Chapter 33: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 33: Shanggou Village 33

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"How much money can you come up with?"

Niu Chunsheng asked with an expectant look on his face.

Li Xiulan thought for a moment:

"I estimate I can at most come up with eight hundred yuan. I have three children to raise, and I still owe you those two hundred yuan that haven't been paid back. Any more and I simply can't come up with it."

Niu Chunsheng laughed heartily:

"Eight hundred yuan is enough. You put in eight hundred, I put in twenty-two hundred. First we take over the shop, then stock some goods, and hurry to get the business going. When the time comes, we split the earnings fifty-fifty. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Li Xiulan felt a bit embarrassed:

"Aren't you just letting me take advantage? I only put in eight hundred but get half the share. How can that be right?"

Niu Chunsheng, however, laughed:

"If you don't take advantage, then when it comes to stocking and selling goods, we'll both be working hard together. Giving you half the profit is so you won't quit halfway!"

Li Xiulan said:

"As long as we can earn money, what's a little hardship and tiredness? I can bear it all!"

"Then it's settled. I'll go find Village Secretary Liang right now to talk about it, and take over the supply and marketing cooperative as soon as possible, so no one else snatches it away!"

Niu Chunsheng turned around and ran off in a puff of smoke.

Li Xiulan watched his excited, bouncing figure as he ran off, infected by his simplicity and drive, and a gentle smile couldn't help but appear on her face.

"Village Secretary Liang, I plan to contract that supply and marketing cooperative shop!"

Niu Chunsheng came to the Village Committee Office and told Liang Yuanchao about the contracting matter.

"Chunsheng, what do you plan to do with the contract?"

Liang Yuanchao asked with a puzzled look.

"Open a convenience store, of course! Our Shanggou Village is so big, with over a hundred households. We can't possibly not have a convenience store! Everything has to be bought in town. How inconvenient is that!"

Niu Chunsheng answered with a laugh.

"The supply and marketing cooperative has already gone bankrupt. A convenience store might not be able to stay in business. You need to think this through clearly."

Liang Yuanchao's expression was serious as he kindly reminded him.

Niu Chunsheng was one of the Village Committee's own people, which was why he said so much.

If it were an outsider coming to rent, he would definitely immediately put on a warmly welcoming expression.

"I've thought it through clearly. As long as ten percent of the people in the village come to buy things from me, I'm sure to make a profit without losing! When the time comes, if I make money, I plan to buy a refrigerator so the village children can all eat popsicles in the summer. Village Secretary Liang, you didn't see it—the other day, the old man selling popsicles rode his bicycle into the village, and that group of village children were so excited they swarmed him like a nest of bees!"

Liang Yuanchao laughed and said, "Heh heh." How could he not know? It was just that the previous supply and marketing cooperative's equipment was outdated, and it never made much money, so they never bought a refrigerator.

Whether adults or children wanted something cold to eat, they either had to go to town or wait for the popsicle-selling old man to come to the village.

"Since you've decided to contract it, I'll give you a good price. One thousand yuan a year for the contracting fee. Once signed, it must be a ten-year contract, with the fee paid once a year. Can you accept that?"

Niu Chunsheng thought about it. One thousand yuan a year was less than a hundred yuan a month. This contracting fee wasn't expensive at all. He felt he should be able to easily earn back the contracting fee.

So he said:

"No problem! I can absolutely accept it!"

And so, Niu Chunsheng contracted the original supply and marketing cooperative at the village entrance.

Over the next few days, he and Li Xiulan cleaned up the supply and marketing cooperative together. There were still some usable shelves inside. After tidying them up and hanging a new convenience store sign, they could stock goods and start doing business.

That day, Li Xiulan left her three children at home and rode on Niu Chunsheng's motorcycle to town with him to stock up on goods.

Because they didn't quite understand the ins and outs, they searched more than ten places before finally finding the wholesale shop.

For their first restocking, most of what they bought were snacks.

