Xia Qingqing washed her face with cold water, and her rosy cheeks finally felt a little better. While wiping her face, she said, "Um, this is a mung bean popsicle I bought in the county."
"Wow, it's an ice pop! Sis, can I have one?" Gou Dan looked at Xia Qingqing with longing eyes.
He had never eaten a popsicle before. He had only heard his classmates say that eating popsicles in the summer was very refreshing, but they were not sold here, only in the county.
"Eat up, I brought this especially for you," Xia Qingqing said, tearing one open and starting to eat it herself.
While Gou Dan went to get water, she changed the packaging of the two popsicles. Otherwise, if Gou Dan saw the production date and expiration date, he wouldn't be easily fooled, especially since he's an educated kid.
Dog Egg carefully took a bite of the popsicle, his eyes immediately narrowing into slits: "Sis, this popsicle is so delicious! Did you only buy two? I'll save half for Mom and Dad."
Xia Qingqing smiled and said, "This can't be kept any longer. You should eat it quickly, or it will melt. Next time, I'll take my parents to eat in the county."
Hearing his sister's words, Gou Dan finally felt relieved and began to eat heartily.
After finishing her popsicle, Xia Qingqing gave Gou Dan a meat bun: "Here, the meat bun I promised to buy for you."
Dog Egg was so happy he was practically bubbling with joy. Every time his sister came home, it was the happiest time for him, because she would always buy him lots of delicious food.
After Zhang Hongyan and Xia Heping returned home, Xia Qingqing told them about her collaboration with Xiao Hui.
Zhang Hongyan was startled when she heard that Xiao Hui wanted 500 bottles right away. She exclaimed in surprise, "Why so many? It will take many days to finish this!"
Xia Qingqing reassured him, "It's alright. I've already talked to him. We'll just send him 100 bottles at a time. It's just that the price won't be as high as before, since the cost of living in Beijing is much higher than here."
“But glass bottles are hard to buy. Last time I had to give someone a red envelope to barely get 100. It might be difficult to buy 500 this time,” Xia Heping said, looking troubled.
"It's alright, I'll figure out how to handle the glass bottles," Xia Qingqing naturally took on the task. After thinking for a moment, she also took on the responsibility of buying oil, salt, and seasonings, as it would be much easier to have Zhou Wei buy these things than to buy them here.
Zhang Hongyan and her husband knew their daughter had connections, so they did not object.
The couple excitedly calculated how much money they could make from making chili sauce this time. Although the price of the small fish chili sauce had dropped considerably, they could still earn at least 300 yuan if they sold 500 bottles.
Zhang Hongyan and Xia Heping never included labor costs when calculating costs, as they considered labor to be the least valuable asset.
Xia Qingqing had spoken to them twice, but she couldn't change their ingrained ideas. She could only try again slowly in the future.
After finishing their business, the family was about to eat. Lunch consisted of meat buns that Xia Qingqing had brought back from a state-run restaurant. She had bought 10 in total, and Gou Dan had just eaten one, so there were still 9 left, enough for the whole family.
Xia Qingqing was worried that eating only meat buns would be too greasy, so she also made a pot of loofah and egg soup and served each person a big bowl.
Seeing how many meat buns her daughter had bought, Zhang Hongyan said with a touch of heartache, "Qingqing, next time you want to eat meat buns, just tell Mom. Mom will buy some meat and cook them at home. It's cheaper than buying them from a state-run restaurant."
"I just happened to be in the county when I bought it. It's just a treat now and then. You guys work so hard, you should eat something good," Xia Qingqing said with a smile.
Dog Egg munched on a meat bun, secretly nodding. Usually, when his sister wasn't home, their meals weren't very good; they could only eat meat a few times when his sister came back.
Zhang Hongyan had been thrifty for many years and couldn't change her mindset overnight. However, thinking that the family would soon have another source of income, she stopped worrying about her daughter's extravagant spending.
......
After taking a nap in the afternoon, Gou Dan couldn't wait to go out to the river to catch fish after waking up. He even invited Xia Qingqing to go with him, but Xia Qingqing coldly and ruthlessly refused. She didn't want to go to the river under such a hot sun.
"Okay, then you can rest at home, I'm going to find Da Niu and the others," Gou Dan said, and then ran off happily, making sure to close the door behind him.
When Gou Dan arrived at Da Niu's house, Da Niu was helping his younger brother with his homework, muttering curses under his breath.
Da Niu sighed deeply, finally understanding the painful feelings Gou Dan had when tutoring him with his homework.
"Da Niu, come out here for a second, I need to talk to you about something."
When Gou Dan's voice came over, Da Niu seemed to have been saved. He threw the book on the table and said to his younger brother, "You write it yourself. I have to go out for a bit. Remember not to tell Mom, or I'll beat you up."
Erniu sniffed pitifully, "I...I know."
Good heavens, his brother is finally leaving. Even if he's not stupid, his brother's scolding is driving him crazy. If he had known that being tutored by his brother would be such a painful thing, he should have listened carefully in class.
Da Niu ran out excitedly: "Dog Egg, what do you want?"
Dog Egg said mysteriously, "Let's go catch some small fish in the river. If you catch a pound of small fish, I'll give you five cents, how about that?"
"Really? I don't want money. It's only right to help my brother catch fish," Da Niu thought that talking about money would hurt their relationship.
"Hey, haven't you heard the saying, 'Even close brothers should keep clear accounts'?" Gou Dan patted his chest and said, "You're my best brother, I'll never let you suffer a loss."
Da Niu was instantly moved: "Gou Dan, you're so kind~ We'll always be the best brothers."
"But what do you need so many small fish for?"
Dog Egg glanced at Da Niu and said hesitantly, "Anyway, it's useful, so just tell me if you'll help me catch it or not."
He didn't want to deceive Da Niu, but he couldn't tell Da Niu the truth either, in case Da Niu accidentally revealed it.
Da Niu nodded seriously: "Of course I'll help."
The sun wasn't at its strongest now, and a few mischievous kids were playing in the shallow water of the stream. Gou Dan used candy to trick these kids into helping him catch small fish. In just one afternoon, they caught about half a bucket, roughly four pounds.
After promising the children that he would give them candy the next day, Gou Dan and Da Niu carried the buckets home together.
When Zhang Hongyan returned home, Gou Dan showed her the small fish: "Mom, I caught these this afternoon. You promised to give me one cent per pound."
"Wow, you've caught quite a few," Zhang Hongyan estimated, then took out 4 mao from her pocket and gave it to Gou Dan.
Somewhat disdainfully, he said, "Take it, don't be silly and stand in the sun. Look how dark you are, even a lump of coal isn't as dark as you."
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