“I want food stamps,” Qiao Mei said as she placed down the bowls and chopsticks.
Xia Zhe quietly tugged at the corner of Qiao Mei’s sleeves and said, “I have those.”
He felt a little uncomfortable seeing He Ning and Qiao Mei having a conversation. Moreover, he knew that Qiao Mei was a little money-grubber and he could already feel her eyes about to light up if they continued with this topic.
“Those you have are not even enough to feed yourself!” Qiao Mei gave him a look, telling him not to interrupt her.
When Xia Wen heard this, he almost laughed out loud. It was still acceptable if anyone should say that he did not have enough food stamps. However, to say that Xia Zhe did not have enough food stamps was treating He Ning like a fool who would believe that.
Xia Zhe had more than enough food stamps to feed the entire Xia family. However, he understood that Qiao Mei was plotting against He Ning and held back his jealousy as he sat at one side without saying anything.
“I don’t want ordinary food stamps. I want the national food stamps from the years 53 to 55 in all kinds of denominations. I want them in equal bundles and I want new ones. Let’s say… 100 sets. I won’t take advantage of you. I’ll exchange local food stamps worth 1,000 catties with you. Let’s consider the difference of 20 catties to be your discount,” Qiao Mei said.
Looking at Xia Zhe next to her, Qiao Mei asked, “Do you have food stamps worth 1,000 catties?”
Qiao Mei suddenly remembered that it was actually illegal to buy and sell food stamps in private, but exchanges were allowed. Of course, no one would use national food stamps to exchange for local food stamps. If someone was willing to do that, he would be called a fool.
Xia Zhe’s work took him away from home all year round. The food stamps they used at home were mainly Xia Mao’s food stamps. Xia Zhe had no use for his food stamps over the years and had saved them up.
“No problem,” Xia Zhe nodded and said.
He Ning frowned and looked at Qiao Mei. He really could not understand why she would make such a ridiculous request. It was not as if the Xia family could not give her what she wanted, so why did she ask him for it? Moreover, she even wanted to use local food stamps worth 1,000 catties to exchange for national food stamps worth 980 catties. Did Qiao Mei not know that she was making a loss?
She even specified the years of issuance and wanted brand new ones. What kind of requirements were these?
Moreover, it was not as if national food stamps could get more food than local food stamps. What was the use of exchanging for them?
To He Ning, it was not a big problem except for the part that Qiao Mei wanted brand new food stamps. This was the difficult part because he would need to send someone to go to a special warehouse to find them.
Could it be that the Xia family was setting a trap for him?
He Ning sized Qiao Mei up suspiciously.
After Qiao Mei finished setting the table, she sat down and said, “I only have this request. You can take the flowers away when you bring the food stamps.”
Qiao Mei had no intention of setting a trap for He Ning. These food stamps would be worth between 30,000 to 80,000 dollars per set in the future. If they were brand new, they would be worth more, and the value would just continue to increase every year. After all, these were rare items that could not be reproduced.
“Don’t tell anyone about the exchange of food stamps,” Qiao Mei added.
Actually, if the Xia family wanted to gather these food stamps, they would definitely be able to obtain a lot as well. However, when people eventually realized the value of these food stamps in the future, they would talk about it. By then, people might say that the Xia family was in possession of the country’s resources and that would not sound good. Furthermore, these 100 sets would eventually be worth tens of millions of dollars in the future.
If He Ning was the one who handled this matter, even if someone found out about it later, the matter would fall squarely on He Ning’s shoulder. It would have nothing to do with the Xia family.
After some consideration, He Ning agreed to Qiao Mei’s request. From what Qiao Mei said, there was nothing inappropriate about her request, so he decided to tentatively agree.
Qiao Mei happily took a separate portion of the dishes upstairs to eat with the womenfolk of the Xia family.
During this era, many families had different dining areas for the menfolk and womenfolk to eat separately, especially when there were visitors in the house. Moreover, they had a particularly unlikable guest today who refused to leave even when he should.
Huo Gao found himself in a very awkward position. He did not know whether to sit or stand or to go elsewhere. He was so embarrassed that his ears turned red.
Should he sit at the table? He did not dare to do so.
He knew all about He Ning’s plans and that He Ning would not be easily restrained by this three-year agreement. He Ning would definitely think of all kinds of methods to secretly create trouble for the Xia family.
He was also there when He Mei and He Ning made their plans. They spoke freely in front of him and had never hidden anything from him. He knew very well what He Ning was going to do to the Xia family next.
Despite what He Ning had planned, he still had the cheek to dine at the same table as the Xia family.
This was not just being thick-skinned anymore, this was simply being totally shameless!
