Austin and Hashmita lived next door to each other. One early summer day, when it was really hot, they decided to sell lemonade. “It’s so hot out that everyone will want a cup!” said Hashmita.

“We’ll make lots of money,” Austin agreed.

They asked Austin’s mom to take them to the store. They used their money to buy cups, lemons, sugar, and ice. The total price for the groceries was $20.

Hashmita and Austin decided to sell their lemonade for $1 per cup. At the end of the day, they sold 40 cups. “We have $40 now,” said Austin.

“We spent $20, so we made a profit!” agreed Hashmita.             

At the end of the summer, there was another really hot day. Austin and Hashmita looked at each other. “Lemonade!” they said.            

This time, Hashmita’s dad drove them to the store. They picked out the same items. But when they went to check out, they found that the price was $40 instead of $20.

“It’s the lemons,” said the store clerk. “A lot of the trees got sick and died, and now lemons are a lot more expensive than they used to be.”           

Austin and Hashmita had a problem. If they paid $40 for the supplies, and everything else stayed the same, they wouldn’t make any money at all.         

“What should we do?” they asked each other.         

“We could sell the lemonade for $2 instead of $1,” suggested Austin.         

“I don’t think we’d sell as much,” said Hashmita. “What if we use the cheaper lemonade mix instead of real lemons?”         

“I don’t think we’d sell as much of that either,” said Austin. “It’s not as yummy.”          

Austin and Hashmita thought of some other possible solutions. They could buy smaller cups, which were cheaper. But people probably wouldn’t want to pay a dollar for such a small cup. They could save money by not getting the sugar. But then the lemonade would be sour. Or what if they didn’t buy ice? Nope, not as refreshing.         

Finally Austin had an idea. “Did the orange trees get sick too?” he asked the grocery clerk. They did not!          

“Orange juice it is!” said Hashmita.