Ever since Guan Baiyu was assigned to the same class as Yan Jiangtao in the third year of junior high, Yan Jiangtao has been picking on him on a daily basis.
He could ignore any verbal abuse, and he even tolerated Yan Jiangtao occasionally kicking his leg or stabbing his arm with a pen.
He wanted to focus on his studies and didn't want to clash with Yan Jiangtao.
At most, he would secretly throw caterpillars into Yan Jiangtao's schoolbag.
He dared not go too far, for fear that Yan Jiangtao would retaliate against him.
A few days ago, he threw mud on Yan Jiangtao's head, partly because he was really angry, and partly because Shi Zhen's appearance gave him confidence.
And now, he was angrier than ever before.
Guan Baiyu looked at Yan Jiangtao with a gloomy expression.
Yan Jiangtao felt inexplicably uneasy, and he was even more disgusted by the way Guan Baiyu was looking at him. He immediately said, "What are you looking at? If you look again, I'll beat you up."
Guan Baiyu wanted to punch Yan Jiangtao right now, but he had an exam that afternoon.
Picking up his schoolbag, Guan Baiyu went to the restroom.
He tried to wipe the soup off his backpack with a rag, but it was too late. The backpack was made of cloth he had sewn himself, so it wasn't waterproof at all. Now the books inside were wrinkled from the water and smelled of food.
Guan Baiyu wiped his schoolbag clean, then took a rag back to wipe his own stool.
Yan Jiangtao crossed his legs, shaking them as he watched Guan Baiyu busy himself with great interest. His shaking legs even tapped against Guan Baiyu's table leg, making him look incredibly irritating.
But most of the people around him dared not speak out against him. Yan Jiangtao was rich and had many friends. Moreover, most of the students in their fast-track class just wanted to study hard, so they were helpless against people like Yan Jiangtao.
As Guan Baiyu wiped the tables and chairs clean and went to wash the rag, the girl sitting behind him caught up with him: "Guan Baiyu, do you want to tell the teacher? I'll vouch for you, Yan Jiangtao poured that soup."
Guan Baiyu nodded and went to the office with the girl.
The teachers for grades 7 and 8 at their school were assigned to other schools to proctor exams, but the teachers for grade 9 didn't go and stayed at the school.
Guan Baiyu and the girl entered the office and saw their homeroom teacher sitting at his desk reading a thick novel. When he saw them come in, he asked, "Is there something you need?"
Before Guan Baiyu could speak, the girl said, "Teacher Chen, Yan Jiangtao poured the leftover soup on Guan Baiyu's chair and backpack after dinner today!"
Chen is a common surname in their Anshan Town. There are many people with the surname Chen here. Their homeroom teacher and the proctor both have the surname Chen.
Upon hearing the girl's words, he instinctively asked, "Was it an accident?"
"He did it on purpose!" the girl said.
Guan Baiyu also said, "Yan Jiangtao did it on purpose. He himself admitted it. During the previous exam, he even threw paper balls at me and accused me of cheating."
Guan Baiyu had known for a long time that their homeroom teacher favored Yan Jiangtao.
But what needs to be said still needs to be said.
“Yes! During the exam, Yan Jiangtao even told the proctor that Guan Baiyu was cheating. How could Guan Baiyu possibly cheat!” the girl added immediately. She was in the same exam room as Guan Baiyu and immediately told him about it.
Guan Baiyu continued, "Yan Jiangtao threw me a crumpled piece of paper back then; he framed me."
The girl was busy doing her homework and didn't know where the crumpled paper came from. Now that she knows it's related to Yan Jiangtao, she's filled with righteous indignation.
The homeroom teacher was a little embarrassed: "I understand. You all go back first and call Yan Jiangtao over."
It's that same old half-hearted, half-hearted approach again.
Guan Baiyu had long given up on relying on the teacher to get justice. Hearing what the homeroom teacher said, he didn't linger and left the office with the girl.
"Yan Jiangtao is going too far!" The girl kept muttering, but she stopped after entering the classroom; she was afraid of Yan Jiangtao.
Back in his seat, Guan Baiyu looked at Yan Jiangtao and asked him to go to his office.
Yan Jiangtao's smug expression vanished. He had bullied Guan Baiyu quite a bit before, and Guan Baiyu had mostly kept quiet, except for going to the teacher's office last semester.
After the teacher refused to let him change seats, he stopped going to the teacher altogether.
I never expected Guan Baiyu would actually have the guts to go to the teacher today!
Yan Jiangtao glared at Guan Baiyu and went to his office, but he returned shortly afterward, throwing things around in his seat.
