Decide
Wang Yao thought for a moment, "It's not that we can't afford to eat, right? The vast majority of students at the county's No. 1 High School are from the county town or nearby towns. Very few people like me from remote villages and towns get into the school. Everyone's family should be relatively well-off, otherwise, who would these restaurants near the school sell their food to?"
Thinking about it that way, it makes sense. Liu Xiangmei has been staying in her hometown for a long time and rarely travels far. So she subconsciously compared the consumption habits of villagers to those of people in the county. When people from her village go to the county, let alone buy a boxed lunch, they have to grit their teeth to buy a steamed bun. Most of them go and come back quickly and eat when they get home.
"So? How about it? Want to sell boxed lunches?"
Compared to making cold noodles, Liu Xiangmei is certainly more familiar with making boxed lunches, since it involves stir-frying vegetables and cooking rice, which are things she does often.
“Okay, I think selling boxed lunches suits me better, but I think I should get used to it for a few days before school starts. How about this, I remember hearing someone mention a construction site in Dongling last night when we were eating. How about I go to the construction site and sell boxed lunches for a few days?”
Upon hearing her mother's suggestion, Wang Yao immediately agreed. There were still about ten days before school started, and the two of them couldn't just do nothing!
The mother and daughter discussed it and kept working. After three hours, they finally cleaned the house and put everything in order.
Wang Yao lay on the bed in a "spread-eagle" position, feeling as if her waist no longer belonged to her.
By this time, the sun outside the window was gradually setting in the west. Urged by her mother, Wang Yao had no choice but to sit up from the bed.
The two of them needed to go to the market to check the vegetable prices in the county, because their family was going to start cooking tonight.
When Liu Xiangmei went downstairs, she encountered her landlord sitting at the door, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan and chatting with someone. She immediately joined in.
To be honest, Wang Yao deeply envied her mother's ability to strike up conversations with people. She herself took after her father and would never talk to strangers unless absolutely necessary.
Even when she was in the South in her previous life, working as a nanny in different families, she tried her best not to attract the attention of the employers and was practically invisible most of the time.
So Wang Yao stood aside and watched Liu Xiangmei socialize with people.
"Sister Xu, are you chatting?"
The landlord replied, "Yes, it's hot, and I can't stand staying inside. It's better to have a breeze outside to cool things down. How's the tidying up going?"
As he said this, he pointed to the empty stool next to him and asked Liu Xiangmei to sit down.
Liu Xiangmei waved her hand, "That's about enough. Your house is clean, we don't need to do much tidying up before we can move in."
Sister Xu raised her chin and said, "You can do that. Every time a tenant moves out, I have to clean it myself. My tenants are all carefully selected. I would never rent to a shady person. Most of the families I rent to are like yours, with children in school."
As she spoke, she introduced Liu Xiangmei and Wang Yao to her friends, and then introduced her friends to Liu Xiangmei. Liu Xiangmei greeted her warmly, while Wang Yao stood behind and awkwardly greeted, "Hello, Aunt XX."
In no time, Liu Xiangmei learned what everyone present did for a living, how many people were in their families, and where their most successful child or nephew was making money or studying.
For example, the landlord's husband works at a bank, and in addition to this house, she also has another house on this street and another one near the train station. Her son runs a business on He Street and owns three storefronts. Her daughter-in-law teaches at the county's No. 1 Middle School, and her two grandsons are twins.
For example, there's Sister Zhang next door. She and her husband run a small shop together, and their son works at the police station. He's an older, unmarried man.
Just as Wang Yao was getting dizzy and confused, Liu Xiangmei finally steered the conversation back on track.
"So, I took Yao Yao downstairs for a walk, hoping to find a nearby farmers market so we can buy some groceries to cook dinner tonight."
The landlord replied, "At this hour, if you want to buy groceries, the nearest one is the vegetable market on Jinrong Road. You know Jinrong Road, right? Just walk down Jinrong Road for about two hundred meters and you'll get there."
Liu Xiangmei thought it wasn't far and thanked her repeatedly.
Then I heard a woman named Mao say, "The vegetables aren't very fresh in the afternoon. If you need to buy vegetables, you'll have to get up early. There's a small vegetable market about a hundred meters west of here. There are only vendors selling vegetables in the morning, so we usually go there. In the morning, there are vendors carrying vegetables on shoulder poles or riding bicycles and calling out their wares. If you hear them, hurry downstairs."
