https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-389-Aren-t-you-interested-in-money-/12965981/
Chapter 388: Aren't you interested in money?
Chapter 388: Aren't you interested in money?
Over the next few days, the weather was excellent, with gentle breezes and clear skies. Zhou Chenglei went out to sea early every morning and returned late at night.
He set out before the sun rose and returned after it had set. In the evening, Zhou Mu went to the dock to receive the goods, while Jiang Xia cooked in the kitchen, and Zhou Zhou helped with the fire. Before entering the kitchen, it was still light outside, but when she turned to look out, the sky had already darkened.
Neither Zhou Chenglei nor Zhou Mu had returned home yet.
Each day, they left earlier and returned later.
They said they were going to more distant waters, where there were more premium goods.
It was almost 7 pm when Zhou Chenglei finally returned on his motorcycle.
Jiang Xia went to meet him and took the plastic bag: "Why are you so late?"
Zhou Chenglei didn't give it to her: "It's a bit heavy."
Jiang Xia asked, "What is it?"
"Some seashells and sea cucumbers. I dove to the seabed today and picked some sea cucumbers and seashells. It took a while to pick the sea cucumbers, so I'm late." Zhou Chenglei got off his motorcycle and put the bag of sea cucumbers aside, planning to process them after dinner.
Processing sea cucumbers was a bit troublesome.
At this moment, Tian Caixia also returned, pushing a cart with two plastic bags, one large and one small.
Jiang Xia looked at the two plastic bags on the cart.
"Are they all sea cucumbers?"
Tian Caixia smiled and said, "Yes, they're all sea cucumbers! All spiky sea cucumbers! Today, Alei went diving and found a sea cucumber nest. We've hit the jackpot!"
"I've already sold one bag. These are for us to dry and keep at home. Alei always keeps the biggest and best ones."
At this point, Tian Caixia couldn't help but want to pry open Zhou Chenglei's skull to see if water had gotten in!
If it were her, she would definitely sell the best ones and keep only the smaller, uglier ones for the family.
That's what everyone in the village did—sell the good ones to make money and keep the inferior ones for themselves! But Zhou Chenglei was different; he brought home the best ones.
She just couldn't understand it! Tian Caixia couldn't help but complain to Jiang Xia, "I'm so impressed by your man! Please advise him not to waste like this! Once these are cooked, they'll all turn into the same poop in our stomachs. Why not sell the better-looking ones and make more money? Anyway, no matter the size or appearance, they'll all look the same and have the same effect once they're in our stomachs! Aren't you interested in money?"
Jiang Xia: "..."
Tian Caixia continued, "I also kept half a bag, but they're the ugliest ones. The kind that won't sell or won't fetch a good price. The bag Alei kept is large and good-looking, and the price can be doubled. It's worth at least nine hundred and ninety-nine yuan, if not a thousand! With that money, we could buy a stall! Seriously, even if they're a bit ugly, they're still edible! They'll still make you gain weight, and you still have to chew them, right? It's like a man marrying a wife; in the dark, they're all the same..."
Jiang Xia: "..."
As Tian Caixia kept talking non-stop, Jiang Xia changed the subject, "Big Sister, are you going out to sea tomorrow?"
"Isn't Alei going out to sea tomorrow?" Tian Caixia asked.
"He's going out in the morning for half a day, but not in the afternoon because the sofa will be delivered then."
"The sofa is coming tomorrow? Then we'll only go out for half a day too."
"That's fine. Tomorrow morning, Great-Grandmother's convenience store is opening, and I plan to go and see. I also wanted to ask if you'd like to come."
Tian Caixia: "It's not our store opening; why would I go? I'm not going. I'll go out to sea!"
"Then, Big Sister, you should go home and eat early. We'll be going out to sea tomorrow."
"Okay, then I'll head back! I still need to process and dry the sea cucumbers tonight." Tian Caixia left in a hurry after saying this.
For dinner, Zhou Wenguang and Zhou Wenong had already prepared the meal at home. The two brothers were skilled in many household chores.
Sometimes, when Jiang Xia's parents returned late from fishing, they would prepare the meal beforehand.
Jiang Xia and the others had also finished their meal and proceeded to process the sea cucumbers. After removing the innards and sand, they thoroughly rinsed the sea cucumbers with fresh water.
The process of drying the sea cucumbers was tedious. Zhou Mu would typically repeat the process of boiling and washing them two to three times to remove the moisture, followed by a single round of salting to further dehydrate them. After the salt drew out the moisture, the sea cucumbers needed to be desalinated before they could be sun-dried.
It took over ten days of sun-drying, and if the sea cucumbers released salt during this process, they would be boiled and washed again before continuing to dry.
In any case, it was a very complicated process, and because sea cucumbers contained a lot of moisture, it took around ten pounds of sea cucumbers to yield only about four liang of dried sea cucumbers. As a result, dried sea cucumbers were significantly more expensive than fresh ones.
After completing the first step, Jiang Xia went to take a shower and sleep, unaware of how late Zhou Mu and Zhou Chenglei had worked.
The next morning, Zhou Chenglei had already gone out to sea. After Jiang Xia finished breakfast, she went to the town's central primary school with He Xinghuan and Great-Grandmother to help out.
Jiang Xia rode her motorcycle, taking the two of them along.
Great-Grandfather had been worried the night before and slept at the convenience store.
When they arrived, there were no classes in session.
The convenience store was packed with students inside and out.
These children had heard that the convenience store at school was opening that day, so they specifically asked their parents for pocket money to buy snacks.
Great-Grandfather was extremely busy, both making change and keeping an eye out for any kids who might try to steal.
The three of them quickly went to help.
With the addition of the three, Great-Grandfather finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He was truly flustered, as he had never worked before.
The four of them worked non-stop for over ten minutes, and it was almost time for the first class to start before they finished.
As the bell rang, the last student rushed back to the classroom with the pig lard candy he had purchased.
The convenience store was now completely empty.
Great-Grandmother excitedly asked, "Quickly, let's count how much money we made!"
Great-Grandfather handed her the basket, saying, "You count it! I need a drink of water!"
Although they had only worked for about twenty minutes that morning, Great-Grandfather was so busy that he broke into a sweat.
He was extremely nervous.
Great-Grandmother took the basket of money with a smile and began counting the bills one by one.
Jiang Xia sat down next to Great-Grandmother to help count the money.
He Xinghuan, on the other hand, helped to straighten out the goods that the children had messed up, taking inventory to see if anything was missing.
She knew how many items had been taken from the shelves, and as they counted together, the money in the basket was tallied in no time.
Jiang Xia added up the money counted by Great-Grandmother and herself, totaling seven yuan, fifty-seven cents.
Great-Grandfather had prepared two yuan in change for the morning.
This meant they had sold goods worth five yuan, fifty-seven cents.
The cost of the sold goods was less than half of the total, and after calculating, Jiang Xia smiled and said, "We probably made around three yuan, fifty cents."
He Xinghuan also finished taking inventory. She asked Jiang Xia, "Xiao Xia, help me calculate if the money matches the sales."
"Sure!" Jiang Xia agreed.
He Xinghuan listed the quantities sold and retail prices, and Jiang Xia calculated the total for her.
In the end, they found that the money was short by twenty-three cents.
Great-Grandfather lamented, "I was watching very closely, but I still missed some."
At that moment, he wished he had ten pairs of eyes; even ten pairs didn't seem enough. He wished his entire body was covered in eyes.
Great-Grandmother chuckled and said, "Twenty-three cents? That's not a significant discrepancy. It's possible to make a mistake when giving change! It proves that most of the children are well-behaved."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
