After Huang's father's annual leave ended, he went to work in the mine early, while his eldest brother Huang Wenbin completely let himself go at home and enjoyed his vacation.
Every morning, he couldn't wait to go out and meet up with the young men in the village. They would climb trees to catch birds and go to the river to fish. They didn't even go home for lunch and fully enjoyed the close contact with nature.
The summer sun was hot and merciless. Xu Mengyao watched his skin color gradually darken day by day. She shook her head and sighed silently in her heart: He was not tall to begin with, and now he was tanned so dark that he looked like he had just escaped from Africa. I'm afraid her elder brother will never be able to have a premature love relationship.
Wenxia also goes out for a run every day, so Xu Mengyao has to repeatedly remind her not to take off her hat, so as not to get tanned like her older brother. Obviously, the little girl also understands the importance of beauty and ugliness. Her little face is not too dark, but her two little paws are tanned like coal.
Only she and her eldest sister chose to stay at home, doing some housework to escape the scorching heat. They were busy, but also enjoyed the peace and quiet.
It wasn't until Liang Mancang called her at the door of Huang's house that she suddenly remembered the pile of sweet potato sticks for sale, so she hurriedly discussed with Huang's mother about going to town to sell them. Huang's mother nodded in support and helped her collect all the sweet potato sticks. After counting, there were more than 500 of them.
However, as they were about to move, Huang's mother was busy with household chores and could not accompany her to the town to sell the sweet potatoes. Xu Mengyao went to Aunt Yang's house to borrow a cart to transport the sweet potatoes to the town.
But it was clear that she and her eldest sister alone were not up to the task. With her eldest brother Huang Wenbin nowhere to be found, she brought Liang Mancang with her.
"Mancang, can you help me push this cart of sweet potato poles to the town? I promise I'll give you five as a reward after I sell them all, okay?" Xu Mengyao said to Liang Mancang with a smile.
"Okay! That's great. Let's go now!" Liang Mancang agreed without hesitation.
The three of them pushed the cart and set out on the road to the town. After arriving in the town, Xu Mengyao parked the cart in a conspicuous place next to the bus stop, took one from the cart and handed it to Liang Mancang.
"Mancang, thank you for your hard work, have a piece to quench your thirst."
The journey was tiring and sunny. Although the three of them brought cold water, it was not as delicious as the sweet potato. Liang Mancang took it and took a bite impatiently, with a satisfied smile on his face.
At that moment, a bus slowly approached, and passengers began to disembark. Seeing this, Xu Mengyao immediately began to shout, "Sweet and crispy sweet potato sticks! Delicious, inexpensive, and thirst-quenching! Uncles and aunts, buy one and try it!"
People who were already feeling uncomfortable riding the bus in the middle of summer were attracted by the shouting and stopped to ask.
Xu Mengyao expertly explained the characteristics of the sweet potato and offered some to a few people in the front row to try. The crowd, drawn in by Liang Mancang's slurping, began to salivate and began buying.
However, Xu Mengyao forgot to bring change with her, so she had an idea and started using the "buy more, get more discounts" strategy: 8 cents for one, 15 cents for two, and 20 cents for three.
This strategy immediately attracted more customers, many of whom initially wanted to buy just one to try, but upon hearing the price, immediately opted for three. Huang Wenrong, the eldest sister, frantically collected payments and kept accounts, while Xu Mengyao and Liang Mancang were in charge of delivering the sweet sticks, fearing that someone would steal them.
In the hot summer, although Xu Mengyao and her elder sister were wearing hats, their long coats and trousers were already soaked with sweat, and Liang Mancang was even sunburned like a scorched fish.
After more than an hour of hard work, only about ten of the 420 sweet potato sticks they had brought were left. Xu Mengyao decided to pack up and head home. Before leaving, she bought six bottles of soda. After drinking the cold soda, the three of them felt revived and set out on their journey home again.
When they returned to the village, they happened to meet an uncle selling popsicles on a bicycle. She bought four popsicles without hesitation, handed one to Liang Mancang, and asked him to help return the cart to Aunt Yang's house, and asked him to share some of the remaining popsicles with Aunt Yang.
Then, she dragged her tired body and walked home with her elder sister, silently sighing that the long journey in the hot summer was really unbearable.
Along the way, the elder sister called Wenxia's name and asked her to go home. After a while, she heard a response. When they arrived at the door, Wenxia was already waiting for them.
The three sisters sat under the eaves, enjoying the coolness of their popsicles while chatting. Just as they were enjoying their food, their eldest brother, Huang Wenbin, returned. When he saw the popsicles in their hands, his face darkened.
Seeing this, Xu Mengyao quickly explained: "Brother, we just saw someone selling popsicles, but we didn't know when you would be back, so we didn't buy you one for fear that it would melt. But I bought you a soda!" As she said that, she handed the soda in her hand to Huang Wenbin.
The eldest brother took the soda and his expression improved: "Humph, you still have a conscience!"
She handed another bottle to Wenxia, and the last bottle was to be kept for Huang's mother.
As night fell, Xu Mengyao pulled a handful of banknotes from her pocket and handed them to Huang's mother, who was busy in the kitchen. "Mom, this is the money I earned from selling sweets today. I bought some soda and popsicles and still have 25 yuan left."
Huang's mother took the money, her eyes filled with surprise and pride. She patted Xu Mengyao's shoulder gently and said with a smile, "Juan, you really impressed me. In previous years, I just kept those sweet potatoes for my family. I didn't expect you could exchange them for money."
Xu Mengyao was also very happy after hearing what Huang's mother said: "This is nothing. I will continue to make more money to make our family better!"
Huang's mother smiled and nodded.
The next evening, her eldest brother Huang Wenbin returned from a long journey, carrying a bunch of wild apricots in his arms. Although the apricots were so sour that she drooled, Xu Mengyao ate them with gusto.
As she ate, she smiled and said, "Brother, you are so kind. You brought us wild apricots."
Huang Wenbin laughed after hearing her words. He felt that his sister had become sweeter and smarter recently, and she was more likable.
Xu Mengyao knew that her eldest brother had a good nature, and she also understood that if the family wanted to live in harmony and become rich together, everyone needed to work together and support each other, and no one could fall behind.
Therefore, she decided to get closer to her elder brother in the future. Men can be coaxed. To deal with her elder brother, she just needs to be a little sweet-talker and draw a bigger pie in the sky, and she should be able to win him over.
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