"Xia Xiaomin, wake up!" Li Chunmei kept waking Xia Minmin by fiddling with her hands. Today, Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo were both going out to set up their stall, and there was no one at home to take care of Xia Minmin, so they had no choice but to take her out with them.
After Xia Jianguo finished washing up, Li Chunmei took over. Xia Jianguo then woke up Xia Minmin. Compared to Li Chunmei's gentleness, Xia Jianguo was much more straightforward and forceful, simply pinching her nose. Xia Minmin woke up not long after.
A slap is followed by a sweet treat: "Xiaomin, get up quickly, Mom and Dad will take you to eat shredded pork noodles."
After the whole family finished washing up, Xia Jianguo also tied up the goods, pushed the bicycle, and locked the door.
It was still barely dawn when you set up a stall in the twelfth lunar month; you had to arrive early to secure a good spot.
The family of three was walking down the road pushing their bicycles. Xia Jianguo asked Xia Minmin if she remembered the poem she had memorized yesterday. Xia Jianguo started reciting, and Xia Minmin sat on the bicycle and began reciting the poem.
After Xia Minmin finished reciting the poem in one breath, Li Chunmei clapped happily with a big smile, "Xiaomin is so amazing, Mom will buy you candied hawthorns later."
Before long, they arrived at their stall location. Xia Jianguo occupied three spots, which were for his two friends.
Xia Jianguo was setting up his stall when Li Chunmei led Xia Minmin to the breakfast shop behind the stall to order breakfast: two bowls of spicy beef rice noodles and one bowl of shredded pork rice noodles.
"Chunmei, why did you bring Xiaomin along today?" the breakfast shop owner said to Li Chunmei.
"There's no other way, there's no one at home to take care of her, so I have to bring her to the stall."
"Xiaomin, call her Auntie!"
"Hello, Auntie!" The breakfast shop owner smiled broadly as she looked at the adorable Xia Minmin.
"Xiaomin, would you like some eggs from Auntie?"
Li Chunmei quickly refused, saying, "How could I accept that? You earn your money through hard work, getting up early and working late every day to sell breakfast."
The breakfast shop owner smiled and said, "You've been supporting my business every day, so I can afford to pay for an egg. Let's not argue. You and your child sit down, and I'll bring you the rice noodles, make you an extra bowl and spoon, and let Xiaomin cool them down before eating."
Li Chunmei couldn't refuse any longer, so she had no choice but to agree.
Before they knew it, three bowls of rice noodles were cooked and brought over by the breakfast shop owner. Li Chunmei called Xia Jianguo over to eat breakfast. Xia Jianguo washed his hands at the breakfast shop's tap and then sat down to prepare breakfast.
Xia Jianguo mixed his spicy beef rice noodles and said to Xia Minmin, "Xiaomin, would you like to eat breakfast at a breakfast shop every day?"
Xia Minmin silently complained in her heart, but still loudly proclaimed, "I want to!"
"Then you must study hard! Try to memorize ten Tang poems every day, can you do that?"
"able!"
Li Chunmei portioned Xia Minmin's rice noodles into small bowls to cool. "Good girl, Mommy has already cooled your shredded pork rice noodles. Do you want to eat them yourself or do you want Daddy and Mommy to feed you?"
"Such a good opportunity, I definitely have to eat it myself," Xia Minmin quickly replied, "I'll eat it myself." She was afraid that Li Chunmei would feed her as soon as she finished speaking.
The breakfast shop owner gave her an egg, so Xia Minmin only ate a third of her bowl of shredded pork rice noodles, while Xia Jianguo finished the rest.
After breakfast, Xia Jianguo's two friends arrived. Every day, the first to arrive at the stall would reserve a spot for each other in order to get the best location.
Xia Minmin looked at the young Uncle Zhang and Uncle Wang and called out to them in her childish voice. Only then did Uncle Zhang and Uncle Wang notice Xia Minmin standing next to Xia Jianguo's legs.
They all exclaimed, "Why did you bring this little guy today?"
Xia Jianguo said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. It's December, which is when there are more people buying things. Chunmei also wants to help out at the stall, and since there's no one at home, I have to bring her along."
