Seventeen Steamed Bun Workshop
After sitting at Blind Qian's house for a while, the father and son said goodbye.
The old man took Li Wei home without even going into her house. He rode his bike home and told Li Wei before leaving that she should go back and discuss it with her grandmother, as he was planning to do it.
Li Wei also encouraged her grandfather: "Grandpa, with your decisive and efficient spirit, you will definitely succeed."
After seeing her grandfather off, her mother asked her as soon as she entered the house, "Where's your grandfather? Why didn't he come in?"
"I'm home."
"What did your grandfather want you to do outside?"
"I didn't do anything, just accompanied him to Qian the Blind Man's house for a while and played with the blind man's daughter for a bit."
“Other people’s daughters are all grown up, why would they play with a little kid like you? My dad is really something, he doesn’t mind you getting in the way, he loves to take you with him everywhere he goes, it’s true what they say, grandparents love their grandchildren more.”
Li Wei felt that her mother was jealous. Before she got married, her mother was a favorite of her maternal grandfather. Especially when she was little, her mother took her everywhere.
The next day, Li Wei took her child to school as usual, and the homeroom teacher, Ms. Meng, also returned to teach normally.
According to Li Wei's observation, he seemed a little listless, and she didn't know what had happened at home.
When Li Wei had free time, she would sometimes ponder where her maternal grandfather should make steamed buns. The location at her maternal grandparents' house wasn't ideal. The area wasn't as economically developed as their town, and it didn't have as many schools…
It wasn't until lunch break that she couldn't hold back any longer. She gave Li Lin a few instructions, borrowed a bicycle, and ran to find her grandfather. When she entered the small canteen at the distillery, she saw him sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) smoking. He seemed a bit off. She quietly approached him and asked, "Grandpa, how did things go yesterday? Did Grandma agree?"
The old man glanced at Li Wei, his eyebrows drooping. "Sigh. Your grandmother said she wouldn't let me do it. She thought it was shameful."
Uh... no wonder they're mother and daughter. She's just like her mother.
"Grandpa, what should we do? I really want to make steamed buns. It'll bring in more money!"
"Yeah. I had a fight with your grandma. There's no point in living like this forever. I'll just go for it and give it a try."
"Yes, Grandpa, how many times in life can you take a gamble? If not now, when? What are your plans? Have you chosen a location? How much capital do you have? How do you position yourself in the market? What scale do you plan to start with?"
Li Wei bombarded the old man with questions, leaving him quite overwhelmed. He had no idea how much she knew, and was still struggling with the decision of whether or not to participate. He hadn't really paid much attention to his little granddaughter before, but now, listening to Li Wei's surprisingly professional tone, he felt she seemed quite cultured. He couldn't help but ask, "Girl, who told you all this? You seem quite knowledgeable about it."
Li Wei waved her hand: "Oh, Grandpa, just listen to the radio and read the newspapers. Knowledge is wealth. We have to keep up with the times and grasp the pulse of the era. Otherwise, how can we move with the times? The current situation is that the country is letting some people get rich first. We should try our best to be among those people. This is also responding to the country's call and setting an example."
Anyway, they tried their best to beautify her small business.
"Good, your education wasn't wasted, you've made something of yourself." The old man thought the name sounded familiar.
Li Wei almost burst out laughing. "Grandpa, you're too kind. My current education level is only that of a first-grade elementary school student."
Li Wei continued, "Grandpa, this is how I see it. Right now, we have limited funds and equipment, and we're just starting out with little experience. We can try small-scale operations first, and then expand once we've accumulated some capital and experience. Maybe by then, Grandma and Mom will change their minds, especially Mom. Wouldn't it be even better if she worked with you? And then there are my uncles and aunts—so many spare laborers! Organizing them together would make it a family. More people means more strength, and more people means more work. This is also a way for them to make a living. Otherwise, relying solely on farming, it's not so easy to become wealthy..."
Li Wei's mouth was dry from talking, so she took a sip of water and continued. Finally, she asked her grandfather for a pen and paper, which she usually used to keep accounts with another worker in the canteen when buying vegetables. Her grandfather could recognize a whole bunch of big characters, which was mainly for keeping accounts.
The father and son first took stock of the resources they had: two people, one old and one young. The specific division of responsibilities was that Li Wei would handle land management, she would take charge of overall work, and her grandfather would manage production. The specifics would be discussed later; she needed to go back and think about it carefully.
As for the funds, Li Wei looked up at her grandfather, who took a sip of water a little embarrassed: "Hehe, how much do you think the girl needs? If not, I'll go borrow some. I only have less than twenty yuan here. I give all my salary to your grandmother, hehe."
Sigh, Li Wei once again lamented the importance of having a secret stash of money.
