Rebirth: My college entrance exam score was stolen? I turned the tables and made a billion.

"Do something else?"

Liangzi scratched his short, stubble-like hair, then pinched the bills he had been allocated in his pocket, his face full of pain.

"Brother Guangming, I think it's right to take less stock, but that doesn't mean you have to do something else."

"Even if someone follows suit and starts a price war tomorrow, with our reputation, we can still beat them!"

The fat man nodded repeatedly beside him:

"That's right, Brother Guangming, we can always lower the price!"

"They sell for a dime, we'll sell for nine cents! We have deep pockets, so it's okay if we make a little less profit; we'll outlast them!"

Liu Guangming shook his head upon hearing this.

"A win-win situation is the key to doing business."

"If we keep playing like this, everyone's efforts will be in vain, and we won't even be able to earn money for food."

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?"

The blond-haired man was so anxious that he kept scratching his head.

Liu Guangming picked up his pencil again, flipped over the ledger, and quickly sketched a draft on the blank back.

"Tomorrow, we'll sell 'watermelon shaved ice'."

As soon as those two words were uttered, the seven people in the alley stared at each other, completely dumbfounded.

In 1992, in this small inland county town, even Liangzi, who strolled around the streets every day, had never heard of this novel term.

"What? Shaved ice?"

Liangzi peeked over to look at the notebook. "You can shave ice? You'll have to use a shovel!"

Liu Guangming pointed to the picture in his notebook under the dim streetlight at the alley entrance.

"Brother Liang, have you ever seen a carpenter working when you're fighting? You've seen that wood plane they use to push wood, right?"

"Of course I've seen it before. It has a metal plate underneath, and you push it to release a layer of wood chips."

Ryoko replied.

"Yes, that's the principle."

Liu Guangming made some dots on the drawing with a pencil.

"I was thinking, if we lowered the metal plate under the wood plane a little, the gap would be much smaller."

"Then, give it a push on the ice..."

Liu Guangming held his hands in the air and made a pushing motion.

"What comes out is not ice shards, but fine and soft ice shavings like snowflakes falling on a snowy day."

The blond-haired man curled his lip in disapproval, not seeing anything worthwhile about this thing.

"Brother Guangming, just eating a mouthful of crushed ice? You can't swallow that. It's neither sweet nor sour. Who would pay money to quench their thirst with this stuff?"

"Of course, you can't just eat white ice."

Liu Guangming put the notebook on his lap and began to speak faster.

"You forgot, we originally made watermelon juice!"

"Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow to buy fruit-flavored powders, including orange powder, hawthorn powder, and white sugar."

He gestured with his name in mid-air.

"If you mix white sugar and fruit powder with cooled boiled water, wouldn't that just make different flavored sugar water?"

"When we set up our stall tomorrow, whatever flavor the customers want, we'll fill paper cups with the snow-white shaved ice we've pushed out and pile it up into a small hill."

Liu Guangming paused deliberately, his gaze sweeping over the group.

"Then, take a small spoon and scoop up the bright red hawthorn syrup or watermelon juice, and pour it over the crystal-clear ice peak."

"The juice seeps into the snow-white shaved ice, it's sweet and cool. If you add a little of all kinds of sugar syrup, it'll be colorful and pretty."

Gudong.

I don't know who it was, but in this quiet alley, as they listened, they swallowed a large mouthful of saliva.

The fat man wiped his mouth, his eyes shining:

"Oh my god... Brother Guangming, what you just said is making my mouth water!"

After the fat man said that, the others followed suit.

"I have to say, this sounds much better than watermelon juice!"

"Absolutely. In this sweltering heat, I think just watching those ice flowers fall down would make passersby unable to move."

Liu Guangming nodded and then spoke.

Zhao Xiaojun was completely captivated by the scene Liu Guangming described, but he was still pondering something else.

He picked up a small twig from the ground and started scratching it in the mud.

"Brother Guangming, this stuff will definitely sell well, but what about the cost..."

Zhao Xiaojun raised his head and asked tentatively.

Liu Guangming did not answer directly, but instead asked Zhao Xiaojun a question in return.

"Xiaojun, you've been waiting at the train station all day. Do the math, how much of our investment is going to come in for just one glass of watermelon juice?"

