Chapter 52

As she walked, Ye Wanqing thought.

The food on this food street included roasted sweet potatoes, fried rice and stir-fried dishes, fried noodles and fried rice noodles. There were tea eggs, and there were cotton candy and small pastries… Speaking of it, the variety here was much richer than in Qingshui County.

Of course there were also some stalls selling small ornaments and clothes, and some selling daily goods. Only because more stalls here sold food, people nearby called it food street.

Perhaps because it was built around the school, whether food or other things, the goods here mainly sold on being good and cheap.

As for stalls, food street had four rows facing each other in pairs. A rough look showed one row had ten facing stalls, and another row had six. Altogether that was thirty-two stalls.

Most had already been rented. Only two or three stalls in poor positions were empty. If she wanted to rent a stall here, she could only pick the tallest among the short ones.

Ye Wanqing walked to the place for renting stalls and said clearly she wanted to rent one. The staff, who had been a bit lazy, immediately perked up.

“We have three stalls left. See which one you want. I’ll write the slip for you right now.”

“Rent the one farthest inside.”

She had already made up her mind after walking a circle just now.

But the staff stared at her. “You’re sure? That stall is the most out of the way. Next to it is the wall. Not many people go over there to buy or eat.”

“That one.” Ye Wanqing did not hide it. “I’m mainly looking at that circle of empty ground under the wall. I don’t know if I can put two tables there, so people can sit and eat a bowl of something?”

“Convenient. Of course convenient.” The staff quickly nodded.

As long as that stall was rented out, she could get a bonus of a few yuan. This small matter she could still decide.

The stall was forty a month. There were several universities nearby and the foot traffic was large. The price was not low, but not very high either.

Ye Wanqing signed the contract readily. She signed for a year at once. The deposit was twenty yuan. Rent could be paid monthly.

At her strong request, the condition that she could use the empty ground free of charge was also written into the contract. Although it was only a crude sheet of paper, it still counted as proof later.

Ye Wanqing was not afraid the staff would make trouble. She was afraid the other stall owners would have opinions. She struck first and wrote it into the contract, so later she would not have to wrangle with anyone.

Once the stall was rented, Ye Wanqing planned to go buy spices and ingredients right away.

While walking food street she had already decided. This time she would keep selling braised dishes, plus cold noodles, cold skin noodles, and cold mixed dishes with rice from the Sichuan side, still on the good-and-cheap line.

Although food street already had a stall that specialized in braised food, she had bought a portion just now and tasted it, and felt the food she made would definitely be competitive.

Also she was not mainly pushing braised food. There were also cold skin noodles and cold noodles. The variety was fairly rich.

Ye Wanqing bought some spices and went home. The rest she planned to have Ge Yuan help with.

He was still doing the vegetable-peddler business. Getting fresh ingredients was easy for him, cheaper and better quality than if she bought them herself at the market. Of course she did not need to go far when what she needed was near.

If she did not use her own husband, who else could she use?

The next day, once Ge Yuan had brought all the ingredients back, Ye Wanqing first mixed a pot of braising sauce, threw the washed meat in to cook, and braised the bean products and various vegetables one batch after another and plated them.

While braising she was not idle. She crushed the fried peanuts and put them in a porcelain jar, and fried a pot of dried chilies into a basin of chili oil, preparing for the cold skin noodles, cold noodles, and cold dishes.

For cold skin noodles and cold noodles to taste good, seasoning was the least that could be missing.

And among seasonings, the most important and the easiest to stand out was the chili oil. If the chili oil was not greasy and was fresh, fragrant, numb, and spicy, then the cold skin noodles and cold noodles were already more than half successful.

Then mix in the other seasonings, add bean tendon, crushed peanuts, finely cut cucumber shreds and sour cowpeas, and two slices of braised meat. The taste needed no further praise.

As for cold dishes, blanch the vegetables to be sold in boiling water and set them on plates. If someone wanted to buy, put them in a basin like the cold skin noodles and cold noodles, add chili oil and various seasonings, and mix.

Order a portion of white rice to eat with it, and that was top-grade deliciousness.

These foods looked very simple, but whoever ate them knew they were good. And except for the meat in the braised dishes, the other ingredients were cheap to buy in, which also fit the good-and-cheap standard Ye Wanqing had set.

She calculated. As long as she made a name and could move volume, her daily income would not be small.

That night the four of the Ge family ate cold skin noodles, cold noodles, and cold dishes.

In the great heat, when you did not want to eat rice, a portion of cold skin noodles and cold noodles was a great enjoyment. Add braised meat and cold dishes, and even an immortal would not trade it.

