Everyone's opinion

Liu Xiangmei's business was indeed good. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to sell all forty portions because of the rain, but it turned out that her worries were completely unnecessary.

Of course, the business is doing so well partly thanks to Ma Zhen. Because of her meddling, Wang Yao had a chance to prove herself, which can also be considered a form of publicity.

People were just bored on a rainy day and came to watch the fun, and many bought a boxed lunch to try, so the boxed lunches sold out relatively quickly today.

When it was Niu Zhi's turn, there were only a few portions left, and he bought them all at once.

This action provoked strong dissatisfaction from those who hadn't yet bought the items.

Looking at his police uniform, he said, "You can't keep buying and taking more than you need. What happened to serving the people?"

Niu Zhi quickly explained, "They're all for my office colleagues."

After saying that, he quickly left with several boxed lunches, as if afraid someone would try to snatch them.

However, everyone was just joking with him, and then they started complaining about Liu Xiangmei's mistakes, "Boss, I've never seen a business run like this before. You only make a few servings every day, who are you going to feed?"

"That's right, boss, you can't do this. If I can't buy it next time, I'll never come back!"

Someone quickly chimed in, "It's better if you don't come, it's even better if none of you come, then no one will be competing with me for it."

"Get out of here! How can you do this? I was just joking with the boss. But boss, you make so little every day, letting everyone smell the aroma but never see the food. Isn't that deliberately keeping everyone's appetite in suspense?"

Liu Xiangmei felt completely wronged. "I make quite a lot every day. I'm even afraid that I won't be able to sell all of this and it will go to waste. Thank you all for your support."

"Then boss, make a lot more tomorrow, and we'll all come tomorrow."

Liu Xiangmei happily agreed, "Okay, it's a deal. I'll make more tomorrow, and everyone should come too. Don't stand me up, or the rest will go to waste."

Seeing that everyone had left, Sister Xu joked with a smile, "Xiang Mei, business was good today, you must be so happy!"

Liu Xiangmei didn't hide her feelings, "I'm so happy! I really have to thank Sister Xu for helping us promote this. If you hadn't been sitting here every day eating and showing it to everyone, people wouldn't trust me so much."

Liu Xiangmei knew that her family's boxed lunches sold well in the neighborhood not only because of the good food, but also because of Sister Xu.

Everyone around here knows Sister Xu. Not only is her family wealthy, but her younger generation is also very capable. Sister Xu herself is also impeccable in character, so her group of sisters all follow her lead.

She recalled when she first started selling boxed lunches, "Who here knows her? Who would buy from her?"

If Sister Xu hadn't become the face of her family's boxed lunch business on the very first day, making people in the neighborhood willing to try her boxed lunches, her boxed lunches wouldn't have become known so quickly.

Sister Xu chuckled, "The good sales of the boxed lunches are because you cook well, it has nothing to do with me. Alright, go back and rest for a while, you've finally finished your morning's work."

Liu Xiangmei didn't argue with Sister Xu anymore. Despite what Sister Xu said, she still kept this kindness in her heart.

By this time, Niu Zhi had successfully brought the boxed lunch back to the office. His colleagues, who had been eagerly waiting for the food, rushed over as soon as the meal arrived.

"Did Niu Zhi sneak some food on the way? Why are you so slow? Zhang Wei has almost finished eating before you came back."

As Niu Zhi opened his lunchbox, he told everyone what had just happened.

This kind of thing is nothing new to the police officers at the local police station who frequently handle disputes.

What everyone cares about is Liu Xiangmei's attitude towards cooking. After taking a few bites, someone said, "Although this rice and vegetables have been sitting in the lunchbox for a while, it still tastes very good, and you can taste that the ingredients are not bad. I think it would taste even better if we could eat it fresh out of the pot at the restaurant."

Niu Zhi said, "This boss is just starting out, so she definitely doesn't have the money to open a shop yet. Just wait and see, with her business being so good, it's only a matter of time before she opens a shop."

They weren't the only ones talking about Liu Xiangmei's boxed lunch; Liu Hai, the foreman of the mahjong parlor, and his gang were also there.

It was raining today, so a few of us got together to play mahjong. Since it was almost lunchtime, they sent one of us to the construction site to buy boxed lunches.

Everyone was only a little hungry, but unfortunately, Qin Lao was a very talkative person.

While waiting for his food, Qin Lao was busy playing mahjong with his hands and talking non-stop about how delicious Kung Pao Chicken looked and smelled, and how stir-fried garlic sprouts with cured pork was fatty but not greasy...

These were all just ordinary home-cooked dishes, but Qin Lao described them as being even more delicious than dragon meat.

Everyone was greedy and couldn't wait to eat. No one stopped Qin Lao. The hungrier they were, the more they wanted to listen, and the hungrier they were, just waiting for the boxed lunches to arrive so they could have a good meal.

But they never expected that things would turn out differently. The rain not only stopped the construction site, but also the lunchbox vendors (according to them).

There was no other way but to ask the person who bought the food to go outside and find a restaurant to quickly pack a few dishes back. By now, everyone was so hungry that they were starting to panic, and even Qin Lao had shut up.

This carelessness led to a disaster. I don't know if this person was just unlucky, but the vegetables they bought were either too salty or too bland, and the green beans were so crunchy that they were clearly undercooked.

