Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 369 - 368: The Head Flower That Costs Nothing

Chapter 369: Chapter 368: The Head Flower That Costs Nothing

Lin Nianhe was in her fifth month of going to the countryside when it snowed.

She stopped her bicycle and looked up at the fluttering snowflakes in the sky.

The snow in the Northeast, just like its people, was forthright and straightforward. After symbolically warning with a few scattered snowflakes of the incoming first snow, clusters of catkin-like snow were driven towards the black earth by the Northwest wind.

Lin Nianhe reached out to catch the snow but instead ended up with a pair of thick cotton gloves that were heavy in her palm.

"Huh?"

She looked dazedly as Su Yuncheng pulled out a gray wool scarf from his bag and couldn’t help but ask, "You’re carrying a scarf and gloves with you?"

Indeed, it had gotten much colder these last two days, but it was still far from being cold enough to necessitate such thick cotton gloves.

"Yesterday, the team leader said that it should start snowing in the next couple of days," Su Yuncheng said as he wrapped Lin Nianhe’s head and face with the scarf, "You were going out today, so I brought it along. It’s mine, but you can wear it for now."

Su Yuncheng’s scarf was thick and long, and it had the pleasant smell of soapberry. This scarf must have been kept far away from Feng Wei, otherwise, it was guaranteed to pick up the smell of smoke.

Lin Nianhe buried her face in the scarf, watching him put the gloves on her.

Su Yuncheng looked down, his eyes on his task, and while putting her gloves on, he said, "I got you an army overcoat. It’s in the village. I’ll fetch it for you later."

Lin Nianhe’s eyes sparkled with delight as she looked at him and said, "My mother sent one to me."

"I know you have one," Su Yuncheng lifted his eyes to look at her, "The winters here are much colder than in Beijing, and since you are always sitting in the classroom, you feel the cold more. It’s better to wear one over another, don’t catch a cold."

Lin Nianhe’s heart felt warm, and she nodded vigorously, "Okay, I’ll listen to you."

Major Su was fearless of heaven and earth, but he was soft-hearted when it came to the normally cunning and adorable little lady acting cute. His heart instantly turned tender.

He chuckled softly, his eyes full of tenderness. After agreeing, he said, "Let’s go, the snow is going to get heavier soon."

The snow fell quickly, and in no time, the ground was whitened. By the time they reached the commune, a thin layer had already accumulated.

Upon seeing Lin Nianhe, Wong Xiao called out, "Hurry, hurry, come warm yourself by the fire. Don’t catch cold."

He scurried to his feet, pouring a cup of hot water for Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe thanked him, taking the cup without drinking, and quickly took out her reorganized patterns and a sample of the Head Flower, placing it on Wong Xiao’s desk, "Uncle Wong, the patterns and sample for the Head Flower are ready, please have a look."

Without looking, Wong Xiao praised, "This Head Flower is really well made! Xiao Lin, you have such skillful hands!"

Lin Nianhe: "It was made by our team’s aunties and other Educated youth."

Wong Xiao blinked, not a bit embarrassed, and changed his praise, "This really looks good, even better than those sold in the Provincial City Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Cough cough... Xiao Lin, this was altogether your doing, wasn’t it?"

Lin Nianhe’s lips curved into a smile, "Yes, it was."

Wong Xiaokou sighed with relief, then picked up the patterns and the sample, comparing them one by one.

He had only praised Lin Nianhe out of habit earlier, but now that he took a closer look, he felt that his initial praise was insufficient.

"Good, good, good, I’ll get Xiao Zhao, the Factory Director of the textile factory, to come over right away. We’ll arrange the production urgently, and then send them off to be sold at the Cooperative Society," Wong Xiao said with a smile that narrowed his eyes into a line.

"Uncle Wong, we are like family, so I’ll just speak frankly—" Lin Nianhe said as she warmed herself by the fire, "Will the Provincial City Supply and Marketing Cooperative listen to you?"

Wong Xiao: "..."

Of course... they wouldn’t listen to him.

