novelraw Chapter 317 - 314: I Can Make Money Too
Chapter 317 - 314: I Can Make Money Too
After learning that Wu Shufang had come to East Market for surgery, Li Xiangyang and Old Li also bought some things and went to visit her.
Zhou Dashan and his son thanked them profusely.
Once Wu Shufang felt a little better, Lin Guoliang and Zhou Shitou left together, leaving Zhou Dashan at the hospital to look after his wife.
When the two arrived in Shilian, they told Wu Shufen and Lin Changyou about Wu Shufang’s condition. The couple breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the surgery was a success. Deciding to take Little Douzi home, they packed their things and went to East Market together.
After visiting Wu Shufang at the hospital, Wu Shufen and her husband left and headed to the pastry shop in the south of the city.
They saw Lin Lan and Tong Xinglan both busy behind the counter, nonstop, bagging puffed rice candy, sachima, nougat brittle, honey bread, and more.
Little Douzi happily ran into the shop. "Mama, I’m back! Grandma and Grandpa are here too."
Lin Lan smiled at him. "Good boy. Take Grandma and Grandpa inside to sit and rest for a bit. Mama will be there as soon as I’m done."
Wu Shufen hadn’t expected the business to get so busy in just the few days she’d been gone. She and her husband went to the workroom in the back, where they saw all the ovens fired up, with Qiaohui and Lin Yuezhen bustling about as well.
Wu Shufen quickly put down her luggage and went to help.
Seeing that everyone was occupied, Lin Changyou took Little Douzi to Limin Road to chat with Old Li.
After more than half an hour, the number of customers finally dwindled. Lin Lan asked Tong Xinglan to mind the shop while she went to the workroom.
Wu Shufen looked at her with concern. "How can you be so busy?"
Lin Lan nodded. "The customers started flooding in yesterday. One scale wasn’t enough, so I had to go buy another one."
She had long anticipated that business would get busier closer to the New Year, but she never imagined it would be like this. The pent-up consumer demand from the public was simply explosive.
Vegetable Market Street was even more packed, shoulder to shoulder with people. The crowds of buyers and sellers were at their absolute peak, everyone busy preparing for the New Year.
Wu Shufen said happily, "Business is booming! Isn’t this what you hope for when you open a shop?" Then her tone shifted. "But being too busy isn’t good either. If you work yourselves sick, you’re the ones who will suffer."
"It’s mainly because of the New Year. It won’t be this busy after the holiday," Lin Lan said, looking at her. "Mom, how about you and Dad stay and help me for a few days? You can go back on the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth."
These past two days, they hadn’t even had time to cook. They ate at a restaurant in the evening and had tofu pudding with rice and steamed dishes at Yang Liying’s place for lunch.
Seeing how busy they were, Wu Shufen decided to stay and lend Lin Lan a hand. "Alright. We’ve already prepared everything for the New Year back home. We’ll stay here and go back to Shilian with your third brother when his vacation starts."
Lin Lan happily linked her arm with her mother’s. "Thanks, Mom!"
"Why are you thanking your own mother!" Wu Shufen gave her a chiding look, then after a thought, she asked, "Little Lan, when are you planning to move to the house on Yucai Road?"
"We were originally planning to move on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month. But my eldest brother said you and Dad wouldn’t be coming to East Market until after the New Year, and if we moved, there would be no one to look after the pigs in the sty. So we’re waiting for you to get here before we move."
Lin Lan planned to let Wu Shufen and her husband live in the courtyard house at Lexing and raise the pigs for them.
Wu Shufen nodded. "I’ll go buy some groceries to cook for you all, and I’ll stew some soup for your aunt to help her recover."
"Having you cook for us would be wonderful. We’ve been eating out for two days straight, and home-cooked meals still taste the best." As she spoke, Lin Lan took some money from her bag and pressed it into her mother’s hand, watching as she left for the market with a basket.
Wu Shufen went out and bought a black fish to stew for Wu Shufang. When she returned to Lexing that evening, she saw that Lin Lan hadn’t even had time to prepare the flour for tangyuan, so she quickly soaked some glutinous rice to make it.
