Zong Jia felt a pang of sympathy as he looked at Jiang Xiaoli, who was grimacing.

He quickly said, "Godmother, it's okay. Little Pear is right. We'll be opening several more stores in the future. We can't keep working this hard at every store, or we definitely won't be able to keep up. Staffing is very important."

Jiang Xiaoli pouted at her mother, "Mom, I was wronged by this, please comfort me!"

Li Guizhi helplessly rubbed the spot where she had just been slapped, "That's how it is. And stop talking about life and death all the time, you know?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Mom!"

Li Guizhi went into the kitchen to boil water, and Zong Jiayu asked with a smile, "Little Pear, did you see any suitable storefronts while shopping today?"

Jiang Xiaoli lay on the recliner, rocking back and forth. "No, we went to buy a house today."

"Buy a house?" Zong Jia asked, puzzled.

"Yes, it's a garden villa, 130 square meters, it's beautiful!" Her tone became excited when she mentioned the new house.

Zong Jia nodded. "Buying a house is a good idea. House prices will definitely rise in the future."

Jiang Xiaoli's eyes held a hint of admiration. "You have a good eye. You must have saved up a lot of money. Haven't you thought about buying a house as an investment?"

"I've had that idea, but I'll wait a while. I'll buy it next month when I turn 18. Buying it now would bother my family and cause trouble," Zong Jiayu replied, her expression filled with disdain for her family.

"You're not 18 yet? Didn't you already take the college entrance exam once? Gua Ge and the others all call you Brother Zong, I thought you were an old hand!" Jiang Xiaoli exclaimed in surprise.

Zong Jia was truly at a loss with her sharp tongue. "I started school early, so they call me 'brother' out of respect, you know? The youngest of the three, Zhong Yuan, is two years older than me!"

Jiang Xiaoli looked at his Adam's apple bobbing as he spoke, radiating the vibrant energy of a young man. Suddenly, she smacked herself on the forehead. "Jiang Xiaoli, what kind of rubbish are you thinking? He's still a minor!"

"Little Pear, what did you say?" Her voice was very soft, and he didn't hear her clearly.

Jiang Xiaoli quickly waved her hand, "Haha, it's nothing, it's nothing. I just didn't realize you're not an adult yet. What's your birthday? Come over to our house next month to celebrate!"

A warm feeling welled up in Zong Jia's heart. "Is Little Pear really going to celebrate my birthday on October 19th?"

"That's right, it's your 18th birthday coming-of-age ceremony! We'll throw you a big celebration! Let's invite Dafu and the others!"

Li Guizhi came in carrying two glasses of water. "Xiao Zong will be 18 next month? Oh dear, then you should have a birthday celebration. Just listen to Xiao Li, come home, and your godmother will cook you a delicious meal!"

"Okay!" The mother and daughter's enthusiasm made Zong Jia feel unprecedented love, and he lowered his head to hide his slightly red eyes.

Jiang Xiaoli sat up from the recliner and moved closer to him, tilting her head to look into his downcast eyes. "What's wrong? Are you crying from being moved?"

Zong Jia was overwhelmed by her head tilt, and he chuckled, "Yeah, I'm touched. Now I'm already looking forward to the surprise Little Pear has prepared for me."

"no problem!"

After agreeing, she came to her senses. She had only said she wanted to celebrate his birthday, when did she mention preparing a surprise? This cunning minor!

"Zong Jiayu! You're so cunning!" she accused!

Zong Jia raised his right index finger and waved it from side to side a few times, then said with a smile, "Little Pear, you can't go back on your word!"

Jiang Xiaoli gritted her teeth, making a grinding sound. "There's absolutely no way I'll go back on my word!"

Zong Jiayu found her extremely cute as she gritted her teeth!

However, he keenly realized that he couldn't tease her anymore, or she would get angry!

He pulled out the steamed bun shop's ledger. "Little Pear Sister, take a look at our steamed bun shop's revenue these past two days."

Jiang Xiaoli's expression softened considerably. As she looked through the ledger, the curve of her lips widened with each page she read.

120 cages on the first day.

289 cages on the second day.

510 cages on the third day.

The total income for the three days was 7,908 yuan. After deducting all costs and expenses, the net profit was 4,233 yuan.

Zong Jiayu explained from the side, "Your calculation of about 60% net profit is correct. We just had to hire people temporarily these past two days, which increased the expenses a bit. Things will be fine once things stabilize."

Jiang Xiaoli nodded, "500 baskets and 10,000 buns a day should be the limit for a store now. There's no need to push it any further. Just close the store at this number and don't overwork people. A store making more than 2,000 yuan a day is already very good."

The catering industry at that time was not as developed as it is in later years, so a steamed bun shop could only sell this much.

As time goes by, people have more and more choices, and even the most delicious steamed buns will never do as well as they do now.

She looked at Zong Jiayu and said, "We still need to hurry up and open a branch."

Zong Jia nodded, "Don't worry, I've already mobilized people around me to help look at the stores, and I'll try to finalize the locations of several stores by the end of the month."

Jiang Xiaoli reminded her, "You need to hurry up with the shop business, but don't forget you're still a student repeating a year of high school!"

"Is Little Pear concerned about me?" Zong Jia looked at her with a smile.

She pouted haughtily, "I just don't want others to know that my mom's godson failed his college entrance exam again on his second attempt!"

Zong Jia laughed heartily, "Don't worry, I won't let my godmother and little pear sister down."

"That would be best!"

After seeing Zong Jiayu off, Jiang Xiaoli sat at her desk and started reading her second-year high school textbook.

When Li Guizhi saw her daughter studying diligently at the door, she couldn't stop smiling.

On Monday morning, Jiang Xiaoli was woken up. She sat on the bed in a daze and asked herself a series of philosophical questions.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

"It's so hard to stick to morning runs," Jiang Xiaoli groaned as she got up to wash.

It seems she won't be able to rest on Sunday mornings anymore. She stopped yesterday, and her body feels like a machine that's been shut down and needs to be restarted to adapt to the five-kilometer run.

With a burst of energy, she finally finished her run and went home.

While busy with her hands, Grandma Zhang asked, "Guizhi, Xiaoli works so hard at school all day, yet she still gets up early every day to run. What's the point?"

Li Guizhi replied with a smile, "She said running can help her grow taller, so let her run. Even if she doesn't grow taller, it'll still be good exercise, right?"

Yang Hui chimed in, "That's absolutely right, good health is more important than anything else!"

Yang Hui's son, Mao Mao, suffered brain damage from a high fever when he was a child, resulting in some intellectual disability.

She recently came to help Li Guizhi and fell in love with the smart and energetic Jiang Xiaoli.

After exercising, Jiang Xiaoli ate her special breakfast of milk and eggs, then pushed her bike out to school.

As she rode her bike to the street corner and was about to turn, she heard a familiar female voice, "Didn't I tell you not to come pick me up from my house in the morning? Someone will see us!"

Jiang Xiaoli's eyes lit up instantly. That voice belonged to Tian Xiaomeng! She didn't want the person picking her up to be a boy, right? She wondered if it was that scumbag Wang Xu?