Chapter 40.1

When Mu Xuehui heard that Jiang Ruan and Qin Ao were spending so much time together, she felt a surge of anxiety. “Qingqing, I’ll need you to take care of the shop for me. I have to go to the university to register.”

“Wait a minute, Huihui.” Han Qingqing stopped her. There was something she was hesitant about and wanted Mu Xuehui’s advice on. “I want to go to the school to check which dormitory Shen Tianming was assigned to.”

Mu Xuehui was speechless. Han Qingqing was really foolish. The engagement party had already cleared up any misunderstandings; Shen Tianming would definitely take her on a tour of the campus today.

Recalling her past life, after her father remarried, she felt helpless under Qin Yan’s bullying, which stirred up Qin Ao’s pity. She thought the best way to win back Shen Tianming was to show vulnerability.

She advised, “Qingqing, think from Shen Tianming’s perspective. The next time you see him, apologize sincerely and be a bit more gentle. Shen Tianming is an outstanding guy, there are plenty of girls interested in him at the university. You should recognize your own situation and stop being so stubborn.”

That was all Mu Xuehui could say. Whether Han Qingqing would take the advice to heart was up to her own understanding.

…

Jiang Ruan and Qin Ao arrived at a village where Qin Ao started shouting to collect eggs. “The way you’re doing it is too slow,” Jiang Ruan commented.

“Then how else can I collect them?”

Drawing from her memories of rural life, Jiang Ruan said, “It’s already nine o’clock. Most of the adults are working in the fields, this way is too inefficient. I have an idea,let’s head to the mill at the village entrance. I saw many kids playing there.”

At the village entrance near the mill, a dozen children who weren’t yet old enough for school were playing. Jiang Ruan handed each child a piece of candy and told them that she was collecting eggs there. She asked them to go to the fields and see if their mothers had any eggs to sell.

Soon enough, some women returned from the fields with eggs in hand, while some children came over carrying eggs themselves. At five and a half cents each, they managed to gather over seven hundred eggs in less than an hour. It was enough for the day.

Just then, a little boy appeared from the crowd, holding a small bucket with about four to five pounds of eels inside, along with half a pound of miscellaneous fish and small shrimp.

The boy’s family wasn’t well off; his clothes were patched up, which was a common sight in rural areas at the time. Even when Jiang Ruan had lived in the city, she had worn patched clothes.

The boy was cautious around Qin Ao and asked Jiang Ruan, his voice sad, “Big sister, will you buy these eels? If you do, I’ll give you the fish and shrimp for free.”

Jiang Ruan, who loved fried small fish coated in flour and stir-fried shrimp, immediately replied, “Really? Then I’ll buy them.”

Qin Ao quickly pulled her aside. “Jiang Ruan, wait.”

It turned out that during their last trip to buy eggs, the boy had approached Qin Ao once already, but Qin Ao hadn’t dared to buy anything. He wanted to help the boy but lacked the means.

He explained, “The nearby villages’ eel and shrimp trade is monopolized by Xun Lao’er. The boy’s father offended him, and now no one is allowed to buy eels from his family. If we do, we’ll get into trouble.”

With anyone else, it wouldn’t matter if they bought a few pounds of eels, but not from this boy’s family. If Xun Lao’er found out, they wouldn’t be able to continue their egg business.

Jiang Ruan was familiar with the rules in this world. Though there was a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, the legal system was sound. Coming from a post-apocalyptic world, she felt fortunate that she had the strength to protect herself against these local thugs.

As for retaliation, she felt reassured knowing her older brother was a police officer, her stepfather would soon resume his position in government, and Qin Yan’s family wasn’t ordinary either. They had no reason to fear those troublemakers.

Therefore, she was determined to buy the eels.

Jiang Ruan squatted down to ask the six or seven-year-old boy, “What’s your name?”

“Zhou Bingsheng.” The boy had been almost hopeless earlier, but now he eagerly handed over the bucket. “Big sister, these eels weigh at least two taels each. I’ll sell them for just one cent per pound.”

In the city, eels sold for about the same price as pork. However, since eels were rare, the aquatic market would price them at around nine cents per pound, and the buying price was three cents. The aquatic market typically bought them at five and a half cents, meaning that the profit margin for eel trading was much larger than for eggs.

Jiang Ruan turned to Qin Ao and said, “The eels from this village are being bought way too cheaply.”

Qin Ao shrugged helplessly and explained that Xun Lao’er had a monopoly in the area, preventing other vendors from entering. He had forced the price down to one and a half cents per pound. For a few pounds of eels, it wasn’t worth going all the way to the city, so the villagers had no choice but to sell to him.

Profiting in such a shady way was truly despicable.

Jiang Ruan bought the boy’s eels at three cents per pound.

She told him, “I’ll come back to your village every five days. If you catch more eels, bring them to me.”

The eels weighed five and a half pounds, and Jiang Ruan paid him one yuan and sixty-five cents, as agreed. The half-pound of small fish and shrimp was given to her for free.

Zhou Bingsheng was overjoyed. “Thank you, big sister. Do you buy wild duck eggs too?”

“Of course!”

