Jiang Liye nimbly began packing the items spread on the ground into bags.
Apart from the hundred-yuan bill that was won, all the other money prizes lay undisturbed.
About a third of the plush doll toys were gone, half of the stationery like pencil cases and mechanical pencils remained, and all three little picture books had been claimed.
Jiang Qingning was quite satisfied with this rate of depletion. They just needed to restock when they got back—there was still a cardboard box full of toys under her bed at home.
Besides the ones her aunt sent over every year, relatives on the Jiang side also gave her plenty of toys. She was the first child, and so far the only one, of her generation in the old Jiang family, so all the adults doted on her.
If they ran out later, she could even buy back Little Jie’s toys. He had a whole pile sitting at home too. His mom had mentioned several times about giving them to her nephews on her side of the family, but Little Jie absolutely refused. She could probably buy them from him, and he’d definitely agree.
Come to think of it, there were also the twins. As a last resort, she could buy back toys from them too.
Since the family planning policy, most families only had one child nowadays, treasured beyond measure. A couple of years ago, a movie was even released—China’s “Little Emperors”—which reflected the reality of how most families treated their only children.
Over these past few years, toy store business in department stores had been getting better and better every year. She’d heard her aunt’s classmate had already expanded his shop from the south to the capital. That was probably why he was so eager to send toys to her aunt’s family every year. One of her uncle’s cousins worked at the General Supply and Marketing Cooperative, a supervisory department for major state-owned stores.
Jiang Qingning thought to herself: Looking at it another way, I might be able to leverage my aunt’s connections in the future too. We are close relatives, after all.
A favorite saying of her dad’s from her previous life was: Not using connections you have is just plain stupid!
Yesterday, after realizing she’d transmigrated into a “contrast character,” Jiang Qingning had felt somewhat resentful towards the heroine—her aunt’s family. But today, once she started doing business, she immediately saw the advantages of the heroine. That impressive background setting of the male lead, the heroine’s classmates and colleagues… they were all high-quality resources.
“Qingning, everything’s packed. Let’s head back,” Jiang Liye said, hoisting the bag onto his back.
“Oh, coming,” Jiang Qingning nodded.
Huang Guoqing also shouldered his straw carrying pole, ready to leave. “Brother Liye, want to come to my place for dinner tonight?”
Jiang Liye shook his head. “No, I need to take this little one home first. You go on ahead.”
By the time they returned to the foot of the tongzilou apartment building, it was completely dark. They happened to run into Jiang Lifeng, who was just cycling home from work, his bell dinging as he approached.
“Old Fourth, what brings you here at this hour?” Jiang Lifeng asked curiously, parking his bicycle by the building entrance. “Oh, right, did you go pick up your wife today?”
Jiang Liye replied, “Big Brother, I took Qingning to do something big today.” His tone carried excitement. The money earned today was still with him, not yet counted, but he had a rough idea. It was an amount that startled him. He never imagined his niece could be this impressive.
Jiang Lifeng was momentarily taken aback by the bright, shining look in Jiang Liye’s eyes.
“You just said Qingning?” Jiang Lifeng caught the key word.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Jiang Qingning’s voice came from beside his leg. Jiang Lifeng looked down to see his daughter looking up at him.
Jiang Lifeng smiled and ruffled her hair. “Sorry, sweetie, Dad didn’t see you there just now.”
Jiang Qingning magnanimously said, “It’s okay. It’s because it’s so dark.”
Jiang Liye couldn’t hold back his urgency. “Big Brother, let’s go upstairs quick. You won’t believe what your Qingning did today.”
Jiang Lifeng found it odd. “What could a little kid like her possibly do?” Get into trouble?
“Come on, come on, let’s talk inside.” Jiang Liye, with one hand steadying the bag on his shoulder and the other scooping up Jiang Qingning, took the stairs two at a time with his long legs.
“Slow down! The hallway light’s out, don’t trip!” Jiang Lifeng hurried after them. It’s fine if Old Fourth falls, but don’t drop Qingning!
Pushing open the apartment door, they saw Su Guiying sitting at the dining table with a worried look. In her rush to work at noon, she’d forgotten to ask where Qingning was going. Coming home from work and not finding Qingning back had her anxious. Hearing the commotion, she immediately looked toward the door. Seeing her daughter finally home, she quickly stood up and walked over.
“Qingning, Fourth Brother, where did you go this afternoon? Why are you only coming back now?” Su Guiying walked to her daughter’s side, carefully looking her over. Seeing she seemed fine in spirits and unhurt, her anxious heart finally settled.
Jiang Liye set Jiang Qingning down from his arms, smiling. “Sister-in-law, we went to set up a stall at Shichahai this afternoon. Didn’t I mention it to you at noon?”
“I only heard you say something about doing business, but I forgot to ask where. When you weren’t back so late, I thought something had happened.” Su Guiying touched her daughter’s cheek, concerned. “Are you hungry? Are you cold?”
Jiang Qingning shook her head. “Not cold.” Then she rubbed her stomach and whined, “Mom, I’m hungry.”
“You’re hungry? Okay, let’s eat then. We’re having dumplings tonight, made fresh by your grandma this afternoon. Your favorite—pickled cabbage and pork filling. I’ll go boil them right now.” She turned to Jiang Liye. “Brother-in-law, thank you for taking care of Qingning today. It must have been tiring. Sit down, have some tea and rest a bit. I’ll go cook the dumplings. They’ll be ready soon.”
