Siheyuan: Walking the Path of Qin Huairu

The news article written by Teacher Xu and Xu Huizhen was published in the evening paper, with the title "Tavern Literacy Class". Literacy is one of the current priorities of the government, and this title fits the pulse of the times. The article highlights that although the tavern is small, it does a good job in literacy.

Teacher Xu has been paying attention to every article in the newspaper these days. News, news, it is time-sensitive, so it appears in the newspaper very quickly.

When he saw the article, he was very excited. This was his debut work, and he succeeded the first time. How could he not be excited? Of course, Xu Huizhen also contributed to this. He ran to the tavern to find Xu Huizhen without stopping. He wanted to share this good news with Xu Huizhen as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, Xu Huizhen was not there. She had gone to the director of the textile factory to contact them about ordering embroidery cloth. With the district chief acting as a middleman, Director Ren, who was in charge of technology at the textile factory, said he would work overtime to make it as soon as possible according to their requirements.

The embroidery cloth she ordered this time was plain, unlike the embroidery cloth of later generations that had patterns on it. Because it was not yet possible to achieve mass production, she could only do it step by step. This way, the embroidery speed would be slower, and she needed a drawing. So the embroidery cloth was marked with numbers horizontally and vertically, just like coordinate paper, with every detail marked, so that it would be convenient to correspond to the drawing when embroidering.

Han Qingqiu is currently drawing the blueprints, and if the demand increases in the future, we will have to add more manpower.

In the afternoon, Xu Huizhen returned to the tavern, and Zhao Yali handed her a remittance slip, which was the manuscript fee from the newspaper. Wang Yang had Xu Huizhen's address, so he sent it to Xu Huizhen. The manuscript fee was 5.20 yuan. Xu Huizhen said to Zhao Yali: "When Teacher Xu comes, give him the remittance slip and ask him to pick it up. Just say I'm busy and don't have time."

In the evening, when Xu Huizhen was having dinner, Xu Jianshe came with a sack on his back. Seeing this, Xu Huizhen asked Hu Yingzi to cook another dish, as Xu Jianshe had a big appetite and should not be left without food.

Hu Yingzi agreed, picked two tomatoes and two cucumbers from the vegetable garden, and walked into the kitchen. The vegetables in the vegetable garden were growing at their peak, and the two of them couldn't finish them all, especially the eggplants, which grew very fast and would get old if they were not picked one day. They couldn't eat eggplants every day, so Han Qingqiu's family basically picked vegetables from here. Occasionally, Xu Huizhen would pick some and secretly put them in the space to save for winter, and then tell Hu Yingzi that they were given to others.

Xu Jianshe opened the sack and took out paper packages from it. He said, "Sister, I just came back from a trip out of town. I brought some brown sugar for you and Yingzi."

Xu Huizhen looked at the pile of paper bags on the table and said, "So many, all brown sugar? Can we finish them all?"

Xu Jianshe said: "This time I followed my master to Huangyan, Zhejiang Province, where brown sugar is produced. Many people make their own brown sugar at home. The price is cheap, only 40 cents per pound, and no tickets are required. My master said that here it is 70 cents per pound. My master also said that this thing can replenish blood for women, so he also bought a lot. I used up all the money I had, leaving money for food, to buy brown sugar and brought it back."

In the memory of the previous life, Xu Jianshe was an honest and simple person, without any ulterior motives. Now it seems that the environment makes the person, isn't Xu Jianshe quite clever? He even knew how to use public property for personal purposes and smuggle in private goods.

Xu Huizhen said, "You must be hungry. Eat first and talk while you eat. Don't worry about not having enough food. Yingzi will prepare it soon."

Xu Jianshe was really hungry. He was familiar with the place now and was not as reserved as before. He held a steamed bun made of two grains of flour in one hand and ate vegetables with the other.

Xu Huizhen felt particularly relieved when she watched him eat. She was very glad that she had the ability to change Xu Jianshe's fate in his previous life.

