A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 64

Old Man Zhang puffed on his water pipe, his voice raspy. “I’m old and useless now. I can trip even on flat ground. Broke my hand, I did.”

Shen Sisi looked at his hand with concern. “They say it takes a hundred days to heal bone and muscle, let alone at your age, Elder.”

“Exactly. The doctor said these hands of mine can never lift heavy weights again. This oil mill… it’s finished. Closed for good.” Old Man Zhang looked at the workshop he had built from nothing, filled with a thousand emotions.

Since the man was injured, Shen Sisi felt it would be insensitive to press him further.

“Little girl, if you want to buy oil, there’s a Wang Family Oil Shop on the next street. Head over there,” Old Man Zhang suggested.

Shen Sisi shook her head. “Grandpa, I just came from there. Their oil is decent, but the price is too steep—it’s even more expensive than the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.”

Hearing this made Old Man Zhang flare up. “That Wang fellow! He’s surely seen that I’m transferring my business and is taking advantage of being the only oil seller around to hike up his prices!”

Shen Sisi agreed it was likely, though there was no proof. “He’s just harvesting the ‘leeks’ for now. Once your mill is transferred to someone else, he’ll have to drop his prices,” she noted.

Her words were like a key that unlocked Old Man Zhang’s box of grievances.

“You have no idea. Not a single person who’s come to look at this mill is any good. They’re just like my two children—I wanted to pass down the craft to them, but they weren’t willing to learn. They said we should just hire people…”

Those looking to take over were only in it for the money; how many were truly willing to spend the effort to learn the craft?

“This is ancient-method oil pressing, passed down from our ancestors. It can’t just be lost like this…” Old Man Zhang was still indignant. He even claimed that if someone were truly willing to learn his craft, he’d be willing to sell the mill for a 200-yuan discount.

Shen Sisi looked around the mill. It was quite large. “Don’t you feel it’s a pity to sell it?”

Tears welled in Old Man Zhang’s eyes. “It is a pity, but there’s no choice. My children are filial; they insist on taking us to live with them. This mill would just sit here gathering dust. We won’t be coming back to Jiangcheng. Better to sell it than let the bugs eat it.”

Shen Sisi finally understood. The old couple was moving away but couldn’t bear to see the mill and the old craft go to waste, so they were stuck in this stalemate.

“Then, how much do you plan to sell the mill for?” she asked casually.

Old Man Zhang held up one finger. “One thousand yuan!”

“One thousand yuan?!” Shen Sisi’s heart thundered. So expensive! In Jiangcheng, a storefront on a main street only cost about a thousand yuan, let alone this remote Cotton Lane on the edge of the city.

“My lot is large, the pressing tools are all included, and there’s a group of experienced old workers and established suppliers. It’s a turnkey operation,” Old Man Zhang explained.

Calculating the “hidden” value of the staff and suppliers, Shen Sisi realized the price wasn’t actually that bad. “In that case, it shouldn’t matter if the buyer learns the craft or not.”

“Wrong, wrong…” Old Man Zhang spoke with a touch of scholarly refinement. “How to select materials, the steps of the pressing process—it still needs someone who knows what they’re doing. Most importantly, I need to see if the person has a conscience. My family mill cannot be used to make inferior oil that harms people!”

Shen Sisi couldn’t help but admire the old man. He was actually thinking of the greater good.

“If I meet a kind-hearted merchant who is willing to learn the craft, I wouldn’t mind selling it for seven or eight hundred yuan.”

Shen Sisi slapped the table. “You said it! No taking it back!”

Old Man Zhang raised his clouded eyes and finally looked at her properly. “You… you’re not here to buy oil? You’re here for the mill?”

Shen Sisi smiled like a cunning little fox, her eyes curving into crescents. “I originally only planned to buy oil, but I’ve changed my mind.”

Rather than begging for oil, dealing with price hikes, and worrying about quality, it was better to own the mill. Even if the medicinal oil business was slow, she could produce cooking oil—it was a guaranteed profit.

Old Man Zhang was speechless. He hadn’t expected such a young girl to want his oil mill. “A little girl like you, can you handle the hardship? Do you have any idea how grueling oil pressing is?”

“One of our rammers weighs over two hundred catties (100kg). Can a little girl like you even budge it?”

Two hundred catties… that was indeed a challenge. But where strength failed, intelligence could take over. Her eyes darted around. “If I can lift the rammer, will you sell the mill to me at a discount?”

“You can’t have anyone help you…”

“No problem!”

Old Man Zhang gave her a disdainful look. A delicate girl talking so big—wasn’t she afraid of tripping over her own tongue?

“That’s only one step. There’s material selection, roasting, oil preparation, and finally the pressing. There’s a lot of knowledge involved…”

Shen Sisi knew Old Man Zhang was being difficult on purpose. Perhaps he didn’t care about the ancient craft as much as find a way to keep his old workers employed. If the mill switched to mechanical pressing, his old friends would be out of a job.

“Aside from that, how do you prove your conscience?” Old Man Zhang’s gaze suddenly became sharp and piercing.

Shen Sisi smiled gracefully, pulled a sample of her medicinal oil from her bag, and placed it before him. “Elder, this is medicinal oil I made myself. Rub it on your arm. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll know my conscience.”

Old Man Zhang found this intriguing. Using a bottle of oil to prove one’s conscience was a first for him. Is this girl just playing tricks? he wondered.

“So mysterious. I don’t know what you’re up to…”

“Grandpa, just try it…”

After much persuasion, Shen Sisi finally convinced him to take the oil. Then, seeing two remaining barrels of soybean oil, she bought them both on the spot.

Taking over the mill could be discussed later, but the hundred bottles of medicinal oil were urgent. She called for a cart driver, loaded the barrels, and hopped on. She made a quick stop at the black market to buy more herbs before heading straight back to the military compound.

Along the way, she attracted many curious looks. Everyone wondered why Shen Sisi was buying two barrels of oil—was she planning to eat oil for every meal? Shen Sisi ignored them, parading through the streets with her head held high.

When she finally got home, Xu Hongying was in the courtyard collecting eggs. She stared as Sisi had the driver move two barrels of oil into the kitchen.

“Sisi, what on earth are you doing?” Xu Hongying was startled. That much oil would last for years; wouldn’t it go rancid?

Shen Sisi paid the driver and turned to Xu Hongying. “Mom, I’m making medicinal oil. Niuniu is at Sister Wenhui’s house; could you please go pick her up for me?”

Xu Hongying wanted to ask more, but being given a task, she could only head out full of questions, planning to grill her later.

By the time she returned with Niuniu, Shen Sisi was already steaming herbs. The bitter, medicinal scent of Chinese herbs wafted through the entire courtyard.

“Mommy…” Niuniu rubbed her round belly and let out a massive burp.

Shen Sisi’s eyes crinkled. “Just how much did you eat?”

Niuniu held up several fingers, wiggling them until she was sure she had it right. “I ate eight!”

Shen Sisi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she pressed down Niuniu’s ring finger. “This is eight, my little ancestor. How could you eat so many?”

“Auntie’s meat dumplings were so good!” Niuniu said, smacking her oily, glistening lips.

“Even if it’s good, you must eat in moderation…” Shen Sisi insisted she stay up for a while before sleeping, otherwise she wouldn’t digest it properly. “Go play with your paper-cutting.”

Then, she turned around to find Xu Hongying craned her neck, staring intently into the kitchen.

“Mom, if you want to ask something, just ask!”