Guan Baiyu ignored him and focused on reading her English textbook.
Of all his subjects, English was the worst for him.
When teaching them the same word, the teacher might pronounce it one way today and another way tomorrow. When he asked the teacher, the teacher simply told him not to worry about how the word was pronounced, but just to memorize it.
But memorizing vocabulary was a rather painful thing for him.
He enjoys memorizing Chinese texts and long ancient poems, but he doesn't want to memorize English. Even if he does memorize it, he'll forget it the next day.
However, all the students in his class are like this, so his English score is still among the top five in the class.
Yan Jiangtao made a lot of noise, but Guan Baiyu didn't react at all, which made him even angrier.
Guan Baiyu looks down on him just because of his grades!
He's got the skills!
Even if Guan Baiyu were to study, he wouldn't be able to earn much money!
Their family runs a loom and can earn several thousand yuan a month, which is more than a school teacher can earn in a year!
Thinking this, Yan Jiangtao kicked Guan Baiyu's chair and went to chat with the boy in front of him.
"My shoes cost over a hundred yuan a pair! They're designer brands!" Yan Jiangtao boasted proudly, not forgetting to tease Guan Baiyu, "Guan Baiyu, did you find your shoes? Did you pick up clothes and shoes from the trash can? Do you want me to give you my old clothes? Forget it, I won't give them to you. You're so dirty, just thinking about my old clothes on you makes me feel disgusted!"
Guan Baiyu remained motionless, leaving the person who was talking to Yan Jiangtao looking extremely embarrassed.
Regardless of what Yan Jiangtao said, the afternoon exam began not long afterward.
During the afternoon exams, the proctor kept circling around Guan Baiyu, occasionally peeking at his exam paper. Fortunately, nothing else happened, and Guan Baiyu finished all the exams smoothly.
Once the exams are over, the students will be on holiday—tomorrow is Saturday, and they usually have classes in the morning, but since they just finished their exams, they don't need to come to school.
Two days to play, how wonderful! The students in the class were all very excited.
As Guan Baiyu walked to the school gate, he saw Shi Zhen riding a bicycle: "Brother!"
“Let’s go,” Shi Zhen laughed, “Let’s go home.”
Guan Baiyu's eyes crinkled with laughter, and the messy things he encountered at school didn't bother him so much anymore.
Shi Zhen took Guan Baiyu home and then hurriedly went to town to pack up his stall.
Now, Shi Zhen's stall sells not only cold-cut pig's head meat, but also braised eggs and braised tofu.
He sells braised eggs and braised tofu very cheaply, so much so that some people who come to town will spend 50 cents to buy them as snacks.
Some students even buy braised eggs and dried tofu from him for breakfast in the morning.
As a result, business improved significantly.
Because he hired someone to watch his stall in town, he could keep it open from morning till night and sell even more items.
Now, he can no longer sell a pig's head every hour like he used to, but because he sells for a longer period of time, he can still sell four pig's heads a day. As for eggs and dried tofu, he cooks a big pot of them every time, but they are basically sold out by noon.
He actually wanted to make more, but Guan Baiyu's family only had one pot, which wasn't enough.
Shi Zhen has made up his mind. He will buy two coal stoves this weekend. In the future, he will stew pig's head and other dishes on the coal stoves. When he buys dried tofu and braised eggs in town, he will also put a coal stove underneath them so that customers can have hot food.
In addition, Shi Zhen also wanted to buy a rice cooker so that cooking at home would be easier.
Cooking in an iron pot can easily result in a thick layer of burnt rice at the bottom, requiring someone to watch it. It's not only very troublesome, but it also takes up space in the pot, so it would be best to get rid of it.
His daily net profit, after deducting costs, is now approximately...
I save about 70 or 80 yuan a day. After deducting my salary and various household expenses, I can save an average of 60 yuan a day. However, because the business did not last long and I bought some household items, my total savings are now only 400 yuan.
Buying a coal stove costs money, buying coal briquettes costs money, and buying a rice cooker and the other things he's been longing for costs even more.
The larger tricycle he had his eye on cost seven or eight hundred yuan.
But if he had a vehicle like that, his life would be much easier; he could set up his stall directly on the tricycle.
Shi Zhen had started his own business in his previous life and knew many people who started from scratch. They all worked hard and built their businesses little by little.
Even if he were to do it all over again, he would inevitably go through the same ordeal.
When Shi Zhen arrived in town, the braised eggs and dried tofu had already sold out, but there was still a lot of pork head meat left.
