Old Mrs. Chu turned and went back to the kitchen. Chu Tian looked at the shops in front from the back door and found that there were female customers in the clothing store and shoe store, so he turned and walked towards the grain and oil grocery store next door.
"Xiaoyuan, how are you? Are you busy today?"
Lin Yuan shook his head, "Uncle Chu, there are fewer customers today than in the past few days..."
"The temperature has been high these past two days, so it's normal that there are few people out during the day. I guess more people will come in the afternoon when the sun is about to set."
After a pause, Chu Tian glanced at the fan covered with cloth in front of the counter. Seeing his face flushed with heat, he frowned and asked, "Xiaoyuan, why don't you use the fan? It's so hot at noon. Can you do without the fan?"
Lin Yuan glanced at the fan, his face conflicted. After a long pause, he stammered, "Chu, Uncle Chu, forget it. We usually can get through the summer without a fan, so it's okay not to use it this year."
Seeing his expression, Chu Tian knew that he was afraid of wasting electricity. He said earnestly, "Xiaoyuan, I bought the fan. Even if it's for use, if I cared about the electricity, I wouldn't have left it in the store..."
Lin Yuan was stunned for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "When Grandma Chu was around, I also opened..."
“····”
Chu Tian said nothing more, walked to the fan, lifted the cloth covering it, plugged in the power supply neatly, adjusted the gear, and then turned to look at Lin Yuan.
"Xiaoyuan, you can turn on this fan whenever the temperature rises, regardless of whether my grandma is here or not!"
Lin Yuan nodded hesitantly, and after a while asked again, "Well, what if it breaks?"
Chu Tian said indifferently, "It's broken, so what? Small appliances like this are consumables."
"that···"
Just when Chu Tian was about to say something, a familiar voice came from the door. Chu Tian and Lin Yuan turned to look at the door at the same time. Lin Yuan hurried forward and asked enthusiastically.
"What do you need? Our store has rice, flour, oil, various dried goods, red dates, raisins, walnuts, etc..."
The visitor did not respond to Lin Yuan's words, but stared at Chu Tian, "Brother, do you still recognize me?"
Chu Tian narrowed his eyes, looking at the familiar face, and instantly remembered, "Ah, you are the guy who was soliciting people at the train station..."
The young man smiled and nodded, "It's me."
Lin Yuan looked at him doubtfully. Seeing that he was sure he was not here to buy anything, he looked at Chu Tian and said, "Uncle Chu, we have run out of red dates. I will go to the warehouse in the back and move some over..."
Chu Tian hummed, and after seeing Lin Yuan leave, he looked at the young man again, "How's your business going recently?"
The young man chuckled twice and touched his nose uncomfortably. Although he didn't say anything, Chu Tian understood what he meant. It was obvious that business was not good. After thinking about it, he asked again.
"Do you have something to ask me?"
The young man nodded, "Hmm..."
"What's the matter? Just tell me directly."
Chu Tian could probably guess that he had something on his mind, but he wouldn't point it out directly.
The young man took a deep breath and said, "Brother, I want to work with you. I can do anything. Just give me a job..."
Chu Tian raised an eyebrow, "Anything is fine?"
The young man quickly added, "I don't do murder, arson, or fighting..."
Chu Tian couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I'm a good citizen, I won't do anything immoral or illegal."
"Then I..."
Chu Tian looked the young man up and down, thought for a moment, and then circled around him. Seeing that his hands were about to tear his pants out of nervousness, he patted him and said, "Relax, don't be so nervous."
Seeing his hand quickly loosen, Chu Tiancai continued to ask, "Where do you live?"
The young man mentioned a location. Chu Tian touched his chin and said, "It's not close, but it's also far..."
"Well, it's about 20 minutes by bike."
"Brother, is it okay?"
Chu Tian saw that he was nervous again and smiled, "Why are you so nervous? I also want to think about what you can do!"
The young man fell silent upon hearing this and stood there obediently, waiting for Chu Tian to make up his mind.
Just as Chu Tian was about to say something, Chu Min came running over. Seeing him casually throw his bicycle to the ground, Chu Tian was stunned and hurried out of the store.
"Brother, what's wrong? What happened?"
Chu Min pulled Chu Tian and said quickly, "Last night, several newly opened shops on our street were robbed. I was worried about you, so I came to see..."
Chu Tian was stunned, "Robbed?"
Chu Min nodded, "Yes."
Chu Tian quickly asked with concern, "What about your shop? What about your electronic watch and clothes? Are they all okay?"
Chu Min sighed and said, "My family also suffered a disaster, but your sister-in-law said that they probably robbed it in the middle of the night and pried open the door without seeing it clearly. They pried open our shop selling hand-pulled meat. That shop only had pots, pans, tables and chairs at night, so apart from the door being damaged, there was no other loss! It was just those families who were unlucky..."
Chu Tian frowned. The legal system in the 1980s was not yet sound and society was in turmoil. Some uneducated young people were instigated by various means and would go astray.
Chu Min looked around and asked, "Brother, are you all right?"
Chu Tian shook his head, "It's okay, our street is fine and we didn't hear any noise..."
Chu Min breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, that's good. I didn't come back from the brigade last night. When I got back just now, I heard about it from your second sister-in-law, so I hurried over to see you. Fortunately, you are all fine."
"However, they robbed our street last night. Although they told the police, and they said they would patrol the streets at night, you still have to be careful. After all, your shop is the most prosperous on this street."
Chu Tian understood what Chu Min said and nodded calmly, "Second brother, I understand. Thank you for telling me."
Chu Min sighed, "We finally have the freedom to trade now, but why are these things happening again..."
"Okay, I'm going back. I need to buy a new lock and fix the door..."
After saying that, Chu Min waved his hand, turned around, picked up the bicycle on the ground, and drove towards his home.
Lin Yuan, who had finished his work long ago, walked up to Chu Tian and said, "Uncle Chu, how about I stay in the shop tonight?"
Chu Tian looked back at Lin Yuan, who was not even as tall as him and whose face still showed signs of childishness, and shook his head gently. "You're still young, so you don't have to worry about this. Just go home after get off work and let Uncle Chu figure it out."
What a joke. He is still a child and not even an adult yet. Chu Tian already feels guilty for employing child labor. How could he have the nerve to let him guard the store at night?
Lin Yuan's face flushed red, and he wanted to show that he was not a child anymore and could help look after the store, when he heard the young man who had been standing next to him speak.
"Brother, if you trust me, I can help you keep the store."
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