Chapter 55: Making Tables

Jiang Liyun is well aware that, with the capital she and Sun Jinshan currently have, starting a company is still a far-fetched idea.

When she shares her thoughts with Sun Jinshan, it’s merely an attempt to persuade him to join her entrepreneurial team and assist her with errands.

“I’m thinking this way…” Jiang Liyun begins to outline her ideas.

In the future, whether it’s chicken, beef, or pork, each will have its own brand. For example, Netease, originally an internet company, ventured into agriculture in 2009 and produced Netease Black Pigs, which she enjoyed in her past life.

There are a multitude of domestic fresh chicken brands, as observed by Jiang Liyun during her previous life, when she preferred online grocery shopping due to mobility issues.

Starting a fresh chicken brand from now on and capturing a portion of the market wouldn’t be difficult. As for the approach…

In today’s China, most people buy live chickens, but in some big cities, others have started selling slaughtered and segmented chickens.

Transporting live chickens to Shanghai is time-consuming and strenuous. However, if they slaughter and segment the chickens before sending them to Shanghai, it would not only be more convenient but also more profitable.

Of course, to do this, they need cold storage and a stable supply.

Cold storage is easily solved; they can rent the local food factory’s cold storage. As for the supply, they’re not lacking at the moment.

As for the future, when the business grows, considering a self-owned farm is not currently feasible.

For now, they can sign contracts with chicken farmers to purchase their chickens. Selecting suitable farmers, providing them with chicks and feed, and purchasing the chickens once they’ve grown.

“This benefits the chicken farmers. They don’t have to worry about falling chicken prices because we’ll purchase according to the contract, and we secure a stable supply. As for providing the feed, it’s cost-effective for us to purchase it collectively. When the time is right, we can even produce our own feed and establish our own farm.” Jiang Liyun, reborn from over thirty years in the future, speaks with enough experience to leave Sun Jinshan in awe.

While Sun Jinshan thinks Jiang Liyun’s ideas might be a bit unrealistic, upon careful consideration, he realises they are achievable.

But the crucial question is… Sun Jinshan asks, “Where do we get the money?”

Jiang Liyun responds, “Isn’t it almost Chinese New Year? We can inform the chicken farmers to settle the accounts at the end of the year. In the meantime, we only need to pay the rent for the cold storage.”

The chicken farmers in the village, having already sold chicken with their assistance, would surely agree to settle the accounts at the end of the year.

Chinese New Year is only a month away.

As for chicks and feed, they won’t be provided for free to the farmers. Instead, they’ll be sold at a lower price agreed upon.

This won’t deplete their funds.

By the end of the year, chicken prices will surely rise, especially in big cities.

His first batch of frozen chicken, delivered to Shanghai before the New Year, will undoubtedly fetch a good price, enough to pay the chicken farmers.

After that, they can move on to the next business, perhaps even negotiating with villagers for investment. For example, their fresh brand could be called “Red Star,” and farmers from Red Star Village could invest money.

Even without direct investment, having villagers keep their money with them and offering higher interest rates is also an option.

In this era, many small businesses start with capital raised in such ways.

In the future, people might suspect fraud, but at this time, the villagers are particularly naive and straightforward.

In the year 1986, an unprecedented stir erupted in Wenzhou.

“Taohui,” also known as “Biaohui,” was a form of financing used in ancient times.

Some individuals organised Taohui, collecting money from members and providing them with high interest rates. As the interest rates were attractive, locals eagerly joined, resulting in a growing pool of funds and increasing interest payouts.

These organizers didn’t have investment means; the interest paid to earlier members came from the money contributed by later members.

To offer substantial interest, they worked hard to expand their membership base, causing the Taohui to grow like a snowball.

One such organiser was Li Qifeng, who was originally a carpenter. Due to the increasing number of contributors, even people from several counties tried to give him money through various connections, and he managed to accumulate over a hundred million yuan!

With such a substantial fund, the monthly interest payments became exceptionally high. Eventually, unable to meet the interest demands, Li Qifeng went into hiding.

