Chapter 51 Waiting for the other party to have enough money...
"You drive really well. It looks like you've driven it countless times."
The worry that was about to come to his mind finally turned into praise. At this moment, Qin Yang was truly impressed.
"It's actually similar to a handcart. I actually paid special attention to it when my great-grandfather taught my eldest and second brothers how to ride one. Back then, when there were no adults around at the wheat field, my third brother secretly took me with him when he learned to ride. He showed me how to go forward, how to go backward, how to shift gears, and how to brake, so I actually know a little bit. If I hadn't learned it at all, I wouldn't have dared get on this scooter."
Driving is really a very fulfilling thing, at least that's what Chen Pan thought in her heart, so she drove slowly and laughed happily at Qin Yang.
"Ahhh, Chen Pan, what are you doing!!!"
Chen Pan's smile and elation were completely interrupted by the arrival of her grandmother. She stared in disbelief at her granddaughter, who was sitting in the tricycle with Qin Yang, clutching the steering wheel. Grandma Chen, who had just finished watching TV, immediately began to scream uncontrollably.
“…”
Her grandmother's scream was so shrill that Chen Pan was startled. She immediately backed the car against the wall outside Qin Yang's shop and quickly got out. Qin Yang also realized what was happening and quickly got out after her.
"You damn girl, are you crazy? This is a three-wheeled truck. This isn't your grandfather's 28-inch truck, nor is it your Uncle Yang's three-wheeled bicycle. Why are you getting in here? Even if you did get in, you could just sit in the passenger seat. How could you—what if you hit someone? What if you drive the car into a wall? What if you hit yourself or someone else's car?"
It felt like this girl had gotten more and more arrogant since coming to Liuping. I was worried and scared, and before I knew it, Grandma Chen had already grabbed a small broom from the door and rushed over.
Then in the blink of an eye, the thing hit Chen Pan's shoulders and back.
“Ahhhh!!”
Chen Pan always said that her grandparents were very good to her, but even though she felt that they were very good to her, Chen Pan had also been beaten by them.
When she was little, if she accidentally soiled her clothes when she returned from playing with others, or if her grandparents came home late from working in the fields, or if she forgot to prepare dinner for them, or if she forgot to feed the pigs and cows, she would do absolutely nothing and just play like crazy outside. Or when she was a little older, if her grades were really bad and her teacher wrote on her report card that she was distracted in class and not working hard enough, then her grandparents would also beat her.
Chen Pan is very filial to his grandparents who depend on him for everything, and rarely goes against them.
So at this moment, even though she knew she just had to turn around and run, for some reason, Chen Pan stood there motionless. Or perhaps it was because her mind was telling her to run, but her feet were suddenly stuck together like glue, making it impossible for her to run.
"Grandma Chen, don't be like this. Panpan is very talented at learning to drive."
When the broom in Grandma Chen's hand hit Chen Pan for the third time, Qin Yang, who had been stunned for a moment, also reacted and quickly snatched the thing from the other party's hand.
At the same time, several large plastic-steel windows on the second floor of his house, close to their side, were quickly opened by the people inside. Several familiar heads popped out from above, including Qin Yang's mother, who had gone up to sleep twenty minutes ago.
Qin Guihua: "Auntie, what's wrong? Why are you hitting the child?"
Fifty-year-old restaurant cleaner Grandma Yang said: "Yes, the child is already so old, it's not good to beat him like this. The child also needs to save face."
Li Shuai, a handsome boy who took the college entrance examination this year and is waiting for the results, said: "Yes, yes. Panpan is usually very sensible. Grandma Chen, even if you want to hit her, you can't use a broom!"
"Yeah, Auntie, calm down a little, look how scared you are to Panpan!" Panpan's shout even attracted the attention of the owner of the ramen shop next door. She cracked some melon seeds and quickly joined the group of people trying to persuade her.
"Give me some!" The vegetable shop owner, who shared a wall with Chen Pan's family, also came over excitedly. But she didn't say anything, just quickly asked her neighbor for a few sunflower seeds.