Ge Yuan alone took on three people’s portions. Ge Yue hugged her bowl and shoveled it into her mouth. Her little belly was round and full. Old Zhong also ate until he walked two extra circles in the courtyard to help digestion.

Seeing the three of them eat happily, Ye Wanqing’s apricot eyes curved in a smile, and she had even more confidence in her new business.

—

After all she still had to study. Although Ye Wanqing had rented a stall, she did not plan to watch it herself in person.

While setting up the stall, she looked for a suitable employee who could watch it.

Just like when she had hired Fatty Wang’s mother and the others before, Ye Wanqing planned to look for a suitable person among the neighbors near the courtyard. That way if something came up it was convenient to communicate, and a bit more reliable.

Although they had only just moved and were not yet familiar with the people here… there was always a way to get familiar!

This afternoon Ye Wanqing made several jin of fragrant date-paste cake. In the evening she took little Ge Yue’s hand and went out, visiting the neighbors house by house.

One was to get her face known, so neighbors would be a bit closer later.

Two was early preparation for hiring for the stall. If she met someone suitable and satisfactory, she would let out that she had opened a stall and was hiring. Whether someone recommended themselves or recommended someone else was fine.

The last, and the most important… Ye Wanqing had to find out where the neighbors’ children went to kindergarten. Ge Yue was almost seven. She had to start school.

Although Ge Yue’s nature was more open now, and in these two days in Star City she was already about to hug her little tin bucket and reach the peak of life, using various little snacks to become the child leader, this was after all not the proper path.

She still had to study!

Ye Wanqing was pretty, dressed neatly, and was polite, and she was a university student at Xiangnan University. When she took Ge Yue to visit, the neighbors welcomed her quite well.

Of course the fragrant date-paste cake was also very welcome, especially in families with children and old people. The soft, sweet date-paste cake was much liked.

In a short one or two days Ye Wanqing not only successfully asked which school Ge Yue could be sent to and very quickly handled Ge Yue’s enrollment in kindergarten, but several sister-in-laws also said they wanted to work at her stall.

Only, work was hard to find these years, and she had cast a wide net. Those who wanted to come work actually numbered four or five.

That was a bit hard to handle.

Choosing or not choosing anyone was trouble. Choosing anyone would offend the others. Ye Wanqing simply picked an afternoon and invited the sister-in-laws to her house, and let them compete fairly.

One was knife work. See who cut vegetables both fast and well. The good one naturally won.

Two was the taste of the mixed dishes and mixed noodles.

Ye Wanqing had already prepared the chili oil and other seasonings, but even a little more or a little less of these seasonings would affect the taste. It still depended on talent.

After a happy round of comparison, and after everyone tasted, they settled on Cao Xiang, who lived two or three houses away from Ye Wanqing.

Cao Xiang was only five or six years older than Ye Wanqing, about twenty-three or twenty-four this year. Her round face often carried a smile. People liked her three parts at first sight.

She dressed neatly, kept herself clean, and worked briskly. Her knife work was the best, and the cold noodles she made also tasted the best. Ye Wanqing was very satisfied with her.

As for the other sister-in-laws, although they said they were convinced, they could not help feeling a little lost.

Ye Wanqing smiled and comforted them a few words, and said she would open more shops later, and if there was a chance she would hire them first. They immediately smiled and thanked her.

When Ye Wanqing said the cold noodles, cold skin noodles, and cold dishes they had made could all be taken home, and if there was not enough they could use the ingredients to make more and take them back for the whole family to eat, the smiles on their faces grew even thicker.

Ye Wanqing was also in a good mood.

People said a close neighbor was better than a distant relative. If neighbor relations were handled well, getting along was more comfortable. She was not someone who calculated small gains and losses. Hearts were still simple at this time. As long as everyone got along pleasantly, being a bit generous was fine.

Once Cao Xiang was settled, Ye Wanqing trained her a while that day, let her master the amount of seasoning, and had her start the next day.

It was only a small stall. Ye Wanqing did not plan to hire two people to supervise each other. She let Cao Xiang work and take the money alone. As for the chili oil recipe, she did not hand it to Cao Xiang. She made it herself.

Whether Cao Xiang was reliable, Ye Wanqing decided to trust her first.

Even if there was a mishap, how much ingredient she prepared each day was measured. How much money could be sold she also had a number for in her heart. Even if Cao Xiang wanted to get ideas, she could not move much.

Also, the stall had only just been set up. Customers coming to eat were not many yet. Once there were more regulars later and the foot traffic was large, hiring another person would still be in time.

—

In less than ten days Ye Wanqing briskly got the house in order and set the stall up.

When September came she had to busy herself with registration again.

These few days she had walked Xiangnan University several times back and forth and was already fairly familiar with the layout. Actually she could come register alone, but Ge Yuan insisted on carrying her luggage, so she let him come along.