This led to social unrest, with abductions, murders, and brawls breaking out due to “Taohui.” Over a hundred houses were demolished.

The Taohui organisers even fought to go to jail willingly, and Li Qifeng was later arrested and sentenced to death.

The issues with Taohui arose because the interest rates offered by the organisers were excessively high. For a ten-thousand-yuan membership fee, they were paying over a thousand yuan in monthly interest.

Jiang Liyun, however, has no intention of following such a risky path. She plans to offer slightly higher interest than the bank but believes she can repay the money.

After March, prices in Shanghai will increase, including chicken meat.

Even if they offer a higher purchase price to the residents of Hongxing Township, they will undoubtedly make a significant profit.

Of course, fundraising doesn’t have to follow the Taohui model. They can approach wealthy individuals and discuss potential partnerships.

When Jiang Liyun first reincarnated, she planned to steadily save money and open a restaurant before eventually expanding to a larger city.

She knew that in the 1990s, running a restaurant in a big city was lucrative. She could gradually expand the business, eventually buying multiple properties.

It was a very safe and prudent path. By the time the restaurant industry faced challenges, she would already be financially independent. Even if she became a landlord, she could lead a comfortable life.

However, she now plans to make a big move.

Jiang Liyun hasn’t revealed all her thoughts to Sun Jinshan. Although she told him they would partner to start a company, she wants to lead this venture herself.

After all, creating a fresh brand isn’t just about acquiring and selling white-feathered chickens!

If she were merely buying and selling white-feathered chickens, Jiang Liyun wouldn’t bother. But creating a fresh brand is a different story.

Of course, Jiang Liyun doesn’t guarantee the absolute success of this business. So, as per her original plan, she rented a storefront—she’ll still open a fried dumpling shop. This way, even if the fresh business fails and she loses money, she can slowly repay it with the income from the dumpling shop.

Moreover, by opening the shop early, she can distance herself after its establishment. She can hire people to help, leave the shop in Feng Yi’s care, and focus on other endeavours.

Jiang Liyun asks Sun Jinshan, “What do you think? Do you want to join me?”

“Absolutely!” Sun Jinshan responds without hesitation.

Initially, Sun Jinshan wanted to be his own boss, but after conversing with Jiang Liyun, he realised he was too naive. Knowing nothing, he even considered becoming a boss.

In comparison, working with Jiang Liyun seems to have more promising prospects.

Jiang Liyun says, “Alright, go to the town first. Find out the cost of renting cold storage and then talk to the white-feathered chicken hatchery and feed factory. If you encounter any trouble, come to me. Once you’ve negotiated enough, I’ll go and sign contracts with them.”

Turning to Jiang Lihai, she asks, “Brother, do you want to join me? The initial stage might not offer much salary.”

Jiang Lihai hesitates a bit. “Can we really make money like this? Renting cold storage must cost a lot, right?”

“Then, work at the brick factory for now. When you have free time, help me,” Jiang Liyun straightforwardly suggests, thinking Sun Jinshan alone is sufficient.

“Okay, just tell me what needs to be done. Even if you don’t pay me, it’s fine,” Jiang Lihai agrees. After all, he earned seven hundred yuan with Jiang Liyun before!

“Great!” Jiang Liyun agrees and then says, “I need to go knead some dough, preparing for tomorrow’s business.”

While Jiang Liyun spoke earlier, Sun Jinshan felt like she was a wealthy and capable big boss. But in a blink of an eye, the big boss is going to knead dough?

Sun Jinshan returns to reality instantly. That’s not a big deal, but when he turns his head, he sees Feng Yi knitting a sweater.

“What are you doing, Feng Yi?” Sun Jinshan asks in shock.

Feng Yi remains calm. “Knitting a sweater.”

“Isn’t this something women do? Why are you, a man, knitting a sweater?” Sun Jinshan questions.

Before Feng Yi can respond, Jiang Liyun intervenes: “Women can handle half the sky. Why do you look down on women?”

Sun Jinshan: “…” He’s trying to get along with Jiang Liyun; he definitely doesn’t look down on women.