Uncle Zhang and Uncle Wang comforted him, saying, "It's alright, kids grow up fast, they'll be all grown up in a few years, then you'll be able to relax."
More and more pedestrians appeared on the street, and before long, Xia Jianguo closed his first deal.
Xia Minmin observed that most of the goods at Xia Jianguo's stall were daily necessities, such as washbasins, water buckets, gas pumps, mahjong tiles, toothbrushes, etc.
During a break from tending the stall, Xia Jianguo took out paper and pen and taught Xia Minmin to recognize numbers. By the end of the morning, Xia Minmin was able to accurately read numbers up to 100.
Uncle Zhang's son is a year older than Xia Minmin and hasn't started his early education yet. Seeing Xia Minmin's intelligent appearance, he plans to try early education when he gets home so that he won't fall behind his peers.
Uncle Wang's daughter is a year younger than Xia Minmin and is asking Xia Jianguo about how Xia Minmin received her early education.
Xia Jianguo said proudly, "This is talent."
Xia Minmin thought to herself, "If I, an adult, can't even remember this much, then I'm doomed. What should I do? Judging from this situation, Old Xia is probably trying to establish a genius persona for me. What if I'm exposed in high school?"
While Xia Minmin was pondering, Li Chunmei planned to take Xia Minmin back to make lunch, and after they finished eating, Xia Jianguo would go home to eat, as the food would be too cold to be delivered in time.
Back home, Xia Minmin squatted by the stove to warm herself. Li Chunmei opened the lid of the coal stove to prepare to steam rice. For convenience, they usually made a stew of pork belly and cabbage for lunch. The cabbage was not stewed in advance, but added when eating, like in a hot pot. This was the common way of eating in Ankang Town during winter.
The cabbages were brought over by Xia's maternal grandfather in a wheelbarrow for Xia Minmin's family and Xia Minmin's uncle's family. Xia Minmin's uncle, Li Zhonghua, and his family lived in the staff dormitory of the nearby cement factory.
Li Zhonghua works as a security guard at a cement factory and usually needs to escort vehicles to other places. In the 1990s, the security situation was not good and there was a risk of carjacking. His aunt, Sun Erni, runs a restaurant nearby. Xia Minmin's maternal grandmother sells pickled vegetables at the market in the morning and helps Sun Erni run the shop at noon and in the evening.
Li Chunmei finished cooking in less than 30 minutes. Due to the time constraints and the fact that the food was stewing on the coal stove, she didn't dare let Xia Minmin eat alone and had to feed her.
The mother and daughter quickly finished their meal, locked the door, and walked to let Xia Jianguo have his meal. The stall was about an eight-minute walk and a five-minute bike ride from the rented house. Xia Jianguo would ride his bike home to eat and restock later. After a morning of consumption, many items had already sold out.
Life at the stall is rather boring. Today, with Xia Minmin around, everyone keeps teasing her, either making her count or reciting poems to pass the time.
As dusk settled, there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets at four o'clock in the winter afternoon. Xia Minmin and her family were also preparing to return to their rented house. After packing up the goods at their stall and cleaning up, they could leave.
Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo were both very tired today, so they didn't plan to cook dinner. They just ate the stew and fermented bean curd they had at noon and had a quick bite.
Xia Jianguo was checking the goods and planned to stop his stall in a couple of days to go and buy more. "Chunmei, how about we leave Xia Xiaomin with your mother-in-law in a couple of days and go to the next county to buy more goods?"
Li Chunmei folded the clothes. "Okay, my brother went home these past two days, and my mom has time to look after the kids. Once you've decided on a time, I'll talk to Mom."
Xia Minmin now has a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial history that she had only heard from Xia Jianguo before.
Although setting up a street stall can be very profitable, it is also very hard work. Xia Jianguo dared not stop for a moment in order to pay off his debts of six or seven thousand yuan. During the off-season, he set up a street stall, went to the market, and sold goods from street to street. During the busy season, he went from street to street to collect cotton. In order to buy cotton at a higher price, he often rode his bicycle to the neighboring county to buy it. It was in this way that he was able to pay off all his debts in just one year in 1992.
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