Reborn in the 80s: She Rewrites Life with Radiance
Chapter 20: Covering the Production Room

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Covering the Production Room

In the evening, after settling Gu’s father, Gu’s mother and Gu Yi sat down for a chat.

Gu’s mother said that Gu’s father might not be feeling well, as this was the first festival Gu Yi spent away from home.

"You know your dad, out of your three siblings, he loves you the most. Your marriage was rushed, and he hasn’t adapted yet."

Listening to this, Gu Yi felt a sourness in her nose. Even though she was just living nearby now, in her past life, after moving to B City, she couldn’t imagine how sad her parents must have been.

Gu Yi thought that she must make sure to come back often to see them in the future.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Yi became even busier as she needed to deliver the bean sprouts ordered by Li Gang.

Li Gang was someone with a strong business acumen. He would buy Gu Yi’s bean sprouts and then wholesale them to other stall vendors at the vegetable market, making a profit on the difference.

So now, every time he made an order from Gu Yi, he would order a hundred catties, and they needed to be delivered every two days with a large quantity and tight schedule.

The shed behind the Ye Family’s house was no longer sufficing. To meet the delivery demands, Gu Yi discussed with the Ye Family’s parents to build a room on the vacant land behind the kitchen specifically for growing bean sprouts.

The Ye Family’s parents, seeing that Gu Yi’s bean sprouts were selling well, agreed with Gu Yi’s idea. Ye’s mother tended to defer to Ye Fu on major family matters.

Once decided, the next day Ye Fu went to find the village’s bricklayer to measure the foundation and determine how much brick, tile, and sand would be needed.

Gu Yi listened nearby and asked if they could also add a bath space, so the bricklayer suggested buying more bricks and sand.

Ye Fu followed the bricklayer’s advice and bought the necessary bricks, tiles, and sand.

In the evening, Ye Fu went to call on a more experienced laborer to help with building the house the next day, offering twenty cents a day plus a meal.

It was merely constructing a room, so Ye Fu gathered five people, including the bricklayer, and the basic frame was formed within a day.

The next day, the tiles were set in place. Given that growing bean sprouts required a lot of water, Gu Yi went and bought two truckloads of small stones to pave the ground.

The bathroom area was also paved with stones, so water could be poured out directly without needing to carry it in and out.

Originally, Gu Yi considered adding a toilet, but since there were no toilets available and a pit needed to be dug, she decided against it.

The vegetables for the meals on both workdays were purchased by Gu Yi the day before from the county.

For the side dishes, vegetables were plentiful from their own garden, so she only needed to buy some meat.

She was not stingy; she bought 5 catties of meat, two ribs, a 2-catty carp, and a 5-catty bighead carp, along with a chicken. Li Gang also gave her a few ears of tender corn and dropped her off at the station.

The food was cooked by her, with Ye’s mother and Ye Qian assisting.

On the first day, she cooked a dish of braised pork, braised carp, stir-fried eggs with chives, braised eggplant, stir-fried beans, cold bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, and a soup with ribs and corn.

On the second day, she made braised pork, sour fish, tiger skin peppers, spicy stir-fried eggplant, cold cucumber salad, sautéed bean sprouts, sour beans, and fish head tofu soup.

Not only was there an abundant amount of food, but Gu Yi’s cooking skills were also impressive. Although she cooked large quantities, everything was finished except for a little of the pickled vegetables and sour beans.

Those who worked returned home praising the Ye Family’s generosity and commending Gu Yi’s cooking.

From then on, whenever the Ye Family needed help, people from the village would come voluntarily, joking that they would help even without pay as long as meals were provided.

Once the house was completed, Gu Yi paid Gu’s father fifty cents per wooden box to make several more boxes, and once everything was prepared, Gu Yi’s bean sprout production unit commenced operations.

Following Li Gang’s orders, Gu Yi would soak beans every two days to grow a batch of bean sprouts, allowing her to deliver to Li Gang every two days.

Ye Fu was given the task of delivering the goods, renting a bullock cart from a villager who had one to transport the bean sprouts to the town for the driver to pick them up, no further management needed.

Gu Yi set his pay at two yuan per delivery, which included the cart rental fee. Initially, Ye Fu refused, saying he wouldn’t take any money.

Gu Yi jokingly said, "Dad, now Mom and Qianqian are earning money selling peanuts, and I’m making money with bean sprouts. You’re the only one without an income. This is your chance to earn money; don’t let Mom outdo you."

"Alright, Yiyi said she would pay you, so just take it. This way, we’re all earning. We could even build a two-story house later."

This time, Ye’s mother decided, which was rare. Ye Fu thought about it and agreed, after all, the money stays within the family, whoever holds it is the same, and since his daughter-in-law offered it, he accepted it as saving for them.

Life at home was bustling and thriving, and Ye Fu, who used to be stern, now had a gentle face, worked with enthusiasm, and even looked younger.

With the whole family busy, time flew by quickly, and in no time, it was the end of June.

Gu Yi’s weight loss plan also achieved initial success. In less than two months, she slimmed down from 130 catties to now 105 catties.

Gu Yi originally had good features, and after slimming down, her face appeared more defined.

The news of Gu Yi making money by selling bean sprouts had spread throughout the village, leaving the elderly envious and praising the Ye Family’s parents for their good insight, and complimenting Ye Hao for being fortunate, which made Ye’s mother feel elated.

Ye’s mother increasingly valued Gu Yi.

However, good times didn’t last long. By mid-July one day, Li Gang suddenly came to the Ye Family’s house looking for Gu Yi, seeming quite anxious.

It turned out that someone else was selling bean sprouts in the market at a price 1 dime cheaper than Gu Yi’s 3 dimes, and many of the vendors who previously bought wholesale from Li Gang shifted to buy from that person instead.

Of the 100 catties of bean sprouts Gu Yi sent yesterday, 50 catties remained unsold, which worried Li Gang.

Li Gang bought some bean sprouts from the competitor in the morning and brought them over to Gu Yi.

Upon hearing the news, Gu Yi wasn’t too surprised. After all, growing bean sprouts wasn’t particularly difficult, and having competitors was only a matter of time.

Gu Yi looked at the bean sprouts Li Gang brought.

"Brother Li, it’s okay. Yesterday’s 100 catties of bean sprouts, I’ll give them to you at the price of 2 dimes. Although your wholesaling might be challenged, your sales at your stall shouldn’t be bad. Look at these bean sprouts, they’ve grown almost 10 centimeters. While the yield has increased, the taste isn’t as good as those 6 centimeters long. People will compare and eventually come back to you. But I’m going to stop wholesaling. If you still want it, I can reduce the quantity, but I won’t lower the price. Think about it and let me know."

Gu Yi had anticipated this situation long ago; she originally intended to open a small food shop.

She was genuinely interested in food preparation, and with her previous life’s experience, but she had just returned and didn’t have the funds or conditions ready, so she started by earning some initial capital.

Over the past few months, she saved over a thousand yuan, and with the dowry and what the Gu Family’s parents gave her, it should be enough to buy a storefront and open a small shop.

Growing bean sprouts could be taught to Ye Fu and Ye’s mother. As long as they didn’t wholesale, sales to Li Gang and several villagers could provide a modest income.