Chapter 4 Chapter 4 There are many tricks in the city.
Lin Nanjiang has been under a lot of psychological pressure these past two days.
It's almost the end of the year. The couple has saved 5,000 yuan, which is undoubtedly a huge sum of money to take back to their hometown. It can support them for two or three years by just lying down.
But in Shenzhen, money is spent like water. They spent nearly a thousand yuan on the first day of renting the house. It is hard to say how long the money in the passbook can last, besides, his wife is pregnant.
For the first time in his life, Lin Nanjiang truly realized the reality of poverty and was eager to make money so that his wife and children could live a better life.
So when Liu Suqin mentioned setting up a stall, his first reaction was not rejection.
They indeed have no money, no connections, and no experience, and have an instinctive fear of the unknown such as doing business, but what in the world is more terrifying than poverty?
The thought of making money from setting up a stall filled Lin Nanjiang with boundless courage. His mind raced, "I think it's possible. The landlord and his wife are locals, and they love fried noodles, so it's clear that locals can appreciate the taste. Besides, there are quite a few of our fellow villagers working here, so even if we only do business with them, there's still profit to be made." Lin Nanjiang was truly enthusiastic. After pondering the feasibility of the idea, he immediately began to think further, "We don't need to rent a storefront to set up a stall. We can use our gas stove at home. It's just that the gas tank is heavy and needs a car to move it. I wonder if Uncle Chen's tricycle can be rented to us, or if we can buy a used one..."
Tricycles are too expensive, and they haven't made any money yet, so it's impossible for them to buy a big item all at once. The couple prefers to rent a car first. The landlord has a wide network of contacts, so if his car is not convenient to rent, they can ask him to help make some connections, and they are willing to pay a deposit.
This matter was related to whether the plan could proceed. Lin Nanjiang didn't want to delay and immediately ran to discuss it with the landlord.
After a while, he came back, sweating profusely, but looking quite relaxed. "Uncle Chen asked me when I planned to open the stall. I thought that the factory salary for that month shouldn't be wasted, and I had to work until at least the end of the year. Besides, your belly was getting bigger, so it would be impossible for you to accompany me to the stall all day. So I told him that we would only go to the night market stall at night, and I would continue to work during the day. Uncle Chen said that his car was not often used at night, so he could rent it to us for 40 yuan a month, and there was no need for a deposit."
It was good enough to be able to rent a car at this time. Liu Suqin didn't care about the price. "Okay."
Lin Nanjiang could no longer suppress the smile on his face, "I've already paid this month's rent."
"You've given me all your salary, so where did the money come from?"
"I didn't spend much of last month's pocket money, so I still have twenty yuan in my pocket."
Liu Suqin then remembered that they were still in the honeymoon period, and she didn't have the right to ask Lin Nanjiang for salary. He always handed over a part of his salary voluntarily, and would keep a hundred or two hundred for pocket money.
I finally understand the shocked look in his eyes when I confiscated all his wages yesterday.
Liu Suqin found it funny and said, "Then we need to get some money first when we go to make the purchase. You can take out some extra money and keep it with you as a backup."
Lin Nanjiang was both excited and nervous, "How much money do we want to withdraw?"
It's time to spend money before the business even starts. Even if the two big items, the car and the stove, are solved, the remaining items may not be small amounts of money. If the business fails, he will have to work hard for a long time to make the money back.
Liu Suqin understood his feelings. Rebirth didn't increase her intelligence. Faced with the unknown, she was also hesitant and fearful. She was particularly conservative in spending. "First, write down what you want to buy today and calculate the approximate price. Then you will know how much money to withdraw."
Lin Nanjiang said she was right, and immediately found a pen and paper, squatting on the ground and ready to go. "Tell me what you want to buy first, and I'll write it down."
"Dried vermicelli, pork belly, eggs, vegetables, onion, garlic, chili powder, foam lunch box, plastic bag, disposable chopsticks..." Liu Suqin listed slowly, and Lin Nanjiang used the bed as a desk and wrote down the items, adding one or two items from time to time.
The couple put their heads together and, after careful discussion, added a few common seasonings. For their homemade fried noodles, the seasoning is simple: dried chilies, soy sauce, MSG, and salt are enough. But if the customer doesn't like spicy food, they still have to use oyster sauce, chicken essence, and pepper to ensure a rich and delicious taste.
After making the purchase list and discussing the approximate quantity of each item needed, the two of them had a rough idea and couldn't wait to go out with their passbooks.
In the bank, Liu Suqin slapped her forehead and remembered something, and asked the staff to change them a stack of change.
There is no mobile payment now, how can I open a business without enough change?
After withdrawing the money, they rushed to the vegetable market without stopping. It was already past nine o'clock, and the stalls had not yet closed, but there were not many people around. Faced with the leftover goods from the meat and vegetable stalls, they didn't have much to pick from, so they completed the large purchase very efficiently.
The last stop was the grocery store in the vegetable market. This grocery store had everything, from rice, flour, grain and oil to small items like foam lunch boxes and disposable chopsticks. They could buy everything at once.
Liu Suqin gave a thumbs up to the convenience of Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The two had a clear division of labor in purchasing. Liu Suqin paid in front, and Lin Nanjiang carried the bags in the back.
