Chapter 94: Packing Up and Leaving

At noon, when it was time to get off work, people who had bought vegetables at the Hongqi Supply and Marketing Cooperative were asked all along the way where they had bought the tofu and bean sprouts; those who got the news all ran toward the Hongqi Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

Su Qingyue did not expect that she would be busy until three in the afternoon, and all the soy products were completely sold out!

Very smooth!

Xiang Jianming sat on the tractor and let out a sigh of relief, "Shishui, hurry and go buy some steamed buns for everyone to pad their stomachs." Xiang Shishui smiled and ran to the State-run Restaurant.

Li Zilan and Su Qingwu looked at each other and smiled; this first hurdle had finally been cleared, and all the hard work of these past days was worth it.

After Su Qingyue got off work, Pei Huaiye dragged the bearded man into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, "He says Su Qianqian instigated him to cause trouble!"

Su Qianqian looked at Zhang Dongfeng and Su Qingyue, then looked at the bearded man, and argued loudly: "Nonsense! I don't even know him! Pei Huaiye, even if you are protecting your wife, you can't just frame people randomly, right?!"

"And you! When did I ever instigate you to do bad things?! If you can't explain yourself clearly, I'm going to call the police to handle this!"

The bearded man had already thought of a strategy; his eyes rolled, "I came to buy vegetables with an old lady not long ago, and you kept saying every day that your Supply and Marketing Cooperative would supply tofu soon, but it wasn't supplied at all. I just listened to your words, and that's why I came to question you!"

Su Qianqian was speechless; she had indeed said those words at the time.

Zhang Dongfeng had originally agreed to let Su Qianqian be a Tally Clerk for the sake of Su Qingyue, but now he knew that the two were on bad terms in the village.

Moreover, hearing Jiang Meng say that Su Qianqian was pregnant and often had morning sickness, plus her troublemaking nature, if something were to happen to her pregnancy while she continued working, wouldn't it be blamed on the Supply and Marketing Cooperative?

"Sui Qianqian, come to the office."

Su Qianqian closed the door, feeling anxious, "Director Zhang, Sister Chen Yan has already punished me, and I have apologized in public. I was indeed wrong about this matter. I'm sorry!"

"Alright, Su Qianqian, you haven't worked for two full months, but I will settle your pay for two months, sixteen yuan in total. Take it, pack your things, and leave!"

Su Qianqian asked loudly: "What do you mean? Why won't you let me work here anymore?"

Zhang Dongfeng had never been yelled at like this before, so he frowned and said: "You are pregnant and often vomit, which affects your normal work. The other Tally Clerks also say you don't move any heavy objects at all. We are hiring people to work, not inviting a Bodhisattva to be worshipped!"

Su Qianqian slammed the door with a bang, her face deathly pale after coming out of the office.

Su Qingyue brushed past her to go to the office to receive praise and, incidentally, to settle the payment for the delivery.

"Tofu is twelve cents a jin, bean curd sheets are twenty-eight cents a jin, and bean sprouts are six cents a jin; let's purchase them at these prices." Su Qingyue said after careful consideration.

Zhang Dongfeng knew that hiring a master for training, purchasing machines, and finding people for production and processing all required huge costs, and Su Qingyue was bearing it all herself, so he agreed after thinking for a moment.

"However, you girl, you are clearly our Purchasing Agent, yet you only help your village plot good things."

Zhang Dongfeng joked while counting the money, "If you expand the scale in the future, you are not allowed to raise prices for our Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

He knew that this small Supply and Marketing Cooperative could not trap a little girl like Su Qingyue.

"I guarantee I won't!"

Since the conversation had reached this point, Su Qingyue simply stated her plans, "Director Zhang, I plan to resign after finishing this month."

"Why are you resigning, girl?" Zhang Dongfeng stood up all of a sudden, "I didn't say you weren't allowed to help the village do things. If you do this well, your village benefits and our Supply and Marketing Cooperative also benefits. I am not the kind of person with short-sighted vision!"

Su Qingyue smiled and reassured him: "It's not that, Director. I went to the Hospital yesterday for a check-up and I'm pregnant, just over a month."

