“Qingning, how did you think of putting real money out for people to win?” Su Guiying asked curiously.
Jiang Qingning explained, “Because when I watched others play ring toss before, I thought, if it were me playing, I’d only want money, or maybe cute dolls—things I could actually use.”
Accurately pinpointing customer needs, that’s the key.
Jiang Lifeng couldn’t help but reach out and gently stroke his daughter’s head, praising her, “Qingning is amazing.”
Jiang Qingning curled the corner of her mouth, “Not bad, not bad.”
After dinner, Jiang Liye prepared to leave. “Qingning, I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning.” They had already agreed to set out at eight a.m.
Jiang Qingning quickly said, “Wait, Uncle, you haven’t taken your wages yet.”
Jiang Liye waved his hand. “Oh, helping my own niece? How could I take your money?”
“No,” Jiang Qingning said seriously. “I said I’d hire you. I’m not one of those bosses who doesn’t pay wages. Besides, Uncle, you turned down other work to help me today. If you don’t accept payment, I’d feel too embarrassed to ask you tomorrow.”
Su Guiying also chimed in, “Yes, Qingning’s right. You were a huge help today, Fourth Uncle. If you hadn’t been there, I definitely wouldn’t have let Qingning go set up a stall.”
Jiang Liye scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “We’re all family.”
Jiang Qingning took out a hundred yuan and pressed it into Jiang Liye’s hand. “Even brothers keep clear accounts. Please take it, Uncle.”
“A hundred yuan! That… that’s way too much!” A hundred yuan was nearly what he used to earn in over half a month.
Jiang Qingning said, “You just counted how much I made today, didn’t you? Don’t worry, I have money.”
This business really couldn’t do without Jiang Liye. First, no other adult around was as free as him to accompany a kid to run a stall. Second, he could hold his ground and deter trouble.
With the rapid development of reform and opening up, public security issues in the 1990s were also becoming apparent. Even in the capital, there were still incidents of “protection money” being collected.
Not to mention a child like her; even adults setting up stalls had to pay their respects to the local “bosses.” That candied haw seller today was a case in point.
What’s more, her business made money too fast. Anyone with eyes could see she was earning a lot. Without someone to watch her back, she’d be waiting to be taken advantage of.
Naturally, Jiang Lifeng understood this logic too. He spoke up, “That’s right, Old Fourth, take it. We’ll have to trouble you to keep looking after Qingning tomorrow. Your sister-in-law and I can’t easily take time off work.”
Since it was put that way, Jiang Liye didn’t refuse anymore. He smiled and accepted the hundred-yuan bill.
“Alright, I’ll come over first thing tomorrow.”
That night, Jiang Lifeng and Su Guiying lay in bed, unable to sleep.
“You think, how could our Qingning, so little, come up with such a clever idea?” Jiang Lifeng’s voice was very soft, only Su Guiying beside him could hear.
“Qingning has been clever since she was tiny. When she first learned to talk, she was already articulate. Mom loved carrying her out for walks back then. She wouldn’t cry or fuss when she saw people, and her mouth was sweet.”
Thinking of her daughter as a baby, a smile couldn’t help but appear at the corner of Su Guiying’s mouth. When she told her mother she was doing well, she truly meant it from the heart.
Just having a daughter like Qingning meant she would never regret marrying Jiang Lifeng and never felt inferior to others.
“I used to think, since Qingning is so smart, we must nurture her well, let her go to university. But I never imagined she could earn so much money at just seven years old.” Jiang Lifeng’s tone held laughter and pride. “The money she earned just this afternoon is more than what many university graduates make in a month.”
Su Guiying turned over to look at her husband, whispering, “Even if she earns more money, she still has to study.”
“Of course. Qingning is already this capable now. Once she goes to university, she’ll be even more promising.” Jiang Lifeng couldn’t help but indulge in daydreams, the smile on his face growing wider. “Hey, looks like the God of Literature is smiling on our Jiang family. Not only did we get Old Fifth as a university graduate, Qingning will definitely get into university in the future too.”
After a long pause, Su Guiying whispered, “Our Su family also has a university graduate.” After a moment’s thought, she added, “And a graduate from the first class after the college entrance exams were reinstated, at that.”
Jiang Lifeng chuckled. “Right, right, your sister is smart too. Qingning got all the best traits from both our families.”
The couple quietly chatted and laughed in the room. Next door, Jiang Qingning was already sound asleep. Running a stall all afternoon was still too exhausting for a child her age.
…
The next day, the fourth day of the lunar new year. Many families still had visiting relatives.
Because Jiang Lifeng’s father passed away early, the family had long since lost touch with his uncle’s side. Grandma Jiang had been sold into a theater troupe as a child and had no maternal relatives, so the Jiang family didn’t have many relatives to visit during the New Year.
There were a few relatives on Su Guiying’s side, but they all lived near the cotton mill. She could just swing by with some gifts after work.
Since the children were still young and their parents were still around, siblings didn’t need to visit each other formally.
Before eight o’clock, Jiang Liye arrived at the tongzilou to pick her up.
Jiang Lifeng had already left for work early. Su Guiying had also packed up and was ready to leave. Seeing Jiang Liye arrive, she said, “Ah, Fourth Uncle’s here. Breakfast is on the table. You and Qingning take your time eating.” As she spoke, she walked to the door to leave. “Sorry to trouble you with looking after Qingning again today.”
