Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

Chapter 39 Long-term Business
When Yu Qiutang heard the price, he initially thought it was too cheap and was ready to negotiate it down to 25 cents. But then he thought, after all, they also have to make money, and it would be pointless if the price was too high.

Besides, what the elder sister said is also true. If he gets it regularly, that means stable benefits, which really saves him a lot of time. It is equivalent to a targeted wholesale price, which is not low.

So I accepted the price in my heart.

"Okay, if you can keep it up, I'll give you two cents, but I have a request. If you can agree to it, then we'll make it a deal."

"What? Tell me about it."

"To be honest, I need to prepare the ingredients at least three days in advance to make this tofu. It's summer now. If you don't want it after I make it, I can't keep it and it will go bad quickly," he said sincerely. "So, you have to pay the three-day advance fee before I can make it with confidence."

"There are still rules," the eldest sister hesitated, thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Okay, three days is three days. As long as the goods are good, it doesn't matter if it's a month in advance. We are all from the same village, and I am not afraid that you will take the money and run away."

As he said this, he took out another stack of money from his pocket, took out two chapters of Great Unity, and counted out ten one-dollar bills and handed them to Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang naturally took the money and said as he counted it, "Sister, are you really not afraid that I will run away?"

"Don't be afraid, I'm open for business, I've seen all kinds of people, and you don't look like someone who would do anything bad.

Besides, who would bring two children with them to cheat people everywhere? And, if you really cheated me, it's only thirty dollars. I won't be poor, and you won't get rich. You should look at the long term in life!"

"The amount is correct," Yu Qiutang put away the money, looked up and said to the elder sister with admiration, "Elder sister, you have a big vision, and your business will definitely be bigger in the future. Then let's make a deal. You take me to your restaurant to see the location, and I'll bring it to you later."

Then she said, "By the way, my name is Yu Qiutang, and my home is in Wangjia Village, which is about six or seven kilometers away from here. What's your name, elder sister?"

"Wu Meifen, Wu means Wu, Mei means beautiful, Fen means fragrant. My restaurant is on the east side of the roundabout in front. It's called Meifen Restaurant. It's easy to find."

"So you are the proprietress of Meifen Restaurant!" Yu Qiutang was very surprised.

"What?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that you are famous. Everyone says that the food at Meifen Restaurant is delicious and the portions are generous. Everyone is happy to have a meal at your restaurant."

"Really? Haha," Wu Meifen was obviously very pleased and couldn't stop laughing.

In fact, what Yu Qiutang said was half true and half false.

It is true that the food at the Meifen Restaurant is delicious, and it is also true that it does good business. It was eventually famous as a restaurant in Qingquan Town and even Rongcheng City. But what made it truly famous was that it was burned down in an inexplicable fire in the 1990s.

It was said at the time that the proprietress's two children and mother-in-law were all burned to death in there. This news was published in the newspapers and caused quite a stir.

Later I heard that after Wu Meifen's business became big, her husband started to have some evil thoughts and had an affair with a waiter. As a result, they had a conflict and the waiter's husband ordered the restaurant to be closed.

Yu Qiutang is not sure whether it is true or not.

I didn't expect that after my rebirth, I would still be associated with such a person because of such a small thing as the magic tofu.

Since they knew she was the proprietress of Mei-Fen Restaurant, there was no need to go to her house to get acquainted. The two of them agreed to deliver the magical tofu to the restaurant before 8 a.m. every day so that they could catch the first wave of people eating there.

The proprietress left with satisfaction, while Yu Qiutang picked up the basket and started shopping with his two children. First, he took the two children to the barber shop and had all three of them, including himself, cleaned up.

Yu Xiaowei probably inherited his hair from his grandfather. It was not ordinary straight hair, but a lot of curly hair, tangled on his head in a mess, like a messy crow's nest.

Yu Xiaoyun's hair is thin and yellow. It was caused by severe malnutrition and long-term lack of nourishment that made it look like this. The hair can no longer be corrected and can only be cut and allowed to grow again.

Haircuts are cheap these days, 1 cent for adults and 5 cents for children, but Yu Qiutang didn't want Yu Xiaowei to be treated as a child and have his head shaved, and he also wanted Xiaoyun's hair to be trimmed properly, so he paid for the adults' hair.

After the haircut, the two children looked in the mirror and saw their fresh hairstyle. They could hardly recognize themselves and were very satisfied.

Especially Xiaoyun, she is a girl after all, and she still loves beauty. She had no choice but to accept it before, but now she is made prettier, she is still very happy.

After walking out of the barber shop, the two were still smiling and their heads were held much higher.

Yu Qiutang took the two of them forward and bought a bucket, two kitchen knives, a long rolling pin, as well as oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, MSG, etc. for the house. He also did not forget to buy a bag of saccharin.

Shenxian tofu is a bit like tofu pudding. It can be eaten salty and spicy, or sweet. Of course, it is impossible to dissolve sugar in water in this era. People generally use saccharin to provide sweetness.

Saccharin is an industrial extract. People in later generations knew that it was not a healthy additive and gradually stopped using it. But in fact, if you use it in small amounts and don't eat it for a long time, it will not have much impact on people.

When he passed by the needlework stall, he bought a bundle of hemp specifically for his third sister.

People here like to wear thousand-layer soles, and the soles need to be made by twisting hemp into thin hemp ropes.

Hemp is the skin of a plant, and its fruit can also be eaten. It is a kind of snack similar to melon seeds that people in Shaanxi and Gansu like to eat, called: hemp seeds.

If there is hemp, then of course there must be an awl, a thimble, and some wires.

These are the tools and materials necessary for needlework. If they are not prepared for the third sister, she will have to use her hands to do the work.

The reason why the thousand-layer soles are called thousand-layer soles is that layer upon layer of cloth is glued together with paste and then placed under the mattress on the hot kang to dry. The soles will become very strong and super flexible.

When sewing the soles of shoes, you need to use an awl to drill a hole and thread a hemp rope. If you don't have an awl, when you pull down a sole, the palm of your hand will be pierced by the needle and there will be many bloody pits, which will hurt so much that you can't even hold a bowl.

So, the reason why the older generation mentions thousand-layer soles and cherishes them very much is because they are filled with the most simple love from a mother or a wife, and every stitch of emotion is incorporated into the soles.

"Uncle, we bought so many things today."

Because the family was almost penniless, there were a lot of things that needed to be purchased. They bought them little by little along the way. The two baskets were already full, and even Xiaoyun had to carry a bucket.

"This is not enough. We still need to buy some flour. You like white flour buns, right? We will eat white flour buns every meal from now on... Let's go over there and take a look first."

Yu Qiutang discovered that there was a stall propped up on a cart in front of him, with many cloth samples hanging on it. It was a stall selling cloth.

(End of this chapter)