Their understanding of Hong Kong comes entirely from Hong Kong dramas.

There was simply no way to know more about it. The only thing everyone knew was that it was a very prosperous place with many handsome men and beautiful women.

Shen Jize invited, "Aunt, if it's convenient for you, you can come with us and bring Yuanyuan along too. Didn't you say before that you were going to be laid off as well?"

Lin Xiaomeng, who was originally scheduled to be laid off in December, was delayed until before the Lunar New Year before officially being laid off.

To be honest, Lin Xiaomeng will have more free time than him next year.

"No, I'm so annoyed right now, I don't have the energy to go out and have fun. I don't even know what I'm going to do next year. I can't just stay at home and retire at such a young age."

The market for street vending is already saturated. Even if she's just killing time, she wants to earn some money, not just waste time.

"If you don't have a job, go work for a renovation company. They'll definitely be hiring salespeople after the New Year. If all else fails, you might as well open your own shop."

"Open a shop?" Lin Xiaomeng stopped what she was doing and asked, "What kind of shop?"

“It depends on what you’re interested in. Restaurants, clothing stores, hardware stores, convenience stores—they’re all shops. You can do whatever you want,” Lin Wei said. “If you don’t have any ideas, just tell me which type of business you want to develop in, and I’ll think of something for you.”

"Actually, KFC is pretty good. Of course, we definitely can't open one, but we can make a similar KFC at a lower price, called Chinese Burger. They sell a meal for 20 yuan, we sell it for 10 yuan, and they sell a meal for 10 yuan, we sell it for 5 yuan."

"We're all in the food business, everyone knows about the price difference. Even if the labor cost is 5 yuan, we can still make a profit, and we can also develop our own brand."

"Where are those things? Where do you get them from?" Lin Xiaomeng asked curiously.

"They are all semi-finished products, and they are all made by manufacturers in China, because these things don't keep for long. Given the inconvenience of transportation, how can we transport them from so far across the ocean?"

“Find their manufacturers, sell the same product, the same taste, but at such a much lower price…”

Lin Wei's eyes lit up.

Isn't this the predecessor of a certain company, such as Ralph and Sting?

"We can even develop more flavors that are suitable for our Chinese babies."

This topic piqued Shen Jize's interest as well. "I think this is a good idea; it might actually be profitable."

“Once you've chosen a good location, it's best to buy the shop and run it yourself. That way, you won't have to worry about the landlord raising the rent as soon as business gets good. But these kinds of shops need to be big so that it's convenient for people to dine in. Just make it like KFC.”

Lin Xiaomeng did want to, but then she thought about how little bank savings she had left.

"Forget it, I'll just think about it. This business sounds huge, but I don't have the money to do it."

"Yes, Auntie, I have about 300,000 yuan on hand. If that's not enough..."

Before Lin Wei could finish speaking, Shen Jize said, "I have it, Auntie. Don't worry about the money. You can do it as long as you want."

"I, I... I'll go check out KFC first, I've never been there before."

“Okay, no rush. We’ll go to KFC for a meal after we finish our 7-day exhibition.”

-

After the Lin family's living standards improved, the dishes served at the New Year's Eve dinner were almost no different from those served at other times.

It's nothing special, but it tastes good.

After a quick meal, it was time to visit each other's homes and exchange red envelopes.

Looking at the red envelopes in their hands, the crowd started talking about the Lei family, who hadn't given red envelopes last year.

Of course, the Lei family had long since disbanded.

Only the two children remain, a source of sorrow for many.

“I heard that the Lei family’s child ended up staying with his maternal grandmother and was treated badly by his family every day. The chubby child is now as thin as a stick.”

There's only one primary school in this area, and the children can see each other while they're studying together.

However, Lin Yuan and the two children from the Su family were too young to pay attention to such things.

Wu Hongye, on the other hand, would usually take a second look at it.

Wu Hongye said, "When someone at school bullies them, I say a few words, but they don't appreciate it at all, and they seem to hate us. It's highly likely that they were instigated by their families."

Gao Huifang was confused. "Why do they hate us? We have no family ties. Helping is a favor, not helping is our right. Besides, who would dare to take on such a big matter? Moreover, their family members aren't dead. Even if they were, it wouldn't be up to us to take on the task."

Lin Xiaomeng snorted coldly, "I'm afraid it's not you who hate them, but our family, since we were the ones who didn't want to accept them in the first place."

Wu Hongye said, "No, it's not that. He hates all of us because he said that if you hadn't all abandoned us, we wouldn't have suffered so much."

“I also said at the time, why do we need you? We are just neighbors, and besides, your mother is not good to us. During the Chinese New Year, in order not to give red envelopes, she took the two of you back to her parents' home. I said that our family is so poor, but we did not run away. Your family is not poor, so why do such a bad thing and blame us?”

"They stopped talking after that, but I guess he hated me again."

Zhang Min shook her head, "The child doesn't understand, wait until he's older..."

It's hard to say whether she'll be sensible or not.

After all, their thinking has already gone astray.

Without proper guidance, it's impossible to turn things around.

But ever since Gao Huifang started her stall, the Gao family children have become much more lively than before.

Wu Hongye and Wu Xiaoling were no longer as timid as before; they would take the initiative to greet them and even strike up a conversation.

Leaving aside their neighbors, Gao Huifang herself was also very happy about the changes in her children.

Gao Huifang instructed, "In short, don't bully them at school, but don't let others bully you either. We shouldn't cause trouble, but we can't be afraid of trouble either."

Everyone burst out laughing at these words.

"Oh my, Sister Gao, you've got a bit of Weiwei's style in those words."

Gao Huifang blushed. "If it weren't for Weiwei's words that woke me up, who knows what my family would be like now."

"It's none of my business. The main thing is to make money. Although this amount of money is insignificant to rich people, it is enough for ordinary people to make a living."

If you can make a living and earn more and more money, what more is there to say?

Keep making money.

-

“I’ve officially been laid off now, but I’d like to participate in tomorrow’s exhibition. I just need to share with Weiwei,” Lin Xiaomeng said.

"Either is fine, either is fine." Lin Wei had no objections.

"Okay then, Weiwei will oversee the flavor of the ingredients, and the four of us will split into two stalls, one selling fried meatballs and the other selling braised dishes." Zhang Min directly assigned the tasks.

"And what about me?" Lin Wei asked.

"You take the kids out to play, come back and check on them every now and then, help them out if they need it, and if not, just keep playing."