Chapter 92: Changing Life ②
After the woman who bought vegetables chatted with Zhang Qitian for a while longer, she bought her vegetables and left. As soon as the woman left, Nie Qiu couldn’t help but laugh. Zhang Qitian tapped Nie Qiu’s head, “What are you laughing at? If I didn’t do this, with so many people selling vegetables, where would I get so many repeat customers? Do you think selling vegetables is easy to sell?”
Nie Qiu shook her head and stopped making fun of Zhang Qitian. After all, Zhang Qitian was right. A vegetable stand wasn’t anything special and couldn’t make much money. There were plenty of vegetable vendors, and people could buy wherever they wanted without anyone interfering.
“Brother Zhang, I can definitely get you the same quality vegetables as last time. Did I mention it?” Nie Qiu asked.
Zhang Qitian nodded, “Okay, I’ll rent a vegetable stand for your family. However… it’s not that Brother Zhang is ripping you off, but the price of a vegetable stand varies depending on its location. It’s not like in a small town where it costs a few hundred a month. The ones at the doorway of the market cost fifteen hundred a month, the ones in the middle cost fourteen hundred a month, and the ones near the dried goods shops cost twelve hundred a month.”
Nie Qiu nodded, “Mm, I know.”
“Have you decided? If you’ve decided, I’ll go to the management office to ask after I close up today,” Zhang Qitian asked.
“Mm, I’ve decided,” Nie Qiu looked up at Zhang Qitian, “But Brother Zhang…”
“But?”
“Brother Zhang, my mom and that relative of mine… don’t get along well. If I bring my mom, can you say you hired her to help you sell vegetables and pay her a salary? What do you think?” Nie Qiu looked at Zhang Qitian.
Zhang Qitian didn’t understand Nie Qiu’s explanation. “Since your mom doesn’t get along well with that relative of yours, would your relative let your mom sell vegetables for their family? And…”
“Brother Zhang, my relative wants to reconcile with my mom, it’s just that my mom…” Nie Qiu trailed off.
Zhang Qitian sighed helplessly, “Alright, alright, I get it, I get it.” Zhang Qitian knew that every family had its own troubles, and he didn’t want to interfere in other people’s affairs. As long as it was profitable and not illegal, it wasn’t a big deal.
“How much a month are you planning to pay your mom?” Zhang Qitian asked jokingly, since he would be the one paying if he acted as the intermediary.
“Four thousand.” Nie Qiu knew that their family’s barbecue business, after deducting costs, earned over three thousand a month. To convince Nie Aifang to sell vegetables, four thousand should be enough to impress her. Also… barbecues are usually sold at night markets, which means less rest time. Nie Qiu hoped Nie Aifang could have better sleep time and environment, which would be much better for Nie Aifang’s body. Selling vegetables, on the other hand, only required waking up a bit earlier in the morning, and they could definitely close up by six or seven in the evening! This would also allow for regular sleep and rest.
“Four thousand? Isn’t that a bit too much? Won’t your mom be suspicious?” Zhang Qitian asked incredulously. They were the bosses, so they knew how much they earned, and it was natural because they were the bosses! But if they hired someone to help with this kind of job, even in a big city, it would be at most like a sales assistant in a supermarket or clothing store, and three thousand would be considered a lot. How could they possibly offer four thousand?
Nie Qiu lowered her head, “It was… our relative who said that.”
“Alright then!” Zhang Qitian really liked the vegetables Nie Qiu brought to sell. The fact that Nie Qiu could give him wholesale prices showed that Nie Qiu trusted him. He naturally knew that business relied on integrity, so he didn’t ask further and agreed.
After leaving the market, Nie Qiu realized her palms were covered in sweat. She understood the principle that one lie requires countless lies to cover it up, but she had no other choice. She wanted money, and she didn’t want to neglect her studies at this time. Whether in her previous life or this one, she wanted to be a teacher who educated people. Having already lived one life, she believed she wouldn’t succumb to the realities of society and money. She believed she could do it, teaching students without any ulterior motives.
Nie Qiu looked up at the sky. No matter the industry, money was hard to come by, and business was difficult. Therefore, people who could rent stalls and sell vegetables in the market were all shrewd business people who knew how to build connections and do long-term business. However, there were also those who couldn’t do business. Because in the city, economic flow was the key. It was different from the countryside, where earning money could support a family. But in the city, those who earned a little less, after deducting costs and living expenses, couldn’t even cover the rent, usually wouldn’t rent stalls to sell vegetables in the market. Therefore, some less desirable vegetable stalls in the market remained unrented, and of course, some stalls with high rent also remained unrented.
“Fifteen hundred!” Nie Qiu sighed. If she were to rent a good stall, it would cost at least fifteen hundred. Honestly, she didn’t have fifteen hundred; she only had a little over a hundred. That was from the tutoring fees Li Mingxue gave her. She tutored Li Mingxue three times, and Li Mingxue gave her one hundred and fifty yuan, and also bought her a notebook as a graduation souvenir. After buying a swimsuit and borrowing fifty yuan from Peng Yu Yang, and returning the fifty yuan to Peng Yu Yang, Nie Qiu only had one hundred yuan left. Combined with the money saved from before, she had a total of a little over one hundred yuan.
Asking Nie Aifang to come up with fifteen hundred yuan was absolutely impossible. The school hadn’t said they needed to buy materials, and she didn’t want to lie to Nie Aifang for money.
Nie Qiu walked along, thinking, and returned home. Nie Aifang was making dumplings. Seeing Nie Qiu return, she smiled and asked, “How was it today? Does your body still hurt?”
Nie Qiu shook her head, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, it’s much better.” In reality, the wound hadn’t healed in a day, but she didn’t want Nie Aifang to worry.
Nie Aifang nodded with some relief, “I went to the police station today to hand over the report. The police told the parents of those people to pay the medical expenses and other things.”
“Mm,” Nie Qiu put down her schoolbag and didn’t mention the vegetable selling. Until it was confirmed, Nie Qiu didn’t want to make empty promises.
“Go do your homework! After you finish, come help Mom make dumplings. You don’t have to go out with me to set up the stall tonight; I can manage alone,” Nie Aifang said with a smile, “You stay home and rest well.”
“Okay.” Nie Qiu knew that Nie Aifang was worried about her wound and didn’t want her to do too much work, so she didn’t refuse Nie Aifang’s good intentions. She just took out her books from her schoolbag to do her homework.
Fifteen hundred! Fifteen hundred… Fifteen hundred… Fifteen hundred…
As she was thinking, the words ‘fifteen hundred’ naturally appeared under her pen. When Nie Qiu realized it, she stared at the words ‘fifteen hundred’ in a daze for a long time.
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