Cheng Hui didn’t decline. While expressing her thanks, she openly counted the coupons in front of him.
She then set aside the valuable Bicycle Coupons, Television Coupons, and Watch Coupons—each of which could fetch dozens of yuan—as she couldn’t accept them yet.
For now, she only took the less valuable cloth coupons, cotton coupons, and liquor coupons.
“On behalf of our factory’s staff, I thank Manager Cui. As for repayment…” Cheng Hui smiled. “We’ll discuss that in a few days.”
“Hahaha, these are just worthless items. No need to talk about repayment!” Cui Degui thought she meant discussing the job transfer in a few days and was delighted.
Was there anyone who couldn’t be poached? If so, it was only because the sincerity wasn’t enough!
Glancing at the valuable coupons left on the table, he admired this “arm” even more!
After collecting the coupons, Cheng Hui bid farewell to Manager Cui and went downstairs straight to the premium cigarettes and liquor counter. “Sister Li, I’ll take all ten bottles of Feitian Maotai,” she said, handing over the money and coupons.
The woman selling premium cigarettes and liquor, in her thirties, had watched Cheng Hui skillfully persuade people to buy so many expensive pastries and had heard her share of “inside information.” Feeling that Cheng Hui treated her as an insider, she instantly clicked with her.
Hearing Cheng Hui’s request for Feitian Maotai, she promptly retrieved all the bottles.
Cheng Hui waved over Wang Hui, who had been watching from a distance, to bring the basket and load the liquor inside.
Once the transaction was complete, she finally felt at ease.
Feitian Maotai from 1973, if well-preserved without evaporation, could sell for at least tens of thousands in the future, and with luck, even four to five hundred thousand per bottle! And the price would only keep rising.
This era was poor and scarce, but in her eyes, treasures were everywhere!
As Wang Hui loaded the liquor, he asked curiously, “Deputy Director, why are you buying so much liquor?”
“Employee benefits,” Cheng Hui replied.
Wang Hui’s hands trembled, nearly dropping a bottle. Cheng Hui immediately shot him a stern look.
Wang Hui feared his great-grandmother… no, he feared her! He didn’t dare ask further and quickly finished loading the basket before leaving.
Li Fang, the liquor seller, stared at Cheng Hui with sparkling eyes and exclaimed, “You’re a deputy director now?!”
Promotions nowadays were based on seniority, and one typically had to wait years for a promotion.
How old was Cheng Hui to already be a deputy director? It seemed her biological father in Jingcheng was truly influential!
People around stared at Cheng Hui and her belly, their eyes filled with gossip.
Cheng Hui felt somewhat embarrassed and explained, “It’s just a deputy director at a branch factory, not the main Xian Food Factory. Just a small branch.”
“But that’s still impressive!” Li Fang said sincerely.
No matter how small the branch, it was still a factory! And no matter how minor the deputy director title, it was still a deputy director!
Indeed, through normal channels, one couldn’t become a deputy director before the age of 40.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Li Fang, Cheng Hui returned to the stall.
Tao Juan and the other two were murmuring over the basket of liquor, their expressions grave.
Maotai at eight yuan a bottle was far too extravagant for them! Even for a child’s wedding or a father’s funeral, such expensive liquor was unaffordable!
Cheng Hui had no time to explain. She cut another plate of samples and took it out.
The three were puzzled. Why give out samples when everything was already sold out?
They couldn’t bear to part with it—in their eyes, this Caozi Cake, no, Weifeng Cake, was incredibly precious, worth fifty cents each!
Cheng Hui paid them no mind and continued walking around the venue with the plate.
This time, she only offered samples to the salesclerks!
She went from counter to counter, chatting warmly with each clerk and insisting they try the samples!
Occasionally, when she spotted a child passing by, she would casually hand them one, telling the parents, “This is Weifeng Cake. It’s sold out today, but if you want some, come back tomorrow morning. If you’re late, it’ll be gone.”
Since everything was sold out, there was no awkwardness about not being able to afford it. She firmly pressed the cake into the child’s hand, and every parent was quite pleased, usually thanking Cheng Hui with a smile and forming a good impression of her.
After finishing one tray of sliced cakes, Cheng Hui would slice another.
