Chapter 3

“Boss, how do you buy hair here?”

The young boss in a floral shirt with a trendy hairstyle was cutting someone’s hair. At the question he turned and looked Ye Wanqing over. “You want to sell your hair?”

Ye Wanqing nodded. “Yes.”

“Wait a moment.”

After he finished with the customer, Ye Wanqing asked eagerly, “Boss, how much can my hair sell for?”

“Have you thought it through carefully? Once it’s cut you can’t regret it.”

Ye Wanqing looked at herself in the mirror.

Her skin was as white as snow. Her thick, shiny black hair was braided into plaits that rested in front of her. Heavy bangs covered her forehead and partially hid a pair of clean yet faintly charming almond eyes. Her soft pink lips were lightly pressed together, giving her a quiet and shy appearance.

“If the price is right, I’ll sell it,” she said.

“You really can bear to part with it?” The slightly carefree young boss could not help being curious. “Your family’s conditions aren’t bad. Why do you want to sell your hair?”

“You know me?” Ye Wanqing was surprised.

“My mother also works at the bus station, and my older brother still… anyway, I’ve seen you.”

“Oh…” That worked out well. Ye Wanqing smiled. “I want to start a small business myself, but the wages I earned riding the routes every month were all handed over to the family. When I saw you collecting hair I came in… Since we’re acquaintances, don’t undercut me!”

The young boss chuckled. “Your hair quality is pretty good. How about twenty yuan?”

“Deal!”

That was already quite good. Ye Wanqing agreed readily.

When she left the barbershop, Ye Wanqing had a clean, refreshing ear-length short haircut and twenty yuan of capital in her pocket.

She rode her bicycle toward the bus station. Instead of going home she went straight to the office building.

Some time ago the bus station had added several stalls in the waiting hall and opened them for internal rental to station employees. Nowadays people still held prejudices against individual businesses, so only one or two stalls had been rented out. Quite a few remained empty. Ye Wanqing wanted to rent one and start a small business.

With the experience of her previous life, she knew this business could be done and would only make money, never lose it.

She knocked on the logistics department door and poked her head in toward the woman working inside. “Director Li, may I come in?”

“Come in.” Director Li waved her over. “What free time do you have to come looking for me today? Don’t tell me you had a disagreement with Little Qi and want me to switch your route?”

She looked Ye Wanqing over again and smiled kindly. “You changed your hairstyle. You look even more energetic and pretty!”

Ye Wanqing was startled for a moment, then remembered that Little Qi was the driver she had been paired with. She quickly shook her head. “No, nothing like that. But I did come to trouble you with something.”

“Go ahead.” Director Li set aside what she was doing.

Although she thoroughly looked down on Liu Lizhen and even held a bit of disdain for Ye Xiangdang, she somehow liked Ye Wanqing more and more the longer she looked at her, and did not mind giving her some convenience.

“It’s like this…”

Half an hour later Ye Wanqing came out of the office with slightly red eyes, holding two five-yuan bills, a thin waiting-hall stall permit stamped with a red seal, and an IOU for twenty yuan of monthly rent still owed.

She pressed her lips together, her eyes filled with emotion.

She had known Director Li and Liu Lizhen did not get along. She had figured that if she played the pitiful card in front of Director Li, the director would most likely be happy to do her a favor and agree to let her set up a stall in the waiting hall just to annoy Liu Lizhen.

What she had not expected was that Director Li would also force ten yuan on her.

“Wanqing, I’ve watched you grow up. I don’t have more to give you, so take these ten yuan and don’t bother returning them. As for those parents of yours, I won’t say anything. Since you’re not their biological child, from now on you have to strive harder yourself and live well!”

Recalling Director Li’s earnest words, Ye Wanqing gratefully noted this favor.

When she returned home she found no one there.

She had no key and could not get in. After thinking it over she simply rode to the market in the county town to buy some things in preparation for setting up the stall.