Liu Hai slammed his chopsticks down. "Is this food fit for humans? Qin Lao, the boxed lunch you're talking about isn't something like this, is it?"

Qin Lao had just talked too much and recalled too many scenes, making him hungrier than others. He had no choice but to soak his rice in tea.

Hearing Liu Hai's question, he quickly shook his head, "How could that be? I ate that boxed lunch..."

While eating tea-soaked rice, I thought about the wonderful memories of the past, and before I knew it, I had finished a bowl of rice.

Liu Hai interrupted Qin Lao halfway through his sentence, saying, "Alright, alright, you're starving, what are you still talking about?"

He stood up, ready to go out to find something to eat, muttering to himself, "If you're doing so well, why don't you open a shop? Setting up a small stall means you have to rely on the weather to make money, how much can you possibly earn..."

Some people are worried about Liu Xiangmei opening a shop, while others are looking forward to it. But what about Liu Xiangmei herself?

Right now, I'm doing the math. A boxed lunch costs three yuan. After deducting the cost of the vegetables, oil, salt, seasonings, honeycomb briquettes, and the lunchbox itself, I can make about half the profit. Today, I sold forty boxes, so I made about sixty yuan.

"No wonder so many people have gone out to do business these past few years. Doing business is really profitable. If we had known earlier, your dad wouldn't have had to... Sigh, it's all fate!"

Wang Yao glanced at the family photo on her desk. She had already framed this only family photo. In the photo, her father was smiling gently, watching her and her mother busily moving towards a new life.

"My dad will be happy to know we're doing well, so don't overthink it."

Wang Yao comforted Liu Xiangmei. What she didn't say was that the most important thing in the food business is to have a good skill. If it weren't for the cooking skills she learned in her previous life, even if her father were alive, their family might not have been able to make the business work. Haven't you seen restaurants going out of business from time to time on the street?

Liu Xiangmei sighed, "Fine, let your dad watch us make big money and be envious! Give me a back massage, you've been keeping me busy all morning. Your second aunt is gone, and suddenly I'm all alone doing this, I'm not used to it yet. Luckily it's raining today, so the rain is light."

Wang Yao looked outside. It had been raining all night and all morning, but it was gradually stopping now. She asked, "Mom, it'll be sunny tomorrow. How many portions should we prepare?"

Liu Xiangmei enjoyed her daughter's service and hummed, "One hundred and twenty servings, right? There are still seventy servings at the construction site. I told everyone today that we'll increase the quantity tomorrow, so we'll prepare fifty servings here."

Wang Yao nodded in agreement, but then she asked, "Can you manage by yourself tomorrow? Or I can work with you."

Liu Xiangmei immediately shook her head and refused, "That won't do. Your most important thing right now is to study. Okay, I'm fine now. Go and go read your book!"

After sending Wang Yao away, Liu Xiangmei counted the money again, secretly regretting that she would have earned more than this if it hadn't rained today.

I hope it won't rain tomorrow!

Thinking about tomorrow, Liu Xiangmei asked Wang Yao what dishes she planned to make.

Wang Yao thought about what vegetables her aunt's garden had. "Fish-flavored eggplant, dry-fried green beans, and for meat, how about spicy chicken? Go to your aunt's house tomorrow and catch a few chickens, make sure they're a little tender, old chickens are too tough."

As he spoke, he made a list of the ingredients needed for tomorrow and handed it to Liu Xiangmei.

After receiving the food, Liu Xiangmei rushed downstairs. She was going to the convenience store to call her older sister and ask her to prepare vegetables for her the next day.

Wang Yao continued reading and doing exercises.

Wang Yao wondered if it was because her current body still remembered the knowledge she had learned, but she felt that the basic knowledge in the textbooks was not too difficult, and with Sun Min's notes, it was even easier to understand.

After a night's rest, Liu Xiangmei pedaled her tricycle hard early in the morning and set off for Lianchi Town.

When she arrived at Liu Xiangchun's house, Liu Xiangchun had already prepared the dishes for her.

Chen Hai weighed the vegetables, while Liu Xiangchun took notes. He asked Liu Xiangmei, "Do you have enough vegetables? You've only just started, so don't be too hasty."

"I've been conservative enough. Yao Yao even wants me to open a shop. Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to use it all."

Liu Xiangchun was relieved, but he was worried that his younger sister had never done business before and wouldn't understand the ins and outs.

She smiled and said, "Your business is doing well, aren't the students on holiday now?"

Liu Xiangmei replied proudly, "Others may not know, but you don't. Your niece's cooking is quite good. Everyone around here loves it. Even though the students are on holiday now, there are still many tenants on our street. They are all women who rent houses to take their children to school. Even though it's the holidays, they still live there."

Liu Xiangchun was surprised, "Why stay in the city during the holidays? Going back to your hometown would save you money."

“They don’t care about that. Their husbands send money back every month. They have to play mahjong every day in the county town. It’s not as convenient as living in the city when they go back to the village.”

Liu Xiangchun, an honest woman, had never seen such a way of life before. She was amazed and repeatedly told Liu Xiangmei not to gamble in the city.

Liu Xiangmei nodded vigorously, "I know, I'm so busy every day, I'd love to learn, but I don't have the time!"

"Slap!" The Liu Family's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms reappeared in the martial arts world. "Don't even think about it! You still have to raise Yao Yao and send her to school. If I find out you're learning from shady people, I'll beat you to death. Do you hear me?"