Chapter 9
There had never been such a quarrel before, and even Pang Xiaopeng's father was surprised.
The daughter, who had been very obedient when they were discussing who would go to the countryside, was now trembling with fear, but she refused to give in and insisted on taking the money to learn how to set up a stall from others.
The next day at noon, Pang Xiaopeng showed up at the street office early. She was the first person to sign up.
It was the midday sun and the clear sky. The palm print on the girl's right cheek had not yet disappeared, but the corner of her mouth was raised, which left a deep impression on Chen Lanjun.
Although there were many people who sang against it yesterday, there were quite a few people who came to sign up today. In addition to the three places that were originally promised to provide one-on-one help in the initial stage, there were also several unemployed educated youth.
Chen Lanjun allowed them to watch and did not stop them, but she also did not actively offer suggestions.
Everyone was very enthusiastic about ways to make money, and they even took out notebooks to write down the key points that Chen Lanjun and Zhao Hong mentioned.
After three days of learning, everyone set up their stalls according to the distances calculated by Chen Lanjun.
Everything went smoothly. Pang Xiaopeng used the money he earned from the first day of setting up the stall to buy half a pound of barbecued pork and insisted on giving it to Chen Lanjun and Zhao Hong to try.
However, within two days, continuous rainy weather arrived.
In the middle of the night, there was a sudden thunder and heavy rain.
Chen Lanjun was awakened by the thunder.
She sat up, looking at the window that was being knocked by the rain, her face a little solemn. Shen Mudan, who was sleeping next to her, also woke up and was surprised: "It's raining so hard!"
As he was about to turn on the light, he pressed the switch, but the light didn't come on. The power supply is unstable nowadays and power outages at night are common in Guangzhou.
Shen Mudan took out a candle from the bedside table, lit it, checked the window, and used her palm to test for any water leaks.
Fortunately, no water seeped in.
Zhao Hong, who was sleeping in the outer room, also woke up and asked through the door: "Mom, Alan, is it leaking?"
In an old house, if it rains heavily, rain water will sometimes seep in through the cracks in the windows, which is very annoying.
“It’s okay.” Shen Mudan was a little worried, “If it still rains so heavily tomorrow morning, will you still open the stall?”
It is not suitable to set up a stall in such heavy rain.
The extra-large awnings that were commonly used by small vendors later on are not yet popular. All Chen Lanjun and her friends can use to shelter from the rain are just household-sized umbrellas. As a result, tables and chairs must not be spread out, and even cooking utensils must be used with caution to prevent rain from falling in.
Zhao Hong said, "Why is it that the place where we set up our stall is not an arcade? If so, it would be nice to have a porch to shelter from the rain. Unfortunately, there is nothing now. There will be a lot of rain in the coming solar terms."
Shen Mudan felt sorry for how tired they were these days, and suggested, “How about taking a day off tomorrow? Anyway, it’s raining so hard, and there won’t be many people buying breakfast outside.”
Chen Lanjun shook her head gently: "No."
For street breakfast stalls like theirs, it is important to set up the stall on time at a fixed location. She has also heard some catering bosses talk about the difficulties in the early days of starting a business. Even if it rains or snows and there are few customers, they still have to set up the stall. Otherwise, if the customer wants to eat today but finds nothing and leaves hungry, there is a high probability that they will not come back next time.
Since she insisted, Shen Mudan and her son naturally wouldn’t say anything.
I prepared the ingredients as usual, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to sell all of them, so I reduced the quantity.
When it was time to set up the stall, the rain was still falling with no sign of stopping.
She looked at the rain outside the window, feeling a little worried.
This has less impact on stalls like theirs that already have regular customers, but it has a big impact on those newly opened street stalls, and I wonder if they will open their stalls.
She had an idea to remind these new stall owners. Unfortunately, there was no phone call, and Chen Lanjun couldn't call each one to tell them. As for running out in the rain and knocking on doors to remind them... well, forget it. First, she didn't collect money and she wasn't her biological mother, so there was no need for her to do that.
In short, the master leads you to the door, but the practice is up to you and depends on your luck.
It was raining heavily. Chen Lanjun and Zhao Hong each held an umbrella, and Shen Mudan also came to help. They went back and forth twice before they finished packing up the stall.
At a certain time, guests arrived here and there.
A regular lady brought her own aluminum lunch box to make porridge and said in a casual chat: "My family was originally worried that you wouldn't open the stall in such a heavy rain, so I thought about giving it a try, but I didn't expect you to really come. It's not easy for you either."
