Xu Huan looked at him smugly. "You can make around two thousand yuan. The cheapest sweaters cost just over three yuan wholesale. People flip them for ten-sothing yuan apiece."
As she spoke, she went inside and brought out a sweater for Shen Hao to see. "Look, a sweater like this costs only three-sixty."
After taking a look, Shen Hao slapped his thigh. "Alright, I’m in. If you haven’t found a shop, I’ll help you find soone to get you a stall. You could start as early as tomorrow."
Xu Huan shook her head. "I’ve looked into it the past few days. You can’t get good prices selling from a stall. I found a shop at the end of Limin Street. The landlord wants forty-five a month, but I think the location is a bit too remote."
Shen Hao said, "Forty-five isn’t expensive. My uncle rents his shop to a guy who sells stead buns for fifty a month. Damn, that’s more than our captain’s monthly salary."
Xu Huan nodded. "I’m planning on renting it. If you’re free, co take a look with . After I sign the lease, I’ll need to find a couple of plasterers and a carpenter to renovate the place."
"Let’s go! I’m unemployed at the mont. I’ll help you check it out, and it’ll help get my bearings too," Shen Hao said, leading the way out the door.
Xu Huan locked the door and ca out. The two of them chatted and laughed as they went downstairs, pushing a bicycle as they walked away.
Just as they turned to leave, Qian Kun ca around the corner from the dormitory building. He saw the backs of Xu Huan and Shen Hao, frowned, then turned and went upstairs.
****
Li Xiangyang carted a refrigerator from Liu Da’s place to the entrance of the restaurant at the East City market.
Zhao Xiaohui saw him pulling a large box and asked in surprise, "Xiangyang, what’s that?"
"A refrigerator." Li Xiangyang parked the handcart, grabbed the ropes tied around the box, and hoisted it onto his back to carry it to the backyard.
Zhao Xiaohui had already run to the backyard to tell Wu Shufen that he’d brought a refrigerator. The three of them hurried to the door just in ti to see Li Xiangyang walking over with a large cardboard box on his back.
"Quick, get out of the way." Wu Shufen quickly pulled her two daughters-in-law aside. "That thing must be so heavy! I was just about to call your big brother to help carry it in."
Li Xiangyang set the refrigerator down and smiled. "It’s not that heavy. Mom, where do you think we should put it?"
Wu Shufen thought for a mont, then pointed to the room where Lin Guoliang and the others slept. "Put it in there."
"Okay." Li Xiangyang carried the refrigerator inside, removed the packaging, and placed it against the wall. Seeing there wasn’t a power strip in the room, he went out to buy one, along with so wiring. Once he had it all connected and plugged in, the refrigerator began to HUM.
Wu Shufen watched curiously. "Xiangyang, how does it work?"
Li Xiangyang had never used one either. He took out the instruction manual from the box and glanced at it. "Mom, the top compartnt is for freezing at, and the bottom one is for vegetables and fruit. Don’t mix them up."
Wu Shufen nodded, then turned to her daughter-in-law. "Xiuqing, make sure you rember that."
"I will," Zhang Xiuqing said, picking up the cardboard box and heading for the storage room.
Wu Shufen patted the refrigerator. "Xiangyang, how much was it? When your father gets here, we’ll get the money and give it to you."
Li Xiangyang, worried she’d be upset about the cost, said, "I haven’t asked Liu Da yet. I’ll tell you after I do."
He had paid Liu Da the wholesale price of eight hundred yuan. A refrigerator like this was hard to co by, even with Foreign Exchange Certificates, if you didn’t have connections.
Wu Shufen gave him a playful glare. "Fine. Once you’ve asked about the price, we’ll give you the money."
Li Xiangyang nodded. He went out to return the handcart to the Liu family, then found a welder and a plumber to install a ground lock and a water heater.
After a busy morning running errands, it was already noon by the ti he returned to the shop. The three of them then headed back to the pastry shop for lunch.
On the way, Old Li told the other two that in three days, it would be an auspicious day, suitable for moving.
