Chapter 21: The Price Has Indeed Increased
“Buying rice without waste—our business depends on it,” Wang Peng said with a smile. “Waiter, please make the arrangements.”
Three thousand jin was a bulk order, so the waiter quickly informed the manager.
The manager immediately assigned staff to prepare the stock.
Wang Peng then went to the vegetable section to buy ingredients for egg fried rice: eggs, carrots, scallions, and so on.
The three thousand jin of rice was packed into more than a dozen bags. The manager personally delivered them to their rented apartment, stacking them in the living room to form a wall of rice.
The rental had three connected main rooms, facing south, with the living room in the middle and bedrooms on either side.
His cousin slept in the east bedroom, his cousin sister in the west bedroom; they could see each other’s beds when looking up, which would be awkward when undressing for bed.
“Well, this works. The rice blocks my bed; I’ll just treat it as a screen,” Li Fang comforted herself.
But then she grew anxious again. “Peng, let’s start setting up the stall tomorrow.”
“No rush. Let’s visit your home first,” Wang Peng said.
Since he was going to stay long-term with his cousin sister, he wanted to inform her uncle and aunt.
Li Fang hadn’t been home for a while either. Hearing her cousin’s words, she felt homesick.
They locked the door and walked back to Li Village.
...
Li Village.
The home of Li Guixi.
Second Uncle’s wife, Zhao Li, had just returned from family planning services, holding her one-month-old baby quietly crying on the bed.
She had a tumor on her left calf, the size of an egg.
The doctor said it was benign but must be removed promptly or it could slowly turn malignant—cancer.
The surgery cost 250 yuan, but the family only had about seventy yuan.
They had borrowed from relatives and friends but still couldn’t raise enough money.
“Stop crying,” Li Guixi said with a heavy heart. “I’ll ask the eldest brother for the money.”
Zhao Li cried even more.
“What for? Does he still want to mock you?”
“Your eldest brother is no good. Whenever he borrowed money from us, did we ever refuse?”
“And now you want to borrow from him, and he won’t lend it, even laughs at you for being poor?”
Listening to his wife’s complaints, Li Guixi sighed deeply—poverty breeds sorrow in a marriage.
“Mom, I’m home!” Li Fang called out as she entered.
She carried five jin of eggs into the main room. “Dad, Mom, Peng bought these eggs for you.”
“That child,” Zhao Li quickly covered her leg with a blanket and looked at Wang Peng. “Why buy eggs just after arriving?”
Absent-minded Li Fang didn’t notice her mother’s tears, the tumor hidden beneath the blanket, or her father’s glistening eyes.
But Wang Peng saw everything.
“Aunt, I couldn’t come empty-handed, right?” he said.
“Why not?” Zhao Li sighed. “I heard what you’ve been up to. Your parents are blind. If you live with us from now on, that just means more mouths to feed.”
After complaining, she looked at her daughter, who was noticeably plumper than before, a sign that life with Wang Peng hadn’t been hard.
“Da Peng, have a word with your aunt. I’m going to cook,” Li Guixi stood up.
“No rush,” Wang Peng stopped him. “Aunt, what’s going on with the tumor on your leg?”
Suddenly, the room fell silent. Li Guixi and Zhao Li froze.
“A tumor? What tumor?” Li Fang reached out and pulled back the blanket.
Zhao Li couldn’t stop her—the blanket was lifted, revealing the egg-sized growth.
Seeing the tumor, Li Fang burst into tears.
“Don’t cry,” Zhao Li hurriedly put down the baby and held her daughter’s hand.
The baby cried loudly.
Wang Peng quickly picked up his little cousin. “Second Uncle, is there enough money for the surgery?”
Li Guixi was stunned, realizing the truth could no longer be hidden, and sighed once more.
Suddenly, hope sparked. “Your aunt still needs two hundred yuan for the surgery...”
“Dad, why didn’t you say so earlier?” Li Fang quickly dug into her pocket. “I have money. I’ll pay for the surgery right away.”
The elderly couple stared in disbelief.
Before they could speak, Li Fang added, “This is the money I earned picking melons. Peng will also pay me for selling fried rice.”
