Chapter 18 Sanitation Fee
Ding Sisi watched as her father picked up several mouthfuls of boiled pork slices and ate them with rice, not even bothering to say a word, and couldn't help but laugh.
Ding Sisi placed a crispy pork rib into Ding Jianjun's bowl: "Dad, don't just focus on that dish, there's still a whole table of food left."
Looking at his daughter, Ding Jianjun thought to himself that she had indeed grown up and become sensible. However, he still preferred to eat Sichuan-style boiled pork slices, while his wife and children preferred fried food. Although he felt that other things were a bit of a distraction from his boiled pork slices, he still put them in his mouth.
When I bit down, I immediately felt something was wrong.
His jaw twitched in disbelief. The crispy outside and tender inside, the spicy and savory flavor, were completely different from the crispy pork ribs he remembered.
He recalled that it used to be quite difficult to bite into a piece, especially after it cooled down, the outer skin became tough and chewy, and the ribs were greasy, so eating a few pieces would make him feel sick.
This time, the crispy pork ribs didn't have that feeling at all.
"Daddy, is it tasty?"
Ding Jianjun nodded seriously: "It's delicious. Your mother's cooking skills are getting better and better."
Ding Jianjun was very polite at home and never hesitated to praise his wife and children. However, as soon as he said this, Ding Sisi covered her mouth and laughed, and Huang Yun gave him a reproachful look.
Ding Jianjun reacted quickly, wondering if he had said something wrong.
"Did Xinran make these ribs?"
Ding Sisi clapped her hands: "Dad guessed right!"
"Then Dad, can you guess which dishes Aunt Song made?"
Ding Jianjun smiled. When he returned, he saw Huang Yun and Song Xinran making boiled pork slices in the kitchen. Without hesitation, he said, "Boiled pork slices and crispy spare ribs."
Ding Sisi shook her head with a sly smile: "Oh, and guess again, Dad."
Ding Jianjun was happy to play this game with his daughter, so he tasted a bite of each dish, starting with the cold chicken salad.
Hmm, the taste is very familiar; his wife's cooking skills haven't changed at all.
Another bite of Sichuan-style fish slices, hmm, the fish is cooked to a good firmness, just like always.
...
After tasting it once, Ding Jianjun finally took a bite of twice-cooked pork. As soon as the food entered his mouth, he knew it was no ordinary delicacy!
The pork skin is chewy and elastic, the fatty meat is smooth and fragrant, the lean meat is firm and tender, and the green garlic sprouts are crisp and refreshing. The overall taste is savory and delicious, especially with a subtle sweetness after eating.
Having eaten too much cafeteria food, with all sorts of strange sweetness, Ding Jianjun became extremely sensitive to and averse to sweetness in dishes. But surprisingly, the lingering sweetness in this twice-cooked pork gave him a perfectly balanced and incredibly rich flavor experience.
Unable to resist, I picked up another chopstick and shoveled it into my mouth along with the rice.
The food from my hometown is definitely more appetizing!
"Haha." Ding Sisi couldn't help but laugh out loud at this scene. "Even though Dad didn't say anything, I already know his answer!"
Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
Huang Yun laughed, but she was still a little skeptical. Was there really such a significant difference between her skills and Xin Ran's?
She ate a piece of spicy fish slice, and then a piece of boiled pork slice.
They immediately became obedient.
Thinking to herself that there are differences between people, she couldn't forget that after eating Bo Bo Chicken last time, she had no appetite for several meals. Ding Sisi said several times, "Mom, why don't we ask Aunt Song to buy some Bo Bo Chicken?"
Of course, Huang Yun refused. She knew Song Xinran's personality; she definitely wouldn't accept money, but she felt bad if she didn't.
Looking at the table full of dishes, Huang Yun could already guess the outcome. The three dishes that Xin Ran made would definitely be completely devoured, and the rest would probably take several meals to finish. But they couldn't waste it, since meat was so expensive these days.
