After finishing her pancake, she finally went to check on her "competitors" who were stealing her business.
In just a few days, three or four food stalls opened in the area around the dock.
One of the more popular ones was a noodle shop that only sold two kinds of noodles: vegetarian noodles for three coins a bowl and shredded pork noodles for five coins a bowl. It was run by a rather thin laborer at the dock.
The business was so-so for an old woman who carried a load on a shoulder pole, selling tea eggs, zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and boiled corn, all for two coins.
The worst was another restaurant that also sold rice and stir-fries—
Lu Amian looked at Lu Weiwei in the distance and felt a surge of anger.
"Why is she like this? Doesn't she look down on my business?!"
That would have been fine, after all, this land didn't belong to Ah Mian, and everyone should earn their own money based on their own abilities. But this guy, instead of using his brain at all, just copied Ah Mian's methods exactly, selling at a price one coin lower than Ah Mian's!
"Be fierce, follow behind me and don't say a word. I'm going to ask her what she wants!" A-Mian ordered, and when she turned her head, she saw Meng Chijian's face as black as charcoal.
A-Mian: ……
"...There's no need to be so fierce."
Meng Chijian was angry not because his business had been stolen, but because Ah Mian should have been full by now, counting her coins on the bamboo mat and yawning.
It looked like a little pig holding a golden pot, very... festive.
However, just as A-Mian was about to step forward, she suddenly pulled him behind a big tree and said, "Look, look, isn't that five coins?"
Standing next to Lu Weiwei's stall was Yuan Hua!
Yuan Hua had been selling food with us for several days and was quite familiar with the business. Because sales hadn't been good lately, he was sent to the city early to buy his own food… Could it be that he was the one who leaked the prices, betraying A-Mian and her henchmen?
While eavesdropping, she muttered to herself, "Not necessarily. After all, you can easily find out the cost of the food by asking around. I just don't know what Wu Qian is up to."
In a blur, I could only make out fragmented phrases like "misfortune," "disaster," and "get rich," the meaning of which I couldn't decipher.
Lu Amian was no longer in a hurry. Instead, she pressed Meng Chijian down and carefully examined the stall.
"That's a bit strange."
"how?"
“Look at her hair, the silver hairpin is gone, replaced with a wooden one. And all the items she needs for setting up her stall, the wooden buckets and iron ladles, are all new... She even made a wooden stool and bought new porcelain bowls. It must have cost a lot of money to prepare these things. Even if she wanted to change employers, she simply couldn't afford to support them. Let alone adding another assistant, she probably wouldn't even be able to recoup her costs.”
The main reason for the lack of customers was twofold. Firstly, Ah Mian was a regular customer who had become accustomed to the food (and the blacksmith's fork, whenever it was in operation, could use its residual heat to boil free hot water for customers who needed it). Secondly, the reason was quite intriguing. Lu Weiwei had deliberately set aside a small, clean area at her stall, displaying brand-new pots, pans, and bowls, and even a vase filled with wild daisies. But for some reason, the laborers didn't approach much, only glancing at the stall from afar before moving on to other stalls.
Amian asked in confusion, "How could this be?"
"Well, how should I put it?" Meng Chijian sighed inwardly. "Manual laborers are looked down upon to some extent. Not to mention they're all dirty, even if the food at this stall isn't expensive, people worry that it's not good value for money. If they ask the price but don't buy anything, they'll lose face."
Having traveled extensively and run his own business, he had gained a deep understanding of human relationships and the subtleties of human nature. Therefore, he carefully explained these principles of judging people and situations to the naive young Amian.
"If she opened a restaurant, this kind of setup might actually attract some customers."
Amian asked in surprise, "How do you know all this?"
"I don't know, I'm just guessing." Meng Chijian shrugged and gave A-Mian's puffed-up face a cheeky pinch.
"I don't believe it."
"That's right. You should listen carefully to what others say, but you should also use your own brain and think about why they are saying it. Not only that, you can also think about what you would think if you were in their shoes, and what you would want. Life is unpredictable, and no matter what the situation, you must rely on your own mind."
Amian had never received any formal education, her mother had left early, and her father was a scoundrel. For many years, she had lived a muddled life like a wild animal. Hearing this, she felt as if she had been captured by hunters in the mountains and brought to a human tribe, a feeling that was both novel and filled with an indescribable fear.
She silently memorized these words, then suddenly said, "I still can't think of anything. But we're just killing time anyway, so let's go eat something."
As the two approached the stall, Lu Weiwei, already in a "battle stance," preemptively said, "What? You're allowed to do business, but others aren't? There's no such rule in the world!"
Yuan Hua was at a loss, so she simply pretended to be dead.
Is there anything more embarrassing than wanting to switch jobs and having your former employer see your resume when you're submitting it?
Lu Amian shook her head, her face sincere and earnest: "No, we came here to eat. Are you closing up shop now?"
"?" Lu Weiwei was stunned.
"No, we're still open. Choose whatever you want to eat..." Lu Weiwei gritted her teeth. "We're selling food! Cucumber stir-fried with eggs, stir-fried wood ear mushrooms, and quail eggs stewed with pork belly! Only four or five coins! Choose your own food!"
Meng Chijian said, "You just treated me to pancakes, so this meal is on me. Two spoonfuls of each of the three dishes, and two bowls of rice."
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