Coincidentally, the next day was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Chinese New Year begins. It is a very special day.
Chu Yue had been busy since early morning. She first prepared the glutinous rice flour needed for making dumplings in advance. As for the sweet wine, she didn't dare to drink too much this time, so as to avoid making another drunken joke on New Year's Eve.
Next is the chicken blood vine obtained from Han Shi, which has been cut into pieces and neatly displayed to dry. The weather is good that day, and the sun is shining, which is very suitable for drying quilts and medicinal materials.
So Chu Yue took out all the quilts and chicken blood vines in the room and dried them all in the sun.
She was busy in the front, and Lu Yuanbao was behind with a small pillow. He imitated Chu Yue's movements, patting the pillow in real life to make the cotton fluffy and flicking off the dust.
In addition, Chu Yue tied the bamboo backpack to the bicycle again.
When Lu Zhanlin got up in the morning, he guessed what was going on. While eating breakfast, he asked Chu Yue, "Are you going to the market today?"
"Yes, I will go." Chu Yue nodded, her eyes sparkling as she said, "Today is the Lantern Festival, there must be a lot of people in the city, and when there are a lot of people there are a lot of people buying things, so it's good for business."
This is also the reason why Chu Yue has been full of energy since early morning, because she can make money!
Lu Zhanlin originally did not approve of Chu Yue being so busy, mainly because he was worried that she would be too tired. After all, the military compound was too far away from the city. However, the 28-bar bicycle was given by him, and it implicitly became his support for Chu Yue.
Looking at Chu Yue's curved eyebrows and her happy expression when talking about making money, she was like a mouse that fell into a rice jar, so I just let her be.
Lu Zhanlin's worry finally turned into one sentence, "Be careful on the road and do what you can."
"Don't worry, I understand." Chu Yue said as she put the peeled eggs into Lu Yuanbao's bowl. Then she turned her head and looked straight at Lu Zhanlin with her bright eyes.
Seeing this, Lu Zhanlin's heart suddenly jumped, and his heartbeat fluctuated.
Chu Yue stared at him and asked, "Can you get off work on time today? Will it be late again?"
After all, it was a holiday, and Chu Yue still hoped that the family would be together, but Lu Zhanlin had been very busy recently, and it was common for him to come back at eight or nine o'clock in the evening. Chu Yue had always accepted it all calmly and never complained.
After Chu Yue asked this question, not only did Chu Yue look at Lu Zhanlin, but even Lu Yuanbao stopped eating the egg and stared at Lu Zhanlin with his black eyes, waiting for his answer.
Under the gazes of the two, one big and one small, Lu Zhanlin felt a surge of guilt in his chest.
After thinking for a while, he said, "I will try to come back as early as possible."
Hearing this, Lu Yuanbao's eyes lit up. He went to bed early last night and didn't even know when Lu Zhanlin came back. The father and son could only meet briefly at breakfast every day.
They didn't spend much time together, but in Lu Yuanbao's heart, he truly regarded Lu Zhanlin as his father.
Lu Zhanlin is so tall and so powerful, and he wears a military uniform. He is more powerful than the fathers of all the children in the village. Lu Yuanbao often thought to himself.
He happily took a big bite of the egg. It was fragrant and delicious!
After hearing this, Chu Yue was not as excited as Lu Yuanbao. She just nodded, and then she said calmly, "We had sesame dumplings on New Year's Eve. I'm making fresh meat dumplings today. Dumplings are best eaten while hot. If they are soaked for too long, they will become clumpy and not tasty. I'll make the dumplings and cook them when you come back."
Lu Zhanlin listened quietly and nodded solemnly, "Okay."
After a while, Lu Zhanlin went out to the military camp, under Chu Yue's watchful gaze, and thinking about the fresh meat dumplings in the evening.
As soon as Lu Zhanlin left, Chu Yue dried the quilt, tidied the house, checked it inside and out, and then gave Lu Yuanbao a few words before going out.
But there was a pair of piercing eyes fixed on her, which could not be ignored at all.
Chu Yue finally turned her head helplessly and looked at the follower behind her.
Lu Yuanbao looked up at Chu Yue and said loudly, "I want to go too."
Before, although Lu Yuanbao liked to stick to Chu Yue, Chu Yue would let him go back to his room and stay at home if she told him to. Even if he had some thoughts in his mind, he didn't dare to say them out loud.
After a year, Lu Yuanbao, who had grown one year older, became bolder and became a more independent little adult.
He actually dared to make a request to Chu Yue.
From another perspective, Lu Yuanbao trusts Chu Yue more and more and regards Chu Yue as his mother.
Because only a mother will indulge her children unconditionally.
At this moment, there was a tenacious persistence in Lu Yuanbao's bright dark eyes.
He said seriously, "I can help with the accounting, I can help with carrying things, I will be obedient and will never run around, I will do whatever you ask me to do?"
Chu Yue looked at his stubborn little face and couldn't help but feel soft in her heart.
She asked, "Are you really obedient?"