Everyone enjoyed the meal immensely. Ding Jianjun ate four bowls of rice, and finally poured all the broth from the boiled pork slices into the white rice, finishing it all.
Looking at the clean plate, Huang Yun thought to herself that she still hadn't thought far enough ahead.
"Yunmei, you've really made a good friend," Ding Jianjun said while washing the dishes after dinner. "She has a great personality, raises well-behaved children, and is such a good cook!"
Huang Yun chided, "The key point is the last sentence, isn't it?"
Ding Jianjun smiled sheepishly: "I'm just telling the truth, it's just a pity..."
If it's a neighbor or friend, or even your own sister, it would be much more convenient to invite her over for a meal and a meal.
Huang Yun said, "Although I've only known Xinran for a few days, it feels like we've known each other for a long time."
Ding Jianjun, who loves reading, immediately said, "This is what you call instant rapport."
Huang Yun nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's right! Xinran is selling Bobo Chicken right now at the entrance of No. 3 Middle School. Her Bobo Chicken tastes good, but..."
Huang Yun briefly told Ding Jianjun about Song Xinran's family situation. When he heard that Song Xinran had mentioned her husband serving in the military, Ding Jianjun nodded seriously: "It's a small matter. I'll go check it out when there are many people around. Your sister seems to have a good temper and is quite clever."
Ding Jianjun naturally understood that the smaller the place, the more important it was to create momentum for oneself.
Huang Yun was delighted: "Okay, I'll leave this to you."
*
Once home, Song Xinran said, "Sister Yun's house is so nice."
Song Xinwen said, "Xinran, business is so good today that I can't keep up with the demand. When the students come in, they all ask me, 'Where's the other auntie?' You know, I've only been setting up my stall for a few days, but they already recognize me. She looks quite young and can chat with me for a while. She's completely different from the kids in our village. She's so well-behaved."
Song Xinwen was deeply moved. Today, when Song Xinran said she was going to Huang Yun's house to help with cooking and asked her to go sell Bo Bo Chicken by herself, Song Xinwen felt a little nervous.
Although she had been helping with the sales for several days, Song Xinran had been in charge of most of the work. She only needed to help with packing and handling the items. Suddenly, she had to take charge on her own, which made her a little worried.
However, considering that this was a sign of his sister's trust, and that he wouldn't know if he didn't try, he readily agreed.
When it came to actually doing it, it wasn't as difficult as he had imagined, and Song Xinwen now has endless things to say about it.
However, Song Xinran kept saying, "Sister Yun's house is so nice."
Song Xinwen was very excited: "Setting up a stall is a great idea!"
Song Xinran murmured to herself, "...If only we had one at home."
Song Xinwen finally realized what was happening and looked at her, saying, "We have everything we need."
Song Xinran's eyes lit up: "Sister, I want to install a bottled liquefied gas stove too, since we have a gas stove at home!"
Song Xinwen was familiar with the concept of bottled liquefied gas, and immediately shook his head upon hearing it: "Why waste money installing that? Aren't there honeycomb briquette stoves now?"
Song Xinran said, "Honeycomb briquette stoves are no good for cooking."
"Why not? It still tastes great when you stir-fry it. A canister of liquefied gas costs forty or fifty yuan, and it runs out quickly. A honeycomb briquette only costs ten cents."
Song Xinran thought to herself that although honeycomb briquettes were cheap, they couldn't be adjusted in size, and it was always a hassle to start a fire. She couldn't even cook stir-fries with the honeycomb briquette stove because the heat was too low.
I visited Huang Yun's house today and used her gas stove. I finally felt a bit like I used to cook in my past life.
"Xiao Yu, come here." Song Xinran called the child over.
Song Yu obediently walked up to her, looked up and called out, "Mom."
Song Xinran smiled very gently and kindly: "Xiao Yu, was the food at Aunt Huang's house delicious today?"
Song Yu nodded: "It's delicious."
Song Xinran then asked, "Was the stir-fried pork lung that Mom made the day she went back to Aunt's house delicious?"
