Su Ye went to the paper box factory and ordered 300 boxes. The paper boxes she wanted were different from ordinary paper boxes. The front of the paper box had two layers, and the center was hollowed out to facilitate inserting the cover of the box painted by Feng An. The paper box also had to be hard enough, and the texture of the cardboard had to be fine and smooth, and feel textured.
Because of her fussy request, the paper box factory was still selecting the materials for the paper boxes and had not printed them for her yet. Su Ye was not in a hurry and took 100 sheets of cardboard to send to Feng An to draw.
The next day, Su Ye gave Feng An a key and said, "If you have no place to paint, you can come to No. 1 Middle School."
The key that Su Ye gave was the practice base of the "Green Factory", where students usually repaired watches and radios. However, as the end of the semester was approaching and the children were busy with entrance exams, the classroom was empty, which was just right for Feng An to use.
Feng An was overjoyed. If there was a special place for him to paint, he could indeed paint faster. When he didn't have classes, he could paint seven or eight pictures a day. When he got more skilled, it wouldn't be a problem to paint ten or twenty pictures a day. He could earn five yuan a day, and 150 yuan after painting three hundred pieces!
His heart was pounding. Feng An could not even think of such a large sum of money! It was enough to cover his food expenses for the whole year! Feng An had never met a patron as generous as Su Ye.
Su Ye saw the top student's face, which was blinded by money, and couldn't help laughing, "It's just this little money, what a waste!"
She didn't know where Professor Ning found this student. The painting skills of this hand were beyond her expectations. It turned out that the people around the boss were also bosses. The gold inlaid jade from Shanggou Village matched the paintings of Feng An. The two complemented each other and neither humiliated the other.
Su Ye is very confident about the finished product, and he doesn't know how beautiful it will be when it turns out. It's a pity that people of this era have limited purchasing power, otherwise Su Ye would definitely be able to sell it at the price it deserves.
…
But on the other side.
After Fang Xiulian bought several kilograms of tea from Su Ye, she held several high-profile tea parties. None of the military wives who had tasted the tea had anything bad to say about it, and they all urged her to ask Su Ye where the tea was produced, and they would ask their fellow villagers themselves.
Fang Xiulian was very proud of this, after all, she had good taste and was able to find such good tea to share with everyone. But she had it to drink while others didn't, which made people envy her for nothing.
But every time people asked about the tea leaves, Fang Xiulian would always say, "That's all the tea leaves we have. Su Ye gave it all to me. It's the same if you ask her."
Many of the people who interacted with Fang Xiulian were military wives in the city. They didn't have a deep relationship with Su Ye and had never spoken to each other. After drinking tea with them a few times, they couldn't stand Fang Xiulian's boasting, so they wiped their face and went to Gu's house to knock on the door to find Su Ye.
When they arrived, it happened to be the time when Feng An was handing in the finished product.
Feng An took the key and worked hard every day. His work efficiency was off the charts. In less than a week, he finalized ten paintings. A few days later, he handed the paintings to Su Ye and helped her assemble the box. He also helped her weigh the tea leaves and divide them into ten small portions to pack them into tea boxes.
Su Ye was amazed when she received the finished product. Feng An designed a set of gift boxes with traditional Chinese colors, including cinnabar, crabapple red, primrose, moon white, dark green, and tea white. The colors are light, and the embedded pure white is perfectly integrated. There are two short poems in cursive script on the blank space of the box, such as the primrose-colored dusk, a boy brewing new tea under the bamboo, and the running script: "At noon, I feel alone without any sound, and the mountain boy knocks the tea mortar through the bamboo."
On a moonlit night, a stranger holds a teacup facing the moon, "I have no way to hold a bowl, so I send it to the tea lover."
The moon is bright among the pines, the stream is gurgling, and orchids are blooming in the early morning. "The clean nature cannot be polluted, and drinking is for the cleansing of dust and troubles."
The tea boxes far exceeded Su Ye's expectations. As expected, a horse cannot grow fat without night grass. Su Ye felt that the fifty cents was well spent! These tea gift boxes were like works of art. Su Ye wanted to collect a set of them himself.
But before the tea box had even warmed up, she heard a knock on the door.
