At six in the morning, it was time to set up the stall.
Zhang Wei sat on his father's newly purchased Phoenix tricycle, while his mother rode the old 28-inch Forever bicycle. As they approached the entrance of the Daylight City neighborhood, they saw Old Yang, the shoemaker, and Xiao Wang, the electrician, setting up their stalls. It seemed that the female tailor, who had been there a few days ago, had changed her location.
Upon seeing Zhang Wei's family, Xiao Wang's expression turned a bit unnatural. Old Yang's gaze unconsciously shifted back and forth between Xiao Wang and Zhang Wei's family.
Feeling particularly cheerful after the recent success of their business, Zhang Wei greeted them casually, "Good morning, Grandpa Yang! Good morning, Uncle Wang!" He acted as if nothing had happened between him and Xiao Wang a few days prior.
Zhang Aiguo and Cheng Lin exchanged secret smiles, thinking their son was quite mischievous for still wanting to provoke Xiao Wang at this time.
In truth, Zhang Wei had no such intention; after all, the victor is always magnanimous!
Old Yang responded with a beaming smile, while Xiao Wang ignored Zhang Wei, sulking inwardly. He thought, *You little brat, don't get too cocky. Just because you've had a couple of good days doesn't mean it will last. Being so close to the vegetable market? That's just asking for trouble. People are probably just drawn in by the novelty; once that wears off, your business will definitely drop! And you dare buy a tricycle? Just wait, you'll regret not saving your fare home in no time!*
Xiao Wang was secretly hoping for Zhang Wei's business to decline.
On the other hand, Zhang Wei was also hopeful, but his hope was for his family's business to continue thriving. Business had indeed been good these past few days, but selling from a stall was never as stable as having a storefront, especially during windy or rainy weather, or when the city management came to clear out stalls. Such days always brought about a significant drop in sales. Regardless, business had to be built step by step. As Zhang Wei set up the stall across the river, Xiao Wang kept a close watch on the Zhang family, eager to see how their business would fare. After the incident with the female tailor, Xiao Wang's own business had suffered greatly, and now he could only hope that Zhang Wei's family would not fare any better.
Old Yang said to Xiao Wang, "Hey, don't keep staring at them. Focus on your own business. They've established themselves now; you should think about how to restore your own reputation."
Xiao Wang shot back, "What's it to you? I can look if I want to; it's none of your business!"
Old Yang fell silent, and Xiao Wang continued to watch for over two hours. It wasn't until he urgently needed to use the restroom that he finally left. When he returned about ten minutes later, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock.
What was going on?
He saw Zhang Aiguo pedaling the tricycle, which was piled high with several bags of rice. Sitting on either side of the tricycle were Zhang Wei and a burly, big-headed fatty.
Xiao Wang exclaimed in surprise to Old Yang, "Am I seeing things? Did they just deliver that much rice all at once?"
Old Yang ignored him and called out to Zhang Aiguo, "Hey, Zhang, delivering rice?"
Sitting in the back seat, Zhang Wei chimed in, "Yeah, delivering five hundred jin."
Xiao Wang felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He had been hoping Zhang Wei's business would decline, yet it seemed they had landed a big customer! He clearly remembered how poorly Zhang Wei's family had been doing when they first arrived; at that time, his own business had been doing well. How could things have flipped so dramatically in just a few days? Now, his own business was suffering.
Was the gap between people really that vast?
---
Not only was Xiao Wang surprised that Zhang Wei's family had landed a big client, but Zhang Wei himself was also quite taken aback by how quickly business had picked up.
After setting up the stall, customers began to trickle in. Zhang Wei carefully tallied the morning's sales and found them to be slightly lower than the previous day, but he knew that was unavoidable; it was unrealistic to expect booming sales every day.
"If only we could land a big order," Zhang Aiguo joked.
Cheng Lin pointed and said, "Stop daydreaming; we've got thirty jin to deliver to Daylight City."
Zhang Wei chuckled to himself. His father's wish wasn't entirely impossible, but typically, big clients had to be actively pursued rather than simply waiting for them to come knocking.
This time, Zhang Wei was mistaken; a big customer really came to him.
Just as Zhang Aiguo had left to deliver rice, a voice with a strong Shanghai accent called out, "I haven't seen you around for a while. Did you just come here?"
Zhang Wei looked up and saw a stout man with a thick neck. According to Zhao Hu's saying, someone with a thick neck is either a boss or a chef! Indeed, Zhang Wei could smell the faint scent of cooking oil on him, which made him suspect that this man was a chef.
"We were selling rice across the river before," Cheng Lin replied with a smile.
The stout man nodded, "No wonder I haven't seen you. I never go there. Can your rice be a bit cheaper?"
Zhang Wei had heard this line several times before; it seemed that changing their stall's location was a wise decision.
"Our rice is already very cheap; look, it's all new rice," Cheng Lin said.
The stout man frowned and hesitated for a moment, then sighed and turned to leave.