Song Yu seemed to recall that taste. It was the first time he had ever tasted something so delicious, and it was also the first time he had been favored and had the right to "taste the food first." Such an experience was enough for a child to remember for a long time. His eyes shone brightly, and he nodded vigorously: "It's delicious!"
Song Xinran patted the child's head: "No matter how hard things are, we can't let the child suffer. Now that we've earned money, it's time for us to enjoy ourselves. Mom will go and ask Aunt Huang where she bought it right away."
Song Yu didn't quite understand the sentence, mainly because he didn't understand the preceding content. However, in his heart, he was sure his mother was right. The child nodded blankly and said, "Okay."
Song Xinran smiled and said to Song Xinwen, "Sister, Xiao Yu is growing a lot right now. It would be more convenient to install a liquefied gas tank. I'll go ask Sister Yun. You two rest at home for a while."
After saying that, Song Xinran strode out. Song Xinwen said "Hey, hey" several times, and finally said only, "You really do things in a very efficient manner."
In Song Xinwen's view, they should save the money they have worked so hard to earn, in case something happens in the future and they will have money to use. It is far from the time to enjoy life.
But then she thought about Song Xinran's absolutely correct decision about setting up a stall, so she gave up on speaking up. Looking back on her past life, she realized it hadn't been very fulfilling, and perhaps it was time to change her mindset.
Song Xinran learned the steps for installing bottled liquefied gas from Huang Yun, which can be summarized as simply paying money.
Song Xinran counted the money she had on her.
These past few days, my daily gross profit from setting up a stall has been around a hundred yuan. I've earned about four hundred yuan in four days, which sounds incredible, considering that you only make a dozen yuan a day doing odd jobs in town.
However, Song Xinran has also spent a lot of money these days. First, she bought two new sets of clothes and new shoes for Song Yu.
The weather is getting cooler now. Although it has been sunny these past few days with daytime temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius, and Song Yu's old clothes and pants are still wearable, the temperature will drop sharply once it rains. It will be too late to buy clothes and shoes then.
Secondly, Song Xinran also bought herself new clothes. The original owner's clothes were all too old, especially the winter clothes, which had been worn for countless winters and were no longer warm or comfortable.
Song Xinran is not one to mistreat herself, and she also knows that she is now the main breadwinner in the family, so she needs to take better care of her health.
All things considered, Song Xinran currently has a little over a thousand yuan left. The entire process of installing the liquefied gas cylinder will cost about two hundred yuan, with the bulk of the cost being the deposit for the liquefied gas cylinder, which is 150 yuan.
Their family currently consists of three people, plus the food they sell at a street stall. They use about 1.5 canisters of gas per month. One canister of liquefied gas costs 45 yuan, which is only 1.5 yuan per day.
After all, they now need about ten honeycomb briquettes a day to burn, so the price difference between using honeycomb briquettes and liquefied petroleum gas is not that great.
The reason why most people now choose honeycomb briquettes is because gas stoves are too expensive, and you can only buy them in the county town, which is more than 20 kilometers away from the town, and it takes more than an hour to get there by bus.
After calculating the costs, Song Xinran went to the town's liquefied gas station early the next morning, paid the fee, and the station arranged for a tricycle and an installation technician to go back with her.
The installation process was simple. Song Xinran's current house happened to have a gas stove, so the installer didn't even need to drill holes. He installed it in no time and charged Song Xinran forty yuan, which included the installation fee and the cost of materials such as hoses.
Song Xinwen took a look and exclaimed in amazement, "So this is the gas stove that's been installed! How do I use it?"
Song Xinran turned on the valve on the liquefied gas cylinder and lit the gas stove. With a "click," a leaping blue flame immediately appeared on the gas stove.
Song Xinwen's eyes widened: "That's it?"
Song Xinran smiled and demonstrated how to turn the flame down or up, then turned it off: "Yes."
"This is so convenient!" Song Xinwen exclaimed.
