Chapter 78: Disaster Relief Cotton Tents

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Disaster Relief Cotton Tents

Another busy day came to an end. Yun Zhen still hadn’t come up with a useful solution, so her only option was to try her luck at the flea market.

"Second-hand cotton quilts at half price! Only two yuan a catty! It’s an absolute steal, so come and take a look, everyone!"

As she passed by a particular stall, Yun Zhen suddenly noticed a small, house-like structure used to block the wind. Despite the wind and snow battering against it, it stood completely still. It didn’t seem to let any drafts in, either.

It looked as if it were built from coarse, heavy cloth. Wasn’t this exactly the substitute for a house that she had been looking for?

Yun Zhen stepped forward to ask where she could buy such a structure.

Seeing a customer approach, the stall owner immediately perked up. "Are you looking to buy quilts, miss? They’re on a half-price special! Usually, they’re four yuan a catty, but right now, they’re only two. If you buy enough, I’ll even throw in a brand-new four-piece bedding set for free!"

Yun Zhen pointed at the small structure looming above them. "Sir, where did you buy this?"

The owner glanced up. "You mean the tent? I sell them right here in my shop. Are you looking to buy a tent, miss?"

A tent? Was this the "great camp" mentioned in books for pitching an army’s base?

Yun Zhen continued, "How long does it take to set up a tent?"

"That depends on the size," the owner replied. "A large one takes about half an hour, while a small one only takes a few minutes. For a skilled worker, it never takes more than twenty minutes.

"Which season do you need it for—spring, summer, autumn, or winter? And are you using it for outdoor camping, or setting it up in a rural courtyard as a storage shed?"

Yun Zhen only understood a portion of what he said: she could choose a tent based on the season. Thinking of the snowstorm ravaging her village and the freezing weather that was nearly freezing people to death, she asked, "How much for the thickest winter tent?"

Realizing a sale was at hand, the owner eagerly offered his recommendations. "The thickest winter tents are made with five layers of thickened cotton. They have high fire resistance and waterproofing, and can withstand gale-force winds. Living in one is no different from living in a concrete building!

"They meet national quality standards, come with inspection reports, and I can write you a receipt."

The more Yun Zhen heard, the more reliable it sounded. "May I take a look at them?"

"Of course." The owner led her inside the shop. "Are you looking to buy a large one or a small one?"

Yun Zhen looked entirely bewildered.

The owner rephrased his question. "If you have a lot of people, you buy a large one; if you have fewer, you buy a small one. The largest ones I have in stock are ten-person tents, which are thirty-six square meters.

"The small tents can fit one or two people and are twelve square meters.

"The medium-sized ones can fit seven or eight people at twenty-four square meters.

"I also have a few extra-large tents that are seventy-two square meters, but they’re of average quality and are only suitable for spring and summer."

After understanding the options, Yun Zhen started doing the math.

There were twenty-three households in her village. The village chief’s family was the largest, with a full sixteen people. Then there were families like hers, which only had four people. Sister-in-law Lan Hua’s household consisted of one adult and three children.

If she had enough money, she planned to buy tents corresponding to the villagers’ previous living arrangements.

Take the village chief’s family, for example. For a family of sixteen, based on their previous setup, the village chief and his wife shared one room. The four sons and their wives took up four rooms. The daughters and granddaughters shared one room, and the grandsons shared another. That meant they needed a total of seven rooms—which equated to seven small tents.

She wouldn’t need to account for kitchens and other specific rooms since everyone ate communal meals anyway. She decided to buy three medium-sized tents: one for the village kitchen, one to store everyone’s odds and ends, and one to serve as a meeting room for discussing village matters.

All in all, the village would need around sixty small tents.

"Sir, how much does a small tent for one or two people cost?" she asked.

"For the highest-quality, thickened cotton winter specification, it’s four hundred yuan each."

"Four hundred yuan!" Yun Zhen was startled by the price.

The owner could tell at a glance that she thought it was too expensive. "Miss, that really isn’t expensive. A high-quality tent like this goes for at least seven or eight hundred outside. It’s only because this is a flea market that we keep our prices so low. Four hundred yuan is a very fair price; any cheaper and I’d be taking a loss. Just take a look."

He dragged a few tents out from the very bottom shelf, panting from the exertion.

Yun Zhen reached out and felt the material. It was extremely thick. The bags were also incredibly heavy when she tried to lift them.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the owner said, "Every tent comes with an instruction manual. How many are you planning to buy, miss?"

