"What's going on? Why is grandma looking at me and Sanni and Sini in such a strange way?"
Jiang Erni thought that she had not done anything to offend the old lady. She had not asked for living expenses from her family this year. All her money was earned by preparing Chinese medicinal materials for some prescriptions or when she was interning at the hospital. Logically, the old lady should like her.
"Mom and grandma want to find partners for you guys, and they are looking for suitable candidates now." Jiang Yilu put the luggage in his hand on the ground and explained.
"What!" The first one to exclaim was not Erni, the oldest sister, but Sanni. "I don't want to. Many of my classmates who are older than me are still unmarried. I don't want to get married so early."
Si Ni also shook her head: "I'm the youngest. Anyway, I won't consider it until my second and third sisters get married." She cleverly put the blame on her two sisters. San Ni glared at her younger sister angrily. Si Ni shrank her neck and hid behind her brother.
But what Si Ni said was right. At least the old lady would not keep an eye on her before solving the most urgent problems of her second and third sisters.
"I will only stay at home for a few days during the Chinese New Year. How can a marriage be decided in a few days? After the Chinese New Year and visiting relatives, I will return to the capital. I don't believe that grandma can go to the capital and bring me back for a blind date." Erni looked like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water. She thought to herself, even if it was a blind date, she would still mess up the marriage.
Now that she has her own career to pursue and people supporting her behind the scenes, Erni is more confident than when she was a child. She dared to talk back to the old lady even when her situation was so miserable, let alone now.
"Second sister, I will go with you when the time comes." San Ni quickly followed. She was not as brave as her second sister and did not dare to confront the old lady openly. The best thing she could do was to sneak away.
"By the way, Xiaobao, do you know how much money Si Ni and I earned in the 20 days we were running the store?" San Ni saw that the blind date didn't seem so difficult and she lost her nervousness all of a sudden. Instead, she excitedly pulled Jiang Yilu over and kept him guessing.
"How much, 3,000 or 4,000?" Jiang Yilu asked curiously to satisfy the third sister's vanity. The current profit of the hot pot restaurant, minus the cost of ingredients and labor coal, basically maintains a net profit of about two hundred yuan a day. It can be said that it is not an exaggeration to say that they make a fortune every day. After all, the average factory employee in the capital still maintained a monthly income of seventy or eighty yuan in the 1980s. Even senior workers and government officials only earned a little over one hundred yuan.
Jiang Yilu actually reported an under-reporting. He knew that since it was near the end of the year, everyone would be happy to come to the store to cook for themselves, and it would be a rare luxury for those with families to enjoy, so the money earned in these twenty days would only be more, not less than the number he said.
Sanni and Sini looked at each other with a smile, and a hint of satisfaction flashed across their faces. "You guessed too little, we have earned this amount in this period of time."
Sanni gestured with her fingers, and Jiang Yilu was also surprised: "Nine thousand!" He thought the turnover would increase, but he never thought it would increase so much.
Sanni felt a little embarrassed when she saw her brother's surprised look. "Actually, after you left, Sini and I discussed it. The pickled vegetables in this store are selling very well. It would be a pity to just sell them as a side dish in the store. Besides, it's Chinese New Year now, and every household wants to eat something delicious and fresh. We have many kinds of pickles in our store, so why don't we open a special store to sell pickles?"
"Since you're not here, I can't make a decision on my own, so Si Ni and I decided to set up a small shop in front of the hot pot restaurant. People who leave after eating in the restaurant can buy some pickles to take back if they want, or those who pass by to see the fresh pickles can try the pickles and decide whether to buy them or not."
Jiang Sanni's eyes sparkled when she thought of the wise decision she had made. "You also know the taste of the pickled vegetables made by our grandmother. Almost everyone who has tasted them doesn't like them. Besides, it's almost the New Year, and everyone is willing to spend money. Such delicious side dishes are a ready-made good dish for guests during the New Year and other festivals, especially the five-spice dried tofu, spicy dried tofu, and braised dried tofu. These good dishes that go well with wine are sold out early in the morning."
"That's right. Third sister even came up with a buy ten kilograms get one kilogram free promotion. When people heard that they could get a free gift if they bought more, those who had originally planned to buy only two or three kilograms decided to buy more to take home. After all, it's cold now, and these pickles can be kept for a long time. There are also hardcover editions. Third sister ordered a batch of small porcelain jars from a porcelain factory. Each jar can hold 20 kilograms of pickles. These are a little more expensive, but they look impressive and can be used as gifts during the Chinese New Year. They are beautiful and affordable. Even though they are a little more expensive than buying pickles alone, many people still buy them."
Si Ni added that they were students in the same university, but they were just starting out at different ages, so why was there such a big difference in their intelligence?
Perhaps people who know how to eat are particularly fond of putting effort into their food. During the time that Jiang Sanni helped her brother run the store, in addition to thinking about how to enrich the menu, she also thought about how to maximize the value of the food.
