Seeing her mother sitting in a chair and crying, He Qian went over to comfort her: "Mom, don't cry. Dad is in a bad mood. The family business failed."
Upon hearing this, Liang Xiaoying stopped crying and asked in surprise, "What do you mean by 'it's over'?"
“The shirt factory worker came this morning and argued with Dad for a bit, implying that we were late with the delivery. Their boss's wife also got angry and said we wouldn't be allowed to sell anymore. When Dad came back after the delivery at noon, he was very angry. In the afternoon, we made some fast food to set up a stall, but half of it didn't sell and went to waste. We also received a hundred yuan in counterfeit money, so it's like we've worked for nothing these past few days. Dad didn't go to sell late-night snacks tonight.”
Hearing this, Liang Xiaoying complained to He Qian about He Xing: "I told your dad long ago to go back to work at the factory, but he just wouldn't listen. As a result, he didn't earn a penny and even offended people."
He Qian remained silent as she listened to her mother's complaints.
That night, He Xing didn't return home, playing cards until dawn...
...
He Wenlin and her father got up at 4:30 a.m.
Grandma couldn't bear to see her son, and especially her granddaughter, get up so early, so she got up too.
He Wenlin whispered, "Grandma, you can sleep a little longer. It's so early, there's nothing to do. You and Mom can come before seven o'clock. The Bosi factory is closed today, so breakfast probably won't be served that early."
"It would be good for me to go to the store and help wash the vegetables."
Grandma He couldn't do it; her son and granddaughter were up so early while she was still sleeping.
He Wenlin couldn't persuade Old Lady He, and also thought that the others were still sleeping and she didn't want to wake them, so she didn't insist anymore.
The three of them went to the shop first, and in order not to disturb the second brother and Lin Fei who were sleeping next door, they quietly started steaming the glutinous rice.
Business is picking up again today, so I've put all three rice cookers (two large and three small) on steamer to make glutinous rice.
"Dad, Grandma and I are at home, you can go buy groceries by yourself."
After speaking, He Wenlin took out a pen and paper and made a list: one box of eggs, thirty catties of chili peppers, five catties each of cabbage, bean sprouts, water spinach, and scallions, thirty catties of potatoes, twenty-five catties of dried tofu, ten catties each of eggplant and cowpeas, two boxes of chicken drumsticks, twenty-five catties of lotus root, five catties of shiitake mushrooms, and twenty catties of green vegetables.
Because there was a lot of stock, the owner would deliver it to her door, so He Wenlin only gave her father 100 yuan for the chicken drumsticks. She would settle the rest of the bill when the owner delivered the goods.
"Thirty pounds of chili peppers? That's too much. They'll spoil easily in this hot weather, and the refrigerator won't be able to hold them all. There's no need to buy so many," said Mr. He. "We live near the farmers' market, so we buy them every day anyway. There's no need to buy so many at once."
After saying that, Mr. He crossed out the number "three".
"Dad, we bought 20 jin of chili peppers to make pickled chili peppers. Last time I made stir-fried pork liver and chicken giblets with pickled chili peppers, and everyone said it was delicious. Now we don't have many pickled chili peppers left at home."
Upon hearing this, Mr. He added the three words back in before riding his bike out.
“Let’s install a phone in the shop later, so we can call directly to order goods. That will save us a lot of trouble and we won’t have to get up so early to go to the market. In winter, getting up this early is torture,” He Wenlin said to her father’s departing figure as he rode away on his bicycle.
"It must cost several thousand yuan to install a telephone. I heard that Chunmei's family spent more than two thousand yuan on their telephone," said Grandma He. "If you don't have to install one, then don't. Earning money is never easy. Let your dad get up early to buy groceries. He just wants to do more work."
He Wenlin laughed: "Grandma, my dad heard that, he's going to be angry."
"We have to do it even if we're angry."
"A telephone is definitely necessary. You can't do business without one. It's more expensive to install a telephone in our rural area. Although this is also a rural area, it's more developed than our hometown, and there are more factories. The installation fee here shouldn't be more than two thousand."
The poorer the area, the more expensive it is to install telephones and wired connections.
"You can decide this. We'll all listen to you. If your parents have any objections, I'm here for you!"
"Grandma, I knew you loved me the most." He Wenlin hugged her grandmother and acted coquettishly.
"Get off me, it's so hot." Old Mrs. He laughed and struggled a few times. "You're letting me manage the money, your mother must be upset. Buy your mother some clothes later, she works hard too."
"My mom's factory is closed today, so I guess business at our shop won't be very good either. Let's go shopping together this afternoon."
"Alright, this old fellow will go with you to broaden his horizons."
...
The grandfather and grandson chatted as they worked, and by a little past five o'clock, all the potatoes were peeled.
He Wenlin and her grandmother each had a knife and a cutting board, chopping away with swift and decisive movements.
When Mr. He and the vegetable shop owner returned, all the potato shreds had been cut and washed twice in clean water.
"Hey, Mr. He, business is booming!" the vegetable shop owner greeted He Wenlin.
Those who know the business know that this shop was opened by He Wenlin.
Therefore, all the business owners who cooperated with her appreciated He Wenlin.
He Wenlin smiled and said, "It's all thanks to Uncle Ma that I'm able to barely make a living."
"Is that being modest?"
Others might not know, but he was well aware of He Wenlin's business, since she bought so many vegetables from him every day.
"How much did the groceries cost today?" He Wenlin asked.
"It's 211 in total, just give me 211."
He Wenlin counted out two hundred yuan and gave it to him: "Uncle Ma, give me your shop's phone number."
"You finally installed a phone! From now on, if you want any food, just call me and I'll bring it over. You won't have to make this trip so early in the morning."
"It hasn't been installed yet, but we're planning to. Does Uncle Ma know anyone there?"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
