Chapter 145: The Troubles of Having No Money

Recovering his senses, Gu Changfu thought it over and nodded in agreement.

Anyway, that was what he had originally planned anyway. At worst, he could help old Li with the farm work more often in the future, and whenever Gu Nan came over, he could just have her tend to the stove and wash the vegetables.

Once Gu Changfu nodded, the dejected look on Li Xihua's face gained a bit more vigor.

She turned to Fang shi and said, "Mother, then could you make a bit more food every time you cook from now on? Don't worry, I'll help you out as your assistant."

Since Li Zhirong and Fang shi shared the exact same thought, neither of them gave Li Xihua's words any deeper meaning.

Tang Xin, however, gave Li Xihua a strange look. How come she had never known her eldest sister-in-law to be so hospitable and so smoothly courteous?

Why did Tang Xin always feel like there was something fishy going on, except she hadn't yet found the key to unlock it?

Tang Xin wanted to build up her resources for a period of time until she felt confident enough before taking her husband back to her maiden home in the provincial capital.

This accumulation naturally meant saving money and figuring out ways to make money. In any era, financial resources were extremely important.

Would a poor person's biggest worry ever not be a lack of money?

As for the rich—would the rich even have worries?

Tang Xin declared that if someone were to hand her endless mountains of gold and silver right now, she could lead her entire family, and even the whole production team, to a prosperous life.

She would never think that the smell of copper was anything bad. Hmph, she was just that materialistic and vulgar!

Therefore, Tang Xin prepared to head to the county town once again. The last time she went, all the fruit she brought had been sold off.

Tang Xin discovered that the workers in the county town were quite well-off, and they were generous spenders; items like apples were considered rare commodities that fell far short of demand.

So this time, she planned to do something big. She directly picked a hundred pounds of apples from the Happy Farm, packing them into the burlap sack she had brought from the old Li family.

Initially, Li Sheng was prepared to go to the county town with his wife, but Tang Xin felt that would be rather inconvenient.

A catty or two would be fine, but how could she explain to her own husband the origin of a hundred pounds of apples?

Fortunately, the team leader had some matters to discuss with Li Sheng regarding the transport team. They were preparing to roll out various task assignments, with each person taking full responsibility for their respective tasks from start to finish. The transport team leadership would only need to inspect the final results at the end to see the outcome.

Come to think of it, this proposal had actually been put forward by Li Sheng. After studying it, the team leader and the transport team management felt it was excellent. It would definitely boost the sense of responsibility and enthusiasm among the transport team employees.

Consequently, the preliminary plan was to proceed in this manner, but a specific charter needed to be drafted regarding how to implement it concretely.

Ever since before the New Year up until now, the team leader had been keeping this matter on his mind, intending to take advantage of Li Sheng's presence at home recently to thoroughly finalize it.

Thus, just a few days after returning home and before he had even rested enough, Li Sheng was roped in to serve as manual labor once more.

Of course, the idea hadn't originally been Li Sheng's; rather, Tang Xin had turned the concept of the responsibility system over in her mind and then carefully chosen her words to tell her husband.

Having arrived in this world, that Happy Farm was already an overpowered golden finger. Tang Xin didn't want to show off too many things that would only appear another ten or twenty years down the line and draw too much attention to herself.

However, throwing out a few ideas to help others make progress was entirely acceptable.

Take the current Li family, for instance. Any future rise to prominence would certainly rely on the two brothers, Li Sheng and Li Kai. Therefore, Tang Xin would quietly teach them certain things—

Business philosophies from the 21st century. Even if those pieces of knowledge became commonplace twenty years later and could be found everywhere with a single search on the internet,

they were still crucial in the 1970s. Mastering more knowledge than others would make achieving success much easier.

As it happened, they now had a bicycle, and Li Sheng had witnessed with his own eyes that his wife rode exceptionally well and steadily.

However, before leaving for work, Li Sheng repeatedly exhorted his wife, telling her to be careful when going out alone, not to play around too late, and to return early.

Some words were repeated over and over again like the rolling wheels of a cart.

It left Tang Xin unable to laugh or cry. Sometimes she thought Brother Li Sheng was reticent and disliked talking, yet why did she sometimes feel he was far too nagging?

Having gained experience from last time, Tang Xin's trip out this time went extremely smoothly.

The apples Tang Xin picked this time were all great in appearance—large and completely ruby-red. At this time of year, those were rare treasures indeed.

Those who were well-off and had large families were extremely generous, basically buying five or ten catties per person.

Such fine apples couldn't be found even in the supply and marketing cooperative's department store, and apples could keep for a few days after being bought, not spoiling for a good while.

Therefore, upon arriving in the county town, Tang Xin first disguised herself, and then brought out the apples in batches to barter with people.

Yes, at this time, even in the black market, one could not call it selling; it was exchanging goods.

No wonder they said this era belonged to the workers. Tang Xin had initially feared that her asking price might scare customers away, but within an hour, the hundred pounds of apples she had prepared were completely cleared out.

In return, she got over thirty yuan and various ration tickets, making Tang Xin reluctant to return so soon. She simply found a restaurant at noon and had a hearty meal.

Re-entering the dimensional space to harvest another hundred pounds of apples from the Happy Farm, she quickly bartered them away with people again by the afternoon.

Thus, Tang Xin confirmed that this kind of trade was entirely feasible. She only needed to be a bit careful each time to disguise herself well, avoid greediness, and master the art of guerrilla warfare.

She couldn't visit too often; coming once every interval of time was enough. Moreover, the varieties of fruit should be changed frequently.

Adding to that the conclusions Tang Xin had drawn from carefully observing the county town throughout the day, diesel, rice, flour, and grain were likely also things the worker brothers and sisters in the city desperately needed.

They had money and tickets in their hands, but the goods at the supply and marketing cooperative were rationed every month, which could only fool one's stomach for a short while.

If they wanted to eat their fill and eat well, they had to find alternative ways.

Wasn't this just perfect? They had money in their hands, and Tang Xin could provide the goods. An equivalent exchange that benefited both others and oneself—such a service-to-the-people approach deserved to be strongly promoted.

Furthermore, Tang Xin also intended to bring Li Kai along, which would be a great way to train him.

Aside from the items in her spatial dimension, Brother Li Sheng could also provide some conveniences from his side.

The places he drove his truck to sometimes had local specialties that might be worthless locally, but once brought over here, they would all become hot commodities.

With Li Sheng back from his long-distance trip, Tang Xin was naturally overjoyed. After all, newlywed couples wished they could stick together every single day; how could she bear the separation of living in two places?

Yet, the very nature of Li Sheng's work dictated that the two of them could not be side by side day and night.

He had mentioned going to the provincial capital before. Even if Tang Xin couldn't accompany him back to her maiden home just yet, Li Sheng's trip to the provincial capital was inevitable.

This time, however, he wasn't driving a truck; he was simply going to the provincial capital on official business and would be back in a few days.

Naturally, that was somewhat better, so the young couple's sorrow of parting at least wasn't as severe as the last time.

With the bicycle, going out became much more convenient. Full of enthusiasm, Tang Xin insisted on riding to send her husband off to the commune.

He would ride and carry her on the way there, and Tang Xin could easily ride the bicycle back by herself on the return trip.