Chapter 39 Opening
November 7, 1992, the 13th day of the 10th lunar month, is the beginning of winter.
This day was not only the opening day of the commercial street, but also the opening day of Lin Qiu’s newsstand.
Wang Shan did not go to class that day, and Wang Xiuren also took a leave of absence. The family arrived at the newsstand at 5:30 in the morning.
Wang Xiuren bought a string of small firecrackers! It was lit when Lin Qiu opened the rolling shutter of the newsstand, and the crackling sound was particularly loud in the quiet morning.
Wang Shan was half asleep, but the sound of firecrackers instantly blew away her sleepiness. She walked around the newsstand with great interest, her eyes full of novelty.
"Mom, is this ours?"
Lin Qiu came down, looked into her daughter's eyes, and said gently, "Yes, Shanshan. Mom will work here from now on! When Shanshan gets home from school, she can also play here with Mom."
"That's great, Mom!" Wang Shan jumped up happily after hearing this. "We have opened a small store at home! I will tell my classmates."
Lin Qiu couldn't help but laugh when he saw his daughter's excitement.
Wang Xiuren was also very happy. He took a broom and cleaned up the debris from the firecrackers that had just been set off.
Maybe they came too early in the morning and there were not many people on the street. The family of three looked around the newsstand contentedly.
This will be our family’s livelihood from now on!
At around half past six, the postman delivered the day's newspapers, and Lin Qiu and Wang Xiuren quickly laid out the newspapers.
After seven o'clock, there were more and more pedestrians on the street.
"Give me a copy of Pengcheng Daily!"
The first business came from a man in his forties. He held a briefcase in his right hand and handed fifty cents to Lin Qiu with his left hand.
Lin Qiu took the money and swiftly handed the Pengcheng Daily to the man, "Thank you for your patronage!"
After hearing this, the man smiled and nodded, then left.
As the first business opened successfully, more people came one after another.
"I want a copy of Yangcheng Evening News!"
“Is there a new issue of ‘Zhiyin’?”
"Give me a copy of Story Club!"
"Auntie, please help me get a copy of Yilin!"
…
Lin Qiu and Wang Xiuren quickly found the newspapers and magazines the customer needed and handed them over while collecting the money. Wang Shan sat obediently on a small bench in the newsstand, staring at the customers coming and going, without making any noise.
On the first day, neither of them was very familiar with the business and sweat broke out on their foreheads.
After eight o'clock, the number of people coming to the newsstand gradually decreased, and the couple finally had some time to relax and drink water.
Lin Qiu suddenly heard Wang Shan's stomach growling, and slapped his head, "Look at me! I was so busy that I forgot to prepare breakfast. Look at our Shan Shan, her stomach is growling with hunger!"
"Business was so good that I forgot I was hungry!" Wang Xiuren touched his daughter's head, "It's all Dad's fault. We, Shanshan, are hungry! What do you want to eat? Dad will take you to buy it!"
Wang Xiuren held Wang Shan's hand and walked towards the street. He turned back and reminded Lin Qiu: "Take care of yourself. I'll be back after buying breakfast!"
"It's okay!" Lin Qiu waved his hand, "Don't worry."
While Wang Xiuren and his daughter were buying breakfast, several other customers came over and bought their favorite newspapers and magazines. One of the men even bought a pack of cigarettes.
When the father and daughter came back with tea eggs and soy milk, Lin Qiu's eyes lit up and he looked at Wang Xiuren in surprise, "I can also cook tea eggs and sell them!"
"Can you cook? I've never seen you cook!" Wang Xiuren was a little unconvinced.
“What’s so difficult about this? I’ll cook a few tonight for you to try and see if it works?” Lin Qiu was very confident. After all, he had learned how to make tea eggs from a food blogger in his previous life.
The epidemic was particularly serious during that period, and Foshan was directly sealed off. Except for Wang Shan who stayed in Hunan Province, the other three members of Lin Qiu's family were quarantined in a rented house in Foshan. Lin Qiu had nothing to do, so he could only cook delicious food in different ways, including tea eggs.
Seeing Lin Qiu's confident look, Wang Xiuren couldn't bear to pour cold water on her, so he thought, let her try! If it doesn’t taste good, it’s just a matter of a few eggs, so there’s no need to argue about it.
