PFC Chapter 108 Selling Grain (3)
Chapter 108 Selling Grain (3)
108. Selling grain (3)
We need to think of other ways to sell potatoes in large quantities. Even if the price is lower, it's still better than selling them little by little with all this effort.
As Su Jinru walked out of the black market, she reached a corner and felt as if someone was following her.
She stopped, and that person stopped; she walked, and that person walked too. Su Jinru went to where there were many people, and he followed closely behind.
When Su Jinru arrived at the entrance of the department store, there were a lot of people there. She slipped inside and hid in a corner.
After that person came in, he couldn't see Su Jinru and looked around anxiously.
He was a man in his early thirties, well-dressed, very tall, over 1.8 meters, with striking features—a handsome man indeed.
She felt a little more at ease knowing that he didn't look like a bad person.
Why is he following her?
Regardless of what she does, she doesn't want to have any interaction with a stranger.
Su Jinru tried to slip away quickly while there were many people, but found that someone was blocking her way.
She looked up and saw that it was the person who had been following her.
"What do you want to do?"
He smiled slightly at her, revealing his white teeth.
"I want to buy food."
"I have no food."
The other person glanced at the people coming and going, and said in a low voice, "Could we go outside and find somewhere to talk?"
Su Jin turned and left the department store, with the other person following behind her.
She walked to a relatively quiet spot on the street and stopped.
The man approached her, smiling gently.
"Hello, my name is Yuan Wenjie, may I ask your name?" The speaker spoke fluent Mandarin, indicating he was from out of town.
Su Jinru didn't want to tell a stranger her real name, but it seemed a bit impolite for her not to say hers when the other person gave their name.
She thought for a moment, and realized that her mother's surname was Liu, so she just made up a name for herself.
"Hello, my name is Liu Qing."
"Liu Qing, do you have a lot of grain?"
Su Jinru said warily, "I have no grain to sell. You've come to the wrong person."
“I know you have food.”
Su Jinru: "How can you be so sure I have food?"
“I spotted you this morning. You brought five pounds of rice, five pounds of sweet potatoes, and ten pounds of potatoes. Most people would be lucky to sell just one type of grain, but you brought three.”
"Secondly, you're actually selling rice. In the past two years, no rice has been planted in Nanyang County. There was some grain stored up at home before, but after more than two years of famine, there shouldn't be any left. Even if there were, we wouldn't be willing to sell it unless you still have some at home."
"Third, you sold so much grain this morning and then sold another eighty catties of potatoes this afternoon, which means you have a lot of grain on hand, and the potatoes are the most plentiful."
"Fourth, you only need money, not food coupons. Food coupons are created by the state to distribute food equally. You don't need food coupons, which means you won't have to worry about not having food to eat. You can get your food without food coupons."
After listening to the other party's detailed analysis, Su Jinru couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.
She never dared to sell grain on the black market, for fear of being targeted by malicious individuals.
Yuan Wenjie clearly saw through Su Jinru's thoughts.
"Don't be afraid, I mean no harm. I just want to buy some food."
What are you going to do with it? Eat it yourself or resell it?
“I’m from Ning City next door. The disaster situation there hasn’t eased yet, and I want to buy more to sell there.”
"It's over 500 kilometers from here to Ning City. How are you going to transport it?"
“I have a Jiefang brand truck with a load capacity of four to five tons.”
"So, you want four to five tons of grain?"
"Yes! It takes eight hours to drive here from Ning City. If the car isn't fully loaded, we won't even have enough to cover the fuel costs."
"But we can't buy any grain! I've only heard that you've long since escaped famine and have a good harvest, but that's only enough to solve the basic problem of eating. The production team's grain, after handing over the public grain and the surplus grain, is only kept for the team members to eat. Private individuals have no grain, nor any surplus to sell."
"I've been here for half a month and have only bought a little over 100 kilograms of sweet potatoes and potatoes."
Su Jinru thought about it and felt that Yuan Wenjie was not lying, and he had no reason to lie.
"You should have known that coming here wouldn't guarantee you any food. The buying and selling of staple grains is prohibited throughout the country. All grain belongs to the collective, and the collective's grain is handed over to the state. Besides, during famine years, where would you find so much grain to sell?"
"But I heard that the reason you were able to get rid of the famine here is that a production team under a township called Daben bought ten tons of grain. Part of this grain was used as food to solve the production team's hunger problem, and part of it was used as seeds to restore production. The grain produced was then recycled, which is how the hunger problem of the entire Nanyang County was gradually solved."
"So I came here to ask if anyone knew where those ten tons of grain were bought. I also wanted to buy more and take it back. I know it won't be easy to find out, but I still came here hoping to get lucky."
"But I found County Magistrate Zhang, who bought the grain, and he wouldn't reveal a single word. He said it was a one-time transaction, and once the transaction was over, he would cut off all contact."
Su Jinru was pondering whether or not to believe him.
Or, to put it another way, is this person trustworthy?
After all, she was a weak woman. If she took out so much grain at once, and the other party had bad intentions, she would not care about losing a little grain, but she was afraid that she would lose her life.
The other party clearly noticed Su Jinru's worries.
"This is my letter of introduction. I am a worker in a factory in Ning City, a neighboring province. Our factory has stopped operating due to hunger. I want to get some food to take back and earn money, and also to help people, because people will starve to death without food."
Su Jinru looked at the letter of introduction and confirmed the person's true identity.
She had a lot of potatoes that she urgently needed to get rid of, and coincidentally, the other party wanted to buy grain—it was like a perfect opportunity.
What reason did she have to refuse?
Su Jinru: "I don't have that much food right now. I'll try to gather some to see if I can get it."
Yuan Wenjie's eyes lit up.
Are you confident you can get more food?
"Let me give it a try!"
"If I get my hands on five tons of potatoes, how much will you pay me per pound?"
Five tons of potatoes?
The other party was both surprised and delighted.
"The grain you obtained must have a cost price. I don't know what your cost price is, so I can't set a price. How much do you want to sell it for?"
"The grain is being transported to the disaster area to save lives, so even at the wholesale price, potatoes are 50 cents a pound, and no grain coupons are required."
Yuan Wenjie: "If the quality is the same as what you sell on the black market today, the price is very reasonable and acceptable."