Lu Yuanbao nodded without hesitation, "Yes, I'll listen to you." Then he added softly, "I can do a lot of things and help you with your work."
How could Chu Yue bear to reject such a child? Besides, Lu Yuanbao would be going to school soon and would not be able to go out much longer.
She touched Lu Yuanbao's head and said, "Go change your shoes, and put on your scarf and hat. It will be cold when riding a bicycle in the wind."
Lu Yuanbao was stunned at first, then he reacted. He said yes loudly, ran to his little room, changed his shoes quickly, and put on himself carefully.
When he came out with his head tilted, Chu Yue had already fixed the bicycle and was waiting for him in the yard.
…
In the city.
Chu Yue's itinerary was similar to usual. She first set up a stall in the market, but the food she sold was no longer the food she made, but the side dishes she took out from her personal space, which were suitable for this era.
Things like mung bean cakes, thousand-layer puff pastry, and red bean cakes, as long as you change the packaging, you won’t be able to tell the difference at all.
This thing is usually only available in grocery stores and is relatively rare in the market. Chu Yue sells it at a price that is a few cents lower than that in grocery stores, which has attracted many customers.
With low prices and the large number of holiday customers, everything Chu Yue prepared was sold out in less than an hour.
Lu Yuanbao's small purse was bulging, and he hid his money carefully, feeling so happy.
If it was a normal arrangement, Chu Yue should take Lu Yuanbao to a state-owned restaurant to have a good meal and celebrate.
But Chu Yue did not do so. Instead, she bought two bamboo tube rices at the market, one for her and one for Lu Yuanbao. Then she pushed her bicycle through the streets and alleys of the city, walking through one street after another without getting tired of it.
Chu Yue didn't say why, and Lu Yuanbao didn't ask either, he just followed silently.
At first he ate while walking. After finishing the bamboo tube rice, Lu Yuanbao rubbed his hands and looked carefully at the small shops around him and the passers-by.
This was Lu Yuanbao's first time to go shopping in the city in the true sense. He found everything new and interesting. It was completely different from the village where he lived before.
Just walk... walk... walk...
Chu Yue passed a crossroads, then turned a corner, walked a few steps inside, and saw a piece of red paper on the wall by the roadside.
On the bright red paper, written in black brush calligraphy were the words: Jipu is for sublease.
Chu Yue's eyes suddenly lit up, this is it!
She had previously asked Pei Hanchuan for a "medical fee" - a franchise business license. After Pei Hanchuan's hands, it was only a matter of time before the certificate was issued. Chu Yue had to make preparations in advance and decide on the location of the store.
So Chu Yue came to the city today, not only to set up a stall at the market to make money, but also to find a store to do business.
She knew that this trip would not be easy, so she had not thought of bringing Lu Yuanbao along from the beginning. However, the child had now learned to act cute and pitiful, so Chu Yue softened her heart and took him along.
Chu Yue had already walked around the area. This intersection was very close to the bus station, state-owned restaurant, supply and marketing cooperative, and post office, making it a good location.
This store is on the side of the corner, and the largest store at the intersection is being renovated, so this location looks inconspicuous.
But once the big store is renovated and traffic is restored on all sides, the value of the shops on the side will also rise.
It is definitely a potential stock and Chu Yue is quite optimistic about it.
She looked up at the shop sign, which read "Lao Zhou Tailor Shop."
With the progress of the country's light industry in recent years, clothes are all made in garment factories, and they are beautiful and cheap. Small tailor shops can only take on some manual work such as altering clothes and repairing trouser legs, so it is normal for a tailor shop to go out of business.
After looking around, Chu Yue was about to walk into the tailor shop. As soon as she raised her leg, she heard a crackling sound!
Crash!
Something fell to the ground again!
The sound was quite loud, it seemed there was a big commotion inside.
Wow! This is going to be a good show!
Chu Yue said to Lu Yuanbao outside the door, "Yuanbao, don't come in."
But it was too late for Chu Yue to speak, as Lu Yuanbao had already followed her footsteps and stood beside her.
The mother and son, one adult and one child, happened to see the intense scene going on in the store.
A girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a round oval face, big dark eyes, two thick pigtails, and a not-very-thick cotton jacket. She was obviously not tall, but she looked very aggressive.
Such a little girl grabbed a bald middle-aged man in his thirties or forties with both hands and pressed the man down on the table next to the sewing machine.
The middle-aged man obviously didn't expect that a thin-looking girl could be so strong and dare to be so fierce.
He was frightened for a moment, trembling, "You...you...what do you want to do?"
"What? I'm not doing anything! I just want my wages back! I was promised to be an apprentice, with food and lodging provided and five dollars a month!" The little girl's face turned red with anger in the middle of winter, and she pressed the bald middle-aged man tightly.
The middle-aged man recovered from his initial shock and returned to his original greedy appearance. He taunted the girl, "Go out and ask around. How can an apprentice get paid these days? You are here to learn a skill, and you should pay me as a master. You are secretly happy that I didn't charge you. You actually want to get paid? You are dreaming!"
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