Struggle Life in the 1970s

Because of the event on the 7th, this day also became the day with the highest transaction volume in July. The carp in the fish pond have been almost sold out. However, in Chu Ye’s original plan, selling the carp was a helpless move, because there were many unattended carp in the fish pond he bought. Chu Ye chose to sell it in order to make room and make a profit.

Her original intention was to specialize in breeding sea bass so that she could free up space after selling all the carp. However, this idea was gradually dispelled in her subsequent exchanges with customers.

Carp is cheap. Although many people don’t like its taste, there are still many people who are not well-off who will choose it. Chu Ye thought about it and bought some carp fry and put them into the pond.

The stall now mainly sells sea bass, and the price is almost ten times higher than that of carp before. Customers hesitate and think it is too expensive, but they praise it after buying it. The sea bass has fine meat, few bones, and is easy to cook. After buying it here, put it on a plate, smear salt, green onion and ginger in the fish belly, steam it for eight or nine minutes, take it out and drizzle it with soy sauce. The taste is so delicious!

So even though people were reluctant to part with it, they could not forget the taste after having tasted it once, so they came to buy it every now and then. Later, a customer laughed and said, "All the money I earned in a month was spent on this stall."

Hearing this, Pan'er and Xiaoya both laughed. When August came and the stall's income exceeded three thousand for the first time, Chu Ye took the two of them to a restaurant for a good meal.

In September, crabs were on the market, and previous customers came with their receipts to exchange them. In a short time, the stall was packed with people, and the sales volume for that day reached a new high.

In October, during the National Day, Pan'er and Xiaoya were given a three-day holiday. They had not been home for a long time. Chu Ye gave each of them a big red envelope and happily sent them to the station. She sat by the fish pond. On this festive day, she recalled the past. Now everything is going well. She wondered how her old friends are doing.

Sister Nianci, brother Jianwen, third sister Chuhua, little niece Gaoxing, Zhao Yue and the others, Qiao Mingzhu, Mu Jiajun...

Thinking of Mingzhu, I left without saying goodbye and only left her a letter. Given Mingzhu's temper, she would definitely be furious and scold me behind her back.

Mingzhu, Mingzhu, is the most unique one among his friends. She has a spoiled temper and is always dissatisfied with everything. The two of them disliked each other at first, but later, perhaps it was God's arrangement, they were in the same class and work in the same unit. It was also during their contact at that time that Chu Ye discovered that she was not as vicious as he imagined, but rather straightforward and said what she wanted to say.

Thinking of this, she remembered that she still owed Mingzhu money. As she missed Mingzhu too, she went to the house to get some letter paper and a pen. She wrote three pages and put them in an envelope along with a thick stack of banknotes, a total of five hundred yuan.

After the National Day holiday, everyone returned to their busy lives. Another three months passed, and as the year drew to a close, the three men took advantage of customers buying New Year's goods to make a lot of money for a few days. Until the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, the three men closed the stall after a busy day and put up a sign on the stall, stating that they would be closed for the New Year from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 15th day of the first lunar month so that customers would not come empty-handed.

That evening, the three of them were too lazy to cook, so they simply went to the restaurant to eat and then returned to the dormitory. Pan'er and Xiaoya packed their luggage and were going home tomorrow.

"Sister Chu, please come home with me? Don't stay here alone." The three of them sat on the edge of the bed. Pan'er held Chu Ye's arm. The pressure of preparing for the New Year's goods had been quite high during this period. The flesh on Pan'er's face had disappeared a lot, and her pointed chin was faintly visible.

"Yes, Sister Chu, you can come to my house. My family members are very nice." This was Xiaoya who was speaking. She held Chu Ye's other arm. These few months had made her grow a lot. The shy girl who liked to hide behind people when talking now had a bit more determination in her eyes and spoke in a much stronger tone.

They knew about Chu Ye's relationship with his family. It happened once when the three of them were having a meal. Pan'er opened a bottle of wine out of greed. He had just finished less than half of it when he became drunk and his head was swaying. He also asked questions that had probably been suppressed in his heart for a long time.

Xiaoya only remembered that after Pan'er finished speaking, Sister Chu's eyes suddenly became lonely. She lowered her head, her whole face was shrouded in shadow, and her whole body made people feel sad for no reason. Pan'er was originally a little intoxicated, but when she saw this, she suddenly woke up and said in a crying voice that she was talking nonsense and shouldn't have asked.

At that time, Sister Chu suddenly looked up, smiled and comforted Pan'er, telling her not to be afraid. When she and Pan'er were worried, Sister Chu took the bottle of wine, raised her head and took a big gulp regardless of anything. After a rapid cough, Sister Chu's cheeks turned red because of choking, but she smiled and told the two of them about her breakup with her family.

Pan'er wanted to slap herself a few times at that time, but Sister Chu took Pan'er and her into her arms, and said in a soothing tone that she felt relieved instead, and asked Pan'er not to take the matter to heart.