He soon returned with over thirty wild duck eggs, but this time he was crying. “My dad said I can’t sell the eels to you anymore, or it will bring trouble to you.”

It seemed his father was a decent man. Jiang Ruan comforted him, patting his shoulder. “Tell your dad that I know what I’m doing. If I dared to buy them, I’m prepared to deal with the consequences. Trust me—I’ll make sure the eels from your village can be sold for three cents a pound.”

…

Jiang Ruan delivered the eels to a restaurant known for its eel noodles. Coincidentally, they were running low on stock, and they bought the eels at nine cents per pound. The owner even told her that if she had more in the future, she should bring them over. They needed about twenty pounds of eels daily.

As luck would have it, Jiang Jianchun was also eating at the noodle shop. She glared at Jiang Ruan with resentment.

Qin Ao warned Jiang Ruan, “Your eldest sister is here.”

“So what?” Jiang Ruan shrugged. “She’s too busy dealing with her own problems to cause trouble for me.”

Qin Ao worried that her elder sister would blame Jiang Ruan for the chaos in their stepmother’s life and make things difficult.

Having sold the eels, Jiang Ruan had made over three yuan from just over five pounds—a much higher profit margin than eggs. Since it was peak eel season, she was determined not to give up on the eel business. “Let’s go sell the eggs now.”

The eggs sold quickly at various factory gates, such as the textile, sugar, tobacco, and glass factories. Today, at the sugar factory gate, the seven hundred eggs sold out within an hour.

Qin Ao was anxious. “Jiang Ruan, Xun Lao’er is ruthless. You really need to be careful.”

“Got it. Can you find out which day he regularly visits Dawan Village to collect eels?”

“That’s easy to find out, but you’re not planning anything risky, are you?”

Jiang Ruan replied, “Just gather the information for me.”

Jiang Ruan had previously fought five or six desperadoes and was well aware of the strength of local thugs. She returned home to give the fish and shrimp to Grandma Huang, took a bath, washed her hair, and changed into a new dress before heading to the university entrance to wait for Qin Yan.

Since it was the first day of registration, classes ended early at five. When Qin Yan exited the gate, he saw Jiang Ruan in her new dress, with a braid down the side.

Jiang Ruan spun around, showing off her light blue dress and black wedge shoes. “Do I look nice?”

“You look great.” Qin Yan was dressed in a gray shirt and black pants, looking particularly smart. The two of them attracted many admiring glances as they walked together.

“What do you want to eat?” Qin Yan asked.

Jiang Ruan glanced at the shops on both sides of the street, noodles, rice bowls, and braised chicken. What kind of chicken is braised chicken? It sounded interesting, so she pointed and said, “I want to try that chicken.”

Qin Yan sighed internally. Well, it was normal to be curious. The restaurant Mu Xuehui had opened would draw some crowds for a while, but with such low barriers to entry, competition would soon appear.

Jiang Ruan entered the restaurant and noticed Han Qingqing at the counter handling payments. She didn’t mind seeing her but was worried Qin Yan might not be pleased, so she said, “Brother Qin Yan, how about we go next door for some rice bowls instead?”

“No need. We’ll have the braised chicken,” he replied.

Qin Yan ordered a large portion since Jiang Ruan had a big appetite. If it wasn’t enough, they could try some other snacks afterward.

Throughout the meal, Han Qingqing didn’t say a word, though her hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

After about ten minutes, the braised chicken arrived in a large clay pot, with potatoes, dried tofu, tofu puffs, and greens mixed in.

Qin Yan served rice for Jiang Ruan and asked, “How does it taste?”

After trying the chicken and side dishes, Jiang Ruan said honestly, “It’s okay, but it’s not cheap.”

Due to the limited supply of farm-raised chickens, the costs were still high, and the prices couldn’t be lowered without incurring losses.

Qin Yan then asked, “Did collecting the eggs go smoothly today?”

Jiang Ruan explained that collecting the eggs went well, but there was some trouble with the eels.

“I haven’t come across that guy named Xun Lao’er yet. I’m not worried about him retaliating against me, but I am concerned he might target the farmers who sell me eels or the businesses that buy them from me,” she said.

“Is it really necessary to get into the eel business?” Qin Yan was already considering ways to deal with Xun Lao’er.

“I decided to buy eels from Xiaosheng’s family, so I’m prepared for a fight with Xun Lao’er,” Jiang Ruan said firmly.

“Brother Qin Yan, you don’t need to help. I can handle him myself. What I need you to do is analyze whether the farmers or businesses might face trouble because of me,” she added.

Qin Yan replied, “Xun Lao’er is a well-known thug in the city, not just a local bully. If you can secure a stable sales channel and offer a higher price than he does, you can maintain a steady supply. But if you can’t guarantee sales, the villagers won’t dare to sell to you. If you stop buying from them, they’ll end up like Xiaosheng’s family, with no one willing to take their eels.”

“So, the priority now is to stabilize the sales channel, right?”

“Yes, it’s about taking market share from Xun Lao’er. Ruan Ruan, aren’t you worried about all the trouble this might cause?” Qin Yan asked.

“As long as I can make money, I don’t mind the trouble,” Jiang Ruan replied. “I’ll give it a try first.”