"Today's haul is probably three to four thousand jin. Perhaps I should ask Old Master Tu to accompany me."
Looking at Shen Xue, who was already busy early in the morning, Chen Yang felt reluctant to have her go into town with him under the scorching sun.
Moreover, the donkey cart was loaded with too much, and he was afraid Shen Xue couldn't control the donkey well. If she were to fall, it would be a great loss.
If Shen Xue hadn't insisted that she had just bumped herself yesterday and her foot was fine, he would have had her rest at home or see a doctor.
"Chen Yang, I'm not as delicate as you think."
"People say that brothers fight side by side in war, and father and son fight in battle. Your family isn't in Shenjiaba, and you have no brothers to help. My father is also busy building our new house and can't get away.
As for business, as your wife, I must help. We are a couple; whatever we do, we must do it with one heart and one mind."
"I can drive the donkey cart. With your skills, you might not even be as good as me."
Shen Xue flicked the whip in the air, producing a sharp crack. The whip was much more skillfully handled by her than by Chen Yang.
Seeing Shen Xue's firm determination, Chen Yang couldn't say much more, but he was deeply moved.
Sharing hardships and joys, it's easy to say, but truly doing it is not simple.
And Shen Xue was putting it into practice.
The two of them drove the donkey cart, which creaked and groaned all the way to the aquatic products station. When weighed, it was over three thousand eight hundred jin. Accountant Hu paid Chen Yang over two thousand two hundred yuan.
After deducting the payments to the villagers, Chen Yang took home nearly fifteen hundred yuan.
Receiving the money, Chen Yang felt a surge of happiness. However, with Zhang Weiyang's business getting started, he suspected all this money would soon be reinvested.
Buying a damaged radio cost anywhere from ten to twenty to thirty yuan. The thousand yuan given to Zhang Weiyang, after deducting his father's medical expenses, left only five hundred yuan, which wasn't enough to buy many radios.
This didn't even include the repair fees for the maintenance electricians at the Hongxing Machinery Factory, so Chen Yang would need to invest a considerable amount of capital later on.
However, with a larger investment, the returns would also be greater.
An old radio, without ration coupons, as long as it wasn't too badly damaged, could be sold for sixty yuan, which was half its original price. Even heavily damaged ones could fetch thirty to forty yuan, enough for those desperate for a radio for their wedding to reluctantly buy.
This was basically a doubling or even tripling of profit, so Chen Yang naturally wasn't worried about the investment. He wished he could invest even more.
He wasn't afraid of not finding buyers for these second-hand radios.
The main reason was that new ones were too expensive, and there were plenty of people who couldn't afford them or didn't have ration coupons but still needed a radio.
After delivering the fish, as usual, they bought two jin of meat at the food factory. Chen Yang and Shen Xue, with their little baby, strolled around the county town.
In the past, when they came to town, they were poor and dared not look at anything. Now it was different; they had money and naturally wanted to see what they could buy.
"Wife, look, they're selling chicks here. Why don't we buy some chicks to raise at home? They can lay eggs for Yanyan when they grow up."
As they passed a small alley, Chen Yang saw someone selling chicks, no bigger than the palm of his hand, in bamboo cages.
"Let's buy a few, but not too many."
Hearing Chen Yang's words, Shen Xue felt a flicker of desire. She had always wanted to raise some livestock at home, but the family was too poor to even afford enough food. How could they feed livestock?
But now it was different. Chen Yang was earning money, and the family had enough to spare for livestock feed. She also wanted to raise a few chicks to lay eggs and for meat during the New Year.
"Boss, how much are these chicks?"
Chen Yang walked up to where the chicks were being sold and asked.
"One mao each. If you take them all, I'll give them to you for one yuan. I'll even throw in the remaining two and the cage."
The old man selling the chicks seemed nervous, like it was his first time doing this, and he was eager to sell and leave. Chen Yang heard that it wasn't expensive. One yuan for twelve chicks and a cage was incredibly cheap.
"Alright, here's one yuan. The chicks and the cage are all mine now."
Before Shen Xue could even come over to take a look, she saw Chen Yang carrying the chicken cage and taking all the chicks.
"Why are you taking so many? The production team doesn't allow people to raise so many chickens."
Shen Xue was stunned when she saw Chen Yang taking so many chicks. She wanted to raise some, but not this many. If they raised one or two chickens for personal use, the production team would overlook it.
Raising so many would be like poking the eye of the old party secretary. They might even confiscate the chicken cage later.
"My dear wife, don't you worry. Life will only get better and more lenient. What's a few chicks?"
"The villagers have all benefited from selling fish to us. Who would come to dismantle your chicken coop? Besides, do you think we're the only ones raising more? Everyone is earning money from selling fish and can afford grain. They can also dig up wild vegetables from the fields. Who wouldn't want to raise a few more chickens for eggs?"
Chen Yang comforted Shen Xue. By now, about eighty percent of Xiaogang Village had adopted the household responsibility system. What was raising a few chicks compared to that?
"Daddy, the chicks are fluffy and so cute."
The little baby, seeing the chicks in the cage like little balls of yarn, round and fluffy, started chirping like a spinning top, circling them.
Children have no resistance to such fluffy and cute little animals.
Seeing that the little baby also liked them, Shen Xue didn't say anything more. Instead, she worried about how they would keep these chicks confined when they got home.
The little baby didn't know her own strength. She liked the chicks, but if she squeezed them too hard, these chicks might not survive.
Driving the donkey cart, with a clattering sound, as they passed the fabric store at the department store in the market, Chen Yang's gaze inadvertently swept over the silk and brocade inside.
It was then that Chen Yang smacked his forehead. He had been so focused on food these past few days that he had forgotten that his wife and daughter didn't have any decent clothes.
The clothes Shen Xue and the baby were wearing now were all patched. It was just that Shen Xue's needlework was so good that they were barely noticeable if one didn't look closely.
"Wife, since we're passing the fabric store, let's go in and see if there's any suitable fabric. After we got married, you haven't made a decent piece of clothing for yourself."
"Yanyan's clothes are also getting small. We need to make her two new outfits."
Chen Yang also wanted to buy new clothes for Shen Xue directly, but in this era, buying fabric required fabric coupons, let alone ready-made clothes.
Everyone would save their fabric coupons for several years, then gather enough to buy a few feet of fabric and find a tailor to make custom-made clothes.
"But I didn't bring any fabric coupons when I went out today."
As soon as she heard Chen Yang mention buying fabric to make clothes, Shen Xue's eyes lit up.
What woman doesn't love beauty!
But in the past, the family was so poor they couldn't afford to eat. Shen Xue had never dared to dream of making new clothes.
She saved the fabric coupons issued every year. Only when the baby was born did she reluctantly tear off a few feet of fabric to make a few outfits for her. She hadn't brought the rest.
"How can this little matter trouble your husband? You go in and look at the fabrics first, find something you like, and wait for me. I'll be right back."
With money, why worry about not having coupons? Chen Yang wasn't buying from Old Master Liao for the first time.
Thinking of Shen Xue standing before him in a new outfit, Chen Yang wished he could drive the donkey cart like a horse carriage.