Every year when I return to school for the National Day holiday, there are new decorations at the school gate to celebrate the National Day.
The dirt road in front of the school gate had just been swept. Two tall pine trees, about the height of a person, stood on either side of the wooden gate. They had been dug up from the back mountain, and their branches were covered with red ribbons. The fresh scent of pine needles wafted through the air, like two "red and green" umbrellas supporting the school gate.
Above the wooden gate at the school entrance, the horizontal beam is covered with the four large characters "Celebrating National Day" written on red paper, and a brand-new five-star red flag is placed next to it.
Children who arrive early, carrying their schoolbags, always like to reach out and touch the pine branches. The old dirt road at the school gate is given a festive boost by these two green pines.
The pine branches at the school gate have slowly lost their green color, and the red ribbons tied to them have become worn by the wind. When the first snow covers the campus, this semester will be over.
They spent another National Day holiday here in 1991. In July 1992, Fang Dongqiang and Fang Yu graduated from primary school.
According to the normal procedure, after graduating from primary school, they would continue their studies at a junior high school not far from the primary school in this village.
Fang Dongqiang had excellent grades, and with the help of his aunt and uncle, he was able to go to junior high school in the county town, fulfilling his childhood dream of studying in the county town.
Fang Meili and Yuan Xinkang have made money in the past few years and bought a house in the county town. They specially reserved a room for Fang Dongqiang as well.
Fang Damiao insisted on staying in a room behind the wholesale department. "I'm a rough man, I can't stay here. You've already reserved a room for Dongqiang, I can't come here anymore. I'll stay here and watch over the shop and warehouse."
After Yu Jihong's family bought a television, she saw more of the outside world, especially the TV series "The Outsider Girl". She thought that if she were still alone, she would definitely be one of these women who went out to work.
Why didn't I have so many opportunities to go out back then? If I had, my life might have been completely different.
They had originally planned to find a breakfast stall in another city after Fang Yu went to junior high school and lived at school. Now, Yu Jihong's determination to go out and see the world and earn more money has only grown stronger.
This summer, Yu Jihong took out sanitary napkins and underwear and taught Fang Yu how to use them.
“Fang Yu, Mom originally wanted to wait until you got your period, teach you how to use it, and then go out. But I don’t know when you will come. I haven’t made any money growing vegetables at home these past few years, and I want to go out as soon as possible.”
"Mom, you can go out without worry. I'm in junior high school now, and I usually live at school. When I come back, I can cook a simple meal for myself."
"Okay, my Fang Yu is so sensible."
Following Yu Jihong's instructions, Fang Yu tore off the release paper from the back of the sanitary napkin and stuck it to her underwear. "Mom, this is so simple, why do you need to teach me?"
"Mom is just worried that you'll panic when you get your period. Don't worry, it's something every girl goes through when she grows up. Mom will buy a few more packs to keep on hand. If you get your period next semester, you can stick them on your underwear like this."
“Yes,” Fang Yu nodded.
Before leaving, Yu Jihong added another door latch to the house and bought a padlock, instructing Fang Yu to lock the padlock to the door latch before going to bed at night.
In the nights before leaving home, Yu Jihong slept with Fang Yu. "We had to write letters often. After Mom found a business opportunity, she would find a phone number nearby that you could contact us immediately and write to tell you not to associate with classmates who were not nice to you at school."
"Yes, I know."
"Fang Yu, although you are still young, Mom still has to tell you not to date boys, no matter how much you like him. You are still young and don't understand, okay?"
Fang Yu nodded.
"This is very important, remember?"
"I've got it."
“Look at Aunt Dongqiang, she studied hard, got a good job, and found such a good husband.”
"Mom, I understand."
"Don't pay attention to the men in the village. When you come back on the weekend, stay at home after dark and don't go out. Make sure to lock the door early, and make sure to lock the inner lock of the lock that was installed later."
Every night there are always so many things to say.
When school started, Yu Jihong and Fang Sandi took Fang Yu to school to complete the boarding procedures, and then went outside to find a breakfast stall.
When they arrived in the provincial capital, they were dazzled by the various traffic and the buildings with their "department store" signs lit up. People walked by in a hurry, and occasionally someone wearing leather shoes would pass by, the soles of their shoes making a crisp "tap-tap" sound as they hit the ground.
The shops along the street were lined up one after another. Yu Jihong would carefully look at each shop as she passed by, taking in everything.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. The window of a shop on the street was sparkling clean, and inside were tables covered with white tablecloths. In the center of each table was a narrow-necked porcelain vase with two pink roses in it, the petals still glistening with tiny water droplets.
"Third brother, look, look!" Yu Jihong quickly tugged at Fang Sandi's arm, her voice filled with surprise.
Fang San Di hurriedly turned his head and looked in the direction she was pointing. After looking for a while, he asked, "What are you looking at?"
“That table!” Yu Jihong pointed to the dining table in the shop window. “They also put flowers on their dining table, just like we do at home! They put a vase of flowers on the dining table. You see, people in big cities do this too. You used to criticize me for that.”
