Feng Haidong pushed his cart out of the residential compound and walked along the main road toward the night market.
Walking alone on the main road, Feng Haidong couldn't help but mutter to himself with a self-deprecating smile: "If this were my previous life, I probably wouldn't have dared to set up a stall so openly. Even if I had no choice but to do so, I should have tried to walk through dark alleys so that I wouldn't be seen by acquaintances, right?"
Muttering this self-deprecating remark, Feng Haidong, with a broad smile on his face, puffed out his chest and swaggered forward.
At that moment, he truly exuded an air of "daring to move forward".
As soon as he reached the first intersection, he suddenly heard someone call his name from the side.
"Feng Haidong?"
When Feng Haidong heard someone call his name, he did have a momentary conditioned reflex to want to hide.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, he was still a little nervous to be suddenly called out by name on the street.
However, Feng Haidong quickly calmed down, thinking that it was just setting up a stall, and it wouldn't matter if acquaintances saw him.
Then he turned his head and saw a figure running quickly from the side.
Feng Haidong recognized the other person at a glance.
The visitor was Su Xin, a classmate of Feng Haidong from his night school days.
The two were not only classmates at night school, but later, when the Workers' Cultural Palace organized a performance in conjunction with factories throughout the city, Feng Haidong and Su Xin also performed a duet together.
Feng Haidong smiled and greeted Su Xin first.
"Miss Su, be careful walking alone on the street so late at night."
Su Xin walked up to Feng Haidong and saw that he was pushing a cart with things on it.
Upon hearing Feng Haidong's words, Su Xin immediately laughed and said, "Haha, Feng Haidong, you still like to joke around. If your sister-in-law hears you say that, she might kick you out of bed tonight."
Feng Haidong smiled and asked, "Why aren't you home so late?"
Su Xin said, "I just came out of my house."
Feng Haidong couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Did you have another argument with your family?"
Su Xin seemed reluctant to talk about her own affairs and didn't answer Feng Haidong. Instead, she pointed curiously at his cart and asked, "Feng Haidong, what are you going to do?"
Feng Haidong didn't hide anything and answered with a smile, "I'm planning to set up a stall at the night market to do business."
Upon hearing this, Su Xin's eyes widened in disbelief, and she asked, "Are you kidding me? You, Feng Haidong, are going to set up a stall and do business there too?"
Feng Haidong nodded seriously and said, "I'm not kidding, this is where we're going to the night market."
Seeing that Feng Haidong was speaking very seriously, Su Xin leaned forward and carefully examined the items on the cart.
It was quickly clear that under the mesh cover were two plates of crayfish. One plate contained whole, bright red crayfish, while the other plate appeared to contain crayfish tails.
Su Xin was somewhat surprised: "You're actually going to sell crayfish?"
Feng Haidong laughed and said, "Oh dear, you found out? Let me make this clear, this is a business opportunity I discovered, so you can't turn around and steal my business."
Su Xin immediately smiled and said, "Who would steal your business? I don't know how to cook crayfish. I remember my sister-in-law cooks them very well. Did she cook this?"
As they were talking, Feng Haidong saw the traffic light turn green and said, "I'm going to cross the road."
Seeing that the light was green, Su Xin said, "Let's go, let's hurry over, I'll help you push."
As they talked, Su Xin didn't stand on ceremony at all and helped Feng Haidong push the car across the road quickly.
Feng Haidong was surprised that Su Xin would actually help him without any hesitation.
After crossing the street, Feng Haidong said, "I burned all of these, of course with your sister-in-law's guidance. I'm going to the night market now. You should go home early and stop arguing with your parents. Aren't they just doing it for your own good? When it comes to marriage, just settle for someone decent. Don't be too picky."
Even without Su Xin saying it, Feng Haidong could guess the conflict between her and her parents.
The biggest conflict is actually Su Xin's marital problem.
Su Xin is now 32 years old, but she has never gotten married. Many people have been introduced to her by her colleagues and relatives and friends, but she just doesn't like any of them.
The men in her workplace have tried every trick in the book, but none of them can win her over.
Feng Haidong couldn't help but think that if this happened many years later, Su Xin would probably become a representative of independent women on the internet.
However, no matter the era, the idea of older women not getting married may not gain much acceptance.
After hearing Feng Haidong's words, Su Xin immediately became depressed. She grabbed the handle of Feng Haidong's cart with one hand, lowered her head, and followed beside Feng Haidong's cart without saying a word.
Seeing Su Xin like this, Feng Haidong felt embarrassed to send her away, so he could only silently push the cart towards the night market.
The two walked in silence for a while, then Su Xin suddenly asked again, "Brother Haidong, why did you decide to set up a stall and do business?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Haidong smiled and said, "Hasn't the factory been without work for almost half a year? The basic salary is only a little over 200 yuan a month. I always felt that the factory probably wouldn't last long if things continued like this. Rather than waiting in the factory, I thought I might as well start my own business first, as a way to find a backup plan in advance."
Su Xin looked up at Feng Haidong, then sighed and said, "So you've already realized this, Brother Haidong. It's right that you're preparing for the worst. I heard from my dad and my older brother that state-owned factories are probably about to undergo a major transformation."
Upon hearing Su Xin's words, Feng Haidong suddenly remembered that in his previous life, Su Xin should have been transferred to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce soon.
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