Anshan Town Primary School is the only primary school in Anshan Town.

Originally, there was only one long three-story building as the teaching building, but in recent years, more and more students have enrolled, and that building is not enough. Two years ago, the basketball court and some houses that originally belonged to the town's fertilizer plant were demolished to build another teaching building.

Last year, the number of first-grade students at Anshan Town Primary School exceeded 200, and they were divided into six classes. If this trend continues, it won't be long before Anshan Town Primary School's teaching building becomes insufficient again.

Of course, the ordinary residents of the town don't think about this; they just feel that it's a bit crowded to pick up and drop off students every day.

This is also related to the increasing number of vendors setting up stalls in front of the primary school in Anshan Town.

The residents near the town's primary school are mostly retired teachers and retired workers. There aren't many shops, but there are quite a few people setting up stalls.

Ling Shengqiang is a second-grade student at Anshan Town Primary School.

His home is in town, not far from the school, and he goes to and from school by himself every day.

He got up early this morning to prepare for school.

"Qiangqiang, buy yourself some breakfast." Before Ling Shengqiang left, his mother called him back and gave him a dollar.

Ling Shengqiang's parents both work, so they cook at home in the evenings and buy breakfast.

Ling Shengqiang took the money and headed towards the school, pondering what to have for breakfast.

Should we eat steamed buns or wontons?

He's small, so five cents' worth of rice balls and sesame seed cakes are enough for him. He can buy those two and save five cents to buy other snacks...

As Ling Shengqiang walked towards the school, he noticed that the recently rebuilt house near the intersection had doors facing both sides of the road and was displaying many items.

Is there a small shop here?

No, it's not just the convenience store. Each of these two doors has a sign above it: one reads "Huaguang Stationery" and the other reads "Dalin Foodstuffs".

Is this a store that sells both snacks and stationery?

Ling Shengqiang passed by here every day, watching the dilapidated house being repaired little by little, and he was full of curiosity about the shop.

He rushed into the store.

The store sells all kinds of snacks, as well as pencils, fountain pens, ballpoint pens, erasers, and notebooks, among other things.

Ling Shengqiang was dazzled!

However, he didn't buy anything; he hadn't eaten breakfast yet and was rushing to school.

Ling Shengqiang continued walking forward and then saw a familiar stall. His mouth watered, and he ran towards the stall, squeezed through the crowd, and handed over a dollar: "I want a large skewer of pork tenderloin with an egg!"

His favorite food lately is this sizzling pork tenderloin.

A large skewer of pork tenderloin topped with an egg cost a total of one yuan, which was enough for him for breakfast.

Being able to afford this makes you feel incredibly prestigious.

Ling Shengqiang finished eating, wiped his mouth, and went into the school. When school ended…

He was out of money and couldn't afford snacks, so he ignored fried skewers, stinky tofu, tea eggs, and other snacks, and rushed to that small shop.

The old stationery store in town had a very high counter, and the people inside were very serious. It was fine if he went with his parents, but if Ling Shengqiang went by himself, they wouldn't pay any attention to him, and he didn't dare to talk to anyone... He would often just go in, take a look around, and then come out.

But here, many things are within his reach.

Moreover, such a small shop won't put any pressure on him; he can freely browse all sorts of things here.

For example, he really liked that bag with Ultraman printed on it.

"What is this?" Ling Shengqiang asked.

He had barely asked the question when a young woman in her early twenties gently replied, "This is a pencil case, used to hold pens."

Ling Shengqiang felt that a pencil case was better for storing pens, but he liked the Ultraman on the bag!

Wait, there's Ultraman on that backpack hanging next to it too!

Ling Shengqiang's eyes lit up.

The young woman speaking to Ling Shengqiang was Zhao Qiujuan.

Today is the first day that Shi Dalin and his wife's shop has opened, and she came here to help look after it.

This store sells most things, but the variety is limited. For example, they only have two types of soy sauce.

The store mainly sells stationery and snacks.

During the day, only a few people from the neighborhood come by and buy some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar here and there, but now the store is packed with children.

How much does this eraser cost?

"I want to buy this pen!"

"Give me a bag of Mimi Shrimp Chips."

"I want to go to Haojia."

...

Zhao Qiujuan, Shi Dalin, and Zhao Meiyun were not very skilled at handling items and collecting money, and they were running around in circles.

Some fifth and sixth graders, who had plenty of money, actually bought pencil cases that cost five yuan each.

Some children were picked up by their parents, who were very generous with their money when they brought them in.

Seeing this, Zhao Qiujuan mustered up her courage and introduced the pencil case to them: "People in big cities are using this now, and it sells very well."

"That schoolbag is quite a find, it costs eighteen yuan, and we're selling it very cheaply."

What would the little one like to eat?

...

Zhao Qiujuan was almost always receiving money.

The children at the school were released one grade at a time, and it took more than an hour for them all to be released.

With fewer customers coming into the shop, Zhao Qiujuan and her team took out the gas stove and started cooking. As for the rice, it had already been cooked in the rice cooker.

Since someone has to watch this shop all day, they simply eat there.