Now it seems that she succeeded. Her creative ideas contributed half of the 9,000 yuan in sales.
In fact, all these things she did were what Jiang Yilu planned to do after he returned after the New Year. After all, these common promotional methods in later generations were still extremely fresh and useful now. He just didn't expect that his third sister could spontaneously think of these measures before she had ever been exposed to them. He couldn't help but look at his third sister, who used to be regarded as a glutton in his mind, with new eyes.
Jiang Sanni took out several thick stacks of ten-yuan bills from her luggage. On the way back, she didn't dare let the luggage out of her sight, for fear that the money would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Yilu took the stacks of money. Every hundred ten-yuan bills were tied into a bundle with rubber bands, which amounted to one thousand yuan.
"This money is your salary for this period of time." Jiang Yilu took out one of the bundles and handed it to the third sister: "It's not just salary, it's also a bonus for you coming up with such a good idea, third sister."
"And there's some for Fourth Sister." The money given to Si Ni was not as much as that given to San Ni. Jiang Yi left two hundred yuan for Fourth Sister, which was an extremely generous salary compared to the intensity of twenty days of work.
Jiang Sini didn't expect that she would have such an unexpected surprise. She hugged her brother's head and cheered.
"This, this is too much." Jiang Sanni has been watching the store making a lot of money these days, and she feels a sense of accomplishment, but she has never thought of using the money for bad purposes. After all, the store is opened by her brother, and even if it makes money, it has nothing to do with her. So even if she has a huge sum of nearly 10,000 yuan in front of her, she doesn't feel anything other than proud.
But now, looking at the one thousand yuan handed over by her brother, which was the reward her brother said was for her, the result of her hard work for so many days, and the money that truly belonged to her, Jiang Sanni panicked instead and waved her hands, not daring to take the money.
In fact, when she went back and thought carefully about the money her grandparents gave her brother to buy a house, she realized that the money had nothing to do with her. Si Ni was young and might not have any memory of her childhood, but she was already sensible by then. She knew how difficult those days were and how arrogant her second uncle's family was. These were all deeply engraved in her mind.
Now the sisters can go to school and learn what they want to learn, all of which is brought by Xiaobao. Even if there was no Xiaobao, that money would never have reached the hands of the sisters. It was more likely that it would have been given to the second uncle's family by their grandparents. If there was no Xiaobao, she and her older sisters would still be the little cabbages that were pitied by the villagers.
So her jealousy and dissatisfaction were unreasonable. Jiang Sanni regretted her hesitation at that time and despised herself for that little bit of dissatisfaction.
These days, she racked her brains to make her brother's business better. Isn't this a kind of compensation? She hopes her brother can forgive her pettiness that day.
Now that her brother generously gave her a thousand yuan as a reward, she felt even more ashamed and despised herself.
"This money is not given for free. I may be busy with other things in the future. You, the third sister, will have to help me look after the store when you are free. From now on, you and the fourth sister will help with the store work every month, and I will pay you 200 yuan a month. If any of you can come up with a good idea to increase the sales of the dishes in the store, I will give you 10% of the increase in profits. The better you do, the more you will earn. In the future, if you want to open any store, this will be your capital."
Jiang Yilu had learned some lessons from his previous experience and would not do the stupid thing of giving money directly again. A little kindness can turn into a grudge. Now it is just right. The third and fourth sisters all have the motivation to make money, and he can help them in a better way.
"Well, then I'll take it. Don't worry, I'll definitely take care of that store for you." Jiang Sanni patted her chest and promised. Looking at the stack of ten-yuan bills in her hand, an unprecedented sense of satisfaction filled Jiang Sanni's heart, giving her great motivation.
Si Ni was the same. She believed that money was a good thing. Only with money could she have confidence. After listening to what her brother said, she also made up her mind to achieve some results and not be outdone by her third sister.
Jiang Erni was listening to the conversation between her brothers and sisters without any jealousy. Sanni and Sini's money was what they deserved, and Xiaobao was able to make money with his own brain. Although the money she had now was not as much as the salary Xiaobao had just given to Sini, she believed that her future in medicine would not be inferior to that of her brothers and sisters, and medicine was a career she loved. Although the economic benefits might not be as fast as Xiaobao's business, the sense of accomplishment she felt every time she cured a patient was very different.
Her eldest sister lives a happy life, she has a bright future, and her younger brothers and sisters also have good prospects. Jiang Erni only hopes that her life can continue to be peaceful and stable like this.
*******
"Xiangdong, stop working so hard and go back to the house to have a rest first." Yao Fang said with some heartache as she looked at her son who was chopping wood in the yard.
"I'll go take a rest after I finish chopping these."
Mo Xiangdong swung his axe and chopped the branches piled in the yard into thin strips. It was difficult to make a fire with thick branches, so it was easier to chop them into thin strips. Chopping wood was very tiring. Mo Xiangdong always chopped a whole store of thin strips when he came back from vacation to make his mother's life easier.
