https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-186-How-Could-Jiang-Xia-Be-So-Stupid-/12935388/
Chapter 185: A Briefcase Full of Money
Chapter 185: A Briefcase Full of Money
Zhou Guohua carried two bags of fish fry to the station office, asking the conductors if they wanted to buy some. He had over a hundred pounds left.
One conductor, in a hurry to buy gifts, recognized Zhou Guohua as the person who had just delivered fish fry for Jiang Xia. She asked, "Do you have more? I'll take fifteen pounds."
"Are these the same fish fry as Comrade Xia's?" Zhou Guohua asked, wanting to confirm.
...
Zhou Guohua replied with delight, "Yes, they're the same! Just like Jiang Xia's! You wanted to buy over a hundred pounds, right? I have one hundred and fifteen pounds here. I'll give you a better deal, and you can share them. I didn't have separate packaging, so I packed them together."
What? They wanted to buy them to share?
How would they divide them? And how could they do it while on duty?
Zhou Guohua opened the bags, inviting them to take a look and smell the fish fry. "See, my fish fry smells delicious! It's perfect as a side dish for drinking, and even kids can eat it. You can try it; it's really tasty! I can offer you a better price."
One conductor, noticing the varying sizes and types of fish fry, was not impressed. The presentation didn't match the quality of Jiang Xia's fry! And they didn't seem as tasty as Jiang Xia's.
She walked away without hesitation.
Another conductor couldn't resist trying one, but her face scrunched up in disappointment after taking a bite. The taste was far inferior to Comrade Xia's.
Perhaps she had chosen a larger one, and it wasn't cooked enough, leaving fish bones that pricked her mouth and couldn't be chewed. How could kids eat this? What if they choked on a bone? She, too, walked away.
A conductor, noticing that the fish fry weren't individually packaged and the large plastic bag was slightly worn with one corner turning yellow, asked, "Where did you get this plastic bag?"
"It's a bag from the convenience store that used to hold peanut cookies. I washed it thoroughly, so it's clean, don't worry," Zhou Guohua explained. The snake-skin bag wasn't sealed, so he had specifically gone to the village store to get a few of these plastic bags, paying one cent each.
The conductor was speechless.
"Never mind, I've bought enough already!"
"I've bought enough, too."
Everyone declined, one after another.
They were there to buy gifts, not just for one person, and without individual packaging, how could they distribute them?
Moreover, using bags previously used for other food items, if not cleaned properly, could result in cross-contamination of flavors.
In the countryside, people might not be as particular, but city dwellers, especially those with higher incomes, tended to be more discerning about their food.
Hearing their refusals, Zhou Guohua grew anxious. "I can offer a better price, two cents less per pound than Jiang Xia's."
Everyone shook their heads and politely asked him to find other buyers.
Zhou Guohua had no choice but to carry the fish fry back to the tractor and head to the pier to find a hawker to sell them.
He had miscalculated! He hadn't anticipated that Jiang Xia would individually package the fish fry.
Indeed, individual packaging made it more convenient for both selling and gift-giving. With the fish fry neatly packed, they could even be displayed on the street near the station, and people would likely buy them due to their portability.
But where did Jiang Xia get those bags?
Meanwhile, Jiang Xia went to the post office alone to mail a letter to Jiang Dong. After that, she visited the publishing house to submit a translated manuscript and five magazines, collecting a translation fee of four hundred yuan. She also picked up an order for one hundred and twenty pounds of three-flavored fish fry and two hundred pounds of King Mackerel, Red Spruce Fish, or Barramundi, delivered every half month.
She then took five science magazines and two French books and hurried to the department store.
Upon arriving at the mall, Jiang Xia didn't immediately look for Tian Caihua and Zhou Li.
She went to the jewelry store to sell her pearls first, not wanting Zhou Li to know about it.
At the jewelry store, the clerk recognized Jiang Xia and enthusiastically escorted her to the manager's office.
Zhang Rong, seeing Jiang Xia, smiled and said, "I was just thinking of asking Arie to deliver the remaining money for the pearls to you tomorrow. What a coincidence that you're here."
Jiang Xia smiled back, "Is Third Brother on vacation?"
"Yes, he arrived this morning and is resting at home. He said he'll visit you and your husband tomorrow."
