CHAPTER 9
After getting a food business license, she could open a small stall or a restaurant in the future. Li Xia felt relieved this time. She prepared the stuffings at night and got up at two o’clock in the morning to wrap the dumplings by herself.
She rode her bike to the stall at 5:30. She had already told the two children about this. Not long after she left, both children got up. Shen Hui went to get water for his father to wash, draw pictures and clean up.
”Selling steamed buns, hot steamed buns and soy milk.”
”How much is it?”
”One dime each.”
This is the popular price, she had already explored the bottom before. The meat buns were 1.5 dime, but she didn’t buy meat, so she made all vegetarian today.
”What kind of fillings are they?”
”Cabbage, leek and tofu, radish and green onion, and fennel. These are the four for now.”
”Give us both, some fennel.”
The shop opened, and as the light got brighter, more and more people came to buy breakfast. By seven o’clock, all the steamed buns and soy milk in the pot were sold out. When she heard someone wanted to buy something, she said it was sold out without even looking up.
” I will put up early tomorrow…”
When she looked up and saw that it was Fang Zhongcheng, she swallowed back half of her words. The man was also stunned when he saw that it was her. He had heard a lot of rumors about her recently. In order to stay in the city, she married Shen Haiyang, the vegetative man.
Shen Haiyang was about the same age as him, and the two grew up in the same compound. They went to school together when they were young, and were in the same class in junior high school. However, they were not the same type of people, so although they looked close, they were actually very distant, not even ordinary friends.
”I heard that Shen Haiyang’s overseas father sent him a lot of money, and his company even arranged a job for you. Why are you still doing this?”
Selling breakfasts is hard work, and people at that time generally looked down on small businesses. A stable job is definitely better than this. They divorced, and he looked at her with pity. In order to stay in the city, her life was ruined, and she had to be a widow for the rest of her life and carry such a heavy burden.
”You can buy breakfast tomorrow as soon as possible, they are all sold out today.”
Li Xia didn’t respond to his previous words, and treated him as an ordinary customer. The man looked at her with pity in his eyes. She ignored him and lowered her head to pack up the things on the stall.
After closing the stall, she rode her bike home, and the two children came to greet her happily. “Mom, we fed Dad, and we also ate the buns and soy milk you left for us.”
She smiled and touched her daughter’s head, but her eyes were towards Shen Hui. “Are the buns delicious? What kind of filling do you like? I’ll save some for you tomorrow.”
The boy was a little embarrassed and said, “Anything is fine. They are all delicious.”
The two of them helped her carry the things to the room. Huahua laughed and exposed her brother’s shortcomings. “My brother doesn’t eat fennel, so I ate it for him.”
”Really?” Li Xia looked back at the child and said, “If you don’t like something, just tell me and I’ll save the food you like. If you don’t tell me, I won’t know. In the end, you’ll be hungry and I won’t know why.”
The boy smiled shyly: “I just don’t like it very much, but it’s okay actually.”
”Don’t force yourself. Everyone has food they don’t like to eat, and there’s nothing you can do when you don’t have a choice. But this is what we sell at home now, so don’t feel wronged. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. Mom will make whatever you like.”
Huihua agreed: “Yes, mom’s cooking is delicious. Brother, just tell mom what you like, and also tell mom what you don’t like.”
”Okay. Actually, I…I just don’t like foods with strong smells.”
”Fennel, coriander, celery, mint, nepeta…” Li Xia listed all the foods with special smells, and the child nodded silently. “Okay, Mommy knows. I will pay attention to it next time I cook.”
For lunch, she made noodles. She originally wanted to stir-fry celery and stew, but later changed it to tofu and tomatoes.
The little boy ate the noodles with a smile on his face. After eating, he gave his father water and whispered to him.
”Dad, this mom is really good. She takes good care of me and treats you well. She turns you over and massages you every day, and orders milk for us to drink.”
Li Xia took a nap, went shopping in the afternoon, ate, slept, and made dumplings. Huihua felt sorry for her mother and woke up at night to help.
”Children who don’t sleep well at night will not grow tall.” Li Xia feels helpless towards her daughter. She is too worried. She wants to help her when she sees her hard work. Shen Hui sleeps till dawn. Can’t she sleep well too?
”Mom, I’ll help too.”
Just as she said Shen Hui who was sleeping soundly, he also got up. The two children stood at the kitchen door, and she loved them but also felt sorry for them. Are children from single-parent families too sensitive? Are they afraid that she will be exhausted and no one will take care of them?
No, definitely not. Shen Hui knew how much money he had in his name. In this era when even a millionaire is rare, according to current prices, he could have just laid aside that money for the rest of his life without doing anything.
”Go back to bed. Mom is an adult, and adults are not afraid of this kind of regular life. But you are children and you can’t do this, otherwise it will make you all dwarfs. Be obedient, or I will be angry.”
After sending the two children back to bed, she kneaded the bread and steamed the buns. When they were all steamed, she moved them to the cart outside the door. In one big pot, she boiled soybean milk, and in another, she boiled millet porridge.
