Chapter 137: Nie Qiu, Sorry ①
“I said I wanted to reason with him, and you said their family was rich.” Nie Aifang cried, “I said to ask the teacher to change your seat, but no one was willing to be your deskmate. You don’t know, at that time I was thinking, after this semester, Mom will take you back to our hometown to study. Our countryside schools also have many good teachers! The enrollment rate in countryside schools isn’t good, but you’re not studying hard anyway, so it doesn’t matter if you can get into high school or not.”
“Qiu Qiu, don’t teach that scoundrel anymore. I’ll talk to Aunt Li, I’ll say it,” Nie Aifang looked at Nie Qiu and pleaded, “That kid will definitely play pranks, don’t teach him.”
Nie Aifang’s tears made Nie Qiu unable to refuse. This mother doted on her daughter, but like many peasant women in the countryside, she didn’t understand anything. She had her own cowardice; she could only escape, as much as possible, to prevent her family from being hurt further. Nie Qiu smiled, wiped Nie Aifang’s tears with her hand, and nodded, “Okay, I won’t teach him anymore.”
Although Li Kai didn’t hurt her, hearing Nie Aifang’s words, she seemed to empathize. No wonder Nie Qiu was so introverted. She couldn’t help but imagine a shy girl whose pants were stuck to her stool by a classmate’s prank during school. Amidst the mocking gazes of many classmates, she stood up forcefully, tearing a large hole in her pants. Ashamed, she didn’t dare to walk home, only waiting to lie on her desk until dark. Then, going home, she accidentally fell asleep on the desk. When her mother found her, her mother’s mood, her child’s grievance, Nie Aifang’s tears made Nie Qiu want to cry.
Li Kai… was he that malicious before?
If it weren’t for ‘Nie Qiu’s’ change, would Li Kai have continued to bully Nie Qiu like this? In Li Kai’s eyes, what was the previous Nie Qiu? A doll? Or not even a doll? Inside, it seemed like a flame was burning away the budding sprouts of emotion, and the inner pain was like empathizing with the previous ‘Nie Qiu’ – grievance, heartache, helplessness, all sorts of emotions surged into her heart.
After comforting Nie Aifang, Nie Qiu and Nie Aifang ate pomelo together. Nie Qiu helped Nie Aifang wash the dishes, and Nie Aifang boiled water for Nie Qiu to bathe and wash her hair. After they finished, they started calculating the day’s accounts together. After calculating, they each went back to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning, Nie Qiu and Nie Aifang went to the warehouse to load goods together. Zhang Qitian, whom they met, also accompanied them. Because they needed to discuss the matter of ordering vegetables from the restaurant, Zhang Qitian invited Nie Qiu to ride in his minivan. Nie Aifang had no objection; in her opinion, riding in a minivan was much safer than riding in her tricycle.
Nie Qiu got into Zhang Qitian’s minivan, and Zhang Qitian asked, “How is it? What did your great-uncle and the others say?”
Nie Qiu smiled and said, “My great-uncle said he can cooperate with you.” A merchant’s nature doesn’t change in any era, including modern times. If she doesn’t do it, someone else will. The catering industry is inherently a high-profit industry, and she had thought about it. As for becoming famous, as long as they sign an agreement with the restaurant first, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
The restaurant wants to be the sole leader, so they will keep secrets. If Zhang Qitian wants to monopolize the market, he won’t reveal the supply details. She just needs to be careful not to be discovered taking the vegetables from the space within the jade, otherwise, she doesn’t know if she’ll be mistaken for a spirit.
“He said he can sell the vegetables to you at the market retail price, but the profits need to be split equally.” This was the method Nie Qiu came up with. In the end, it was just asking Zhang Qitian to help her sell vegetables.
Zhang Qitian drove, thought for a moment, and then nodded, “Okay, I’ll do this business partnership!”
Upon arriving at the warehouse, the three of them got into the car. Zhang Qitian stepped forward and opened the warehouse door. From behind the door, he brought out a platform scale and placed it between the vegetables and the car. Then, he was responsible for placing the vegetables on the scale one by one. Nie Aifang was responsible for stating the name and weight of the vegetables on the scale and then carrying the vegetables to the car. Nie Qiu was responsible for recording the name and weight of the vegetables.
In less than half an hour, two carloads of vegetables were loaded. Nie Aifang smiled and said, “We can open for business earlier today.”
Zhang Qitian also smiled, “Let’s go! Get to the vegetable market early, wash and trim the vegetables, and put them out sooner. Selling an extra ten or twenty catties is good.” In the past, when Nie Qiu wasn’t around, Nie Aifang always did the recording, and Zhang Qitian was responsible for moving the vegetables, so more time was wasted. This time, it was half an hour earlier.
Even at five or six in the morning, there were people buying vegetables, just fewer of them. Some people have to go to work, so they buy vegetables before work and cook breakfast at home. Others have no other time to buy vegetables, so they squeeze in the morning.
After setting up the stands, Zhang Qitian and their family’s vegetable stand both opened for business, which was considered a good omen for today.
