Reborn in 1977

Chapter 110: Ready to Go

Taking a piece of homespun cloth as a mat, and bringing the bowl he borrowed when buying tofu last time, along with his own two bowls, Chen Fan set off pulling the cart.

Jiang Lili followed beside him. After reaching the river embankment, her steps seemed to lighten, chatting as they walked. Only when they occasionally encountered people reinforcing the embankment would they fall silent, watching Chen Fan greet them.

Despite this, it felt like no time at all before they arrived at Team 10.

As soon as the two of them entered the small square of "Lu Family Bay CBD," the sales clerk sitting in the doorway sunning himself saw them and immediately stood up and shouted, "Master Chen is here!"

This shout immediately attracted the attention of people nearby.

The oil press master from the oil mill stood at the door, quickly spotted his target, and without even knowing him, greeted him, "Master Chen is here!"

Chen Fan nodded in response, "Hello, hello."

The tofu master from the mill walked over and smiled, "Master Chen, are you here to pick up the cotton wadding? I just made tofu, would you like two more pieces?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Sure, sure."

Jiang Lili quickly took the four bowls over, "Master, these two are to return yours. Please sell us four more pieces of tofu."

The tofu master took the bowls and turned to walk inside, "Come in with me to get them."

At this time, Chen Fan had already dragged the cart to the entrance of the cotton ginning workshop. The cotton ginning master looked at the cart, "This is good, but it's best to put a cloth on it. I'll find you a piece of cotton gauze."

With that, he turned and walked inside.

Chen Fan didn't even have time to speak, thinking to himself that he had brought homespun cloth himself. Huang Laosi had given him two pieces of homespun cloth, one of which he had made into a cloth bag, with a small piece left over, and the other was a whole piece, five feet long and half a meter wide, just enough to cover the bottom of the cart.

But the cotton ginning master had already gone in to get cotton gauze, so he didn't say anything more.

It just seemed that this time, they were much more enthusiastic than last time.

Soon, the cotton ginning master brought out a relatively thick piece of old cotton gauze, quickly spread it on the cart, and then turned around to carry out the cotton wadding.

The sales clerk next door pulled Chen Fan aside to chat, "Master Chen, you write such good articles! They can even be published in Yunhu Daily, amazing, truly amazing! It's just that Captain Su and the others have gone to reinforce the embankment, otherwise, if they knew you were coming, they would definitely come over to entertain you."

Chen Fan laughed, "It's just a bit of my job, not worth mentioning."

At the same time, he thought to himself, this Captain Su should be the leader of Team 10, right?

At this point, he also understood why they were even more enthusiastic this time. He had a "cultural halo" now.

Soon, six quilts of cotton wadding were loaded onto the cart. The cotton ginning master even specially covered the cotton wadding with a bit of broken cotton gauze and secured it with a cotton rope as thick as a finger.

By this time, Jiang Lili had already returned with two bowls of tofu. After placing the bowls on the cart, Chen Fan greeted everyone and then dragged the cart back.

Watching the cart disappear into the distance, four people gathered together to gossip.

Cotton Ginner: "They came together last time, and they're together again this time. What exactly is their relationship?"

Tofu Maker: "When they buy things, that educated youth girl is the one paying."

Cotton Ginner: "Yes, yes, she paid for the cotton ginning too."

The oil presser's eyes lit up, "Could they be dating?"

The sales clerk pursed her lips and shook her head, "Not necessarily. Isn't it said that Master Chen floated in from the water, without a penny on him? The gifts given by the brigade and the team are all materials. It's normal to borrow money from people when he needs to pay."

She sighed regretfully, "I was still waiting for him to come here to sell cured meat, but he hasn't come. It seems he plans to take the meat to the market."

Cotton Ginner: "Then what are you talking about? He can sell it for more money at the market, right? These quilts of cotton wadding are meant to be sold at the market."

The tofu maker opened his mouth wide, "How much money can he sell them for?"

The sales clerk calculated with her fingers, "The supply and marketing cooperative sells cotton wadding for 1.4 yuan per catty. If he sells it for 1.3 yuan, he can definitely snatch customers. 30 catties of cotton wadding is 39 yuan. Actually, he can sell it for 1.4 yuan too, after all, you don't need cotton coupons, that would be 42.

He also has cured meat and cured fish. Cured meat is more expensive than fresh meat. Depending on the situation, he can sell it for 1.2 to 1.5 yuan. Fish can also be sold for 50 cents a catty. Adding up the other odds and ends, he can probably sell it for over a hundred yuan."

Hearing that he could sell it for so much money, the oil presser couldn't help but click his tongue, "Good heavens, that's worth an ox!"

In these years, an old yellow ox is only worth 70 or 80 yuan. A water buffalo is more expensive, about 200 yuan, but 100 yuan can also buy a newly adult water buffalo, or a good mule.

If any family could have a water buffalo or a mule, as long as they were diligent, they could definitely ensure that the whole family would have food and clothing for the whole year. Who wouldn't be envious?!

It's just that most commune members can't afford this money, and most of the time the livestock market is all price and no market. It's difficult to buy cattle and horses. Basically, when they hear that a production team has produced a foal or a calf, they quickly go over to see the goods. If they are late, they may be snatched away by others.

This also makes such large livestock particularly precious in the countryside.

The chat went off-topic, and it was difficult to bring it back. The four began to guess how Chen Fan would spend so much money.

As for the original topic, what was it again?

……

After pulling the cotton wadding home, Chen Fan began to prepare for the market.

Originally, he thought that he would stay in the brigade headquarters during the time between the early and late shifts, spending more time reading books and learning knowledge, but now he could only postpone it.

If it was just selling things, that would be easy. Whether it was cured meat, cured fish, or cotton wadding, he could just pack it up and pull it away.

But Chen Fan also wanted to make a wave of money with those ten soft-shelled turtles, so there was a lot of preparation work to do.

Selling soft-shelled turtles alone would definitely not fetch a high price. There was no habit of eating soft-shelled turtles here. Even if Chen Fan passed on the method of making soft-shelled turtles, it would be difficult to spread in a short period of time, so acceptance would definitely not be too high.

Besides, if someone really knew how to make soft-shelled turtles, they could just go to the pond or ditch to dig around and bring home a basket of soft-shelled turtles. Why spend money to buy them?

So, he could only make the soft-shelled turtles into cooked food, selling them ready-to-eat. This was the only way to sell them.

Moreover, they had to be sold hot. If they weren't hot enough, the cleaned soft-shelled turtles would still have a very strong fishy smell, and people would be even less likely to buy them.

So, the problem came. In addition to the soft-shelled turtles, he also needed to prepare a stove and a pot, as well as dry firewood for burning.

What kind of container to use to pack the heated soft-shelled turtles was also a problem.

How many people go to the market with their own bowls?

Unless they have a very clear purpose, like I'm going to buy a bowl of tofu today, or buy something else, they will bring special tools. Without a bowl to hold it, even if people really want to buy it, they can only give up regretfully.

Even if they eat it on the spot, Chen Fan needs to prepare some tableware, right?

Chen Fan was busy for two whole days around these two problems before he was able to prepare everything.

Now everything is ready, waiting for the 19th of the twelfth lunar month tomorrow, to take these things to earn the first pot of gold!