As usual, she went to set up the stall at 5:30, and after she set up the stall outside, it was around 6:00 when people started to come in sporadically, and it reached its peak around 7:00. It was almost 8:00 when she finished selling out. She packed up her things and put all the money and bills in her bag and carried it close to her body.
”Mother,”
When she turned around, it was her son, the little guy was alone on the street, so she quickly pulled the child to her. In the 1980s, family planning was implemented, and human traffickers became rampant. You have to be careful when bringing children. The media was not well developed at that time, so no one knew about it. When this kind of thing broke out on a large scale, many people had already lost their children.
”Who did you come out with?”
”By myself. Dad said yesterday that you were selling buns here, so I wanted to come and see you.”
”I’m sorry, Mommy has sold all the buns today. Wait until tomorrow… Don’t go out by yourself tomorrow. It’s too dangerous. Go find your sister. Mommy will leave the buns for you at home.”
”So, can I go eat it too?”
” Yes you can “
”I knew it. Mom doesn’t abandon me. Mom, here’s what I’m giving you.”
The kid took out a lot of change from his pocket, including two dimes. “Here you go.”
”Where did you get the money?”
”My grandma, dad, and uncle gave it to me.” The little guy laughed and put all the money into Li Xia’s arms. “Mom, keep it all. This is very little. I will earn a lot of money for you when I grow up.”
Li Xia touched her son’s head and wondered what it felt like. He had said the same thing in his previous life, but he had grown up and moved to the city, where he met his biological father. She felt that the child she had raised with great effort had been taken advantage of by that man, and in this life she didn’t want to embarrass herself or her child. Let’s just let nature take its course.
”Okay, Mom will wait for you to grow up.”
She put the child in the bike and took him home. There were two leek and tofu buns left at home, and the little guy happily ate one. After eating, he burped and smiled at his sister.
”I want to drink soy milk tomorrow too.”
”Okay, I’ll leave it for you.”
The children went out to play together, and Li Xia asked the two older ones to keep an eye on the younger ones. She went into the house and poured out the two days’ income, carefully smoothing it out and putting it in different categories. She calculated that the net profit for the day was about 30 yuan.
Not bad. Although it is hard work, the reward is definitely worth it. While everyone is looking down on this job, she is making money as soon as possible, so that she can give her daughter a good education.
She has asked Han Jun to help her find a painting teacher. If she finds one, she will let her daughter learn art from an early age. Moreover, their area is in the center of the provincial capital, and the schools are all top-notch. This is much better than the previous life in the countryside where there were only five teachers and three agents in one school. How could her daughter be better in her previous life?
”Is anyone home?”
When she heard someone shouting, she quickly collected the money and went out from the inner room. There were visitors, one of whom was Han Jun, and the other was a colleague of Shen Haiyang.
”We heard about your story and the organization has arranged a job for you as soon as possible. Considering your educational level, we have arranged a job for you to clean the cafeteria. You can start work next Monday.”
Without asking, Li Xia also knew the salary during that period. Cleaning the canteen did not make more than 30 yuan a month, and this little money was enough for the four of them to not starve to death.
”Thank you for your concern. However, this job should be assigned to those who need it more.
I can now support myself and will not cause any trouble to the organization.”
”Comrade Li Xia, I know you’re selling breakfast. But you have to get up early and work late, and there’s no guarantee at all. What if you can’t buy vegetables or encounter extreme weather, or you can’t sell them after you’ve made them? And what about retirement? What will you do when you get old after setting up your own stall?”
During this period, only those who were out of work and could only do small business like did this. No one had a good idea about it and felt that there was no guarantee. But Li Xia knew the future development, and she was confident that she could deal with his concerns. And as time goes by, the environment will become more and more open.
Soon the income from making missiles will be less than that from selling tea eggs. Of course, the contributions of the two to society are incomparable, and the country will soon adjust the income of various industries. If she can’t make missiles, then there is no need to consider whether she contributes or not. From the perspective of making money, she is of course doing business.
”It’s okay. I’ve thought about all this. I have a solution.”
”Comrade Li Xia, if you refuse this arrangement, it won’t be so easy to get it again in the future. The position may not always be reserved for you.”
”I know. I will definitely not mention work to our manager anymore, so you can rest assured.”
After she turned down the iron rice bowl i.e job, people outside who knew about it started to laugh at her behind her back. The funniest thing was her uncle, who was so angry that he came to her house to criticize her.
”Li Xia, you are such a fool from the countryside. That’s a stable job, many people want it but can’t get it. You should have said earlier that you didn’t want it, you big fool.”
Be polite to your manager and don’t embarrass Shen Haiyang. Li Xia didn’t have such a good temper towards him. While she was cleaning up the cooking utensils, she started to scold him.
”It’s my stuff. I can take it if I want it and don’t want it if I don’t want it. What does it have to do with you? Even if you want it, I’m not happy to give it to you.”
