263: Lu Yu: Why doesn’t she leave yet?

Cheng Pingwei raised the list in his hand to Jiang Fei: "Twenty-odd seasonings, and you want a million grams of gold?"

Jiang Fei said seriously: "Seasonings are no longer being produced by factories. The ones I have, once a bottle is sold, there's one less, so the price will naturally be higher."

"This is already a discounted price with the change rounded down for you."

Cheng Pingwei didn't believe her at all.

Boss Jiang was clearly ripping him off.

However, they were in a cooperative relationship now, and there was no need to fall out over such a small matter, so he could only accept the bill.

How desperate could Mo Yanan have been to partner with a bandit???

Putting away the bill, Cheng Pingwei left, still puzzled.

Jiang Fei asked Su Liuyuan and Han Yang to bring two more tables and place them next to the wild bamboo shoot dumpling tasting.

One table was set with various fruit juices, tea beverages, and milk.

The other table had a contribution card swiping machine and an electronic scale.

She wrote a sign that said "Exchange Point" and placed it in front of the drinks. Jiang Fei recorded a message on a handheld loudspeaker about exchanging willow catkins for drinks or contribution points, and hung it at the main entrance for continuous broadcast.

Before long, several residents were attracted and came into the store to inquire.

"Can willow catkins really be exchanged for drinks or contribution points?"

"You wouldn't be scamming us, would you?"

Jiang Fei: "This event is jointly organized by us and the military, it's absolutely real."

"Five catties of willow catkins can be exchanged for one bottle of drink, or five contribution points."

The few people were tempted.

The items at Ping An Small Mall were indeed good, but the prices were high.

Gold, unlike contribution points, couldn't be earned back once spent, so they only bought necessities and couldn't bear to buy drinks or milk.

Moreover, the base's wages were low, and jobs were hard to find. Most families had only one person working to support the entire family.

The rest of the people stayed at home with nothing to do.

But now it was different; collecting ten catties of willow catkins could get them a bottle of drink and five contribution points.

The few people who wanted to help their families immediately went back to find bags to collect willow catkins.

Someone saw this scene, curiously went to inquire, and after learning that they could exchange things, also went to get bags and collect.

The news spread that very day.

willow catkins easily clung to skin and clothing, making them difficult to put into bags after collecting.

The wind would also blow the willow catkins away.

What was more deadly was that it could cause skin allergies, rhinitis, and other problems.

It wasn't as simple as the residents imagined.

But no one gave up.

These were drinks and contribution points!

They went home, put on masks, sunglasses, hats, changed into long sleeves and long pants, and returned to continue collecting, determined to get the event benefits.

Residents collected day and night, accumulating several large bags, which they then uniformly sent to the Small Mall.

To prevent a large amount of willow catkins from blowing in if the door was kept open, Jiang Fei had residents queue outside, allowing only three people in at a time to exchange.

To prevent anyone from putting stones in the bags to increase weight, Jiang Fei and the others would first open the bags and inspect the willow catkins.

Once confirmed, they would weigh them and exchange them for drinks or contribution points for the residents.

The collected willow catkins were sealed and stacked in an empty space on the first floor, waiting for Cheng Pingwei's people to pick them up.

Jiang Fei's share was placed in the storeroom.

Every day before closing, she would secretly put them into the Supermarket warehouse, lest Xiao Hei accidentally bite open a bag and spill the willow catkins.

Jiang Fei would occasionally let Xiao Hei out, put on a harness-style leash, and tie him at the exchange point to maintain order.

Xiao Hei was large and fierce-looking, so residents who came to exchange willow catkins were all polite, and no one dared to cause trouble.

Being bitten by a large black dog was no joke.

At best, it would be a torn skin; at worst, a chunk of flesh would be gone.

None of them wanted to suffer.

Knowing that Jiang Fei wanted willow catkins, Jiang Zhengkang and the others also went to collect them after work. They didn't drink the exchanged beverages but brought them back and put them back on the table, solely for accounting purposes to boost sales.

