Chapter 12 Selling Watermelons for a Day and it’s Earnings!

An hour later, Mei Xiaoran had only a few watermelons left in her stall. She planned to leave after it was sold out. The rest of the watermelons are all the little ones left after others had their picks. She was thinking about a solution of whether to sell these watermelons for thirty cents, and at this time, Mei Zhonghua was back.

Mei Xiaoran happily went out, “Dad, you are back so soon?”

“I just ran to your old sixth uncle’s house and borrowed a bicycle and tied the cart to the back of the bike. That way, I am not afraid that I will waste time on my trip.”

Mei Xiaoran excitedly gave her father a thumbs up, “My dad is really capable!”

“Dad, this is the money from the watermelons that were just sold.”

When Mei Zhonghua received those several small bills from her daughter, he couldn’t even tell how happy he was inside. His daughter has really grown up and already knew how to share his burden!

Mei Xiaoran picked a small watermelon and cut it open. The pair of father and daughter each took half of it, “Dad, we’ve been busy for a while and we are also hungry. Now let’s eat a watermelon to ease our hunger first.”

“Of course, why not!”

After running back and forth, Mei Zhonghua had long been thirsty and hungry. He took over half of the watermelon and ate it. It’s just only a watermelon, they still can afford it.

Mei Xiaoran also ate it in a big mouthful. The watermelon is so sweet!

It’s not like the watermelons planted with chemical fertilizer in the future, which tastes like chemical fertilizer when one eats them. It’s an authentic farmer’s watermelon. When one bites , their mouth will be full of watermelon juice. It tastes sandy and sweet. Really delicious.

The pair of father and daughter are still gnawing at the watermelon when someone that saw Mei Zhonghua had pulled another cart of watermelons, came over as fast as the wind.

At this moment, the role played by the first cart of watermelons which hasn’t been revealed up to now, which was intended as a simple advertisement, has just taken effect. Watermelons are not like other things because they will be eaten when they are taken home. People who have tasted the delicious watermelons are naturally reluctant to miss the opportunity, so they hurried over to buy the second one. For those people who have not yet bought the watermelons before, under the recommendation of their relatives and neighbors, also rushed over to buy them, for fear of being too late. After all, they are the only seller and since the quantity of the watermelons is limited, it will be gone after they are sold out.

Among them is a person whose face is badly hurt, Qi Yao.

A moment ago she put down the cruel words just before leaving, but now she is riding a bicycle and running over to buy watermelons for the second time.

Bicycles were a rarity at that time. A bicycle cost one to two hundred Yuan and furthermore it could only be bought with an industrial coupon, which was obtained by Qi Guomin only because of the team leader’s status that he held. If it was another ordinary person, even with coupon and money in hands, it won’t be obtained so easily. After all, it’s still a planned economy, and there are limited commodities that circulate in the market.

Meizhonghua saw Qi Yao coming and went up to greet her warmly, “Yaoyao is here?”

“Uncle Mei, my dad asked me to buy two watermelons.”

Seeing Mei Zhonghua, Qi Yao even totally ignored Mei Xiaoran as if the one who just came a moment before was not her.

Mei Xiaoran deliberately asked while smiling, “How was it? That watermelon just now, was it delicious?”

Qi Yao gave her a fierce look and didn’t want to talk to her.

Mei Zhonghua attentively picked out two big watermelons for her, one tied to the companion seat behind and the other was placed in the front basket, “It’s all done. Slow down your speed when riding.”

Qi Yao turned around and left, but Mei Xiaoran stopped her. “Qi Yao, are you buying or robbing watermelons? One melon is fifty cents, two melons are one Yuan. Bring it out quickly. “

“Ranran, what are you talking about?” Meizhonghua quickly persuaded his own daughter, “Qi Yao is not an outsider. Dad gave these two watermelons to her.” For now, he still has to fawn over Qi Guomin. Two watermelons means nothing for him. As long as Qi Guomin is willing to give him land, even giving away two more watermelons to Qi Yao is nothing.

When Qi Yao heard this, she said proudly towards Mei Xiaoran, “Mei Xiaoran, you heard that, it’s your dad who gave these watermelons to me.”