But Jiang Liyun really doesn’t seem like a woman. After Feng Yi joined her, she even looked like a little wife.

“Alright, it’s time for you to go home,” Jiang Liyun says, then looks at Feng Yi, worried that she might be upset by Sun Jinshan’s words.

However, Feng Yi isn’t angry at all. Instead, she says, “Brother Sun, Sister Liyun and I are getting engaged. I’m knitting a sweater for Sister Liyun to wear at the engagement. I’m only nineteen, and I’m already getting engaged. You don’t even have a partner yet.”

Sun Jinshan leaves the Jiang family indignantly.

This guy, Feng Yi, seems obedient on the surface, but he’s full of mischief!

It serves him right to meet Jiang Liyun and be overwhelmed by her.

Jiang Liyun doesn’t know Sun Jinshan’s thoughts, but she finds Feng Yi’s proud expression particularly adorable.

In fact, when it comes to finding someone to start a business with, Jiang Liyun trusts Feng Yi the most.

But Feng Yi is a bit introverted and doesn’t like dealing with people too much, plus he’s too young.

Things Sun Jinshan can handle might not be handled well by Feng Yi.

Just take, for example, contacting the poultry farmers in the village and convincing them to raise chickens…

Many people in Hongxing Township don’t know Feng Yi, and even if they do, he’s seen as an orphan. Whatever Feng Yi says, they won’t take it seriously.

But Sun Jinshan, with his eloquence and charm, can easily convince people that raising chickens can make a lot of money. Even if they don’t believe him, they’ll believe Sun Jinshan’s parents—they’re well-liked in the village.

These things, even Jiang Liyun, can’t handle well. Whether it’s the cold storage staff or the villagers, they’ll definitely trust Sun Jinshan, who looks affluent, rather than her.

But Jiang Liyun has plans for Feng Yi too.

“Feng Yi, the food factory is in the initial stage. Let Sun Jinshan handle it for now, but in the future, we’ll have to manage it ourselves. In a couple of days, I’ll buy some books and we can study together.”

Getting Feng Yi to study is something Jiang Liyun has been planning for a while.

In her previous life, both she and Feng Yi gained a lot of knowledge, and she found Feng Yi to be very intelligent.

If Feng Yi could go to school, his grades wouldn’t lose to Jiang Lihai’s.

Now that he’s only nineteen, Jiang Liyun wants him to study.

He doesn’t necessarily have to study extensively; he can learn a bit of everything and then take the self-study examination to get a diploma!

In 1985, the country began promoting higher education self-study exams, also known as self-study.

By the time she reincarnated, the value of self-study exams had diminished, as universities had been expanding continuously, and most people didn’t need self-study to change their fate.

But in this era, due to the limited number of university admissions, the value of self-study exams was high.

Jiang Liyun believes Feng Yi can spare some time to study and then take the self-study exam to obtain a diploma.

Neither she nor Feng Yi would stay in a small place like Jiuqu Town forever. Feng Yi needs to read more to broaden his horizons, so he can have a better starting point.

“I plan to hire a man in the village to help with making fried dumplings and two middle-aged women to help with making buns. This way, we can save a lot of effort,” Jiang Liyun says.

Previously, they were in the startup stage, so they had to do everything themselves.

But now that they have opened a shop, they can hire people.

Mainly because hiring people is very cheap at this time, especially the ones she plans to hire, middle-aged people.

Hiring two middle-aged women to help with making buns, serving dishes, and washing dishes in the village would only cost fifty yuan a month.

The man hired to help with frying dumplings also needs to do other physical work, so he should be paid a bit more. But sixty to seventy yuan a month would still attract many people.

By then, when she’s busy with the poultry business, Feng Yi can handle the shop alone without any problems.

This can also train Feng Yi and let him know how to run a shop.

“Okay!” Feng Yi fully agrees with Jiang Liyun’s plan.

Recently, the weather has gotten colder, so it’s not a problem to kill pigs a day in advance and sell them the next day. The butcher has changed to slaughtering pigs every afternoon.

