Chapter 33: Discussing Business
Mr. Jiang Sr. was old, and his official status hadn’t been restored yet, so he couldn’t leave this place as he pleased.
Jiang Xia was free to go, but his reason for staying was even simpler. He had come to accompany his grandfather, and since Mr. Jiang Sr. wasn’t going back, he wouldn’t either.
The college entrance exams were certainly one path, but Jiang Xia saw things clearly. The situation would eventually change, and he and his grandfather couldn’t be trapped here forever. But if he left first and something happened to his grandfather while he was alone, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
After the grandfather and grandson finished their meal, they gave the leftover soup and food to Da Huang.
Da Huang wasn’t a picky eater. He ate everything, gobbling it down quickly and with gusto.
Meanwhile, the An family had also finished dinner. The whole family was gathered around, looking at something.
A sewing machine.
"Second Brother, why’d you buy a sewing machine? Where did you even get the coupon?"
Everyone in the An family, except for An Ning who was examining the sewing machine, was staring at An Guoming, wanting to know what was going on.
"Dad, didn’t Little Sister talk about starting that backpack business? I thought it over carefully. Doing it by hand definitely won’t work. We could find more people, but I’m not sure anyone in the village would dare to do it right now."
"So I figured, if Sister-in-law uses a sewing machine, wouldn’t it be faster?"
At this point, An Guoming got so excited he stood up.
"Dad, you have no idea. I wasn’t originally planning to buy one. I just thought I’d go to town and see if I could find a coupon for a sewing machine. But when I got there, my friends were incredibly enthusiastic. They said the sika deer Little Sister sold was a huge help, so they had extra coupons, and I bought one."
"And it just so happened there was a sewing machine in town, so I took the liberty of buying it."
"If it doesn’t work out, we can still return it."
After An Guoming finished, An Sancheng looked at An Ning.
"Daughter, it’s your money, so it’s your call. Return it or not?"
An Ning, who was crouching and observing the sewing machine, looked up. "Don’t return it. Second Brother is right, doing it by hand is too slow."
An Ning stood up, and for a moment, she seemed to exude a commanding presence.
"We won’t be in the backpack business for long. Knockoffs will start appearing very quickly. We don’t have a factory, we don’t have the manpower, and we don’t have a lot of capital. We’re not suited to run this kind of workshop."
"My idea is to make a batch first, sell them at the market, and ideally, sell the backpack design itself. That way, we can get a sum of capital and then find a new way to make money."
After An Ning finished speaking, the An family fell silent.
’I didn’t say anything wrong. That’s how the business class I took said to do it.’
"Did I say something wrong?"
Just as An Ning asked, she saw her second brother take an excited step forward.
"Little Sister! I knew it! We’re the most alike!"
An Ning didn’t understand An Guoming’s excitement. With a somewhat solemn expression on her small face, she said, "I don’t want to be like you. I’m a girl."
"PSHHH— HAHAHAHA!" An Guoqing burst out laughing. ’Little Sister is hilarious!’
An Ning’s words made the whole An family laugh, filling the room with a cheerful and harmonious atmosphere.
"Alright, alright, An Ning is right. No need to return the sewing machine. You all discuss how to do it and where to sell them. Once you’ve figured it out, get started."
An Sancheng was very supportive. Who wouldn’t want to try something that could make money?
It wasn’t that their current life was bad, but who would refuse the chance to make it better?
An Ning’s method was very simple. She said to An Guoming, "Second Brother, you go buy the fabric, needles, and thread."
"Sister-in-law, Mom, let’s figure out this sewing machine. We can practice on some scrap cloth first, then work on the backpack design. Once everything’s ready, we’ll start making them."
No one had any problem with An Ning’s arrangements. The three women of the house gathered around the sewing machine, giddy with excitement. They grabbed a torn piece of clothing and got started.
On the other side, An Guoming went out with An Guoqing to scout for options. They didn’t have any cloth coupons, and it wouldn’t be easy to buy large pieces of sturdy fabric.
’Little Sister said we’re making backpacks,’ An Guoming thought, ’so it would be best to use the same kind of fabric that’s used for backpacks now. That stuff is pretty durable.’
The best way would be to find a factory.
The entire An family sprang into action. Only An Sancheng had nothing to do, so he went back to weaving baskets in the courtyard.
It grew very late. Even An Guoping had come home, but An Guoming and An Guoqing were still not back.
An Sancheng was a little worried, but it wasn’t too bad, since An Guoqing was with him.
They waited for quite a while longer before the two finally returned. No one rushed to say anything. They washed up and went to rest, deciding to talk tomorrow.
The next morning, An Ning woke up before dawn again and went up the mountain.
This time, she didn’t run into Jiang Xia, but she did take down a stray wild boar by herself.
She fashioned a simple sled-like base out of branches, placed the boar on it, and dragged it all the way to town.
When the chubby man opened the door and saw An Ning show up dragging a wild boar by herself, his knees felt a little weak.
’Just which immortal is this?!’
"Quick, come in, come in."
An Ning dragged the branches inside with one hand, had it weighed, and got her money.
The wild boar was 378 jin. At 0.8 yuan per jin, that came to 302.4 yuan. The chubby man gave her 305 directly.
"Here’s three hundred and five yuan. Please count it."
An Ning took the money. A quick scan with her spiritual power told her the amount was correct, and she stuffed it directly into her pocket.
"You’re a straightforward person, young lady."
The chubby man struck up a conversation with a grin. There was something he wanted to ask of An Ning.
"I’m a person from Sanhe Town, not a straightforward one."
An Ning’s words made the chubby man freeze for a second, then burst into laughter.
"Hilarious! You’re really hilarious, young lady."
An Ning was quick to accept this ’humorous’ label for herself. After all, the people in the An family were always bursting into laughter because of her.
"Ahem, young lady, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."
The chubby man stopped laughing. An Ning immediately clutched her pocket and said, "No returns."
"?"
The chubby man looked bewildered, then immediately shook his head. "Not that! I wouldn’t dream of returning it. This is all good meat!"
Hearing it wasn’t about a return, An Ning relaxed and waited for him to speak.
"Here’s the thing. I can see you’re very capable in the mountains. Next time you go up, I was wondering if you could look for some ginseng for me? The older the vintage, the more valuable it is. Someone is looking for fresh ginseng."
"What’s ginseng?"
An Ning didn’t even recognize corn, let alone ginseng.
Even if she saw it on the mountain, it would just be another weed in her eyes.
The chubby man wasn’t surprised. ’Unless you’re a professional herb gatherer, who would recognize that stuff?’
"I have a book here, take a look."
The chubby man waved his hand, and someone brought over a very old book. It was filled with all sorts of pictures, along with descriptions and effects of medicinal herbs.
An Ning took it with great interest. After flipping through a few pages, her eyes sparkled as she looked at the chubby man.
"What’s wrong?"
The chubby man felt his hair stand on end from her stare.
An Ning held up the book and asked, "Can I finish reading this before I go?"
"Sure, sure, no problem at all."
The chubby man had someone bring over a chair. Without taking her eyes off the book, An Ning accurately sat down on the chair and began to quietly flip through the pages.