of you are thinking that I'm taking revenge and that I'm biased."
"No, no, I had no such thought at all," Sister He quickly waved her hand, not daring to admit it.
Lin Qingqing smiled faintly and said, "Whether you think so or not, there are some things I want to say now. I chose Deng Lingling because when she rotated to the wardrobe counter, her daily sales were higher than Miao Hui's. In the same counter, selling the same products, you can always tell who is more capable, right?"
Sister He knew about this, but she always felt that there might be an element of luck involved. She never expected that Lin Qingqing would have these considerations.
"The supply and marketing cooperative opened its counters for two reasons: to serve the people and to make a profit. You've seen Miao Hui's work ethic. Do you think she can do better than Deng Lingling in these two aspects?"
Sister He lowered her head, unable to utter the word "can".
At this point, Lin Qingqing paused, "I'm telling you this not to try to improve my personal image, but so that you can understand that when you're slacking off at work, your work is slacking off too. And I won't favor anyone who gives me a gift or whoever I'm on good terms with. So, trying to figure out these underhanded tricks is useless. The most important thing is to focus on your work."
Sister He blushed after being told this: "I understand."
"Now that you understand, I won't take the liquor with me." After saying that, Lin Qingqing left Sister He's house.
It was past four in the afternoon when she got home. Xie Wei had already returned from the military camp. Seeing her riding back from outside, he asked, "Where have you been?"
"Don't even mention it." Lin Qingqing rode her bike back in the freezing cold, shivering all over. She went to the kitchen and squatted by the coal stove to warm herself up before telling Xie Wei the whole story.
She squatted beside the coal stove, looking up as she spoke, appearing somewhat pitiful. Xie Wei suggested, "Let's move the coal stove to the living room."
Lin Qingqing was taken aback for a moment, then realized what was happening, said "Oh," and stood up. She watched Xie Wei lift the kettle off the coal stove and then carry the stove to the living room. Lin Qingqing followed him into the living room, helped move the coffee table a little further out, and sat down on the cushioned sofa.
After setting up the coal stove, Xie Wei went to the kitchen to bring in the kettle to continue boiling water. Then he took out the teapot and tea leaves, waiting for the water to boil so he could brew tea.
After finishing these tasks, Xie Wei sat down next to Lin Qingqing and continued the previous conversation, asking, "You just dropped off your things at her house and left?"
"Pretty much," Lin Qingqing said with a sigh. "Sometimes I really don't understand. Sister He doesn't seem stupid; she's quite clever. Why does she always think about these unorthodox methods in this regard?"
She felt that her actions since becoming the store manager had been fair and impartial, and even Sister Zheng had seen through it, working incredibly hard lately. Why couldn't Sister He see it clearly? She always felt that she was biased and held grudges?
"Perhaps it's because he feels guilty," Xie Wei said.
"Um?"
Lin Qingqing often talked to Xie Wei about work, so he knew that Sister He had stolen her customers and was punished by Director Gao. Xie Wei brought up this incident and said, "There are some things you don't care about, but she can't help but think about them. The more she thinks about them, the more afraid she becomes, and the more afraid she becomes, the more she thinks about them, and that's how she ended up going astray."
After hearing Xie Wei's explanation, Lin Qingqing finally understood the reason and sighed, saying, "I hope she can think it through."
"She can't figure out what to do?" Xie Wei asked.
Sister He couldn't figure it out, and Lin Qingqing couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't very well ask Sister He to sign that she really didn't hold grudges, could she? If everyone was like that, then she wouldn't have to do any work all day; she could just spend all her time comforting her employees' psychological problems.
Anyway, she has already made herself clear. If Sister He continues to be stubborn, she will only end up being left behind.
After listening to Lin Qingqing's words, Xie Wei nodded.
...
After returning to work on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Qingqing showed Director Gao the plan that she had perfected during the holiday.
Because of the success of Xingfeng Women's Clothing and Cosmetics counters, Director Gao did not hesitate this time and directly agreed to Lin Qingqing's plan, and handed the matter over to her to take charge.
With Director Gao's support, Lin Qingqing launched sweeping reforms at the supply and marketing cooperative.
First, there was the mirror that Lin Qingqing had been longing for. In the past, Director Gao might not have been willing to allocate funds to buy a few seemingly useless mirrors. But now, because he trusted Lin Qingqing's decision, Director Gao not only allocated the money but also used his connections to have the mirror specially made for Lin Qingqing, which was placed on the second-floor clothing, cosmetics, and shoe counters.
As it turned out, Lin Qingqing made the right move. After the mirrors were placed, the sales of these counters all increased to some extent.
Then there's the pastry counter.
The pastry counter not only sells candies and pastries, but also snacks like peanuts and broad beans. The prices are reasonable, and they can be purchased by weight, so the pastry counter has always had good business. However, this "good business" is only relative to other counters. Nowadays, while the Xingfeng women's clothing counter and cosmetics counter attract many city dwellers to make special trips to buy things, the pastry counter's customer base mainly consists of local residents.
