Chapter 56: Business has repeat customers

Tai Wenguang said shyly, "I've been to your village team, and Captain Jiang told me about you."

He nodded slightly towards Jiang Meihua.

Jiang Meilan came back from washing the dishes and saw that they were chatting instead of doing business. She said coldly, "Have you sold out? Why are you chatting all the time?"

Tai Wenguang then realized that he couldn't keep chatting with others.

He pointed to the jars of fermented rice wine and said, "Give me all of them. You can calculate how much they cost."

Jiang Meihua blinked, "There are dozens of bowls of fermented rice here, can you finish them?"

Tai Wenguang smiled slightly, "Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm not eating alone, but our unit is eating. They asked me to come out to buy breakfast. Some people from our unit came to attend a meeting today, and there are dozens of people."

Jiang Meihua suddenly realized, "So that's how it is..."

Liu Xihua looked at the two of them and patted Jiang Meihua on the shoulder. "Meihua, pick up the load and deliver it to this young man's workplace. There are about thirty bowls in this jar, and he bought them all. Let's count it as thirty bowls, and you can charge him one dollar and eighty cents."

"Our unit is not far away. It's right next to the big tree in front. There's a veterinary station sign hanging on the door," said Tai Wenguang.

Jiang Meihua looked embarrassed and glanced at Liu Xihua, "Sister-in-law, then I'll go with you?"

"Go ahead, we'll wait for you here." Liu Xihua waved with a smile.

Jiang Meihua carried the load and followed Tai Wenguang to the veterinary station.

Tai Wenguang wanted to take over her burden and help carry it, but then he thought, they were not familiar with each other yet, and if he helped like this, the girl would feel embarrassed and would have bad thoughts about him, right?

Tai Wenguang had to give up the idea.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Tai Wenguang and I live in town. After graduating from high school, I studied veterinary medicine with a master for five years. I currently work in a veterinary station. I was born in 1958. What year were you born?" Tai Wenguang glanced at Jiang Meihua and asked with a smile.

Jiang Meihua blushed and dared only look at the ground, not at him. "I was born in 1962."

"So, I'm only four years older than you." Tai Wenguang said with a smile.

As they were talking, the two had already walked to the veterinary station.

The veterinary station today is indeed much busier than usual.

Many people were walking in the yard with their animals, talking about something.

Tai Wenguang brought Jiang Meihua to the cafeteria.

He called to a middle-aged man in chef's clothes in the cafeteria, "Master Wang, I bought some fermented rice wine. Add it to the steamed buns you made. It will be perfect for breakfast. Share it with everyone."

"Xiao Tai, you're really fast." Master Wang smiled and walked over from the stove. Seeing Jiang Meihua, he blinked and said, "Oh, isn't this the second daughter of Old Jiang's family from Group 5 of the Qianjin Brigade?"

Jiang Meihua opened her eyes wide, "Master, do you know me?"

"Your mother and I are from the same village team, so of course I know you." Master Wang smiled.

He looked at Tai Wenguang meaningfully, then walked away holding the jar.

Jiang Meihua saw his strange look and wondered what it meant.
Tai Wenguang didn't think much about it and said to Jiang Meihua, "Come with me to the accountant to get the bill, and then come back to pick up the load."

Jiang Meihua nodded, followed Tai Wenguang to the accounting office, and took out a receipt and 1.81 yuan in cash.

When leaving the accounting office, Tai Wenguang said, "We have lectures at our veterinary station every Sunday. The team leaders of each village team and the farmers who manage livestock will come here for meetings. To encourage them to come, the station manager will provide free breakfast and lunch. Next Sunday, you must bring the same amount of fermented rice wine."

Jiang Meihua nodded knowingly, "Okay."

After returning to the cafeteria, Jiang Meihua left with her load on her shoulder.

There were empty, washed jars in the basket.

Tai Wenguang sent her to the road before returning to the cafeteria.

Master Wang saw him coming back and pulled him aside and whispered, "Do you know that girl?"

Tai Wenguang said with embarrassment, "I guess so." He knew Jiang Meihua and had secretly seen her a few times, but it seemed that this was the first time Jiang Meihua had met him.

But it doesn’t matter. We’ll get familiar with each other after meeting more often in the future.

Master Wang sighed and shook his head, "You'd better not spend as much time with that girl as possible."

Tai Wenguang asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Her mother is not someone you can easily mess with. She has a weird temper." Master Wang shook his head.

Tai Wenguang frowned, said nothing, and left the cafeteria to get back to work.
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Jiang Meihua returned to Liu Xihua with an empty load on her shoulder. She handed over one dollar and eighty cents, "Sister-in-law, this is cash. They said they want us to deliver the fermented rice wine next Sunday."

Liu Xihua was surprised and said, "I didn't expect there would be repeat business."

But she did not take it all. She only took 80 cents and gave one dollar to Jiang Meihua and Jiang Meilan, asking the sisters to split it equally, with each taking 50 cents.

"Sister-in-law, it's too much. We just helped a little." Jiang Meihua refused to answer.

Seeing that Jiang Meihua didn't answer the call, Jiang Meilan also didn't answer it.

Liu Xihua said, "You have helped me sweep the floor and do laundry these past few days, and you have also helped me take care of Xiaoxiao. You should take these."

She refused to accept it.

A young woman who was buying buns nearby saw them pushing and shoving each other, and said with a smile, "You two little girls, just take it. This is a gift from your sister-in-law. If I had such a good sister-in-law, I would smile with joy."

The two little girls had no choice but to accept it.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was happy too when she saw the three aunts and sisters-in-law getting along so harmoniously.

It was sold out in advance. Liu Xihua was in a good mood and suggested going for a walk on the street.

Jiang Meihua and Jiang Meilan seldom go out on weekdays. Today was a rare occasion for them to go out, and they still had money in their pockets, so they were both very happy and agreed to go shopping.

There are not many shops on the street, most of them are small stalls set up temporarily.

Some sell food, some sell home-made winnowing baskets and other things, and some sell puppies and kittens.

Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyes looked around, east and west, and she could hardly see enough.

Finally, she set her eyes on a small shop.

The shop is opposite the market, but the door is closed.

There was a sign on the door saying "For Rent".

[Mom can rent this shop and sell breakfast and sundries]

[Next year, a primary school will be built opposite this shop, and it will be the place with the largest flow of people]

[One year's income is enough to build a house]

Liu Xihua heard Jiang Xiaoxiao's thoughts and looked down at her.

The little girl was stretching her neck, staring at the closed shop.

Liu Xihua wondered, her daughter suggested that she rent a shop?

But how could she afford the rent?

[In another 25 years, this shop will be demolished, and I can make up for it with the price of two commercial houses. When my mother makes money, it is best to buy the shop. Buy it now at a low price, and pay a high price in the future to make up for the demolition.]

Liu Xihua was even more surprised. How many unknown things were in her daughter's little head?
Thinking about the previous times her daughter had predicted the future and all of them had come true, she mustered up her courage and knocked on the closed shop door, "Is anyone there?"

After knocking a few times, the door creaked open.

(End of this chapter)