Doing business
The mother and daughter quickly finished a bowl of noodles, sweating profusely. They both secretly regretted not choosing a convenient place to eat earlier; in this weather, they should have opted for cold noodles or cold rice noodles.
After finishing their meal and paying the bill, the sun was still very strong outside, so the mother and daughter didn't linger outside and quickly returned to the hotel.
Wang Yao leaned against the bed, looking around. The only two electrical appliances in the room were the light bulb and the electric fan. The bed and the peeling paint on the table exuded a strong sense of age. For her, who had been reborn, everything was both old and new.
Liu Xiangmei took everything out of her backpack, which contained changes of clothes for the mother and daughter. As she folded the clothes again, she explained her plans.
“We just came from the train station area. I saw a lot of clothing stores, but not many people went in to buy anything. I didn’t see any stores with job postings. The stores near the school look like they’re barely surviving, so they probably don’t need to hire anyone. I’ll go to Hejie this afternoon and see if I can find a job there. There are a lot of stores there.”
Zhou County is built against the mountains and has only one main road. The railway station and bus station serve as the boundary. Going up the mountain leads to the town, where the county's schools, government offices, and hospitals are all located. Going down the mountain leads to Dingjiang River, which locals call River Street.
Judging from Liu Xiangmei's words, she wanted to find a place to work. Wang Yao thought about the current situation, most of the shop owners in Zhou County were still family workshops, like her second aunt's family.
Businesses that need to hire workers are large-scale businesses, but poor counties like Zhouxian have almost none. So, not only are there few places in the county town that hire female workers, but even if there are, most people hire their relatives.
Wang Yao told Liu Xiangmei her idea, and Liu Xiangmei sighed, "No matter what, we have to look for it. We can't keep living off our savings!"
Eating the savings was absolutely out of the question, but Wang Yao also didn't want her mother to work for someone else.
There are two main reasons. First, the mother is unfamiliar with the county town and can't find a place to work in a short time. Second, even if she does find a job, the wages are pitifully low, and it would be difficult to support her and her daughter.
As the saying goes, no matter how poor you are, you won't work; no matter how hungry you are, you won't eat; you'd rather sleep on the floor than not be your own boss.
So when she learned last night that her mother was leaving her hometown, she started thinking about how the two of them would survive in the county town.
Actually, there's no need to rack your brains. She'll be studying at the county's No. 1 High School in the future. If the mother and daughter don't want to be separated, then the county's No. 1 High School is the best place to make money, isn't it?
The mother can run a small business near the school, so that the mother and daughter can take care of each other and have a stable income.
But now it seems that Mom never considered starting her own business.
It's understandable, really. Many people nowadays feel that doing business is too risky, and you might lose everything if you're not careful. While working for someone else might not make you rich, at least you're guaranteed a stable income.
Women like my mother, who came from rural backgrounds, were even less inclined to do business.
However, Wang Yao felt that with her mother's personality, as long as she took the first step, she would be no worse than others.
Although she had never run a business, she was kind and gentle. There were dozens or even hundreds of households in the village, each with its own temperament. Apart from the Wang family, who were quite eccentric, my mother never got into a quarrel with anyone. She believed that being kind and gentle could bring wealth.
Every year, when the family buys and sells pigs and pays agricultural taxes, Mom and Dad are always involved. Dad is responsible for the work, and Mom is responsible for the accounting. This shows that Mom is quick-witted.
Based on the above two points, Wang Yao is very confident that her mother can start a small business near the school.
Wang Yao explained her plans and her mother's strengths one by one. She saw her mother first frown, then look doubtful, and finally her expression turned into a hint of pride.
Liu Xiangmei sat on the edge of the bed and said smugly, "You're right, your dad's brain isn't as good as mine!"
After saying that, he hesitated and asked, "Do you really think I can do business? I've never learned how to do this kind of business. What if I lose money?"
Wang Yao chuckled: "So what if we lost money?"
Liu Xiangmei slapped Wang Yao's raised leg with a "smack," saying, "You make it sound so easy. We've already lost all the money. From now on, you'll be drinking Dingjiang water every day!"