The reason for this situation is not hard to figure out; it boils down to the same thing: the product lacks competitiveness.
The pastry counter sells items that can be bought at any supply and marketing cooperative. So why would anyone travel all the way to Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy them? Wouldn't it be better to buy them at the supply and marketing cooperative near home? Even those who travel across half the city to Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy clothes and cosmetics might not be willing to carry a pastry all the way back.
Lin Qingqing chose the pastry counter for a simple reason: its disadvantages were precisely her strengths. In her previous life, she spent her free time tinkering with food and had invested a lot of time and money in cakes and pastries, knowing how to make many. Of course, making cakes in this era wasn't very convenient without an oven, but she didn't plan to make many; one unique pastry would be enough.
After considering it, Lin Qingqing decided to make a chiffon cake.
Chiffon cakes are not only beautiful and delicious, but more importantly, they don't require much equipment; an oven or steamer can be used to make them.
However, making cakes is expensive in terms of food and eggs, so Lin Qingqing did the baking at first, with the chef helping out and learning along the way. Because she wasn't sure how well the cakes would sell, Lin Qingqing only made two batches on the first day, each about six inches in size after unmolding. A six-inch cake is usually enough for two to four people, but larger pieces mean higher prices, so Lin Qingqing cut the cakes into eight pieces for sale.
Even though it was cut into eight pieces, the cake was still not cheap.
Sister Zheng thought the cake was so expensive that even though she was drooling over the cakes on the counter, she knew she wouldn't buy it. Not only would she not buy it herself, she also thought that anyone who bought this ridiculous cake was crazy. In short, she wasn't optimistic about the cake's sales.
Despite this intention, Sister Zheng still tried her best to promote the cakes when others inquired. To her surprise, not only did people buy them, but in the end, there weren't enough to go around.
After the cakes sold out, Sister Zheng wanted Lin Qingqing to make two more batches of cakes, but Lin Qingqing refused. She told her to tell the customers that they couldn't make more cakes for the time being, and that they would only make two batches a day, first come, first served.
Sister Zheng was a little puzzled. In her opinion, people with money aren't stupid! But then she thought back to how she used to think that people who bought cakes at such high prices were fools. Thinking about Lin Qingqing's actions after joining the supply and marketing cooperative, and considering the recent increase in sales at several counters because of the added mirrors, Sister Zheng felt that Lin Qingqing must have had her reasons for giving such instructions.
And that is indeed the case.
Because of the limited supply, queues started forming at the pastry counter just two days after the chiffon cakes went on sale. For the first two days, people lined up after the store opened, but by Sunday, people were already queuing outside the supply and marketing cooperative before it even opened, and the queues kept getting longer and longer, far exceeding the number of cakes available.
Ms. Zheng was initially anxious. There were so many people in line, but only about ten cakes. Wasn't this just watching her money and tickets slip through her fingers?
But soon Sister Zheng discovered that even if the people who lined up didn't get a cake, they would buy other snacks instead.
People are always like this: the more time and energy they spend, the less willing they are to leave empty-handed. Not to mention that some of them came all the way from the city. If they didn't get a cake, they could at least buy some other pastries, right? They went upstairs again, and there was another wave of customers.
This situation lasted for half a month, and the head chef in the kitchen also learned how to make chiffon cake and how to control the heat, so the amount of cakes began to increase.
However, the number of cakes added was still not much, only fifty a day. And because the speed of making cakes could not keep up with the speed of selling them, the number of people queuing up every day not only did not decrease, but actually increased.
Just when everyone was saying it wasn't enough, the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative introduced a second type of pastry—sweet potato cakes.
In this era of food shortage, sweet potatoes were considered a staple food, and people came up with many ways to eat them, including basic sweet potato porridge and sweet potato rice, as well as processed sweet potato chips. As a result, many people were reluctant to touch sweet potatoes.
But Lin Qingqing's sweet potato pancakes were a little different from her previous ones. She mashed the sweet potatoes, added sugar and yeast, mixed and kneaded them, then let them ferment, shaped them into squares, brushed them with oil, and baked them. The resulting sweet potatoes were slightly brittle when they first came out of the oven, but after cooling, they were soft, sweet, and delicious.
Actually, this dessert would taste even better with milk powder, but milk powder was so scarce at the time that even if the supply and marketing cooperative had some, Lin Qingqing wouldn't use it. Moreover, sweet potatoes were already cheap, and adding milk powder would raise the price, which would reduce the number of people willing to buy them.
Lin Qingqing felt that it was better for the pastry counter to follow the strategy of low profit and high volume. For expensive desserts like cakes, having two items would be enough to make a good impression.
And this approach proved to be correct; the sweet potato cakes were a huge success after their introduction and quickly became one of the most popular snacks at the pastry counter.