Zhao Xiaojun rummaged through the scratches on the ground:

"Today, the wholesale price of watermelon is 14 cents per pound. After cutting it open and juicing it, removing the rind and pulp, it takes half a pound of watermelon to make just one cup."

"Including the cup, which costs one cent each, I estimate that the cost of one cup is about six or seven cents."

"That's right, sell it for 15 cents and make 8 or 9 cents profit."

Liu Guangming nodded, then extended a finger and tapped it on the ledger.

"Then you guys calculate the shaved ice again."

"The ice crushed blocks brought in by the popsicle factory only cost two yuan per cartload."

"We can have as many of these as we want; it's practically free."

Liu Guangming then proceeded with the calculations.

"How much does a packet of orange powder and hawthorn powder cost at the supply and marketing cooperative? Fifty cents!"

"White sugar, one yuan per pound."

"How many cups of soup can you make with one packet of powder and one pound of sugar?"

"Anyway, I'd estimate it's over a hundred cups of shaved ice!"

"You guys calculate, what's the cost of this cup of shaved ice?"

Liangzi, being a vagrant, had no idea how to calculate things, and anxiously patted Zhao Xiaojun on the shoulder:

"Brother Xiaojun, hurry up and calculate! How much capital did you actually have?"

Zhao Xiaojun nodded and started calculating.

A short while later, he looked up, his face filled with shock.

"Not even...not even two cents."

Zhao Xiaojun's voice was trembling, and he pointed at Liu Guangming, his hand shaking uncontrollably.

"Brother Guangming, if you sell this for 15 cents, you can make a net profit of 13 cents from this cup!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the fat man gasped for breath, his mouth agape.

The blond-haired guy jumped up and down excitedly, yelling, "Holy shit! Holy shit!"

Liangzi suddenly stood up, his face flushed red from blood rushing to his head, and the veins on his neck bulged out like small snakes.

It cost two cents to make, but I'm selling it for fifteen cents!

The profit... the profit has increased several times over!

At this moment, Zhao Xiaojun's eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at Liu Guangming.

"Brother Guangming, you've not only figured out what those people who buy things are thinking..."

Zhao Xiaojun gave a thumbs up.

"You've included everyone who's planning to jump on the bandwagon and grab business tomorrow!"

Zhao Xiaojun's mind finally caught on, and he excitedly slapped his thigh and began to analyze the situation.

"Yeah, those people will definitely go to the farmers' market to hoard watermelons first thing tomorrow morning and run around trying to compete with us."

"As a result, the more stalls they set up, the more unique our shaved ice became!"

Zhao Xiaojun became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Absolutely amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Liu Guangming put the ledger into his pocket, stood up, and patted the dirt off his trousers.

"Alright, stop being so happy. We still have to get things done with our hands."

Liu Guangming immediately began to select his generals.

"Fatty, blondie."

The two immediately straightened their backs and said, "Yes, sir!"

"You two, go and wait at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative at five o'clock tomorrow morning, as soon as it's light."

"As soon as the door opens, you guys rush straight to the food counter and buy up all the orange powder, hawthorn powder, and bulk white sugar."

Liu Guangming gave a special instruction.

"Remember, if the salesperson asks why you're buying so much, just say it's for a relative's wedding in the village."

"Don't say it's for setting up a stall, or someone will get jealous and try to strangle you."

The fat man patted his chest and assured him, "Brother, don't worry, I'm a master at lying. I guarantee I won't leave a single packet of powder for anyone else!"

Liu Guangming turned his head and looked at Liangzi, who was still immersed in excitement.

"Brother Liang, you'll have to put on some extra work."

Liu Guangming pulled out three ten-yuan bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Liangzi's hand.

Whether this shaved ice can be made or not depends entirely on that pusher.

"Go to the whole city right now and find a carpenter to make seven planes for me overnight."

"Tell him that the blade should be thick, but it must be sharpened very quickly, and the kerf should be slightly smaller than when planing wood."

"At the same time, the wages can be increased, but all seven clippers must be delivered to us before dawn!"

Liangzi was naturally decisive.

"Brother Guangming, don't worry, I'll go right now!"

After Liangzi finished speaking, he turned around and called to his brothers, and they rushed out of the alley without wasting a second.