“You’re worrying about things that don’t matter. If she won’t help, we’ll find another way.” Yuan Ni gritted her teeth as she pushed the cart along the bumpy rural path, which was truly hard to traverse.
Seeing her eldest daughter doing all the work while she couldn’t help with anything, Yuan Ni’s Mother felt ashamed and fell silent.
She suddenly realized that she was no better than a child—useless when it truly mattered.
When they arrived at the Gongxiaoshe, Yuan Ni told her mother to watch the cart at the entrance while she went inside to find Chen Wenqi.
This was her first time at the Gongxiaoshe.
Early in the morning, there were no customers at the Gongxiaoshe. Of the three shop assistants, two were sitting behind the counter knitting.
Only the assistant at the non-staple food counter was wiping down the counter.
Yuan Ni walked over and asked her, “Comrade, does Chen Wenqi work here?”
“What do you want with Director Chen?”
Director?
Yuan Ni hadn’t expected that Chen Wenqi wasn’t an ordinary staff member but the director of the Gongxiaoshe.
“A relative from my hometown asked me to bring something for her, so I need to deliver it.” As she spoke, Yuan Ni showed the assistant the bundle in her hands.
Inside were bean buns that Grandmother had made last night, saying that when asking someone for a favor, you shouldn’t show up empty-handed.
“Director Chen’s office is in the back. You can go through here.”
Hearing that Yuan Ni was a relative of Chen Wenqi, the assistant opened the counter panel and let her take the shortcut.
The front of the Gongxiaoshe was for selling goods, while the back housed the warehouse and offices.
Yuan Ni quickly found the director’s office. As it happened, Chen Wenqi was alone inside, brewing tea.
A cup of tea and a newspaper—that was a life of comfort that farmers wouldn’t even dare to dream of.
“Oh, Yuan Ni, what brings you here? I went to Xiangyang Dadui yesterday and wanted to check on you, but I didn’t expect you’d moved to Hongqi Dadui. Come, sit down, and tell me—is there anything I can help you with?”
Chen Wenqi looked up and happened to see Yuan Ni. She warmly pulled her over to sit down.
Yuan Ni hadn’t expected Chen Wenqi to have gone out of her way to visit her, which showed that she was someone who remembered kindness and knew gratitude.
Since she had already been to the team, that meant she had likely heard something about the Yuan family’s situation. This made it easier for Yuan Ni to bring up her request.
“It’s like this—after Mother and I returned to Maternal Grandfather’s house…”
Yuan Ni recounted everything in detail, describing what had happened since her return and her youngest uncle’s reaction. Finally, she mentioned her plan to make money.
Chen Wenqi, being older, found all the reactions within her expectations. “So now, you want to buy some odds and ends, trade them for eggs in the village, and then sell them to the Gongxiaoshe—am I right?”
“Yes, Sister Chen. Am I violating any regulations by doing this?” More importantly, could she count on Chen Wenqi’s support?
“Bartering doesn’t violate any regulations. Besides, our Gongxiaoshe also has a quota for purchasing eggs. Your idea is excellent.”
Chen Wenqi’s words immediately dispelled Yuan Ni’s concerns, and she even gave her the purchasing price for eggs. “At our Gongxiaoshe, the retail price for eggs is eighty cents per catty, while the purchasing price is eight cents per egg.
If you take goods to trade for eggs in the village, there’s room for profit in between. However, this work is very hard.”
Yuan Ni wasn’t afraid of hard work. No matter how grueling or exhausting, she had to earn a house of their own—otherwise, she and her sisters would have nowhere to go.
Chen Wenqi nodded, indicating understanding. “Tell you what, there’s a batch of defective goods in the warehouse. Come take a look with me—if anything suits you, I’ll set it all aside for you.”
Every beginning is hard, but Chen Wenqi had already taken a liking to Yuan Ni, and after hearing her novel idea, she was even more willing to make things convenient for her.
After all, more friends mean more paths in life. Yuan Ni was kind-hearted and clever—she was surely not someone destined to stay in a small pond.
Defective goods all had some flaw or another, and the prices were cheap as a result.
