Reborn as a Tough Army Wife-Chapter 117 - 112 Deposit (Three Updates Arrived)

Chen Rong thought it over and felt it was feasible, but then, with a somewhat troubled expression, she looked at Fang Pingying and said, "That would work, but how much do you need? If you pick too many and then don’t want them, it would be troublesome for us."

Fang Pingying understood what she meant. If she picked too many and then didn’t want them upon returning, Chen Rong would feel at a loss and would have wasted effort.

Although somewhat calculative, it was indeed the truth.

Fang Pingying gave her a slight smile, "In that case, you pick as much as you have, and I’ll leave ten yuan as a deposit with you. I’ll pay the rest when I come back."

Hearing about the ten-yuan deposit, Chen Rong’s eyes flickered, and she began to mentally calculate.

The meaning of a deposit was that regardless of whether Fang Pingying wanted the dates later on, the deposit couldn’t be taken back.

She usually made only one or two yuan at most from her market stall. On bad business days, the earnings were not even enough to cover the stall fee. The ten yuan offered by Fang Pingying amounted to at least her monthly income.

Since she and her husband didn’t have much to do at home during this season, just hanging around idle, they surely needed to earn this money.

However, having dealt with Fang Pingying for a while and being somewhat familiar with each other, she felt a bit awkward directly accepting her money and feigned a smile to politely decline,

"Sister Fang, why don’t you keep the money? Give it to Hong Lan. I will still set up my stall every market day, and you can have Hong Lan come here to pick up the dates. We can pay for as many as we collect. Putting so much money in my hands all at once, and the dates haven’t even reached your hands, you might feel uneasy."

Fang Pingying directly took out the money and stuffed it into Chen Rong’s hand, smiling, "I’m not uneasy. I’ve known you, Sister Chen, for so long. I know your character, and I’ve even visited your home. What is there to worry about? I doubt you’d concoct any trouble over a mere ten yuan."

Upon hearing this, Chen Rong quickly reassured, "Absolutely not. Although my family isn’t wealthy, I stand by my word. If you trust me, I’m more than willing."

"That’s settled then. I’ll take as many dates from your mountain as you have, and as for the price of the dates, I’ll pay two cents more per pound than the current rate, which will cover the money for helping me pick and dry the dates." After saying this, Fang Pingying glanced at Luo Honglan and then added to Chen Rong,

"Originally, I could have had Hong Lan come every market day to collect the dates, but she is young, and her family is not at ease letting her come to town alone. If I am not at home, her days coming to town will certainly be few. Además, once home, she might not know where best to store them. It’s better if you handle it, and I’ll just pick them up from your place during the New Year."

Chen Rong was efficient at work, immediately patting her chest in assurance, "Done, done. Trust me, I will handle the dates well, no need for you to worry."

"I’m counting on you then. If the money isn’t enough, I’ll make up the difference during the New Year, don’t worry, you won’t be shortchanged." But currently, dates aren’t worth much, and Fang Pingying estimated that ten yuan, including labor costs, should about cover it, even if there’s a small shortfall, it shouldn’t be a big deal.

"Now you’ve given me money before I’ve even prepared the dates, what worries could I possibly have?" Having received the money, Chen Rong naturally stopped worrying about these issues.

Fang Pingying actually quite enjoyed dealing with Chen Rong.

Chen Rong, who had her little schemes and liked to snag tiny benefits, placed great importance on money, but she also knew her limits and was easily satisfied. Once you let her gain a little advantage, she would deeply trust you.

Her smartest trait was her contentment; she never pried into others’ affairs.

When it comes to taking advantages, it’s not just Chen Rong; in these hard times, most rural women harbored such thoughts.

For example, in Luojia Village, there are many who come to see Fang Pingying because they know she trades here, always bringing their children for a visit, then Fang Pingying gives some treats to the kids.

Another example is Fang Pingying selling jujube flower cakes. Some cakes don’t turn out well because of the stove, and they don’t look as good, so Fang Pingying then sets the price lower by twenty cents per jin.

The women see that the taste is the same, only the appearance is not nice, yet they can save twenty cents per jin, many people prefer to buy these, also saying that once the food is in your stomach, it all tastes the same, who cares what it looks like.

After discussing the matter of good jujubes with Chen Rong, Fang Pingying’s stall was almost sold out.

She had planned to take Hong Lan to the post office to set up a bankbook first, but worried that Luo Honglan and her daughter might come over, and if they didn’t see them, they might think she broke her promise, which would be rude.

Thus, Fang Pingying didn’t take Luo Honglan along, but instead packed up her goods and sat in front of her stall, chatting with Chen Rong from time to time.

Chen Rong’s stall wasn’t doing very well today, making only two yuan all morning, but since she received such a big deal from Fang Pingying, she was happy inside, not minding how her own stall fared, and chatted spiritedly with Fang Pingying.

Fortunately, Fang Pingying and her didn’t wait long at the stall before Xiao Ling and her father came by.

Seeing that Fang Pingying’s stall was empty, Xiao Ling immediately became anxious and shouted, "Sister Fang, you promised to save some jujube flower cake for me, you didn’t forget, did you?"

Fang Pingying handed over the three jin of jujube flower cake she had set aside for her from a basket, smiling as she said, "Here it is, how could I forget?"

Xiao Ling immediately became happy upon seeing it, hugging the jujube flower cake and tearing open the paper wrapping to stuff one in her mouth, continuously exclaiming how delicious it was.

Director Liu, following behind her, looked at his daughter with a doting smile, then pointed at the jujube flower cake and asked Fang Pingying, "How much?"

Thinking she would need his help later, Fang Pingying smiled and waved it off, "Let it be, consider it a gift for Xiao Ling to enjoy. Xiao Ling has bought quite a few things from my stall, I’ve been meaning to give her some to try."

"That won’t do, you’re running a business, you can’t just not take money," Director Liu said, handing three yuan to Fang Pingying, "I remember your little sister just said the jujube flower cake is 1.6 yuan per jin, so I’ll give you three yuan. If it’s not enough, I won’t add any more, consider it a token of the relationship between you and my Xiao Ling."

Hearing Xiao Ling’s father say so, Fang Pingying felt too embarrassed to insist further, so she took the money.

She realized that Xiao Ling’s father probably also noticed that Xiao Ling said she bought two jin of jujube flower cake, but Fang Pingying had added an extra jin or more of jujube cake in the package, obviously more than two jin.

He specifically gave two jin worth of money, also leaving room for Fang Pingying and Xiao Ling to have their friendly exchanges, essentially saying that he doesn’t oppose the interaction between Xiao Ling and Fang Pingying.

Understanding this layer, Fang Pingying smiled and replied, "Then I’ll follow Director Liu’s instructions."

Director Liu smiled, then introduced himself to Fang Pingying, "My surname is Liu, name is Liu Fengsheng, you can call me Fengsheng."

Fang Pingying smiled faintly, feeling that the relationship between her and Liu Fengsheng wasn’t quite at the level to use that informal address, she thought it more appropriate to still call him Director Liu.

But as he had already proposed so, Fang Pingying didn’t feel right to refuse, so she simply didn’t start using any title but just looked at him and smiled. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets or monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)