Also that night, Pan'er and she returned to the dormitory. The two of them lay on the bed and cursed the ungrateful Chu family members. Pan'er even said that when they had free time, they would find a temple and say all the bad things about them in front of the Buddha.

Therefore, when all the families were reunited, they didn't want to leave Chu Ye alone.

But after the two of them raised this question, Chu Ye waved his hand and refused without caring, "Don't think I'm so fragile. I spent the New Year here last year. There's nothing wrong with it."

"It's different this year! You have two good sisters like us, and we can't leave you alone." Pan'er pouted and said dissatisfiedly.

"Yes, how about we not go home, the three of us will celebrate the New Year here!" Xiaoya's courage is really growing.

As soon as she finished speaking, Pan'er's eyes "swish"
The eyes lit up and nodded rapidly, "Sure, sure! The three of us will celebrate the New Year together!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Chu Ye slapped them both on the head, and they immediately covered their heads in pain. She laughed and scolded, "You two are annoying me here, and you don't let me have some peace and quiet during the New Year? Besides, if you don't go back, your family will be worried to death. If both families come here together to ask for you, I won't be able to explain myself!" "No, no!" Pan'er shook her arm, and Xiaoya also silently pulled the other one, looking over pitifully.

"No! There's no room for negotiation on this matter. You two must go home tomorrow." Seeing the two people looking like they were about to cry, Chu Ye sighed softly. She knew very well what they were thinking, but she was indeed not as pitiful as they thought. She really didn't think there was anything wrong with spending the New Year alone. Anyway, she hadn't returned home during the New Year since her parents locked her up at home and tried to force her to go on a blind date.

Thinking of this, she softened her tone, rubbed the places where the two had been beaten, and comforted them: "You must go home. If you two really miss me, you can come back earlier, but you have to stay at home for at least ten days."

The two of them thought about it and realized that they could not change it, so they agreed reluctantly.

This incident reminded Chu Ye of another thing. She took out the account book and settled the monthly salary for the two of them. The amount was decided when she asked them to come to help - 110 yuan a month.

At that time, I also promised that at the end of each year, I would give each of them 5% of the year's profits as dividends.

She took a pen and did quick calculations on paper. She calculated the general ledger every six months. She no longer looked at the period before July. She mainly looked at the period from July to the end of December, and calculated the turnover in January into the next year.

The second half of this year has seen explosive growth in business, with a half-year turnover of more than 20,000 yuan! After deducting the cost, the net profit in the second half of this year is more than 7,500 yuan!
In this way, Pan'er and Xiaoya each received a dividend of 375 yuan. She put the two stacks of money into red envelopes and handed them to them solemnly.

Pan'er and Xiaoya took it happily, and uttered sweet words without paying, making Chu Ye laugh non-stop.

Early the next morning, Chu Ye rode a tricycle and took the two people and their luggage to the station. After watching them get on the car, she rode leisurely on her way to give a red envelope to shareholder Han.

It was the same scene as before. Han Zhao raised his eyebrows, crossed his arms, and leaned against the door frame to look at her. Chu Ye took out a thick stack from her bag and handed it over. "This is the dividend for the second half of the year, a total of 1,500 yuan."

"Oh! Boss Chu made a fortune." Han Zhao said in a teasing tone. Chu Ye rolled his eyes, rummaged in his bag again, and then took out two thick stacks of banknotes.

"This is to pay you back for the money you lent me before, a total of two thousand yuan. I have to save some money for after the new year, and I still owe you twelve hundred. I will pay you back when I make money next year." Chu Ye held a "brick" in each hand, looking like a local boss.

Han Zhao changed his posture again and said calmly, "Actually, I'm not in a hurry for the money."

"Pay it back soon so you can be calm." After Chu Ye said that, he stuffed the "brick" into Han Zhao's folded arm, firmly.

"Okay," Han Zhao said indifferently. This little money was actually nothing to him. He would not even think about it if Chu Ye did not return it. When he saw Chu Ye turning around to leave, he called out, "Wait a minute."

Chu Ye turned his head, puzzled.

Han Zhao took down the "brick" and went into the house. He soon came out with something in his hand. He handed a large bag to Chu Ye, "This is a New Year snack for you. I went to Hong Kong some time ago and bought too much to finish."

Chu Ye looked down and saw candies, chocolate nuts, and supplements like donkey-hide gelatin. The packaging was intact and it didn't look like they could not be finished. She looked up at Han Zhao, who looked indifferent.

Okay, Chu Ye thought secretly, let’s wait until Pan’er and Xiaoya come back, and then the three of us will eat together!

Seeing her take it, Han Zhao took out another red envelope from his pocket, "This is a gift in return. It's your New Year's red envelope. You're welcome. One more thing. I have to go to the United States tomorrow and probably won't be back until after the New Year. I'm letting you know in advance in case you have something to do and you miss me."

Chu Ye nodded, silently complaining in his heart that what he said was unnecessary. He was usually very busy and would never come to see him if there was nothing to do. What else could there be during the New Year?

However, she didn't expect her words to come true. Within a few days, she found herself isolated and helpless.

(End of this chapter)