When Lin Nanjiang walked out of the grocery store, his face was filled with dreamy excitement, as if he had drunk fake wine. "Did you hear that? They called you the boss lady, wife. You are the boss lady now."
The middle-aged man in the grocery store was very good at dealing with people. They bought so many plastic bags and disposable lunch boxes and chopsticks that one could tell at a glance that they were in the catering business. Whether it was big or not was another matter. Anyway, after Liu Suqin paid the bill, the man said some auspicious words like "Congratulations to the boss lady on her prosperous business". The boss lady didn't think anything of it, but Lin Nanjiang was already confused.
Of course, everyone likes nice words. Liu Suqin pretended to be calm, but she was actually very happy in her heart. She also smiled and said, "I'm the boss's wife, so aren't you the boss?"
"Hehehe." Lin Nanjiang was grinning so hard that his teeth were showing. He would turn around and call the boss lady whenever he had something to say or not.
"Are you tired, Madam Boss? Do you want to find a stool and rest for a while?"
"Boss lady, shouldn't we also buy a business bag? I see everyone has one. Hanging it around the waist makes it very convenient for collecting money and making change."
No matter how nice the name sounded, he seemed to be calling it eight hundred times a day, which was unbearable. Liu Suqin wanted to roll her eyes and ask him how old he was. Did he think it was childish?
Looking up, I saw the man's young and handsome face, which was full of vitality and shining fighting spirit.
Somehow, the words on Liu Suqin's lips changed to encouragement, "Whether I can be the boss lady depends on your hard work. When you become a wealthy boss, then I will truly be the boss lady."
"I will!" Lin Nanjiang expressed his determination to work hard to make his wife the boss's wife with these three simple words.
He seemed tireless and didn't even rest when he got home. He just drank a sip of water and started working, boiling water to make noodles, cutting vegetables, and was busy in the small kitchen by himself.
The temperature in Shenzhen in October was still quite high. There was no refrigerator at home. Liu Suqin was worried that the pork would become stale if left till night, so she instructed him to pick out the cut lean meat and marinate it with cooking wine, light soy sauce, cornstarch and other seasonings.
The fat needs to be stir-fried until it turns into powder, and it cannot be marinated.
The couple was so busy preparing for the stall that they didn't even have time for lunch, so they fried two more plates of noodles using local ingredients, just in time to try the taste of the non-spicy version.
Well, I can only say it’s okay, edible, but not satisfying.
On the first day of setting up the stall, they didn't know the situation and were afraid of wasting food, so they only soaked 25 kilograms of dried vermicelli, which was enough to stir-fry about 100 bowls.
It took Lin Nanjiang half a day to prepare the food according to this quantity.
The main reason is that his knife skills are not good and he is not efficient enough. If Liu Suqin, who has rich kitchen experience, prepares the dishes, the time can be shortened by at least half.
The fact that Liu Suqin hasn't been helping out these past two days isn't because she's holding her belly and waiting to become a young lady.
The couple discussed it and decided that they did not have enough capital, so they would rent the landlord's tricycle to set up a night market for the time being. After a couple of days when they were comfortable with the business, Lin Nanjiang could go back to the factory to work the day shift, and Liu Suqin would be responsible for the work before the stall was set up at home. This way, Lin Nanjiang could get home from get off work early and would not be delayed from setting up the stall.
This is called preparing for both situations; don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Lin Nanjiang felt very guilty. His wife could have gone back to her hometown to take care of the pregnancy and not have to do anything, but she had to accompany him to work in Shenzhen with a big belly. So, while he was not back to the factory to claim his leave, he took on all the work he could do and did not let her do anything.
After everything was prepared and it was not yet time to set up the stall at the night market, Liu Suqin asked him to lie down and rest for a while while she discussed the price of the fried noodles.
But there wasn't a single fried noodle shop in the entire town, and there wasn't even a reference point. Lin Nanjiang was completely clueless. Finally, Liu Suqin pretended to be confident and made a decision, "A bowl of wontons costs four yuan. We can't disrupt the market. So, let's make the vegetarian fried noodles four yuan, the one with egg four and a half yuan, the one with meat five yuan, and the one with both meat and egg five and a half yuan. How about that?"
Lin Nanjiang didn't expect his wife to be so brave. He took a breath and asked quietly, "Is it because the price is too high and no one wants to buy it?"
"We use solid ingredients, and one portion is enough to fill a grown man's stomach, so the price isn't too expensive." Liu Suqin was confident in this business, but since she had no practical experience, she couldn't just rely on confidence. After thinking for a moment, she added, "If no one buys, we can change the offer later. We can say it's the first day of the stall and offer a discount of three yuan per portion of vegetarian fried noodles. We'll even make a loss to attract customers."
Is there such a thing? Lin Nanjiang was stunned. After a while, he whispered, "Even if it's just three yuan for vegetarian fried noodles, we can still make a profit. We won't lose money."
"I know, it's all just rhetoric. The purpose of doing business is to make money." Liu Suqin glanced at her husband, who was doubting his life, and calmly comforted him, "We don't steal or rob, and we have clear prices when doing business. Don't worry about anything else. Making money is more important than anything else."
Lin Nanjiang didn't understand, so he gave up thinking and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say."
It's no wonder that she looked like she had everything under control, which really reassured him. He stopped overthinking and waited patiently for the time to open the stall.
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