“Well, since my father already said so, it’s not good for me to stop you anymore…… In any case, your family’s living conditions are not that good either. Having two free watermelons is nothing anyway. “

Qi Yao was furious when she heard that. “Who said that my family’s living condition is not good? My family even has a bicycle. How can we live a bad life? “

“I saw that you can’t even afford a watermelon. How is that living well?”

Mei Xiaoran deliberately raised her voice, which made Qi Yao unable to get off the stage and made other watermelon buyers laugh.

Qi Yao’s face was white with anger and she threw down one Yuan angrily, “This is one Yuan for you, I don’t want to take advantage of your family, it’s not like my family has no money.”

Mei Zhonghua hurriedly shoved the money into her hand. “Great niece, this money, uncle can’t accept it.”

Now Qi Yao will not take it back whatever the reason was. Her displeasure was shown on her face. “How can I not pay for buying something? I will not eat your watermelon for free. Keep the money well.”

When Qi Yao left, Mei Zhonghua was unable to restrain his complaint towards Mei Xiaoran. “You are really too much. Isn’t it just two watermelons, I still need to count on Team Leader Qi to give us land as soon as possible.”

“Dad, just think about it. Qi Yao’s dad asked her to come and buy watermelons. She took it away without paying even a cent. This one Yuan surely will be pilfered by her then. I’m sure that even if she goes home, she won’t tell the adults about it. Isn’t your favor given away for nothing? “

Mei Zhonghua thought about it and agreed, but still blamed Mei Xiaoran a bit, “Nonetheless, you must not speak unpleasant words.”

“My dear Dad, when dealing with people like her, one shouldn’t give her a good face*!” Mei Xiaoran said with a smile, “The money we earn from selling one watermelon isn’t that much, we don’t have to indulge in her temper. If you really want to give Qi Yao’s family a favor, might as well personally make the trip to send the watermelon there and still get the good side? “

(TN : be polite)

“Forget it, forget it. Dad can’t win over you. While there are still so many people at this time, let’s sell out the watermelons earlier and go home for dinner.”

This cart of watermelons is selling faster than that one before. Mei Zhonghua is also really good at picking melons, but there’s no one that doesn’t know about Xiao Dong Camp’s watermelon here. Xiao Dong Camp is an area full of sand, and the summer came earlier this year. It would even be strange if the watermelons were not delicious!

By noon, this cart of watermelons was sold out, with only two small watermelons left. Mei Xiaoran suggested taking them home to eat. One was of course reserved for her family to eat, and the other, she carried it directly to Du Chengjun’s* family in the courtyard.

(TN : actually, the writer typed Du Aijun here, but I corrected it back to Du Chengjun as how it was written in chapter 4. But if there’s really a change in name, I will revert this back in the future.)

“Auntie, my dad asked me to send this watermelon over.”

Li Cuiping looked at it once. Whatever the reason, she was too embarrassed to accept it, “What is this for? Take it back and eat it. I don’t want it.”

“Auntie, we have the watermelon at home too, moreover, it’s not an expensive thing. So, just accept it.”

That day, Li Cuiping had helped to hold her head high and she remembers this favor. Besides, giving the landlord a watermelon to nurture their affection is not an uncommon thing!

“This child is really too much. You treat us like an outsider.”

Li Cuiping still wants to refuse but Mei Xiaoran has already run into her house.

Mei Zhonghua asks Mei Xiaolei to put the watermelon in the well water and soak it there, and wait until Li Mingyun comes back to eat it together.

“Dad, let’s count how much we make today?”

Seeing Mei Zhonghua take out a lot of small bills, Mei Xiaoran was very excited.

In her previous life, she definitely has seen much more money than this, but the meaning is different. This one is regarded as her income from doing physical labor, so she inevitably becomes excited.

Mei Zhonghua counted the money and when he calculated again, he almost jumped up excitedly, “Twenty one Yuan and forty cents, excluding the cost of cigarettes. He made twenty one Yuan and forty cents, net!”

This figure makes him so excited. He can earn twenty Yuan a day? This is really something that he even dares not dream about, but he made it in the end!

Even if he sells grains, it can’t sell out so fast and the money earned won’t be as much. After all, selling grains can’t be done in a legitimate way.

Mei Xiaoran also becomes happy, “Dad, while the business is still good, you have to go pull two more carts of watermelons tomorrow. Before I start attending school, let’s earn another round together.”

“Why not? Tomorrow I will still go to Xiao Dong Camp to pull watermelons!”