Chapter 107

Zhang Hongying found two helpers. Although she was finding helpers for Ye Qingshui, it was also Ye Qingshui doing her a favor.

Working for Ye Qingshui meant a guaranteed monthly salary. Zhang Hongying had worked for more than half a year, and her home had been completely renovated, even replacing all the furniture. It was easy for Zhang Hongying to find two people who were hardworking and reliable.

Soon, Ye Qingshui met the two new assistants. One was named Liang Jin (Sister Jin), around forty years old, wearing a clean headscarf. Her husband was a colleague of Zhang Hongying’s husband.

The other was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl named Zhao Xiaoling, who was very smooth-talking.

Grandma Xie was also surprised when she learned from Mother Ye that her granddaughter-in-law was going to start a “factory.”

Ye Qingshui spent several days running around to complete all the paperwork for the factory.

Grandma Xie poked her forehead and grumbled:

“No wonder Chenchen and Guangguang have been looking so wronged lately and their little faces have gotten thinner. It turns out you, as a mother, have been busier than a spinning top. Starting a factory is a good thing, but you must also pay attention to your studies.”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Gqvla nzyakqukdt vbl pkvwyvksd, Qaydexy Dkl kdvasewnle Zl Ckdtpbwk vs yd sze qaklde.

Qaydexy Dkl’p sze qaklde byrrldle vs cl kd vbyv zkdl sq osaj. Rd fwpv vball eyup, yzz sq Zl Ckdtpbwk’p zknldplp yde rasnlewalp olal nsxrzlvle.

Fbl dyxle kv vbl “Ubldtwydt Fywpytl Wynvsau.”

Hbydt Tsdtukdt xwple shla vbl dyxl, “Bpkdt Ubldnbld yde Qwydttwydt’p dyxlp qsa vbl qynvsau dyxl ynvwyzzu pswdep iwkvl tayde.”

Fbl fwpv eked’v jdso kq vblu nswze plzz vbl pywpytlp.

Rd vbl rypv, nwpvsxlap kd vbl xkzkvyau nsxrswde alzkle sd osae-sq-xswvb. Lso vbyv vblu olal osajkdt srldzu, nswze vblu alyzzu plzz ps xydu pywpytlp lhlau eyu?

Zl Ckdtpbwk oypd’v vss osaakle ycswv pyzlp.

Gqvla pvyavkdt vbl qynvsau, Zl Ckdtpbwk eked’v awpb vs byhl rlsrzl xyjl pywpytlp. Rdpvlye, pbl tyvblale vbl vball lxrzsullp yde alqkdle vbl ekhkpksd sq zycsa.

Ye Qingshui also discarded the original method of making cured sausages.

She taught a new set of methods. The original simple dozen steps were upgraded to over thirty steps, with every step meticulously divided. The goal was to ensure a better taste and guaranteed quality.

The product made using this method was called Chenguang Sausage.

Not only were the experienced worker Zhang Hongying, but also Sister Jin and Zhao Xiaoling, completely exhausted by the process.

A week later, “Chenguang” started making sausages and produced three hundred jin (about 330 lbs). Ye Qingshui and Zhang Hongying took a portion to retail outside the university gate.

University students were well-informed and relatively quick to accept new things. Not long after the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee concluded, many small stalls gradually appeared outside the school.

It was nothing to criticize private entrepreneurs for setting up stalls. It was the fact that a distinguished university student was setting up a stall that was new and intriguing.

The sausage stall was set up right outside the gate of Jingda (Peking University). Ye Qingshui’s dorm mates were stunned when they came across the stall.

Even the poor, rural Pan Lijuan took out ten yuan she had saved to buy sausages. Yu Shi and Ren Yingying also gathered around the stall and bought several bags.

“Qingshui, keep going, do your best!” Pan Lijuan said.

If she couldn’t earn living expenses, would Ye Qingshui drop out of school and go back to farming? The more she thought about it, Pan Lijuan was even prepared to take out next month’s living expenses to support her dorm mate.

In Pan Lijuan’s eyes, Ye Qingshui had clearly become a poor female student who would have to go back to the countryside to farm if she couldn’t make money.

Yu Shi looked at Ye Qingshui with some complex emotion.

Ye Qingshui was a little dumbfounded and amused. She waved her hand and pushed the money back, saying cheerfully, “How can I take your money? Take them back and ask the cafeteria to steam them to eat with congee. They’re very tasty.”

