1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 44 Meeting again
The 27th day of the tenth lunar month, Thursday.

After having breakfast, the Qiao siblings took out all the eggs they had saved over the past five days, packed them in egg cartons, and put them into bamboo baskets.

Meanwhile, the 1000 laying hens, having eaten and drunk their fill, began their daily routine of laying eggs in their nesting boxes.

After packing up all the eggs accumulated over the previous five days, the four siblings then packed up another 1000 freshly baked eggs.

After all 6000 eggs were loaded into the bamboo basket, except for Qiao Erhe who remained expressionless, the other siblings gasped in shock. The weight of the basket of eggs, which made up the majority of the weight, was enough to make one's scalp tingle just by looking at it.

Qiao Sanduo said with some concern, "Second brother, I think this load of eggs you're carrying weighs at least 350 or 360 jin. It's really too heavy. Why don't you give me some of it, and I'll be responsible for carrying it to the commune to sell?"

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "This weight is no problem for me, but your brother's load is at least 200 jin, and Sihai's load is 150 or 160 jin. It might be a bit strenuous for them to carry it all the way to the commune. You can help them share the load."

Qiao Dajiang was a well-known man in Qiaojiawan. Apart from his second brother, no other able-bodied man in the village could match his strength. Naturally, he couldn't let his younger siblings look down on him, so he immediately refused, saying, "Sanduo, you don't need to help me. It's only a little over 200 jin. Any adult in the village can easily carry it. I'll definitely be able to carry it to the commune."

Qiao Sihai is only 16 years old this year. Although rural people are used to doing hard labor from a young age, he is still not an adult and his strength is naturally not comparable to his older brothers. He is still a little scared to carry this 150 or 160 jin (75 kg) of goods to the commune.

Now, hearing his third sister offer to help, Qiao Sihai chuckled and said, "Sis, then you can help me share some of the burden!"

Qiao Sanduo knew that her second brother was incredibly strong, and her eldest brother was also quite strong, so it wouldn't be too difficult for her to carry his load. She nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go get the vines, and you can give me half."

Three minutes later, Qiao Sanduo took half of the eggs from Lao Si's bamboo basket.

Seeing that everything was ready, Qiao Erhe said "Let's go," picked up his specially made large carrying pole, easily lifted the load of more than 360 jin (approximately 180 catties), and strode towards the commune.

Seeing this, Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Sanduo, and Qiao Sihai also picked up their loads and followed Qiao Erhe toward the commune.

Along the way from Qiaojiawan to Cenhe Commune, he naturally encountered many people. Whether they were acquaintances or strangers, they all turned their heads when they saw the big load that Qiao Erhe was carrying.

However, it wouldn't be accurate to say that it was extremely shocking.

After all, in this era of carrying loads on shoulders and backs, carrying more than 200 kilograms of goods for walking was a basic skill for adults. The well-known strong laborers in each village could basically carry more than 300 kilograms of heavy objects. This "carrying" does not refer to the kind of carrying something for a few seconds and then putting it down, but rather the kind of carrying it for a long distance.

Therefore, although the load of eggs carried by Qiao Erhe attracted attention from onlookers, it was generally accepted and not something to be surprised about.

So the four siblings carried the eggs and walked all the way from their home to the commune without stopping to rest.

Arriving at the place where the four siblings used to set up their stall, Qiao Sanduo put down the load on her shoulder and said, "Big brother, second brother, it's getting late. You should go and get on the bus. I can manage here. I'll go back by myself after I sell these eggs."

Qiao Erhe, carrying his load, said without batting an eye, "Okay, then go home early after you've sold everything."

Qiao Sanduo nodded and said, "I understand, Second Brother."

...11:00 AM.

The three Qiao brothers arrived in Shashi without incident, and came to a street with a high volume of customers and a large number of street vendors.

As the three brothers took tray after tray of eggs out of the bamboo basket and laid them out in front of them, they instantly attracted the attention of countless customers. After all, not many people had ever seen so many eggs piled up together.

As mentioned earlier, city dwellers in this era have a great demand for eggs. Now, seeing so many eggs displayed at a small stall, passersby are instantly captivated.

In less than half a minute, the Qiao brothers' stall was surrounded by customers.

The Qiao brothers continued to implement a sales policy of discounts for bulk purchases. An egg was sold for 5 cents, and a carton of eggs could be bought for 1 cents less, two cartons for 2 cents less, and so on, with no upper limit. Egg trays were also included as a gift.

Then, in order to save that 1 cents, customers would buy a whole tray of eggs at a time, and no one would choose to buy just a few eggs.

That's not right. It's not that no customers choose to buy just a few eggs, but rather that customers who choose to buy just a few or a dozen eggs instinctively choose to cooperate with other customers, with two or three people working together to buy a carton of eggs in order to try and get a discount.

It has to be said that, regardless of the era, people are quite quick-witted as long as there is a bargain to be had.

The Qiao brothers were happy to see this happen, as buying tray after tray saved them a lot of trouble and made selling eggs much more efficient.

Just as Qiao Erhe was busy selling eggs, a familiar voice came over: "Comrade Qiao, it's you!"

Qiao Erhe looked in the direction of the voice and found that the beautiful girl standing in front of him was none other than Miss Su, whom he had met by chance under the ancient ginkgo tree and who had been unable to forget her. He couldn't help but exclaim with delight, "Comrade Su, what a coincidence, we meet again."

Su Jinxiu smiled and said, "It's quite a coincidence. What brings you here to sell eggs?"

With a smile on his face, Qiao Erhe replied, "My family raises a lot of laying hens. These eggs are all laid by our own hens. We can't sell them all in our commune, so we thought of bringing them to Shashi to sell."

Su Jinxiu asked in surprise, "Comrade Qiao, did I hear that right? These eggs were laid by your hens? How many hens do you raise?"

Qiao Erhe casually picked up two trays of eggs and walked out of the crowd with Su Jinxiu, laughing, "These eggs are indeed laid by my family's laying hens. My family currently raises 2000 laying hens, including 1000 adult laying hens that are currently laying eggs, and 1000 chicks."

These two trays of eggs are for you; take them home and eat them!

Su Jinxiu was slightly surprised to hear this. After all, in this era, raising 2000 laying hens would definitely make someone a pioneer at the forefront of reform and opening up. When they met under the ancient ginkgo tree, she could tell from his conversation that this young man from the countryside was no ordinary person.

It now seems that it's even more impressive than she imagined.

Taking the two trays of eggs from the other party, Su Jinxiu took out three yuan from her pocket and handed it back, saying, "Comrade Qiao, I can't take advantage of you, you keep this money."

(End of this chapter)