"Is there a discount if I buy in bulk?" Yun Zhen asked.

The owner nodded. "Of course. If you buy a lot, I can definitely lower the price a bit."

Yun Zhen’s next words left him stunned. "I’ll take sixty small tents, and three medium ones. I want them all to be the thickest, warmest winter models."

"What?!"

From the moment Yun Zhen walked in, the owner had been certain she would buy a tent, and he had mentally prepared himself for a sale. But he never expected her to ask for sixty small tents! Sixty! He hadn’t prepared himself for an order of that magnitude!

Assuming he didn’t have enough stock, Yun Zhen looked a bit disappointed. "Do you not have enough?"

"I do! Of course I do!" The owner quickly composed himself. "Sixty small tents and three medium ones, all in the thick, windproof, and insulated specifications, right? Got it. I’ll pack them up for you right away, miss."

The owner felt thoroughly energized. Today, a God of Wealth had walked right into his shop.

Yun Zhen pointed toward the alleyway. "Sir, once you have everything ready, please put them over in that alley. My family will come to pick them up in a little while."

"Alright, absolutely," the owner agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

He brought out a pushcart from the back and began packing the tents into bags one by one. The detachable tent poles and securing pegs went in together. The moisture-proof ground mats and floor sheets were all neatly matched up, while the wind ropes, functional components, and window and door flaps were individually packed before being stuffed into their respective storage bags.

He loaded everything onto the pushcart, then called over three workers to help him move the merchandise.

Feeling generous, the owner said, "Miss, since you’ve bought so many tents, I’m giving you ten sets of bedding and five double folding cot beds for free. All of that adds up to a thousand yuan—pretty generous of me, wouldn’t you say?"

Ten sets of bedding? Yun Zhen was highly satisfied. "Thank you, sir. I’ll be sure to patronize your shop again the next time I need something."

At four hundred each, the sixty small tents cost twenty-four thousand yuan. The three medium-sized tents were six hundred yuan each, bringing their subtotal to one thousand eight hundred. Altogether, she spent twenty-five thousand eight hundred yuan.

"Then I’ll thank you in advance!" the owner grinned brightly.

"Sir, could you have someone keep an eye on my things? I’d like to buy some stoves as well."

"No problem at all!" the owner said.

Yun Zhen headed over to a shop that sold stoves.

As soon as she walked in, she asked, "Sir, do you have any small, wood-burning stoves?"

A few days ago, when she was buying farming tools, she had seen the owner of the hardware shop using a small stove. It was larger than a hand warmer and produced a roaring fire.

She had just spent twenty-five thousand eight hundred yuan of her prize money on the tents. That left her with four thousand two hundred yuan of her winnings.

The rest was what she had earned today. She made sixty yuan from collecting scrap and one hundred ten yuan from the two odd jobs. Oh, and she still had the three hundred yuan of financial aid on her.

That came out to exactly four hundred and seventy yuan.

A large stove cost seven hundred yuan.

There were twenty-three households in the village. Yesterday, she had placed one of her purchased stoves in her own home and given the other to the village chief’s family. That left twenty-one households without a stove.

Originally, she wanted to buy enough to give every household a stove of their own. But an unforeseen disaster had struck, collapsing everyone’s houses, and now they would be living in tents. After turning it over in her mind, she realized that buying too many large stoves would just be a waste of firewood.

She wanted to buy small stoves that only reached up to her knees. If they kept the fires burning brightly, the heating effect would be quite good.

The owner of the stove shop asked for her specific requirements. "Do you want stoves that only go up to the ankles, or ones that reach the knees? The ankle-high ones are sixty yuan, and the knee-high ones are one hundred and fifty."

The price was well within an acceptable range for her. Yun Zhen made her decision. "I’ll take the knee-high stoves. I want thirty of them."

Buying extra stoves meant she could store the spares, ready to replace any that broke.

She then looked toward the corrugated iron shed outside. "I see you sell coal here. How much is the coal?"

Hearing that a large deal was on the table, the owner quickly replied, "Thirty small stoves will be four thousand five hundred yuan! I’ll give you two hundred catties of coal for free. The coal here is cheap—only one yuan a catty—and I guarantee the quality is up to standard. The only reason it’s so cheap is because our transport costs are low. It’s mined directly from the local collieries, so supply outweighs demand!"