The next day, Cheng Su didn’t even finish the lunch market before she handed over the remaining tasks to Qiulan and headed to He County early. The first person she looked for was still Sister Wang since the last time they chatted, she knew that Sister Wang’s family had also planted an acre of pineapples.
Being acquaintances, Cheng Su naturally thought of Sister Wang first. Now that she came to wholesale pineapples, Sister Wang came to her mind first.
Sister Wang was very surprised; in her opinion, Cheng Su’s ideas were always quite unique. The last time she mentioned renovating the restaurant, and now she was talking about buying pineapples to eat?
But she was also very happy. Cheng Su thought of her, which meant a personal favor, and moreover, if the pineapples at home couldn’t be sold, they could only wait to rot. Now Cheng Su wanted them; of course, she was delighted—it was also an income.
After much bargaining, Cheng Su bought two hundred pineapples for ten cents each in one go.
"Sister Wang, I won’t hide it from you. I’m going to make some jam with these pineapples. I can’t handle it all by myself. Do you think you could help me find some people to peel these pineapples? I’ll pay ten cents for each one," Cheng Su added.
"Ten cents each, just to peel?" Sister Wang was astonished and couldn’t help asking, "Girl, I don’t know what you are intending to do, but isn’t this too much to spend? Ten cents each, wouldn’t that be too much?"
Hearing her words, Cheng Su felt comfortable in her heart because Sister Wang was truly considering things from her perspective, sincerely wishing her well.
"Don’t worry, Sister Wang, I have it all planned out. Just find the people." Cheng Su said cheerfully, "This is just a trial with two hundred pineapples. If this venture is successful, I’ll probably come to wholesale even more later. There will be plenty of business to do with you."
Sister Wang, seeing her swearing by her words, gritted her teeth and said, "Alright, since you’re not short of money, I’ll call someone right away."
In that era, although the country had opened up, many people in the countryside were still in poverty. Earning an extra twenty cents wasn’t easy. The work that Cheng Su brought was an opportunity for the women in the village who were not otherwise busy.
Not to mention, it was just peeling pineapples, which were abundant in their area, and peeling them was a skill they had long since mastered.
Sister Wang called her sisters-in-law and her own daughter, and they all went to work on the task that Cheng Su had given.
At first, everyone was skeptical. Who would be so foolish as to pay people just to help peel? But once Sister Wang reassured them and they saw Cheng Su take out the money, they believed it. They brought their stools and knives from home and started working quickly and skillfully.
Asking people to help peel was something Cheng Su thought of on her way over. She had inquired at a kitchen appliance factory, but couldn’t find any machine that could peel the pineapples. It had to be done manually, and if it were just her, peeling alone would break her hands. If she let others peel, it would save effort, and it wasn’t a big deal to spend some money.
So, that’s why she asked Sister Wang to find people to help.
Seeing how quickly Sister Wang and the others were peeling the pineapples, leaving behind just the "eyes" of the fruit to be soaked in brine, Cheng Su felt her decision was right.
Pineapples needed to be soaked in saltwater to eliminate their itchiness and improve taste, and Cheng Su thought one step further: this way, the pineapples, once peeled, preserved better than if they were just peeled and not soaked.
"It looks like I’ll be able to make the jam tomorrow." Watching the pile of pineapples with skins swiftly decrease, revealing the yellow flesh, Cheng Su smiled.