Su Ye opened the door and met a group of unfamiliar military wives. After staring at each other for a moment, Su Ye smiled and invited them into the house. She made a cup of tea and asked them to sit down and taste it.
One of the military wives glanced at the tea leaves and tea boxes that Su Ye had placed on the table and had not yet put away, and asked hesitantly, "You... Is this a tea gift box? It's quite beautiful."
Indeed, as soon as they entered the door, they were attracted by the exquisite box.
Su Ye put down the teapot and said modestly: "A few fellow villagers asked me to sell tea leaves, so I thought about making a set of boxes to store the tea leaves. When visiting relatives during the Dragon Boat Festival, I can give the tea leaves as souvenirs. They are just small things, so they are acceptable, right?"
It's more than just acceptable.
The other military wives could no longer sit still, and their eyes expressed shock.
These tea boxes were made by Su Ye? Didn't she come from the countryside? How could she make such beautiful boxes? If she didn't tell others about these tea boxes, they would mistake them for high-end products bought from department stores. They were just wondering: When did a department store have such eye-catching tea gift boxes? Did she ask relatives or friends to buy them from Shanghai
I didn't expect that Su Ye did it himself.
"Is this true? Su Ye, did you design this?" A military wife was so surprised that she almost bit her tongue.
Su Ye almost laughed out loud. She couldn't help but said, "How could I design something like that? I asked someone to draw it."
The wives finally calmed down and focused their attention on the tea box. One of them said, "You know what, it's really pretty, even prettier than the ones sold in department stores. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought it was painted on."
Not to mention that the lines of current printed packaging are mostly rigid and stiff, and the colors are relatively simple. They are nowhere near as beautiful as Su Ye's hand-made ones, with delicate and elegant colors, which look indescribably comfortable.
They couldn't help but ask the key question: "How much is a box of this tea?"
Su Ye had done the math earlier. Each box of tea weighs two kilograms. After deducting costs and labor, and weighing everyone's purchasing power, it would be appropriate to sell it at five yuan a box.
"Six dollars." Su Ye said.
Some wives thought that this little tea was not worth the money. A box of tea could be worth a week's salary, but the experienced wives had already reached into their wallets and counted out a big black ten.
Su Ye took the money with a smile and gave them the change swiftly. Although she wanted to collect this batch of tea and was reluctant to sell it, she couldn't help but want to buy it.
There is still a long way to go, and when she makes enough money, she can ask Feng An to paint as many paintings as she wants.
The ten boxes of tea that Su Ye had just received were gone before they were even warm, leaving a thick stack of banknotes in his pocket. The fresh and hot banknotes gave him a sense of security.
It’s a pity that it’s not my own money. It would be much better if it was my own money…
In the evening, Gu Xiangqian brought Su Ye some good news.
Gu Xiangqian drank some water and said, "I have told Uncle Mao Gang about your matter. I want to order 50 kilograms of tea from you. I will deliver it to you tomorrow. You can talk to Uncle Li about how to sell the tea."
Although fifty kilograms doesn't sound like much, the economy is bad these days and the business of the guesthouse is slow. Asking Su Ye for fifty kilograms of tea is already a huge favor. However, Su Ye soon had another idea in his mind.
She pushed Feng An's pace hard, and managed to get thirty boxes out within two days.
The next day, Gu Xiangqian found a rubber band and tied 50 kilograms of tea leaves to the bicycle, and Su Ye brought out another box of tea leaves. Because of the huge size, Gu Xiangqian had to let Su Ye wait there. After a while, a small car came out.
Su Ye was so shocked that she almost sprained her ankle. After getting into the car and sitting firmly, she touched the soft cushion under her body, looked back and looked forward. Even if she had a car in her name, it didn't prevent her from saying in her heart: Men with cars are so handsome!
During this period, Su Ye had suffered a lot by walking on his own and riding He Meimei's bicycle. Moreover, Su Ye couldn't afford a bicycle at all, because he needed a bicycle coupon to buy a bicycle! Bicycles were luxury industrial products these days, and were not as popular as they were in the 1970s and 1980s.
In this era, people who own cars are unimaginably wealthy. After all, being rich does not necessarily mean you can buy a car.
This person usually looks very low-key and she even said that she handed over all her property to the country. Could it be that she married a rich second-generation man
Su Ye asked in surprise: "When did you learn to drive a car? Didn't you say you would donate all your property?"
