The warm early winter sun shone through the window lattices, casting dappled light and shadow on the blue brick floor of the "Natural Delights" food workshop. Steam filled the air, carrying the rich aroma of grains and the sweet scent of fruits and vegetables. Several brand-new wooden workbenches were neatly arranged, and several female workers were deftly kneading dough, their movements as skillful as butterflies in flight. Lin Wanqiu, dressed in a clean, plain-colored cloth shirt with the cuffs rolled up to her elbows, was carefully inspecting the freshly steamed fruit and vegetable buns. She gently pinched a pink strawberry-flavored bun, savoring its soft texture, her eyes filled with satisfaction.
"Sister Wanqiu, this batch of steamed buns tastes even better than last time!" Aunt Zhang, who was in charge of kneading the dough, straightened up, wiped the sweat from her forehead with her apron, and smiled admiringly. "If you ask me, the reason why our 'Natural Delight' is so popular is all thanks to your skillful hands!"
Lin Wanqiu turned around and smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Aunt Zhang, you flatter me. This is the result of everyone's hard work." She put the inspected steamed buns into the bamboo basket. "This batch of goods is to be delivered to Huimin Supermarket, so there can't be any mistakes."
No sooner had she finished speaking than light footsteps sounded at the door. Shen Nian'an, wearing a maroon padded jacket, rushed in like a little cannonball, her face flushed and her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat. "Mommy! Mommy! I'm home from school!"
Lin Wanqiu quickly went to meet him, squatted down, hugged her son, and kissed the top of his soft hair: "Run slowly, be careful not to fall. Were you a good boy at school today?"
"Good boy!" Shen Nian'an nodded vigorously, his little hands tightly hugging Lin Wanqiu's neck, his soft voice filled with joy, "The teacher even praised me for being good at arithmetic!" He took out a crumpled piece of arithmetic paper from his pocket and handed it to Lin Wanqiu like a treasure, "Mommy, look, I got them all right!"
Lin Wanqiu took the arithmetic paper, on which were written addition and subtraction equations in childish handwriting, each marked with a small red checkmark. Her heart warmed, and she patted her son's head: "Our Nian'an is so amazing, truly my little pride."
Shen Tingzhou happened to come in from outside, still carrying a faint chill. When he saw the mother and son being affectionate, a gentle smile appeared on his stern face: "Nian'an is back? Did you cause any trouble for your mother today?"
"No!" Shen Nian'an broke free from Lin Wanqiu's embrace, ran to Shen Tingzhou's side, grabbed his clothes, and looked up to say, "Dad, I helped the teacher collect homework today, and the teacher even praised me!"
Shen Tingzhou bent down to pick up his son and gently stroked his little face: "Our Nian'an is getting more and more capable." He looked at Lin Wanqiu with a smile in his eyes, "After the exhibition, the number of orders has increased significantly. We'll be busy from now on."
Lin Wanqiu nodded, a thoughtful look flashing in her eyes: "Yes, the workshop is a bit short-handed right now, and I'm thinking about how to improve efficiency." She looked at Shen Nian'an, and a thought suddenly struck her. Her son's mathematical talent, which he had shown at the last exhibition, had left a deep impression on her. Perhaps it was time to let him get involved in some simple family business.
"Nian'an," Lin Wanqiu walked to Shen Tingzhou's side and said gently, "Mom and Dad are both very busy. Would you be willing to do us a favor?"
Shen Nian'an's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously: "Yes! I'm willing to help Mom and Dad with chores!"
"Alright," Lin Wanqiu said with a smile, "Starting today, you'll learn how to sell things from your mother, okay?"
Shen Nian'an clapped her hands excitedly: "Great! I want to help Mom sell steamed buns!"
Shen Tingzhou looked at Lin Wanqiu with some concern: "Wanqiu, Nian'an is still too young. Won't this be too much of a burden for him?"
Lin Wanqiu shook her head, her eyes filled with certainty: "Tingzhou, I can see that Nian'an is very talented in arithmetic, and he's also very interested in business. Letting him get involved early might help cultivate his abilities." She looked at Shen Nian'an, her tone gentle yet firm, "Nian'an, selling things isn't easy; it requires seriousness and meticulousness. Can you do it?"
"Yes!" Shen Nian'an straightened her small body and said earnestly, "I will definitely study hard!"
Over the next few days, Shen Nian'an became the little helper in the food shop. Lin Wanqiu first taught him the prices of various products, such as five small fruit and vegetable steamed buns for one cent, a pound of yam and lotus seed cake for eight cents, and a pound of nut energy bars for one yuan and twenty cents. Shen Nian'an studied very diligently, as if his little head contained a small abacus, and soon he had memorized the prices of all the products.
That morning, several customers came to the food shop, all of them local residents. Lin Wanqiu deliberately let Shen Nian'an take care of them, while she secretly observed from the side.
An older woman wearing a blue floral shirt walked up to the booth, her eyes falling on the colorful fruit and vegetable buns. She smiled and said, "Wanqiu, your buns are so pretty, give me ten."
Shen Nian'an immediately went up to her with a polite smile on her little face: "Hello, ma'am! Ten small steamed buns cost two cents."
The older woman looked at Shen Nian'an with some surprise: "Oh, this little guy is really capable, he can even sell things!" She took out two cents from her pocket and handed them to Shen Nian'an, "Here, take the money."
Shen Nian'an took the money and carefully put it into the drawer. Then she picked up a clean oil paper bag, skillfully counted out ten small steamed buns from the bamboo basket, put them into the bag, and handed it to the old lady: "Auntie, please take this. Welcome to come again next time!"
The woman took the bag and nodded with satisfaction: "This child is really clever; he'll definitely amount to something in the future!"
Lin Wanqiu watched from the side, her heart filled with satisfaction. She hadn't expected Nian'an to learn so quickly; not only could she accurately quote prices, but she could also skillfully collect money and pack items, performing even better than she had anticipated.
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