She roasted black sesame seeds, peanuts, and walnuts, then crushed them into a fine powder. After melting some lard, she poured in chopped brown sugar, stir-fried it evenly, and transferred it to an earthenware bowl to cool. Just like that, the fragrant brown sugar tangyuan filling was ready.
「Two days later.」
Wu Shufang was discharged from the hospital, looking much healthier. She and her husband showered Lin Changyou, his wife, Lin Lan, and the others with thanks.
Wu Shufen held Wu Shufang’s hands and urged her to take good care of herself, promising that the days ahead would only get better.
Wu Shufang nodded again and again. The couple rested at Lin Lan’s house for a day before Zhou Shitou came to pick them up.
「In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month.」
Business at all the shops was impossibly busy. At the clothing store, the two Little Xue sisters and Yongmei were completely swamped. Some clothes were bought by customers before they could even be ironed.
「On the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month.」
Lin Guozhu’s vacation began, and Lin Lan received a shipment of New Year’s goods from Old Chen.
Lin Lan quickly had Lin Guozhu help her send a return gift to Old Chen via the post office: ham, sausages, cured pork, and cured chicken.
That night, Lin Changyou told her that he and her mother planned to return to Shilian early the next morning. He reminded her to come home early on the second day of the New Year.
Early on the morning of the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Lan and Li Xiangyang packed some New Year’s goods, saw her parents and brother off at the station, and then rushed to the shop.
As more and more workplaces closed for the holiday, the stock they thought would last until spring was completely sold out by the afternoon of the twenty-eighth.
At the department store, items like quartz watches, wall clocks, irons, radios, and hair dryers were also nearly sold out. As for tape recorders, not a single one was left.
Zhou Xiaohong’s family hadn’t prepared as much stock as Lin Lan’s, and they sold out completely on the twenty-sixth.
The couple was grinning from ear to ear. They told Lin Lan that customers had even bought the clothes they had set aside for themselves. Having gotten a taste of success, Zhou Xiaohong was already planning to go big next year.
Over at the pastry shop, Lin Yuezhen wasn’t feeling well. Worried she might be pregnant, Lin Lan decided to simply close up shop, hand out wages and bonuses, and let everyone start their holiday vacation to get some rest.
Lin Lan handed a red envelope to Tong Xinglan. "To be honest, I didn’t have very high hopes for you at first, but your performance has exceeded all my expectations. There’s 88.8 yuan in here as a bonus for you. Starting next year, you’ll be on a regular salary."
"I get one too?!" Tong Xinglan grinned, taking the red envelope from Lin Lan. She was so happy she threw her arms around her. "Hahaha, I can earn my own money now! Thank you, cousin!"
Watching them from the side, Qiaohui secretly wiped away a tear. Her salary and bonus had paid for Wu Shufang’s medical bills, and she even had a few dozen yuan left over.
She was incredibly grateful to Lin Lan’s family. ’Without them,’ she thought, ’my mom would surely be gone, and I’d still be stuck in that poor mountain village.’
Lin Lan smiled and patted her on the back. "Silly girl. You’ll be able to earn even more money in the future."
"Mm!" Tong Xinglan nodded emphatically. "Cousin, I’d like to go home tomorrow and come back after the New Year."
Lin Lan readily agreed. "Okay. We’re reopening on the sixth day of the New Year, so just come back on the afternoon of the fifth."
Tong Xinglan delightedly grabbed Qiaohui’s arm, inviting her to spend the New Year at her home.
"I’ll just spend the New Year here at my cousin’s house," Qiaohui said with a smile, declining her offer.
"I’ll be back on the fifth to keep you company," Tong Xinglan said, pulling her along to help pack her bags for the trip home.
The next morning, Lin Lan and Qiaohui took Tong Xinglan to the station. They entrusted her to Li Hongmei, asking for her help in getting Tong Xinglan to the ferry crossing.
Li Hongmei happily agreed. A few days prior, she had bought clothes and a watch from Lin Lan’s shop. The discount Lin Lan gave her had saved her several dozen yuan and earned her a great deal of face with her family.