Gu Xiangqian was steering the wheel, saying calmly, "I learned this when I went to the Soviet Union. I donated houses and antiques. The troops had special vehicles, bulletproof and explosion-proof, and they returned them to me when they saw they had no use for them."
A hint of smile flashed across his eyes, "Sit tight."
The car stopped at the guesthouse, and Li Maogang's uncle Li Xianjie welcomed them warmly. He looked at Su Ye carefully. He was quite tall and did not look short even when standing next to Gu Xiangqian.
The girl has fair skin, red lips and white teeth, and her cheeks are tanned red. There are not many people who look so energetic these days!
"Xiang Qian's wife, right? Mao Gang brought me some tea a while ago, and it tasted very good. I also heard from Xiang Qian that you helped the tea farmers find a market, which is quite generous, just like your mother-in-law."
Su Ye weighed the fifty kilograms of tea leaves and handed all of them to Mr. Li. "Thank you, Uncle Li."
Mr. Li found that Su Ye also brought another box of tea, and asked in surprise: "What is this?"
Su Ye smiled and took out a bag of homemade pork jerky from her bag and handed it to Mr. Li. It felt heavy in the hand, weighing a full two kilograms.
Mr. Li took a quick look at it and could hardly sit still. This was... pork, a bag full of pork!
He hadn't eaten pork for more than half a year and almost forgot what it tasted like. Life was difficult now and even as the manager of the guesthouse he couldn't make much money. During the Spring Festival, he could still find people selling pork on the black market, but now pork had completely disappeared.
It was rare that Su Ye stuffed a bag of pork jerky into his pocket. This was like a test of Mr. Li's soul.
Could it be that... this Xiang Qian daughter-in-law wants to raise the price of tea
Su Ye said with a smile: "Uncle Li, can I borrow your guesthouse's precious space to sell tea? I won't occupy it for long, just half a month."
Although the business of the guesthouse was quiet, there was still a certain amount of traffic. Guests from all over the world came and went, and those who came to City C would inevitably buy some local products for their families to take home. In reality, the gold inlaid jade later became a business card of City C. Moreover, those who could afford to stay in the guesthouse these days also had certain economic conditions.
Mr. Li didn't mind making room for Gu Xiangqian's wife to display the tea leaves. After all, the procedures were legal and it wasn't speculation. He could just display the tea, but he doubted whether the tea could be sold.
He nodded readily, "No problem."
However, Mr. Li soon understood why Su Ye was confident in selling the tea.
Su Ye brought over the boxes painted by Feng An. When she placed the 30 exquisite tea boxes on the counter, people felt suddenly brightened up. Even the usually inconspicuous counter made people want to take a second look.
Su Ye smiled and negotiated the price with Mr. Li. "Loose tea is sold for 2 yuan per kilogram. Each box of this boxed tea has 2 kilograms and sells for 7 yuan. I feel embarrassed to let Uncle Li work for nothing, so I will give you a commission of 1 yuan for each box of tea you sell."
Mr. Li was very surprised and looked at Su Ye deeply. But Mr. Li was very sympathetic and nodded, thinking that Su Ye was a good person. In this way, it was not just him doing a favor to Su Ye, but a mutual benefit for both of them. There were thirty boxes in this pile, and if they were all sold, it would be enough for Mr. Li's salary for half a month.
People these days are straightforward in their work. As long as the superiors tell them to do something, they will pay for it out of their own pockets, and they do things based on their ideals. She is not like that. The real money in her pocket is the real thing.
As he spoke, Su Ye took out a piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Mr. Li. On it was written in beautiful small characters an introduction to this tea.
Mr. Li could only admire Su Ye now. She was so thoughtful and thought everything out. He thought to himself: Selling tea to the guesthouse was probably just a side job. Her real intention was to use the guesthouse to sell tea.
But he couldn't refuse her request. After all, he still had two kilograms of pork in his pocket.
Freeing up a place for her to sell tea can also increase her income, so why not? Besides, Su Ye's procedures are still formal. Mr. Li complained: Su Ye is obviously about the same age as Xiu Lian, why does Xiu Lian only know how to eat, drink and have fun all day