Liu Xiangmei took notes of everything Sister Mao said, thanked her again, and then left with Wang Yao.
The county town is not big, and the vegetable market on Jinrong Road is large and easy to find.
As soon as the two arrived at the entrance of the market, they saw several farmers squatting or sitting, their baskets filled with seasonal vegetables, though some were already wilted. Walking further in, they were greeted by a cacophony of smells: fishy, meaty, and various spices all mixed together.
The market was not chaotic; the stalls were arranged in a grid pattern, and they were probably all rented by the stall owners on a long-term basis.
This was the first time Liu Xiangmei had ever seen such a large farmers' market. She was overwhelmed by the sheer variety of goods and the fact that it seemed to have everything she wanted. The impact of this experience was no less than that of the secondhand market she had visited that morning.
As soon as Wang Yao stepped into this place, she felt right at home. After all, in her previous life, she went to the vegetable market almost every day, and those markets were much bigger than the one in front of her now.
After asking about the prices of the vegetables one by one, Wang Yao didn't think the prices were unreasonable, but Liu Xiangmei frowned.
People in the county town really have it tough. They eat such expensive food every day. If they don't earn money for a day, they'll probably be anxious and panicked. That's what she thought to herself.
Even if it's expensive, I still have to buy some, because eating out is even more expensive.
Wang Yao selected several essential seasonings for her household and a small bag of handmade noodles.
I bought another piece of pork, weighing over a pound. After all, today is the first day I've cooked, so I need some meat, which is a good omen.
Finally, the mother and daughter bought some bok choy, potatoes, and green beans at the entrance of the market, and then headed home.
When Liu Xiangmei got home, she didn't rush to cook. Instead, she sat on the nearly dry bed and thought about it.
That's right, Liu Xiangmei thoroughly cleaned the bamboo bed as soon as it was brought back.
Wang Yao put the groceries she had bought down, turned around and saw her mother staring blankly into space. She went over and sat down. "Mom, what are you thinking about?"
Liu Xiangmei said, "I did the math, and based on the vegetable prices we asked about today, it seems like we won't make much money making boxed lunches."
Wang Yao said, "Indeed, the profit margin is very small, but if we buy more, the price will definitely drop a bit."
Liu Xiangmei shook her head, "How much lower can the price be? We went there in the afternoon, and the prices are definitely cheaper in the afternoon than in the morning. I don't think we can buy vegetables from the market."
"Where can I buy it?"
Liu Xiangmei turned to Wang Yao and said, "Buy it from your aunt's house. They feed all the leftover vegetables to the pigs."
Uh, after all this time, she had almost forgotten that her aunt Liu Xiangchun's family lived in Lianchi Town, which is next to the county seat.
Unlike Jinchuan Town, Wang Yao's hometown, which is surrounded by mountains, Lianchi Town is one of the few flat areas in Zhou County. It also has the largest lotus pond in the entire county, hence the name Lianchi Town.
Because it had been a long time, she had basically never seen her eldest aunt since she went to the south in her previous life. The few pieces of news she had about her family came from her second aunt.
So she asked, "How much land does your aunt's family farm?"
Liu Xiangmei replied, "It must be at least a dozen acres. Every year, her family sends a lot of the vegetables they grow to your second aunt's family. They feed the pigs with the vegetables they can't eat. That's how it is in the countryside."
Indeed, especially in the summer, when the vegetables in the fields all grow, any family that is even slightly diligent will not lack vegetables to eat.
"In that case, let's go to Auntie's house tomorrow and ask her. We can also tell her that we've moved to the county."
Liu Xiangmei nodded, "Okay, let's invite them over in a couple of days, and also your second aunt's family. Although this isn't our house, we've moved, so let's invite them over for a warm-up dinner."
After saying that, she added, "I don't call her Granny Sun."
It was clear that her mother really disliked Granny Sun. Speaking of her second aunt's family, Wang Yao was very curious about whether her second aunt's husband had any problems.
Liu Xiangmei got up and went to the kitchen to cook, asking Wang Yao, "How about we have braised noodles with green beans tonight?"
Wang Yao naturally agreed. Standing at the kitchen doorway, she watched her mother cut off the pork skin and put it in the pot, and asked, "Mom, do you think Uncle Er has any problems?"
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