"I only have a few kilograms of bran at home. It's six cents a kilogram. If you want it, you can leave an address. I'll send it to you when the market closes in the evening."
Whether they could continue trading in the future was another matter. It was already a good thing that he could clear his inventory first.
"Alright, we'll take as much as you have at this price." Lan Shu immediately told the vendor the address of their rented house.
She could tell that the stall owner actually intended to trade for a long time, but before that, he might still be worried.
Was she afraid that if he collected too much, she wouldn't want it anymore? Was that why he had to take a look at where they lived before making a decision?
It was normal for the stall owner to have such concerns. Lan Shu could understand.
Hence, other than leaving an address for the stall owner, she also left a deposit.
Once the bran arrived, she would pay the remaining amount.
The stall owner was a straightforward person, and he saw that the young lady trusted him so much.
Although he had not agreed to help the young lady collect the wheat bran for a long-term deal, Lan Shu could tell from his attitude that the deal between the two of them was more or less settled.
…
In the afternoon, Lan Shu brought Xiao Bai to a nearby restaurant for lunch.
A bowl of beef noodles for each person cost a total of 80 cents.
In each bowl of noodles, there were seven to eight slices of beef. The soup was delicious, and the noodles were firm. The meat was also real.
This bowl of noodles made Lan Shu sigh again at the price of goods in this era. She really loved it!
In the afternoon, the two of them did not look for vendors to get wheat bran anymore. Instead, they found an old street and knocked on every family's door to buy bran from individual households.
The efficiency of collecting bran this way was not high at first because some families did not have any, and some only had a few catties.
However, not long after, Lan Shu told an old lady surnamed Zhang that she wanted to collect a large amount of wheat bran. She also said that if Old Madam Zhang could get someone else to sell it to her, she could give Old Madam Zhang a cent for every catty.
Hearing that she still had a chance to earn money at her age, Old Madam Zhang naturally wouldn't miss it!
She immediately called out to her old friends who usually chatted with her and spread the news that someone was collecting bran.
By evening, Lan Shu and Xiao Bai received more than 50 kilograms of wheat bran from Old Madam Zhang alone.
In addition to the other individual households they had reached out to all afternoon, the bran they collected weighed almost 200 catties.
Now that they had gathered the bran, their biggest issue was figuring out a way to transport all of it.
Fortunately, the old lady was easy to talk to. After hearing that Lan Shu would come to collect bran once a month, she took the initiative to suggest that the bran could be placed in her courtyard for the next two days.
This way, they could wait for Lan Dazhuang to drive the tractor to the county and transport it together.
Lan Shu and Xiao Bai returned to their rented house before dark.
When the two of them returned, the stall owner had already delivered dozens of catties of wheat bran.
He learned that the young lady and the young man beside her had gone elsewhere to collect wheat bran in the afternoon, and they had collected almost 200 catties worth.
The stall owner no longer hesitated and directly agreed to the long-term partnership.
With Old Madam Zhang and the grain vendor as two stable wheat bran supply points, there would be enough wheat bran for at least three to four months before the number of chicks in their free-range chicken farm at the back of the mountain increased greatly!
…
The weather in October was already starting to get cold at night.
At night, Lan Shu and Xiao Bai had dinner together under the hospitality of the landlady's sister-in-law.
In the house that the two of them rented, there was also a blanket borrowed from the landlady's sister-in-law for temporary use.
When they were shopping for clothes and shoes in the mall during the day, Lan Shu had forgotten that they still needed to lay out things at night. Fortunately, the landlady's sister-in-law was a good person and did not let them freeze.
The next day, Lan Shu called Xiao Bai out to buy things early in the morning. Before she left, she stuffed ten yuan into Xiao Bai's pocket.
When the landlady's sister-in-law woke up and got up to cook for her son, she realized that there was already half a pot of soy milk and a few big buns on the stove in her kitchen.
In the courtyard, Lan Shu had just finished washing up. When she saw that the landlady's sister-in-law had woken up, she immediately smiled and greeted her.
"We wanted to thank you. We bought a lot for breakfast, so let's eat together."
Although she said that, Sister-in-law Xie understood that the food on the kitchen stove was clearly specially bought by the two young people for her and her son.
Initially, Sister-in-law Xie only thought that since the two young people did not bring anything with them and had come all the way to rent a house, she would more or less take care of them.
It turned out she had exchanged kindness for sincerity. Sister-in-law Xie was very glad that the tenants she met were not bad.
…
After breakfast, Lan Shu did not plan to continue bringing Xiao Bai to collect wheat bran today. Instead, she planned to make a trip to the paper mill in Qingyang County.
The two of them had already collected more than 200 catties of bran yesterday. In the next two days, they would be receiving more from the two suppliers—Uncle Chen and Old Madam Zhang.
By the time her brother came to the city, it would be enough to pull a cart of bran back.
Therefore, after completing the target mission in advance, Lan Shu could go and do her own thing.
The paper factory in Qingyang County was not far from the machinery factory. It was near Linfu Street.
Considering that Xiao Bai might have a chance of meeting Old Madam Lin who lived at the bridgehead of Linfu Street, Lan Shu did not intend to let Xiao Bai accompany her this time.
Before leaving, she specially changed into the long-sleeved dress with white floral patterns that she had bought at the mall yesterday. She put on a pair of black leather shoes and undid the braids that she usually tied behind her head. She draped her hair over her shoulders.
When Lan Shu tidied herself up and came out of the house, Xiao Bai, who was in the courtyard, took a look and was stunned.
This was the first time he had seen Sister Lan dressed like this!
Although Sister Lan was much thinner than when he first saw her, her figure was not slender. However, dressed in this waist-length dress, she looked much thinner than yesterday!
Lan Shu was not old to begin with. Now that her hair was let down, her long hair was naturally curled, which perfectly accentuated the shape of her slightly round face. It changed her simple and honest appearance, making her look like a young and fashionable woman.
At this moment, Xiao Bai even felt that Sister Lan was quite good-looking!
Soon, Xiao Bai saw that Sister Lan was walking out of the door but did not ask him to follow her. Xiao Bai subconsciously asked, "Sister Lan, where are you going?"
Lan Shu stopped in her tracks and looked at Xiao Bai. "The place I'm going to is close to your relative's house, so wait for me at home."
"That won't do." Xiao Bai frowned slightly. "What if you encounter trouble when you go out alone? Brother Dazhuang won't be at ease if I don't follow you!"
What Xiao Bai did not say was that Sister Lan was dressed like this now. He was really worried about her going out alone!
Lan Shu knew Xiao Bai's good intentions. "But…"
"No buts. How can there be such a coincidence?"
Xiao Bai had already made up his mind. He would definitely accompany Sister Lan.
As for the probability of meeting his relative, he did not think too much about it.