Chapter 35: What I’m Good At ⑤
That’s right! Li Kai, like him, likes beautiful girls. How could he possibly like a young girl with a few light bulbs hanging on her forehead and not a very good appearance.
Li Kai glanced at Luo Xu and turned to leave. After a moment of looking at each other, the boys followed.
Nie Qiu massaged Nie Aifang’s feet and said, “Mom, don’t be sad. We’ll go buy things tomorrow. Anyway, all our old things are worn out. Out with the old, in with the new, right? Tomorrow is Sunday, I’ll go with you to buy them.”
Nie Aifang forced a smile and said, “Qiu Qiu, you don’t know, if we were to buy all the tables, chairs, ingredients, and seasonings, the money we earned this week would be almost spent. We finally thought of a way to make money, and we finally managed to earn a little more, but…”
Nie Qiu interrupted Nie Aifang with a smile, “Mom, you have to give something to get something. If we do a good job, we’ll definitely earn the money back. Besides, with new equipment, more people will come to eat our food! The old tables and chairs are worn out and dirty. Now that we’re buying new ones, even white-collar workers will be willing to sit down and eat our barbecue.” Nie Qiu smiled and lifted Nie Aifang’s foot. She was also very tired from walking so far and pushing the bicycle for so long, but she still let Nie Aifang soak her feet first.
After pouring water into the bathroom, Nie Qiu poured some hot water into the foot basin and began to soak her own feet. After Nie Aifang tidied up the room, she walked to Nie Qiu, squatted down, and massaged Nie Qiu’s feet as well.
Nie Qiu retracted her foot a little shyly, but Nie Aifang held it, “Your feet need a good massage too. You walked so far, if you don’t massage them, they’ll hurt when you wake up tomorrow morning.”
Nie Qiu paused and let Nie Aifang massage her feet. Nie Aifang’s palms had thick calluses, which could be felt even through her soles, but even so, Nie Aifang was still very gentle and warm.
When Nie Qiu slept at night and entered the space again, she no longer felt the strangeness she had before. She sat on the grassland, then lay down on it. Although she was no longer sleepy when she entered this space, she exceptionally enjoyed the scenery here.
Under the grand natural scenery, here, only she could appreciate this breathtakingly beautiful landscape. It was so beautiful that it made one want to be immersed in it.
After a good night’s sleep in the space, Nie Qiu sat up when she heard the alarm clock and said to the empty space, “Dao, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll help you.” Help you return to your own physical body, and in return, you must help me make money.
After saying this, Nie Qiu returned to her bed, thinking of the necklace. The quilt was neatly folded. This was the first benefit she discovered from sleeping in the space, which was that after she got up every morning… she didn’t have to fold her quilt.
She wanted money, she wanted money! She had never been so desperate.
Regardless of whether Dao’s words were true or false, Nie Qiu also wanted Nie Aifang to do business in a safer place, for example, renting a stall in the market. She didn’t want Nie Aifang to encounter those people again when she wasn’t around.
However, the rent in such markets was not low. The monthly rent was generally around three to four hundred. How could Nie Aifang be willing? Moreover, selling barbecue was something that sold better at night markets.
She wanted to use the Jade Spirit’s existence to make money, but she also understood that in human history, there was an eternal truth called equivalent exchange. No one would help others endlessly and without compensation.
She needed the Jade Spirit’s help, so she had to help the Jade Spirit. That was all.
Today was Saturday. Because the Senior High School Entrance Examination followed the third year of junior high, classes 1 to 5 of the third year of junior high were all having make-up classes. Only classes 6 to 10 were not. After getting up, Nie Qiu saw that Nie Aifang was already awake and sitting by the table sewing plastic flowers, which was not surprising.
Nie Qiu sighed. After persuading her many times, Nie Qiu stopped trying. After greeting Nie Aifang, Nie Qiu went to the kitchen on the balcony. Seeing that there was no warm food in the pot, she knew that Nie Aifang had not made breakfast.
She opened the cupboard where the bowls and chopsticks were kept and took out the pork skin. Generally, when buying meat, the pork skin would be separated from the lean and fatty meat. The lean meat would be used to make dumplings to sell, while the pork skin would be stir-fried and eaten, which was considered a treat for the family.
Actually, eating something so greasy in the morning was not good, but because of what happened last night, there were not many leftovers at home, nor were there any other ingredients. Besides rice and some pork skin, there were only some seasonings left at home. Nie Qiu blanched the pork skin in boiling water, then used tweezers to pull off the hairs, and cut the pork skin into thin strips, then boiled it in the pot.
Then she started washing rice to make congee. After doing all this last night, Nie Qiu went to the other side of the balcony to wash up. After washing up, the pork skin was considered cooked. Congee needed to be sticky to be delicious, so it required more time.
She poured the cooked pork skin into a bowl, then left a gap in the lid of the congee pot, turned down the heat, and let the congee simmer slowly. While watching the pot to prevent the congee from boiling over, she added seasoning to the cooked pork skin in the bowl, preparing to make cold pork skin.
Actually, this was also a last resort. Meat tasted good when stir-fried, but without side dishes, it wouldn’t taste good if stir-fried like this, so only cold dressing was possible.
Nie Qiu finished preparing the meal and brought it out, placing it on the table. She smiled at Nie Aifang, who was still sewing plastic flowers, and said, “Mom, let’s eat first! After eating, we’ll go buy things.”
Nie Aifang looked up, rubbed her eyes, and smiled, “Okay.” Saying that, she put down her work and sat at the table to eat with Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu knew that what happened yesterday had made Nie Aifang very upset, and… she might have to spend a lot of money today, but if she didn’t spend money, how could she do business?
After the two of them finished eating, Nie Qiu put the bowls in the pot and went out with Nie Aifang to buy things.
First, they took the tricycle to be repaired. They arrived at the place that repaired tricycles and electric bikes. The walls and floor were black and greasy. Nie Qiu felt a little uncomfortable when she heard Nie Aifang call out, “Boss, boss, please repair my tricycle. I’ll pick it up tonight.”
A rather tall and strong man came out, took off his black gloves, put on a new pair, and then squatted down. He looked at the place where the chain was missing and then at the wheel. The man stood up and said, “Elder sister, your tricycle is so old. Even repairing it will cost over a hundred, and it won’t last long. Why not buy a new one?”
“Then… how much will it cost to repair this vehicle?” Nie Aifang asked.
“Replacing a chain usually costs fifty yuan, plus the tire and wheel frame. The total replacement cost will be over one hundred and sixty. Buying a new one only costs three to four hundred yuan. Elder sister, why don’t you consider it yourself?”
Nie Aifang looked at Nie Qiu. Nie Qiu looked at the tricycles sold in the shop and nodded at Nie Aifang. Indeed, if repairing the tricycle would cost over a hundred yuan, it would be better to buy a new one. The old tricycle’s wheels were already broken, and the wheels and tires needed to be replaced. Many parts were already so old that they were rusty, and there was a lot of oil smoke on many parts, making them extremely dirty.
It was old and dirty, so it was better to buy a new bicycle.
Nie Aifang nodded and stepped into the repair and sales shop with Nie Qiu, and together they chose a large tricycle suitable for a barbecue stall.
Finally, both of them took a fancy to a tricycle painted blue. This tricycle was large enough, its wheels were large and thin enough, and the cargo area at the back was spacious enough. Nie Aifang touched the handlebars and looked at the shop owner who had followed them in, “Boss, how much is this tricycle?”
Author’s Note: I added two chapters yesterday, but this chapter was not long enough, so I’m adding this one.
Today, I’m also adding two chapters, for a total of five chapters. Bows…