She continued to nag: "Driving is also a physical job. You must eat well on a regular basis. Don't sacrifice your stomach to save money. When you are young, you use your health to make money. When you are old, you need to use money to buy health."

Xu Jianshe felt very happy listening to Xu Huizhen's nagging, as if it made up for the lack of maternal love he had experienced since childhood.

At this time, Hu Yingzi came out with a large plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a plate of mixed cucumbers. Xu Huizhen saw that there were more eggs than tomatoes in the dish. Eggs were so hard to come by these days! Hu Yingzi now treated Xu Jianshe as her fiancé.

She said eagerly, "Brother Jianshe, please eat quickly. Next time, please call me in advance. There is a phone in the tavern so that I can prepare something delicious for you in advance. You usually eat one meal a day and then another. How can the food at home be as good as yours?"

Xu Huizhen closed her eyes and comforted herself, saying that she didn't see it, so she just pretended not to see it. Hu Yingzi was just pretending to be a good person by using her own things! Well, out of sight, out of mind.

Hu Yingzi continued to chatter on, "Brother Jianshe, I will have a job soon. Sister Huizhen is going to open an embroidery factory and said that she wants me to be an accountant in the future."

Xu Huizhen did plan this. Hu Yingzi had shown her face to the mayor before, so it was natural for her to join the factory. The factory had just been built, and there was a shortage of people in all positions. Xu Huizhen asked Yingzi to learn bookkeeping from Zhao Yali these days, and let her be an accountant in the future.

Accounting in this era is easy, without the twists and turns of later generations. Zhao Yali also learned a little from her father and became an accountant. Xu Huizhen can also do it. In the past, she was the one who kept the accounts of the tavern. It's just that she doesn't have time to teach now.

Seeing Hu Yingzi chirping like a happy little bird, Xu Jianshe listened attentively. Xu Huizhen was eating in boredom.

After she put down her chopsticks, she said, "Jianshe, we can't finish all the brown sugar. How about this, I'll find someone to sell it to, 70 cents a pound. This way I can make a net profit of 30 cents."

When Hu Yingzi heard about making money, she became excited and asked, "Brother Jianshe, how many kilograms of brown sugar are here?"

Xu Jianshe: “Thirty kilograms.”

Hu Yingzi counted on her fingers: "I make 30 cents per pound, and... per 30 pounds. Let me do the math. I make 9 dollars! This money comes so easily." Xu Huizhen curled her lips. Can he really be an accountant with this level of ability?

Xu Huizhen said, "Jianshe, I'll give you 200 yuan as capital. When you go out to work, bring back anything you like. Yingzi and I will be responsible for selling it. How about we split the profits among the three of us?"

Hu Yingzi nodded frantically: "Yeah! This is a good idea, Brother Jianshe, what do you think?"

Xu Jianshe: "We went to Inner Mongolia once before. Mutton there is very cheap. My master bought a lot of dried meat. I didn't have money at the time, so I didn't buy anything. Also, rice in the Northeast is much cheaper than here. My master also bought three southern mats..."

Xu Huizhen: "But you must pay attention to safety. If the quantity is large, you can't be discovered by the people in the unit. If you need to pick up the goods, you can call the tavern and ask Cai Quanwu to wait outside the city and unload the goods from the car before entering the city."

Xu Jianshe stared at him with his big innocent eyes and asked, "Is this possible? Will I lose my job?"

Xu Huizhen comforted him and said, "You haven't completed your apprenticeship yet, so you usually go with your master when you go out of town. Just bring your master in as well. I guess your master has been driving for so many years, he knows this trick. With your master as a cover, there will be basically no problem. If something goes wrong, I have some connections in your company, otherwise how could I arrange for you to be involved. It can make a big thing small, and a small thing nothing."

After an in-depth communication among the three people, a speculative trio was formed.