Not only that, but the increased number of people coming to the mall indirectly boosted the sales of wild bamboo shoots, dumplings, and seasonings.

Su Liuyuan and the others were too busy, so Jiang Fei started coming to help every day again.

In the evenings, she would use a walkie-talkie to call Lu Yu, Xiao Chuxia, and the others to the Small Mall to eat together.

Zhou Wanqing would bring gold bars to freeload dinner whenever she had time, occupying the seat next to Jiang Fei.

Xiao Chuxia was on Jiang Fei's other side.

This meant Lu Yu could only sit opposite Jiang Fei.

Watching Zhou Wanqing, who had stolen his seat, blushingly put food into Jiang Fei's bowl, Lu Yu stabbed a potato slice in his bowl with a chopstick.

Why wasn't she leaving yet?

After dinner, Lu Yu couldn't help but find Jiang Fei to whisper.

"Did Zhou Wanqing say when the discussion meeting would end?"

Jiang Fei: "No, she's not sure about the time either."

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Lu Yu calmly replied: "A member of the Rescue Team was curious about the discussion meeting and asked me to inquire."

What he was thinking, however, was—

He hoped Zhou Wanqing would leave soon.

The next day.

Jiang Zhengkang and the others, as usual, used their off-work hours to collect willow catkins.

Jiang Fei went to the storeroom to collect gold.

Cheng Pingwei's people had already taken the willow catkins and delivered a batch of gold, including the money for the seasonings bought last time.

System: [Ding—Detected gold: 18,700,000 grams]

[Current unlock progress: 25%]

She really earned a lot this week!

After restocking the empty seasoning shelves, Jiang Fei cleaned while waiting for everyone.

About an hour later, Jiang Zhengkang and the others returned.

Usually, each person could collect a full sack, but tonight they only brought back three sacks.

Su Liuyuan plucked the willow catkins from his body and complained: "These people are too good at collecting. When we went, all the clumps of willow catkins on the trees and by the roadside were gone, and the good spots were already taken."

Jiang Zhengkang: "I just saw a few people using butterfly nets to catch willow catkins in the air. They're really dedicated."

Han Yang: "How about we get up early tomorrow to collect them?"

Yao Jin: "Don't even think about it. I got up at five this morning for my run, and there were already many people collecting willow catkins on the road."

Noticing Cao Xiuhong wasn't there, Jiang Fei asked: "Where's Aunt Cao?"

Jiang Xiaoshi: "Aunt Cao said she went to a farther place to collect willow catkins and would come back once she had a full sack. She told us to go home first and not wait for her."

Speaking of Cao Xiuhong, Jiang Zhengkang sighed: "Sister Cao has been feeling guilty because Ge Zhicai caused trouble at the mall last time, and she feels like she bothered us. She's been rushing to work, diligently collecting willow catkins, and constantly doing housework at home."

"We've talked to her privately, telling her that Ge Zhicai's trouble had nothing to do with her, but it didn't help."

"Fei Fei, Sister Cao listens to you. If you have time, talk to her and tell her not to feel burdened."

Jiang Fei: "Okay, you all go home. I'll stay at the mall and wait for her."

"We'd just be sitting at home anyway, so we might as well wait with you. We can also make some more shepherd's purse dumplings to freeze." Su Liuyuan brought flour and shepherd's purse, preparing to make dumplings.

At 10:30 PM, Jiang Fei and the others had made a full 20 bags of dumplings and put them into the freezer.

Niu Er: "It's been two hours already. Why hasn't Aunt Cao come back yet?"

"Could she have gone home?"

Jiang Zhengkang: "No, the house key is with me."

"She has her walkie-talkie. I'll contact her and ask."

Jiang Zhengkang called for a long time on the walkie-talkie but received no reply from Cao Xiuhong.

"Everyone, let's split up and search."

No sooner had Jiang Fei's voice fallen than—bang!—

The mall's main door was crashed open.