Ruling the Historical Romance Novel as the Female Supporting Character-Chapter 117: Bustle for Her Business

His sneaky appearance frightened Su Yijia, making her jump. She had felt quite relaxed until this moment, but suddenly anxiety shot through her.

However, Xu Li’an didn’t seem to notice her unease and waved at her.

Su Yijia clenched her hand on her shoulder bag strap, her face growing tense, but eventually walked over.

"Why were you hiding in the grass?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"I got a lot of things with the money you gave me. They are too conspicuous outside, so I had to hide them in the grass," Xu Li’an explained, beads of sweat glistening on his tanned skin.

It was clear that he had been waiting here for a long time, but he showed no signs of impatience.

"They have so much to sell?" Su Yijia was genuinely surprised. She had asked Xu Li’an for help, but she hadn’t expected that he would be able to obtain so much.

Only when she saw the three bulging sacks hidden in the grass did she realize the full extent of the situation. The bags were of the large type used in the village, capable of holding two to three hundred pounds each.

These sacks were packed so full that it was apparent they held three hundred pounds each.

"I bought three hundred pounds of soybeans. The supply and marketing cooperative buys them for five cents per pound, but I offered seven cents, which totals 21 yuan. As for the fresh corn, the cooperative buys them for one cent per pound, but I offered one and a half cents. These two bags together weigh six hundred pounds, which comes to nine yuan. The total comes to 30 yuan, which is the exact amount you gave me," he explained.

The prices he offered were much lower than Su Yijia had anticipated.

Su Yijia had to exert extreme self-control to keep the laughter that was welling up inside her from spilling out. She took out eighteen yuan from her pocket and handed it to Xu Li’an. "This is the agreed-upon reward for you."

"I can’t accept so much!" Xu Li’an hastily took a couple of steps back. "You said you’d give me two cents for each pound, but fresh corn doesn’t need two cents per pound."

"If I said it, then I will do it. Business is a deal, and it wouldn’t be fair for you to bear the risk if I didn’t cleared things before. Besides, even though I’m making a lot more money, that wouldn’t mean I would give you more," Su Yijia advised, her expression stern.

Even though she had overpriced the corn, she was still making a significant profit.

Xu Li’an hung his head low and stared at the money in Su Yijia’s hand as he digested her words. After a full minute, he reluctantly accepted the money.

"So, now that you have some money, do you still want to help me collect these items in the village?" Su Yijia asked.

Xu Li’an had innate talent, and now that he had some capital, he should be able to find his own way to make money. While she needed his help, she couldn’t force him into her service.

"Do you no longer need me to help you?" Xu Li’an asked uneasily.

"I certainly need you!" Su Yijia affirmed confidently.

Xu Li’an finally smiled with relief. "Then I’ll continue to help you collect items!"

Although eighteen yuan seemed like a substantial amount, for their family, it was pitifully small. His mother’s illness, his grandfather’s condition, and his malnourished younger sister all required immediate attention and money, which this amount wouldn’t cover.

Su Yijia took out two hundred yuan from her pocket and handed it to Xu Li’an. "This time, I still need you to collect soybeans, corn, and dried peanuts. The fee for your work will be the same as before, one yuan for every pound you collect."

Xu Li’an opened his mouth, thinking of the corn incident, but decided not to bring it up since it might pry into Su Yijia’s secrets.

"Okay! When should we meet next?" Xu Li’an asked, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Su Yijia, who originally wanted to wait longer, ultimately set the meeting for two days later. "I’ll bring you the bags next time," she said. The cost of these bags added up over time, and it was quite a bit of money.

"Alright," Xu Li’an didn’t insist on being polite and looked at the three bags behind her. "Can you carry all these things by yourself? Or is someone coming to pick you up? If not, I can stay here and accompany you until your people arrive."

"No, you don’t need to. I’ll be fine on my own. Just remember, even when I have someone with me, I’m not an easy target to mess with," Su Yijia quickly declined. She could easily put these things into her personal storage, and having Xu Li’an stay here would only complicate matters.

"Are you sure you don’t need me? There are many thugs in the nearby villages," Xu Li’an remained concerned.

Su Yijia, with an understanding smile, shook her head, "I’m sure. You can go back now. Once you leave, my people will come immediately. It’s safer for each of us to operate independently."

"Alright, then," Xu Li’an realized that their operation couldn’t be too public, so he agreed to leave.

Su Yijia waited for Xu Li’an to leave, and then she spent ten minutes in the grass. Nearly getting bitten to death by mosquitoes, she asked the system if Xu Li’an had gone far.

[Yes! He’s totally gone!] 666 deducted one usage of golden finger from Su Yijia, then proudly provided the answer.

Su Yijia immediately stored the three large bags into her mobile warehouse and crawled out of the bushes. She waited for the minibus while refining oil using the system.

From the 300 pounds of soybeans, she extracted 100 pounds of oil, and from the 600 pounds of corn, she got 22 pounds of oil. Even though the corn cost her 21 yuan, she could sell the oil for 79.2 yuan, making a significant profit.

With the refined oil in hand, she headed to the black market. When Qiu Yanqing saw her, he was momentarily taken aback, but upon noticing that she wasn’t carrying any oil containers, his expression turned somewhat disappointed. Nevertheless, Su Yijia smiled and waved him over, and he quickly joined her.

The two of them walked to a nearby alley, where Su Yijia asked him to wait outside. She entered the alley and placed the oil-filled plastic containers in a corner. Afterward, she signaled for him to enter. Qiu Yanqing was ecstatic when he saw the containers filled with oil.

"I’ll wait here while you bring my people over. Just two of them will do," he urged.

Su Yijia followed his instructions and called his men over. They, along with Qiu Yanqing, carried the containers back to her courtyard. After verifying the weight, Qiu Yanqing eagerly handed Su Yijia 499.2 yuan.

"Here, 439.2 yuan is for the oil you provided just now, and the remaining 60 yuan is for the Whitening Lotion," he explained in detail.

Su Yijia’s eyes lit up upon hearing the news, "The Lotion has sold?"

"Yeah, I’ll know in a week if it works well," Qiu Yanqing replied with a somewhat bitter smile. Waiting for the results can indeed be a bit agonizing.

He had managed to sell two bottles to the Cultural Troupe, two to the Textile Factory, and the remaining two to the City First High School. The City First High School was the only school that combined both middle and high school levels. These three places had not only a lot of girls but also the girls there had some money. Qiu Yanqing had to pull some strings to convince them to try the product. If anything went wrong, they might have to face some serious consequences. After all, the girls buying the lotion were the most attractive of the three places.