Chapter 14 Opening up another way of doing business
"Mom, take a look today and see if anyone in the village has big baskets. Buy two big ones to put things in." Xu Erlong thought.
"Okay." Zhang Jinfang responded.
Xu Erlong picked up the eels and sent them to the factory as usual, and paid the goods according to the quantity.
Carrying the money, Xu Erlong came out and headed straight for the Peach Blossom River.
Their county town is a city with a very special terrain. The entire county town is split in two by a large rift valley. The Taohua River forms several levels of differences in this large rift valley, and finally merges into the Yangtze River.
In this era when there is no air conditioning and fans are extremely rare, the best way for everyone to cool off is to go swimming in the river.
Because the Taohua River was dammed and a hydropower station was built at the first level of the drop, it virtually formed a natural swimming pool, and almost everyone in the county swam here.
Xu Erlong wandered around the Taohua River for a while.
The river was densely packed with people, like dumplings.
Adults and children all jumped into the river. From time to time, beauties with long legs would pass by in groups wearing swimsuits.
What about the conservative 1980s?
Xu Erlong inspected the whole place, and sure enough, there was no one selling cold water by the river.
He decided to sell cold water by the river and open up another way to make money.
Don't look down on the small business of selling water.
Small business makes big money.
In the 1980s, there were a few jingles.
It is better to hold a scalpel than to hold a butcher's knife.
Those who make atomic bombs are not as good as those who sell tea eggs.
You could even become a millionaire in the 1970s by selling melon seeds.
This also proves that some humble small businesses, even if they only earn one or two cents, can still earn a large pot of gold in a strong buyer's market.
He came to the river to sell water. It was also the young men who swam in the river yesterday who inspired him invisibly.
Swimming is an extremely physically demanding physical activity. After two hours of exercise, many people will be thirsty and hungry.
These days, there are no easy-to-carry bottled drinks like mineral water. Most people bring their own military water bottles when they go out.
What Xu Erlong took a fancy to was the people swimming here. Most of them were young people, mostly young people.
This is the group of people who are least sensitive to money.
When they are hungry and thirsty, they will happily spend two or three cents to buy a glass of water.
Just do it.
Xu Erlong turned around and ran back to the chemical plant, found Wang Bolin and asked to borrow a metal bucket.
"What are you borrowing this bucket for?" Wang Bolin was curious, but he was not embarrassed. He pointed to the iron bucket in the corner: "That bucket is not used for the time being. You can take it, but you have to wash it yourself."
"Well, I'll just borrow it for a few days." Xu Erlong gave Wang Bolin another half pack of cigarettes: "When you need it, I'll bring it to you."
Carrying the bucket, Xu Erlong stood in front of a faucet in the factory and cleaned the bucket inside and out.
Then, he went to the supply and marketing cooperative outside the factory and bought a pound of Laoyin tea.
This Laoyin tea is a local specialty tea. Strictly speaking, it is not a tea, but only a kind of leaf.
After being cooked, it turns reddish-brown, which can relieve heat and thirst, refresh and breathe, and does not go rancid after being brewed for a long time. It is a tea that is often drunk by the masses.
Xu Erlong threw the pound of Laoyin tea into the bucket, then picked up the bucket and came to the boiler room of the chemical plant.
The large state-owned factories are good. You can draw boiling water in the boiler room at will, and the big boilers will beep and steam.
After Xu Erlong handed a cigarette to the master in the boiler room, he stood aside calmly, turned on the water faucet, and poured boiling water into the bucket.
In the span of a cigarette, he got to know the master of the boiler room, and the two buckets of boiling water were filled.
Xu Erlong carried the bucket and said hello to the master of the boiler room: "Brother Wang, I'm leaving first."
"Okay, come back tomorrow." Master Wang responded enthusiastically.
Anyway, he is burning the boiler. Who is going to fetch the boiling water? Not fetching it?
Xu Erlong carried a bucket and wandered toward the Peach Blossom River. When he passed the supply and marketing cooperative, he turned in and bought a few more glass cups.
Walking and stopping along the way, I carried water to the river. The bucket of water also cooled down.
I found a hard board, propped it up on a bucket, put glasses on it, and finally set up a simple cold water stall.
Then pour the Laoyin tea in the bucket into the glass. The amber tea is clear and bright.
Xu Erlong had been busy for a long time, and he was tired and thirsty. He picked up the cup and drank two or three cups in a row, which relieved him from the heat.
"Is this selling water?" Someone passed by and asked.
"Yes, Laoyin tea, it clears away heat and quenches thirst. Would you like a cup?" Xu Erlong asked.
"Want money?"
Xu Erlong smiled: "Look what you said, on this hot day, I am following Lei Feng's example and don't need money, but it always costs money to boil the water. You have to pay me to boil the water, right? This Laoyin tea is also a flower.
I bought it with money, so I have to pay for it."
This seems to make sense. It costs one penny to get a pot of boiling water outside.
"How much does a cup cost?"
"Three cents a cup."
The other party said: "Three cents? So expensive? A popsicle only costs four cents."
Xu Erlong laughed and said: "Popsicles are not as good as quenching thirst and relieving heat."
There were two other young men wearing big pants passing by. They heard that they were selling water, so they licked their thirsty lips and without saying a word, they bought a glass of water for three cents.
This was a good start, and many people came to buy water one after another.
Facts have proved that Xu Erlong's idea is correct.
This natural swimming pool attracts so many people of all ages across the county.
Even if only one out of ten people wants to drink water, it's still a good deal.
Xu Erlong collected the money one by one.
Now, he doesn't mind the shabby situation.
Except for those who have unique advantages, who else has not come through this step by step?
In his previous life, he had experienced too much. He had been in jail, had his shoes polished, worked as a stickman, repaired a car, drove a forklift, sold barbecue, opened an online store...he had some happy moments.
There are also dark moments of despair.
But so what, depending on success or failure, life is heroic, but it means starting all over again.
Watching the horizon dyed with sunset, the number of people swimming in the Peach Blossom River gradually decreased by more than half, and Xu Erlong also sold out the two buckets of water.
He stood up, closed the stall, put a few glass water glasses into the bucket, and carried the bucket home.
At home, Zhang Jinfang and Xu Xiaoling followed his instructions and collected eels at home.
However, Zhang Jinfang was too shy to make a big show of it in the village and said that she wanted to collect eels. Therefore, the eels at home today were actually those brought by Yu Ping, Jin Ya and Huang Xiaogang.
The children, on the other hand, were very excited when Huang Xiaoxia said that they could exchange eels for candy. They caught eels in the rice fields and ditches with their bare little arms and exchanged them for candy.