Not long after Li Baolai sent it back, the New Year was approaching.
The Zhou family's lunchbox business had already been suspended on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the snack shop planned to close on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month.
On the afternoon of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Qiuju, along with her older sister who did odd jobs and Zhou Mei, washed the shop inside and out.
Zhou Sui went to get the money and gave Zhou Meimei and the older sister who did odd jobs each a 500 yuan New Year's red envelope.
Over the past few months, the two of them have worked diligently at the store and gotten along well with their families. Zhou Sui knew that the 500 yuan red envelope was actually quite a lot, but she was willing to give it up.
She believed in putting herself in others' shoes; if others did things with their heart, she would naturally reciprocate with her own heart.
The snack shop's door was pulled shut and locked. Zhou Xu put a piece of paper on the door, which stated the snack shop's opening hours: it would open on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, at which time many businesses in the town would also resume work.
"This is the first time we've closed so early in all the time we've been open," Li Qiuju said suddenly with a sigh.
Zhou Sui raised her wristwatch to check the time. It was just before five o'clock. Sure enough, five to six o'clock was usually the busiest time.
After finishing, the family walked towards the village. When they passed an intersection, Zhou Xu snorted, "The Zhang family is overjoyed now. We'll close our shop first, and all the shoppers will go to their place."
The Zhang family's shop was originally located at the intersection near the school, but recently they moved to the intersection in front of the Zhou family's snack shop.
When Zhou Sui and his group passed by, they saw people buying food from his stall.
Li Qiuju has come to terms with it now, saying, "They're still celebrating the New Year, so they'll just sell for a couple more days than us."
You can't sit down to eat at Zhang's stall; you have to take your food with you once you buy it. Also, the taste is different from Zhou's. Some people buy from Zhang's stall once because it's cheaper, but they still come back to Zhou's stall a second time.
"A sly copycat," Zhou Xu muttered under his breath as his family walked past Zhang's stall without exchanging greetings.
Wu Ruonan huddled around the stove. It was so cold that day, and they had nothing to shield them from the wind. They could only feel their hands and feet when they were by the stove.
When Zhang Xiaoqing saw the Zhou family approaching, she subconsciously lowered her head and pretended to be doing something. She only raised her head after the family had left.
"Oh, the Zhou family's shop is closed?" By the time Wu Ruonan noticed, Zhou Sui and the others had already gone far away. She stood up and looked in the direction of the Zhou family's snack shop, but the door was tightly closed.
"Xiaoqing, when do we pack up our stall?" She was asking when we would stop setting up our stall.
Zhang Xiaoqing rubbed her hands together, looked at the passersby on the street, and started puffing out white steam as soon as she opened her mouth, "Keep setting up the stall, don't pack it up."
Wu Ruonan's face fell. "Do we have to set up a display for the New Year too?"
"Okay, set it up, just pack up and go home early." For Zhang Xiaoqing, there was no difference between the two New Years. Only Zhang Zongyao had new clothes, he got the best food first, and Zhang Zongyao had always been the only one to receive lucky money. Even if she got any, Wu Ruonan would eventually take it away.
So she preferred to set up a stall, "Since the Zhou family's shops are all closed, people who want to eat will come here to buy from us."
These words really appealed to Wu Ruonan. Every time she saw the Zhou family's shop packed with people, Wu Ruonan was extremely envious. She couldn't even earn as much as the Zhou family did in half a day.
"What should I do when visiting relatives during the Spring Festival?" Wu Ruonan was thinking about making money, but she also felt cold and wanted to take advantage of the Spring Festival to play for a few days.
Zhang Xiaoqing seemed to have known she would say that, "Tomorrow I'll rent a place in town, put these things there, and I can set up a stall by myself."
The main problem is that these things are too heavy, and she can't carry them up by herself.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Wu Ruonan agreed. This way, she wouldn’t have to come to town every day; it’s so cold outside, it’s really unbearable.
"Can you manage all this by yourself?"
Zhang Xiaoqing nodded indifferently. So what if she was too busy? Wu Ruonan clearly didn't want to set up a stall with her.
“Okay, then Mom will go and rent a place for you now.” Wu Ruonan stood up happily. “Let’s rent the old lady’s house behind here, for a month first, okay?” She didn’t even want to come here tomorrow.
Zhang Xiaoqing had no objections; compared to staying at home, she was quite content setting up a stall here alone.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the Zhou family, fully equipped, began a thorough cleaning.
The rooftop, window cracks, every nook and cranny, and even the road in front of the door were all swept clean.
It wasn't just the Zhou family; many families in the village were doing a thorough cleaning, symbolizing bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.
The Zhao family was also cleaning. Zhao Xinfeng was wearing a long apron and sweeping the cobwebs off the roof with a broom. When he finished, his hair was covered with cobwebs and dust.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey." Zhao Xinfeng had just gotten off the stool when he started spitting incessantly. The moment he tilted his head back, a lot of dust landed on his lips.
"Brother, you do this job, I can't handle it." Zhao Xinfeng jumped up and down a couple of times, then shook his head to fling the thing off.
Song Qi'an walked straight past him, not even glancing at the broom he was offered, and coldly tossed out a sentence, "Do it yourself."
Zhao Xinfeng turned to look at him and said, "Have you been on fire these past few days? You've been so short-tempered."
Although Song Qi'an usually speaks like this, the feeling he gives off is completely different. Before, he was calm and even, but now, beneath his calm exterior lies a turbulent undercurrent. Just looking into his eyes is terrifying.
Song Qi'an, who was tidying up the bookshelf, glanced back at Zhao Xinfeng, who, knowing better than to do so, immediately turned back to his work.
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