Lin Nianhe acted as if she couldn’t see his embarrassment and continued while rubbing her hands, "I can get them to approach the textile factory proactively, requesting to sell our Head Flowers."

Wong Xiao: "...!"

Although Wong Xiaokou had only dealt with Lin Nianhe for a short period, he understood the young girl’s way of doing things very well.

He directly asked, "Tell me, girl, what should your uncle do?"

Lin Nianhe loved dealing with smart people like this. With a smile, she said, "It’s not really a big deal. I’m just thinking of finding some piecemeal work for the skillful aunties and sisters-in-law in the countryside."

Wong Xiao nodded and continued to watch her.

Lin Nianhe: "That’s all, just that."

"You don’t want anything for yourself?" Wong Xiao asked hesitantly.

"I’d like another ten tons of coal. Can you provide it?"

"That, that... it’s not that I don’t want to give it to you, we really don’t have any! No coal at all, you could break my bones and still get none!"

Wong Xiaokou looked as if asking for coal from him was asking for his life, with an expression as if he was gearing up to face death.

Lin Nianhe lifted her eyelids slightly: "Then what else is there to talk about? Just find better work for the villagers with skills, and the labor cost for making one ’Head Flower’ must not be less than ten cents."

Wong Xiao was momentarily distressed when he heard the price, as if he had been stabbed. Glancing at Lin Nianhe’s expression, he tentatively asked, "Isn’t this labor cost a bit high?"

"The wholesale price of a ’Head Flower’ is at least forty cents, and the material cost is no more than five cents. The selling price is achievable only thanks to the labor, aside from the design," Lin Nianhe explained patiently. "Don’t think that making these little things is easy. Just take the ones you see here, they were the product of a week of research by the best tailor in our village."

Wong Xiao didn’t pay attention to the rest of her reasoning, only the part about "forty cents."

"Forty cents? If it’s sent to the Cooperative Society, won’t the price increase by another ten or twenty cents? That’s almost enough to buy half a pound of pork!" Wong Xiao’s eyes widened, his hands trembling as he held a ’Head Flower.’ "Xiao Lin, I’m not doubting you, but it’s not something edible or drinkable, will people really buy it?"

"Such talk is fine when the doors are closed and you’re grumbling to me, but don’t say it outside, don’t reveal any weakness," Lin Nianhe said while rubbing her hands. "A bottle of soda costs ten cents, and it doesn’t even quench your thirst, but there are still plenty of buyers, right? A red bean popsicle is five cents, and it doesn’t fill you up after eating, does it? Our ’Head Flower’ might seem a bit expensive at first listen, but it can last for nearly half a year. Calculate it, how much does that average to per day?"

Wong Xiaokou had a knack for calculating money. With Lin Nianhe’s casual question, he instantly answered, "Three mils!"

Lin Nianhe: "..."

For a moment, she didn’t even realize what unit "mil" represented.

But this didn’t stop her from continuing the ruse: "Exactly, three mils, round it up, it’s practically free."

Wong Xiaokou looked at Lin Nianhe with a complex gaze: "The way you calculate, Accountant Zhao should just hand over the ledgers to you."

He couldn’t help but imagine the accounts Lin Nianhe would calculate—

Fertilizer expenses: 0 yuan

Agricultural tools expenses: 0 yuan

Repair expenses: 0 yuan

...

Total expenditure: 250 yuan

Damn, she’s a little accounting genius!

Lin Nianhe: "You’re quite good at being sarcastic."

As she spoke, she stood up, casually took a ’Head Flower,’ opened the door, and beckoned to a passing young comrade: "Comrade, do you like this ’Head Flower’?"

The female comrade came over and her eyes lit up when she saw the exquisite ’Head Flower’: "It’s so pretty! Is this new stock from the Cooperative Society? How much is it?"

"Sixty cents."

"Ah? That’s a bit expensive..."

"But this ’Head Flower’ is purely handmade, and one can last for almost half a year. Calculate it, that’s only three mils a day. What can you buy with three mils?"

"Ah! That’s practically free!"

Wong Xiaokou: "..."

He didn’t understand, but he was deeply impressed.