Chapter 040

Lin Xiaohan continued walking forward, "If you let me go with you, you have to give me half of the money."

The money must be divided. Chu Xia followed his steps and said, "No problem."

Lin Xiaohan: "Then I'll... think about it..."

Chu Xia looked at him and raised her eyebrows and smiled - if he said that, it must mean he agreed.

Given his personality, if he doesn't want to, he will refuse without hesitation.

Sure enough, we returned to the educated youth site and had lunch.

As soon as Lin Xiaohan put down his chopsticks, he clearly agreed: "Okay, I'll go with you."

Chu Xia smiled at him without surprise, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation."

***

Since Lin Xiaohan agreed, Chu Xia struck while the iron was hot and pulled him aside to have another detailed chat about what to do next, including what preparations to make before setting up a stall in the commune.

Before starting the preparatory work, the most important thing was to get the brigade cadres to agree with their idea and support them in setting up a noodle stall in the commune.

Lin Xiaohan said: "I'm afraid it's not that easy."

After all, this is not as simple as collecting and selling vegetables. You can just pick them and drag them to the market to sell them.

If you want to set up a noodle stall at the market, you have to prepare a lot of things in advance.

Pots, pans, tables, chairs, benches, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, fine grains, vegetables and meat, each one requires a considerable investment.

If we can't make any money from this, won't the team suffer a huge loss?

Can the team easily invest so much and let them try?

This is no small matter.

Chuxia also knew that it wouldn't be that easy.

But she did not lose heart. She looked at Lin Xiaohan with a firm attitude and said, "There is still some time before summer vacation. Let's just work hard. Those who persevere will succeed!"

Seeing that Chuxia was indeed determined to do this, Lin Xiaohan didn't say anything else.

He said with a relieved tone: "Okay, let's go all out. I'll go talk to Secretary Liu later and see his attitude first."

Chu Xia agreed: "Okay."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan had just agreed on this when Han Ting and the others came back.

So Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan did not continue sitting in the kitchen. They stood up, cleaned up the dishes, and left the kitchen to Han Ting and the others to cook and eat.

It has been a while since the beginning of summer.

It rained a few times before and the weather has been getting hotter recently.

Especially at noon, the sun feels hot on my body.

So Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan did not go out in the sun, but went back to the dormitory to rest first.

West House Girls' Dormitory.

Chuxia lay on her bunk, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.

She was fanning herself while thinking about setting up the noodle stall, and before she knew it she fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I slept before I was woken up by the sound of Li Qiao and four other people talking.

It is easy to feel drowsy when taking a nap in the summer. In early summer, when I sit up from the bed, I will doze off with a dazed expression when I wake up.

Li Qiao and the other three were changing clothes.

From their conversation, you can tell that they are preparing to change clothes and go to the fields to grow vegetables.

The clothes they were wearing were made of relatively new fabrics, but they were ruined when they worked in the fields.

Chuxia didn't listen carefully. After her sleepiness subsided a little, she got up and went out.

Go to the yard to draw water from the well, wash your face with the cool well water, and you will feel completely refreshed.

After washing, Chuxia returned to the dormitory and sat down at the table.

She took out a mirror from her schoolbag and simply fixed her hair in front of it.

Then he took out some cold cream from his schoolbag, put some on his palms, rubbed it on his face.

After wiping your face, use your palms to wipe the backs of your hands to make them smell fragrant.

The scent of vanishing cream wafted through the dormitory.

Li Qiao and the others smelled the fragrance and looked at Chu Xia at the same time.

But because Chuxia was sitting here, none of them said anything.

Chuxia naturally didn't pay any attention to them.

After applying the cold cream, she put the cold cream and the mirror back into her schoolbag, picked up the strap of the schoolbag and put it on her back, stood up, put on her straw hat, and went out.

She went to the door of the boys' dormitory opposite and called out Lin Xiaohan.

After Lin Xiaohan came out, the two of them went out of the yard together.

See Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan walk out of the hospital.

Gu Yuzhu said sourly, "How hypocritical! She still puts on vanishing cream in the summer."

Hearing what Gu Yuzhu said, Chen Sisi suddenly sighed and said softly, "If I had something to apply, I would apply it on my face three times a day all year round. Who doesn't want a moisturized face and a fragrant smell every day?"

Their current situation is that they may not be able to afford it until winter.

This thing is extremely expensive, and they probably can't afford it with the work points they earn.

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

Is she deliberately making things difficult for her?

Chen Sisi didn't mean it. She was not the kind of person who cared about face or was stubborn.

She sighed again and continued in a soft voice, "Compared to early summer, our lives are just like those of cows. We work ourselves to death every day, but we can't even have a delicious meal."

If the food is like this, let alone other things, I can’t even think about it.

The comparison is indeed painful.

Li Qiao said again, "How can we compare? She is a teacher, she gets more than ten work points a day, and a five-yuan subsidy every month. What do we have?"