Jiang Liye smiled. “Sister-in-law, you’re being too polite. I just took Qingning’s wages last night.”
Su Guiying smiled, picked up her bag, and headed out. “Then I’m off to work. Be careful when you go out.”
Jiang Liye nodded. “Don’t worry. With me around, Qingning’s safety is guaranteed.”
Sitting at the dining table drinking milk, Jiang Qingning waved goodbye to Su Guiying. “Bye, Mom.”
Jiang Liye turned and pointed to a familiar-looking bag on the floor. “This is the stuff for today’s stall, right?”
Jiang Qingning nodded. “Yes, I added a few more things.”
“Alright. You finish your breakfast, then we’ll head out.” He said, pulling out a chair and sitting down beside her.
Jiang Qingning pointed to the pan-fried dumplings on a plate on the table. They looked golden and delicious. “Uncle, have some too. These are last night’s leftover dumplings. Mom pan-fried them with rapeseed oil this morning. They’re so fragrant.”
They really were fragrant; he could smell them from outside the door. However, Jiang Liye had already eaten breakfast at home. He waved his hand. “You eat them. I had breakfast at home. My mom specifically made fried rice. My stomach’s still full; can’t eat anything right now.”
Afraid he’d get hungry in the morning, he had specifically eaten two big bowls.
Jiang Qingning nodded, finished the pan-fried dumplings and milk at a leisurely pace, then wiped her mouth.
“Okay, I’m done.”
Jiang Liye quickly stood up. “Right, let’s go.”
It was the same spot as yesterday. When they arrived, Huang Guoqing, the candied haw seller next door, had already been there for a while.
“Brother Liye, you’re here.” Huang Guoqing greeted them with a smile. He took a candied haw skewer from his straw stand, bent down, and handed it to Jiang Qingning, grinning. “Qingning, I made those tangerine candied haws you mentioned yesterday when I got home. Try it for me, see how it tastes.”
Jiang Qingning took it with a smile. “Thank you, Uncle.”
She hadn’t expected this uncle to really take her words to heart and act so quickly.
Huang Guoqing took another skewer and handed it to Jiang Liye, smiling broadly. “Here, Brother Liye, you try one too. When I went home last night and told my grandpa I was going to make tangerine candied haws, guess what? He told me his grandpa used to sell tangerine candied haws when he was a kid! Not just tangerines, they sold grape ones too.”
Jiang Liye raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. “Oh? Seems your ancestors were from a well-off family. Getting fruit in winter during the Qing Dynasty wasn’t something just anyone could do.”
“Heh, our family fortune declined after that,” Huang Guoqing joked with a smile. “Luckily, by my generation, we’ve hit good times again. Even us common folks can buy fruit in winter to make candied haws now.”
“And I’m lucky to be here in these good times too, able to taste the tangerine candied haws the rich families of the past ate.” Jiang Liye took a bite. The crispy sugar shell shattered, and the sweet-sour juice of the tangerine instantly filled his mouth.
“Mmm, delicious! Sweet and sour, even better than canned tangerines,” Jiang Qingning’s eyes lit up as she praised sincerely.
Jiang Liye nodded in agreement. “It really is good.”
Jiang Qingning couldn’t help but take another bite. This uncle was truly an honest merchant, using fresh, good-quality tangerines.
Unlike some unscrupulous vendors she’d encountered in her past life, who used either rotten tangerines or ones completely lacking flavor, dried out from who knows how long of storage.
Huang Guoqing was very pleased. “I’m glad you like it. Come get more when you’re finished.”
Jiang Qingning gave a thumbs-up. “Uncle, your candied haws are especially delicious. They’re sure to sell really well.”
“Haha, I’ll take that as a lucky omen!”
Finishing the candied haws in a few bites, Jiang Liye opened the bag and started taking things out to set up the stall.
The crowd in the morning wasn’t as large as in the afternoon. Jiang Qingning glanced around and noticed the people here fell roughly into two categories: couples on dates, and elementary school kids around ten years old.
The fourth day was still a peak time for New Year visits—either going to others’ homes to pay respects or staying home waiting for guests to arrive.
Northerners had strict requirements for children’s etiquette. Even teenagers had to stay home to entertain guests. You couldn’t just slip out to play when guests came to visit; that would be impolite.
It was the same when visiting older relatives for New Year’s greetings—the older the child, the less they could be absent.
So those out playing this morning were people who didn’t have to worry about displeasing the elders at home.
For young people, dating was serious business. Most were dating with marriage in mind—a lifelong event. Of course, elders could understand that.
As for kids under ten? Let them go wherever they wanted.
“It’s not even nine yet. More people will trickle in after a while,” Huang Guoqing said, very familiar with the foot traffic patterns here.
Jiang Qingning nodded. This foot traffic was enough. Seeing her uncle had already deftly arranged the items and secured the money prizes with rocks, she raised her voice and started calling out to attract customers.
The first to be drawn over were the dating couples. They had been making awkward small talk on the ice, running out of things to say. Hearing the commotion here, they sighed in relief and hurried over to see what was happening.
They really couldn’t keep the conversation going without finding something to do.