After they finished cooking, Shi Dashan and his wife, who had originally set up a stall not far away, came over.

Shi Dalin invited Shi Dashan and the others to eat at their restaurant.

When Shi Dashan and Chen Xiaofen came in from outside, they were carrying a bowl containing some meat from their fried food stall.

Fried pork tenderloin, ham sausage, sausage, and seven or eight chicken wing tips are placed in a bowl, emitting an enticing aroma.

Chen Xiaofen placed it on the counter: "I grabbed some things and came over to add some dishes."

The shop is quite small. When they eat, they can only put the dishes on the counter, pick up their own bowls, and stand up to eat.

The conditions were simple, but everyone was happy.

Shi Dashan and his wife originally did not want to leave their hometown, since they did not speak the local language and did not know anyone there.

But recently, after making money, they realized how good it was.

Putting aside everything else, how could they eat meat every day back in the mountains?

Now they not only eat meat every day, but they also occasionally make a hundred yuan a day when sales are good!

On average, they can earn about two thousand a month.

Good heavens, that's two thousand!

In their mountains, the dowry for getting a wife is only one or two thousand yuan!

When they sent their eldest son out to work with Shi Zhen, their idea was for him to do hard work for a few years, earn a thousand or two, and then go back to get married.

But now... what's a thousand or two?

Shi Dashan has recently become quite ambitious and is planning to buy a color TV as well.

Speaking of color TVs, Shi Dalin also brought color TVs to his shop. His shop does business during the day, as people from the neighborhood come to buy things, but there aren't many people. He can sit in the shop and watch TV with Zhao Meiyun.

In the future, I can add a curtain to the front door to block the wind in winter, and I can use an electric fan inside in summer... Opening a shop is so much more comfortable than selling fried skewers outside.

They were eating when Shi Zhen arrived.

Upon seeing Shi Zhen, Zhao Meiyun quickly invited him to eat, and brought out the dishes she had reserved for him—Shi Zhen had said he might come later, so they ate first.

Shi Zhen asked how business was going.

"Business is pretty good," Shi Dalin said with a smile, "but there's not much work to do during the day, so I feel a bit uncomfortable."

Shi Zhen smiled and then asked Shi Dashan how their business was going.

Shi Dashan beamed with joy: "Business is booming! I'm planning to buy Xingxing one of those bicycles that your sister Qiujuan bought too."

A few days ago, Zhao Qiujuan bought a pink women's bicycle.

The bike had small tires and was rather low, so Zhao Qiujuan could touch the ground with her toes when she sat on it, and she quickly learned to ride it.

The first time Shi Zhen saw her riding a bicycle, she was sitting on the bicycle with her head held high, her face full of smiles, young and full of vitality.

Shi Zhen really likes her this way.

He even thought that Zhao Qiujuan had become much prettier.

Zhao Qiujuan never used to dress herself up.

She has an ordinary appearance, but to be honest, there are no major flaws in her facial features.

Her skin was dark, but not rough; her hair was somewhat frizzy, but very thick; her eyebrows were messy, but very dark; her eyes were double-lidded, neither large nor small…

After buying the bicycle, perhaps to match it, Zhao Qiujuan cut off her long hair, which she had been growing for several years and had grown too long, and bought several new clothes.

Shi Zhen noticed that she had also applied a little bit of lipstick today, and her eyebrows had obviously been groomed.

Zhao Qiujuan's eyebrows were originally thick and dark. After plucking some of them, she looked much more delicate. Her skin was dark, and her lips were originally about the same color as her skin. After applying some lipstick, she looked much more energetic.

Actually, Zhao Dongjuan wasn't prettier than Zhao Qiujuan; it's just that Zhao Qiujuan didn't dress up before.

"Sister, you look beautiful today," Shi Zhen said with a smile.

Zhao Qiujuan's eyes lit up immediately.

Chen Xiaofen also said, "Qiu Juan isn't just beautiful today; she's getting prettier every day lately."

Shi Zhen noticed that Zhao Qiujuan, who was being praised, was in a particularly good mood.

Shi Zhen then chatted with Shi Dashan and the others about Shi Xingxing: "Xingxing is still doing embroidery recently."

“Yes, she embroiders at home and cooks on the side,” Chen Xiaofen said.

"Auntie, have you ever thought about letting Xingxing set up a stall too?"

"Then there will be no one at home..." Chen Xiaofen was conflicted. There were so many people in her family now, and someone needed to be home to cook.

Shi Zhen said, "If we only sell breakfast, it won't interfere with cooking at home. Otherwise, we can have Xingchao cook, but we'll have to pay him."

"That's right! Oh dear, I only just realized how stingy Xingchao is!" Chen Xiaofen said with a hint of helplessness when she mentioned her second son.

Back in the mountains, she only thought her second son was a little stingy, but now that she's out here, she realizes... it's not just a little stingy, it's incredibly stingy!

But her son is already in his twenties, and she can't do anything about him.

It's better than being a money pit.

As for her daughter… Chen Xiaofen said, “Ah Zhen, what do you think Xingxing can do?”

Shi Zhen said, "Auntie, you can let Xingxing come out and sell egg pancakes."