"There are ten of us."

Chen Sisi looked at Li Qiao with a droopy expression, "You said before that if Chu Xia didn't partner with us, she would definitely run into trouble and cry and beg us. Now it seems that we should be the ones crying."

Li Qiao: “…”

Is she determined to cause trouble for them?

Chen Sisi did look a little overwhelmed, and continued, "You guys said before that she would be tricked by Lin Xiaohan and would fall flat on her face. But not only did Lin Xiaohan not trick her, he was also so nice to her and gave her so many delicious foods, some of which I have never eaten."

Li Qiao, Gu Yuzhu, and Su Yun: "..."

If I continue listening to this my liver and lungs will not be able to bear it.

Gu Yuzhu couldn't bear it any longer and said, "Why don't you go and beg them to take you in as a partner?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Sisi looked at Gu Yuzhu, was stunned for a moment when she saw her expression, then looked at Li Qiao and Su Yun, and then she realized that what she said made them unhappy.

So she pursed her lips.

He kept his mouth shut under the gazes of Li Qiao, Su Yun and Gu Yuzhu.

No more talking.

***

Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan left the educated youth point and went directly to the brigade headquarters.

They didn't know where Secretary Liu would be at the moment, so they went to the brigade headquarters to try their luck first.

While walking on the road, Chu Xia thought for a moment, then turned to Lin Xiaohan and said, "Oh, by the way, how about I tell Secretary Liu that my family used to run a restaurant, so that he will feel that we are not completely without experience."

Lin Xiaohan couldn't tell whether she was telling the truth or not, so he looked at her and asked, "Did your family run a restaurant before?"

Chu Xia nodded, "Yes, my grandfather opened it."

Lin Xiaohan: "So your grandfather is a capitalist?"

Chu Xia's eyes widened immediately after hearing this, and she shook her head at Lin Xiaohan: "Of course not, my grandfather used the family's house to open the restaurant at that time, which was in the alley. It was a small business and didn't even hire a waiter. There was no exploitation or oppression. Moreover, at the beginning of social transformation, my grandfather took the initiative to hand over the family's small restaurant and courtyard house to the state. Because of this, my father and my grandfather were awkward for a long time, but later, when the public-private partnership was launched, some people were unwilling to hand over the family property and were labeled as bad capitalists, so my father was no longer awkward. Later, the revolution broke out all over the country, and my family had no assets, so we were not affected at all. At that time, not only did my father not feel awkward, he also praised my grandfather for his foresight..."

Having said that, Chuxia paused.

Thinking that Lin Xiaohan might not be interested in her family affairs, she stopped talking.

Lin Xiaohan seemed quite interested. He looked at Chu Xia and asked, "So the yard where your family and Han Ting's family live now was originally your family property?"

Since he asked, Chuxia continued to answer.

She nodded and said, "In the early days of the People's Republic of China, Beijing was in chaos and housing was a big problem. The government took away the property rights of many houses, and then took them out and distributed them to everyone to live together. After my grandfather handed over my house, two families moved into the courtyard, one of which was Han Ting's family."

Lin Xiaohan: "So your restaurant is now state-owned?"

Chu Xia said: "My grandfather was in poor health at the time, and he retired from the restaurant after handing it over to the state. After the restaurant became state-owned, although it was not big and the business was not big, it had all the necessary staff, including managers, chefs, accountants, waiters, and my dad was a chef at the time. Working in a restaurant, everyone is the same, and they get a fixed salary every month. But this small restaurant simply can't support so many people. Maybe because my dad's cooking skills are not as good as my grandfather's, the business is getting worse and worse. At the beginning, everyone got 30 yuan a month in salary, but because the profit was not good, it was later reduced to 20 yuan a month. After that, it was reduced again and again, from 20 to 15, 9, and even 6. Later, it closed down."

Lin Xiaohan looked at Chuxia and asked again: "How old were you when Guan Zhang was killed?"

Chu Xia held up five fingers: "Five years old."

Lin Xiaohan: “…”

No wonder she said she wanted to make Secretary Liu feel that she was not completely inexperienced.

Because I really have no experience at all.

Lin Xiaohan thought for a moment and said, "How about this? Instead of saying that your family used to run a restaurant, since you weren't even around when the restaurant opened, just say that your father was a chef in a state-owned restaurant."

Chuxia thinks this is indeed a better way to put it.

She nodded to Lin Xiaohan, "Okay."

The two chatted all the way to the brigade headquarters, and after entering the yard, they went straight to the brigade office.

They were lucky because Secretary Liu was in the office, but he was busy with something, so they waited in the yard for a while.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Secretary Liu came out and called them into the office.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan walked into the office one after another and greeted Secretary Liu one after another.

Wait until they get to their desk.

Secretary Liu sat behind the table and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about? Are you having any difficulties at work that you need our help to solve?"

