The person Zhou Xu mentioned really surprised everyone: "The Zhang family."
Zhang Xiaoqing's home.
The products they were selling were almost identical to those sold by the Zhou family.
"Why are they starting to sell things like we do? Let me go take a look." Zhou Dayong said, and was about to walk towards the intersection when Liu Qiuju grabbed him.
“Come back. There’s not enough to sell in this town. Why are you bothering them? They can sell whatever they want.”
Zhou Sui had told her this before, because seeing that the Zhou family's business was doing well, several other people in the town followed suit and started selling it, but things like stinky tofu and grilled sausages still require skill.
The flavors those people made were quite different from the Zhou family's, so after a while, the stall owners gradually quit. Unexpectedly, the Zhang family got involved at this time.
Urged on by Li Qiuju, the family headed towards the snack shop. Zhou Sui glanced back and, coincidentally, Zhang Xiaoqing was looking in their direction.
She was taken aback at first, then smiled slightly, a hint of amusement creeping onto her lips. Zhou Sui wondered if she had misread it, but that smile...
There was a hint of smugness and provocation in his chuckle.
"Xiaoqing, what are you standing there for? This customer wants a serving of stinky tofu, hurry up and get it for him." Just as she was lost in thought, Wu Ruonan called out from behind.
Zhang Xiaoqing paid no attention to the Zhou family's movements and began to focus on the work at hand.
She wasn't very skilled at it yet, but there was no other way; Wu Ruonan was even more inexperienced than her, so she had to do it herself.
"The taste is not bad, is it?" Wu Ruonan asked while giving change to someone.
"Hmm, it's not bad, not much different from the Zhou family's." The customer said, and Wu Ruonan smiled broadly.
When no one was looking, she whispered to Zhang Xiaoqing, "People who buy things from us all say we're not much different from the Zhou family. This business is really worth it."
Zhang Xiaoqing gave a faint "hmm" and continued with her work.
The stall remained open until almost dark before closing. The mother and daughter loaded their goods onto a tricycle, and Wu Ruonan rode away.
Seeing Zhang Xiaoqing walking alongside the tricycle, she unusually said, "Xiaoqing, you've been busy all day, don't walk anymore. Sit on the edge of the tricycle, and I'll pedal a little longer."
In the past, Zhang Xiaoqing might have declined, but she was really tired today. Even if Wu Ruonan didn't say anything, she would have sat down after walking for a while.
By the time the two arrived home, it was completely dark. Zhang Zongyao immediately started complaining to Wu Ruonan, "Mom, why are you back so late? I was starving."
"Where's your dad?" Wu Ruonan carefully parked the tricycle in the yard. Although it was a second-hand vehicle, it still cost her a lot of money, and she cherished it now, so she refused to leave it outside and just parked it in the yard.
Zhang Zongyao leaned against the door frame, watching Wu Ruonan and Zhang Xiaoqing busily moving things from the truck. "They've gone to cover for someone else's shift."
Because of Zhang Zongyao's assault and compensation case, Zhang Tiezhu, who never worked the night shift before, has now started working the night shift because there is a subsidy for the night shift.
"Mom, hurry up and get me something to eat," Zhang Zongyao called out again. "I only ate lunch today."
Wu Ruonan felt both sorry for him and angry when she heard this. "You're so old now. There are noodles and rice at home. Can't you be a little more diligent and cook some rice for yourself? What's so difficult about that? You're so lazy."
Despite her scolding, Wu Ruonan originally wanted Zhang Xiaoqing to cook, but seeing that Zhang Xiaoqing was already doing chores, especially chores that earned money for the family, she had no choice but to go to the kitchen herself.
With the pot and stove cold, this meal will have to be prepared with some effort.
"Oh dear, I'm really getting old. I've been bending over all day, and my back is about to break." Wu Ruonan rubbed her lower back before squatting down to start a fire and cook.
Zhang Zongyao walked over to Zhang Xiaoqing in a few steps, but Zhang Xiaoqing ignored him.
"Sister, how much money did you make today?" Zhang Zongyao asked, glancing at the cloth bag slung across Zhang Xiaoqing's shoulder. It was filled with the money from selling things that day.
Zhang Xiaoqing looked up at him and said, "Don't even think about taking this money, because you've caused trouble, and it's all for paying off your debts."
In order to get Zhang Zongyao out as soon as possible, Zhang Tiezhu and Wu Ruonan emptied their savings and even borrowed money from relatives.
Zhang Zongyao choked. Usually, he could get the money by simply asking Wu Ruonan, but now Wu Ruonan would only tell him, "Son, you can't squander this money. You have to save it to pay off debts. When we make a lot of money, you can spend as much as you want."
Even Zhang Tiezhu said that Zhang Zongyao no longer has any pocket money, and it's really tough being penniless.
"You've caused trouble all day long, all you do is use my troubles as an excuse." Zhang Zongyao kicked the basin next to him angrily, and only when Zhang Xiaoqing was still unmoved did he turn and leave.
Wu Ruonan made fried rice with eggs, gave the portion with extra eggs to Zhang Zongyao, and kept the rest for herself and Zhang Xiaoqing.
Zhang Zongyao was still angry, so he took his food back to his room to eat. Just then, Zhang Xiaoqing and Wu Ruonan were eating and counting their money for the day.
Wu Ruonan didn't even have time to eat; she neatly folded the scattered money.
"No wonder the Zhou family used to run a stall and now they run a shop. They make money selling food. We sell our food cheaper than the Zhou family and still make so much money. The Zhou family must be making a fortune."
Wu Ruonan carefully put the money into Zhang Xiaoqing's cloth bag, her tone full of envy.
Zhang Xiaoqing was eating with her head down when she heard this and said, "The money here hasn't even taken the cost into account."
Wu Ruonan didn't care about any of that; she felt that as long as she was making money every day, that was what making money meant.
“Your stay at the restaurant for those few months wasn’t wasted, and the money we spent buying food from the Zhou family wasn’t wasted either.”
In order to figure out how to cook these dishes, Zhang Xiaoqing went to great lengths to have people buy ingredients from the Zhou family.
Some dishes are made with the original flavor, some only have this seasoning, and some only have that seasoning, all in order to make the taste of the dishes more similar to that of the Zhou family.
But it wasn't easy to recreate it. Luckily, Zhang Xiaoqing never slacked off when she was working at the restaurant. She often watched the chefs cook and listened to them talk, and learned a little bit of the craft.
After several attempts, Zhang Xiaoqing's cooking turned out quite well, and since it was cheaper than Zhou's, she made a considerable profit.
"Should we still set up a stall at the school intersection tomorrow?" Because Zhang Xiaoqing came up with the idea of setting up a stall, Wu Ruonan is now starting to discuss it with her.
Zhang Xiaoqing nodded, "That intersection can intercept people heading to Zhou's shop."
She thought of Zhou Sui, whom she had seen today, and wondered if Zhou Sui would panic if she found out that she had been taking away her business.
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