Growing more excited, she urged, “Dad, please take Mom to have the surgery quickly.”
Li Guixi’s head was buzzing.
Two hundred yuan was no small sum—this year’s garlic was only one mao per jin, so that money could buy a thousand jin of garlic.
“Xiaofang, don’t rush. The surgery requires going to the provincial city. It’s too late to go today,” Zhao Li said tearfully.
“Two hundred is too much!” Li Guixi kept one hundred yuan, returned the other hundred to Wang Peng, and turned to leave.
“Dad, where are you going?” Li Fang asked anxiously.
“I’m going to Li Laosan’s place to sell garlic,” he said.
They still had a thousand jin of garlic at home but could only get a hundred yuan for it. What they’d sold so far wasn’t enough for the surgery.
Now, they had enough.
Wang Peng chased after him. “Second Uncle, wait a few days before selling. Garlic prices will rise soon.”
On the way here, he’d been thinking.
He was sure Ping’an County was responding to the national call that month by abolishing all ration tickets.
That meant garlic prices might rise.
“Before the end of this month, garlic prices will definitely go up. I guarantee it.” He handed the hundred yuan back to his uncle.
Li Guixi scratched his head, reluctant to refuse. “Alright, I trust you. I’ll think about selling garlic next month.”
That night, Wang Peng stayed at his second uncle’s house.
His uncle took the little cousin to his mother-in-law’s place overnight.
The next morning, Wang Peng accompanied his aunt to the provincial city for surgery.
The provincial city was 150 kilometers from Ping’an County; the bus fare was seven yuan.
The four arrived at Huaihe Hospital in the provincial city.
Wang Peng took care of his aunt, running errands for meals and bustling about. At three in the afternoon, they sent her into the operating room.
The tumor on her leg was easy to remove, and the surgery was a complete success, but his aunt needed to stay overnight for observation.
If there was no bleeding from the incision, she could be discharged.
With some free time, Wang Peng inquired around and went to the wholesale market in the provincial city.
He bought several hundred disposable noodle bowls and plastic spoons.
He couldn’t touch the money owed to Du Geda, and the income from selling melons was nearly spent.
But the supplies for the fried rice business were ready, so he wasn’t worried.
The surgery went smoothly, and the hospital allowed his aunt to be discharged.
The next morning, the four left the hospital, took the bus back to Ping’an County, and then rented a horse cart to return to Li Village.
“Guixi!”
“Quick, sell your garlic to me.”
“You might not believe it, but garlic prices have surged to eight mao.”
Li Laosan, a garlic trader, stood outside Li Guixi’s house and grabbed his arm.
Everyone, including Wang Peng, was stunned—no one expected garlic prices to really rise.
Two days ago, garlic was one mao per jin. Now it had jumped to eight mao.
Wang Peng hadn’t anticipated such a rapid and steep increase.
“Guixi!”
“The day you went to the provincial city, the county suddenly abolished all ration tickets, including those for buying garlic.”
“Without the tickets, garlic prices went crazy. It’s perfect!”
Li Laosan couldn’t hide his smile; he had stockpiled ten thousand jin of garlic and had become wealthy overnight.
“Really, the prices rose?” Li Guixi stared blankly at his nephew.
The mother and daughter also looked at Wang Peng, and Li Fang even gave a silly fangirl smile.
“Second Uncle, don’t daze—sell the garlic quickly,” Wang Peng said happily.
The rice he bought for thirty mao per jin surely had risen in price too.
“Sell, sell!” Li Guixi’s forehead twitched with veins popping.
They packaged, weighed, and loaded the garlic—exactly one thousand jin, bringing Li Guixi eight hundred yuan.
He took out two hundred yuan to give Wang Peng, his face stern.
Listening to his nephew’s prediction about the price rise, he had made an extra seven hundred yuan in sales.
“Da Peng!”
“This is all thanks to you. I’ll pay for your tuition.”
“If you refuse, don’t call me your Second Uncle anymore.”
Well, refusing wasn’t an option now.
“Second Uncle, that’s not necessary,” Wang Peng said, taking the money.
“That’s more like it, ha ha!” Li Guixi laughed aloud. “I’m going to buy some wine. Today, I must get drunk.”