Jiang Qingqing thought of something else later and turned to look at Zhang Liunian face to face, saying, "Did you have your physical examination today?"
Zhang Liunian met her gaze, his body stiffening. "Uh, I'll go tomorrow." He had indeed completely forgotten.
"Hmph! If you don't go tomorrow, I'll be angry," Jiang Qingqing pretended to be very angry, turned her back to Zhang Liunian, and kept a good distance from him.
Zhang Liunian quickly pulled her into his arms and said softly, "I was too busy and forgot. I'll definitely go tomorrow."
Actually, his arm had been fine these past few days, so Zhang Liunian had overlooked it.
"You must go." Jiang Qingqing didn't move anymore, letting her man hold her.
Seeing that she said nothing more, Zhang Liunian felt a little relieved.
The next morning, he had Zhang Qian deliver the crayfish, along with the ingredients and crayfish sauce.
Liu Xiaoxiao, who had been waiting there early, also received twenty bottles of crayfish sauce and hurried to the market.
Yesterday, she had given out all the samples to passersby in the market, and as a result, her fifteen bottles sold out very quickly.
Today, she had no more sample crayfish sauce, and she didn't know if she could sell any.
With a heart full of unease, she carried twenty bottles of crayfish sauce to the market, about to shout out a few times.
As soon as she appeared with the crayfish sauce, a middle-aged woman asked if it was the same crayfish sauce they had tasted yesterday.
"Yes, this is fresh stock I just got. Would you like a bottle?" Seeing the woman approach to inquire about the crayfish sauce, Liu Xiaoxiao took out a bottle and offered it tentatively.
"Are there still samples?" The woman's small eyes darted around, wanting to get a bargain.
Liu Xiaoxiao shook her head bitterly, "No more."
"How much is a bottle?" The woman was also very disappointed. Why were there no more? She had thought she could have another bite.
"One dollar and sixty cents, no bargaining." Liu Xiaoxiao was already selling it at the lowest possible price; she couldn't go any lower or she wouldn't make any profit.
The woman hesitated for a long time, and finally, thinking of the taste of the crayfish sauce yesterday, she gritted her teeth and slapped her thigh. "I'll buy it."
Yesterday, she had already tasted the crayfish sauce. To be honest, it was too delicious, too good with rice, and too addictive.
Although she had only had one bite, she still remembered the taste, which was no worse than the braised meat at the county's state-run restaurant.
"Give me a little less, sister." The woman was still reluctant to spend so much money and opened her mouth to haggle.
But Liu Xiaoxiao firmly shook her head in refusal.
Seeing this, the woman finally decided to buy it. "Forget it, I'll take one bottle!" With that, she suppressed the pained expression on her face and took out a dollar and sixty cents from her pocket.
Liu Xiaoxiao took the money and said happily, "Take care, Madam!"
She had sold a bottle as soon as she arrived, and Liu Xiaoxiao was very happy at this moment. But as soon as she finished speaking, a group of people surrounded her.
"What is it that costs one dollar and sixty cents?"
"Is it yesterday's crayfish sauce?"
"..."
"Delicious and rice-topping crayfish sauce, one dollar and sixty cents a bottle." Seeing that everyone was interested, Liu Xiaoxiao immediately started to persuade them.
Many of the customers who had tasted it yesterday immediately took out money to buy it upon hearing that it was the same crayfish sauce they had tasted.
In less than an hour, all twenty bottles Liu Xiaoxiao had brought were sold out.
Holding the money in her pocket, Liu Xiaoxiao was a bit overwhelmed. It was sold out? They didn't even need samples?
It was too fast!
How could it be so fast? This money was too easy to make.
No, if it weren't for Comrade Zhang's delicious crayfish sauce, she might not have sold them so quickly.
It seemed she would have to bring more goods this afternoon to earn more money.
Liu Xiaoxiao was very happy and turned to go home. But halfway there, she thought of something and changed direction.
It was because of her turning that she almost bumped into a woman.
"Don't you watch where you're going? If you knock over our crayfish, can you afford to pay for them?" the woman yelled at Liu Xiaoxiao.
Liu Xiaoxiao felt she was in the wrong and could only awkwardly apologize.
Wang Xiao'e, who had just arrived to set up her stall, saw this and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you taking my spot?"
Wang Xiao'e rushed to her spot, wanting to drive the woman away, but the woman had brought her whole family and was not afraid of Wang Xiao'e alone.
"I'm setting up here, what can you do to me?" the woman retorted, hands on her hips, and then let her husband and son set out the crayfish.
Wang Xiao'e became furious when she saw that she was also selling crayfish. "You shameless person, you're also selling crayfish, you disgrace!"
"You're the shameless one, crayfish belong to everyone, why can only you sell them..."
Liu Xiaoxiao didn't stay to listen to their argument and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Zhang Liunian woke up early and calculated that there were only 70 bottles of crayfish sauce at home.
He was not satisfied with this and wanted them to speed up production, but he also knew that the crayfish that needed to be sun-dried multiple times was indeed troublesome.
Unless there was a dryer, they wouldn't have to rely on the weather.
Now that the couple had some spare cash, a dryer costing a few thousand yuan was affordable. After reporting to his wife, he confirmed his idea of buying a dryer.
In the morning, Zhang Liunian took fifty bottles of crayfish sauce to make deliveries. First, he delivered one hundred jin of crayfish meat, ten jin of braised meat, and ten bottles of crayfish sauce to Grandpa Tang, and then went to the machinery factory.
"Uncle Zhao, does your factory have any drying equipment? Even a small one will do." After delivering the goods to the machinery factory and receiving nine hundred yuan, Zhang Liunian inquired about the dryer.
"We really have these things. We have both old and new ones." As soon as Zhao Zhijie heard that Zhang Liunian wanted a dryer, he got up and took him to see the factory's existing stock.
From large to small, from good to bad, from new to old.
"This machine is second-hand, but we've replaced the internal parts. Its quality can be compared to a new machine, but the price is similar to an old one. For you, it's the best choice in terms of both price and quality."
Zhao Zhijie stopped beside a dryer the size of a double-door refrigerator and introduced it to him personally, implying that this one was very suitable for Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian had used dryers before. He went up to look at the machine, asked about after-sales service and the drying capacity per day, and was very satisfied when he learned that it could dry one thousand jin per day. He immediately made the decision.
Because it was an old machine and he had an acquaintance, the price he got was not high, only three thousand yuan.
Zhang Liunian paid the money on the spot. Afterward, he said, "Uncle Zhao, please help me make four large iron basins and four large iron buckets, twice the size of the last ones."
Zhao Zhijie's steps paused, and he looked at him and said, "Have you found new customers?"
Zhang Liunian shook his head. "I've rented the county post office and plan to sell live shrimp there."
"You've rented a shop? That's good news! I've noted it down." He had helped Zhang Liunian make large iron buckets last time, so making iron basins this time was no problem.
"It's lunchtime, Uncle Zhao. Shall we go eat together?"
"No, maybe next time!" Zhao Zhijie refused and then reminded him to take his bicycle home.
Zhang Liunian smiled and said he would pick it up tomorrow. Then they chatted for a while before parting.
He took a tractor to the Datang State-run Restaurant. Even before getting off the tractor, he saw Liu Xiaoxiao squatting not far away.