"You haven't had a good rest since you came back for so long. It's your fault that I'm useless and a burden to you." Yao Fang's face was pale and thin, with a hint of sadness between her eyebrows.
Yao Fang should have been very proud of her son's admission to university, but she was not. The heavy tuition and medical expenses for her old lady were like a huge rock, pressing down on her. Especially now that the team had distributed land, it was a good thing for those families with more labor, but for Yao Fang, it was a disaster. There were only three people in their family, and the land they were allocated was limited. Even so, it was still a huge burden for a family with only Yao Fang as the only laborer.
In the past, as long as she worked hard and earned work points, she could support her family with the food distributed by the team. Now, she has to rely on herself alone. To be honest, Yao Fang can't bear it. Especially since there is an old lady paralyzed in bed at home who needs help all the time. Sometimes, Yao Fang wants to split herself in half.
Her son was very sensible. He could earn money to support himself while in school, and occasionally send some money home, but that money was just a drop in the bucket for the old lady's medical expenses. The family had owed a lot of debts over the years. They were all people from the same village. They knew their family's situation and did not urge them to pay back the money. They all said that they would talk about paying back the money after Xiangdong got a job and made money. But everyone's tolerance towards her did not mean that she was free of pressure.
Yao Fang feels sorry for her son. The more sensible Mo Xiangdong becomes, the more guilty she feels.
"Ahem, Fang, Fang--" The old lady in the room called for help again. She must have pulled out the bed again. Yao Fang didn't have time to persuade her son, and hurried into the room to change the mattress and wipe the old lady's body. The weather was cold now, and if the old lady pulled out the bed and didn't change the bed in time, she might catch a cold.
Speaking of which, Yao Fang can be considered a kind person. She has been taking care of her paralyzed mother-in-law for so many years and has never thought of doing anything. After all, it is inevitable that something might happen to an elderly lady in poor health, but Yao Fang did not do that. Instead, she took good care of the old lady. Even in the hot summer, there was not a single mole on her buttocks. Her filial piety alone is enough for the villagers to take care of her and help her in their daily lives.
"The current situation in our family is a burden to you. You are nineteen years old and will soon get married, but which girl would be willing to marry into a family like ours?" Yao Fang came out holding a stack of dirty bedding. She had to wash the bedding early and put it out to dry in the sun.
She fetched a bucket of well water and scrubbed the soiled bedding vigorously with her red and swollen fingers. The well water was freezing cold, but Yao Fang acted as if nothing had happened. While rubbing the bedding, she looked at her son who was chopping wood, and her heart ached.
Their Xiangdong is no worse than others, he is good-looking and smart, but he is held back by a family like theirs. Even if the child is outstanding, those who want to introduce him to a date will back off when they hear about the family situation. If their Xiangdong could be reborn into a family like the Jiang family, his life in this life would be completely different.
Yao Fang thought silently in her heart, feeling gloomy.
"Several girls in the Jiang family are also looking for partners. Those who want to propose marriage have almost trampled down the door of the Jiang family. The Jiang family is well-off, and several children are college students. Er Ni and the others will have a powerful family in the future. Who wouldn't want to marry such a girl?" Yao Fang seemed to be talking to herself: "Actually, you are the same age as Sini, and you are from the same village and study in the provincial capital together. You can be considered a good match. The girls in the Jiang family are honest and work quickly, especially Sini. She smiles every day, which makes people feel good. Every time she sees me, she calls me Aunt Yao, and she is as sweet as eating honey."
Yao Fang kept talking, and it was obvious that she liked Jiang Sini very much. Unfortunately, when she thought about what Old Lady Miao had said to the outside world, she was afraid that if the gift was too small, she would not marry her granddaughter off. Thinking about her own family's conditions, it was like a toad wanting to eat swan meat.
"Sister Er Ni and the others are going to meet someone." Mo Xiangdong's throat tightened and he asked in a hoarse voice.
"Yes, don't you see how old your sister Er Ni is? How can your grandma Miao not be anxious?" Yao Fang didn't notice that something was wrong with her son, but was a little puzzled. When she talked about these things in the past, her son always listened silently and never talked to her. Why was he curious about this matter this time?
Mo Xiangdong sat on a small stool and chopped wood silently, but this time he used more force. Every time the axe chopped down, it almost hit the wooden chopping board on the ground deeply.
"What are you doing?"
Mo Xiangdong stood up suddenly and walked out of the yard. Yao Fang asked curiously.
"The firewood at home is running out, so I'm going up the mountain to pick up some dead branches." Mo Xiangdong stopped, picked up the bamboo basket beside him and walked outside.
Yao Fang looked at the yard and saw a small mountain of unchopped firewood left. These were the dead trees that Mo Xiangdong had chopped down from the mountain during the days he came. Why did he have to go up the mountain again now?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