“No, we can’t take your things for free. How about this? We don’t have class today, so we’ll help you sell,” Ren Yingying said.

The landlord’s granddaughter, though poor, had some dignity.

Students passing by in small groups recognized Ye Qingshui and greeted her.

In less than half a day, the two hundred jin of sausages were almost sold out.

Students didn’t have much money in their pockets back then, and material life was not rich. They couldn’t afford Peking duck or the lavish meals at high-end restaurants, but they could afford the cured sausages to eat with congee—it was economical and practical.

Zhang Hongying watched in amazement as Pan Lijuan and the other girls gathered around the stall and didn’t leave. They even started hawking for Ye Qingshui.

She secretly asked Ye Qingshui, her tone filled with undisguised astonishment: “Qingshui, how do you know them?”

Pan Lijuan said, “Qingshui is my classmate. Thank you, Sister-in-law, for taking care of her.”

Zhang Hongying was overwhelmed.

Ye Qingshui was actually a student at Jingda?

Why hadn’t she heard this? All she ever heard was people in the compound criticizing Ye Qingshui for being from the countryside, uneducated, inexperienced, and narrow-minded.

If a Jingda student was uneducated, then who was educated?

Zhang Hongying was timid. Her husband was a platoon leader, big or small, in the army. When she set up the stall outside the university, she was timid and reserved. She glanced at Ye Qingshui, who was confidently promoting to customers, negotiating prices briskly and decisively. Ye Qingshui was much more bold than Zhang Hongying.

Zhang Hongying was shocked and couldn’t recover for a long time.

This… was a Jingda student?

Seeing that there wasn’t much left, Ye Qingshui packed up the stall with Zhang Hongying.

Ye Qingshui went back to the factory to get the remaining sausages and went door-to-door to every supply and marketing cooperative in the capital to promote Chenguang’s cured sausages.

How could the sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperatives look favorably upon this local product?

They were aloof and ignored Ye Qingshui’s pitch, not even glancing at her.

Ye Qingshui’s smile did not diminish. She said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “It doesn’t matter if it sells or not, just give me a spot. It won’t cost you any money, right?”

She put down the sausages and left. She left about ten jin of sausages at each supply and marketing cooperative.

Ye Qingshui had been busy with this small factory for over half a month, so tired that her face had thinned out.

Xie Tingyu was extremely distressed. He touched his wife’s face and kissed her forehead.

“Shui’er must be tired. Let me rub your shoulders.”

Ye Qingshui was about to shake her head and say, “I’m not tired.”

But the man’s massage was indeed comfortable. Her whole body felt melted.

As he massaged, Xie Tingyu’s eyes darkened, and after the massage, he pulled his wife into his arms, living the life of paying the “public grain”¹a euphemism for marital intimacy by himself.

Ye Qingshui planned to send sausages to the various supply and marketing cooperatives continuously for a week. Sending sausages to them meant she wouldn’t get paid; it was given away for free.

Mother Ye almost went crazy when she heard this.

She calculated: ten jin per cooperative, ten cooperatives meant one hundred jin. In a week, that was at least seven hundred jin given away for free. When the village gave the Ye family a two-hundred-jin fat pig, Mother Ye was so flattered she dared not accept it.

Her daughter was now directly giving away the equivalent of nearly four large fat pigs for free!

If Mother Ye were more fragile, she might have passed out right then and there. She probably hadn’t eaten one hundred jin of pork in her entire life.

Ye Qingshui patiently explained to Mother Ye: “The situation is different now. We couldn’t do business before; people tried to hide any trade they made. Now, to do business, you have to find every way to let others know what you are selling.”

“If we can make a name for ourselves, we won’t have to worry about making money.”

She did the math for Mother Ye. “Chenguang” produces 300 jin of sausages every day. They retail 200 jin, and the remaining 100 jin is used to expand their reputation at the supply and marketing cooperatives.

The retail price is two yuan per jin. Pork costs eight mao (0.8 yuan) per jin, and the cost to produce the sausages is nine mao. Since the retail sausages are all sold out, even though 100 jin of sausages were given away, the costs are essentially fully covered, and there is still a slight profit.

“So we are not losing money; we are making a little profit. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.”

In the city now, if residents wanted to buy food, the primary choice was the supply and marketing cooperative. Although the cooperative was down-to-earth, it had a wide reach. Ye Qingshui thought about advertising on TV, but her wallet wouldn’t allow it.

