Back to the 1970s: Building My Fortune Through Time Trading-Chapter 403: Cooperation

As they spoke, Su Xiaoxiao gave Chen Guanghai a knowing look.

Chen Guanghai instinctively nodded, "Yes, let’s make money together."

At this point, he also realized why Comrade Su wanted to do this.

By having several villages cooperate, they could take turns fishing, ensuring a steady supply of seafood, and help all the villages prosper together and coexist peacefully.

To be honest, none of them actually wanted to fight every day; it was all for the benefit of their villages, wasn’t it?

But if their interests were tied together, they would be like family and could unite against outside challenges.

Thinking about this, Chen Guanghai felt a bit ashamed.

His first thought upon hearing about this way to make money was to lead Chenhe Village to prosperity, making the surrounding villages jealous and envious.

Look at Comrade Su, with such vision and boldness, no wonder she’s a manager, and he’s just a village cadre.

Zhang Dashan, upon hearing this, gave him a suspicious look. Could this stingy Chen Guanghai really be willing to share such a good business deal with him? Could there be some kind of trick involved?

Otherwise, why would he be so generous?

With that thought, he directly asked, "Old Chen, what kind of scheme are you up to again? Don’t think I don’t know you. With your stingy nature, you’d rather go barefoot than wear out your shoe soles. How could you be willing to give me such a good business?"

Chen Guanghai’s face darkened as he corrected him, "First, please call me Chen Guanghai or Brother Chen. Second, we are partners, not giving you the business."

Zhang Dashan snorted lightly, a bit hesitant. The two villages had been at odds for so long that it was hard to believe Old Chen was truly being genuine.

But this opportunity to make money was indeed tempting...

Before he could reply, Zhang Dashan’s wife, Chen Xiaoju, slapped him on the back of the head. "Why hesitate on such a good deal? Every household in the village is about as poor as can be, barely scraping by, almost to the point of begging. What are you afraid of? Afraid they’ll cheat you or take your money? You have neither looks nor money, so what are you worried about?"

Zhang Dashan: "..."

He had to maintain some dignity, couldn’t he play the serious type for once? After all, he was the village head.

With that thought, he deliberately lengthened his face and scolded, "Men are talking, why are you, a woman, mixing in? This isn’t the place for your input. No one wants to think I’m afraid of my wife, now do they? Go home quickly..."

He hadn’t even finished speaking when he met his wife’s cold, piercing gaze and quickly fell silent.

Su Xiaoxiao: "..."

Isn’t it obvious that he’s afraid of his wife? Does he think no one notices?

"Ahem... Okay, Old Chen, I’ll speak on behalf of our village to agree to this."

The two villages soon reached a consensus, and Su Xiaoxiao asked Chen Guanghai to check if there were any tin craftsmen in the other village.

Making tin cans was a priority now.

And sure enough, there were indeed two craftsmen whose skills were on par with Third Uncle’s.

With that, they might even establish a factory dedicated to making tin cans.

After agreeing on the village cooperation, the two formerly fighting groups were now as close as brothers.

Indeed, there are no permanent enemies, only eternal interests.

As Su Xiaoxiao marveled internally, Third Uncle had already arrived with the first tin can he’d made.

"Su, girl, is this how it’s supposed to be?"

Third Uncle handed the finished can to Su Xiaoxiao. The silver-white can was exquisitely made with neatly welded seams, clearly crafted with great care.

Su Xiaoxiao examined it carefully and noticed delicate engravings on the surface, marveling at the craftsmanship that cold machines could never replicate.

She didn’t hesitate to give Third Uncle a thumbs up, "Uncle, you’re amazing, this is fantastic work!"

She filled the can with water to test its seal, and it was leak-proof, not a single drop leaked out. It was outstanding.

However, she considered that while the engravings were beautiful, they took too much time. They could print labels to stick on, which would be both attractive and efficient.

She immediately shared her thoughts with Third Uncle, who nodded repeatedly, acknowledging the girl’s ideas.

Once the can issue was resolved, Su Xiaoxiao started teaching Wang Xiujuan and some skilled village women how to make seafood cans.

A lot of people came, including Zhang Dashan’s fierce wife.

The people from the two villages still bore scars from their earlier fight, but now they sat together without any animosity, chatting and gossiping like villagers from the same community.

Seeing this, Su Xiaoxiao felt relieved; she had truly feared they might start fighting again, having noted earlier that these women fought even more fiercely than the men.

She first gave them a demonstration, and soon, one of the quick-learning older sisters stepped up to try.

To her surprise, although these women fought fiercely, they were quick learners.

By mid-afternoon, the group of about ten had all mastered the art of making seafood cans.

Coincidentally, Third Uncle had also completed the first batch of ten tin cans and had them sent over.

Su Xiaoxiao packed each can with a different type of seafood and temporarily labeled them with tags indicating the type, then joined Chen Guanghai to deliver them to the state-run restaurant in town.

Chen Guanghai had a good relationship with the manager of the town’s state-run restaurant and often brought fresh seafood there. However, due to the restaurant business’s downturn, they had been planning to stop procuring their seafood.

Manager Zhao, seeing Chen Guanghai coming over, frowned slightly. "Old Chen, you know our restaurant’s business is struggling. I really can’t handle more seafood orders. Perhaps you could think of another way, maybe at a big city restaurant?"

Having known each other for years, if he could help, he would.

Unfortunately, facing difficulties himself, their restaurant had been at the bottom of the revenue rankings for two years straight and was on the verge of closing. He himself didn’t know what to do next.

Chen Guanghai handed him a canned seafood product. "Old Zhao, listen, I know it’s tough for you. This is some homemade seafood preserves from back home. You’ve helped our village so much before, so I brought you something to try."

He slipped two cans to Manager Zhao, one with ribbon fish and another with octopus, both spicy.

"Oh, how could I accept this? I’ve always felt bad about the order issue, given our long years of collaboration."

Manager Zhao attempted to refuse, but with Chen Guanghai’s insistence, he had to accept them, feeling even more guilty inside.

"Alright then, Old Zhao, you take care, we’re off now."

Chen Guanghai waved with a big smile, departing with Su Xiaoxiao.

There are three state-run restaurants in town, and they needed to visit them all before going on to the city. Busy day ahead.

Manager Zhao watched them leave, taking the cans inside.

With hardly any customers around, he took out a can and caught a whiff of the enticing aroma, swallowing involuntarily.

After some hesitation, he opened the can.