The remaining pig's head meat was stewed this afternoon. It's been cold lately, so it wouldn't matter much if we sold it tomorrow. But Shi Zhen and Qian Qiqi continued selling it for a while. He kept calling out to customers and attracted several more. They only packed up and went home when they had almost sold all the pig's head meat.
At this moment, Shi Xinghuo, who had just finished his work, also arrived.
Shi Zhen tied the hard-to-carry items to the back of the bicycle, let Qian Qi ride back, while he and Shi Xinghuo each carried a basket and walked back with their odds and ends.
It was already dark when they got home.
Because he's been busy lately, Shi Zhen has been having Qian get up and eat at his home lately, and today was no exception.
Guan Baiyu had already cooked the rice. Shi Zhen scooped the rice out of the pot, stir-fried a large plate of scallion and egg stir-fry, and then stir-fried shredded lettuce with shredded dried tofu. Finally, he placed the remaining cold sliced pork head meat and the overcooked eggs on the table, and it was a sumptuous meal.
After finishing his meal, Shi Zhen gave Qian Qi five yuan and said, "Qi Qi, you've been working very long hours every day lately. Starting tomorrow, I'll pay you ten yuan a day."
Actually, from the moment Qian Qiqi started providing bicycles, the five yuan salary he paid him seemed a bit low.
Now that Qianqi has become very skilled and efficient, paying him five yuan a day is clearly inappropriate.
A wage increase is inevitable.
Qian Qi refused without hesitation: "Master, there's no need. I eat meat and eggs here every day, and I basically just sit and watch the stall during the day..."
“You don’t eat much,” Shi Zhen laughed, “so it’s decided.”
Qian Qilai is a local and likes to travel around and meet a lot of people. Having Qian Qilai help him watch his stall is really a great benefit!
Putting everything else aside, when people from Qianqilai's village go to town, they will more or less buy some cooked food from Qianqilai.
Qian Qi ate and left. Shi Zhen chatted with Shi Xinghuo for a few more minutes, asking him about things at the construction site.
The river mud has been dredged out. Now Shi Xinghuo is carrying stones and mixing cement every day. Although it's tiring, it's not very dangerous, and he can manage it.
What's most gratifying is that since Wang Chengfa is no longer involved, Shi Xinghuo's income has returned to fifteen yuan a day. Although he has to finish all the work to get it, it's still something to be happy about.
Shi Zhen asked Shi Xinghuo to start the fire, while he began to prepare the pig's head to be sold the next day.
When everything was finally settled, Shi Zhen saw Shi Xinghu lying in the straw pile behind the stove, already half asleep. As for Guan Baiyu, he had just washed the pots and pans they had used that day.
I even washed his schoolbag.
Guan Baiyu has become increasingly fond of cleanliness lately.
Shi Zhen added some firewood to the stove.
He had been busy all day, doing all the tiring work himself, such as moving goods and purchasing items. He was feeling a bit overwhelmed, so he went into the next room and lay down on the straw piled up in Guan Baiyu's room.
Guan Baiyu followed in and saw this, and quickly said, "Brother, go lie down on the bed."
"No, I'm dirty," Shi Zhen said, then took out the box containing the money and began to calculate his earnings for the day, keeping track of them.
He also took the opportunity to chat with Guan Baiyu.
In his previous life, Shi Zhen had read some books on education, which mentioned the importance of communicating with teenagers.
So he would take time every day to chat with Guan Baiyu.
Such conversations allow them to get to know each other and also broaden Guan Baiyu's horizons.
Guan Baiyu grew up in the countryside. He had seen that Guan Baiyu was doing well selling cooked food and said that he didn't want to go to school anymore and wanted to sell cooked food too... Shi Zhen dissuaded him from this idea by chatting with him.
Today, Shi Zhen talked to Guan Baiyu about big cities: "Big cities are completely different from here. There are many buildings that are dozens of stories high over there, and people living there take elevators to go up and down the stairs... You will see this when you go to study in a big city in the future."
Guan Baiyu had heard a lot from Shi Zhen and already knew how great big cities were, but studying cost money.
He knew Shi Zhen wanted him to continue his studies, so he simply said, "Brother, are you all very busy right now? I'll come and watch the stall for you tomorrow or the day after."
Shi Zhen said, "One person is enough to watch the stall. Xiaoyu, your grandparents' biggest wish is for someone in the family to go to university. I definitely can't do it, so now it's up to you. You can stay home and watch the fire on weekends and read some books while you're at it."
Watching the fire was really simple, Guan Baiyu nodded: "Okay."
Tomorrow, he certainly can't just watch the fire; he can also do other chores, like cooking.
He has to go out again...