"There's no problem at work." Chu Xia said first: "Everything is fine."

Secretary Liu looked at her and asked, "Is there something wrong with the educated youth center?"

Before coming, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan had made all the mental preparations.

Then, without beating around the bush, Lin Xiaohan said, "Secretary Liu, it's like this. The school will be on vacation soon, and the summer vacation is quite long. We don't plan to be idle during the vacation. We don't want to waste time. We want to do more things to help the team."

This is a good thing.

Secretary Liu said, "Just do the work of the production team, and we will give you work points."

Chu Xia continued, "Secretary Liu, this is what we think. There is only so much work in the production team. If we don't go, everyone can finish it. If we go, we won't play a big role and earn work points for the production team. So we think we can do something else and earn some money for the team. Do you think it's okay?"

Secretary Liu looked at Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan in silence for a while.

Then he asked in a crisp tone: "What do you want to do?"

Lin Xiaohan said: "After learning more about it, we plan to set up a state-owned noodle stall in the market of the commune, mainly selling noodles with soybean paste, as well as soup noodles such as Yangchun noodles and Sanxian noodles, as well as stir-fried vegetables."

Secretary Liu naturally understood what he heard. He looked at Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan and said, "So you guys want us to set up a noodle stall in our brigade and let you two sell noodles at the commune market?"

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan nodded together: "Yes."

Since they couldn't tell what Secretary Liu's attitude was, they didn't show any unnecessary emotions.

Secretary Liu looked at them for a while, then suddenly laughed and said, "Your desire to work for the brigade and earn more money for the brigade is a good idea, but it's not as simple as it sounds. You two city kids, did you learn how to cook after you went to the countryside, right?"

Chu Xia said hurriedly, "No, Secretary Liu, I learned to cook when I was very young. I can cook many dishes, but my best dish is noodles with soybean paste. My father was a chef in a state-owned restaurant."

Secretary Liu smiled and waved his hand at her. "You can cook, you can make dishes, you can make noodles. Your father was a chef in a state-owned restaurant. But that doesn't mean you can run a noodle stand. I can't promise you this."

Before coming here, I had anticipated that Secretary Liu would react like this.

Lin Xiaohan continued, "Secretary Liu, you may think that we are young and act rashly, but we actually think clearly and have considered our actions carefully. We have been in Tanxi Brigade for such a long time, and you should have seen how we perform in our daily work."

Without waiting for Secretary Liu to speak again.

Chu Xia continued, "Secretary Liu, we don't need the brigade to pay us a fixed salary. If we really lose money, you can ask the accountant to deduct it from our work points at the end of the year. If we make money, you can decide how much to give us."

Although Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan spoke very seriously, Secretary Liu was not moved by them.

He felt from the bottom of his heart that Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan thought things were too simple, or even a little unrealistic. Money in this world is not as easy to make as they think, and it can even be said that it is very difficult to make.

He said to Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, "The commune already has a state-owned canteen that sells steamed buns, dumplings, noodles and everything else. They all require tickets and money. If people want to eat noodles, why don't they go and eat noodles made by a proper chef instead of a little girl like you?"

Chu Xia whispered: "Because I cook deliciously..."

Secretary Liu: “…”

He choked and suddenly laughed, "Is it better than what professional chefs cook?"

After saying this with a smile, he waved his hand at Chu Xia again, stopping her from continuing.

He used to think that Chuxia looked quite inferior.

I didn't expect that she would actually speak like this.

He laughed for a while and then stopped talking to Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan.

The cadres in their brigade are very busy and have neither the time nor the energy to mess around with them.

So Secretary Liu stopped smiling and said seriously, "There is still some time before summer vacation. What you need to do now is to concentrate on teaching well."

***

Coming out from the yard of the brigade headquarters.

After walking a few steps, Chu Xia spoke first: "As expected, I disagree."

Lin Xiaohan's expression and tone were normal, "Didn't you say that those who persevere can achieve their goals?"

Chu Xia took a deep breath and said, "Yes, those who persevere will succeed!"

After saying this, she calmed down and thought about it carefully.

They had just seen clearly what Secretary Liu's attitude was.

If you want to change his attitude, words alone may not be enough...

As Chu Xia was thinking about this, her eyes suddenly lit up. She looked at Lin Xiaohan and said, "I have an idea."

As a result, Lin Xiaohan said the same thing at the same time as her.

I thought about how they went through the same thing when they were recruiting students before.

Chu Xia couldn't help laughing, she looked at Lin Xiaohan and said, "Then you speak first this time."

Lin Xiaohan didn't bother to be polite and said directly: "Since you can't convince them with words, and they won't believe you no matter how much you say, why not show them your skills and let them taste your cooking skills first."

They thought of the same thing again.

Chu Xia nodded and said, "I thought so too. Instead of wasting saliva, why not just let them drool!"