Yang Yufen sold raw sweet potatoes, and when Xiao Zhang spoke up like that, he was clearly trying to negotiate a price.
“Then come a bit later. We’ll talk after I close my stall,” Yang Yufen said.
Xiao Zhang didn’t refuse. His eyes lit up immediately. Just then, another person squeezed in beside them.
“Little sister, mind if I join in too? Don’t worry, I don’t set up around here. I’ve been watching you for three days—your sweet potatoes aren’t sold anywhere else.”
Yang Yufen thought for a moment and nodded.
“Just the two of you then. Any more and I won’t have enough stock. Selling raw sweet potatoes doesn’t make as much money as roasted ones anyway—I can sell them all myself.”
Hearing this, the older and younger men exchanged a look. They were now competitors.
“But think it through. If you really want to buy, I only take cash. No credit,” Yang Yufen said firmly.
“Of course, of course,” the man who called her “little sister,” Wang Dazhi, quickly agreed.
However, Xiao Zhang fell silent for a moment. Then, as if making up his mind, he turned and walked into the textile factory.
“Xiao Zhang, have you thought it through? Your family really needs money right now. If you sell your temporary job, it won’t be easy to find another one later.”
“I’ve thought it through. Things at home really can’t go on like this. I have no choice.”
Xiao Zhang looked miserable, which made others feel uneasy. Soon after, he called someone over, and both sides agreed—his temporary factory job was transferred to someone else.
A temporary worker earned 28 yuan a month, over 300 a year. The other party paid 600 yuan for the position.
Xiao Zhang calculated in his mind how many sweet potatoes he could buy with 600 yuan. Besides sweet potatoes, he would also need a stove. He couldn’t get a tricycle, but a pushcart would be no problem.
And there was also his father’s hospital debt. If it wasn’t paid soon, his father would be discharged.
The surgery fee had been paid, but ongoing care was still needed. He was an only child—all of it depended on him.
After the textile factory got off work, Yang Yufen’s roasted sweet potatoes sold out quickly. Xiao Zhang was anxious to help things move faster, so he squatted nearby helping with calculations.
He didn’t handle money—he just helped calculate how much change each customer should receive based on what they paid.
Yang Yufen glanced at him a couple of times but said nothing. Everyone has difficult times; it wasn’t easy to throw away pride.
They finished selling half an hour earlier than usual, and Yang Yufen took them toward the research institute.
Wang Dazhi’s family had planted about six mu of honey sweet potatoes, roughly four thousand jin per mu. After selling some, they still had about fifteen thousand jin.
Yang Yufen had already been selling roasted sweet potatoes for a week. On the first day she sold 100 jin, and afterwards about 300 jin a day—at just one location.
Of course, people would eventually get tired of them and sales might drop, but she could go to several more places.
Calculating it out, everything would be settled just in time for the New Year.
“I can only spare at most 10,000 jin. You’ve seen it yourselves—I can sell more than 200 jin a day. If I didn’t have to go home and cook for my daughter-in-law, and if I could take a tricycle to places like schools and cinemas, I could definitely sell even more,” she said.
Both men nodded. It was true. Ten thousand jin sounded like a lot, but in reality, it still wouldn’t be enough—especially since they were splitting it between two people.
“You could also sell roasted chestnuts together with them—put a pot on top of the stove,” Yang Yufen suggested.
Their eyes immediately lit up. Why hadn’t they thought of that?
“I want—”
Wang Dazhi started to speak first.
“Half each!” Xiao Zhang quickly interrupted.
“Young man, why don’t you show some respect to an elder? You probably don’t even have that much money. How about this—I won’t ask for much, I’ll take 6,000 jin. You can take the remaining 4,000 jin. Add roasted chestnuts, and it should work out fine.”
Wang Dazhi leaned on his seniority.
“Uncle Wang, my father is about your age too. An elderly man with a broken leg needs care—it’s not easy. Could you let me have it? I also want 6,000 jin. I won’t have time to handle chestnuts either.”
At this point, neither of them cared about pride anymore. Making money was what mattered.
“You two figure it out yourselves. If you want it, come here tomorrow at 8 a.m. I still have to go home and cook for my daughter-in-law,” Yang Yufen said, preparing to leave.
“Wait, little sister, we haven’t even talked about the price yet,” Wang Dazhi reacted first.
“We’ll take two cents off.”
“Three cents.”
“Then forget it. I’ll sell them all myself.”
Yang Yufen got on her tricycle and was about to leave.
“Two cents! Two cents! Little sister, tomorrow morning then—I’ll go prepare the money and come pick it up.”
“Tomorrow only 1,000 jin. I’ll tell you later when the rest can be picked up.”
Hearing that there were only 1,000 jin, both of them were furious—this wouldn’t even last two days.
But Yang Yufen didn’t care. She rode her tricycle back into the residential compound, where they were not allowed to enter.
When she got home, she didn’t expect Qin Nian to be there.
“You got off work early today?”
Yang Yufen asked, then immediately noticed Qin Nian didn’t look well.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Mom, I’m fine. I’ll rest for a bit.”
Qin Nian waved her hand weakly.
Yang Yufen suddenly thought of something.
“Are you nauseous? Feeling sick? Mom will get you some warm water. Go rest in your room.”
Qin Nian nodded. Her mentor had already told her about it before, but she didn’t expect it to be this uncomfortable. At noon, the smell of fish in the cafeteria made her suddenly start vomiting uncontrollably. Seeing her condition, her teacher let her come home to rest.
Yang Yufen opened the food in the pot, took it out, and cooked a pot of mixed-grain porridge with a little brown sugar, then brought it into the room.
“Nian Nian, see if you can eat a little.”
Qin Nian’s stomach was still unsettled and she had already vomited several times. She hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner.
But seeing her mother-in-law bring food, she still tried to eat.
The porridge wasn’t strong in taste—only a light sweetness from the brown sugar. She took a cautious sip. It didn’t feel too bad, so she took another sip. But after a few mouthfuls, her stomach started to feel uncomfortable again.
Yang Yufen had been watching her closely and immediately took the bowl away.
“Don’t force yourself. Pregnancy is like this—the baby only lets you eat a little. A bit more and you can’t manage it.”
She comforted Qin Nian, then brought warm water for her to wash up. Qin Nian’s complexion looked much better than when she came back.
“Sleep. I’ll keep it warm for you. When you feel better, drink a bit more.”
Qin Nian was exhausted and fell asleep.
Seeing that she was asleep, Yang Yufen went to find Wang Dazhi’s family.
“I’ve sold all the honey sweet potatoes, only about two thousand jin left.”
“All of them?” Wang Dazhi’s mother was shocked.
She had already been surprised that 200–300 jin were selling daily, but she knew exactly how much stock her son had.
“Yes. Two people came to me after seeing how well the sweet potatoes sold and wanted to buy directly from me. I agreed. Even though I earn a bit less, Nian Nian’s health is more important.”