The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 96 - 94: Messing Around with Second Cousin

Chapter 96: Chapter 94: Messing Around with Second Cousin

The next day, after starting work, Lu Jingqiu discussed her situation with the office.

Deputy Editor Yang’s suggestion was that she should finish the project she was working on.

If she couldn’t finish the drawings, she could do them at home.

Lu Jingqiu agreed, and Luo Xinyue, hearing that Jingqiu would not be coming to work the day after tomorrow, felt quite downhearted.

"We will have fewer chances to meet in the future, I really don’t want to part with you."

"What’s there to be downhearted about? We’re in the same city. If we want to meet, we can just make plans for Sundays. I’ve already arranged with Zhang Miao, whenever we have time, we’ll get together."

"Do you have a phone at home? Leave me your number so I can contact you when the time comes."

Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "Right now, installing a telephone costs thousands." With that money, she could buy a house; her father’s work unit didn’t even have a policy for installing telephones for leadership in their homes, and if they did, it would be free.

Luo Xinyue’s family had one installed, but in reality, there weren’t many calls to be made, mostly between her father and his work, because at that time, many people didn’t have telephones at home, and even if they wanted to call, they didn’t know who to call.

Lu Jingqiu said, "Tomorrow I’ll treat you to something delicious."

Because she had things to do today, Lu Jingqiu, after getting off work at five, quickly rode her bicycle to meet her second cousin outside Fish Tail Alley.

"Qiuqiu, over here." Yang Mingchao appeared to have been waiting for a while and was holding a nearly finished popsicle.

"Second cousin, let’s go."

"Let’s go, I’ve scoped it out, there aren’t any inspectors around now."

Lu Jingqiu had intentionally spoken to her second cousin that way yesterday; she knew that things were going to open up soon, and in the future, such dealings would become common. But if that young guy had a lot of goods, making a profit on the price difference could still bring in some money.

Lu Jingqiu took her second cousin to the Black Market and saw the young fellow in the corner at the bend.

She approached with a friendly smile and greeted him, "Hello, young fellow."

Xue Jianian knew the Lu family had money but didn’t expect them to come every day. He nodded to her faintly, "What do you want today?"

With a smile, Lu Jingqiu warmed up and said, "I’m not here to buy things today, I want to do business with you... This is my cousin. Do you deal in bulk here?"

Xue Jianian raised an eyebrow, took a moment to assess the two of them, and then said, "I have goods. How much do you want?"

As soon as Yang Mingchao heard there was a chance, he hastily asked, "What have you got?"

Xue Jianian looked around and said, "This isn’t the place to talk, let’s go somewhere else." He then got up and began packing his things.

Lu Jingqiu also felt it was necessary. Yang Mingchao quickly helped Xue Jianian carry a bamboo basket, and the three of them walked out.

After leaving Fish Tail Alley for quite some time, and carefully checking the surroundings to see if they were being followed, Xue Jianian finally spoke, "I don’t have much coarse grain. I have plenty of refined rice and white flour, a variety of beans, poultry, fish and shrimps, seafood."

Yang Mingchao hadn’t expected such a wide range and asked, "What are the prices for all these?"

"Rice is sixty-seven cents a pound, flour is thirty cents a pound, millet is more expensive, at ninety-eight cents a pound, pork is one dollar and twenty cents a pound, large shrimp one dollar a pound, clams fifty cents. Squid, eighty cents, oysters ten cents each. Rice and flour need coupons, I require living goods coupons too, others don’t need coupons. Of course, these are retail prices, if you buy each item in bulk of five hundred pounds or more at a time, I can give you rice for forty-nine cents, flour for twenty-two cents, millet for seventy-three cents, pork for eighty cents, shrimp for eighty cents a pound, fish for forty cents a pound, clams for thirty cents, squid for fifty cents, and oysters for eighty cents each."

Yang Mingchao found it difficult, "We have money, but not many coupons."