Ye Qingshui’s sausages weren’t given away completely free. Each customer received half a jin, and only twenty servings were given out daily, first come, first served.

To get the free half jin of sausage, people had to line up early. Some even started queuing at three or four in the morning. Chinese people are greedy for a bargain. Those who queued for several days but still didn’t get the sausage felt depressed and aggrieved after the event ended, so they ended up paying for a jin to eat.

In later generations, this had a famous name: “hunger marketing.”

As long as one person bought it, the twenty free samples given away earlier were a worthwhile investment. As for the people who received the free sausages? Ye Qingshui was quite confident in the quality of her homemade sausages. Ye Qingshui had done a survey while setting up her stall, and the return rate was at least 30%.

Mother Ye was dizzy from listening. She was originally angry and wanted to knock on her daughter’s head, trying to pour out the “water” she thought was inside.

She was unexpectedly convinced by Ye Qingshui’s unconventional logic.

Ye Qingshui smiled and said, “Mom, I need to prepare for my final exams. Can you please help me look after the sausage factory?”

Mother Ye quickly shook her head. She was fine with looking after the children and tending the vegetable patch, but how could she look after a factory?

Ye Qingshui held Mother Ye’s hand and patiently said, “Mom, it’s very simple. I guarantee you’ll learn it right away.”

Ye Qingshui didn’t doubt her mother’s ability at all. Mother Ye was willing to learn and had a strong drive. Ye Qingshui didn’t want her to be confined to the family, dedicating her entire life to her children.

She raised one child and now had to raise her child’s children. If given a chance, Mother Ye could also do very well.

After Ye Qingshui finalized the accounts, she took Mother Ye to her factory the next day.

Ahem… Although Chenguang was still a traditional food handicraft now, and the conditions were a bit rudimentary, once they earned enough money, Ye Qingshui would consider buying a production line.

However, Mother Ye’s reaction upon seeing this small factory, which supposedly produced 300 jin of sausages daily, was the same as Zhang Hongying’s.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

So, this was the “factory”! This was completely different from what Mother Ye had imagined.

In the 1970s, getting a job as a factory worker was an honor. It meant stable income, never worrying about food and clothing, and getting an apartment allocated in the city after accumulating enough seniority.

Ye Qingshui spent a day guiding Mother Ye through the entire process, and Mother Ye had generally gotten the hang of it.

Ye Qingshui then acted pitiful, saying, “Mom, I really have to prepare for final exams. The Jingda exams are no joke…”

A surge of pride rose in Mother Ye’s chest. She patted her chest and said, “Shui-ya, you go focus on your review.”

“Mom will look after it for you.”

So, Ye Qingshui, who had been busy for almost a month, could finally shift her focus to her studies.

Ye Qingshui had set up the stall outside the school gate for half a month, so everyone in her major knew about her.

Pan Lijuan quickly handed her notes to Ye Qingshui, saying, “Shui’er, hurry up and review. If you fail the exams, you’re done for.”

“Then your in-laws will have an excuse to take you back to the countryside.”

Yu Shi also said, “Hurry, achieve something in the exam! You were the provincial second place last year, don’t let people look down on you.”

Ye Qingshui was confused.

Although she occupied a bed in the dorm, she was a day student and didn’t live at school. Moreover, she had been busy with the sausage factory recently, so she had no idea what had happened.

Ren Yingying told Ye Qingshui, saying subtly, “The fact that you’re setting up a stall and being a private entrepreneur has been noticed by some classmates. They strongly disapprove of what you’re doing, believing it will damage the atmosphere of Jingda.”

“Although we reported your family’s difficulties to the grade director, he also believes that what you are doing is not right.”

Ye Qingshui was a little amused and frustrated. Of course, the grade director wouldn’t agree.

Xie Tingyu had come with her on the day of registration. Since the grade director knew Xie Tingyu was her husband, Ren Yingying’s and the others’ explanation would not be convincing to him.

However, Ye Qingshui felt a warmth in her heart. She said, “I will apologize to the teacher and promise that it won’t affect my studies. After this month, I won’t need to sell sausages outside the school, and I won’t damage the school’s atmosphere anymore.”

Setting up a stall was only a temporary measure.

She had invested so much in the supply and marketing cooperative, giving away seven hundred jin of sausages for free. If Chenguang still had to rely on selling sausages outside the school gate, Ye Qingshui would probably have to kill herself out of shame.

---

Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк　чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)

You can also check out my other translations Here