"You know what? This kid was actually driving! And she was driving this huge truck. What if something happened to her? What if she hit someone else? What if she damaged someone else's car?"
Seeing that Qin Guilan hadn't figured out the situation yet, Xu Chunhua, who was below, immediately looked at her and pointed down vigorously.
"..." Qin Guilan, who was wearing a coat, followed her gaze and only then did she see the blue three-wheeled truck leaning against the wall of her shop.
"You little rascal, why did you drive it out? And you let Panpan, a girl, learn to drive." Aunt Qin was angry and threw a knitted red slipper down from above.
"What's going on?"
When everyone was looking down, no one noticed that Chen Aiguo had returned from buying groceries.
Turning to look at her husband, Grandma Chen, whose broom had been snatched away, immediately rushed over excitedly: "Old man, this is unbelievable! Qin Yang just taught our Panpan to imitate the big truck behind!!"
Chen Aiguo looked at the "big truck" she was pointing at and fell into confusion, but after Grandma Chen quickly repeated what had just happened, his face suddenly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Then three minutes later, Chen Pan and Qin Yang were both standing in a row inside the Qin family's grocery store and being scolded.
"No, I wanted to go to the market, so I asked Brother Qin Yang to lend me his car and teach me how to drive. He was sitting next to me, and I drove very carefully, so I wouldn't make any mistakes. Didn't you see that I parked the car well? I think I had already learned how to drive just now."
"What do you mean by going to the market? You've already learned it in a short time. Do you think this big car is a toy? What if you drive it out and hit someone? What if you damage someone's car, or you hit someone else's car? And what if you're going to the market when there's nothing wrong? Do we need you to eat or wear clothes? Do you really need to go through so much trouble at such a young age?"
"Yeah, you damn girl, you are so greedy for money now. You are simply obsessed with money."
Seeing Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen's scolding getting more and more fierce, and noticing that Chen Pan, who had just been so happy, was now blushing and lowering her head, Qin Yang didn't dare to delay and quickly stepped forward and said, "Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen, please don't scold Pan Pan. Pan Pan wanted to help me sell some old goods in our shop, so she came to the market to help me. It was also my suggestion that she learn to drive—"
Qin Yang was explaining earnestly, but Qin Guihua, who had just calmed down, was clearly irritated by his words. She immediately rushed over, grabbed Qin Yang by the collar, and smacked him in the face: "What are you proposing? Have you forgotten how your grandparents died? Don't you know why I didn't allow you to open this iron lump? Not only are you opening it yourself, you're even teaching a little girl like Panpan to do it!!"
Mother Qin's actions were too fast, and Chen Pan and Grandma Chen were completely caught off guard. So by the time they reacted and tried to stop her, Qin Yang had already been hit several times on the head and shoulders by his mother.
Similar to Chen Pan's reaction, Qin Yang, who had grown significantly taller in the past six months, also lowered his head and took the beating obediently when his mother beat him.
"What's going on?"
This farce finally ended abruptly when a customer came to Qin's grocery store.
Unexpectedly, things would turn out like this. Chen Aiguo and his wife hurriedly advised Mother Qin to calm down and not hit the child, and then took Chen Pan back quickly.
Chen Pan could no longer remember what his grandparents had advised him afterwards.
He didn't expect that his sudden action would make Qin's mother so angry and cause Qin Yang to be beaten suddenly. In the end, Chen Pan's heart was almost filled with overwhelming guilt.
Because of the guilt in his heart, Chen Pan didn't want to explain to his grandparents anymore.
Moreover, she had no way to truly explain to them her special mentality of feeling embarrassed to ask others for money if they didn't give it to her.
Just like her grandmother said, she really seems to be obsessed with money.
Chen Pan had no way to explain to them why he valued money so much, why he couldn't take it slow, and why he regarded making money as such an important thing at the age of fourteen.
Feeling a little sad and a little guilty, Chen Pan finally went back to his cabin to sleep early after dinner.
The next day, after having breakfast as usual, Chen Pan told her grandfather that she was going to the city with Xiaomei today, and then left the shop early.
"This damn girl——"
Seeing her lifeless, Grandma Chen seemed to be a little angry.
