Despite it being daytime, Song Xia's barbecue business was booming, especially around lunchtime, when it became incredibly popular, with queues forming. Beef skewers and sausages were the best-selling items.
This infuriated the shop owner. Looking at the line of people, it was like watching his money fly into someone else's pocket. And this was during the day; if it were night, wouldn't it be even more crowded? He should have agreed to her request yesterday.
Eight hours of work is nothing; just this short while has already made him the equivalent of several days' worth of business.
"Cough..." After thinking for a moment, he walked up to Song Xia's stall. "I agreed to your request yesterday. You can start working tonight. I won't ask you to work for free. We'll start paying you from today. Don't sell the rest of these. I'll pay you back the cost price."
Song Xia reacted as if she had heard a joke. Who was she trying to humiliate with that condescending tone?
"Sorry, yesterday is yesterday. I think I'm doing a great job now."
"You...you're being shameless. I'm only giving you this opportunity because I know how hard you've worked. Do you know how many people have begged me to hire them? How many days can a woman like you endure the hardship of setting up a stall? I advise you to think carefully. After today, there won't be another chance."
"I'll rest when I'm tired. It's better than being exploited," Song Xia said calmly.
"Exactly." A student waiting for skewers nearby couldn't stand it anymore. "They keep talking about women, aren't you born of a woman?"
Another female student said to Song Xia, "Don't be afraid, sister. Your skewers smell so good and are so affordable. I'm sure a lot of students will come to eat them. We'll help you spread the word when we get back."
"Okay, thank you."
The boss left with a gloomy face. Song Xia shook her head. She had been too presumptuous the other day. With her excellent skills and secret recipe, working for someone else would always be a loss for her, and she would also be subject to restrictions. She would rather sell less in the early stages than work for someone else.
Moreover, she did the math and realized that if she could maintain today's sales figures, earning 10,000 or even 20,000 a month wouldn't be a problem. It was clear that the beef skewers wouldn't be enough to sell by the afternoon. She was doing everything herself, which was indeed hard work.
But what if we hire a helper in the evening? She doesn't do anything else but skewer food and score the sausages. The kind lady works the day shift, so if we pay her to do it for two hours in the evening, she would be happy to do it.
However, she'll have to wait two more days to estimate how many skewers she'll sell each day.
Before Wenwen was even out of school, Song Xia's skewers were all sold out. After summarizing the cash received and paid on her phone, the amount was nearly two thousand yuan!
In other words, excluding the tricycle and other items, she earns nearly a thousand yuan a day just by excluding the ingredients. If she continues like this for a few more days, she can recoup all the expenses for buying the tricycle and barbecue grill.
Selling these is indeed much more profitable than selling breakfast to elementary school students, and it's not as tiring. If she can earn like this for a year, she might be able to open her own barbecue restaurant next year.
Song Xia is very confident about this. After opening the first store, she plans to open a branch to give her daughter enough capital and confidence so that even if the child wants to come back, she can afford to raise her.
It's not that she hasn't considered telling that family about the two children's parentage, but she's not capable enough right now. If they find out, she's afraid she won't be able to keep either of her two children.
Especially now that Wenwen is in a sensitive period, and the family is already in a mess, and she has always been very dependent on her. If she were to suddenly leave to an unfamiliar environment and receive that family's so-called "aristocratic" education, she was afraid that something might happen to Wenwen.
I packed up and went to Wenwen's school early, but I was called in by her homeroom teacher as soon as I arrived.
"Wenwen?" She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that it wasn't her daughter who was in trouble.
"Mom." Upon seeing her, Wenwen nervously and uneasily tugged at the hem of her clothes.
“It’s okay, Mom’s here.” She held her daughter’s hand, her expression conveying that no matter what happened, she would support her daughter. Wenwen instantly felt at ease.
"That's how it is." The teacher coughed lightly. "Today, Zhang Zixuan said some nasty things to Wenwen. Wenwen asked him to apologize, but Zhang Zixuan refused, so Wenwen got into a fight with him."
"I've never seen such a rude little girl. How did your parents raise her?" Seemingly because she thought Song Xia's clothes were inappropriate, the other mother immediately started to criticize, "Look at our Zixuan's injuries. Such a handsome face, it's almost disfigured. If there are any scars, can you afford to compensate him?"
Song Xia caught a glimpse of the red marks on the other person's chubby face. Is this what you call disfigurement? Is this what you call handsome?
The teacher seemed speechless: "Zhang Zixuan's mother, it was your son Zixuan who provoked us first."
"That doesn't mean you should hit people. What's wrong with a child telling the truth?"
Song Xia asked Wenwen, "What did he say that made you so angry? Don't be afraid, Mom is here."
Wenwen puffed out her cheeks and said, "He said our family sells stinky breakfasts, that our family is lowly, and that I don't deserve to be in the same class as him."
Song Xia's face grew darker and darker as she listened, while the boy's parents remained as if it were perfectly normal.
“Did my son say anything wrong? Students like you who come to the city to work and study should go back to the countryside to study. Why are you competing with us locals for educational resources?”
"It seems you often teach your son this way: if you have grievances, go and vent them to the people who make the rules. We came in through proper procedures, why bother with any hierarchy or stratification? Feudal society died out long ago."
"Oh, I've hit a nerve. You guys are just lowly. The city's atmosphere is ruined by working-class people like you."
"You're talking nonsense. You call yourself a city person, but you're not as cultured as me. If your family were really upper class, why don't you send your son to a top school? Why don't you send your son to study abroad? You only dare to bully migrant workers like us. It seems your life isn't very happy either."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com