That evening, Li Xiufen's makeshift grocery store opened in her own small courtyard.
The first customer was, naturally, her best sister, Li Xiulan.
Her younger son would be back from school in a few days, so Li Xiulan gritted her teeth and bought three jin of crushed biscuits and five jin of crushed dried noodles.
The dried noodles at the food store cost five mao per jin, plus one jin of grain coupons.
The biscuits were even more expensive, seven mao per jin, plus half a jin of grain coupons.
Li Xiufen basically sold things to her good sister at cost price, without requiring grain coupons: crushed biscuits were four mao per jin, and crushed dried noodles were two mao per jin.
Li Xiulan felt bad about it and, after taking the items home, turned around and brought over a cloth bag of dried locust flowers.
"Sister, if you're not making money off me, don't be so polite. Miaomiao loves steamed buns with locust flower filling, right? What a coincidence! I dried a lot this year and can't eat it all myself, so I'm giving you a bag."
"Great! When Jianqiang gets back, I'll have him come over for some steamed buns!"
Li Xiufen hung the dried locust flowers under the eaves. In the blink of an eye, several more people arrived, all of whom had arranged to buy things from her in advance.
However, they weren't "buying things" in the usual sense. Li Xiufen's official explanation was that these were "local specialties" brought by her daughter-in-law's classmates. Since it was just her and her daughter-in-law, they couldn't eat it all, so they were selling some to subsidize their household expenses.
Someone whose family had someone in postpartum confinement needed more sugar coupons, so they bought two jin of brown sugar and a few jin of crushed dried noodles.
Someone with children bought some apples, bananas, and crushed biscuits to try with their kids back home.
Others with large families, short on oil rations, heard she had soybean oil and didn't require oil coupons, so they came to buy two jin of soybean oil.
The soybean oil sold the best, selling out within two evenings.
Next were the crushed dried noodles and crushed biscuits that didn't require grain coupons. These were mostly snapped up by people from their own production team; by the time people from other production teams heard the news, they were already sold out.
Half of the brown sugar was sold, while apples and bananas had the most left over.
But thinking about it carefully, it was normal. Nowadays, the main source of income for most households was earning work points, and in their production team, one work point only amounted to five fen.
A strong laborer, working their hardest, could earn a maximum of ten work points a day, which only amounted to fifty fen – barely enough to buy one jin of bananas. Who would be willing to spend ten work points for one jin of bananas?
Most families bought one jin of apples and one banana to let the family try the flavor – the vast majority of it went to the children, as the adults couldn't bear to eat it themselves.
Li Xiufen worried that if so many bananas didn't sell, they would spoil, which would be a pity. On the third day, she began to change her "sales model"—
Bananas were sold by the piece, at six fen each, or two for one mao. Those without money could also exchange them for grain.
The remaining thirty-odd jin of bananas were sold or exchanged over two days, finally clearing the inventory.
Gu Chunmiao felt quite embarrassed. She hadn't expected bananas to be so difficult to sell in the countryside.
Li Xiufen comforted her, "It has nothing to do with your bananas. It's just that we haven't found the right place. When the free market opens up, we'll set up a stall outside the county hospital. I see people going to see patients there carrying bananas and apples. That place will definitely sell quickly."
Gu Chunmiao was surprised by her mother-in-law's open-mindedness and immediately looked at Li Xiufen with newfound respect.
Actually, the reason she dared to be such a big-time "speculator" was because she had seen some signs in the newspapers at the beginning of the year. She heard that some southern cities were already preparing to experiment with opening up parts of the free market, and it should be happening here soon.
Once the market fully opened, perhaps they could even rent a commercial property outside the county hospital.
..
While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were busy selling things, they didn't forget their "main business."
The private plot that the production team had allocated to Gu Chunmiao was now officially marked with a sign: "Hongwan Commune Agricultural Technology Station Special Experimental Field."
Li Xiufen took a packet of brown sugar, a bunch of bananas, and two packs of "Cai Die" brand cigarettes and went to find the production team leader, asking He Jianqiang to allocate another private plot to Gu Chunmiao.
He Jianqiang was stunned. "Auntie, didn't the production team just allocate a private plot to your daughter-in-law?"
Li Xiufen shot him a glare. "Didn't you go to the field to see? That plot now belongs to the Commune Agricultural Technology Station and has a sign for an experimental field. How can it be considered our family's private plot?"
"In any case, the agricultural technology station is using that land to grow grain now. My daughter-in-law has no vegetables to eat. You figure it out."
He Jianqiang couldn't do anything about her and could only grudgingly approve another private plot for her.
"This is the last time, okay? This agricultural technology station is really something. What are they doing with experimental fields? Why don't they ask other production teams for private plots? They have to take advantage of our production team?"
Li Xiufen saw that he still hadn't figured it out and lowered her voice to prompt him: "Are you stupid? You can't figure this out? If the experimental field is in our production team, when it comes time to allocate phosphate fertilizer, ammonia water, or the like, it's just a word from the station chief, right?"
"Besides, if this experimental field really achieves something remarkable and gains recognition, won't you, the production team leader, be the one in the spotlight?"
"If the experimental field yields any high-yield varieties, our production team will definitely be the first to use them. Just tell me, isn't that great?"
Although He Jianqiang didn't reply verbally, the smile on his face couldn't be hidden, as if the words "very beautiful" were etched onto his forehead.
Li Xiufen, holding the newly approved private plot, took Gu Chunmiao and spent two days planting all the remaining vegetable seeds.
Gu Chunmiao, having earned over three thousand yuan from selling goods last time, wanted to dig a well at home before the busy farming season began.
With money earned, Li Xiufen didn't want her daughter-in-law, who grew up in the city, to be wronged. She quickly called He Baoguo over.
The first irrigation well dug in their production team was by He Baoguo and his team.
He Baoguo told her not to rush to find helpers.
"We need to find someone to scout first, to see if there's a water source beneath this area of your courtyard. Only by finding the water vein can we dig a well. Otherwise, even if you drill a hole through the earth, it's useless if there's no water source below."
Li Xiufen simply handed the entire matter over to He Baoguo.
"First, help me find someone to see if there's a water vein under my courtyard. If there is, please also calculate how much it would cost to dig a well."
The next day, He Baoguo found a professional well-digger for her. After scouting, it turned out to be quite a coincidence: behind the wall at the base of the bathroom in the He family's house, a water vein was indeed found. It wasn't deep, only about ten meters down to reach water.
"The well-digging tools will be brought by the master himself. Count me in. Also, have the master bring two helpers. Get approval from the production team for thirty yuan worth of green bricks, two bags of cement, and a few jin of loose liquor. Provide two packs of 'Gongnongbing' cigarettes daily, and cover lunch and dinner for two meals a day..."
"I estimate it will cost around a hundred yuan to get this well dug."
Before Li Xiufen could stand up to go get the money, Gu Chunmiao took out a stack of "Da Tuan Jie" bills and handed them to her mother-in-law.
"Mom, I'll pay for digging the well."
"If it weren't for me, I know you live alone and wouldn't be willing to dig this well."
Li Xiufen's heart warmed. She turned and killed the little rooster that didn't lay eggs, and using the dried gourd Li Xiulan had given her, she stewed a large basin of dried gourd braised chicken for her daughter-in-law.
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