Because Jiang Liyun and the others need a lot of meat, he will even take the initiative to deliver the meat, so Feng Yi doesn’t need to go and fetch it.

At this moment, Feng Yi puts the sweater he was knitting into a basket hanging from the ceiling beam, then starts chopping meat. He reminds Jiang Liyun, “Sister Liyun, you haven’t told Brother Lihai about the engagement yet.”

Indeed…

Seeing Jiang Lihai tidying up the dishes and utensils, Jiang Liyun said, “Brother, Feng Yi and I are also getting engaged. We’ll do it together with you. Ask Sister Chunlin and see when she wants to do it.”

Jiang Lihai immediately inquired about the specifics.

Jiang Liyun explained her thoughts and expressed her desire to get engaged on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Of course, if He Chunlin had other ideas, they could change the timing.

“I’ll go talk to Chunlin about this tomorrow!” Jiang Lihai was very happy. He couldn’t wait to get married!

He was already twenty-five this year, and many men his age in their village already had children.

“Okay, you go ask tomorrow,” Jiang Liyun said, continuing to work on her tasks while thinking about who would be the best help for her shop.

She couldn’t hire people who were too cunning because once they learned all the skills, they might leave her shop and open a similar one elsewhere.

But thankfully, there’s no shortage of honest and dependable people in the countryside.

Jiang’s younger aunt’s husband is one such honest and dependable person.

Jiang’s younger aunt is straightforward and takes charge at home. Her husband’s personality is similar to Jiang Lame’s.

Both Jiang’s younger aunt and uncle are quite opinionated, so they’ve never gotten along well with each other. But Jiang’s younger aunt likes Jiang Lame.

One reason is that Jiang Lame raised her when she was young, and secondly… Jiang Lame and Wu Xiaochun are willing to listen to Jiang’s younger aunt.

Jiang’s younger aunt likes to take charge, and she chose a husband whose personality is similar to Jiang Lame’s.

Jiang’s younger aunt’s husband is quiet and doesn’t know how to socialise, but he’s incredibly diligent and hardworking.

He definitely wouldn’t develop any wandering eyes if asked to help out at the fried dumpling stall.

Moreover, both Jiang’s younger aunt and her husband are unemployed, relying on Jiang’s younger aunt’s silk reeling and weaving for income. Having Jiang’s younger aunt’s husband work at their shop would also add to their family’s income.

As for the two middle-aged women who would help with wrapping buns and serving dishes…

Jiang’s second aunt definitely wouldn’t be suitable, and Jiang’s younger aunt could be asked, but she might not be able to leave—she’s busy raising pigs at home and will be raising silkworms in the summer.

Thinking about this, Jiang Liyun suddenly thought of someone.

She has an uncle who’s a drunkard.

There aren’t many drinkers around here, and most people can’t hold their liquor well. Jiang Liyun rarely saw anyone drunk from childhood to adulthood.

But this uncle of hers is drunk all day long.

He gets up around noon, goes to the village’s small shop to buy the cheapest white wine, comes back right at mealtime, eats while drinking, and continues until two in the afternoon.

Then he takes a nap, wakes up around dinner time, and continues drinking until midnight.

Most rural men her age are hardworking, having left the countryside to work in cities in the 1990s.

As for her elders, like Jiang Lame’s generation, they are even more diligent, rarely resting.

But this uncle of hers is an oddball. He drinks all day and doesn’t do anything, leaving all the work to his parents and his wife.

And on top of that, he beats his wife when he’s drunk.

Unfortunately, his wife is like Wu Xiaochun—not the kind to resist.

Jiang Liyun thought of asking her uncle’s wife to help out at the shop.

This aunt of hers only knows how to cry when she gets beaten. She probably couldn’t bear this hardship and ended up drinking pesticide.

At that time, her daughter was thirteen and her son was ten. They came home just in time to see their own mother dead on the stove.

As they grew up, both of them left their hometown and never returned, but according to the information Jiang Liyun received, they’re not doing well…

This aunt of hers seemed to have drunk pesticide at the end of 1988, which was about a year ago.