Fang Sandi leaned closer to the glass and looked inside. Suddenly, he chuckled. "What kind of shop is this? It looks high-end. You said it's like our house?" He glanced at the neatly dressed waiters inside, then looked down at his mud-splattered cloth shoes, and quietly took a half-step back.
Yu Jihong was unconvinced and muttered under her breath, "How is it different? It's just a vase of flowers on the table. Our family has had flowers on the dining table for many years."
"Okay, you're ahead of your time, you're so stylish. Let's shop all day today, and tomorrow we'll go find some food stalls."
“I know, we’re here to make money. We’ve come all this way, so I need to see the big city. Once we find a place to work, we won’t have time for anything else. Next year, when Fang Yu has her summer vacation, I’ll bring her over to see the city too.”
"Next year? We don't even know if we can find any business this year," Fang San Di said, not so optimistic.
"It's definitely possible. Look at all these people on the street. They all need to eat. Not everyone will go to fancy restaurants. Business is something people have to find."
As for what to make, they had discussed it at home over the past few years and decided to start with a street stall, as it had lower costs. They mainly sold fried dough sticks and glutinous rice balls. Initially, they wanted to make sesame seed cakes, and she and her third brother Fang even learned how to make them for a few days.
"Hold the dough in your left hand, sprinkle sesame seeds in your right hand, and stick it on quickly and accurately, making sure the fire doesn't burn it." The baker explained as he demonstrated how to press the dough onto the oven wall.
The charcoal fire in the tin stove was burning brightly, the orange-red flames licking the stove wall. The freshly placed flatbread sizzled and soon released a fragrant aroma of wheat.
Following her master's example, Yu Jihong had just brought her hand close to the furnace when a wave of heat rushed over her, instantly burning the back of her hand. She hurriedly withdrew her hand.
Fang San Di was the same; the dough for the sesame seed cake didn't stick properly and fell into the charcoal fire with a "thud," sending sparks flying and burning the back of his hand.
As their hands grew increasingly red from the heat, Fang San Di said that it would be better to stay home, farm, and do some processing work.
Undeterred, Yu Jihong looked for other things to do, but ultimately decided that making fried dough sticks and glutinous rice balls was the most suitable.
They went out before dawn, wandered around for several days, looked for several places where there were breakfast stalls in the morning, and finally chose a place without fried dough stick stalls, and rented a cheap house nearby.
Once she had settled on a place to stay, Yu Jihong asked nearby shops for their phone numbers and wrote to Fang Yu, telling her the address and phone number.
They inquired about the items they needed for setting up a stall and bought a coal stove, an iron pot, a rice steamer, and even a tricycle from the secondhand market.
Yu Jihong and Fang Sandi were both excited and nervous about opening their first breakfast stall. The night before, they discussed how much glutinous rice to soak and how much flour to knead.
"Make a small batch the first time to avoid waste."
"good."
Soak the glutinous rice, knead the dough for the fried dough sticks, and prepare everything you'll need for the next day.
"Third brother, are you asleep?" Yu Jihong tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
"No."
"I can't sleep either. Will anyone buy it if I make it tomorrow?"
"I didn't know at first, but I'll find out once I go and set it up. I should go to bed early, I have to get up early tomorrow."
"Um."
Before dawn the next day, the charcoal fire in the stove was burning brightly, and the soaked glutinous rice was poured into a wooden bucket to steam.
They pulled their tricycle to the location where they would set up their stall. They had already scouted the spot a few days earlier and placed it in an empty space where no one had set up a stall before.
Other stalls arrived one after another, and seeing that they were newcomers, they all took a few more glances at their stalls.
"I wonder if we can set it up here?" Fang San Di glanced at the way they were looking at him.
"If they can set up a stall, why can't we? Let each business do its own thing."
Yu Jihong walked to a spot where pedestrians could pass by, looked at the stall, and pulled the cardboard sign that read "Fried Dough Sticks" and "Cifantuan" a little closer, "so that passersby can see it clearly."
As more and more pedestrians appeared on the street, some people looked over, and Yu Jihong called out, "Fried dough sticks, rice balls, freshly fried dough sticks, freshly wrapped rice balls!"
Upon hearing Yu Jihong's shouts, Fang Sandi turned his head to the side and smiled, "Where did you learn these sales pitches from?"
"There's no need to learn this. Just tell the truth: it's made by frying and wrapping on the spot."
"Yes, yes, that's being realistic."
Yu Jihong's calls also attracted some customers. "We just made these. Try them first. If you like them, come back next time." Yu Jihong was the one greeting the customers, while Fang Sandi was the one doing the work, making and flipping the fried dough sticks.
They didn't prepare much on the first day, and by the time everyone else was packing up, they had sold out.
“If we sell out, we’ll still make a profit!” Yu Jihong patted the bag of money hanging in front of him. “Third brother, how many pounds of flour did you put in for the fried dough sticks? And what about the oil, coal briquettes, glutinous rice… We’ll count the money when we get back and then we’ll know how much we’ve made.” On the way back with his tricycle after packing up, Yu Jihong calculated his profits.
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