Chapter 6: Selling Goods in the County Town—Qin Feng’s First Pot of Gold!

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Qin Feng had no intention of getting involved with these bloodsucking relatives any further and simply ignored Sun Xiao’e’s taunts. Seeing Qin Feng loading items onto the cart and ignoring her, Sun Xiao’e directly chased after him and reached out to grab the sacks on the cart. Liuzi, who now cared more about the goods on the cart than his own life, didn’t wait for Qin Feng’s reaction and quickly stepped forward, pushing Sun Xiao’e far away.

“What do you think you’re doing? Trying to steal something?” Liuzi scolded with a stern face. Sun Xiao’e was caught off guard by Liuzi’s swift action and stumbled backward. Before being pushed away, she caught a glimpse of the contents inside the sack—it was bright yellow pine nuts?! Those two little beasts had sneaked up the mountain yesterday; could they really have found something?!

Sun Xiao’e didn’t believe it. With winter approaching, there shouldn’t be any pine nuts on the mountain. Most likely, those two had secretly hidden the goods during the summer when the production team was collecting pine cones. Sun Xiao’e felt like she had uncovered a big secret; her eyes darted around but she didn’t rush to expose it.

“You little brats, can’t I even take a look?” Sun Xiao’e stood her ground, blushing with anger as she shouted. Qin Feng and Liuzi pushed the cart without even turning their heads, unwilling to waste energy on this domineering shrew.

“Hmph! Just wait until we get back—you’ll pay for this!” Sun Xiao’e sneered, her face growing darker. Qin Feng and Liuzi pressed on without stopping once they left the village.

Panlong Village was a full 120 li from Kaiyuan County, and the two had to arrive before noon. Although nearby towns had supply and marketing cooperatives, none were authorized to buy mountain goods. In the entire Kaiyuan County, only the largest county cooperative accepted this kind of fur and mountain produce.

The chilly weather and the snow from two days ago hadn’t melted yet; the rattling cart moved fairly easily over the snowy ground. Liuzi was full of energy and refused to let Qin Feng push the cart, insisting on doing it himself. Qin Feng sighed and quickened his pace to keep up.

After hurrying all the way, they arrived in the county seat past noon. Fortunately, the cooperative didn’t close for lunch and was open as usual. Qin Feng told Liuzi to secure the cart and went inside alone.

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“Hello, comrade,” Qin Feng greeted the woman behind the counter.

“What do you want to buy?” The woman’s tone was neutral as she looked at Qin Feng.

Qin Feng scanned the shelves filled with soap, sugar, cotton cloth, rapeseed oil, and a variety of other goods.

“Sister, we’re not here to buy anything. We’re here to sell something.”

“Sell something?” The woman frowned. With winter approaching, few people sold mountain goods. Qin Feng looked about seventeen or eighteen; what could he possibly be selling?

“We’re here to sell pine nuts,” Qin Feng said nodding.

“Pine nuts? Do you have a certificate issued by the village confirming the source?”

“I have to warn you, selling mountain goods privately is illegal. Without proof, I’ll have to report you!” The woman’s tone was interrogative.

Qin Feng quickly took out the certificate he had prepared beforehand and passed it over the counter. After reviewing it, the woman’s frown relaxed. “Bring it in.”

Though it was the off-season for mountain goods, the cooperative mainly existed to facilitate trade and did not suspend this service.

The pine nuts brought by Qin Feng and Liuzi were carefully selected by squirrels, so the price was naturally not low. In peak season, pine nuts were bought at 0.22 yuan per jin; now the purchasing price was 0.35 yuan.

After inspecting the quality of the pine nuts and weighing the sacks, the total was 138 jin. Qin Feng took the settlement slip handed over by the buyer.

The amount was 48.3 yuan!

For context, pork on the street now cost only about 0.7 yuan per jin. This sum could buy a great deal! Even if split evenly with Liuzi, it was still a fortune.

“Cash or food coupons?” The woman took the settlement slip from Qin Feng, her tone still indifferent.

Qin Feng glanced at the notice board behind the woman—food coupons were worth nearly three yuan per jin. He shook his head repeatedly.

“Cash is fine,” Qin Feng said with a smile.

After settling the payment, Qin Feng left the cooperative. Liuzi hadn’t followed inside but waited outside for him.

“Sold it all? How much did you get?” Liuzi asked eagerly, grinning.

“Forty-eight yuan and thirty cents!” Qin Feng said cheerfully, waving the money.

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“Ah!?” Liuzi was stunned; he had never seen so much money in his life.

“We agreed before: we split the money evenly.”

“Forty-eight yuan and thirty cents total; I thought about it—each of us gets twenty-four yuan.”

“The leftover thirty cents, we’ll use it to have a meal at the state-run restaurant later. If it’s not enough, I’ll pay,” Qin Feng said with a grin.

“That won’t do, not at all!” Liuzi waved his hands desperately.

“Before I left, my grandma told me to just take what I deserve. I only helped out a bit. Without you accompanying me, I’d still be stuck in the village planting potatoes. How can we really split it evenly?”

“Xiao Feng, just give me eight yuan! I want to buy my grandma a cotton jacket,” Liuzi rubbed his hands, sounding a little embarrassed.

Seeing this, Qin Feng gave his brother a playful kick.

“What nonsense are you talking? We agreed on the split, that’s final.”

“What do you mean by just taking what you deserve? If I give it to you, that’s what you deserve!”

Qin Feng didn’t entertain Liuzi’s excuses and shoved the twenty-four yuan into his pocket.

“Stop dodging like a girl! We’ll have plenty more chances to earn money!”

“From now on, we just wait to live the good life together!”

“Come on! Let’s eat at the state-run restaurant, then head back to the cooperative to buy some things. Today, we’re rich men!”

Qin Feng took the stunned Liuzi by the hand, pulling the empty cart, and headed to the state-run restaurant across from the cooperative.

Though they talked big, once inside the restaurant, they didn’t dare order expensive dishes—there weren’t many pricey options anyway. Most items required food coupons, even though prices were reasonable.

They ordered three simple vegetable dishes: stir-fried potatoes, eggs with black fungus, and cabbage stewed with vermicelli.

Along with the mixed-grain cornbread Liuzi had brought, they ate their fill.

“This big restaurant really is something else; the dishes taste great!” Liuzi said, wiping his mouth as they left.

“Next time, we’ll bring some food coupons, and I’ll treat you to something better—braised pork with rice!” Qin Feng encouraged him enthusiastically.