In her previous life the Ye family had set up a small stall in the waiting hall and later even exclusively contracted the large stall there. Although Ye Wanqing had been working as a substitute teacher in another place at the time, every winter and summer vacation and holiday she had to come home to help. She was thoroughly familiar with many things.

The Ye family had first sold tea water, and only later started selling various snacks. Although a cup of tea only cost two fen, because of the large passenger flow at the bus station they could net thirty to fifty yuan a day in pure profit, and even more on holidays.

Ye Wanqing’s capital was not quite enough, so she planned to start with selling tea water as well.

Besides the most ordinary leaf tea, she also intended to sell the ginger-salt tea that people in Qingshui County loved most, as well as her own mixed sour plum drink. That way the variety would be richer, and with ordinary tea as a comparison, the ginger-salt tea and sour plum drink could also command a higher price.

There were no convenient disposable cups at this time. At the market Ye Wanqing bought twenty palm-sized porcelain mugs as substitutes—cheap and durable. She also bought an earthenware mortar for pounding ginger, rough farmhouse-roasted tea leaves, five jin each of beans and sesame seeds plus large jars to hold them, and an iron kettle for boiling water.

She had actually wanted to buy a coal stove as well, but the market did not have any.

If there was really no other way, she would just have to bring the single-hole coal stove from the Ye household… If she had a choice she would not want her small business connected to the Ye family, but materials were scarce now. She could not simply refuse to do business just because she could not buy a coal stove.

Ye Wanqing returned home carrying large and small packages. This time the door was open.

The moment she stepped inside she met a pair of astonished eyes.

“Sister?!” Ye Mingzhu dropped the sunflower seed shells in her hands and hurried over, pointing at her hair in disbelief. “Heavens, why did you cut your hair? This look is really, really…”

Ye Mingzhu wanted to say “strange,” wanted to say “not pretty,” but it would have been too against her conscience.

Originally Ye Wanqing’s bangs had been very heavy, covering her clear and bright features. Combined with her rather quiet nature and habit of keeping her head lowered, outsiders found it hard to notice her beauty at a glance, giving the impression that she was ordinary.

But now that her hair was cut short, a section of her slender, fair neck was exposed, making her look clean, neat, and full of vitality. The thinned airy bangs curved softly over her willow-leaf brows. A pair of water-bright, charming almond eyes looked clean and beautiful—far more eye-catching than before by who knew how many times.

It was like a pearl that had been covered in dust, washed clean in mountain-stream water, and now shone brilliantly.

One look made people want to look again.

“Really convenient,” Ye Wanqing smoothly continued the conversation. She carried the things into the utility room and closed the door behind her.

She checked the time and realized it was almost noon, so she asked Ye Mingzhu, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet!” Ye Mingzhu stamped her foot and pouted. “Mom and Dad don’t know where they went, and I don’t know how to cook. Sister, you cook for me. Let’s eat something good together. Mom won’t scold us.”

“All right. Give me the cupboard key.”

Ye Wanqing had been hungry since morning and also wanted to cook something tasty to fill her stomach.

She opened the cupboard, searched for a while, and actually found a pig’s trotter. She also took out three potatoes and a piece of tender white tofu.

Ye Mingzhu’s eyes lit up. “Sister, you’re going to make pig’s trotters? Braised ones, right!”

“Okay!”

Ye Wanqing skillfully lit the coal fire. First she used the flame to burn off the remaining hair on the trotter, then chopped it into pieces with a knife and blanched them in boiling water to remove the blood. After skimming off the foam she washed them clean, drained the water, and set them aside.

Next she put oil in the wok, added rock sugar and fried it into a caramel color, then poured the trotters into the pan.

She stir-fried quickly. Amid a series of sizzling sounds each piece of trotter was coated in a honey-like color. Then she added dried red chilies and shredded ginger to release their fragrance, followed by spices such as nutmeg, bay leaves, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns. An enticing aroma rose.

