After dinner, the midsummer night sky was dotted with stars, and fireflies flickered intermittently among the grass.
The second branch of the Lu family had returned to their room early.
“Xiuyatou, look at you—making money already! Let your dad and mom keep it for you.”
Lu Zhiwei had been thinking about the ice-cold beer he had last time. There had only been one bottle opened by the old master, and he had refused to open the rest, insisting on waiting for guests.
“Dad, why don’t we split the family property?” Lu Xiuxiu said, taking out fifty cents and handing it to Lu Zhiwei. She saw him immediately frown, so she hurried to continue.
“I’ll use the rest to buy more braised pork intestines to sell. Anyway, my brother can’t find a job. Instead of working in the fields, he might as well go with me and sell.”
These days, everything required coupons—but fortunately, pork head meat, tripe, and intestines could be bought without them.
Making money alone was too slow. Lu Xiuxiu planned to bring Lu Chengjia along. For those who didn’t like intestines, they could buy other parts.
She was confident that her business would grow. Even if she couldn’t get a stall in the machinery factory, she could rent one near the market, and business would still be good.
Lu Chengjia, however, was unhappy. “Don’t drag me into your profiteering. I’m a high school student; getting a job isn’t something I can just do casually.”
With the heat rising, the streets were full of ice-cream vendors shouting their wares. He looked down on that kind of work—and besides, he didn’t even have a bicycle. The image of him carrying intestines around town immediately made him shake his head to banish it.
Lu Xiuxiu glared at the useless Lu Chengjia, as lazy as in her previous life. She made a mental note: in the future, she would not have to beg him to make money with her!
She couldn’t help thinking about the warehouse she had in her previous life. If she still had it, she could do wholesale trading and make much more, without needing to earn these small amounts.
Everyone had their own thoughts, but Qin Hong listened carefully to her daughter. “Xiuxiu, I’ll go with you to sell the braised meat.”
She had long wanted to split the family. At home, the old lady always found fault with her.
If the second branch could earn money, why should she still kowtow to that stubborn old woman?
Besides, isn’t it only natural to be good to her sons? It’s not like the second branch was taking advantage.
“Okay.” Seeing Lu Zhiwei hadn’t reacted, Lu Xiuxiu nudged him. “Dad, I earned nearly ten yuan yesterday in just one day. That’s three hundred in a month! Are you saying we should hand over the family’s money?”
Hearing that much money, Lu Zhiwei exchanged a look with his son, and the idea of splitting the family began to form in their minds.
Lu Xiuxiu gave Lu Chengjia a triumphant glance—she wanted the family to know she was stronger than him!
After mother and daughter discussed their plans for the next day, they went to bed early.
At the Xu household, the family’s only fan had been placed in Xu Nian’an’s room. By noon, it was buzzing and swaying back and forth.
Xu Nian’an turned over a few times and woke up, stretching, before pulling back the curtains. Sunlight poured in and filled the room.
She had stayed up late last night working on her plan and accidentally overslept this morning.
After changing clothes, she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and heard noise coming from the kitchen. She muttered:
“Mom, why did you put the fan in my room? You and Dad should use it.”
“An’an, you’re awake?” came a voice—it was her sister-in-law, Yu Aizhen. “Mom went out to work, she’ll be back later. I saw you were sleeping so soundly I didn’t wake you. Your brother took the morning off and went to handle your business licenses. One is for the chicken-raising project, the other for the small restaurant. I told him to come back for lunch, and if anything’s missing, you can mention it when you go out with your friends this afternoon.”
Looking at Xu Nian’an’s fair, sleepy face, Yu Aizhen couldn’t resist pinching it.
“There are some peach pastries on the table. Eat a little after brushing your teeth, then we’ll have lunch together.”
After speaking, she hurried back to the kitchen to tend the pot.
Xu Nian’an touched her cheek, smiled, and went to the kitchen.
Not long after, Xu Weidong returned. Xu Nian’an quickly brought him a glass of water.
“Brother, drink some water and rest.”
He drank it in one go, then slammed the briefcase he had been carrying on the table while Xu Nian’an went to refill her glass.
“An’an, I’ve handled both licenses for you. You’re now the eighth individual entrepreneur in our city.”
Sitting down, he waited for his sister to pour him tea and continued,
“I got lucky today. I went early and ran into Uncle Li. When he heard you wanted the licenses, he immediately handled it. By noon, it was done. He said the government wants more individual businesses. Policies will only get better.”
Xu Nian’an smiled. If my small business goes well and I save some money, Brother, why don’t you consider joining me? By autumn, we can go to Yangcheng to get some clothes to sell.
Based on what Uncle Li said, being an individual entrepreneur wasn’t worse than a factory worker. His salary was fixed.
Last night, Xu Nian’an had calculated costs and profits roughly in front of them. If her plan worked, an individual entrepreneur could indeed earn more than a worker.
Hearing her plan, the family realized Xu Nian’an had truly grown up. Selling river snails might have been a temporary decision, but she already had a feasible plan.
Mother gave her two portions of profit to the two sons, making Xu Weidong and Xu Weinan her partners.
So Xu Nian’an directed them without holding back.
Xu Weinan had worked all morning, and now it was his turn in the afternoon.
After lunch, Xu Nian’an went to her room, took out the plans she drew last night, and handed a thousand yuan to Xu Weinan.
“Brother, help me renovate the front of my house.”
Xu Nian’an’s house was a one-yard property. Her father had bought it cheaply, renovated it, and given it to her.
She wanted to add a sales counter at the front, convert the side rooms into a kitchen, put two roasting ovens on the left for roasted chicken and fried chicken with fries, and temporarily use the right side for cooking river snails.
Xu Weinan returned five hundred, “You don’t need that much. Five hundred should be enough.”
Seeing Xu Nian’an’s dissatisfied look, he added, “If it’s not enough, I’ll get the rest from you later.”
Xu Nian’an smiled and accepted the money. To calculate costs more easily, she had only taken out two thousand, plus the five hundred her mother gave her—totaling two thousand five hundred.
She still had two thousand left for buying supplies, and she also wanted to get a fridge. In summer, food spoils easily, and a fridge would help.
She also needed an electric tricycle to transport river snails from the countryside. Using only a bicycle would be exhausting.