Chapter 43: Contract

Since they’ve already bought the tricycle, today’s journey to town to sell fried chicken would undoubtedly involve riding the tricycle.

Jiang Liyun brought much fewer things for selling fried chicken compared to selling pan-fried dumplings. Feng Yi laid a piece of hard cardboard in the tricycle and carefully arranged all the items needed for the stall, leaving a space. “Liyun, hop on!”

In her previous life, whenever she had to go a bit far, Feng Yi used to carry her. During those years when they only had a tricycle, she often sat in the back cargo area. But back then, it was Feng Yi who lifted her onto it. Now, things were different.

Jiang Liyun effortlessly climbed onto the tricycle.

“Let’s go!” Feng Yi smiled and started pedalling with determination.

Riding a tricycle wasn’t easy, but Feng Yi was full of energy. He even began to sing “Descendants of the Dragon”: “In the distant east, there’s a river named Yangtze.”

Some shops in town use tape recorders to play cassettes to attract customers, and they often played this song. Feng Yi learned it, and he sang it quite well.

Jiang Liyun sat in the tricycle, listening to Feng Yi’s singing, in a particularly good mood.

However, as they rode, Feng Yi began to breathe heavily, and his singing became intermittent.

By the time they were close to town, he couldn’t sit on the tricycle seat anymore and was standing while pedalling—a more strenuous but effective approach.

Jiang Liyun knew it was because Feng Yi wasn’t accustomed to it. The tricycle itself was heavy, carrying a lot of items, and then there was her.

If it were her, she probably couldn’t ride it at all.

Most likely, when he wakes up tomorrow morning, Feng Yi will feel sore all over. But after a few more days, he’ll get used to it. Riding a tricycle is definitely better than pulling a cart.

“Feng Yi, you’re really amazing! I used to get exhausted riding an empty tricycle back home, but you managed to ride all the way to town with so much stuff!” Jiang Liyun praised.

Feng Yi, feeling less tired with Jiang Liyun’s encouragement, said, “I just started; I wasn’t used to it. Give me a few more days, and I’ll ride even faster!”

“Definitely! Take a break, and I’ll fry a piece of chicken for you to eat,” Jiang Liyun suggested.

After some exercise, it’s good to replenish protein.

When Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi sold fried chicken, many people from the Jiang family gathered, all curious about the tricycle purchase.

“Xiaochun, your daughter is talented. You can just enjoy life with her in the future.”

“Jiang Lamei, your Liyun really has skills.”

“Lihai is doing well too; both have joined the transportation team.”

“In these two months, your family has truly turned the tide!”

Jiang Eruncle and Wu Xiaochun laughed, their eyes crinkling with joy.

Buying a tricycle at this time wasn’t a big deal. Nowadays, many families even have televisions! Compared to a television, a tricycle is still quite affordable.

Indeed, a few days later, nobody was discussing their purchase of a television anymore. Instead, they were talking about how Xie Zugen’s family used connections to spend over $2,000 on a 21-inch colour television.

At this point, some households in the countryside already had televisions, but they were small black-and-white sets.

A 21-inch colour television was considered top-notch in the eyes of the villagers, and the price of over $2,000 made it beyond their reach.

Xie’s family already had a black-and-white television, and now they bought a colour one. Truly wealthy!

Jiang Liyun heard about this but didn’t pay much attention. A 21-inch colour television? Before she passed away in her previous life, the television in the villa’s living room was larger than the dining table, and there was even a projector at home.

During the renovation, the designer even suggested turning the basement into a home theatre, but Jiang Liyun didn’t care. Some people, however, did care.

Sun Jinshan and Jiang Lihai had just come off the ship and heard about it.

Sun Jinshan lit a cigarette and said to Jiang Lihai, “In the future, I want to buy a big colour TV. I also want to buy a small car!”

“A small car? Isn’t that too expensive?” Jiang Lihai replied. They had seen small cars in big cities and heard they were imported, costing around a hundred thousand yuan.

“I want it,” Sun Jinshan said, looking at a pile of bricks not far away. “This job is really boring; the income is visible at a glance.”

Jiang Lihai: “InIn the transportation team, the monthly salary alone is two hundred yuan. When they go to the big city, helping people buy things can earn them some extra.

So much money, and Sun Jinshan still finds it lacking?

But Sun Jinshan was indeed remarkable.

This time, they went to Shanghai.

It was truly enormous, and they even encountered foreigners at the port.

Jiang Lihai didn’t dare speak loudly there, but Sun Jinshan wasn’t afraid at all. He strolled around the market and got to know a boss who wholesaled chickens and ducks in Shanghai.

The poultry the boss sold mainly came from several collective breeding farms near Shanghai.

In the 1960s and 1970s, some villages near Shanghai set up collective breeding farms, raising chickens and ducks to sell to city residents.

However, the supply of these poultry was insufficient for the boss.

In recent years, with more money in everyone’s hands, the demand for chickens and ducks has surged.

