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Li Manjun and Liu Yan walked through several residential alleys in Heather Town and exchanged sugar for each other. In one afternoon, they exchanged a bag full of toothpaste rinds.

Liu Yan pulled out 50 sticks of Tangxixi for two yuan and got 60 yuan for the large toothpaste skin and 150 yuan for the small toothpaste skin.

At this time, the toothpaste skin contains special metal tin-aluminum alloy, which has extremely high use value.

In the 1980s and 1990s when metal materials were very scarce, the country also introduced corresponding policies to encourage people to recycle these toothpaste casings.

In small towns like Heather Town, news lags behind. People treat toothpaste casings as ordinary waste and sell them. Only recently did someone come to collect toothpaste casings.

Liu Yan was carrying an empty basket and jar, looking at the big bulging bag on Li Manjun's back, wiping the sweat from her forehead and asking her where she was going next.

When something is collected, it must be sold to make a profit.

Li Manjun motioned for Liu Yan to follow, and the two of them walked towards the bus stop sign in the town.

When she went out for a walk in the morning, she saw a middle-aged man with a big bag on his waist collecting toothpaste tubes. It was only 4:30 in the afternoon, and the market had not yet dispersed, so people should still be there.

Sure enough, when I arrived near the station sign, I saw that familiar figure walking out of the alley opposite carrying a large snakeskin bag.

Apparently, they just collected a batch of toothpaste rinds.

Li Manjun hurriedly called Liu Yan to look for him together. The middle-aged man's sharp eyes fixed on the bulging old cloth bag at a glance. He grinned and asked with a yellow tooth:

"You two collected this?"

Liu Yan felt that this middle-aged man looked like the gangster brother in the movie, so she pulled Li Manjun, which was a bit vain.

Li Manjun smiled at her reassuringly, turned to the man and said, "Yes, boss, how are you going to collect the toothpaste rinds you just received?"

The boss said: "We charge each one, two points for the small one and five points for the big one."

This price made Li Manjun feel that he had made the right decision today. He put down the bag and counted it again in front of the boss and reported it to him:

"A total of 60 yuan for the big one and 150 yuan for the small one."

The boss was also happy. He opened his snakeskin bag and let Li Manjun pour it inside. He unzipped the pocket bag on his waist and counted six yuan and handed it to Li Manjun.

"This is the first time I have received goods in your Heather Town. The ones I just picked up were all delivered to me from other towns as promised. If you still have them, I will be hanging around here these days. You guys I charge as much as you have.”

Before leaving, Boss Liu, who called himself Liu, said confidently.

Li Manjun and Liu Yan looked at each other and came to an alley carrying empty cloth bags and bamboo baskets.

As soon as they entered the alley, Liu Yan couldn't wait to urge: "Look how much we have earned!"

Li Manjun took out the money. Although it was only six yuan, he counted six hundred yuan.

Liu Yan’s family grew the crushed peanuts at no cost, and the bamboo sticks were low-cost, so Liu Yan said she would pay for them.

Then subtract the two yuan that Li Manjun spent on buying candy, and he will make a profit of four yuan this afternoon. The two of them will split it 50-50, and one person will get two yuan.

The two yuan was not much, but when the two of them thought about the ratio of costs to gains, they almost doubled their profits. Liu Yan was so happy that she couldn't smile from ear to ear.

They agreed to start work early tomorrow and continue to collect the toothpaste skin, and the two of them went to their respective homes.

When I got home, everyone from school and work were back.

Wang Xiaojuan cooked braised pork belly for dinner, and the aroma made Li Manjun salivate.

When the dishes were all served, father Li Dawei used the chopsticks first. The three siblings picked up the chopsticks and pointed them at the bowl of bright braised pork belly. You had one chopstick and I had one.

The three of them don't fight, but they also don't give in. How much they can eat depends on their ability.

It has to be said that Wang Xiaojuan's braised pork is very well done, even compared with restaurant chefs.

Li Manjun hugged the bottom of the rice, and all the red gravy covered the rice. He was very satisfied with the meal.

"Sister, you eat this piece, it's thin, you like to eat thin." Li Jianjun picked up a particularly thin piece of meat, remembered that his eldest sister liked to eat it, and put it in her bowl.

Li Manjun put it back and picked a fat and thin piece from Li Jianjun's bowl, "I like this now."

Li Lijun stretched out her chopsticks and said, "Give it to me, I like to eat thin food."

Li Jianjun held the bowl with a silly smile and let his two sisters take away the braised pork that his mother poured into his bowl.

Wang Xiaojuan saw that Li Lijun was trying to push her even further, so she used her chopsticks to knock off her outstretched chopsticks: "You eat your own, and your brother is still growing!"

Li Lijun curled her lips and said, "Mom, you are partial."

Wang Xiaojuan couldn't hear such words, and angrily scolded: "Why do you grow so big if I am partial to you? Can you grow if you drink the northwest wind?"

Seeing the three children at home eating meat as if they were reincarnated as starving ghosts, Li Dawei was amused and a little sad, and he signaled to his wife to stop lecturing her and eat quickly.

"The vegetables will be cold if you don't eat them. Besides, it's rare for you to cook braised pork. The children are thinking about it, but they all want to eat enough at one time. Let's cook it again later."

Li Dawei licked the sauce on his chopsticks. It was really fragrant!

Wang Xiaojuan just felt that cooking this dish was too troublesome, so she didn't bother to cook it.

Now I see all four members of the family looking over eagerly. They couldn't help but burst out laughing and said proudly:

"I learned my braised pork skills from your grandma, and your grandma learned it from a chef. That chef cooks for senior leaders, so I won't make you hungry."

"Mom, this is not enough to eat today. Let's do it tomorrow." Li Lijun behaved.

Li Manjun also nodded wildly in agreement.

Wang Xiaojuan waved her hand and said, "Next time, it depends on my mood."

The three siblings looked at each other and were all disappointed.

After dinner, Li Lijun and Li Jianjun had to go to self-study in the evening. Before leaving, Li Jianjun took out a donation box made of a shoe box and asked his family to donate.

"Why don't you donate again? Which classmate's family member is terminally ill this time?" Wang Xiaojuan asked impatiently while cleaning up.

Li Dawei wore glasses and sat on the wooden sofa reading the newspaper. He yelled at his wife, "You have such a mouth. If you can't speak, don't speak."

Even if you don’t want to donate money, you can’t say this to your classmates and family members.

Li Dawei asked his son: "Which student had an accident at home?"

"No one is in trouble, don't you take a look at what is written on my donation box?" Li Jianjun patted the shoebox and read word by word: "The Asian Games strive for honor for the country, and I add glory to the Asian Games!"

In 1984, our country got the opportunity to host the Asian Games, and then began to prepare for the Asian Games. However, with the national strength at this time, there was insufficient funds to complete the preparations for the Asian Games.

Therefore, for the sake of the country's honor, the whole country launched a general mobilization, and workers and students from all over the country voluntarily donated money to the Asian Games.

Heather Town Middle School also distributed donation tasks to students in each class.