On a late autumn morning, the flowers, grasses, and vegetables in the garden are covered with a layer of glistening dewdrops, which shimmer and glow softly in the morning light.
When Hou Fang led Xie An into the inner courtyard, Chen Jing was grinding rice into paste using a stone mill.
Three vibrant young girls, dressed in stylish long-sleeved dresses, hung several newly made three-piece bedding sets on the clothesline to dry, creating a beautiful scene in the backyard.
Xie An was quite surprised to see what was happening before him: "What are you doing?"
Chen Jing laughed and gestured for Hou Fang to continue grinding the millstone. He washed his hands and went to meet him.
"With nothing to do, they said they hadn't had stone-ground rice noodle rolls from their hometown in a long time, so they ground some rice flour early in the morning."
Xie An raised an eyebrow and looked around: "What kind of way is stone-ground rice noodle roll? You wrap large intestines in this rice batter and deep-fry them?"
"No, no, stone-ground rice noodle rolls are a breakfast dish made from rice flour. They look a bit like intestines, but they have nothing to do with intestines. Brother Xie, is this the camera you brought?"
Xie An nodded curiously, took off the backpack from his shoulder, and took out a point-and-shoot camera: "This is my point-and-shoot camera, here it is."
"Thank you, Brother An, that's great! How do I use this?"
Chen Jing took the leather case, took out the camera, and looked at it from left to right. Xie An whispered instructions to him on how to take pictures.
Chen Qiuyu pulled Ji Xia closer and said, "This is a point-and-shoot camera? A camera that even a fool can learn to use? That's amazing."
Chen Jing casually snapped a couple of photos of the courtyard. Xie An looked it over and couldn't help but exclaim, "Your courtyard is nice. How many of you live here? Is it rented? You know how to enjoy life."
Chen Jing shook his head: "No, we bought it. We don't like too many outsiders living in our own yard."
"Oh, right, I don't like those big courtyards either. They turn perfectly good courtyards into a mess."
He shook his head and looked around, only to see that several rooms seemed to be filled to the brim.
Looking back at Chen Jing, he was holding up his camera and presenting it to Ji Xia like a treasure, instructing her on how to take pictures.
Ji Xia would certainly use a point-and-shoot camera. The school even had photography magazines that taught them how to frame shots and how to leave negative space. She would just hold up her camera and snap a few pictures in the yard.
Xie An glanced around casually and saw a room with many sewing machines, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Want to go in and take a look? But it's all sewing machines inside, nothing much to see."
He glanced back and saw a pretty girl walking up to him.
The girl wore a flowing beige long-sleeved dress, her hair was tied in a high ponytail, she had a delicate oval face, almond-shaped eyes that curved, and a beautiful set of teeth when she smiled.
"My name is Chen Qiuyu, and Chen Jing is my cousin. What would you like to see? I'll take you there."
"I want to go in and take a look."
Xie An gestured towards the room in front of him with his chin, and Chen Qiuyu opened the door generously.
Actually, there's not much to see. All three rooms are filled with sewing machines, and the last room only has a large cutting table, followed by an office.
Xie An turned around in shock and looked her over: "What is this? A factory?"
“Where is the factory? It’s just a small workshop that makes clothes. Look, the clothes we’re wearing and the quilts drying over there are all made in our workshop.”
Xie An was quite surprised. These people hadn't been in the capital for very long, had they? In just over a month, they had already set up a small workshop.
"You guys are pretty impressive. Is it your brother's ability? He is indeed a very capable person."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qiuyu puffed out his chest, looking defiant: "Who do you look down on? We all have our own abilities."
“Design, production, and sales are all indispensable in the workshop.”
Chen Qiuyu pointed to the group of people taking photos: "My brother is in charge of sales, Sister Xia is in charge of clothing design, Hou Fang is in charge of warehouse management, and Xiao Lian and I are in charge of production..."
Xie An was curious and asked about the usual sales model and workshop management.
By the time he understood how the workshop operated, half an hour had passed, and Ji Xia and Hou Xiaolian had already started steaming the food.
The two worked seamlessly together; one prepared the sauce, brushed it with oil, and plated it, while the other steamed the rice noodle rolls.
Chen Jing walked over with a smile: "Brother An, our breakfast is almost ready, want to have some together?"
"Okay!" Xie An readily agreed, and when he looked at Chen Jing and the others, most of his arrogance disappeared.
With dozens of sewing machines and dozens of workers, they can earn three to five thousand yuan a month.
These people were just poor boys from a rural brigade, yet they had achieved such success in just a few months. Xie An put away his contemptuous thoughts.
He was unwilling to follow the path laid out by his parents, and having received news of economic liberalization, he was thinking of trying to make his own way.
He usually looked up to his underlings who needed his help, but he didn't take them seriously. However, the people he met this time were different; they were capable and he might be able to learn from them.
He casually strolled around for a bit, then walked up to Chen Jing and asked, "Is getting breakfast this complicated for you? Why don't you just buy something outside?"
"We don't do it often, just occasionally when we have time."
Chen Jing smiled happily and introduced the origin of these items: "That stone mill was delivered by an employee on a bicycle. My girlfriend once said that she wanted a stone mill to make soy milk, so she asked her family to get one for her and send it over."
"Soy milk? Aren't there those things on the street? A bowl only costs two cents."
Xie An looked puzzled. Just now, Chen Qiuyu had told him that she was too busy to have time.
Chen Jing shook his head helplessly upon hearing this: "You mean that douzhi (fermented mung bean juice)? It tastes weird, we don't like it. We still prefer the soy milk and sweet tofu pudding from our hometown. One of our employees found out and sent over some extra soy milk from home, so it's more satisfying to grind some soy milk and steam some rice noodle rolls occasionally."
Xie An glanced at the large plate of rice paste next to him: "Is this made from ground rice?"
"Yes, the rice was soaked for four to six hours. It was soaked overnight last night and ground this morning."
He casually picked up two plates of steamed mushroom and shredded pork rice noodle rolls and led Xie An back to the restaurant.
In the restaurant, Chen Qiuyu brought out a clay pot of beef congee, stir-fried rice noodles with three kinds of seafood, and a plate of steamed buns, which Hou Fanggang had just bought and were still steaming hot!
"Your breakfast is quite lavish, with so many different kinds."
Xie An raised an eyebrow, while Chen Jing chuckled and shook his head: "Is this what you call a lot? When you have the chance to go to the South, I'll treat you to morning and afternoon tea at the White Swan Hotel, the largest hotel in Huacheng. They have at least a hundred kinds of snacks there, and you can eat as much as you want."
"More than a hundred kinds? Does Guangzhou have that many delicious foods?"
"Have you heard of 'Eating in Huadu'? It can be described as a paradise for food lovers."
Chen Jing set out the bowls and chopsticks: "Come and eat whatever you want. Self-reliance is the way to go."
Ji Xia and Xiao Lian brought in the remaining two plates of rice noodle rolls and sat down next to Chen Jing.
"Beef congee, anyone want some?"
While asking questions, Chen Jing served beef porridge and arranged for Hou Fang and his sister to prepare food and water, while he and Ji Xia went to the photo studio to buy film.
Finally, seeing that Xie An seemed interested, Chen Jing smiled and invited, "Brother An, are you free today? How about we go hiking up Fragrant Hills together later?"
"Sure, I'll go out and have some fun with you guys too," Xie An readily agreed.
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