"She should have money on her, don't worry about it—"
His grandfather seemed to be talking about money behind her.
Chen Pan, who had only five yuan in her pocket, walked down step by step, holding the reward they gave her for third place in the final exam.
Chen Pan really had no idea how children from ordinary families asked their families for money.
In her previous life, it seemed like she never had any pocket money since she was a child.
The money she had available to her at the time was initially the New Year's money her relatives gave her. During the holidays, one would give her fifty cents, another one a dollar or two. With that New Year's money, she could live a carefree life at school for a long time.
Later, like Yang Xiaomei now, she would collect herbs from the mountains and bring them to the village pharmacy to exchange for a little money. Artemisia capillaris, wild goji berries, licorice, and rehmannia root. Their village was surrounded by rolling mountains, which did, to some extent, hinder their ability to venture out and explore the world. But those same endless mountains and forests also provided them with many valuable items. Many people in their village, when penniless, would grab a cloth bag and a small shovel and go treasure hunting there.
Among these people, cowherds like Chen Pan have natural advantages.
In his previous life, a long time ago, Chen Pan learned from others how to make money by relying on the mountains.
Her grandparents knew a long time ago that Chen Pan was making money from that, and they never stopped her.
Therefore, apart from the few dollars he asked them for for textbooks and tuition, Chen Pan was actually responsible for the rest of the money he used to buy snacks and pencils and notebooks.
She seemed to be embarrassed to ask her family for pocket money since her previous life.
Or perhaps she, like many children from impoverished rural families, knew her family was broke, and couldn't bear the awkward, scrutinizing looks their parents gave them when they asked for money, so they learned early on to stop asking for money. Without access to money from their parents, they learned to refrain from extravagant purchases and envious behavior, and to follow other adults in earning their own money.
Chen Pan, Yang Xiaomei and others went to the mountains to dig and pull herbs.
The boys, on the other hand, learned to fish and catch shrimp early on. If they caught a large fish or river shrimp, they would quickly take it to the town to sell it. If they were lucky, they would be stopped by a wealthy villager before they even left the village and be asked to sell their catch.
It is said that the three children rescued by Chen Pan's "father" were trying to catch fish while swimming to supplement their family income, which is why they had accidents one after another.
Anyway, in his previous life, Chen Pan relied on the mountains for pocket money.
In this life, Chen Pan relies on his grandparents for pocket money.
But she was the type who was too embarrassed to ask others for money, and she couldn't do the thing of secretly taking money from home to spend outside. Except for that time when she secretly took money from her family to rent a shop for her family, she never took money from her family again.
In fact, as long as she doesn't buy things indiscriminately and saves a little, she can live a good life relying on the money her grandparents occasionally give her.
But unfortunately, after living a new life, Chen Pan's heart has become really wild.
In her previous life, when she had her period, she only had to use folded toilet paper.
But in this life, after her period, she just wants sanitary napkins that cost one cent each.
In her previous life, she never went out when others asked her to do so in order not to waste money.
But in this life, Chen Pan became the person who always wanted to ask others to go out and play.
In her previous life, her heart was very small and could only hold their family.
But in this life, she wanted to save her good friend, and she wanted to secretly give some money to her loving grandmother.
She wanted to seize the opportunity and make some money as soon as she saw something profitable. She definitely didn't want to waste her time.
In his previous life, Chen Pan made money by doing hard labor.
In this life, Chen Pan wants to quickly accumulate her first pot of gold by doing business.
Moreover, Chen Pan particularly hates the feeling that she has no capital and can only desperately persuade others on how to make money, but others will not listen to her.
Since it is a rare opportunity to live again, Chen Pan must not waste it.
It is now half past six in the morning. After taking a ten-cent taxi early in the morning, Chen Pan thought carefully for a while and finally backed up to the small commodity wholesale market in the west of the city.
Then she took her five dollars and wholesaled 20 large balloons for ten cents, 50 Monkey King and Pigsy masks for five cents, and 25 plastic golden cudgels for four cents. The owner also gave her a golden cudgel and a large balloon as a gift.
