One hundred yuan?
Chen Lishu instinctively wanted to refuse. It was too expensive.
A Butterfly brand sewing machine produced in Shanghai cost 150 yuan plus a sewing machine ticket. Even without a ticket, Chen Lishu believed that if she found connections at the department store, she could buy one for around 220 to 230 yuan.
However, she planned to continue her clothing business in the future, and having a sewing machine would indeed be much cheaper.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Fifty yuan. If you agree, I'll take it."
The man was amused by her haggling. He asked for one hundred, and she cut the price in half to fifty.
"Comrade, you should look at other tickets." The meaning was clear, fifty was definitely not acceptable.
Chen Lishu's delicate eyebrows furrowed, as if she had made a big decision: "How about this, you sincerely want to sell, and I sincerely want to buy. Let's each take a step back and compromise at sixty. If it works, it works. If not, forget it."
Although Chen Lishu said this, she already had a bottom line in her heart. If it exceeded seventy, she wouldn't want the sewing machine ticket.
The man still shook his head.
Chen Lishu had no choice, and finally revealed her bottom line decisively: "Seventy. If you sell, just deduct it from the clothing payment. If not, we'll settle the bill now."
The man also knew that seventy was the highest price she could give. After thinking for a moment, he nodded, "Let's consider it making a friend."
A total of forty-five pieces of clothing. The man counted out 380 yuan and fifteen feet of cloth coupons. Chen Lishu also selected an additional five jin of grain coupons and some industrial coupons. This transaction was thus completed.
As she packed all the clothes into the prepared nylon bags, the man noticed some hair clips in the bag where she had originally kept the clothes. His eyes flickered.
He took the clothes, pointed to the hair clips, and asked, "Did you make these hair clips, comrade? How much are they per piece?"
Chen Lishu replied, "I made them. They retail for two mao each. For orders of fifty or more, it's one mao five each."
The man looked at her and suddenly smiled, "How much will you give me if I take a lot?"
"How many is 'a lot'?"
"A thousand."
"Then one mao three."
The man seemed dissatisfied: "You made these from fabric scraps, and the elastic bands inside don't cost much. The cost is at most five fen. Of course, including labor, it's more than that. But it won't exceed eight fen."
He calculated it very precisely.
Chen Lishu looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.
The man cut to the chase: "If you can supply a stable quantity long-term, and give me an input price of one mao, I can pre-order a thousand pieces. If the sales are good, the quantity will increase every month."
One mao?
Although the price was lower than what she had sold them for before, as the man said, it was long-term and stable. This was exactly what she wanted.
"Then you'll need to pay a deposit," Chen Lishu said after thinking. Although a thousand pieces weren't many, if the other party changed his mind, she might not be able to sell them all at once.
The man readily paid twenty yuan. Although it wasn't much, considering there was no contract between them and they didn't know each other, both parties had to bear some risk.
The man's name was Zhou Bin. Before leaving, he left his name and the time and address for their next meeting, and then took his purchases.
In less than an hour, Chen Lishu had sold everything, especially the 380 yuan and a stack of coupons in her pocket. It all felt a bit unreal.
"Child, have you sold everything?" As soon as she returned to the alley, an aunt asked curiously.
Chen Lishu smiled at her and then, her gaze falling on the chicken feathers in front of her, asked, "Auntie, are you selling chickens?"
The aunt smiled and shook her head. "My old man caught some wild game, a fat and large rabbit weighing five or six catties. Two yuan each. Do you want one, girl?"
They said five or six catties, but after skinning and deboning, it would only be two or three catties of meat. However, it had been a long time since they had eaten meat at home. Moreover, today's luck was good; not only had she sold clothes but also received a large order, so Chen Lishu decided to celebrate and nodded. Thinking that her parents' home must not have eaten meat for a long time, she bought two.
Seeing that she not only sold things quickly but also bought things readily, people knew she had money. As they passed by her stall, everyone recommended their own goods.
When Chen Lishu passed by an old man selling broken porcelain shards, she asked a few questions out of curiosity. To her surprise, the old man was very enthusiastic: "Daughter, I have everything. Why don't you come back with me and pick whatever you like?"
She was now a golden goose in their eyes, and Chen Lishu dared not easily go with anyone. So she smiled and shook her head, "Next time. I'll come back next time and go with you, grandpa."
Next time, she would ask Gu Xingye to accompany her, and then she could look carefully at whatever she wanted to buy.
As she exited the alley, Chen Lishu cautiously looked back and saw two men sneakily looking at her. She immediately bolted towards a crowded area. Only after running for a long time mixed with the crowd, and then looking back to confirm no one was following her, did she carry the two rabbits home.
"Mom, sister-in-law, look what I bought!"
Entering the house, she saw the two women sitting by the kang sewing hair clips. Chen Lishu happily took out the rabbits from her bag to show them.
"Why did you buy rabbits?" Li Xiulan was startled when she first saw the live rabbits.
"Who bought rabbits?"
Gu Xingye came in from outside, covered in mud. Seeing the rabbits in Chen Lishu's hands, his eyes widened: "Third sister-in-law, you bought rabbits? Are we eating meat tonight?"
Chen Lishu smiled, "It will still trouble you, fourth brother, to slaughter the rabbits. I'll make braised rabbit meat for everyone tonight."
Gu Xingye immediately nodded happily. He was originally helping Gu Shongfu and two older brothers plaster walls, but now he wasn't going. He directly took the rabbits to the kitchen.
Chen Lishu informed Li Xiulan and Zhang Qin, took the other rabbit, and returned to the Chen family's home.
With the family's conditions improving slightly, Chen Liyuan and Chen Liffei had returned to school at the beginning of the year. Now, only the Chen couple and a few younger children were at home. Seeing Chen Lishu return, the whole family was very happy.
"When I went to town, I ran into someone selling rabbits and bought two on the way, so I brought one over for the family."
"Why did you buy this? Just wasting money. If you like eating it, since you have free time these days, why not let your dad catch a couple for you up in the mountains?"
Wu Chunmei was happy in her heart, but also felt heartache for her spending money unnecessarily.
"My dad can catch rabbits?" Chen Lishu was a little surprised.
"That's something you don't know. Your dad is a good hand at catching rabbits and pheasants. The snares he sets are almost never empty."
"It was all from when I was young. I haven't done it in years, and my hands are rusty." Chen Mantun felt a bit embarrassed by Wu Chunmei's praise and rubbed his hands while sitting on a stool.
When he was young, he could still play wildly with others. After getting married, the burdens became heavier, and he had no leisure time. Moreover, the things in the mountains belonged to the public. Even if caught, they had to be handed over to the public.
"Dad, do you know? A rabbit like this sells for two yuan in town. If you can catch some, we can take them to town to sell. We'll definitely make a lot of money."