There was no cooking wine, so Ye Wanqing poured two spoonfuls of Ye Xiangdang’s liquor down the side of the pan, added soy sauce, and stir-fried a bit more before transferring the trotters into the pressure cooker. She added hot water and salt.

Ye Mingzhu stood at the kitchen doorway swallowing hard. “When will it be ready?”

“We’ll eat in half an hour.”

Eating only braised pig’s trotters might get greasy, so while the trotters were stewing Ye Wanqing stir-fried a plate of vinegar-shredded potatoes and used the few pieces of lean meat cut from the trotters, minced them, and made a plate of spicy mapo tofu.

By the time Ye Wanqing brought the last plate of tofu to the table, Ye Mingzhu had already gnawed through two pieces of trotter and reached for another one.

“Delicious, delicious!” She ate until her mouth was shiny with oil.

Ye Wanqing: “……”

She also sat down and started eating.

The two of them were eating happily when the sound of the lock turning came. Liu Lizhen’s warm voice rang out at the door: “Come in, come in! The house is a bit messy, please don’t mind.”

Guests had arrived?

Ye Wanqing glanced at Ye Mingzhu, signaling her to go check the situation.

Ye Mingzhu could not bear to leave the table. She simply held her bowl and chopsticks and leaned her body backward to peek toward the door. “Mom, you’re back.”

Liu Lizhen had originally been quite happy to see her charming little daughter, but the moment she saw the bowl in her hands and then the three nearly finished good dishes on the table, the corners of her mouth could not help twitching.

“How come you two started eating on your own?” Liu Lizhen said unhappily.

Ye Mingzhu blinked, without the slightest hesitation sold Ye Wanqing out: “You still hadn’t come home by mealtime. Sister said she was hungry, so I gave her the cupboard key…”

At this point she seemed to feel a bit unkind and added, “Sister cooks really well.” That last sentence was quite persuasive—looking at how little was left on the plates was enough to know.

Ye Wanqing: “……”

She was not surprised. She had long known Ye Mingzhu was not someone she could rely on.

Liu Lizhen glared fiercely at Ye Wanqing, then turned and forced a dry laugh at the people behind her. “Children don’t know any better, truly sorry. Xiangdang, you entertain the guests. I’ll go buy some better dishes.”

With that she hurriedly turned and left.

Only then did Ye Wanqing see that the visitors were the Wang couple from Niujiao Town—Wang Qiang and Zhao Yan. Thinking of the marriage talk from last night, her heart sank a little. She was worried Ye Xiangdang had still not given up.

Ye Xiangdang greeted the Wang couple inside. “Come in and sit quickly.”

Wang Qiang and Zhao Yan sat down. Ye Xiangdang immediately put on a stern face toward Ye Wanqing. “Your Uncle Wang and Aunt Zhao are here and you don’t even know to greet them. Hurry and make some tea!”

Ye Wanqing put down her bowl and chopsticks and went to the kitchen to make tea.

When she came out she heard Ye Xiangdang speaking to Wang Qiang: “My older daughter may not be very good at studying, but she is excellent at cooking and housework, and she’s honest and steady. Once she marries into your family, you won’t have to worry about any of these things in the future. You’ll have it easy.”

Wang Qiang nodded. “Her cooking skills are indeed not bad.”

When they entered they had already smelled the aroma; their stomachs had growled with craving.

Ye Mingzhu watched the drama from the side. Seeing Ye Wanqing holding the teacups with an unhappy expression, she tugged at her sister’s clothes and laughed softly, “Sister, you’re going to marry that bald Wang Jiabao!”

That gloating look was truly eye-stinging.

Author’s Note:

Little Theater:

Ge Yuan: Why didn’t I appear today?!

Stupid Author: Wore short sleeves to look cool, caught a cold, coughing “keng keng” in public would damage the image. Locked in the little black room for a day to recover.

Ge Yuan: ……