Afterwards, Lin Qingqing made several more snacks, all of which were cheap and delicious, and quickly became best-selling items. At the same time, some less popular snacks were gradually removed from the pastry counter.
After a period of innovation, the variety of pastries at the pastry counter has increased significantly, and its sales have quickly surpassed those of the Xingfeng women's clothing and cosmetics counters, making it the best-performing counter in the supply and marketing cooperative.
Once the pastry counter business stabilized and the head chef and newly recruited apprentices were able to work in an orderly manner, Lin Qingqing began working on the other counters.
It was May 1975, nine months after Lin Qingqing joined the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative. The cooperative had undergone tremendous changes, most notably in the amount of money in its accounts.
Having money gives you confidence, so this time Lin Qingqing turned her attention to the clothing and shoe counters.
Because the clothing in the ready-made wardrobe section consisted mainly of basic styles, the sales of the ready-made wardrobe section declined sharply after Xingfeng Women's Wear became successful. However, Xingfeng Women's Wear was enough for the women's wear segment, so Lin Qingqing mainly investigated men's wear manufacturers. And because of Xingfeng's example, Lin Qingqing successfully negotiated the agency rights for a men's wear company.
In addition, Lin Qingqing also secured an agency agreement with a clothing factory that mainly produces wool sweaters. Wool sweaters were considered high-end clothing at the time because they were lightweight and warm, and therefore relatively expensive. In Jinshi, only department stores sold wool sweaters, but now, the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative filled this gap.
Besides the clothing and footwear counters, other counters have also expanded their product offerings. For example, bicycles, which have been out of stock for a long time, are no longer sought after by major brands, as these small and medium-sized supply and marketing cooperatives are reluctant to engage with them. However, they are negotiating deeper cooperation with mid-sized brands like Wuyang Bridge to increase supply. Additionally, the cosmetics counter has added two new cosmetic brands, and the daily necessities section on the first floor has also seen a enrichment of its product categories.
...
The summer of 1975 passed quietly amidst the hustle and bustle.
When Lin Qingqing came to her senses, she discovered that while the supply and marketing cooperative's business was booming, problems were also gradually emerging, the most pressing of which was the lack of space.
Although business wasn't good before, the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative wasn't small. Including offices, the family compound cooperative had two floors and nine counters, while the Qingshan cooperative had three floors and ten counters. When Lin Qingqing first joined the cooperative, the space was indeed quite large, but half of it wasn't even being used.
However, in the past year, Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative has entered a period of rapid development, with its counters expanding repeatedly. For example, the cosmetics counter upstairs expanded to two counters because one counter was not enough due to the increase in brands. Similarly, the wardrobe counter, which originally consisted of clothes from two counters crammed together, expanded to two counters again after it became an agent for another brand and a wool sweater brand, as space was naturally insufficient.
Although the expansion of the counters on the first floor was not as significant as that on the second floor, there were still quite a few counters that were not enough, so two counters had to be combined with another counter.
Not only have the number of counters increased, but the originally spacious area has naturally become crowded and even insufficient.
Director Gao's idea was to move the office to the backyard and empty the third floor to place a counter.
Lin Qingqing felt that the rooms on the third floor were all partitioned, and putting a counter in each room was a waste of space. If they were to be opened up, it would require hiring someone to do the construction, which would be time-consuming and labor-intensive. But more importantly, the supply and marketing cooperative was expanding rapidly. At this rate, even if the third floor were opened up within six months, it would not be able to meet their needs for space.
Therefore, Lin Qingqing was more inclined to report the current situation of the supply and marketing cooperative and apply to the Revolutionary Committee or even the municipal government for a larger and more spacious building.
If the organization approves a larger position, it will have two benefits for the supply and marketing cooperative.
First, it's a one-step solution to avoid having to ask the organization for help when there's not enough space in six months. Second, the supply and marketing cooperative is a small unit, and even if it expands rapidly, it can't attract the attention of the Revolutionary Committee leaders in a short time like a textile factory with hundreds of employees. So this application is also an opportunity to report on our work.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. They remained silent, so how could the leaders of the Revolutionary Committee know of their efforts or notice their changes? Only by shouting and confronting them, presenting them with the data, would they realize, "Oh, the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative is no longer the small unit it once was."
Only when leaders notice them will they have the opportunity to attract more funding, receive preferential treatment in resources, or even receive policy support.
With the support of an organization, it's definitely better than them fighting alone like they are now.
After listening to Lin Qingqing's words, Director Gao fell silent.
She realized she had fallen into a trap; she was always trying to achieve something, to get her superiors' attention and to make them aware of her efforts. But which of the large organizations in Jin City hadn't received preferential policies and resources during its development? And what about the smaller organizations? Which one didn't go to their superiors during holidays to complain about being poor and beg for funding?
Their Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative has been silent for too long; it's time they went to the leaders and played the victim.
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