"Forget it, don't borrow from Grandpa. I have twenty-five yuan, plus your ten yuan. You can keep the other ten yuan for your cigarettes. Let's make do with this for now. Let's do less at the beginning and talk about it when we've made some money. We don't know how long we can keep doing this. We need to hurry, or someone else might follow suit soon."
As for the equipment, the father and son discussed it and decided that since funds were limited, they should make it at Li Wei's house. Anyway, her mother wouldn't dare to interfere with her maternal grandfather, and staying away from her maternal grandmother meant staying away from danger.
The father and son finally agreed that the old man would go to Li Wei's house that evening. He had already told the factory he was quitting, and they said the person they found would be coming over in the afternoon. Anyway, there was still one person in the canteen; he could just explain things to them.
Li Wei returned to school happily.
Upon entering the classroom, Li Wei gave the twins and Luo Er a quick look. Thankfully, things were calm today; no fight broke out. However, Wu Feng complained that Luo Er had disrupted their jump rope game. Li Wei sighed inwardly. "Luo Er, jumping around like that, doesn't he get tired? What's with all this flirting with girls? Is he going to be a womanizer when he grows up?" she thought. "Looks like I'll have to keep Li Lin away from him in the future. But look how cool your brother is, always hanging out with the older kids from other classes, acting like a real man."
However, on her way home from school that evening, Li Wei discovered she was in trouble. That brat Luo Da was blocking her way in the alley, with Luo Er, who was acting like a bully, standing next to her.
Seeing this, Li Wei chuckled and walked over: "Luo Jianhua, is there something you need?"
Luo Da still had the same expression: "You hit the second brother again yesterday, I'm going to beat you up today."
Wow, that's direct! Li Wei has never encountered a robber in both of her lives combined, and this one has just begun in this life... Life is truly amazing, haha.
Li Wei glanced at the twins and Wu Feng's chubby son who had come home from school with her: "Are you scared? If you are, you can leave first." These little devils, I have to test them. I can't let them be my little nanny all this time; I'll see if they're loyal when it matters.
Erpangzi and Wu Feng looked a little scared; after all, Luo Da was a formidable opponent, notorious for his ferocity. However, neither of them moved. Li Lianhui glared at Luo Er, a heavyweight he had seemingly once faced off against. What pleased Li Wei the most was Li Lin. Whether she was scared or not was unknown, but she loudly shouted at the Luo brothers: "Luo Jianzhong, secretly reporting us behind our backs is despicable behavior, causing discord between us! Luo Jianhua, if you dare hit us, I'll tell the teacher and get you expelled!"
Good boy, you won't lose face even if you lose, you are fearless in the face of danger, and you are brave and righteous, ready to die for your cause.
But Li Wei thought the lines sounded so familiar. It seemed like the phrase she used when fighting the twins. She never expected her sister to be so fierce and promising.
Li Wei was pleased with the children's performance. "Good, good," she thought, "it wasn't all that love for them." Before she could finish her thought, Luo Da rushed forward, his fist seemingly about to land on Li Wei. Startled, Li Wei quickly grabbed Luo Da, realizing her self-defense skills seemed ineffective at this moment.
There's a saying that goes something like this: in the face of absolute power, all petty tricks and underhanded tactics are futile.
Li Wei hugged Luo Da tightly and wouldn't let go, shouting to her men, "Quickly, help me hold him down!"
Li Wei wasn't afraid because she had the advantage of numbers. She thought, "Luo Da, what can a little kid like you do? If we all gang up on you, we'll take you down."
And so, the seven children were in a chaotic mess. Li Wei was worried that someone might get hurt and was about to tell Li Lin to go and call for help when she suddenly felt a loosening on her body and a thunderous voice rang out above her: "What are you doing?"
Grandpa Cheng descended from the sky like a savior, carrying Luo Da in one hand and Li Lianhui in the other. The two he was carrying were the most ferocious fighters in the chaos, even overshadowing Luo Er.
"Girl, what's going on?" the old man asked with a dark face.
Li Wei patted the dirt off her clothes and straightened her disheveled clothes. The others also got up. Apart from being a little dirty and messy, they were fine. However, Luo Da and Luo Er seemed to have scratches on their faces. Li Wei then spoke to her grandfather: "It's okay, Grandpa. It's just an internal conflict among the people. This one got hit by me, and that one stood up for his brother and got revenge. That's all."
"Oh." The old man glanced at Luo Da, rubbed his arms and legs: "You're in good shape, kid. You're not allowed to bully my granddaughter in the future, or this old man won't stand for it, you hear me!"
Grandpa put Luo Da down on the ground, a hint of stubbornness in his eyes, and he led Luo Er away.