Wang Yao sat up, rubbing the spot where she had been hit, and complained, "My goodness, couldn't you have been a little gentler!"
Seeing Wang Yao's expression, Liu Xiangmei thought she had really hit her too hard and wanted to pull Wang Yao away from her legs and hands to see if she had hurt them.
But Wang Yao pressed her hands firmly against the spot where she had been hit, shouting, "I don't care, you hurt me, you have to pay me back, I want to eat snowman ice cream."
Hearing this, and seeing Wang Yao frowning while secretly glancing at her, Liu Xiangmei knew exactly what Wang Yao was thinking. She rolled her eyes and slapped Wang Yao again.
After Wang Yao complained incessantly and shamelessly played the victim, Liu Xiangmei offered her a snowman-shaped ice cream in exchange for Wang Yao continuing to talk about doing business.
Upon hearing this, Wang Yao knew that her mother was interested in doing business. Sure enough, her mother hadn't thought about it before, but after Wang Yao's expert guidance, she started to understand!
She sat cross-legged on the bed, her expression serious. "First of all, Comrade Liu Xiangmei, I must criticize you. Your idea of thinking about failure before you've even started is wrong and unacceptable. As the old saying goes, 'Aim high and you'll get something; aim for the middle and you'll get nothing; aim low and you'll get nothing.' If we look for a way out before we've even started anything, we won't put our all into what we do."
Seeing her like this, Liu Xiangmei thought she was going to cause trouble again. She was about to roll her eyes, but after hearing what Wang Yao said next, she gradually became serious and thought about it carefully. It made a lot of sense.
Seeing that her mother had taken her words to heart, Wang Yao was satisfied and continued, "Don't think that just because you haven't studied business, you can do it yourself. Many people these days are self-taught, like Nian Guangjiu who sells melon seeds, you know him, right?"
Liu Xiangmei hadn't thought of it at first, but after thinking for a moment she realized that Wang Yao was talking about the owner of "Silly Melon Seeds". She nodded, she had heard of this person on the radio, and heard that he made millions selling melon seeds, tsk tsk tsk!
Wang Yao said, "This person hasn't studied business, but he managed to make such a small business as selling melon seeds famous throughout the country. He made it through hard work and struggle! And don't think of doing business as something high-end. The owners who sell TVs, refrigerators, and pagers are doing business, and the shoe repairmen on the street are also doing business. The only difference is that they sell different things. We don't have experience or capital, so we can't do big business. Let's start with small business!"
That made sense, Liu Xiangmei nodded, gave Wang Yao an approving look, and then asked, "So tell me, what kind of business should we do?"
Uh, I haven't thought about that yet!
Wang Yao scratched her head. She had wanted to ask the owner of the ramen shop for some information, but she hadn't expected that the owner was also a novice.
However, Wang Yao did have a preliminary idea: "Let's not go far, just stay near the county's No. 1 Middle School and do business with the students. Where do students usually spend their money?"
Without thinking, Liu Xiangmei said, "Besides food and drink, just buy some notebooks and pens!"
Wang Yao nodded: "That's right. We don't have any supply channels for stationery, so we won't consider that. So we'll make food. But we'll have to go out and investigate the specifics of what to make and where to locate it."
Hearing this, Liu Xiangmei gained confidence. She might not be good at other things, but she was definitely good at cooking. "I'm good at cooking. I've helped prepare the dishes for weddings and funerals in our village many times. But the dishes that the villagers make themselves are probably not presentable enough."
Wang Yao waved her hand: "We don't need the skills to make a banquet. We're poor students, and we can't afford anything fancy. As long as it tastes decent and has some oil, that's enough. The noodles we had for lunch were just so-so!"
Liu Xiangmei agreed with this. That bowl of noodles cost her a dollar, and apart from the large portion, she couldn't find any other advantages.
Liu Xiangmei said, "Since we've decided to settle down at the county's No. 1 Middle School, we should find a place to rent nearby as soon as possible. Hotels aren't places to stay long-term; they're too expensive!"
The mother and daughter discussed waiting until the sun went down before going out to take a look.
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