Chapter 52: Sprinting Towards the Monthly Exam ④
And also, if she were to sell vegetables herself, how would she give the money earned to Nie Aifang, and how would she explain it to Nie Aifang?
Although she needed money, what the family needed more was money, and she didn’t want Nie Aifang to be too tired. Every morning when she woke up, she would see Nie Aifang sewing plastic flowers under the light. Upon seeing her, Nie Aifang would rub her eyes and tell her that the meal was kept warm in the pot.
Nie Aifang’s hands were completely different from her hands in her previous life. Her hands, while not exactly “slender jade fingers,” were free of scars, and with proper care, they were fair and tender. Compared to girls in their teens or twenties, she was quite confident. But Nie Aifang’s hands were covered in thick calluses on her palms, with scars from burns from deep-frying barbecue, scars from cutting herself while cutting vegetables, and she often had band-aids on her index finger. The wounds from being pricked by needles while sewing plastic flowers every day appeared on the hands of this woman, who was not yet forty, showing signs of hardship and weariness.
This person now was her mother who doted on her and loved her, and she… also wanted to dote on and love her well. Therefore, she wanted to help Nie Aifang lighten her burden. She didn’t want… didn’t want to see Nie Aifang rubbing her eyes and telling her that the meal was kept warm in the pot anymore.
Because of this person, she understood for the first time the most moving mother’s love in the world. Because of this person, she understood for the first time what a mom was like. She liked this person very, very much and didn’t want her to work too hard.
She had classes five days a week. If she were to rent a vegetable stall herself to sell vegetables, it would be impossible. She couldn’t possibly stay at the vegetable stall all the time, and it would just be a waste of rent.
What should she do?
No matter what, she had to first deal with some of the vegetables that had newly grown in her space. She rented a cart outside the vegetable market. After paying, she pushed the cart around the vegetable market towards a secluded spot at the back door. The back door led to a garbage dump where all sorts of internal organs from chickens, ducks, geese, and fish were discarded. In the summer, the smell was extremely unpleasant, and very few people came here. Only after the stalls closed in the evening would people come here to throw garbage. Moreover, just around the corner and over a wall was a toilet.
Nie Qiu entered the space and took out the vegetables that had been packed by Dàozhuàng the night before. She then loaded them onto the cart one by one and pushed the cart into the vegetable market. The vegetable market was bustling with activity. Those who hadn’t paid stall fees were not allowed to set up stalls. As soon as Nie Qiu pushed the cart a few steps, a person with a red cloth band on their arm walked over and stopped her, “Hey, whose daughter are you? Have you paid for your stall?”
Nie Qiu smiled and said, “Big sister, I’m delivering vegetables to my brother! I’ll leave after I deliver them, and I definitely won’t block the way.”
“Really, the vegetable market has long had a rule that all goods must be unloaded before five in the morning. It’s already afternoon, what’s the meaning of pushing a cart around the market? According to the regulations, no matter whose family member you are, the fine is fifty, and this is a warning.” The plump female administrator shouted loudly.
Trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice, Nie Qiu finally understood this feeling. She smiled awkwardly, “Big sister, I’m just here to deliver vegetables to my brother. I didn’t know… I didn’t know about this rule, really! Besides, I don’t have any money. I… I’ll bring the money over after I find my brother, okay?”
Among the onlookers, a man wearing a dark blue apron saw the vegetables on Nie Qiu’s cart and his eyes lit up. He thought for a moment and walked over, “What’s going on?”
As soon as the plump female administrator saw the man, she smiled as if flowers were blooming, “Brother Zhang, why are you here? Isn’t your stall busy? How are your vegetables selling today? Is business good today? I still need four jin of potatoes and two jin of eggplant, and two jin of tomatoes too.”
“You can just come to the stall and get whatever vegetables you want. I’m already very grateful that you’re willing to rent the stall to me at a low price. As long as there’s still profit to be made, you can eat as much as you want,” the man said with a smile, glancing at the various vegetables on Nie Qiu’s cart again.
As soon as Nie Qiu saw the man, she knew he was interested in the vegetables on her cart. Seeing the plump administrator’s beaming face, Nie Qiu struggled for a moment, then closed her eyes, steeled herself, and shouted loudly at the man, “Brother!”
The man chuckled inwardly and walked up to Nie Qiu, frowning, “Why are you so late? The vegetables in my stall are almost sold out. What if Sister Zhen Zhen doesn’t have any vegetables to eat today?”
Nie Qiu forced a smile and played along, “I… I got out of class late? Brother, it’s my first time at the vegetable market, where is your stall?”
The man walked up to Nie Qiu, past the administrator, and helped push the cart. He then smiled at Nie Qiu and said, “Let’s go! I’ll push.” He then looked at the administrator, “Sister Zhen Zhen, come to my stall to get your vegetables after work. My sister and I are going to tend to the stall now.”
The plump female administrator named Zhen Zhen nodded blankly, watching Nie Qiu and the man leave. By the time she reacted, Nie Qiu and the man had already reached the man’s stall. “When did Brother Zhang get a sister? Doesn’t he only have a younger brother?”
“You’re selling vegetables in the market without a stall? Shouldn’t you set up a stall on the road outside?” The man put down the cart and looked at Nie Qiu with amusement.
“Well, well… thank you just now.” Nie Qiu was a little flustered. “I just wanted to sell the vegetables to the vegetable vendors. I only just found out that vegetable vendors buy vegetables very early in the morning.”
The man picked up a few tomatoes and looked at Nie Qiu, “Then… how about selling them to me? Consider it repayment for helping you just now.”
“You’re using favors to get something in return.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s see how much these vegetables are worth?”
“Long beans are sold at two yuan fifty per jin. Yours are uniform and have a good color, they are all meat long beans, I’ll buy them for two yuan per jin. These tomatoes, I sell them for five yuan per jin here, I’ll buy them from you for four yuan five…” He listed several vegetables, all for fifty cents less than the retail price. After speaking, the man looked at Nie Qiu.
Nie Qiu knew that she wasn’t really losing out, and moreover, this person had helped her before. Even if she lost a yuan or two, it wouldn’t matter. It was much better than being fined and having her cart of vegetables confiscated. “Okay, I have no objections.”
“Alright, I’ll weigh them, and you can calculate. I’ll give you the money once it’s calculated,” the man said, placing the vegetables on the scale one by one. “Long beans, twelve jin; tomatoes, twenty-three jin; eggplant, seventeen jin eight liang; cucumbers, thirty jin…”
The man reported as he weighed, and Nie Qiu kept pressing the buttons on his calculator. By the time the man finished weighing, Nie Qiu had also finished calculating.
