Chapter 141: Making Friends
“Little sis, let’s go.”
Ning Qingyuan walked over and patted Ning Xiyue, who was standing there with a gossip-loving expression, and led her out of the supply and marketing cooperative.
“Brother, how did you notice?” Ning Xiyue followed closely behind, asking curiously.
“If even you could notice, then of course I could too. We’re siblings — we’re about the same level.”
Although he was a simple person, he wasn’t stupid. The way those two women had deliberately approached him today and tried to strike up conversation — if even his silly little sister could sense their intentions, then as her older brother, of course he could too.
Ning Xiyue shot him a dissatisfied glance and pretended to hit him in anger, but in the end, only lightly patted his arm.
“Hey, Second Brother, are you praising me or insulting me? Still, I’m surprised — pleasantly surprised — at how you handled it.”
“Of course I’m praising you. Sis, you believe me, right?” Ning Qingyuan blinked his sincere, wide eyes with a strong will to survive, then quickly changed the subject to avoid the topic. “Didn’t you say you wanted to take me somewhere? Let’s go now.”
“Yes, follow me. I’ll take you somewhere nice.”
Ning Xiyue took the lead, guiding him toward her little courtyard. Along the way, she quietly explained the situation to him, mixing truth with lies to make the story sound plausible.
“Brother, I was lucky. When I came to town, I happened to come across an old courtyard being sold. And I happened to have some money left over from collecting those debts, so I seized the opportunity and bought it. After that, I rented it out to someone who helped me repair it. I kept one small room for myself. I went to see it today — it’s been fixed up, and it’s pretty nice.”
“How big is it? And how much did you pay?”
Ning Qingyuan asked carefully. He was worried his sister might have been scammed — there were always people who targeted naive girls like her.
One lie needed more lies to cover it up. Having read plenty of stories, Ning Xiyue answered fluently, wearing an expression as if she had struck gold.
“It was quite a bargain — only 100 yuan for 500 square meters. I even have the deed and land certificate. If the seller hadn’t been desperate and the house hadn’t been in such bad shape, I might not have been able to snag the deal. I guess I was lucky.”
“Next time we come to town, we’ll have a place to rest.”
As she spoke, she pulled out the property deed and land certificate from her pocket as proof.
Ning Qingyuan, still a little suspicious, took them and examined them carefully. When he saw the official seals and Ning Xiyue’s neatly written name, all his worries disappeared, replaced by joy.
“My sister really is lucky. I’ve been in the countryside for two years and never come across anything this good.”
Ning Xiyue smiled silently. She hadn’t either — she just had reliable connections. One “System” (a resourceful helper) was worth more than a thousand soldiers.
While they were talking, they arrived outside the courtyard.
“We’re here. Look — this is the place. There’s someone home, so let’s knock.”
This time, the door was opened by Li Quan, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. He still looked as refined and gentle as ever. When he saw Ning Xiyue, he quickly welcomed them in.
Ning Xiyue caught a faint whiff of Chinese herbs and chicken soup on him, which made her crave soup too.
“Comrade Xiyue, long time no see. And this is…?”
Ning Xiyue pulled Ning Qingyuan closer. “Let me introduce you. This is my brother, Ning Qingyuan. Brother, this is Comrade Li Quan, who lives here. He’s a buyer for the supply and marketing cooperative.”
“Hello, Brother Li.” Ning Qingyuan greeted him while discreetly sizing him up.
Li Quan maintained his gentle smile. “Hello, Brother Ning. Oh, by the way, I just received a batch of defective fabric that needs to be dealt with. Would Comrade Xiyue be interested?”
One of the perks of working at the cooperative was that employees were the first to know about and buy defective goods without needing ration tickets and at a lower price. As a buyer, Li Quan had even greater access and opportunities.
The most sought-after defective fabrics were often snapped up by employees who told their families first. They were always gone in an instant.
This time, he had kept some for himself, and since the homeowner was here, he decided to offer some as a goodwill gesture to strengthen their relationship.
Ning Xiyue hadn’t expected him to be so direct. After a moment’s pause, she readily agreed.
“That’s perfect. I was just thinking of buying some. Thank you, Comrade Li.”
Li Quan led the siblings into the house, where his wife, Wu Junya, brought out two bolts of cloth — a ten-foot light blue piece and a twelve-foot dark blue one.
“This lighter one has a section that was poorly dyed — the color is uneven and blotchy. The dark blue one has a small oil stain, but otherwise, there’s nothing major. Take a look, Comrade Xiyue.”
Ning Qingyuan immediately took a liking to the light blue fabric.
“Sis, the light blue one looks great — perfect for making summer dresses.”
Ning Xiyue didn’t mind either way — both colors were nice. But buying fabric wasn’t the main goal — building a good relationship was. Since Li Quan had extended the olive branch, of course she would take it.
Li Quan pushed both pieces forward. “You can have both if you want.”
Ning Xiyue smiled and shook her head. “Thank you, Brother Li. One piece is enough. We’ll take the light blue one — my brother and I both like it.”
In the end, Ning Xiyue bought the ten-foot light blue defective fabric for 10 yuan — no ration tickets required.
At the cooperative, a foot of fabric cost 1.5 yuan and required about 0.3 yuan worth of ration tickets.
No wonder defective fabric was so popular — it was much cheaper.
But without connections, it was almost impossible to get.
After buying the fabric, they chatted with Li Quan for a while.
During the conversation, as Li Quan talked about his usual procurement work, Ning Xiyue took the opportunity to bring something up.
“Brother Li, you’re well-informed and knowledgeable. I have something I’d like you to take a look at.”
“Oh? Sure.” Li Quan was a little curious about what she meant.
Ning Xiyue dug into her pocket and pulled out two 70-year-old ginseng roots and one 20-year-old root, placing them in front of him.
“Can you help me see if these are ginseng or angelica?”
Ning Qingyuan was momentarily stunned. Was his sister planning to sell ginseng? Could Li Quan be trusted?
Li Quan immediately recognized them as ginseng — high-quality ones at that — and very fresh. Two of them were clearly quite old.
His mind immediately went to a visit he’d made earlier that day — the director of their cooperative had asked him to keep an eye out for high-year ginseng for his sick father, something that could save his life.
If he could buy these three roots and present them to the director, his promotion to head of the procurement team would be guaranteed.
“Miss, these are indeed ginseng. These two are about seventy years old, and the smaller one is around twenty.”
Li Quan, sincerely trying to build a friendship, didn’t try to deceive Ning Xiyue. He told her the truth without hiding anything.
“To be honest with you, I have an elder in poor health. I was just trying to find something to nourish him. Would you be willing to let me have these three ginseng roots?”
It was a good thing he hadn’t tried to play any tricks. That gave Ning Xiyue a favorable impression of his character — he was honest and worth befriending.
A future magnate in home appliances and real estate was definitely worth building a connection with — it would make hoarding properties much easier later.
“We’re friends, after all. Since Brother Li’s elder needs them, Brother, let’s let him have these three ginseng roots.”
Ning Xiyue looked at Ning Qingyuan for his opinion.
Li Quan then turned to Ning Qingyuan, who nodded in agreement with his sister.
“Brother Li, we can talk about it first before making a decision.”
Hearing that, Li Quan finally felt a little relieved. He was halfway to success — now they just had to discuss the terms of how the ginseng would be “shared.”
To get his promotion, he had to acquire them.
Li Quan was determined.
And Ning Xiyue and Ning Qingyuan were more than happy to see how things would play out.