If you buy a round iron pan like the one Chen Xiaofen used to sell teppanyaki, you can make egg pancakes and sell them.

Shi Zhen told Chen Xiaofen about two ways to make egg pancakes, and Chen Xiaofen immediately became interested. She planned to have her daughter try making them in the pan they used to make sizzling pork tenderloin when she got home that evening.

At this moment, Shi Zhen looked at Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun and said, "Dad, Aunt Zhao, you two should familiarize yourselves with this shop first. Once you're familiar with it, you can sell other things when you go to school in the morning and after school in the evening."

"What should we sell?" Zhao Meiyun asked, wanting to earn more money.

"For example, selling instant noodles," Shi Zhen said with a smile.

At this age, children really love instant noodles. He remembers that a few years later in his past life, there were people selling instant noodles at the entrance of the primary school.

A pack of freshly cooked instant noodles cost one yuan, and adding a sausage cost one yuan and fifty cents. Quite a few kids bought this for breakfast back then.

Selling just this won't make much money, but Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun can earn five yuan a day by selling it on the side while running their shop, even if they only sell ten packs a day.

At that time, the cost price of instant noodles was generally around 40 or 50 cents, which was even a luxury for some rural children. They could be sold for one yuan a bowl.

Also, in the evening, a pack of instant noodles is divided into two portions, placed in a plastic cup, and given a plastic fork. Many hungry children after school will come to buy it.

Even vermicelli soup can be sold this way.

Shi Zhen casually offered some suggestions, all of which were not about cooking skills.

Neither Zhao Meiyun nor Shi Dalin had any cooking skills. Zhao Meiyun trusted Shi Zhen completely and immediately thought it was a good idea: "When the weather is nice, we can set up a folding table and a few stools at the door and start selling instant noodles in the morning!"

A few days later, it was Monday.

Ling Shengqiang stays with his grandparents on Saturdays and Sundays.

His grandparents were both retired workers, and their salaries were no less than his parents'. They were also generous with his pocket money, so much so that he had five yuan in his pocket when he went to school on Monday!

He plans to buy a pencil case.

Hmm, some of the toys in that little shop look pretty good...

Ling Shengqiang arrived at the small shop early in the morning, wanting to buy a pencil case.

He bought a pencil case for three yuan. After buying it, he suddenly noticed a piece of cardboard next to him that read "Instant noodles one yuan," and there was a table next to it...

"They sell instant noodles here?" Ling Shengqiang asked.

“Yes,” Zhao Meiyun asked with a smile, “Do you want some? If you do, I’ll go and make some for you.”

"Yes!" Ling Shengqiang said without hesitation.

"Want some ham? It's 50 cents."

"Yes!" Ling Shengqiang still had two yuan in his hand and was very generous with his money.

There was a stove in the shop. Zhao Meiyun heated water in a pot, opened a packet of instant noodles and put it in to cook, then sliced ​​a sausage and put it in...

A short while later, she brought Ling Shengqiang a bowl of instant noodles.

Ling Shengqiang ate with great satisfaction.

When the other children who came to school saw this, someone immediately came to buy instant noodles to eat.

They usually buy bagged instant noodles at the convenience store, and the cheapest one costs at least 60 or 70 cents. Now that they're selling cooked instant noodles for one yuan, they don't think it's expensive at all.

Zhao Meiyun sold about twenty packs of instant noodles this morning.

In the evening, she followed Shi Zhen's instructions, cooked instant noodles, put them in disposable plastic cups, added a slice of ham to each cup, and sold them for 50 cents a cup.

The children in town had a lot of pocket money, so many of them paid for it. Later on, quite a few children surrounded her, waiting for her to cook the instant noodles.

In one day, Zhao Meiyun earned more than twenty yuan just from selling instant noodles.

Of course, this is the first day, so she earned a lot, but in the future... could she sell something else?

For example, tea egg and vermicelli soup!

She has plenty of free time during the day, so she makes the food and sells it at the shop entrance, earning a little money in the process.

As for the shop being particularly lively after school in the evening, if she were to sell these things, Shi Dalin wouldn't be able to manage them all by himself... Isn't it because Qiu Juan is helping out?

Zhao Qiujuan now sits in the shop after setting up her stall in the morning, and she embroiders sweaters here, which helps her out.

Zhao Dongjuan's recent antics had made Zhao Meiyun very uneasy.

But when she fell ill, Shi Dalin didn't mind at all. Now she runs a shop with Shi Dalin and earns quite a bit of money. Her fear disappeared immediately.

She told Zhao Qiujuan privately, "Qiujuan, we're making more money from this shop than from selling fried skewers at a street stall. I estimate it won't be long before we can pay you back, and then we'll pay back some more to Azhen... If you want to buy a house next year, you can borrow money from your dad. We'll definitely have money then."

"Mmm." Zhao Qiujuan replied happily.

She has been selling rice balls at a stall in town for a long time, and many people in town know her. Now her parents have opened a shop, and she helps out there...

People in the neighborhood think she's a hardworking girl, and many say she's pretty.

In the past few days, some people have even inquired about her situation and wanted to play matchmaker for her... She was very happy about this.