“Look at this cloth—the stripes just don’t line up, so it’s half price. But this kind of thing isn’t suitable for you. If you want to trade for eggs, you should take small items.”
Chen Wenqi pointed to the needles and thread, nylon socks, cotton work gloves, soap, laundry powder, bowls and plates, as well as awls, nails, and similar items, letting Yuan Ni pick and choose.
As the director of the Gongxiaoshe, Chen Wenqi was extremely experienced. The things she mentioned were exactly the items that rural folks most liked to barter for.
Yuan Ni quickly picked out a pile.
Chen Wenqi directly called the accountant over to tally the cost. Because they were defective goods, the prices were low—a whole pile of small items only came to five yuan and eighty cents.
“Thank you, Sister Chen. You’ve been a huge help,” Yuan Ni said, pointing to her bundle. “I didn’t bring anything for you, but here—some bean buns I made myself. Have a taste.”
Chen Wenqi accepted them readily. “Come find me once you’ve collected the eggs. I’m usually here except on Sundays.”
When Yuan Ni’s Mother saw the big pile of goods Yuan Ni had traded for, she was startled. “How much did all this cost?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s make use of the early daylight and head to Hongmiao Slope to collect eggs first.”
Yuan Ni pushed the handcart and set off. To return to Hongqi Dadui, they had to pass through Hongmiao Slope, so she had made that their first stop—she wanted to test whether the idea of trading for eggs would actually work.
“Right, let’s trade for some eggs first. Otherwise, I won’t feel settled.”
When she heard that everything Yuan Ni had traded for was defective goods and cheap, Yuan Ni’s Mother broke into a smile. “It’s all fate, really. Who would’ve thought that a hospital stay could let you meet a benefactor?”
By the time the two of them arrived at Hongmiao Slope, it was exactly noon, and the brigade members were all walking home from the fields.
Yuan Ni laid out the needles and thread and other small items one by one, then began to call out, “Trading for eggs! One needle for one egg!”
The price was about the same as at the market, but since Yuan Ni had come right to their doorstep, it was naturally a great convenience for the villagers.
A crowd quickly gathered around her.
“Do you have any cotton gloves? How many eggs for those?”
“Soap too? Wonderful—I’ll go get eggs right now!”
On the road, Yuan Ni had already calculated everything in advance—how many eggs each item was worth, she knew it all in her head.
As for Yuan Ni’s Mother, her mind was slower and she couldn’t keep track of accounts, but she was an expert at selecting eggs, so she helped collect them on the side.
Then she neatly arranged the traded eggs into the baskets.
Yuan Ni’s prices were fair, so everyone brought out their household stockpiles to exchange.
Among them, several people wanted to trade for salt.
Yuan Ni could only apologize and say she hadn’t brought any, but that she would definitely bring some next time.
Besides salt, several old women wanted to trade for candy for their precious grandsons.
Yuan Ni kept all these requests in mind.
After a busy noon, both of the bamboo baskets she had prepared beforehand were completely full, and the defective goods she’d brought had dwindled by half.
Seeing that there was no one left around, the mother and daughter wiped off their sweat, sat down on the ground, and took out the dried provisions they had prepared earlier, ready to have a quick bite.
Just then, an old woman came over, pulling a little girl by the hand. They had taken a liking to a small enamel basin.
The enamel basin had some chipped paint, and the Gongxiaoshe was asking five mao for it. Yuan Ni planned to trade it for fifteen eggs.
If they were to buy a new one at the Gongxiaoshe, it would cost at least two yuan, and they would also need an industrial coupon.
So both the buyer and the seller felt that the trade was the most economical option.
The key issue now was that the old woman didn’t have that many eggs. “I only have nine eggs. Can I make up the rest with this instead?” she asked.
Yuan Ni’s Mother glanced over and saw the old woman holding a large, worn bowl. She refused outright, “No, our new bowls only trade for three eggs each. Yours is an old bowl with chipped edges—how can it be worth six eggs?”
The old woman was disappointed. “This isn’t an ordinary bowl. Look at the pattern on it—this is an antique…”