The rest was much simpler. Grandpa bought all the necessary ingredients, including flour and meat, that very day. He knew how to cook these things before at the distillery canteen, and they were all quite cheap—he was a regular customer. Li Wei discussed it with her grandpa, and that very evening they made twenty jin of flour, chopped the vegetables and meat, and Li Wei used the leftover bone broth to season the filling, which smelled wonderful.
Cheng Min watched coldly without saying anything, but since it was her father after all, she lent a hand.
The next day, Li Wei went to school as usual, but she had already told her grandfather that the box for selling steamed buns had to be labeled "Beijing Steamed Buns," and that she would also help sell steamed buns. She also made sure to explain some details such as clothing and utensils. Her grandfather, who was not serious about it, was annoyed by her and finally promised to do as she was told before she went to school with peace of mind.
With adults involved, things were definitely different. Problems that used to give Li Wei headaches, such as transporting tools, were easily solved. At noon, her grandfather, dressed in all white, delivered the steamed buns to the school early in the morning. After class, Li Wei gave the twins some buns and helped her grandfather sell them. Thanks to the goodwill built up in the previous days, although there were more buns this time, they sold out quite quickly, in just over ten minutes, leaving the grandfather and twins sweating profusely.
After a resounding victory, the old man happily pushed his suitcase away to buy materials for tomorrow's work. They were short of funds and had to buy and sell things every day.
The old man and Li Wei did this for a month, and it was already winter.
It was a Sunday, the sky was overcast, and a few snowflakes occasionally drifted down. Li Wei and her grandfather didn't sell steamed buns today; instead, they sat on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and did their accounting. Li Wei first checked the inventory of materials, then calculated the accounts, and finally counted the cash. After deducting the initial investment of thirty-five yuan, they had earned a total of two hundred and forty-six yuan in the month.
Although the old man knew he was making a considerable amount of money every day, he hadn't expected it to be this much. Li Wei usually managed the cash, so he hadn't calculated it carefully and was quite surprised. Even his daughter, Cheng Min, who hadn't gone out to work since winter started, was astonished. She herself only made less than four hundred yuan a year as the head of the household, and in just a few days, her father, with only one arm free, had the leisure to practice boxing in the yard every day, yet he had easily earned so much money. She couldn't help but think about it.
In fact, Li Wei was deliberately showing off in front of her mother, hoping to provoke her and change her mindset. Her family's wealth depended on her mother, and she knew her mother's potential in this area.
The old man and the young man discussed it and decided to give Grandpa fifty yuan to Grandma first. Grandma and Grandpa had been having a cold war this month, and Grandpa had been staying at Li Wei's house quite a bit. They decided to appease Grandma first.
Since Grandpa had already received his salary, Li Wei naturally couldn't be left out, so she also gave him thirty yuan, and the twins each received one yuan for pocket money. Li Lin craned her neck, looking at the pile of money with some displeasure. Adding the initial thirty-five yuan investment, there was still less than two hundred yuan left, which wasn't a small amount. They could not only save more flour and buy more cabbage, but also buy more meat in the cold weather, so they wouldn't be short of it sometimes. At the same time, Li Wei suggested that since school would be out for winter break in less than a month, they could sell their wares at the market and make some steamed buns for easy carrying and storage, especially before the New Year, to make more steamed buns and red bean buns, etc., for the Spring Festival economy. Grandpa, not wanting to be left behind, planned to hire a few more people to help with the work and selling the goods; the production workshop wasn't big enough, so they needed to build one as soon as possible…
Li Wei and her grandfather's enthusiastic business acumen finally won over her mother, Cheng Min. Since she was idle during the winter anyway, she figured she might as well help her father, especially since she'd helped him often before. The next day, she started working with her father. This completely freed Li Wei up and allowed her to leisurely embark on the road to a comfortable life she had always dreamed of.
It's worth mentioning that during the time Grandpa stayed at Li Wei's house, Li Wei disciplined Luo Er a couple more times. Luo Da didn't seem to care, but he would often loiter around Li Wei's house. At first, Li Wei thought he was looking for revenge and was quite wary for a while, but she gradually realized that wasn't the case. She noticed that whenever Grandpa practiced his boxing and amused the children in front of Li Lianhui, Luo Da's already bright black eyes gleamed with an even more greedy, thieving light.
Li Wei thought about it for a moment, considering her younger brother Li Lianhui's situation, and then she understood. It turned out that the movie "Shaolin Temple" that the school watched during the National Day holiday, and the recent TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" that was being broadcast on television, had caused a stir. Everywhere, in the streets and schools, you could hear and see boys dubbing and making punching and kicking gestures – ugh!
Every boy dreams of being a hero.
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