Because there were many children in the village, if they stocked snacks, they were sure to sell them.

Sunflower seeds, dried bayberries, preserved plums, instant noodles, spicy strips, candy, and so on. They bought a lot.

For things like dried bayberries and preserved plums, they took them in big bags when restocking. After taking them back, they divided them into small bags to sell individually. Each small bag sold for one mao, and the gross profit margin could reach sixty or seventy percent.

The gross profit margin for sunflower seeds wasn't low either. They took a whole big snake skin bag directly from the wholesale shop. After taking it back, they sold them for one mao per small cup. The children loved them very much. Selling them slowly, they wouldn't spoil easily, and the profit was definitely not low.

After restocking and returning, the two placed the goods on the shelves, but they didn't open for business immediately.

Niu Chunsheng said that the opening day had to be carefully considered. They had to choose an auspicious day.

So the two looked through the calendar and chose to open for business three days later.

During those three days, what they had to do was promote their convenience store.

Li Xiulan was responsible for hawking in their own village, going door to door to inform everyone.

Niu Chunsheng, on the other hand, rode his motorcycle to hawk in several nearby villages.

He let the villagers in nearby villages know that although Shanggou Village's supply and marketing cooperative had gone bankrupt, a new convenience store had just opened. Everyone could come to the convenience store to buy things instead of running to town!

And on the opening day, anyone who spent more than one yuan would get a free piece of bubble gum!

In the blink of an eye, three days passed!

That morning, the Village Entrance Convenience Store jointly run by Niu Chunsheng and Li Xiulan finally officially opened for business!

Not a few people came to gawk early in the morning!

Both adults and children!

Extremely lively!

Just like the Spring Festival!

Li Xiulan and Niu Chunsheng were busy beyond measure!

Their faces were filled with joy!

After a full day, Li Xiulan and Niu Chunsheng were both nearly exhausted to the point of collapse.

By the time night fell.

There were fewer customers in the store, and it was almost closing time.

Li Xiulan and Niu Chunsheng tallied up today's revenue together.

Inside a large wooden box, more than half a box of loose change was packed.

The majority were one or two mao coins, because the customers who came to patronize were mostly children.

After finishing tallying today's revenue, Niu Chunsheng was overjoyed.

"Sister Xiulan, we sold one hundred twenty-three yuan six mao today, this revenue is not bad. From now on, as long as we can stably have half of today's turnover, we'll definitely make a steady profit without loss. I said opening this store had potential!"

Niu Chunsheng was full of vigor; he felt the distance to getting rich was not far.

"The Village Secretary said we need to go apply for a business license and a tobacco license, otherwise people from the Town might come make things difficult for us. These few days I'll find time to go handle it. Once we get the business license and tobacco license, we can sell more things, especially cigarettes. As long as we can sell them, we'll absolutely make money!"

"You just go handle the licenses with peace of mind, I'll watch the store just fine!"

Li Xiulan's face beamed with smiles.

She felt her life was starting to have something to look forward to.

Opening a store to earn money was much easier than raising silkworms and farming rice! And it wasn't even that hard!

That night, Li Xiulan dragged her exhausted body home.

After making dinner for the children, serving them until they finished eating and went to bed to sleep.

She lay on the bed, eyes wide open, staring at the roof covered in spiderwebs.

Although very tired, she didn't sleep all night.

She was too happy, too excited.

To the point that she simply couldn't fall asleep.

At this moment she suddenly realized, perhaps life wasn't as difficult as she had imagined, only that she had previously never been willing to step out of her originally preset circle.

Now she only needed to make a slight change, and her life seemed to have suddenly become much broader.

From the bottom of her heart she thanked Niu Chunsheng. If it weren't for Niu Chunsheng bringing her along to open a convenience store, she estimated she would still be struggling in that formerly stifling, bleak life.

Niu Chunsheng was like a beam of light, shining into her life, finding a way out for her life.