Jiang Lifeng nodded. “Right, have dinner before you head back.”
Jiang Liye didn’t stand on ceremony. He put down his things and sat. Jiang Lifeng picked up the thermos from the table, first pouring a small cup for his daughter, then going to get water for his brother.
Looking up, however, he saw Jiang Liye unbuttoning his thick navy-blue cotton-padded jacket and pulling out handfuls of money from an inner pocket.
Jiang Lifeng was so shocked he stopped pouring, eyes wide, mouth agape. “You… what are you doing?”
Subconsciously, all of Old Fourth’s past unreliable behaviors flashed through his mind. His hand trembled as he raised it. “This… where did this money come from?”
The more he thought, the more frightening it seemed. “I’m telling you, you can’t take ill-gotten gains. You hurry up and return it right now…”
Jiang Liye waited until he was sure the pocket was empty before looking up. Seeing Jiang Lifeng’s expression, he was speechless. “Big Brother, am I that unreliable in your eyes? This money was all earned by Qingning from her stall this afternoon.”
Jiang Qingning was holding her cup, taking small sips of hot water. She’d been blowing in the cold wind on the ice all afternoon. Making a living was no easy task.
Jiang Liye beckoned to her. “Qingning, come quick and count it. See how much we made today.”
“Oh, okay.” Jiang Qingning put down her cup and went over to count the money with her uncle. It was all small change, so counting would take some effort.
Jiang Lifeng stared blankly at the enthusiastic uncle-niece pair counting money. It took him a long moment to process. He stammered, “Y-you just said… this… this money was earned by Qingning?”
Jiang Liye nodded. “Yeah. I don’t have that kind of skill myself. I’ve finally realized, the real money-maker in our family has emerged.”
Next, Jiang Liye vividly narrated the events of the afternoon while continuing to count the money, making Jiang Lifeng feel like he was dreaming.
“Alright, finally finished counting. This afternoon’s total intake was five hundred and seventy yuan. After deducting the hundred-yuan cost of the prize won, the net profit is four hundred and seventy.” Jiang Liye neatly arranged the money on the table, sighing with feeling. “That’s two months’ salary for others, earned in just one afternoon.”
No wonder so many people were jumping into business these days.
Su Guiying entered the room carrying a pot of boiled dumplings and saw her husband standing there dumbfounded, while her daughter and brother-in-law sat at the dining table chatting and laughing, a stack of money in front of them.
“What… what’s going on here?” Su Guiying was puzzled.
Jiang Liye cheerfully repeated what he’d just told his brother to his sister-in-law. Sure enough, another stunned person appeared.
After a good while, Jiang Qingning couldn’t help but remind her, “Mom, the dumplings are going to stick together.”
“Oh, oh.” Only then did Su Guiying snap out of it. She hurriedly placed the pot on the table and started dishing out dumplings into bowls with chopsticks.
Jiang Lifeng still couldn’t believe it and asked again, “You’re saying this money was earned by Qingning from her stall this afternoon? The ring toss stall?”
Jiang Liye smiled, accepting the bowl Su Guiying handed him, and started eating dumplings heartily. He finished two before looking up. “Yeah, would I lie to you?”
Jiang Lifeng said, “That’s not necessarily true.”
Jiang Liye: “……Even if I lied, this money wouldn’t lie, would it? I don’t have the ability to get this much money, and it’s all in small bills of one and five yuan. Besides,” he pointed his chopsticks at the bag on the floor, “what’s in that bag is the stuff we used for the stall. Sister-in-law saw it this afternoon too. It’s noticeably much emptier now, right?”
Su Guiying nodded.
Finally, Jiang Lifeng began to believe. He looked at his daughter, who was leaning over the table eating dumplings, with amazement. He couldn’t help asking, “Qingning, how did you suddenly think of setting up a stall?”
Jiang Qingning looked up, replying in an innocent tone, “Because I want to start a company. The teacher said you should start with small things around you, so I’m starting with a small business like a stall. When I make it big, I’ll open a company.”
Jiang Lifeng felt both proud and excited. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say, finally just praising, “Our Qingning is so clever.”
Su Guiying was curious. “Qingning, how did you think of setting up a ring toss stall?”
Jiang Qingning said, “Last year during the Lantern Festival, Little Aunt took me to play ring toss.”
The Lantern Festival in the capital was even livelier than Spring Festival. There were many activities in streets and alleys—stilt walking, temple fairs, lantern riddles… The foot traffic was huge, and small vendors were everywhere, including those with ring toss stalls.
Jiang Lifeng said, “I see ring toss stalls every year, never paid much attention. Never thought they could be so profitable.”
Jiang Liye had already wolfed down a whole bowl of dumplings. Su Guiying promptly refilled it for him.
“Big Brother, how can their stalls compare to Qingning’s? Their stalls are filled with porcelain and pots and pans. Ordinary folks might watch for fun, but few feel the urge to spend money to play. And even if they win those things, they feel it’s not exciting—you can’t really use them when you take them home.”
Jiang Liye took another bite of dumpling and continued, “Nothing like our Qingning here, so clever, putting real money right out there. A hundred yuan! Who wouldn’t be tempted looking at that? Even I couldn’t resist playing for eight or ten yuan.”