Five yuan is a day's wage for workers in their city today. In Qingshui Village, it might be 80 to 100 yuan in later generations, but if it were placed in the city, it would be around 150 yuan.
Anyway, it only cost him five dollars and fifty cents, and Chen Pan wholesaled a bunch of big balloons and a large plastic bag of small toys.
Fortunately, she was wholesaler of small items like balloons and masks. She could go to the wholesale market with just two or three yuan, spending five yuan at a time at a single stall, and only then would the wholesaler be willing to accept her. If it were anything else, she would only be able to buy some at retail, not wholesale.
Anyway, at 7:30 in the morning, Chen Pan had already arrived at the North City Commercial Street with the items she had wholesaled.
Behind the Chengbei Commercial Street is the Chengbei Farmers' Market, which is where Chen Pan made an appointment to go shopping with his good friends.
At this moment, Chen Pan, holding her breath, was wearing a Monkey King mask. She was carrying a large pile of items and shouting, "Everyone, take a look! Monkey King masks are 1 cent each, Pigsy masks are 1 cent each, and the Golden Cudgel is also 1 cent each. There are also big balloons from Journey to the West and Calabash Brothers, all for 30 cents. They're all great stuff, don't miss out if you pass by!"
As long as you truly experience life outside, you'll gradually understand that shyness and courage are the most useless things in this world. Or, in order to survive, people will gradually change everything that is not conducive to survival.
During the fifteen years of working outside in his previous life, Chen Pan had already developed his courage and thick-skinnedness.
So at this moment, on the busy North City Street, Chen Pan was the only one shouting the loudest.
Seven or eight in the morning is the time when office workers rush to their work and housewives go to the morning market.
There are few children on the road at this time.
So Chen Pan walked from Chengbei Street to the Chengbei Farmers' Market behind, and in the end he only sold three large balloons with the Monkey King printed on them.
But Chen Pan wasn't too anxious at the moment. She wasn't allowed to drive to the market, so she decided to come to the city every day to sell balloons and children's toys. She'd even planned to sell all the items she had today. She even planned to drag her friends over to sell with her.
Even with this in mind, Chen Pan wore the attractive Monkey King mask and walked all the way to the People's Park, three stops away.
In that place, Chen Pan shouted and showed off all the way until they reached the central lake of People's Park. In her hands, she had nothing left except a clumsy Calabash Brothers balloon, a Pigsy mask with a crack in it, and the Monkey King mask she had always worn.
“Woo woo—”
The business at hand has come to an end today.
The time on the big clock in the park in the distance showed exactly ten o'clock.
Chen Pan, who should have been extremely happy, was now tightly clutching the only balloon and a broken mask he had left, feeling inexplicably sad.
Chen Pan didn't know what was wrong with him.
His grandparents were usually very nice to her, so the two beatings and a few scoldings yesterday were actually not serious at all.
But at this moment, Chen Pan suddenly felt extremely wronged.
She suddenly remembered again and again how her grandmother scolded her yesterday for being obsessed with money.
After standing there for a minute wearing the Monkey King uniform, Chen Pan picked up the things in his hands and rushed out of the park.
Even though it was only three stops away, Chen Pan immediately jumped on a bus outside after running out of the park.
"The golden hoop cost four cents, and I ended up selling it for ten cents, 0.06*25=1.5. The wholesale price of the mask was five cents, so I made five cents on each one, so fifty of them would make two dollars and a half. The wholesale price of those 20 big balloons was ten cents each, so I sold them for thirty cents each, so the profit was 0.2*20=4 yuan, one dollar and a half plus two dollars and a half plus four yuan—"
I vaguely knew that I had earned about eight yuan early in the morning, and turned to look at Yang Xiaomei standing at the station in the distance.
Chen Pan suddenly felt that in this life, all roads lead to Rome.
Now she has confirmed through practice that even without relying on others and even without going to the market, she can still make money with her good friends this summer vacation.
When the other person has enough money, knows that she can earn enough money, and understands that she can support herself without her parents and family, then she will naturally have the confidence to choose the life she wants, and naturally have the confidence to rebel and disobey.
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