Li Xiangyang nodded. "Dad, Little Lan, how about we get a refrigerator for ourselves?"
Old Li thought for a mont. "We only cook breakfast at ho and usually eat at the pastry shop. If we buy one, we should put it there."
Li Xiangyang agreed. "Okay, we’ll put it in the pastry shop. That way, Little Lan can store the red bean paste."
With the father and son in agreent, Lin Lan thought that having a refrigerator in the shop would an not having to worry about the red bean paste spoiling in the heat. After a mont, she added, "Xiangyang, I think you should find soone to buy a tractor from. It would make hauling live pigs and delivering at much more convenient."
Li Xiangyang laughed after hearing this. "I’ve thought about buying a tractor too. Not only can it transport goods, but it can also plow fields. On our way back this ti, we saw people in the suburbs of the provincial capital who had attached iron plowshares and harrows to their tractors. They were plowing more than twice as fast as an ox."
Lin Lan shook her head. "We’d be buying it mainly for hauling goods. Buying plowshares and harrows just for four mu of land would be a bit much."
Old Li agreed. "Right. We can’t just throw money around like that."
Seeing that they both disagreed, Li Xiangyang had to drop the idea.
As they were talking, the three of them arrived outside the pastry shop.
When Qiaohui saw the three of them, she turned and yelled, "Xinglan, let’s get the food on the table! Lin Lan and the others are here!"
Seeing Qiaohui’s cheerful expression, Lin Lan smiled. "Looks like business was good this morning!"
Qiaohui grinned at Lin Lan. "The kindergarten ca and bought so nougat and honey buns. The woman in charge of purchasing said our little honey buns taste great and that they’ll order their snacks from us from now on."
Lin Lan was happy to hear that. "If they’re going to be a long-term custor, we can give them a ten percent discount."
"Got it."
They walked into the backyard and saw the table was set with a spicy blood curd stew, pork bone and radish soup, stir-fried pork...
"Brother," Yang Zhigang said, "another butcher stall opened up in the market. We’re selling at one-twenty a jin, and he’s selling at one-fifteen. Should we match their price tomorrow?"
Li Xiangyang looked at him. "If we lower our price to match theirs, and then he drops his to one-ten, what do we do then?"
Yang Zhigang nodded. "I was worried about that too, so I didn’t lower the price this morning. But I’m concerned they’ll poach our restaurant clients. How about we lower our delivery price for the restaurants a little?"
"The profit margin on restaurants is already thin. If we lower it again, it won’t be worth it," Li Xiangyang said after a mont’s thought. "If it really cos down to it, we’ll just have to slaughter a couple fewer pigs."
"Oh!" Yang Zhigang nodded in agreent.
After lunch, Yang Zhigang and Old Li headed to the pig farm.
Lin Lan got on her bike, planning to head to Limin Road, but Li Xiangyang called out to her. "Little Lan, let’s go ho for a bit."
Lin Lan rembered him saying he had bought sothing for her that morning. She smiled, "We’re going to see it now?"
"Mhm!" Li Xiangyang patted the back seat of his bicycle. "Hop on, I’ll take you."
"Thank you, Master Li," Lin Lan said with a smile as she got on.
Li Xiangyang took Lin Lan ho, pulled a velvet pouch from his backpack, and took out a set of gold jewelry, along with another set made of erald-green jade.
Lin Lan looked at the gleaming gold jewelry and laughed. "What made you think of buying sothing so extravagant?"
"Liu Da said you ladies can wear them if you want, and if you don’t, they won’t go bad just sitting around. If prices rise, they’ll even appreciate in value." Li Xiangyang picked up the pair of bracelets and slipped them onto Lin Lan’s wrist, then leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Beautiful. The mont I saw these, I knew they would look beautiful on you."
Lin Lan lifted her hand, showing off the jade bracelet on her wrist. It was translucent, with a vibrant, luscious green hue. "I think it’s beautiful too. I love it. Thank you, Xiangyang!"
"Silly girl," Li Xiangyang said, giving her an indulgent kiss. He pulled her into his arms, and they quietly enjoyed the warmth of being together.
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