"You have important business to attend to, don't you? It's not like you have anything else to do."
"It's good that you're alright. Oh dear, there's competition everywhere these days, even outside the factory gates there are several new stalls!"
Xu Mingjiang watched as more and more people set up stalls, and his own breakfast business was not as good as before.
"That's normal. People get tired of eating our breakfast all the time, but things are basically stable now." The factory has recently expanded and hired a lot of people, so their business hasn't declined.
They didn't have time to complain; they were about to start preparing their stall for lunch.
Xu Mingjiang took Xu Mingwan with him at noon today, while Xu Minghan made the braised food at home and took a break before setting up his stall in the evening.
Zhang Xuemei flipped through her savings book and, remembering what Aunt Xu had mentioned about home renovation, felt a strong urge to do the same.
"Minghan, Aunt Xu said this morning that her younger brother sells tiles and that we can contact her if we want to renovate. You said we can renovate the house after we pay off our debts!"
Xu Minghan paused in his actions upon hearing his wife's words, then turned to look at her. "How much money do we have in savings now?"
“We’ve been working for about two months now, and we have 40,000 yuan in our savings account, which is enough to pay off the debt.”
Zhang Xuemei never expected that money could be so easy to earn now. She had earned more than 40,000 yuan in just over two months. After paying off her debts, all the remaining money would be hers.
This was roughly what Xu Minghan had estimated, because selling breakfast and noodles for lunch was the main source of income. Breakfast and lunch combined could generate a net profit of 500 yuan. Excluding rainy days when he couldn't set up his stall, he could still operate for about 45 days over two months.
Recently, the business of making braised food has stabilized, and I can make about 600 yuan a day. I've been doing this for about a month now.
Then, I paid 3,000 yuan for the extra birth fee, and I still have some money left to deposit, so it should make up the difference. But I'm really exhausted. I've been barely hanging on for the past two months, and if this continues, I might not be able to keep up.
"Xuemei, I want to discuss something with you." Xu Minghan had an idea in mind for a long time, but he hadn't put it into practice yet.
"What? Tell me."
"I was thinking of either stopping the breakfast business and only doing lunch and dinner business, otherwise people really can't handle it."
Although Zhang Xuemei was reluctant to give up the breakfast business, she couldn't help out now, and she couldn't ignore her husband's health!
“It would be a real shame if we didn’t do it. Who in the family do it? I’d like to let my sister-in-law give it a try, but she has a lot of things to do at home and has to take care of the kids, so I doubt she’d have the time.”
Zhang Xuemei thought to herself that it would be good if she stopped making breakfast at home and gave it to her sister-in-law. She could earn two or three hundred yuan a day, which would be better than staying at home!
Xu Minghan nodded. "Okay, why don't you make a call and ask? If you're willing, then we can take over."
Anyway, it's good to keep the benefits within the family. My wife's sister-in-law is a very nice person, so it's only right that I help them out.
Without hesitation, Zhang Xuemei asked her husband to watch their sleeping daughter, and then went directly to the convenience store to make a phone call to Shilitou.
The call connected, I told them I was looking for Lin Haitao, and then hung up. After waiting a few minutes, guessing that she had arrived, I called back.
"Sister-in-law, it's me, Xuemei."
"Xuemei! I knew it was you right away. How are you and the baby doing?" Lin Haitao felt sad for her sister-in-law when she learned that she had given birth to another daughter. It's a sad thing that some women who want to have children can't, while others who don't want to have children end up with a bunch of sons.
"I'm fine! Sister-in-law, I need to talk to you about something. To make a long story short, Minghan used to have a breakfast stall here, and business was pretty good. But then he also opened a noodle stall, and he's been a bit overwhelmed with work."
"Do you need my help? I can. Once you've settled things at home, I'll come and help you for a couple of days."
Lin Haitao thought her sister-in-law wanted her to help, since her husband did all the housework anyway, and it wouldn't hurt for her to go for a few days.
Zhang Xuemei was very touched by her sister-in-law's attitude of helping without saying a word, and thought to herself that she had not misjudged her.
"No, sister-in-law, we were planning to close the breakfast stall. But then we thought if you and brother wanted to come, we'd make it for you. The tools and everything are ready."
"This..." Lin Haitao hesitated. Going to help for a few days was no problem, but she hesitated to put down her work at home to sell breakfast.
Zhang Xuemei understood her sister-in-law's hesitation, so she whispered, "Sister-in-law, let me tell you something, but don't tell anyone else. We can earn almost two hundred yuan a morning selling breakfast! You're a good cook, so you should be able to manage it."
"Little..." Lin Haitao still had her senses and knew she couldn't shout it out loud. She silently calculated in her mind that two hundred a day would amount to six thousand a month.
Good heavens, even if she farms at home, she might not be able to save six thousand a year!
She licked her dry lips, gritted her teeth, and said, "Keep it for me. Your older brother and I will come after we've settled things at home. By the way, do we need to find a place to stay?"
"Yes, we need to rent a place to live, but I can find one for you first, you just need to come. You could have stayed at my place, but my sister-in-law and brother-in-law are here too, so there are no rooms available."
"It's inconvenient for me to stay at your house, so why don't you help me find a place? It doesn't need to be too big or too nice, just me and your older brother will live there." Lin Haitao was thinking that every little bit of money she could save was worthwhile.
"Okay, I understand. Just call ahead if you're coming anytime. Just call this number and have the boss pass on the message." Zhang Xuemei left satisfied after arranging everything.
Lin Haitao hung up the phone with a beaming smile and readily paid the money.
Seeing her so happy, someone nearby couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? You look so happy, tell us what's good news!"
Lin Haitao knew the villagers' character well, so she casually made up an excuse and said, "It's nothing, my sister-in-law has something she needs my help with."
"Oh, Xuemei, right? How have you been lately?"
"It's alright, I'm going home now, you guys chat." Lin Haitao said and then jogged home.
"Judging from her smile, she's not telling the truth. I wonder what good news she has in store?"
"Old Lin, why would someone tell you about good news?" someone teased.
"Yeah, you're such a busybody."
Lin Laosan felt uncomfortable and retorted, "I don't believe you're not curious!"
"We're not curious, haha!"
Lin Haitao rushed home, only to find her husband Zhang Xuefeng still there.
"Who's looking for you?" Zhang Xuefeng asked curiously as his wife rushed in, smiling so happily.
"Xuemei, she found me a job that makes money. How could I not be happy?"
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