Starting a fire in my hometown is a real hassle. First, you have to put flammable straw at the bottom, and once it's lit, you add some dry wood, and then you have to cover it with some flammable firewood. Even if it's all lit, you have to keep an eye on it to prevent the firewood from falling or going out if you're not careful.
Song Xinwen still remembers helping the adults start a fire when she was a child. If she accidentally put the fire out, she would be scolded for a long time. At that time, she thought starting a fire was a troublesome job.
I never imagined there would be a time like this, where you don't need someone to light a fire, you can just use liquefied gas, and you can even adjust the size of the flame. The effect is the same, but it's so much more convenient!
"So, sis, wasn't it worth the money?" Song Xinran asked with a smile.
Song Xinwen said, "It's worth it!"
Song Xinran was overjoyed, so she immediately started preparing a meal. She went outside and bought some pork liver and some green vegetables.
After returning home, Song Xinwen helped prepare the dishes in no time.
Song Xinran heated oil in a wok, and when the oil was at the right temperature, she added the marinated pork liver and stir-fried it quickly until it changed color. Then she added other seasonings, and finally seasoned and thickened the sauce. She quickly cooked the dish.
The freshly cooked stir-fried pork liver is bright red, garnished with green peppers, onions, wood ear mushrooms, and other vegetables. The red and green colors are interspersed, making it look very fresh. The pork liver slices are coated with a layer of sauce, glistening with an enticing sheen. You can tell how tender and delicious this pork liver must be without even tasting it.
Pig liver is a great food, especially since it's a powerful source of iron. Many people today suffer from anemia, so it's perfect for them.
It turns out that the reason Song Xinran didn't make this dish was because she didn't have a suitable stove at home. Pig liver is suitable for stir-frying, and it's okay for stewing on a honeycomb briquette stove, but it's barely enough for anything else.
Afterwards, Song Xinran made a dish of stir-fried green vegetables with garlic. The vegetables were bright green, fragrant with garlic, and refreshing.
The last dish was a simple egg drop soup. With two dishes and a soup on the table, although they were simple home-style dishes, the aroma alone was enough to make you want to dig in.
After finishing his meal, Song Xinwen couldn't help but exclaim, "This stuff is really useful. Honeycomb briquettes are cheap, but they're not great for cooking..."
Song Xinran laughed: "Actually, if you really calculate it, using liquefied gas isn't that much more expensive."
She gave Song Xinwen a breakdown of the costs, which surprised him greatly. He kept marveling at how much progress the times had made.
When Song Xinran made Bobo Chicken, she still used honeycomb briquettes. She had bought quite a lot of them before, and she couldn't let them go to waste.
However, after using a gas stove, Song Xinran felt that the fire was too small and the cooking was too slow; it took half an hour to boil a pot of water.
Business has been good these past two days, and because Song Xinran didn't come yesterday, some students even came to ask today, "Auntie, where did you go yesterday?"
Song Xinran smiled and said she was visiting a friend's house.
"That's good." A girl rubbed her chest. "I was worried that you wouldn't want to continue working here, and then where would I go to eat Bo Bo Chicken?"
"That's right, I bought some Sichuan-style boiled chicken and my mom gave me an extra two yuan the next day so I could take some back with me, haha."
Students are so interesting to talk to, and Song Xinran is happy to chat with them as much as possible.
Just before the bell rang, everyone rushed back, and the school gate returned to silence, leaving only some trash behind. Song Yu quickly ran out, squatted on the ground, and picked up the trash one by one with a plastic bag in his hand.
Although he was young, he was very meticulous in his work, picking up even the smallest crumbs, so their stall was always the cleanest after closing time.
Just then, a lean man with messy hair, carrying a stick, who looked to be in his forties, walked towards them. He had a red armband on his right arm with the words "street assistant" written on it.
The man crossed his arms, raised his chin, and glanced at the stalls near the school gate before finally fixing his gaze on the Bobo Chicken stall. He walked straight over.
