Chapter 78: Massive Barter Fair For Supplies
Before anyone could raise doubts, Lu Qiaoge said: “It can’t be entirely cash transactions; there will definitely be flaws. For example, if you only have ten cents in hand, but you fancy the green beans from one household and the radish from another, so let’s try to use small denominations as much as possible, and just write notes for large denominations.”
Everyone nodded in agreement; this was pretty good. The neighborhood committee acted as the middleman, and it was purely volunteer service, which wouldn’t cause unnecessary trouble. No wonder they said Lu Qiaoge was clever—this method seemed simple, like anyone could think of it, but actually not; if she didn’t say it, you couldn’t come up with it yourself.
So they all followed what Lu Qiaoge said, and soon completed the task, with the leader agreeing too.
—
The Serving the People Fair organized by Xiangyang Neighborhood Committee officially kicked off at five in the morning.
Even at five in the morning, many family dependents arrived early at the sports field. As soon as they entered, they followed the volunteers’ guidance and first exchanged their supplies for paper slips.
Many people were still discussing at home last night: what if the things I brought weren’t wanted by the commune members—would I not be able to buy any vegetables?
Some said the neighborhood committee was just making things up on the fly—watch, it would end up in chaos.
Others said they thought it was a way to fool the commune members’ hard work and get something for nothing.
They said this because some felt the unsold vegetables would rot, and in the end the commune members would have come for nothing—let’s see if your little neighborhood committee could afford that.
These words were actually just passing in one ear and out the other.
The actual transactions went very smoothly.
Because not only were there volunteers maintaining order, but also a small squad from the security department, and even a guard squad from the military representative office.
This lineup was quite impressive.
Da Tian didn’t dare cause trouble; he was very well-behaved and even worked hard to maintain order. When he saw family dependents being picky, he stepped forward to persuade them: “Fourth Aunt, these are such good vegetables and you’re still picky? The commune members went out before dawn to pick them and even washed them clean, bundling them up nicely. If you rummage through them like this, how can others buy?”
Of course, such cases were rare.
There wasn’t a mad rush either.
They were all military factory dependents and family members; everyone wanted to save face in front of the commune members.
This time Brigade Leader Lin and Director Zhu came together. After Director Zhu exchanged pleasantries with Director Hu, he left with peace of mind.
What remained were the three tractors with carts brought by Brigade Leader Lin and thirty large horse-drawn carts.
The tractors belonged to the commune, and the horse-drawn carts were also gathered from the entire commune.
Even Guzi Village only had two horse-drawn carts.
Because it was early and didn’t affect going to work, Meng Xia, Old Lu, including Old Mrs. Lu, all came.
The exchanged vegetables were on Brigade Leader Lin’s horse-drawn cart. Lu Qiaoge had told Old Mrs. Lu in advance, so Old Lu carried a basket of vegetables, which actually contained half a basket of eggs and cherry cucumbers and other fresh vegetables.
Actually the Lu family could afford to exchange for them, but this was Brigade Leader Lin’s kindness, which they couldn’t refuse—not to mention there would be plenty of opportunities later to return the favor.
But on the way, Old Mrs. Lu said to get some cloth tickets and cotton tickets for Brigade Leader Lin, especially cotton tickets, which were very much needed in the rural area.
After all, Jiangcheng didn’t grow cotton here.
The bustling market day was within Lu Qiaoge’s expectations; there were many family dependents who came, and the entire sports field was packed with people, even the doorway and roadside.
But fortunately there were several patrol teams, so the order was truly impeccable.
A few old women even brought old clothes from home; Lu Qiaoge accepted those that were passable.
But really tattered ones were declined.
Lu Qiaoling was a volunteer, but she and Su Hui had made two pots of flaky pastries, packed them neatly in clean baskets. She went to maintain order, while Su Hui boldly set up a little stall.
Normally this wouldn’t be allowed, but today was a special day.
Sure enough, someone came with the mindset of trying it out—and that someone trying it out was team leader Mu Dan from the department store.