I heard Sun Jinshan has a source of goods. Without saying a word, he offered a pretty high price to buy the white-feathered chickens from Sun Jinshan after hearing about it. The two places are quite far apart, so he didn’t want to drive all the way to Jiucun Town to buy the white-feathered chickens himself.

Jiang Lihai felt this deal might not work out because it’s quite troublesome to send the white-feathered chickens to Shanghai. Fortunately, they have other options. They can ask people in the provincial capital next time they go there.

Compared to Shanghai, the provincial capital is much closer to them.

Jiang Lihai thought so, but Sun Jinshan threw the cigarette butt on the ground, crushed it with his foot, and said, “Let’s go; let’s find the factory manager and talk to him about renting a barge!”

They have a lot of chickens in their commune—more than he imagined. In fact, they could rent a barge and transport them to Shanghai to sell.

The tugboats at the brick and tile factory each tow a dozen or so barges.

If he talks to the brick and tile factory and rents a barge, it won’t cost much.

The price offered in Shanghai is really good, and after deducting the freight, they can still make a lot of money.

Sun Jinshan is starting to regret it a bit now. He regrets promising to only take forty percent of the profit initially.

He could have just left Jiang Liyun and Jiang Lihai behind and done this business alone. He calculated that after deducting the cost of renting the ship, he could probably make two thousand yuan.

Two thousand yuan! He would have to work for ten months to buy a big colour TV!

But Sun Jinshan just thought about it like that. He had already agreed, and he still had to share some of the profits. However, he would handle all the business of selling white-feathered chickens himself, and Jiang Liyun and Jiang Lihai wouldn’t know about any kickbacks he took.

He could even keep doing this business indefinitely!

He would negotiate with the people who raised white-feathered chickens in the commune, let them raise the chickens, and then, after the chickens grew up, send them all to Shanghai to be sold.

If he persisted in this business… He might really be able to buy a car in the future!

Thinking of this, Sun Jinshan felt great.

Sun Jinshan is very good at making deals, but he didn’t have any capital or resources before, so when he went to big cities, he was actually just scraping by at the bottom.

But this time, because he could provide a large number of chickens that were about to be sold, he had resources at hand and could see big bosses he had never seen before and even catch a glimpse of the big bosses’ lives.

The way they live is completely different from theirs!

And he wants to become that kind of person.

Sun Jinshan had already changed into new clothes and pants long ago, and now he went straight to the factory manager’s office.

He didn’t say what he wanted to do by renting the barge, just that he wanted to rent a ship, and then he tried to get a price out.

As for how to rent the ship specifically, that would have to be discussed later.

When they finally finished negotiating, Sun Jinshan said to Jiang Lihai, “Old Jiang, let’s go to town and have fried chicken!”

With all this hustle and bustle, he could easily earn a few hundred yuan for the Jiang family. It wouldn’t be too much for Jiang Liyun to treat him to some fried chicken, would it?

At this time, Jiang Liyun should be selling fried chicken in the town, just right for them.

Sun Jinshan rode his bike, carrying Jiang Lihai, and arrived at the entrance of the town’s kindergarten. From a distance, he saw Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi selling fried chicken.

The aroma of the fried chicken was overpowering, making him instantly crave it.

Jiang Liyun is quite capable; she should be able to make good money selling fried chicken.

But he still considers himself more capable, reminiscing about what he saw and heard in Shanghai. Sun Jinshan couldn’t help feeling a bit superior.

Although Jiang Liyun can offer good ideas, having grown up in the countryside, she lacks the exposure to the world that he has from experiencing the prosperity of big cities. He believes he can accomplish great things!

Feeling worldly-wise, Sun Jinshan, with Jiang Lihai, approached Jiang Liyun and immediately said, “Jiang Liyun, Feng Yi, you have to treat me to fried chicken!”

Seeing Sun Jinshan’s demeanour, Jiang Liyun knew things must be going smoothly.

Great!

Jiang Liyun smiled. “I’ll treat you to fried chicken drumsticks! We’re about to close; do you want to come to our house for dinner?”

Sun Jinshan readily agreed, “Sure!”

Jiang Liyun is making good money now, and she is more generous with spending on food. She always leaves some pork or chicken at home for each meal so that Wu Xiaochun can cook some meat dishes.

Today, she left some chicken wings and chicken feet for Wu Xiaochun to braise.

In this era, having such a dish for a meal is already quite decent.

But Jiang Liyun was afraid there wouldn’t be enough food, so after returning home, she had Wu Xiaochun make some egg pancakes using flour and eggs. She taught him to make them, and they often have them for breakfast.

By the time Jiang Liyun finished packing up, Wu Xiaochun had already made the egg pancakes, and they were ready for dinner.

“Aunt, these egg pancakes are delicious.”

“How did you cook these braised chicken wings? They’re too tasty.”

“Feng Yi, you’re living a really good life now!”