Jiang Xiaoli was awakened by the sound of Li Guizhi getting up. She rubbed her eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "Mom, what time is it?"
Li Guizhi covered her stomach with the brightly colored floral blanket, saying, "It's only a little past 6 o'clock, you can sleep a little longer. Mom will go prepare breakfast."
Half an hour later, Jiang Xiaoli was slurping up her corn porridge, especially enjoying the layer of rice oil on top.
Every now and then, she would pick up a couple of bites of side dishes, and not forget to praise, "Mom, your cooking is absolutely amazing!"
Seeing how much she enjoyed her food, Li Guizhi couldn't resist taking a few more bites. "Your little mouth is getting better and better at sweet-talking me."
After finishing her meal, Jiang Xiaoli put down her chopsticks and said disapprovingly, "How is this coaxing? This is how my mom cooks!"
She exaggeratedly gave a thumbs-up.
Just as the mother and daughter were chatting and laughing and preparing to clear the dishes, there was a knock on the courtyard gate. "Little Pear's mom, are you there?"
Li Guizhi opened the door. "Yes, yes, Sister Tian. Is something wrong so early in the morning?"
The person who came was Tian Xiaomeng's mother, Tian Yuzhen.
She walked into the courtyard on her own, sat down in the main room, and glanced at the dishes and chopsticks that they had just finished eating and hadn't had time to clean up.
Her eyes darted around as she smiled and said, "Little Pear's mom, I heard you've recently started a business? Oh my, your stable job was so good, why did you decide to sell things?"
Li Guizhi didn't think much of it, assuming that someone else had seen it and told her, since the Children's Palace wasn't far from this area.
"Haha, Sister Tian, what's there to be upset about in doing business? Isn't it all about making money honestly?"
Tian Yuzhen suddenly raised her voice and exaggerated her expression, "Oh my, Guizhi, that's so different! When your Xiaoli was in school, it was definitely better for her to fill in a state-owned factory for her mother's job than to fill in a private business!"
Kids these days are so concerned about their image! Who knows... the teacher might even treat them differently!
Li Guizhi hadn't thought about these things and was momentarily stunned. "No way..."
Jiang Xiaoli rolled her eyes at Tian Yuzhen in her heart, then smiled and said, "Aunt Tian, my mom is still working at the factory, so writing 'worker' is fine too."
Besides, I don't think there's anything wrong with individuals. They all earn money honestly with their own hands. If a teacher treats someone differently because of this, it just shows that the teacher lacks professional ethics.
"You can't belittle yourself like that, Aunt Tian, don't you think?"
Tian Yuzhen was clearly surprised that her daughter's usual little follower could spout such a long speech, but she ignored Jiang Xiaoli and continued to look at Li Guizhi.
"Guizhi, your little pear is really good at talking now. I only say one sentence and she says a whole bunch of things. Kids these days are so hard to manage!"
After hearing her daughter's words, Li Guizhi realized what was going on. Then, she heard Tian Yuzhen subtly criticizing her daughter for being insensible, and her expression immediately turned sour.
She asked directly, "Sister Tian, what brings you to my house so early in the morning?"
Tian Yuzhen covered her mouth and chuckled a few times, "I have some good news for you! You've been selling those spicy strips these past few days, right? Someone wants to buy your recipe and is willing to pay 200 yuan! Wow, that's almost half a month's salary for you, isn't it?"
Jiang Xiaoli couldn't help but laugh out loud; Tian Xiaomeng's mother's abacus beads were about to hit her mother's face.
Li Guizhi talked a lot with her daughter last night, and the topic of the spicy snack recipe came up, so she dealt with it calmly.
"Sister Tian, you've been my neighbor for so many years, so I won't waste my breath on you. I'll sell the recipe for five hundred yuan, but you have to promise not to set up a stall in the same place as me!"
Tian Yuzhen's eyes widened dramatically, and her mouth gaped open. "My goodness! Five hundred yuan! Guizhi! How could you possibly ask for that!"
Li Guizhi insisted, "If Sister Tian can find me through you, then she must know how good my spicy snack business is, so go back and ask her. Five hundred yuan, that's the price!"
Tian Yuzhen wanted to say something more, but after opening her mouth, she didn't say anything.
Actually, the person who found her was her younger sister, Tian Yuzhu. Tian Yuzhu was willing to pay 300 yuan, but she wanted to skim some money off the deal.
Who knew that Li Guizhi would be so greedy for money, asking for five hundred yuan right off the bat!
After Tian Yuzhen left, Li Guizhi patted her chest and asked, "Xiaoli, how did Mom do just now?"
Jiang Xiaoli gave two thumbs up, "Mom, you're awesome!"
Li Guizhi smiled and said, "Right? I think it's pretty good too, but there's still room for improvement. Alright, go read your book."
She sent her daughter to study and started preparing spicy strips. After several days of practice, her skills became more and more proficient.
She replaced the original small steamer with a large steamer used for steaming buns and dumplings during the Chinese New Year, so that she could steam ten pounds of dried bean curd sheets in two batches.
Then comes repackaging, selling, and counting the money.
Today we sold 191 bags of spicy strips, earning 48.5 yuan and making a net profit of 33.5 yuan.
For the next few days, her income was stable, around 30 yuan per day. In less than ten days, Li Guizhi earned a month's salary from working in the factory.
That day, after selling spicy snacks, the mother and daughter were preparing to go home. It was already the 27th, and school was about to start. Jiang Xiaoli made an appointment with Xiao Muyu to buy some stationery in the afternoon.
They were stopped by a boy wearing a dark blue baseball cap. Jiang Xiaoli raised an eyebrow; such American retro baseball caps were quite rare in the 90s.
She glanced at him; the boy was wearing a loose white cotton short-sleeved T-shirt, black cargo shorts with many pockets, and a pair of white Feiyue sneakers. Compared to the currently popular shirts and wide-leg suit pants, he looked much more refreshing.
The boy's hands, with their distinct knuckles and slightly raised veins on the back, were used to stop them from reaching out.
Looking up, the boy's eyebrows and eyes were smiling, his lips were upturned, revealing a few white teeth. His smile was so bright, it was dazzling!
"Auntie, little sister, hello, my name is Zong Jiayu, may I trouble you for a few minutes to discuss a small business deal?"
Hmm... her voice is very nice too...
Li Guizhi parked the car on the side of the road and saw her daughter lost in thought. She asked, "Young man, what do you want to talk about?"
"Auntie, I've been watching your stall for several days now. Do you sell your spicy snack recipe?" Zong Jia asked directly.
Jiang Xiaoli snapped out of her daze and replied, "Sell! But it won't be cheap!"
The sunny young man was dazzling, but business is business, and she couldn't let beauty cloud her judgment. Jiang Xiaoli switched to battle mode.
"Oh? Can you tell me how much it costs? I'm just a student, and I'd like to do some small business in my spare time." Zong Jia's smile remained unchanged as he pulled out a student card.
His student ID didn't work either! The seemingly unassuming Breguet watch on his wrist gave him away!
To be dressed so fashionably in 1993, and even wearing a luxury watch, Jiang Xiaoli felt like she had spotted a fat sheep.
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