The man walked up to Song Yu, who was picking up trash, and stepped on a bamboo skewer. Song Yu was about to pick it up when he looked up at the man and said in a childish voice, "Uncle, you stepped on my trash."
After setting up a stall for a few days, Song Yu became bolder. In the past, he wouldn't dare to talk to strangers. If someone stepped on his things, he would just stay quietly by the side and wait for the person to leave.
Lai Zhimin looked down and snorted, "Where did this kid come from? Get out of here!"
Song Yu pursed her lips, stood up, and ran to Song Xinran's side.
Song Xinran was tidying up the table when she heard this and looked up.
Then they saw a man standing in front of the stall, his attitude arrogant and domineering: "You're not allowed to set up a stall here!"
Song Xinwen was moving earthenware pots when he heard this and immediately shouted, "Who are you? Is this your territory? You're not even allowing us to set up a stall!"
Xinran had said from the beginning that setting up stalls was allowed here, and they had been doing it for several days without any problems. But this man in front of them looked shifty and suspicious, so she knew he wasn't a good person.
Lai Zhimin tugged at his armband and raised his chin: "Who am I? A street management assistant! You've made a mess of the place by setting up stalls here. I've received a report. Pack your things up immediately and don't set up stalls here again!"
Upon hearing the other party's name, Song Xinwen felt a little intimidated. Looking at the other party's armband, she felt as if she were inferior. Since ancient times, commoners have never fought against officials, let alone the fact that they had just arrived in the town and were unfamiliar with the place.
But he still muttered to himself, "Who knows if you're real or fake? Don't think that just because you're wearing a badge you're an official."
Lai Zhimin raised an eyebrow, took two steps forward, and tried to grab Song Xinwen's arm: "Come on, let's go to the Urban Management Bureau and see if it's true or not!"
Lai Zhimin has seen many people like this. They used to be quite imposing, but as soon as they heard his name, they wilted and muttered a few words in the end. They are typical ordinary people who are most afraid of causing trouble.
Lai Zhimin snorted inwardly. It was worth the money he spent to buy this outfit and badge. Ordinary people would feel inferior upon seeing it, let alone two women.
Why would two women set up a stall? They should just stay home, wash clothes, cook, take care of the children, and make their men comfortable.
"Let go." Song Xinran stepped forward and said coldly, "You're a neighborhood supervisor, right?"
Song Xinran's voice was calm and stern, with a hint of questioning. Lai Zhimin turned around and immediately knew that this was the guy Lao Yang had mentioned who sold Bobo Chicken. He was immediately annoyed. It was one thing for a small vendor not to be afraid of the Urban Management Bureau, but to have such a rude attitude.
"No stalls allowed here! If you don't leave, I'll overturn all your stalls!" Lai Zhimin raised an eyebrow, his tone threatening and his attitude arrogant and domineering.
As if he had found a loophole in Song Xinwen's words, he immediately pointed at the other stall owners and shouted, "If you're not allowed to set up stalls, why are they all here?"
Song Xinran didn't even have time to stop him. This person was clearly there to deal with them. He was a street management assistant, or to put it nicely, someone from the urban management bureau. Anyone with a little knowledge of the system would know that he was just a temporary worker or an outsourced employee.
They also dragged other stall owners into it, so it's inevitable that others would have opinions about them.
The owner of the fried food stall next door said sarcastically, "We're different. We've been here for years, we're legitimate, and we've paid sanitation fees."
Lai Zhimin snorted lightly: "Did you hear that?"
Song Xinwen immediately thought of saying that we could also pay sanitation fees.
But this time, Song Xinran stopped him in time. Ignoring the other vendors, she went straight to Lai Zhimin: "Which department of the Urban Management Bureau are you from? Who is your superior? Which rule says that you can't set up a stall here? Let's not even talk about how we cleaned the ground when we left. Do you, as an official of the Urban Management Bureau, have the right to collect sanitation fees? Don't drag my sister to the Urban Management Bureau. Take me there. I want to ask you clearly whether your Urban Management Bureau is overstepping its bounds. If there are fees to be collected, it should be collected by the community organization. What is this if not corruption?"
