After breakfast, Xia Enruo was washing clothes in the washing machine while preparing boxed lunches. She was going to make three dishes today, two meat and one vegetable.
The meat dishes were braised pork slices and shredded pork with garlic sauce, while the vegetable dish was stir-fried cabbage. I made 10 boxes of each dish to test the waters first.
She made another large pot of fruit tea, and put half of it in a thermos and froze it in the freezer. Although it was autumn, it was still very stuffy at noon, so some people preferred to drink it chilled.
Cooking three dishes was a piece of cake for Xia Enruo; the amount of food was much less than what she had done in the army.
Today's lunchboxes mainly consisted of rice, and Xia Enruo also made five servings of stir-fried oat noodles because Mao Xiangling said that not all students could afford refined grains.
Once everything was ready, Xia Enruo rinsed the cart she had bought with water at the door and wiped it several times with a cloth.
The cart was wiped clean, and the students felt reassured about their food.
She packed up her things and wrote "Selling boxed lunches" on the laundry board. Then she hung it on the side of the cart.
Seeing this, Gu Shaoxuan was about to step forward to help, but Xia Enruo stopped him.
The task she assigned him was still to look at clothes.
Gu Shaoxuan dared not be careless and sat in his wheelchair by the door early on, keeping a close eye on everything that was happening in the yard.
Xia Enruo prepared three foam boxes and placed them in the back of the cart. She sorted the boxed meals according to different dishes and put them into the foam boxes one by one. Then she took out the fruit tea and filled it into plastic cups.
She wore rubber gloves throughout the process to ensure the food was clean and tidy.
With everything ready, Xia Enruo rode her bicycle toward the medical university.
When we arrived at the street in front of the medical school gate, vendors pushing carts were already hawking their wares.
She found an empty spot on the roadside and parked. It was a good spot, right opposite the university gate. Just as Xia Enruo was about to open for business, a middle-aged woman pushing a cart came over and scolded her:
"Little girl, don't you know any manners? Get out of the way right now! This is my spot to sell things. You really know how to stop! You've taken my spot. Get over there and move over there."
The middle-aged woman had a slovenly appearance and a large mole near her mouth.
Xia Enruo was new to the area and didn't know the ins and outs of the market in front of the school. Not daring to start a fight, she didn't say anything and pushed her cart westward for a while.
"Is this girl new?"
"That's what the old man selling fruit said."
"Exactly! They're obviously new faces. They're so blind, daring to steal my place!"
The old man, seeing the situation resolved, said:
“I’m telling you, Red Headscarf, you sell the best boxed lunches and make the most money in this area. The young girl is new here and doesn’t know the situation. You don’t need to make things difficult for her. Not all the money in the world can go into your pocket.”
This middle-aged woman always wore a red headscarf when she set up her stall in winter, so the surrounding vendors called her "Red Headscarf," and gradually people forgot her real name.
She's been selling boxed lunches here for years. Many people used to come here to try and grab a piece of the pie, but they all lost money. Only Red Headscarf has been profitable and has continued to operate.
She planned to buy the street-front shop opposite the university gate and open her own restaurant once she earned enough money, but she was still short of funds.
"Hey Old Li, you're really meddling in other people's business. They're not related to you at all, but you're being nosy."
Although I can't be the only one making money in the world, as you've seen over the years, several others have come and lost money and left, leaving only these two or three selling boxed lunches.
Besides, the students really love the boxed lunches I make, and there's nothing I can do about it.
The woman with the red headscarf set up her stall and sat down to eat sunflower seeds. She was an elderly woman in the area, and almost all the medical students knew her.
Therefore, she doesn't need to shout out her lunch; students come directly to her after class to buy boxed lunches.
Xia Enruo walked a long way to the west before she saw an open space. This spot was almost at the very edge of the row of vendors. If someone else were to take such a remote location, it would be truly outrageous.
She parked the cart and placed two bricks behind the wheels to prevent it from sliding.
Then they put signs for the laundry shop and boxed lunches in front of the car and started hawking their wares.
Xia Enruo priced the boxed meals as follows: 75 cents for braised pork slices, 60 cents for shredded pork with garlic sauce, 35 cents for stir-fried cabbage, and 30 cents for stir-fried oat noodles.
Finally, the fruit tea was 2 mao per cup.
She called out for a long time, but no one came to buy. She watched as students streamed out of the school gate at noon, but almost none of them came to her shop, let alone buy lunch boxes.
After shouting for so long, my mouth is now incredibly dry.
"We sell boxed lunches, fruit tea, delicious braised pork slices and shredded pork with garlic sauce, as well as pure, natural, additive-free chilled fruit tea."
The stall with the red headscarf was crowded with students, their hands trembling as they took money. She glanced sideways at Xia Enruo in the distance and pursed her lips.
He thought to himself, "You little brat, you think you can steal my business? What are you selling? I've heard of braised pork slices, but fish-flavored shredded pork? It doesn't sound appetizing."
"Additive-free fruit tea? Fruit can be made into tea? What else do you want to add? That's utter nonsense. Go back to the womb and train for a few more years!"
The "no additives" concept in the 1980s was incredibly advanced. Nowadays, it's probably difficult for people to even eat food with additives. Most people simply can't understand what Xia Enruo is saying.
In no time, the red-turbaned students' boxed lunches were sold out. The students who couldn't get any left disappointed. Some went to other stalls to buy them, while others went straight back to the school cafeteria.
There was still no one in front of Xia Enruo's cart. Since she had moved the laundry collection location, the students had no idea that she had moved it to the school gate again.
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the place is deserted.
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