Lin Yinghui rested at home for a day. The next day, he took the things his mom and sister prepared, and had Li Congnan take him to the station.
Five hundred pounds of vermicelli, packed into more than a dozen bags. He could only arrange railway transportation. There were no direct routes with passenger freight, but there was cargo transport that went straight to their city. Besides, he needed a letter of introduction.
This really stumped Lin Yinghui, as these weren’t for the factory; there wasn’t any receiving unit.
Lin Yinghui couldn’t leave that day. Thankfully, Li Congnan’s dad knew someone on the railway, pulled some strings, and slipped twenty yuan to someone to secretly get him on the train.
Lin Yinghui spent two days networking, and on the third day, he and Li Congnan managed to arrange cargo transport. A dozen bags of vermicelli cost twenty-eight yuan, which really pained Lin Yinghui.
Immediately after parting with Li Congnan, Lin Yinghui quickly boarded the passenger train.
On this trip, Lin Yinghui suffered quite a bit. Mainly, the goods were troublesome to handle. He spent a whole day and night on the train, had to transfer once, and when he got to their city, he hurried to collect the goods. Who knew the goods hadn’t arrived yet, so Lin Yinghui waited in the city the whole morning.
He found someone with a tricycle, gave him five yuan, and had the goods transported out and himself taken back to the county.
Fortunately, when he arrived in the county, he met his uncle and Liang Zhi. Thankfully, they had a handcart; otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to get everything back.
"Ah Hui, it’s been a long time since you’ve been back. How are you all doing over there these past two years?" his uncle said, patting Lin Yinghui’s shoulder when he saw him.
"How come you suddenly came back? What did you bring?" Liang Jian Country asked, puzzled, looking at the dozen or so bags of goods.
"Vermicelli from the North, similar to the noodles here, but made from sweet potato starch, a bit coarser, but tastes good. Xiao Wan and I think people here might accept it, so we’re selling it here for a profit," Lin Yinghui whispered into Liang Jian Country’s ear at the end.
Liang Jian Country’s eyes widened. "Isn’t that taking advantage of people?"
"Dad, that’s not right. Just this year, several people in our village have made money buying and selling things on their own. Uncle Wang made several trips to the county selling eggs his family saved. I heard from Ah Zuo (Uncle Wang’s son) that they made quite a bit of money," he overheard his dad’s words just now. "Buying food and clothes in town is the same. If you can make money, no one cares what others say. Anyway, the policy has changed now, and it’s allowed."
"Yeah, Uncle, my mom and little sister opened a restaurant in the city. Business is good, and no one says anything."
"There are a lot of noodles here; can this make money?" Liang Jian Country knew the reasoning. The money his sister sent over these few times added up to hundreds, which he was aware of.
Although people in the village have all been assigned land and made contracts, they can feed themselves, but it’s not much money to speak of. Every year, a family can make thirty to fifty yuan, and that’s a large amount.
Lin Yinghui also considered this issue. Just now in the city, he found several stores open, whether restaurants or grain and oil shops.
Even if it doesn’t sell well in town, he can still try restaurants in the city. Good things will always have a market, especially in winter.
The winter in his hometown might not have as many dishes as the North, with only two or three kinds. But still, not much.
He hadn’t been back in two years, and the originally rundown house was no longer habitable. Lin Yinghui could only stay at his uncle’s house.
Liang Hongmei brought several sets of clothes for the Little Grandmother and aunt, as well as for uncle, cousins, and everyone in between, not missing anyone.
She also specially brought back a few pieces of fabric. In addition to these, there were also some foods from the North.
Lin Wan also brought a radio and a small alarm clock.
These two items were really something; the cousins found them incredibly novel.