Chen Lanjun smiled and said, "Thank you for your support, grandma. I'll give you more on rainy days."
Holding the extra-sturdy lunch box, the old lady left happily.
Seeing that there were not many customers, Chen Lanjun gave Zhao Hong a few words of advice, opened another umbrella, and walked into the drizzling rain.
The stall closest to hers was Tian Qiang's. Because they had helped out at the opening, Chen Lanjun and Zhao Hong gave him more advice.
But when I got closer to the place where he often set up his stall, I didn't see anyone.
Chen Lanjun took a look, figured out what was going on, and left.
The situation of other people was similar, and only a few of them were still selling their products as usual. Chen Lanjun walked slowly around and saw a girl in a raincoat struggling to tie two umbrellas together to protect her stall from the rain.
When I got closer, I saw it was Pang Xiaopeng.
Chen Lanjun stepped forward and lent a hand.
"Thank you very much."
Pang Xiaopeng thanked her repeatedly, looked up, saw that it was Chen Lanjun, and smiled happily: "Sister Lan, it's you."
"Yes," Chen Lanjun said with a smile, "You're still setting up a stall in such heavy rain?"
Pang Xiaopeng said shyly, "Yes, there was a kid yesterday who wanted to buy it but didn't bring any money. So he said he would come today with money, and I agreed. Since we are doing business, we can't go back on our word."
"Is he here yet?"
"No." Pang Xiaopeng said. In fact, she saw the child in the morning, holding an old, repaired umbrella, and when he passed by the stall, his steps suddenly quickened.
Was it because her family refused to pay, so she felt embarrassed for breaking the promise? Pang Xiaopeng guessed that she had had similar feelings before, so she was not angry, but instead left a little breakfast for the children.
If he comes, there is something to buy; if he doesn’t come, it’s okay.
After listening to Pang Xiaopeng's brief account of the whole story, Chen Lanjun patted her on the shoulder and said, "Well done. Keep it up."
It rained for a week straight, and because of this, the business at the roadside stalls was not as good as it was at the beginning, and some even gave up their business.
Zhao Hong, Pang Xiaopeng and others have persisted.
As the day to go back to school drew closer, Chen Lanjun often asked Zhao Hong to look after the stall, while she herself didn't know where to go.
One day, seeing that business was slow, Tian Qiang closed his stall early and ran to chat with Zhao Hong.
Zhao Hong disagreed: "It's better for you to set up the stall intact."
"It's not that good at all, it's just a dollar or two more." Tian Qiang didn't care.
He looked around and didn't see Chen Lanjun, so he asked, "Where did your sister go?"
"Something's going on."
Tian Qiang laughed: "What's the matter? This little girl is leaving and she doesn't care about this stall anymore. Hey, after she leaves, the money from this stall will belong to you alone, right?"
Zhao Hong frowned, "Don't talk nonsense. If it weren't for Alan, how could this stall be opened for you and others? Even if she goes back, I won't take a penny of the profit that she deserves."
"You are really nice to your sister."
This was said in a sarcastic tone, and Zhao Hong ignored him, using the excuse that he was busy.
Tian Qiang felt embarrassed and left angrily.
Chen Lanjun didn't come back until dusk, but Zhao Hong had already closed his stall and gone home.
There was a plate of roasted meat on the dining table. Now we could see meat at home every now and then.
After dinner, Zhao Hong called Chen Lanjun to the corridor to talk and told her about Tian Qiang's talkativeness today. Zhao Hong looked a little entangled: "Alan, you have to believe that I am not the kind of person who would destroy the bridge after crossing it."
"I know." Chen Lanjun said, "But this Tian Qiang is not a good person to make close friends with."
"But... we are friends after all." Zhao Hong frowned.
Chen Lanjun interrupted him: "We are already friends with him. He came to help before and we paid him every day. Later, when he wanted to set up a stall, we also taught him step by step. Don't feel any psychological burden. We don't owe him anything."
Zhao Hong was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Okay, I get it. What have you been busy with recently? Can I help? Speaking of which, you've been busy doing things since you arrived in Suicheng, and you haven't had a good time shopping. It's my fault. Pick a day off and let my mom look after the stall for a day, and I'll take you shopping."
"Don't worry too much." Chen Lanjun smiled and looked at the gradually weakening rain outside the building. "Don't worry, the sky will clear up after the rain."
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