Chapter 39: Thinking of an Idea

Hao Li was seriously considering it. His uncle was right; marriage was a major life event that required careful consideration.

But whenever he thought about it, his mind was filled with images: Hua Yuanyuan’s bright, rolling eyes, her rosy lips, or her slender, white fingers…

After a day of training, lying in bed with his eyes closed, he still saw Hua Yuanyuan. Fortunately, he eventually fell asleep.

Unconsciously, he began to imagine the future, if they really did…

He’d have to be squeaky clean before getting into bed. It didn’t sound so bad.

His previous marriage had only involved a few days of living with his wife.

He didn’t blame her. The young girl couldn’t stand being alone at home while her husband was away, and she didn’t know when he’d return.

He’d received a letter and found a chance to take leave and go home to handle the divorce. He asked her, “Wasn’t it agreed before marriage that we could accept a long-distance relationship? You knew my situation, why did you regret it?”

Her answer was heartbreaking but realistic.

Knowing is one thing; facing it is another. It turned out she couldn’t handle it.

Hao Li was afraid that if he remarried, his wife would regret it again.

He and Hua Yuanyuan didn’t seem to have this problem; she already rented a house here.

Hao Li thought about these things when he had time, but his training wasn’t affected.

His men suffered. Just as they had adapted to the training intensity and felt less distant from their battalion commander, disaster struck—the battalion commander seemed to have gone crazy again!

The vicious cycle began anew.

Especially that light, casual look, “You don’t need to compare yourselves to me, I’m just casually training.” Who could stand it?

Pretending! Everyone can pretend!

Each person thought they were matching the battalion commander’s casual act, appearing calm and cool, thinking, “We’re just casually training too!” So they desperately tried to keep up, refusing to believe it.

Hua Youcai was a little anxious, but he couldn’t let his daughter and son see it.

His daughter was unaffected, continuing with her life.

She went on a three-day cooking strike, claiming it was a lesson for him to teach him to be more careful next time.

She said she wouldn’t cook, and she only used her mouth, not her hands.

Hua Fangfang’s mouth never stopped while cooking: “Sister, come and see if this much oil is okay?”

“Sister, do you think the heat is about right? Can it be taken out?”

“Sister, taste it. Do we need to add more salt?”

…

Hua Yuanyuan suspected her younger brother was doing it on purpose, aiming to annoy her until she said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

No way.

The rain was good; the fields were full of busy people planting.

Hua Youcai, with his daughter and son, planted wheat, cotton, corn, beans, peanuts, sesame…

They didn’t know how much they would yield; they planted a bit of everything.

Villagers here generally planted winter wheat. The Hua family bought their food from the villagers, and every household had surplus grain.

As long as you had money, you could buy food. That was the good thing about the village.

Unlike the city, where you needed coupons.

Buying food with money had one problem: Hua Youcai felt it was expensive and hoped that their own harvest would eliminate the need to buy.

He was a typical old farmer; he hated spending money.

After planting, Hua Youcai set his sights on the Chinese cabbage in the greenhouse.

He nagged his daughter for days before finally persuading her to sell the vegetables.

Hua Yuanyuan’s greenhouse vegetables were definitely for sale, but she didn’t think these few cabbages were worth it; they could just eat them themselves. She could sell them later in larger quantities.

But her father couldn’t wait.

Okay, Hua Yuanyuan was a filial daughter, so she decided to do some small business to make a little money and please her father.

She thought about it all night and decided what to do.

It was highly feasible, the cost was low, and she could use the wheat from her space.

She would sell food outside the school.

Hua Youcai and his son rode their bicycles, carrying half a basket of Chinese cabbage to the market to test the waters.

The results weren’t good. It was the village market, and people like him had their own cabbages and radishes at home; they would avoid buying vegetables if they could.

Just as his daughter had analyzed, sales at the village market were limited.

The town market or the family compounds in the city, selling door-to-door, were better places to sell vegetables.

Vegetable vendors wanted to buy, but the prices were too low, and Hua Youcai wasn’t willing to sell.

Hua Youcai set the price of Chinese cabbage. Radishes and cabbages were a few cents cheaper per catty; Chinese cabbage was unique, so he set the price at ten cents a catty.

Hua Fangfang had a hand in this, saying that whole numbers were easier to calculate.

Hua Yuanyuan worked in the fields all morning. While the others were out, she used the soil and water from her space on the fields.

Lunch was ready when the two returned dejectedly.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that they had only sold fifty cents worth.

They hadn’t even eaten breakfast. Hua Fangfang wanted to buy meat buns from the market after making some money.

They didn’t get meat buns, and her father was still worried.

Hua Youcai was worried that his daughter wouldn’t be able to sell all the vegetables she had planted, and they couldn’t eat them all themselves.

“Sister, these buns are delicious.”

“Chinese cabbage buns are definitely delicious.”

“Dad, eat first, don’t worry, we can sell them.”

This was what era? During times of material shortages, as long as you have goods, you can sell them.

If you can’t sell them, your customer base isn’t accurate.

Farmers were poor, where would they get the money?

Vegetables should be sold in the city, where salaried people have money to buy them.

Of course, there are also poor people in the city. Find state-owned factories, government units with good salaries and benefits…

Through exploration and searching, they gradually learned where to sell and where not to sell.

Hua Yuanyuan ate a bun slowly, explaining to her father.

“Dad,… I mean, we definitely won’t have trouble selling our vegetables.”

Hua Youcai thought his daughter made sense, but he had never interacted with wealthy people, just like his daughter.

“Daughter, don’t fool me. You’re like me, you haven’t left the village, how do you know so much?”

“Dad, I know, sister likes to read, books have everything.”

…

Hua Yuanyuan couldn’t tell her father that there were always wealthy people in any era.

The lives of the wealthy were unimaginable to ordinary people.

You think everyone is like your family, poor and without assets, but that’s not the case.

Uncle Wang’s family was a prime example. His small shop earned a lot, and Hua Yuanyuan guessed his son earned even more; buying a television for several hundred yuan was like buying daily necessities for them.

Her father thought ten cents for a catty of Chinese cabbage was expensive.

If he knew she would sell them for several yuan, or even more, would he think she was crazy for money?

Fresh winter vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc., selling them for several yuan would be expensive, but it would be possible to sell them to well-off families.

She would decide later; it would depend on market prices.

The same thing would be more expensive before the New Year and cheaper after.

Scarcity has market value.

Hua Yuanyuan casually mentioned her plan to sell buns.

“Dad, these Chinese cabbages from the greenhouse can be steamed into big buns and sold at the school gate in the village. How about that?”

The school in Shili Village had elementary and junior high schools; the exact number of students was unknown, but there were definitely many.

Elementary school students were from Shili Village, while junior high school students came from the entire township and studied there.

Elementary school students went home for lunch, while junior high school students who lived far away boarded and went home once a week to eat at the school cafeteria.

Businesses around the school would definitely be profitable: small restaurants, stationery stores, bookstores, etc.

The cafeteria food was bland; students wouldn’t like it.

Even her father’s cooking was better than the cafeteria’s.

Hua Youcai was worried about selling things; what if they couldn’t sell them?

His daughter was the opposite; why did she like doing business so much?

He cautiously asked his daughter, “Selling buns means spending money first, right?”

Hua Yuanyuan smiled and reassured her father. “Dad, don’t worry, we won’t spend a penny. I’ll just steam a pot of buns to try it out. Why would we need to spend money?”

Hua Youcai reluctantly nodded in agreement.