She continued until she had visited every counter—not missing a single person!
They were her real targets!
The key to success or failure lay with them!
Cui Degui had unknowingly returned to his corner to observe his “right-hand woman.” He was somewhat puzzled by her actions.
Previously, her goal was clear: she only curried favor with the clerks selling valuable items. That was understandable and the right approach—not only making it easier to sell her goods but also to buy things in the future.
But to not let a single salesclerk slip by? Wasn’t that a bit excessive?
She even spotted him and headed straight for him… After saying a word to him, she went upstairs to the offices, leaving no one out.
Tao Juan also thought she was going overboard, feeling sorry for the Caozi Cakes and for Cheng Hui, who was so exhausted her face had turned pale.
“Deputy Director, take a break. It’s almost afternoon, and you haven’t eaten yet!” she urged.
“Ah? It’s almost afternoon? Time flies. No wonder I’m so hungry,” Cheng Hui replied.
Of course, she wasn’t that hungry—she had eaten quite a bit while handing out samples…
“Let’s go eat at a restaurant. I heard the pork and scallion dumplings at the place across the street are the most authentic. Let’s try them,” Cheng Hui said.
She had spent another two hours interacting with every salesclerk and even the logistics staff, gathering all sorts of miscellaneous information.
This wasn’t really the main point. Earlier, she had told the portly uncle that no one could be left out, or they might face trouble later.
The same applied now—she was afraid that if she needed to use these people in a few days, the one she missed might cause problems for her!
Upon hearing about dumplings, the three of them lit up—it had been a long time since they’d had any.
Li Yan suddenly said, “We don’t have any Food Coupons.”
Tao Juan and Wang Hui immediately looked disappointed. They had forgotten about that. They had money from selling cakes but hadn’t collected any Food Coupons. To eat at a restaurant, they needed Food Coupons—one jin of dumplings required one jin of coupons. Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell to you.
Cheng Hui patted her pocket: “I just borrowed a few from someone.”
Tao Juan: “…Deputy Director, I really admire you. I, Tao Juan, used to think I was eloquent and had good connections, but I would never manage to borrow Food Coupons from someone I just met!”
Food Coupons weren’t actually expensive—buying one jin cost just a few cents, and ten jin were worth a few dimes. Some people privately specialized in this trade.
But the value of these coupons lay in their scarcity!
Farmers weren’t issued Food Coupons. If they wanted any, they had to exchange grain for them at the grain station—one jin of grain for one jin of coupons.
The coupons sold by dealers, of course, didn’t come from this source but were issued to urban residents.
Urban residents had a Food Ration Booklet, which allotted a fixed monthly amount of grain per person, varying by age and occupation.
For example, miners engaged in heavy manual labor had a larger monthly quota, over 30 jin.
For ordinary city dwellers, adults received 28 jin of grain per month, while elementary school students got 18 jin.
Sometimes work units would distribute extra food coupons as benefits, or those who had surplus rations due to uneaten portions or business trips would take their food ration booklets to grain stores to exchange the remaining quotas for food coupons.
Thus, unless one had the right connections, obtaining food coupons remained quite difficult for ordinary people.
In any case, Tao Juan’s family never had enough grain to begin with—there wasn’t a single spare food coupon for dining out.
Cheng Hui had already led the three dazed individuals into the restaurant opposite the Department Store and ordered 4 jin of pork and scallion dumplings.
A total of 60 dumplings—that should be enough to eat.
But Cheng Hui soon realized she had spoken too soon. She herself hadn’t had enough!
The others seemed slightly short as well.
Having previously borrowed 10 jin worth of food coupons, Cheng Hui simply bought another 2 jin to share among everyone. This time, they finally ate their fill.
At least she was full.
She contentedly patted her stomach—this was the first proper full meal since her rebirth!
“Nothing beats dumplings!” Wang Hui also sighed with feeling.
Truthfully, he hadn’t eaten to fullness, but he felt equally satisfied.
His family had many mouths to feed with few breadwinners—either too old or too young. They were poor, only eating dumplings once a year, and even then, never as much as today!
Cheng Hui said, “Don’t worry. Work hard with me, and someday you’ll eat so many dumplings you’ll get sick of them.”