"Let's not wait here any longer, let's go now!"
With that, Song Xinran threw off her apron, took a few steps forward, and stood up straight, showing no stage fright whatsoever.
Lai Zhimin was bewildered by these questions. Seeing that Song Xinran didn't seem afraid at all, he immediately lost face. He slammed his stick on the ground, making a thud, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come on! You're quite capable. Let's go to the police station now and see which side the police are on!"
Lai Zhimin had never encountered someone like Song Xinran before, and he panicked a little, so he quickly brought up the police station.
Ordinary people tremble at the mere mention of a police station, fearing they've done something wrong. In particular, the public often sees these officials as a group, believing they're all acquaintances in the city management bureau and police station, and that they'll be arrested as soon as they enter.
He figured that the woman in front of him was a widow, so she definitely wouldn't dare to go.
But Song Xinran just sneered and saw through Lai Zhimin's bluster: "You're from the Urban Management Bureau and the Police Bureau? Where are you from? These two bureaus aren't even the same department. You're just a temporary worker, yet you have so much power."
"Fine, aren't we going to the police station? Let's go now and ask the police how many years they'll be locked up for extortion." Song Xinran was also quite intimidating. She knew that if she really went to the police station, she would only get a reprimand, but this person was deliberately trying to scare her, so why couldn't she give him a taste of his own medicine?
Sure enough, Lai Zhimin's expression changed upon hearing this. He looked like a wild dog baring its teeth and claws, ready to bite someone, but ended up crashing into it and breaking its head. It could only sit on the ground whimpering.
Lai Zhimin had no idea how Song Xinran knew about his temporary worker status. He had never seen a small vendor so audacious. Could it be that someone was behind him?
But Lao Yang made it clear to him that the Bobo Chicken stall was doing good business and only two widows were running it. He only needed to show his identity and he wouldn't even have to say anything before they would give him a cleaning fee. It wasn't just one yuan a day; it would be several times more.
Thinking there was something to gain, Lai Chih-min came to test this easy target. Little did he know that this easy target was harder than a stinky rock in a latrine, and he almost twisted his ankle when he stepped on it.
There weren't many people around, mostly small vendors, and they were the kind of people who had some connection with Lai Chih-min. At this point, Lai Chih-min didn't even need to go out to see how many people were waiting to see him make a fool of himself.
There are only two widows in front of him. Do you think they can beat him up?
Lai Zhimin gritted his teeth and shouted, "What do you know, you widow! You want to go to the police station? I say this place is my jurisdiction, so it is! Get out of here, or I'll flip your stall over!"
Song Xinran, however, was not afraid at all. She thought to herself that this person knew she was in the wrong and started to argue unreasonably. At this time, she was just pretending to be tough, but in reality, she was just bluffing. Like an inflated balloon, it would burst as soon as a needle touched it.
But she wasn't going to confront him head-on. The other party already knew she was not someone to mess with, and probably wouldn't bother her again. She would be setting up her stall here for a long time to come. The other party was a rogue and a scoundrel, and he had nothing to lose. But it was impossible for her to pay sanitation fees.
Just as Song Xinran was about to speak, a familiar voice rang out from behind her: "What do you mean it's your business? You want to cause trouble? Which department are you from?"
Ding Jianjun frowned and strode over.
He spoke in a loud voice and was tall and imposing; it was clear at a glance that he wasn't someone to be trifled with. When Lai Zhimin saw this, his already exposed aura deflated even further, but he still stubbornly repeated his weak and unconvincing spittle: "Where did you come from? The city management officers are on duty, so why don't you get away from them!"
When people are in the wrong, their voices rise. Ding Jianjun clearly understood this, and said sternly, "Are you from the urban management department? I happen to have a retired brother who works for the urban management department. Let's go ask them if they have the right to overturn the stalls."