Zhang Wei quickly thought on his feet, "How much do you think is appropriate?"
The stout man had already turned one foot to leave but stopped abruptly, looking curiously at the boy speaking in front of him.
With her husband gone, Cheng Lin initially thought that if this deal didn't work out, it would be fine. However, seeing her son signaling her, she smiled and said, "You can say it; if it's reasonable, we can consider it."
"Then I won't hold back," the stout man pondered for a moment and said, "How about seventy-five cents a pound? If not, I'll find someone else."
Seeing that her mother, Cheng Lin, was about to refuse, Zhang Wei quickly said, "That's fine, but you can't tell anyone else." He was also taking a gamble, hoping that this stout man would buy more. Even if he didn't buy much, seventy-five cents would still allow him to earn a few cents per pound, and the profit would just be a bit less.
"I know that," the stout man said, and upon seeing that the deal was done, he beamed, "Send me five hundred pounds to Jinyutang."
Five hundred pounds? Zhang Wei felt a bit deflated; it was less than he had expected. However, it could still earn him twenty to thirty yuan, which was more than his father made in a day at the construction site. He quickly adjusted his mindset.
"Make sure you don't shortchange me; not even a pound less. We'll need to weigh it when we get back," the stout man suddenly thought of something and said.
Zhang Wei immediately replied, "Uncle, don't worry. Our family's business is all about reputation; we will never shortchange you. Feel free to weigh it when you get back!" Five hundred pounds was already a decent business for them, and if it could continue steadily, that would be even better.
"Do you need it urgently? If not, I can wait for my husband to come back and deliver it to you," Cheng Lin said politely.
The stout man waved his hand, "It's fine, I have nothing to do. I can wait here for a while."
Zhang Wei quickly handed a stool to the stout man, who took it and sat down without hesitation.
After a while, Zhang Aiguo returned riding a tricycle. When he saw an extra person by the stall, he looked puzzled at his wife and son.
"Hey, you take care; come again next time!" Cheng Lin said to an old lady who had just bought ten pounds of rice. Turning back, she saw Zhang Aiguo and quickly said, "Hurry and deliver five hundred pounds of rice to this big brother; the money is already paid!"
The stout man stood up and said, "Load it onto the car and let's go."
Zhang Aiguo quickly complied, loading the five bags of rice that Cheng Lin had already prepared onto the tricycle.
"Dad, I'll go with you," Zhang Wei said, eager to establish a long-term business relationship. He had never heard of Jinyutang and didn't know what it was for, but the stout man looked like a chef, so he decided to go take a look and see if he could win more business.
"Hey, big brother, if you don't mind the dirt, you can sit on the side of the car," Zhang Aiguo said as he wiped the surface of the vehicle.
"I don't mind, I don't mind," the stout man waved his hand and casually lifted Zhang Wei onto the car.
Jinyutang was indeed a bit far from the rice stall. After passing by Riguang City, Zhang Wei acted
Fatty Xie was first taken aback, then quickly showed a grateful expression and said, "Then I thank you all! Old... Old Zhang, is that what I call you?"
Zhang Aiguo nodded in response.
"I've decided to make a friend in you! If I have any business in the future, I'll definitely bring it to you!" Fatty Xie said with determination. After turning a corner, he pointed ahead and said, "We're here; stop the car."
Zhang Wei took a good look at Jinyutang; it was indeed quite large.
"Just help me move the rice to the warehouse," Fatty Xie pointed to the warehouse location, and Zhang Aiguo started moving the rice.
Fatty Xie led the way, while Zhang Wei didn't follow to watch his father move the rice. He felt a bit pleased. Since Fatty Xie accepted their kindness, it seemed that this business deal was good to go!
After a while, his father returned alone to move more rice. Zhang Wei asked, "Where's Fatty Xie?"
"What Fatty Xie? Call him Uncle!" Zhang Aiguo said in dissatisfaction. "What did you say about cost price earlier? Won't that be a loss?"
"I only called him that because he wasn't here!" Zhang Wei whispered, then explained, "From what I've observed, he drives a hard bargain on rice, which likely means he's at a dead end. At this time, if we help him out, he will definitely feel grateful and will actively come back to buy rice from us in a week."
"What if he doesn't come back to buy rice in a week?" Zhang Aiguo hesitated.
"Dad, you can't think like that," Zhang Wei said with a smile. "He owes us a favor, and most people will come back for that. In other words, even if he doesn't show up, it just means we put in a bit more effort each day. But if it works out, that's a stable business of five hundred pounds every day!"
Zhang Aiguo's eyes brightened up, "Right!"
Zhang Wei chuckled inwardly. Given the simplicity of human nature at this time, he was confident that there was an eighty to ninety percent chance of success. By then, he certainly wouldn't be selling at seventy cents a pound; he had already started to think about what to say later.
Switching up the stall location was definitely worth it; otherwise, how could there be such a big business from Fatty Xie? Zhang Wei felt grateful again.