"Afterward, I will manage the Processing Factory in the village, which can also stably supply our Supply and Marketing Cooperative. You can hand over the purchasing work to Sister Chen Yan; she is reliable in her work."

Zhang Dongfeng looked reluctant, "Then work until the end of the month. Before you leave, you must teach Chen Yan well about the purchasing business."

Zhang Dongfeng sent Su Qingyue to the entrance of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, where Pei Huaiye and a truckload of people were waiting for her.

Su Qingwu drove on the way back. Pei Huaiye had padded the truck with thick straw and cushions, let Su Qingyue sit down, and wrapped his arms around her.

The village head and the others all looked at the young couple with envy. Su Qingyue, having a thin skin in front of outsiders, couldn't help but blush at her earlobes.

Xiang Jianming asked Su Qingyue with a smile, "Girl, how much money did you settle?"

Li Zilan and the others all looked over with burning eyes. Su Qingyue didn't keep them in suspense, "The purchase price of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative is the same as what we set: tofu is twelve cents a jin, bean curd sheets are twenty-eight cents a jin, and bean sprouts are six cents a jin. We settled a total of ninety-two yuan today."

Everyone was happy at first hearing this number. Li Zilan saw Su Qingyue's uneasy expression and asked: "Is something wrong?"

Pei Huaiye did a rough calculation and asked the person in his arms, "Is it that the bean curd sheets are too much of a loss?"

"Yes! And the loss is very large!"

Xiang Jianming's expression tightened, "What's going on?"

Su Qingyue carefully calculated the accounts for everyone, "Six hundred jin of tofu sold for seventy-two yuan at twelve cents, minus the cost of forty yuan for two hundred jin of soybeans, the profit is about thirty-two yuan."

"Bean sprouts are the most profitable; three hundred jin of bean sprouts only need thirty jin of soybeans, and the profit is twelve yuan."

"Calculating these two, we can earn one thousand three hundred and twenty yuan a month."

"But the yield of bean curd sheets is too low; one jin of soybeans can only produce two taels of bean curd sheets. Selling one hundred jin of bean curd sheets to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative at twenty-eight cents, our profit is negative; we are subsidizing seventy-two yuan."

Su Qingyue blamed herself: "This is my fault for not calculating the accounts in advance. But I saw that the bean curd sheets were all sold out today. Next, we'll look at the market feedback. If we want to make bean curd sheets, we either raise the price or change the packaging method."

Xiang Jianming spoke up, "How is this your fault? This is something everyone is doing together. Since the bean curd sheets are losing money, let's stop supplying them for now. Let's supply the tofu and bean sprouts first, and take it one step at a time."

"Right, bean sprouts are easy to make and have high profits. After returning to the village, just like last time, we will teach the villagers how to make bean sprouts and accept them uniformly at the price of three cents."

"Is three cents too high?"

"Our village's grain production is not high. What will we do when everyone runs out of soybeans?"

Su Qingyue explained one by one, "Only at three cents will the villagers have profit margins. When the villagers run out of soybeans, they can get them from the Production Team. Ten jin of soybeans cost two yuan and can produce one hundred jin of bean sprouts. If we collect them at three cents, they can earn one yuan. We still have a profit margin of three cents when supplying to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

Xiang Jianming thought about the content of the notice in his mind, "Notify the villagers to hold a meeting tomorrow morning to make this clear."

Su Qingyue nodded, "We will still make the tofu ourselves so we can strictly control the quality. After the finished products like fermented soybeans and bean paste come out, we will calculate the accounts first, and if there is profit margin, we will make further arrangements."

After discussing, everyone had no objections.

Su Qingyue was still calculating in her heart that she had to prepare for opening the factory as soon as possible. She communicated with Captain Xiang about the procedures and processes.

Pei Huaiye listened quietly, silently thinking about what he could do for his wife.

"By the way, Qingxi is about to start school. We need to send the two children to school."

Xiang Jianming's two grandsons were also six or seven years old, so he asked busily: "What is the process for going to school in the city? Our children should also be studying."

"Then let them go to the preparatory class with Zhuangzhuang. The tuition is eight yuan per semester, three yuan higher than the Qingshan Team," Pei Huaiye replied.