He was only running a small business. Eating over five hundred catties of grain at once meant nearly a thousand yuan. He had spent close to two hundred yuan purchasing pork earlier. He was truly hesitant to invest all his money in this all at once.
Chen Lishu understood and readily said, "It's fine, Brother Liu. Take as much as you need, and I'll find other buyers for the rest."
Liu Yong felt a bit embarrassed when she said this. He chuckled dryly before going to inspect the grain.
Gu Shoufu and the others had collected a mixed variety of grains, including corn, sorghum, millet, rice, white flour, and soybeans. In the end, Liu Yong selected fifty catties of corn, thirty catties of white flour, forty catties of rice, and an additional twenty catties of soybeans, totaling one hundred and ninety yuan.
"Third sister-in-law, when Dad and my elder brothers collected them, they weren't much more expensive than the purchase station. By just reselling them, they doubled in price?" Gu Xingye was completely shocked after watching Liu Yong pay and leave with the grain.
"After all, it's still a planned economy. You see how prestigious city dwellers look with their rationed food, but in reality, their monthly supply is limited. Heavy laborers get forty-five catties of grain each month, while non-manual laborers only get twenty-six catties."
Chen Lishu patiently explained to him, "Calculate it, that's less than a catty of grain per day on average. If a family has many children, it becomes even more stretched. We villagers are different. Even without wages, we at least eat communal meals. At worst, they deduct work points, which will be settled at the end of the year anyway."
Chen Lishu paused and continued, "The state-rationed rice is only fourteen cents and six cash per catty, but in the free market, it can fetch over a yuan per catty. Grain coupons are also money; a catty of grain coupons can be sold for over a yuan."
Chen Lishu knew this because she had been to the black market a few times, where there were people specifically dealing in coupons.
After her detailed explanation, Gu Xingye finally understood and immediately felt that being in the countryside was quite good, at least they didn't have to worry about food.
"Third sister-in-law, what about the remaining grain?"
Chen Lishu thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow, let's take some to the black market first. I'll take you along for a couple of trips. Once you get the hang of it, you can go by yourself."
Gu Xingye nodded, "Alright, I'll listen to you, third sister-in-law."
Early the next morning, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingye took fifty catties of grain and headed to the black market.
Grain was always in demand, no matter when or where. Within half a morning, they sold all fifty catties of grain, earning sixty-five yuan.
In the afternoon, Chen Lishu did not take Gu Xingye to the black market. After all, one couldn't frequent such places too often; it could be a big trouble if they were noticed.
The two of them took another fifty catties to a factory area further away. As the end of the year approached, grain sold very well. Soon, they exchanged another fifty catties of grain for over sixty yuan.
In two days, they sold half of it. In the following days, Chen Lishu no longer went with Gu Xingye, but let him go out on his own to gain experience.
Besides sewing clothes, she also went to Ding's house to study English on weekends, and she had to set aside time to read every day. Although her days were busy, they were fulfilling.
Gu Xingping was home on vacation. Besides studying, she occasionally went out with Gu Xingye to sell grain.
In the period that followed, Gu Shoufu and the others sent grain over twice more. By the time all the grain was sold, it was already the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month.
With most of the surplus grain in the nearby villages collected, Chen Lishu decided to pause grain collection. The three of them returned home together, just in time to distribute the money earned during this period to everyone, ensuring each family had a prosperous new year.
The three of them returned home. After dinner, Chen Lishu took out the accounting book and began to settle accounts for everyone.
"This time, the family collected a total of one thousand three hundred and twenty-four catties of grain, earning one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three yuan and eighty-four cents. Distributing according to each family's twenty percent share, each family will receive three hundred and fifty-two yuan and seventy-seven cents."
As Chen Lishu spoke, she gestured for Gu Xingping to distribute the money to everyone.
Everyone was stunned when they heard the amount she quoted. In such a short time, the money earned was more than what they received for a year's work at the production team.
"Additionally, there are over two hundred catties of dried goods. Since there hasn't been time to sell them, the money cannot be distributed yet."
Chen Lishu explained, then began to discuss the profit sharing from making clothes. Before the festival, she and Zhang Qin had completed over a hundred and forty sets. Although they hadn't settled with Nan Haitao yet, Chen Lishu decided to pay out the commissions to everyone first. With the festival approaching, she wanted everyone to be happy.
"Mom, sixty-two yuan. Eldest sister-in-law, seventy-five." Chen Lishu said, counting out the money and giving it to them.
"Oh my, I never dreamed that my old bones would get to see so much money," Li Xiulan said, her eyes beaming with joy as she looked at the more than four hundred yuan in her hands.
Everyone was also very happy to receive their money.
"Dad, Mom, did you forget something?" Liu Yuemin asked with a smile, carefully tucking the money into her pocket.
Li Xiulan asked, confused, "Forgot what?"
"Didn't Dad say earlier that the money from selling the pork at the end of the year would be shared with everyone?"
"I did say that," Gu Shoufu nodded. "Old woman, go get the money and distribute it to everyone."
The pork sold earlier had earned a total of one hundred and eighty-three yuan. Divided equally among the four families, each family received forty-five yuan and seventy cents.
This year was definitely a bumper harvest year for the Gu family.
With money in hand, Gu Xingye asked Zhang Xiaoju to go to the town's department store the next day. Shopping would definitely require various coupons. Gu Xingdong mailed some coupons to Chen Lishu every month. As a soldier, he received military coupons that were valid nationwide. Chen Lishu was not stingy; besides fabric coupons, she also gave Gu Xingye some other coupons.
Liu Yuemin and Zhang Qin also went to town, thinking of buying some cloth for the children in the family to make new clothes before the festival.
Liu Widow, separated only by a wall, watched the lively scene at the Gu family's home and seethed with hatred.
Liu Dabao, already twenty years old at the beginning of the year, was also of marriageable age. However, her reputation was bad, and her son was also idle. It was already difficult for anyone to be willing to marry his daughter, but a few months ago, the Gu family had sent him to a labor reformatory for two months.
People who came out of such places had a blemish on them, making it even more unlikely for anyone to want to marry their daughter to him.
Liu Widow had no choice. Now, if she wanted to find a daughter-in-law, she could only try to 'buy' one at a high price.
But how could she, a widowed mother with two sons, have so much money? Liu Widow's gaze fell on Chen Lishu, who was feeding chickens in the Gu family's yard, and her eyes lit up.
At night, Zhang Laiwang, whom she had recently hooked up with from the neighboring village, sneaked into her home. After a passionate encounter, Liu Widow got up, lit the kerosene lamp, and brought the hot food and wine cups to the kang table.
"Laiwang, how do you think I treat you?" Liu Widow asked in a cooing voice, simultaneously giving Zhang Laiwang a flirtatious look with her small, beady eyes.