Yang Qingliang had never had much contact with Yang Wanwan and her siblings. Although he knew some things about his family, he wasn't very clear about them and didn't care much about them.
Besides, no one would have guessed that Yang Youneng's being tortured into a pulp was Yang Wanwan's doing.
When Yang Yixuan saw Yang Wanwan, her face fell and she snorted.
Shang Tao met Fu Xiaojuan's gaze and said, "The rice noodles here are delicious. I already had one bowl, and this is my second! Are you here to eat too?"
Er Ye's mouth twitched slightly; Shang Tao's words were loaded with meaning.
Do you think we can't afford rice noodles?
Not only can I afford it, I can even eat two bowls!
Fu Xiaojuan clearly didn't believe her either, and snorted, saying, "Shang Tao, you're just bragging."
Shang Tao smiled, didn't refute, and calmly continued eating his rice noodles.
Xu Yao, with her sharp eyes, spotted the Walkman and cassette tapes on the table.
"Did you buy this?"
Futaba tucked the Walkman with its protruding earphone wires back into its bag and said casually, "Yeah. My older sister said we need to listen to tapes to learn English, so she bought one for each of us. What's wrong?"
How much is one?
Sixty-five.
"...Didn't your older sister buy one herself?"
"My older sister bought it before school started."
Xu Yao: "...Can I see your Walkman?"
Futaba shook her head: "No. I only heard half of it. If you fix it, I'll have to find it again."
Yang Qingliang snorted, "Xu Yao, it's just a Walkman, right? If you want to listen, you can borrow mine."
Xu Yao said with delight, "Thank you so much, Brother Qingliang!"
Yang Qingliang: "Why thank me? We're all from the same village. It's just a small favor. I'm not as stingy as some people who act like they've never seen money before."
Shang Tao slurped up a mouthful of noodles and said, "That's right. Some people act like they've never seen money before. They can't even afford a Walkman and have to borrow one from others."
Xu Yao: ……
Yang Qingliang: ...
Fu Xiaojuan, who had been deep in thought, suddenly asked, "Yang Wanwan, where did you get the money to buy such an expensive thing?"
Yang Wanwan ate her rice noodles without answering.
Er Ye said, "Fu Xiaojuan, weren't you there when we were picking tea seeds? Since you were with Xu Yao, you should know that my brother and I have been selling cold dishes and bamboo shoots! This is all money we earned through our work! The world is fair. As long as you are willing to put in the effort and work hard, you will reap the rewards. As long as you are diligent, God will give you food to eat."
Fu Xiaojuan was still incredulous and muttered softly, "But your Walkman is really expensive! I have one too, and it only cost fifty yuan."
Shang Tao said, "My older sister said that if we're going to buy something, we should buy the best. A good portable music player has clear sound quality, which will help us improve our English skills more. As long as we work hard, what is sixty-five yuan? It's just the money the three of us earn from selling braised meat, cold dishes, fish, and shrimp in a market."
Fu Xiaojuan couldn't help but exclaim, "So much money in one go?! That's impossible!"
Shang Tao said, "How do you know it's impossible if you haven't even tried it?"
Fu Xiaojuan asked doubtfully, "I help my mother run the shop, and I might earn this much from the goods I sell in a day."
"That's because your business isn't doing well, it doesn't mean we don't know how to do business."
Xu Yao asked, "Now that you're in the county town and no longer selling braised meat, where do you get your money?"
Shang Tao pouted, "Of course we have other ways to make a living, it's none of your business! Unlike some people, who don't use their brains or work hard, they can't earn money themselves, and they get envious when they see others making money."
Shang Tao's little mouth was talking happily, and Yang Wanwan was listening happily too.
Yang Yixuan remained silent, sitting at another table. When the Guilin rice noodles arrived, she called to Yang Qingliang, "Brother, it's all just bragging. What's so great about it? Come and eat your noodles."
Yang Qingliang and the others then turned around and went to another table.
After Yang Wanwan and her two siblings finished their rice noodles, Shang Tao said goodbye to Fu Xiaojuan, carrying their things. "We're leaving now, goodbye."
Then, without waiting for their replies, he turned and left.
Yang Qingliang said curiously, "I'm just curious, how much money do these siblings actually make? They seem to have plenty to eat and wear, is money really that easy to earn?"
Yang Yixuan pouted, "You just listen to their bragging! This money isn't the 13,000 that Uncle gave them back. Do you really think they can earn 60 yuan per market day?"
Xu Yao shook her head and said, "I've observed them. They sell things at the market every weekend: cold dishes, braised meat, fish and shrimp, bamboo shoots, wood ear fungus, mushrooms... they sell everything, and they always have a huge pile. I've heard people in the village talking about it; they can easily make tens of yuan a day at the market."
Fu Xiaojuan asked, "Really that many?"
"Yes. I helped them sell once. Braised meat is five yuan a pound, so ten pounds would be fifty yuan, right? Braised meat requires capital, but fish and shrimp don't. You can make a net profit of one or two yuan per pound! Yang Wanwan sometimes skips classes and goes to the market. She goes to the market at least two or three times a week, which is one or two hundred yuan. She can easily earn six or seven hundred yuan a month."
Yang Qingliang gasped, "So much? That's almost the same as our homeroom teacher's salary!"
Xu Yao: "That's right!"
Fu Xiaojuan asked, "If this money is so easy to make, doesn't anyone in your village try it too?"
Xu Yao said, "Some people try to do it, but they are not as lucky as them. They can catch ten or twenty catties of fish and shrimp at a time, while others can only catch two or three catties. They can pick sixty or seventy catties of bamboo shoots at a time, while others can only pick thirty or forty catties. Others spend a whole day making braised meat, but they can do it in half a day. The villagers all talk about how skillful they are."
Xu Yao had something to say but didn't say it. She had tried to do it herself, but it was impossible for her to reach the speed of Yang Wanwan and the others.
For example, when picking bamboo shoots to peel and sell, Xu Yao's fingers were covered in wounds, and she could only peel thirty or forty pounds in half a day. Moreover, she suffered from backache, leg cramps, and other ailments.
Yang Wanwan can go into the mountains alone and pick out 60 or 70 catties of bamboo shoots in half a day.
And he seemed quite relaxed.
As for braised meat, Xu Yao had no idea how to make it.
Yang Qingliang muttered, "This is too unbelievable! They all have two hands, how can they be so much faster than others?"
Yang Yixuan suddenly lowered her voice, "Do you think they really have my third uncle and aunt helping them with these things?"
The group looked at each other, then fell silent.
Fu Xiaojuan said quietly, "My aunt and uncle might actually be able to help."
All three of them turned to look at her.
Fu Xiaojuan then recounted what happened on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
Several people stared wide-eyed, unable to close their mouths.
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