Early on Sunday morning, Du Chen's father drove the company car back to work. Today he had to install the bunk beds, as well as the tables and stoves, so time was quite tight.
Du Chen, his brother, and his mother each carried a large amount of items to the store. Du Chen and his mother carried a snakeskin bag filled with bedding, perfect for the bunk beds. Du Bin also carried a stool in each hand. Plastic stools didn't exist back then, so he had to bring a poplar bench from home.
Not long after arriving at the store, he heard a car parked at the door. Du Bin ran out first and saw Comrade Lao Du about to get out of the car.
"Son, go call your mother and your brother out to move the things." Comrade Lao Du said to Du Bin as he walked towards the back of the car.
Before Du Bin went back to the house to call for help, Du Chen and his mother came out after hearing the noise.
Several people worked together to move down two bunk beds, a desk, a gas tank, and a gas stove. Strength lies in numbers, and after about an hour of hard work, the remaining empty room had been transformed.
On Sunday, Du Chen and his family spent the whole day in the store, putting things in order, arranging tables, chairs and benches, and finally doing a big cleaning. Although they were very tired, the whole family was in high spirits, after all, their own store would open tomorrow.
"Mom and Dad, do you want to hold a promotion tomorrow?" Du Chen suddenly thought of the promotion while walking home, so he asked.
"How do you do it?" Du Chen's father asked curiously. Normally, Du Chen's father didn't take care of any of the shopping at home, so he wasn't sure how to run a promotion.
"We have pencils that cost 20 cents each, six for one yuan with one extra pencil, exercise books that cost 50 cents each, six for two yuan, and..." Du Chen rattled off a lot of things that came to his mind.
"Okay, there's still money to be made, and we can get the money back quickly." Du Chen's mother was very happy.
Have a good night...
On Monday morning, when it was still dark, Du Chen's family got up. Du Chen's father found a string of firecrackers and a few double-kick firecrackers from somewhere. They didn't even have breakfast and rushed to the store directly.
Du Chen's father hung firecrackers on the willow tree at the door and lit two of them first. Amid the sound of firecrackers, Du Chen's mother opened the shop door and Du Chen took the opportunity to shout.
"Good luck with your grand opening!"
Fortunately, there are not many residents around the school, otherwise the sound of firecrackers in the early morning and Du Chen's shout would make everyone curse. Disturbing people's sleep is the most abominable thing.
Du Chen's shout stunned the other three for a moment, and then Du Bin also shouted.
"Good luck with your grand opening!"
Du Chen's parents looked at each other, and they said to each other with a smile in unison.
"Good luck with your grand opening!"
They had gotten up a little after five, and now it was just past five-thirty. Mom and Dad asked Du Chen and Du Bin to go back to bed for a while while they started frying the fried dough cakes. Yesterday, all the pots, pans, and food were ready for class, since everyone had eaten lunch at the restaurant since it opened.
Fried oil cake is one of the traditional staple foods of Yuncheng. Whether it is a birthday, a wedding or a business opening, fried oil cake is made. Oil cake is made from yellow rice flour, which is the fruit of millet and is one of the most important staple foods in the surrounding areas of Shanxi Province and Hebei Province. The yellow rice flour is steamed and then kneaded into blocks by hand. It is the local yellow cake. It can be eaten with eggs, chicken, lamb, and pork. It has a soft and glutinous texture and a delicious taste. However, outsiders generally cannot get used to it, mainly because the more they chew, the more it becomes difficult to swallow. The main reason why yellow cake can become a staple food in the local area is that it is sticky, not easy to digest, and can resist hunger, so it is loved by manual workers and farmers.
Yougao is made from yellow cake stuffed with filling and then deep-fried. Sesame oil, also known as rapeseed oil, is used for its fragrant, flavorful, and non-greasy texture. The filling depends on personal preference. Those who prefer a savory taste usually go for a vegetable filling, like shredded potatoes, ground cabbage, vermicelli noodles, carrots, and so on. Those who prefer a sweeter taste usually go for a red bean paste filling. There are also less common ones filled with brown sugar, white sugar, and oil.
Du Chen's family all loves salty food. Du Chen even likes to drink salty cornmeal porridge and has never liked sugar since he was a child. However, Du Chen's mother usually makes a few red bean paste-filled dishes to suit the occasion.
Du Chen and his brother Du Bin were both young and slept well. Even the clanging sounds of their parents cooking and their parents' whispered conversations did not affect the brothers' sleep. They fell asleep as soon as they lay down on the bed.
After sleeping until half past six, Du Bin asked his parents to wake him up first. Because Du Bin had to go to school earlier, he had to go to school at six fifty for morning self-study. Du Chen also arrived at school at seven forty.
Du Bin got up, quickly ate two fried cakes and a bowl of mutton offal, then hurried off to school with his schoolbag on his back. Around 7:10, Du Chen also woke up and, after breakfast, stayed in the shop. The school was right across the street, so there was no need to rush.
Seeing that it was about time, Du Chen's mother opened the store door and waited for students to come in. Students gradually arrived at the school gate waiting for the store to open. When they saw the store opposite the school gate open, some of them walked in directly.
"Auntie, do you have instant noodles?" The student who just came in looked at Du Chen's mother and said.
"Yes, which one do you want?" Du Chen's mother said, pointing to several kinds of instant noodles on the shelf. These instant noodles were all chosen by Du Chen. After all, many classmates around him eat instant noodles or crisp noodles in the morning. Even if Du Chen doesn't eat them, he knows which one everyone eats.
The student pointed out a way to just pay and leave, and the first order was completed in this way. Although the income was only 50 cents and the profit was a few cents, Du Chen's mother was very happy.
Soon after, more students began to enter the store. Once they saw Du Chen's mother, they realized the shop had changed and was no longer the same. Most of the students came in to buy instant noodles, pencils, and rulers, with Du Chen helping out.
"Hey. Du Chen, why are you here?" Someone suddenly called Du Chen's name.
Du Chen looked up and saw that it was his classmate, Liu Yi.
"This is the new shop my family opened. I'm here to help out." Du Chen replied with a smile.
"Really? Then I'll go to your house to buy things from now on!" Children are so simple and straightforward.
"No problem, what do you want to buy?"
"Buy a bag of dry noodles and a pencil." Liu Yi replied.
Du Chen took out a bag of dry noodles and a pencil and handed them to Liu Yi.
"How much is it, Du Chen?" Liu Yi handed over a dollar as he spoke.
Du Chen confiscated the money, pushed it back, and said to Liu Yi, "Forget it this time, Liu Yi. You're the first one in our class to come here to buy something. This is a gift for you today, but you can't tell our classmates that it was given to you by me. Also, you have to help me spread the word and tell our classmates that my family opened a store at the school gate."
Du Chen had a reason for confiscating Liu Yi's money. Liu Yi's family was a family of two, with Liu Yi being the only child. Therefore, Liu Yi was considered one of the better-off students in the class and a generous person. Furthermore, Liu Yi was a simple and kind person who had never argued with his classmates. Therefore, Du Chen hoped to capitalize on Liu Yi's popularity to promote his class.
"Really? I'm the first one. Thank you, Du Chen. Don't worry, I will tell my classmates and let all the classmates come to your house to buy things." Liu Yi said with a smile.
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