"Okay, Shanshan and I are in for a treat!"
Lin Qiu looked at Wang Xiuren's indifferent expression and thought about giving him a slap in the face tonight.
Just as the family of three was eating tea eggs and drinking soy milk, the landlord and his wife came over, each carrying a flower basket.
"Xiao Wang, good luck in opening your business, and may your wealth roll in!"
The landlord, speaking in familiar Cantonese, placed the flower basket on one side of the newsstand with a big smile, and his wife placed the flower basket on the other side.
"Thank you for your good wishes, uncle." Wang Xiuren quickly swallowed the tea egg and rinsed his mouth with soy milk.
"Good luck on your grand opening and prosperous business!" The landlord's wife also sent her blessings.
"Thank you, Auntie!" Lin Qiu clasped his fists to express his gratitude.
"Xiao Wang, give me a copy of Yangcheng Evening News!" The landlord took out a dollar and put it on the counter, "and give your aunt a copy of Stage and Screen!"
Wang Xiuren quickly delivered the two newspapers to the landlord and his wife, and pushed the money to him, "Uncle, I'll buy today's newspaper!"
"No, no!"
The landlord was about to speak when his wife interrupted him, "Xiao Wang, I'm telling you, you can't not collect money on the first day of business!"
"Your aunt is right!" The landlord added, "There are many things to pay attention to when opening a business. Take the money back quickly. You can treat me later, but not today."
After hearing what they said, Wang Xiuren could only accept the money silently.
"Uncle, you are so polite. You sent a flower basket to our small business!" Wang Xiurenren was very grateful. "I will treat your family to dinner tonight to celebrate the opening of our business!"
"Someone has already treated us to dinner today!" The landlord rolled up the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. "Ah Xing's third aunt opened a roast meat shop at Datou in the commercial street. It opened today and she invited us to dinner early!"
"Okay! I'll treat uncle and auntie to morning tea some other day!" Wang Xiuren made up his mind to treat the landlord's family to a good meal, after all, he had always been taken care of by them.
"Okay! Call me when the time comes!" The landlord did not refuse this time, "Wife, get ready to go! The lion dance over there is about to start!"
The landlord's wife also rolled up the newspaper and followed the landlord away.
"Why don't you take Shanshan with you to watch the lion dance over there? Didn't you say you didn't get enough last time?" When Lin Qiu heard that there was a lion dance to watch, he hurriedly urged Wang Xiuren.
When Wang Shan heard the lion dance, she stared at Wang Xiuren with sparkling eyes.
“I’d better not go!” Wang Xiuren turned his head away, deliberately not looking at his daughter’s eyes. He thought it would be bad to leave Lin Qiu here alone on the first day of the opening, so he refused: “It’s crowded, and there’s nothing to see!”
"There are not many people here now, I can handle it by myself!" Lin Qiu saw through his plan, "Just go ahead! Remember to put Shanshan on your shoulders so that others can't squeeze her!"
"You'll let me go?"
"Stop talking so much and just go!"
Wang Xiuren put his daughter on his shoulders and then the father and daughter ran excitedly towards the other end of the commercial street.
"You said there was nothing to see! But you ran like a sprinter!" Lin Qiu looked at Wang Xiuren's back with some amusement.
Thanks to the opening of the commercial street, customers have been visiting the newsstand one after another. Several popular newspapers have been sold out, a lot of popular magazines have been sold, and even some mineral water and cigarettes have been sold.
When school was over in the afternoon, the newsstand welcomed a wave of primary and secondary school students.
Middle school students’ favorite magazines are youth literature or fashion magazines such as "Youth", "Youth Digest", "Zuixin Xiaoshuo", and "Color".
The primary school students gathered in twos and threes and stared at the science fiction comic magazines such as "Animation Pioneer", "Dream Cartoon" and "Comic King" on the shelves. If one of them bought a book, he would be crowded together with several others to read it.
At the end of the working day, the two magazines, Story Club and Zhiyin, are basically taken away by men, women, young and old who patronize the newsstand. The sophisticated and fashionable girls will also buy a copy of Popular Movies.
It was seven o'clock in the evening when Wang Xiuren locked the door of the newsstand before heading home with his wife and children.
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