Chapter 181: A Master Must Have A Famous Name, Actions Must Be Just
Qin Hengzhi didn’t speak; he waited for Lu Qiaoge to continue.
Lu Qiaoge: “Let me explain it to you like this. I plan to provide a platform to Hong Kong businessmen for a fee. I sign an agreement with them, stipulating that I guarantee they complete a certain sales volume.
For example, I first prepare to trade clothing. A certain merchant prepares one million worth of goods, and I promise to sell them all for him, but he has to provide me with a certain amount of grain. The other party earns our money, but I earn venue fees, contact fees, and so on. But I don’t need money; I want grain, and I guarantee to hold it once a year.”
This is just like the exhibition fairs organized jointly by individual businesses in various places in the 1990s—a few big trucks forming a convoy, loaded with clothing, because in the 80s and 90s, clothing was one of the most profitable industries.
Moreover, this stuff has no shelf life and no safety hazards; it’s easy to store and transport with basically no loss.
Most importantly, the profit is terrifyingly high.
“Can’t exchange for foreign exchange, but can exchange for grain.” Qin Hengzhi was silent for a moment and asked: “How much grain can be exchanged for, or are there any other benefits?”
Lu Qiaoge glanced at Qin Hengzhi: “For example?”
“For example, donations or something. To realize your idea, we have to make sure every teacher has a famous name and every action is just and righteous.”
Lu Qiaoge had also considered this issue.
To proceed smoothly without causing trouble for herself and her family, she couldn’t do things that could easily be criticized by others.
Currently, the domestic market is not open to the outside, and many people in Hong Kong don’t even understand the huge potential of this market.
They even think that ordinary people are all in ragged clothes and living in poverty, let alone that they might not have a penny in their pockets.
But in fact, most formal workers now have savings.
Everything is under the rationing system; there’s nowhere to spend even if they want to.
Unless it’s a family in difficulty with expenses exceeding income and particularly high pressure, like the Lu Family at the beginning because Xiao Si was sick and needed expensive medicinal materials to take care of, plus only Old Lu had a salary at home, which made it relatively much harder.
But those dual-income households or households with multiple workers are different.
Lu Qiaoge said: “It will definitely be in the name of donation, but what supplies are needed for the donation depends on what the authorities need first.”
Qin Hengzhi nodded; thinking this way was fine.
If the other party can exchange for urgently needed supplies for us, as long as it doesn’t involve principled issues, it can all be sat down and discussed.
Only if the welfare obtained is far greater than the risk borne will there be support for this matter.
Lu Qiaoge continued: “Given the current situation, the quality and style of the clothing must follow our designs, but what I want to know now is, how feasible is this?”
Qin Hengzhi also said seriously: “Seventy percent.”
Lu Qiaoge smiled faintly; she believed Qin Hengzhi’s words.
As long as she didn’t cross that line, it should be fine.
Lu Qiaoge couldn’t tell Qin Hengzhi that Dragon Country this year was very difficult, with reduced crop yields and tight supplies, so the food factory had to import grain to sustain itself.
Moreover, this test run of hers wasn’t a whim; she was seriously planning it, and if it really succeeded, the benefits would be enormous.
But she now had sunflower seed basket orders to follow, so this matter wasn’t very urgent.
—
Liu Xia and Liu Yu’s matter was resolved very smoothly, and Wang Cuilan and her husband also quickly took the three children back to their hometown.
At first, Wang Cuilan was dead set against going back and insisted on seeing Liu Xia.
But once the joint office started, a group of people sat together, with a telephone on the desk.
The microphone was placed on the table, and Zhu Dashan’s familiar voice came through.
That was their village chief and also the brigade secretary.
He was considered the highest leader in the village, with great authority.
He first loudly read the household registration of Zhu Dashan’s family for the people here to hear.
There was no marriage certificate, and they weren’t a couple. Liu Xia was the adopted daughter of the Zhu family, and her name was casually chosen as Li Shani. At the time, the production brigade thought the character for “fool” in fool was hard to write, so they called her Li Dani.
The secretary proved that she was sold to the Zhu family by a famous kidnapper back then. To tell the truth, Wang Cuilan hadn’t intended to buy, but at the time their home was at the village head, and the kidnapper didn’t want to take Liu Xia away, so he persuaded Wang Cuilan to keep the child. She was five years old and could wash diapers, look after children, wash clothes, cook, do housework. Wait until she grew up a bit and she could work in the fields. These words moved Wang Cuilan, so she spent one yuan to keep the person.
Liu Xia started working from the day she arrived, for a full eleven years; this child never had a single idle day.
As for the wedding and becoming a wife, the brigade leader said that was something Wang Cuilan made up herself.
Then the head of commune proved over the phone that there was no marriage certificate and it was impossible to register marriage.
Finally, the local Women’s Federation told this side’s Women’s Federation that the adoption relationship was not established, and they immediately moved Liu Xia’s household registration out and mailed it over.
The brigade secretary told Zhu Dashan to quickly bring his wife and children back, otherwise all the work points at the end of the year would be canceled, and the family’s house site would be given to others.
The Women’s Federation here also advised her kindly not to think that just because the child’s parents weren’t around, she could bully her. It was illegal to begin with, and the organization would not allow Liu Xia to have contact with her.
Lu Qiaoge very kindly told Wang Cuilan that actually Liu Xia’s biological father was still alive, though in prison, and he’d be back in twenty years. So where could he go if he didn’t come home then?
Moreover, from now on, whatever Liu Xia and Liu Yu did would be affected; they could at best do temporary work, and even the house might not be secure.
Zhu Dashan and Wang Cuilan really didn’t know Liu Xia’s biological father was in prison for a big crime.
Twenty years—by the time he got out, he’d be old.
Who would care about him then?
Besides, with such bad class background, it would affect the children’s future.
Her family had red roots for generations, all poor peasants; it was impossible to form a marriage alliance with a family whose head was in prison.
So Zhu Dashan and Wang Cuilan neatly took the children and left.
516 here was very humane; they gave Zhu Dashan fifty yuan, signed a severance of relations agreement, and properly sent them back to the Northwest.
Although Liu Xia was uneasy and apprehensive, she quickly accepted it.
Mainly because no one here scolded her, beat her, or ordered her around.
Liu Yu gave the job to Liu Xia and temporarily went to logistics to clean.
The young boy was very smart; he went to find Lu Qiaoge, preparing to change his surname to Chai, after all, the siblings’ current situation was inseparable from Master Liu.
Expecting him to provide elderly care in the future was impossible.
But telling others about this might not work, so he chose to tell Lu Qiaoge.
The result proved the young boy hadn’t chosen wrong. Not only did Lu Qiaoge help the siblings change their names to Chai Xia and Chai Yu, she also applied for primary school for Chai Yu, so he could start school when it opened.
—
And on a Sunday, Qin Hengzhi finally brought gifts and visited.
Actually, they were all familiar.
But this way of visiting was still a bit constraining.
Qin Hengzhi wasn’t as calm and composed as he imagined himself to be.
Meng Xia looked at Qin Hengzhi and liked him more and more, thanked him for the tickets he gave, and said she planned to add a bicycle to the home next month.
Old Mrs. Lu felt the same; if nothing unexpected happened, Qin Hengzhi would be her first granddaughter’s husband.
Oh my, just thinking about it made her happy.
