Eight days later.
At Zhang Wei's rice stall.
Zhang Wei stretched lazily. Over the past week, business had been quite stable. Aside from one day of rain and yesterday when the city management disrupted the stall, sales had consistently been just over a thousand jin. Of course, this was after deducting the 500 jin cost from Fatty Xie; that didn't count as profit.
The cost price supply had ended the day before, but Fatty Xie hadn't come by yesterday either, which made Zhang Wei suspicious. Was his judgment wrong? Were people not as simple-hearted these days? Was the saying "a timely help" no longer effective? Or had Fatty Xie seen through his inner thoughts?
But it didn't matter; after all, he had sold over 6,000 jin of rice and made 750 yuan in profit over the past week. Zhang Wei's family had already received rice from the supplier two or three times, and now he was solely focused on making the stall business successful.
Sometimes, fate has its way, and there's no need to overthink.
"Aiguo, why do you think Fatty Xie hasn't come to us?" Cheng Lin asked.
Zhang Aiguo replied gloomily, "How would I know? Xiao Wei said he would come!"
As soon as the conversation turned to him, Zhang Wei quickly said, "I only said that ordinary people would come, who knew Fatty... Uncle Xie, you're here!" He noticed Fatty Xie riding a bicycle coming closer.
Fatty Xie parked his bicycle and said loudly with a smile, "I really want to thank you for your help last week. Yesterday, two brothers selling rice nearby came to my restaurant to promote their rice. I saw my brother-in-law about to agree, and I had to negotiate for a long time before I could refuse, just to come here to buy rice from you!"
So that was the reason. Zhang Wei finally understood why Fatty Xie hadn't come yesterday. But there were others selling rice nearby? He hadn't noticed!
Zhang Aiguo welcomed Fatty Xie to sit down, and they exchanged pleasantries for a while.
Fatty Xie said, "This time I'm here to buy rice on behalf of our restaurant. As usual, I'll take 500 jin!"
The quantity could remain the same, but the price couldn't be the same. Zhang Wei didn't want his parents to play the bad cop, so he took the initiative to say, "Uncle Xie, the last time was at cost price to help you, but this time it can't be at cost price. The rice I sold you last time was 0.85 yuan per jin. How about this: I'll give it to you for 0.81 yuan per jin. Is that suitable?"
Both Zhang Aiguo and his wife looked at Fatty Xie, as their son had voiced their thoughts.
Fatty Xie laughed and said, "You little rascal, do you really think your Uncle Xie doesn't know what's good for him? Let's not bother with 0.80; just give it to me at the price you sell to others!"
Seeing Fatty Xie so generous, Zhang Wei was afraid of offending him, so he said, "Uncle, if I say it's 0.80, then it's 0.80. If someone at your restaurant asks about the price when the rice is delivered, I'll just have my dad say it's 0.85." This was clearly a way to squeeze some profit from Fatty Xie.
Zhang Aiguo also laughed, "Don't worry, Brother Xie, I'm tight-lipped."
Fatty Xie laughed heartily, "Good, send me the 500 jin now, and if there's business in the future, I'll bring it to you."
This was the second time Zhang Wei had heard Fatty Xie say this, but he didn't think much of it, always assuming it was just a polite remark.
Not long after his father left to deliver the rice, Zhang Wei suddenly heard a crying sound coming closer. He was puzzled about where the little girl's cries were coming from, and it sounded somewhat familiar.
A dirty little girl was walking towards him, crying and repeatedly calling out, "Daddy, where are you?"
Zhang Wei took a closer look; wasn't this the little girl, Chen Yingying, who wanted to be friends with him? But why was she crying? From what she was saying, did her dad abandon her?
"Chen Yingying, what's wrong?" Zhang Wei hurried over. What if this little child was abducted by human traffickers?
Cheng Lin also ran over and said
Sure! Here's the translation of the provided text into English:
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"There's no other way," Cheng Lin said.
Chen Yingying had been staring at Cheng Lin with a curious expression, not quite sure what she was looking at.
Zhang Wei was a bit puzzled; his mother didn't seem to have anything on her face, and her long hair covered her features, making it hard to see anything. He couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at?"
At that moment, Cheng Lin unconsciously brushed her hair aside, and Chen Yingying exclaimed loudly, "Oh, so Auntie has two eyes too!"
Zhang Wei couldn't help but burst out laughing. How curious could this little girl be!
Seeing his mother looking a bit speechless, Zhang Wei pulled Chen Yingying aside to play. This little girl's innocent remarks were like depth charges, capable of exploding into laughter and confusion at any moment.
After playing for a while, Chen Yingying suddenly asked, "Xiao Wei, what do you want to be when you grow up?"
What did he want to be when he grew up? Zhang Wei had never really thought about it. In his previous life, he had considered it when he was younger, thinking he might want to be a teacher or a scientist. But growing up, he realized that those dreams were overly ambitious.
What about this life? What did he want to be when he grew up? Zhang Wei felt a bit lost. Did it really matter what one became? Living a fulfilling life was what truly mattered, so why worry about the details? He quickly came to terms with it.
"What about you?" Zhang Wei asked with a smile.
Chen Yingying thought for a moment and said, "If I grow up to be a woman, I want to be a doctor."
"What do you mean 'if'?" Zhang Wei asked, confused.
"Look, I'm a girl now, but maybe when I grow up, I'll turn into a boy! I've thought it through—if I grow up to be a boy, I'll join the army and fight the little devils!" Chen Yingying said excitedly.
Zhang Wei laughed and said, "How can a girl turn into a boy?"
"Of course!" Chen Yingying replied innocently, "There's a brother in our neighborhood who turned into a beautiful girl this year!"
Zhang Wei thought to himself that it must be a tomboy. It was normal for girls to change as they grew up, but he wondered what this little girl would turn into in the future.
After a while, Zhang Aiguo returned. Cheng Lin said, "Aiguo, this little girl got separated from her dad. Xiao Wei and I are taking her to the elder uncle's place. You keep an eye on the stall by yourself."
"Okay, hurry back; I can't manage alone with the business," Zhang Aiguo replied.
Zhang Wei took Chen Yingying's hand and followed his mother towards his uncle's rice stall.
...
At Uncle's Rice Stall.
Zhang Wei followed his mother and brought Chen Yingying to his uncle's stall. Along the way, this little girl chattered non-stop, saying things that made everyone want to burst into laughter.
When they arrived at Uncle's rice stall, Zhang Wei noticed that only Aunt Wei Hong was there; Uncle was probably out delivering rice.
From a distance, Zhang Wei shouted, "Auntie!" He was genuinely grateful to Uncle's family; they had supported him with milk powder when he was two years old.
Wei Hong turned around upon hearing his voice and smiled, "Xiao Wei, you're here! Cheng Lin, you're here too... Oh, isn't this girl from Chen Laosan's family? Why is she with you?"
Cheng Lin explained the situation in detail.
Zhang Wei said, "Auntie, do you know where her family lives? We need to get her back quickly; otherwise, her dad will probably be worried sick."
"I know, I know. Just leave her here; when Jianguo comes back, I'll personally take her home," Wei Hong said.
"Thank you, Auntie," Cheng Lin replied.
As Zhang Wei and Cheng Lin were about to leave, Chen Yingying pouted and seemed unhappy. After much coaxing, she finally agreed.
"By the way!" Wei Hong seemed to remember something and said, "In about twenty days, it will be Qingming Festival. You all remember to go back to pay respects to your ancestors."
So soon? As Zhang Wei walked back with his mother, he calculated that it had been over twenty days since their family arrived in Shanghai. Time really flew by!