The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 720 - 705: I Am Not a Slut 16

Waiting for the whole family to return, Mr. Jiang waved his hand and declared: "Today we’re happy, we’re not cooking, let’s all go out to eat, it’s on me."

That’s how it went, the family dined out once again.

Back home, Anning handed over the property title to Mr. Jiang: "Dad, please keep this safe for me."

Upon seeing Anning do that, An Ping hastily passed her property title as well: "Dad, please keep mine safe too."

Mr. Jiang’s face bloomed into a smile: "Alright, I’ll take good care of them for you, rest assured, they will be safely kept."

Back in her own room, Third asked Anning: "Second sister, why did you give the property title to Dad?"

Anning flicked Third on the forehead: "Mom and Dad have worked hard their whole lives to buy houses for the three of us sisters. Holding these property titles makes us happy, but the old folks might feel a bit left out. Anyways, the titles are in our names, so it doesn’t really matter who holds onto them. Consider it a way to cheer up mom and dad."

That made sense.

Third nodded but still thought her second sister was exceptionally sharp to have thought of this.

With the houses bought, Mr. Jiang warned the family not to mention it to anyone, to avoid the folks back in their hometown getting wind of it.

Even Mrs. Jiang, who loved to chat with others, kept her mouth tightly shut when she went out.

Even if Aunt Sun bragged to Mrs. Jiang several times about how great Liu Fang’s partner was, and that Wu Fan had visited the Liu Family bringing lots of gifts, Mrs. Jiang, envious as she was, did not brag to Aunt Sun about their two new properties.

After buying the houses, it was time to renovate. Mr. Jiang was busy with work, Mrs. Jiang didn’t understand these matters, An Nan was occupied with setting up the bun shop, and An Ping had school, so the task of looking after the house renovations was left to Anning.

Anning, having not done this for generations, felt quite intrigued by the process. She started by visiting the market during the day to check out renovation materials and took orders for tasks in the evenings, keeping herself almost insanely busy every day.

She ran around for two days, gathering information through various channels, learning about handymen who did odd renovation jobs.

Nowadays, many renovation companies claim to offer all-inclusive services, but they don’t have enough workers themselves. They also hire people to do specific tasks, like laying floors or plastering ceilings, and due to a lack of manpower, can sometimes delay your project.

Aiming to save money while also wanting quality work done in a tight timeframe, Anning decided not to go through a renovation company.

She knew how to design and draft, so doing her own planning and directly managing the workers would even be quicker than hiring a company.

She had already calculated the work schedule and negotiated material costs, so she began looking for a construction team.

Anning was exceptionally knowledgeable about renovation work, knowing exactly what should be done first and last – in fact, she was even better at tasks like tiling and sculpting than professional workers, but it was not her place to do such work.

When the construction team arrived, Anning discussed the details with them, her professionalism in every aspect clear, so they didn’t dare to slack off.

Anning didn’t bargain over price; she understood the laborers had tough jobs and earning a living wasn’t easy, so her only demand was quality work.

The team she hired were considered skilled and reputable professionals in their field, and the work they did was both fast and impressive.

While Anning was busy with the house, An Nan was occupied with fixing up her own shop.

Jiang Anan’s bun shop took about seven or eight days to renovate, and then it was aired out for another dozen or so days.

During this time, Jiang Anan had quit her job.

She spent her days managing the renovation, followed by sourcing materials.

Being a meticulous girl, Jiang Anan planned to use good quality ingredients for her buns. She had previously worked at a restaurant that was quite conscientious with their ingredients, using decent flour as well as meat and vegetables, so she contacted their supplier to get those products.

In addition, she visited a supplier of fresh eggs, found their produce very fresh, tried some at home, and was satisfied, deciding to use them as her supplier.

While she was doing this, Mr. Jiang took care of the bureaucracy, dealing with business and tax services to secure the business license and such.

To open a restaurant, one also had to pass the health department’s standards and acquire health permits – there was, in short, a great deal of various things to be dealt with.

Having lived in the city for over twenty years, Mr. Jiang knew a few people, and these matters were taken care of with his connections.

All the required permits were sorted, and Jiang Anan picked a day to open the bun shop.

The opening day had the Jiang family both nervous and excited.

It was their family’s very first business venture, and everyone was rallying behind it with fervor.

Early in the morning, Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Jiang had already made their way to the shop, and even Anning and An Ping were dragged along.

Once there, Anning and An Ping started cleaning, while Mr. Jiang and Mrs. Jiang began helping Anan to wrap and steam buns.

Anan planned to have Mrs. Jiang help her for a few days first, and if business was good, she’d quickly hire two assistants.

By around six o’clock, the buns were loaded into the steamer, and twenty minutes later, they were ready.

This coincided with the time students were heading to school.

Many middle school students who passed by the shop caught the waft of freshly steamed buns, sending a tantalizing scent far and wide.

Some students didn’t have breakfast because they had to get up early for school; they usually bought their breakfast near the school.

Most students would make do with some milk and bread, while others might buy pancakes and the like.

Today, some of them noticed the newly opened bun shop, lured by the appetizing smell, and decided to try something new.

Before long, a group of kids gathered around, buying buns two or three at a time.

The buns freshly out of the steamer were sold out in no time.

After the middle schoolers, it was time for the elementary students to go to school.

Most of the younger kids were accompanied to school by their parents, many of whom hadn’t had breakfast yet. Enticed by the smell, they came over, not only buying for their children but also getting some for themselves. Some parents, after dropping their kids off, had to rush to work, so they bought the buns to eat at their workplace.

In any case, the bun shop was buzzing the entire morning.

Anan, along with Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, were busy steaming buns, while Anning and An Ping were at the counter serving customers, all the way until around ten o’clock. By then, the locals had bought their breakfasts, and the Jiang family could finally take a breather.

Mrs. Jiang, holding her back, said to Anan, "You desperately need to hire someone. I can’t keep this up; it’s way too hectic."

Anning had home renovations to deal with, so after eating a few buns and drinking some water, she went off to the new house. An Ping also had to attend classes, so she quickly took some buns with her and left.

Anan and Mr. Jiang tidied up the shop before heading home.

Back home, Mrs. Jiang suddenly thought of someone.

She asked Anan, "Do you remember your cousin?"

Anan pondered, "Which cousin?"

"It’s Dazhu," Mrs. Jiang reminded.

Then Anan recalled, "What about Dazhu?"

Dazhu was the nickname of Anan’s cousin, Feng Ke, son of Mrs. Jiang’s younger sister. Mrs. Jiang’s family had one older brother, one younger brother, and two sisters. The elder sister, Zhou Chunzhi, married into the Feng family and gave birth to Feng Ke. At the age of eight, Feng Ke suffered a fever that damaged his brain. He wasn’t stupid, just a bit slow to react to things, but he was good at manual work and was a sincere and honest kid.

Despite that, Feng Ke was a tough case.

His schooling wasn’t successful, he had no qualifications or diplomas, struggled with communication, and was not the quickest to catch on. Who would want to hire him for work? At over twenty years of age, he was still living off his parents.

Zhou Chunzhi was incredibly worried, nearly driven to despair over her son.

"How about letting Dazhu steam buns for you?"

Mrs. Jiang then asked Anan.