Staring intently into those shimmering, doe-like eyes, Chen Ji awkwardly tilted his head, looked down at the letter, and said with a smile, "I don't have the answer on my face, look here."
Little brat, men are still boys at heart until they die, even old men fall for flattery!
Chen Ji taught very meticulously. It was originally a very simple arithmetic exercise, but after he finished explaining, Xu Ruantang silently complained in her heart that she had complicated a simple matter.
Back then, mental arithmetic was still calculated based on grams.
"Do you understand?" Chen Ji looked at the somewhat dazed woman beside him and tapped the table with his finger.
Why is she daydreaming? Xu Ruantang nodded subconsciously, "Yes, I got it."
Chen Ji was skeptical, but pushed the letter in front of her and said, "Then calculate the cost of a flower cake."
"good!"
Xu Ruantang snatched the pen from Chen Ji's hand, buried her head on the table, and started doing calculations.
Sometimes pretending not to know when you do is much harder than pretending to know when you don't.
"Straighten your back." Chen Ji had moved his stool closer to her without her noticing.
Xu Ruantang straightened up reflexively; this tone of voice...
She's just like her mother.
A nearsighted person has a habit that's hard to break; when sitting at the desk, one can't help but lean towards the paper.
"I've figured it out! It turns out that flower cakes cost less than small bread rolls! Each one costs less than two cents."
This was beyond Xu Ruantang's expectations; even in the 21st century, flower cakes are much more expensive than honey bread rolls.
But actually, flower cakes don't use eggs or milk, which saves a lot of money, as these two things were very valuable back then.
Moreover, she used wild roses, which are free, saving her a considerable amount of money.
However, the labor cost of making flower cakes is also very high. If she weren't strong, her arms would have broken after making a hundred or so.
Xu Ruantang suddenly thought of Aunt Wang and said with a look of annoyance, "With such a low cost, Aunt Wang still gave me twenty yuan that day. Did I charge too much?"
How many flower cakes did you send?
"Sixty were delivered yesterday. Aunt Wang said that the money for the eighty small bread rolls she sold to the villagers before was also included."
Chen Ji thought for a moment, "Not much, considering the labor costs. How did you usually price your products?"
Xu Ruantang shook her head, "There's no price set. Aunt Wang sells them all, and I didn't ask the price."
This is both funny and frustrating.
"Now that you know the cost, how do you plan to price it?"
Xu Ruantang pondered for a moment and replied, "I'll ask Aunt Wang tomorrow what price she used to sell them at. Since they sold so well, it means the price was relatively low or reasonable. You can't sell them too expensively in the village anyway. As long as you make enough profit after deducting costs, you can continue with Aunt Wang's previous prices."
The reason she wanted to calculate the costs was to figure out exactly how much money she could make so that she could split the profits with Aunt Wang.
Even when they sell it later, they know exactly what's going on.
If prices go up here, I guess there won't be any business. I'll just sell as much as I can.
"Chen Ji, have you ever been to a big city?"
Xu Ruantang suddenly looked up, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the man before her.
Chen Ji had just moved closer to her, and now the two were very close. When she looked up, a face with defined features was right in front of her.
Chen Ji's nose bridge was very high and straight, and Xu Ruantang even wanted to reach out and touch it to see how such a beautiful nose shape was formed.
Chen Ji happened to look down at her. Xu Ruantang's eyes seemed to be able to bewitch people. Her eyes were as bright as autumn water, so clean and pure.
"Hmm, what's wrong?" Chen Ji pulled out a chair without making a sound and took a step back.
Have you ever had these kinds of small bread rolls or flower cakes in big cities?
Chen Ji shook his head. "I've never eaten flower cakes, but I've eaten mooncakes and bread."
How much does it cost?
"A crystal five-nut mooncake costs 86 cents, and bread costs 30 cents but requires two ounces of fine grain coupons. If you don't have grain coupons, add 8 cents."
Xu Ruantang was somewhat surprised, "So expensive?!"
It's still a mixed nut mooncake with candied fruit and green onion, huh...
"Yes, the prices in Beijing and Shanghai are incomparable to those here."
"That's natural," Xu Ruantang nodded in agreement.
"Have you finished asking about your matter?" Chen Ji suddenly asked.
"That's it, time to go to sleep!"
Xu Ruantang packed up her pen and letter and was about to leave when Chen Ji stopped her, both amused and exasperated, saying, "I also have something to say."
Xu Ruantang then remembered that the other person had just given her the chance to ask the question first, so she sat back down apologetically and said, "Go ahead."
"I'll be going back to my unit in a week."
Chen Ji stared directly at Xu Ruantang with his deep eyes, his voice low and slightly hoarse.
Xu Ruantang's mind went blank for a moment.
What does this mean?
Is he leaving?
What should she do then? Does this count as early termination of the contract? She'll have to find a place to live quickly; I wonder if there are any jobs in the city that include room and board.
She only has a junior high school education, which gives her a headache just thinking about it.
"Okay, I understand." Xu Ruantang was a little confused, but still tried to persuade her, "Um... before I find a place to stay, could I stay here for a while?"
"Or I can pay you rent."
If he leaves, he can stay here and do business on his own. He won't have to take care of the kids then, and he can sell pastries with Aunt Wang every day.
Selling them at the market later would also be a good way out.
Chen Ji was prepared to answer all sorts of questions, but he still didn't expect her to take such a skewed approach.
"You...you're not planning to come with me?"
Xu Ruantang was also stunned, "Huh? Huh?!"
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