Xue Jianian didn’t press, saying, "Whatever amount is fine, preferably an Industrial Coupon." She had just received her university admission notice yesterday and didn’t want to live on campus, needing to purchase a bicycle.

Moreover, after she started school, she wouldn’t come here every day. If they could take a large amount of goods at once, they could possibly become a long-term supplier.

Lu Jingqiu she understood, the cousin by her side must be Yang Mingchao, a very successful businessman in his previous life. She felt at ease collaborating with him.

Yang Mingchao was delighted and immediately agreed, "Alright, we need a thousand catties of rice, a thousand catties of wheat flour, two thousand catties of millet, five hundred catties each of fish and shrimp, five hundred oysters, five hundred catties of clams, three hundred catties of squid, two whole pigs, and twenty ducks and geese each. However, you’ll need to handle the pigs for us, and also keep the pig’s blood."

Xue Jianian said, "There isn’t much squid, only a few dozen catties, but we have more than two hundred oysters. I also have chicken, duck, and goose eggs, hundreds of catties each." Her farm could breed these, reproducing on its own, but it didn’t have seafood. These items were all brought from her hometown.

"Then that’ll do for the seafood; we’ll take all the eggs."

"Alright, when do you need them?"

"In two days, we need to get ready."

Xue Jianian said, "Then, at half-past ten in two days’ time, I’ll wait for you under the bridge on the east side of Dongming Road."

Yang Mingchao declared, "It’s a deal."

After they finished their negotiation, Lu Jingqiu spoke, "Young man, what’s your name?"

"Xue Jia."

"Nice to meet you, Xue Jia. Do you have red beans and mung beans? I would like to buy some."

"Yes, they’re three mao a catty. How much do you want?"

"Ten catties of each."

After Xue Jianian packed up the red beans and mung beans for Lu Jingqiu, he didn’t say much else and left with the bamboo basket on his back.

Yang Mingchao was very excited, "Qiuqiu, we really hit the jackpot this time."

Lu Jingqiu asked, "Second cousin, can you handle such a large order at once?"

Yang Mingchao laughed, "Qiuqiu, just among our nearby colleagues, if you mention it casually, colleagues will tell colleagues, friends will tell friends, and friends will tell relatives. These items will be gone in no time. Plus, those we know are all workers’ families. Items like high-quality rice, wheat flour, and millet will sell the best."

Lu Jingqiu deeply agreed. In their compound, except for those families with many children who often ate coarse grains, most mixed coarse grains with fine grains.

Her family, except for when they made steamed buns with some coarse grains, usually ate polished rice and millet. Of course, she knew about health preservation and didn’t solely rely on these. Once a week she would switch it up, eating cornmeal, corn and sorghum noodles, and the like.

Although they preferred polished rice and wheat flour, these were hard to buy in the market. Having an insider connection, people naturally were willing to purchase.

"I’ll go back and calculate the prices and discuss with Gao Da. Qiuqiu, we really owe you one for this time. You should invest too. We three will split the profits."

"Second cousin, this is going to cost several thousand, right? I’ll invest a thousand. I don’t want an equal share, just give me thirty percent of the profits. After all, it’s you two who are doing the work."

Yang Mingchao didn’t mind, but he was worried about what Gao Da might think and did not discuss too much with Lu Jingqiu.

Lu Jingqiu also trusted her cousin and knew he wouldn’t let her suffer a loss.

After Yang Mingchao left, he found Gao Da and talked to him about flipping a batch of grain. Gao Da frowned, "Where did you get these supplies from? Can they be trusted? How are we going to sell these assorted items?"

"I met someone in the Black Market; they’re all good stuff. Polished rice, wheat flour, millet, seafood, they’ve got everything. Are you in or not?"

Gao Da hesitated, then said, "I was just about to talk to you; I want to get another batch of radios. I just made contact for the goods. Radios make more money than these things."

Yang Mingchao was torn, "But I’ve already agreed on the goods with someone else, several thousand worth of goods. What about you? Did you also make an order?"