Ning Wan is a woman of action.
Now that we've made up our minds, let's get right to it!
The next day, after sending Ning Yanshu to school, Ning Wan made an appointment with Xu Xiufeng early in the morning.
Xu Xiufeng first showed her the way to the construction site, and then they visited several restaurants and fast food outlets nearby to find out the market price of boxed meals.
Ning Wan has limited capital.
After paying tuition, the remaining 534 yuan was quickly used up to buy a folding table and disposable packaging boxes needed for setting up a stall.
Looking at her empty wallet, Ning Wan felt extremely heartbroken.
When I finally bought the meat, my hand was trembling as I paid.
Today is Ning Wan's first time setting up her stall, and she has limited time. So she decided to prepare braised pork and scrambled eggs with tomatoes for today's boxed lunches.
These are two of the most common and least likely to go wrong dishes.
Braised pork belly is flavorful and goes well with rice, making it a great value and filling option for workers who spend long hours on construction sites.
Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs have a sweet and sour taste that is delicious.
It's delicious and also helps cut through the greasiness of braised pork.
Considering the possibility that the food might not sell, Ning Wan conservatively prepared only 30 meals.
After packing all the food, she borrowed a small cart from Xu Xiufeng.
Ning Wan pulled her cart alone and rushed to the construction site before it was time for the site to close.
The construction site was extremely noisy.
On the other side, enclosed by sheet metal, excavators roared. Dust billowed from their mechanical arms, and much dust floated in the air.
There are no large buildings outside the construction site that can provide shade from the sun.
The midday sun blazed overhead, feeling as if it were baking you dry.
Ning Wan was lucky enough to find a sturdy tree. She hid under its shade, set up a folding table, and placed the boxed lunches on it.
Soon, it was time to leave work.
There were many workers coming and going at the construction site entrance, but most of them only glanced at it briefly before leaving.
Ning Wan stood under the big tree for a long time, but she couldn't get a single customer.
She looked down at the 30 neatly arranged boxed meals on the table, feeling neither discouraged nor particularly disappointed.
I wonder if she and Ning Yanshu could finish it in a week if they put it in the refrigerator...
...
Suddenly, a shadow fell on Ning Wan.
Ning Wan looked up and saw Xu Xiufeng's husband, Zhao Shuigen, standing in front of her.
Why did Zhao Shuigen come?
When he met Ning Wan's probing gaze, Zhao Shuigen coughed a few times.
He looked somewhat awkwardly at the boxed lunches on the table and said, "Um, could you please give me three boxed lunches?"
Zhao Shuigen dislikes Ning Wan.
It wasn't just Ning Wan's arrogant nature, but also her haughty and disdainful demeanor.
If it weren't for Xu Xiufeng's instructions to come to Ning Wan's stall at noon to buy a few boxed lunches and support her business, Zhao Shuigen would never have come.
Ning Wan was well aware of the couple's good intentions.
"Okay~" she replied with a smile, and packed three lunch boxes into a plastic bag: "This will cost 30 yuan in total."
Finally, Ning Wan took three more bottles of juice and put them all into a plastic bag.
"This is plum juice that I made myself. It's good for clearing heat, relieving internal heat, and cooling you down in the summer. Brother Zhao is busy at the construction site during the day, and the sun is scorching. You can try it."
Zhao Shuigen was somewhat surprised to meet Ning Wan, who was so emotionally stable and didn't swear, for the first time.
Before leaving, Xu Xiufeng repeatedly assured him that Ning Wan had changed, but he didn't believe her at the time.
"Thanks."
Zhao Shuigen took the bag and thanked him, his dry voice revealing a hint of unease.
He paid and was about to leave.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Shuigen suddenly turned around and said, "Actually... you could sell it for a higher price."
Compared to the fast food restaurants near the neighborhood that charge more than ten yuan per meal, Ning Wan's boxed lunch only costs ten yuan.
One meat dish, one vegetable dish, plus a whole big box of rice.
While such low prices are indeed very attractive, the profit margins are not high in the long run.
Ning Wan was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized what she meant: "I understand, thank you, Brother Zhao."
She wasn't stupid; she could sense that Zhao Shuigen didn't like her.
However, the other party only expressed their complaints privately and verbally. While Xu Xiufeng was busy taking care of Ning Wan in the hospital, Zhao Shuigen always helped her behind the scenes.
Even on the day Ning Wan was discharged from the hospital, it was he who cooked chicken soup for Xu Xiufeng and gave it to Ning Wan.
Ning Wan couldn't help but sigh.
It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together.
Zhao Shuigen and his wife are both honest and kind people.
...
After Zhao Shuigen left, Ning Wan sold a few more boxed meals.
As they were packing up to leave, four takeout containers remained on the table. Ning Wan packed up the stall, intending to take them home and eat them with Ning Yanshu.
The income from the first day of setting up a stall, plus the money from selling plum juice, wasn't ideal.
But at least we managed to earn back our initial investment.
Ning Wan was not discouraged and planned to keep trying!
When Ning Yanshu came home from kindergarten, she saw the fast food box on the table, and her little face was full of undisguised surprise: "Mom! Is this our dinner tonight?"
He has never eaten food packaged in takeout containers.
Before, when I was at home every day, my mother would just throw something together without much thought.
Occasionally, food brought back from outside was always leftovers, simply packed in plastic bags.
In Ning Yanshu's opinion, this could already be considered a "luxury" food!
Ning Wan smiled slightly at Ning Yanshu: "These are the four leftover boxed lunches Mom sold today. The other two are in the refrigerator, so we can have another meal tomorrow."
Wow! That's awesome!
Ning Yanshu couldn't wait to wash his hands and sit down at the square table to eat.
A mouthful of rice paired with a piece of braised pork covered in sauce, stuffed into the mouth with a satisfied expression.
Ning Yanshu ate in such a hurry that grains of rice got stuck to the corners of his mouth, which looked rather comical.
Ning Wan didn't laugh at him, she just gently wiped it away: "Silly boy..."
Unlike Ning Yanshu's excitement, Ning Wan felt a pang of sadness.
It was leftover food that moved him so much.
It turns out that no matter how wicked a villain becomes in the future, he also harbored a small, easily satisfied happiness in his childhood.
One house, two people, three meals a day, four seasons.
Life can actually be this simple and beautiful...
...
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