Zhang Rong walked to the safe under the desk to retrieve the money for Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia added, "Alei is out on a long fishing trip and might not be back until the Mid-Autumn Festival."
"What a coincidence? Don't worry, Arie has half a month's leave and won't be returning until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. That guy is avoiding an arranged blind date at home and won't even go back for the festival. He said he's staying here to spend it with me."
Zhang Rong took out a briefcase and opened it in front of Jiang Xia, revealing stacks of large denomination bills, filling the briefcase to the brim. Jiang Xia's eyes widened in surprise, "Is there this much?"
There must be several tens of thousands, or even more?
Zhang Rong explained, "I had someone take these abroad for auction, and I managed to earn some foreign exchange for the country. Those are developed countries with better economies than ours, and there are many wealthy people. Your camellia-patterned pearls attracted bidding wars among many rich businessmen. In the end, a famous fashion brand owner purchased the pearls with the shell for fifty thousand dollars. As for the fawn-patterned pearl, an overseas Chinese buyer acquired it for sixty thousand dollars right off the bat. The commissions and taxes are quite high, amounting to sixty percent of the total. Otherwise, you would have earned even more."
"Although the commissions and taxes are high, there's no way we could get such a high price domestically. The exchange rate has been relatively low these past two years. If it were a couple of years ago, we could have made much more money, but we didn't dare sell them back then."
Jiang Xia's heart skipped a beat, "So, how much money is in this bag?"
"After taxes, there's $10,399.80. Including the prices of the other pearls, those sold for $2,000 each in Hong Kong."
After speaking, Zhang Rong glanced at Jiang Xia and noticed her calm demeanor despite hearing about such a large sum. He couldn't help but admire her silently.
Jiang Xia was far from calm; she was overjoyed but hid it well!
She took out the pearls she had harvested the day before, "Second Brother, take a look at these pearls. What do you think?"
Zhang Rong was surprised, "Little Sister, your luck is incredible!"
Jiang Xia smiled, "Could you help me estimate how much these pearls are worth?"
Zhang Rong put on gloves and examined each pearl carefully, finally selecting four Pearl Kings.
"I'll have these four sent abroad to earn foreign exchange, but it might take some time as the person just returned. As for these five, I'll give you the same price as last time—one thousand each. And I'll take the rest for five hundred."
"Agreed!" Jiang Xia beamed.
It was already five o'clock, and Jiang Xia suggested it was time to leave.
"Are you taking the bus back? I'll have Zhang Rui drive you. It's not safe for you to carry so much money alone." Zhang Rong was concerned about her safety on the bus.
Jiang Xia politely declined, "Thank you, Second Brother, but it's no trouble. I came here on the village tractor with my sister-in-law and an aunt from the village. We agreed to meet at the mall entrance at 5:30. I can go back on my own."
"Alright, be careful on the way."
Jiang Xia bid farewell with a smile and left the mall with the briefcase, heading straight for the nearby bank.
She needed to deposit the money while the bank was still open, and she didn't feel safe carrying it back to the village.
When Jiang Xia arrived at the bank and took out the money from the briefcase, the teller immediately smiled and said, "Comrade, you are one of our city's millionaires. We need to register you, and you'll be able to attend the City Millionaire Award Ceremony, and there might even be prizes."
Jiang Xia smiled, "No need, my family has already registered."
"Oh, congratulations!" The bank teller quickly helped Jiang Xia deposit the money.
Jiang Xia also had the money from selling the fish fry and her translation work, so she deposited a round figure of 110,000.
This left her with just over a hundred dollars in cash.
Jiang Xia decided to wait for Zhou Chenglei's return to discuss how to use this 110,000.
Should she buy a house in the city, pay the deposit for the ship, or import a set of pearl oyster cultivation equipment?
Jiang Xia wanted to do all of the above, but no matter which option she chose, 110,000 seemed insufficient, especially for the last two. It was like a drop in the ocean! Only buying a house seemed feasible with this amount.
Jiang Xia quickly calmed herself and returned to the mall entrance.
By this time, Zhou Li and a sullen Tea Caihua were already waiting there.
Zhou Wen Zu was also visibly upset.
Why bother shopping if he wasn't going to buy anything? Tea Caihua saw how late Jiang Xia was and scowled, "Why are you so late?"
She was still waiting to sell the pearls!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