Thinking about how Yan Jiangtao had falsely accused him of cheating and poured vegetable soup on his backpack earlier that day, Guan Baiyu's anger flared up again.
He absolutely cannot tolerate these two things today.
Making a big fuss about it at school wouldn't do him any good, nor would it affect Yan Jiangtao much—for someone who doesn't want to study, whether it's getting a zero on a test or being criticized by a teacher, it doesn't matter.
But he can cause trouble elsewhere.
Having spent the past six months sitting next to Yan Jiangtao, Guan Baiyu had come to know Yan Jiangtao very well. Yan Jiangtao was very afraid of his father.
Yan Jiangtao's father was particularly concerned about saving face.
That makes sense. Having come from poverty and living a life devoid of dignity, who wouldn't care about saving face now that they've finally made money and are highly sought after?
Guan Baiyu plans to visit Yan Jiangtao's house tomorrow.
Shi Zhen was counting money when he fell asleep without realizing it. But after a short while, he suddenly woke up, got up and went outside to check on the pig's head in the pot.
The pig's head was already stewed. Shi Zhen took it out and put another pig's head in to stew. At the same time, he was thinking about making some other dishes to sell, such as cold pig's head meat.
The products he's selling now are too easily imitated; he has to innovate.
After buying the tricycle, he plans to call his family to help. With more people, they can do more business and improve their family's living conditions.
Life in their village was really tough. They couldn't grow any crops on the mountain, and without surplus grain, it was impossible to raise chickens or pigs.
They rarely had the opportunity to eat meat, and without meat, people would easily get hungry and need to eat more grain, but they didn't have any grain.
Shi Zhen often went hungry when he was a child.
So after he became rich, he was like other people his age, especially fond of eating. He wanted to eat meat at every meal. They couldn't stand food being wasted, and even if they were already full, they would try to stuff any leftover food into their own stomachs...
When Guan Baiyu passed away, he weighed 180 jin (approximately 90 kg).
If he weren't tall enough, he would be out of shape.
However, after Guan Baiyu passed away, he lost weight and his interest in food diminished day by day.
Shi Zhen is not a picky eater, the only thing he doesn't like is potatoes.
The people in his village often ate potatoes as a staple food and also as a vegetable, and the way they were prepared was very simple... He had no choice but to eat them back then, but later when his living conditions improved, he stopped liking them.
Guan Baiyu, on the other hand, quite likes to eat potatoes.
It was precisely because he had such a hard childhood that Shi Zhen was able to go out and work without hesitation when he was eighteen.
In his past life, for various reasons, although he became successful, his family did not enjoy much happiness.
When he was home, he would help his father with farm work, but as soon as he left, his father couldn't manage it all by himself.
The stepmother could only help.
That's when trouble happened; his stepmother accidentally broke her leg.
People in their village generally don't go to big hospitals, so his stepmother went to a nearby township and found a doctor who was good at treating bone injuries. After the doctor examined him, his leg was bound.
However, his injury worsened soon after, and the doctor couldn't treat him. He told them to go to a bigger hospital. His father took his stepmother to the bigger hospital, where they learned that amputation was necessary.
At that time, he and Shi Xinghuo were still working on the construction site. Not only had they not received their wages, but they also had little contact with their families.
What about their family? His father and stepmother raised four children together. They lived in a poor mountain village and had no savings at all.
Finally, they found a husband for his stepsister and paid 1,500 yuan as a bride price for her surgery.
In their area, the bride price is generally around 700 or 800 yuan; a bride price of 1,500 yuan would be considered an exorbitant price.
His stepsister was a year older than him. Like his stepmother, she was plain-looking and quiet, and did nothing but work all day.
Given her circumstances, the fact that her family was willing to spend a fortune to marry her clearly meant they weren't after her looks or talent, but rather... the man who married her stepsister was suspicious.
The man had a very serious liver disease.
At that time, although he knew about his stepsister's marriage, he did not know that there was something wrong with the man she married. It wasn't until he became rich and returned home in glory that his stepsister came to him to borrow money for her child's medical treatment, and he learned the whole story.
But it was too late. His stepsister had also contracted liver disease, and even the child she gave birth to was sick.
The whole family had liver disease and couldn't do heavy work, so he ended up paying for their care.
His stepmother brought along another daughter from his family, his stepsister, and his own sister, all of whom had unhappy lives in their previous lives.
He didn't have a good relationship with these three people.
What about his stepmother? Even though he gave her a lot of money later, she still died young, having lost a leg and with her daughters all having unhappy marriages.
His father was similar; after becoming wealthy, he couldn't control his diet, craving sweets and fatty meats, and developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar... He also passed away before his father's death.