Same old line. Her own man, not using him was a waste.

The luggage still had some weight. Her big man could handle it with one hand. Very mighty and grand!

The little courtyard they lived in now was only fifteen minutes by bicycle from Xiangnan University. Not very far. Ye Wanqing planned to live at home directly.

But whether she lived in the dormitory or not, the fee still had to be paid. Ye Wanqing still brought bedding, planning to tidy the dormitory properly, so later when she was too lazy to go home at noon she could rest at school.

After paying the fee, Ye Wanqing looked at Ge Yuan.

“Yuan-ge, I’m going to the dormitory to make the bed now. Are you coming with me, or waiting downstairs?”

“Of course together.” Ge Yuan had no second thought.

He had insisted on coming this trip not only to personally send his little woman to school, but also to show his face, so the classmates in her dormitory would know she was taken.

That way, one telling ten and ten telling a hundred, everyone would know Ye Wanqing was a married person. He could absolutely wipe out a large patch of potential rivals with this one move.

For this he had even put on the new white shirt Ye Wanqing had bought him.

Crisp and handsome, looking even sharper than usual!

Yet he was unwilling to admit his little thought, and had to find himself a reason. “I’m your man. How can I watch you do rough work with my own eyes? These jobs of carrying things and lifting heavy stuff should all be done by me!”

Ye Wanqing pressed her lips and smiled, too lazy to expose him.

Only, what depressed Ge Yuan was that because Ye Wanqing came to register very early, she was the first person in the dormitory.

After the things were tidied, they dawdled another half hour and still no one came. Ge Yuan could no longer find a reason to stay and could only leave.

The thought was wasted. Very disappointed!

On the way home Ge Yuan did not even have as much strength pedaling the bicycle.

Ye Wanqing poked his waist. “Don’t you like cold dishes and cold noodles? I’ll make them for you at noon today, all right?”

“…Oh.” Still listless.

“If the people in our dormitory are all right, we’ll treat them to a meal. Even… mm, they might all be from out of town. We’ll count as hosts once. How about it?”

Ge Yuan instantly nodded. “This is good!”

“Got the energy to ride now? That lost look just now, I was worried you’d throw me off.”

“That won’t happen…” Ge Yuan’s thought had been poked through. His ear roots reddened a little, but he soon cleared his name. “How could I throw you? I ride the steadiest. If you don’t believe me I’ll drop both hands for you!”

Ge Yuan let go of both hands. His feet did not stop. With no one controlling it the bicycle still went extremely straight. This made him unbearably pleased. He laughed without restraint and drew quite a few curious looks.

“Comrade Ge Yuan, that’s enough!” Ye Wanqing held it in and could not, and laughed too.

—

After registering Ye Wanqing did not go to school. She waited until the official first day, when classes were about to start, and went to the dormitory early in the morning to put a thermos she was bringing in the room.

Only then did she meet the other three roommates.

She was the first to come to the dormitory. Because she was a bit of a clean freak, she chose the upper bunk by the window. Her lower bunk was a pretty girl from Shanghai named Zhao Lingxian.

It could be seen Zhao Lingxian’s family was well off, because her clothes and appearance were very refined and rich, and between words and actions she was a bit willful. She spoke rather directly.

Her nature was rather naive. Not long after they met, Ye Wanqing already knew she had a childhood sweetheart named Xu Xu, a very talented and handsome boy, also studying at Xiangnan University.

The lower bunk opposite Ye Wanqing was called Zhou Rong, thirty-two this year, looking a bit old, like more than forty. She had a four-year-old little girl, Zhou Tian. The little girl looked extremely timid, curled in a small ball on the bed, not meeting anyone’s eyes at all.

Zhou Rong was said to be from Shanghai too, but compared with Zhao Lingxian, their conditions were one in the sky and one on the ground.

Zhou Rong’s upper bunk was called Lin Kejia, fair and clean, gentle and pleasant, looking like a very quiet girl. She was also from out of town, from Suzhou.

Ye Wanqing also introduced herself, and that counted as knowing everyone.

She also said right then that she had a house locally and would live off campus later, and would only come over now and then at noon to rest.

“I’m the only local in our dormitory. Let me do a host’s duty. Tonight I’ll treat everyone to a meal! I don’t know if you have time?”

Zhao Lingxian and Lin Kejia both smiled and nodded. Zhou Rong hesitated.

“Thank you, Wanqing. I won’t go eat. It’s not convenient with Xiaotian. It’s just…” Zhou Rong hesitated and hesitated, then asked, “If you don’t sleep in the dormitory at night, can I… can I sleep in your bed?”