Since Jiang Liyun had been very busy after her reincarnation, she hadn’t spent much time in the village, and she hadn’t seen this reclusive aunt of hers. Plus, to her, her aunt’s suicide was something that happened decades ago…

As she suddenly remembered, many elderly people in rural areas were resorting to drinking pesticides, especially those without a source of income. Some were mistreated by their children, unwilling to support them, while others had mistreated their own children or daughters-in-law when they were younger. Faced with retribution from the younger generation, they couldn’t bear it and chose to drink pesticides.

Elderly people in rural areas without a source of income often lead difficult lives. When her grandparents were alive, they were often scorned by Jiang’s second aunt.

However, as they entered the 1990s and people’s living conditions improved, such things happened less frequently.

With more money, many people didn’t quibble over the little things with their elderly family members. Otherwise… Even a bite of meat would be criticised.

Jiang Liyun recalled and confirmed that she didn’t know of anyone else facing misfortune during this period, finally feeling relieved.

She planned to visit her uncle’s wife tomorrow and ask her to help at the bun shop.

Having seen the world, she dared to resist. Once her uncle’s wife had a source of income, she might even consider getting a divorce.

Thinking of her uncle’s wife, Jiang Liyun also thought of Jiang Liping.

This uncle’s wife could learn a thing or two from Jiang Liping. If it were Jiang Liping in such a situation, she would have run away long ago.

On Saturday, Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi went to set up their stall in the town early, just like usual.

Around seven in the morning, the carpenter Jiang Liyun, whom he contacted yesterday, came to town to find her.

Jiang Liyun gave him five fried dumplings, asked him to wait a while, and by eight o’clock, when the fried dumplings were almost sold out, she took off her apron and took the carpenter to buy wood, explaining her requirements along the way: “The table doesn’t need to look fancy, just durable. And make all the stools square.”

At the wood market, Jiang Liyun selected some inexpensive wood and had it delivered to her shop.

With so much to do, she even skipped going home for lunch.

Feng Yi placed the coal stove and other tools in the shop, leaving some dumplings behind. Jiang Liyun cooked dumplings and had lunch with the carpenter, watching him make tables and chairs.

The purchased wood required simple processing, making it suitable for table-making. Jiang Liyun watched besides him. The carpenter’s speed in making tables and chairs was quite fast.

However, Jiang Liyun knew that if she wasn’t present, the carpenter would surely slack off.

At this time, carpenters often worked on a daily wage basis, earning three yuan per day.

Choosing to work less for three yuan instead of working more, many carpenters preferred the former.

In her previous life, when Jiang Lihai was building a house and hired two carpenters to make doors and furniture, they worked for a day and only made one door.

Estimating the carpenter’s speed in making tables and chairs, Jiang Liyun smiled and looked at the carpenter. “Master, I want you to make tables and chairs, and we’ll settle the payment based on the number of pieces.”

After her calculation, the carpenter could make a table in about two hours. Considering he works eight hours a day, he could make four tables a day.

The tables for the restaurant were relatively easy to make.

Jiang Liyun said, “So, for making one table, I’ll pay you eighty cents, and for one stool, I’ll pay fifty cents. You’ll get the money when you finish them.”

After explaining, Jiang Liyun glanced at the woodpile and said, “I calculated that these wood materials can probably make eight tables. You start making the tables first, and then we’ll go buy more wood to make the stools.”

Jiang Liyun had experienced the struggles of the lower class and knew the tricks people played at the bottom.

Slacking off while working was a minor issue. If she didn’t keep an eye on things, even the wood might be stolen.

This kind of situation wasn’t uncommon, so it was better to prevent it in advance.

The carpenter replied hesitantly, “…”

Previously, when Jiang Liyun was measuring the wood with a ruler, he thought she was just curious. Now he realised she was calculating how many tables could be made from these wood materials.

This person is quite shrewd!

Without further delay, Jiang Liyun handed the keys to the shop over to the carpenter, allowing him to work on the tables and chairs alone.

As for her, it was already past three in the afternoon, and she needed to go sell the fried chicken.