Shi Zhen didn't want his family to suffer the same fate, so the first thing he had to stop was his stepmother from breaking her leg.
This happened this summer, so he plans to call them over here in May or June to work with him.
His father is 45 years old this year, and his stepmother is 49 years old, who is older than his father. Although they look particularly old because of years of hard work and poor diet, they should look much better after taking care of themselves. They can also do some small business here.
Even if running a small business is tough, it's still better than farming in the mountains.
His stepsister is nineteen this year, and his stepsister is seventeen. They can do small business or find jobs here. As for his sister, she is a year younger than Guan Baiyu, and he wants her to go to school.
Shi Zhen thought a lot that night, and eventually fell asleep.
People who do manual labor, even if they can't help but overthink, still won't suffer from insomnia.
The next day, Shi Zhen went to town to set up his stall early in the morning as usual, and then he found that there was a stall at the entrance of the market that was similar to his and sold the same things.
Shi Zhen had anticipated this situation, so he didn't pay much attention to it and didn't lower prices to start a price war. They were all small businesses, earning a little money through hard work. If they lowered prices again, they really wouldn't make any money!
Shi Zhen didn't lower the price, and neither did the other side.
The people who followed suit and set up a stall selling braised pig's head, braised eggs, and braised tofu were a middle-aged couple. The prices of the items on their stall were exactly the same as Shi Zhen's, and they looked about the same.
Shi Zhen even remembered the man—this man had bought things from him several times.
Shi Zhen wasn't surprised at all that someone was stealing his business, but Qian Qi was furious: "Master, they're copying us!"
“Cold-cut pig’s head and braised dishes are not my original recipes,” Shi Zhen reassured him. “If you can earn more money in this kind of small business than you would at a regular job, then others will definitely follow suit. When newcomers can no longer make money, then there will be no more newcomers, and the market will be in balance between supply and demand.”
Qian Qi was completely confused.
Shi Zhen said, "Alright, let's set up the stall... I'll go buy a coal stove and some more."
Plastic sheeting… The weather's been good lately, no rain, but in a few days, it might rain every day, then we'll have to build a shed with plastic sheeting.”
In a few days it will be Qingming Festival. At that time, it rains frequently in J City.
Wait, it's almost Qingming Festival, could he go and buy some fake flowers wholesale to sell?
Locals like to burn silver ingots folded from tin foil when visiting graves during Qingming Festival, and he can also get some to sell.
They are all small businesses; they can't make a lot of money, but they can still make some.
With that thought in mind, Shi Zhen didn't neglect what he needed to do.
He went and bought two coal stoves, found out where to buy coal briquettes, and also bought a large bundle of plastic sheeting.
If it rains, you can build a simple shed with bamboo poles and cover it with plastic sheeting to keep out the wind and rain.
Shi Zhen had a good attitude, but he was unhappy about the money, especially after they added another stall, which reduced the amount of goods they sold by almost half.
Many of their regular customers who used to buy things here would go to the stalls across the street to try something new—the taste of things sold in different shops is always different.
When Shi Zhen returned from shopping, he saw Qian Qi with a long face and immediately said, "Don't worry, we can sell other things in a few days."
Qian Qi was still uneasy: "Master, how about you just pay me five yuan a day...?" His master's income might be halved in the future...
“I said I’d give you ten dollars a day, and that’s ten dollars,” Shi Zhen laughed. “You can’t expect the horse to run without feeding it.” He still wanted to do other business!
It wasn't that she didn't want the money; in the end, she didn't object, but she couldn't help but glare at the person opposite her again.
The middle-aged couple looked embarrassed.
They were clearly doing business for the first time and were a little embarrassed to hawk their wares, but because they were newcomers and had some acquaintances who patronized them, business was doing alright.
It's just that... when an acquaintance comes to buy something, the middle-aged man sometimes blushes and can't say a word.
Shi Zhen found it amusing.
He hung one of the coal stoves he had bought on each side of his bicycle, said goodbye to Qian Qi, and prepared to go home first.
Meanwhile, Guan Baiyu stewed a pig's head, put it in a bowl, put rice in a pot, steamed two dishes, and then left home.
He planned to go find Yan Jiangtao's father.
Guan Baiyu didn't know where Yan Jiangtao's home was, but he knew the general direction.
In addition, Yan Jiangtao's family has a loom, so they must be quite famous. If we ask for directions, we'll definitely be able to find the place.
Guan Baiyu put on his most tattered clothes, grabbed the book that Yan Jiangtao had damaged the day before, and ran towards the village where Yan Jiangtao lived.
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