Although she was from the hardware group, she had eaten flaky pastries from the food group that came from the food factory.
Unexpectedly, these were even tastier than the food factory’s.
She started introducing them to her companions nearby.
Especially introducing them to the team leader of the food group.
Su Hui hadn’t expected that after subtracting the flour, oil, white sugar, and such used for two pots of flaky pastries, they still made a profit.
She used the paper slips to exchange for eggs and white sugar, and in the end even spent ten cents to buy a big pile of water radishes.
This was a kind of small radish that northern people liked to grow; the radish greens on top could be used to make bun fillings, and the water radishes below could be eaten raw or mixed with pickles.
Lu Qiaoge calculated it for her: pure profit of three yuan.
And the profit was pretty high, no kidding.
The more than ten willow baskets woven by Meng Qingshan and a few companions were also exchanged away.
With returns on their efforts, everyone was full of energy.
Zhou Li’s mute husband was very skilled; not only could he weave baskets, but also straw hats and woven baskets for dry rations, and such.
Ever since Zhou Li came to the service station, he had been at home minding the child and weaving things.
This was Lu Qiaoge’s suggestion to Zhou Li, telling her not to worry about sales channels—as long as he could weave them, she could exchange them for him.
Zhou Li’s husband’s name was Chang An; he was an adopted son. Because the couple from the Chang family had no children in the early years of their marriage, the elders often said some children had no parent bond but had sibling bond, so because of this they found someone to adopt him, and to make him easy to raise they gave him the nickname Doggy. When he was six, the Chang family had a son, and when he was eight they had a daughter, then they started disliking Doggy. Once he had a high fever and survived, but then he couldn’t speak.
No one knew why; anyway, he just couldn’t speak.
They say if one’s deaf, nine times out of ten they’re mute, but he could hear, proving his hearing was fine.
Zhou Li took him to the staff hospital, and the doctor judged that nine out of ten the inability to speak was psychological.
Once away from the suffocating environment of the Chang family, Chang An became much more lively.
While Zhou Li was busy maintaining order, he obediently squatted on the ground with the child on his back; in front of him was a mat he had woven from reeds, with the things he had woven these past days laid out on top.
This kind of market day was different from the department store; customers here could pick freely and touch the items. You know, when buying at the department store, unless you knew the salesperson, whatever they gave you was it—no picking allowed.
Because of this, Lu Qiaoge specifically had Zhou Li take charge of order in Chang An’s area.
Lu Qiaoge happened to glance back and saw Chang An always secretly watching Zhou Li, with thick, inseparable affection in his eyes.
Lu Qiaoge shivered her shoulders and walked away with a grin.
After three days of market days, all the villages under Manshan Commune that came left with full loads.
Although they didn’t get cash, didn’t the daily necessities they exchanged for normally require money to buy too?
Then it was the factory family dependents; which household didn’t eat vegetables, which didn’t lack things? With this circulation, things immediately livened up.
Old Hu wasn’t at ease, so he followed on the first day.
Unexpectedly, by before ten o’clock, the sports field was basically cleared.
The commune members lined up to collect supplies; more than ten tables were laid out with all sorts of daily necessities. Unexpectedly, old clothes were really popular, especially old work uniforms—even those with patches, many commune members grabbed for them.
By the final count at the end, there wasn’t a single mistake; it really was a win-win for all.
This market day, many households ate fresh leafy greens and exchanged for supplies they didn’t have.
And the Lu family not only had eggs, cherry cucumbers, leafy greens, but also quite a few dried vegetables.
For Meng Xia, these days were like a dream.
But for Lu Qiaoge, this was just the beginning.
However, for Old Hu, it was also taking a risk, but after it ended smoothly, he decided to apply to the factory comprehensive office for cash rewards for these volunteers…
End of the month, climbing the ranks, shamelessly begging for monthly passes, also thanking caroletu treasure for the daily encouragement, thanking every cute one who cast monthly passes, love you all~