Upon hearing this, Lai Zhimin panicked: "You, you..."
Ding Jianjun said with a stern face, "My sister's husband is serving in the army, protecting the country, but his wife is being bullied by the urban management officers back in their hometown. I have to ask him about this. How can this be allowed!"
He had the air of a soldier at first glance, and his voice was strong and clear. Lai Zhimin was stunned for a long time after hearing this.
Ding Jianjun had already grabbed the man's arm, insisting on dragging him to the Urban Management Bureau: "Let's go ask him now, and everyone here can be a witness. Don't think that just because my sister's husband isn't home, she can bully people at will!"
None of the surrounding vendors spoke, especially the two owners of the fried food stall next door, who kept their heads down and were busy with their work, pretending not to hear.
Lai Zhimin panicked completely. The person grabbing his arm was incredibly strong, his hand like an iron clamp. He struggled desperately but couldn't break free. Afraid that if he went to the urban management bureau, he would lose his temporary worker status, he quickly said, "I didn't bully you, it's a misunderstanding!"
"I came here specifically to check out a report that a new stall had come up and was making the surrounding area dirty."
Song Yu whispered from the side, "It's not dirty, I've cleaned it up."
Lai Zhimin hurriedly said, "It's not dirty, I made a mistake! I'll leave right away!"
"Where to go?" Ding Jianjun's eyes were sharp, and his words were firm and resolute. "To the Urban Management Bureau first!"
He spoke with righteous indignation, but loosened his grip slightly.
Lai Zhimin seized the opportunity, broke free with a burst of strength, and ran away in a flash, not forgetting to glare at the fried food stall owner.
Song Xinran glanced around at the people around her. Everyone was casually packing their things, pretending not to know what had happened. She deliberately said, "Brother-in-law, thank you so much for today."
Ding Jianjun looked serious and said in a deep voice, "Sister, no need to thank me. Chunjun and I were good brothers in the army, and he specifically asked me to help you more."
Song Xinran deliberately asked Ding Jianjun about their experiences in the army. Ding Jianjun shared some trivial details, and after packing up their things, he even helped them move the table back.
As soon as they left, Yang Changhai, the owner of the fried food stall, immediately changed his expression: "Honey, will that deadbeat come looking for trouble?"
The proprietress, Xiong Li, curled her lips into a hard, straight line, spat, and cursed, "He still dares to cause trouble for us? If I hadn't overheard him, I wouldn't have known he was a temporary worker who dared to come and collect sanitation fees!"
Yang Changhai: "That lazy bum is a scoundrel, he has no ties, while we still have a business to run!"
"Look at your pathetic self. After Lao Lai got his comeuppance, he probably won't come here again. It's not like we're the only ones setting up stalls in town."
Yang Changhai thought for a moment and nodded: "That's true, it's better this way, we'll pay 30 yuan less in sanitation fees each month."
Xiong Li said, "I was already quite unhappy about paying this money before. It's not like Lai Zhimin cleaned up the trash, so why should I give him the money?"
The couple cricketed for a while, and then Yang Changhai suddenly said, "What are we going to do in the future? This pot-boiled chicken has only been around for a week, and when I calculated our profits yesterday, it's almost half gone!"
There's no way to get rid of the Bobo Chicken now; the debtors have backed down, but they can't just sit idly by.
Xiong Li thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "If we organize some promotions and lower the price, are we worried that those poor students won't come to buy? We'll squeeze them out of the pot-boiled chicken market!"
"So what if her husband is serving in the military? Does that mean we're not allowed to hold events?"
Yang Changhai nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way!"
Xiong Li added, "Buy some cheap reconstituted frozen meat skewers; even with a low price, we can still make a profit!"
Yang Changhai nodded quickly and chimed in, "We've been in this business for years, how can we let a newcomer trample us down!"
Yang Changhai moved closer to Xiong Li, grinning from ear to ear: "Wife, you're so smart!"
Xiong Li tapped his head: "I know you should learn more!"
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