Of course, children can’t resist fun things. Unfortunately, they don’t have much money on them. Their lucky money gets taken by their parents as soon as they receive it.
The money they have to buy candied haws is just the small change their parents give them to coax them into handing over their red envelopes.
“Can I play for one yuan?” a child asked, pulling out his only remaining yuan bill.
Immediately, another child chimed in, “I only have one yuan left too.”
Jiang Qingning suggested a plan. “How about this: you two pool your money. I’ll give you twelve rings total, and you can split them, six each. That’s a better deal than each playing alone for one yuan.”
She then said to the group of kids behind them, “Those of you without money can also pool together!”
She felt not a shred of guilt about taking the children’s pocket money. If your skin isn’t thick, how can you do business? Besides, she was a child herself now.
The kids thought her idea made perfect sense. Pooling their money, one yuan from this one, one yuan from that one, they ran over to play ring toss.
The morning passed quickly. At noon, everyone went off to eat, and the stall was empty again.
“Brother Liye, this time of day is always quiet. People won’t start trickling back until after 1 p.m. Let’s go get some lunch first,” Huang Guoqing said, pointing to a spot not far away where smoke was rising. “There’s a wonton stall over there. Let’s go eat something warm. My treat, as thanks to Qingning for the tangerine candied haw idea.”
The popularity of the tangerine candied haws had far exceeded his expectations. He’d made fifty skewers to bring today, originally thinking it was too many. Who knew they’d already sold half by mid-morning?
He was already planning to make candied haws with other fruits when he got home that night.
Jiang Liye exhaled a puff of air. “You take Qingning to eat first. Just bring me back something simple after you’re done. I’ll watch the stall, otherwise we’d have to set everything up again.”
Huang Guoqing thought about it and agreed. Leaving all these things spread out on the ground really wasn’t safe. It wasn’t like him, who could just shoulder his straw stand and leave.
“Alright, I’ll take Qingning to eat first.”
There were several small food stalls set up on the riverbank not far away—one selling steamed buns, another popcorn, and the wonton stall was at the very edge. The owner had brought a coal stove and was making and boiling the wontons fresh.
Jiang Qingning noticed a huge pile of already-made wontons on the chopping board, but no one was eating at the stall. She wondered when they’d ever sell out.
“Boss, three bowls of wontons. Two to eat here, one to take away later,” Huang Guoqing said, clearly familiar with the place.
The boss recognized him too and smiled. “Sure thing! Just a moment.”
Huang Guoqing led Jiang Qingning to sit on the curb nearby. There were a few pieces of thick cardboard there, which the wonton stall owner had specifically placed for customers to sit on.
The stall had no tables, let alone chairs or stools. You either held your bowl and stood to eat, or you sat on the curb.
The wontons were ready quickly. Afraid they were too hot, Jiang Qingning placed her bowl on the ground and ate with a spoon.
This owner really doesn’t know how to run a business, Jiang Qingning thought to herself. Not even a small table? I’ve fallen to such a state, having to squat on the ground to eat… sigh…
But as soon as the wonton entered her mouth, Jiang Qingning’s eyes lit up. It actually tasted pretty good!
“Boss, pack me fifty wontons. I’ll take them home to cook myself,” someone said, coming over with a plastic bag to buy wontons.
“Sure! Do you want chopped green onions and dried shrimp?”
“Yes, please pack those separately.”
One after another, two or three more people came to buy pre-made wontons to cook at home, each buying dozens or even a hundred. The boss was clearly prepared, scooping them up from the big pile of pre-made wontons nearby.
Jiang Qingning had just been wondering when the boss would ever sell that huge pile of wontons, but now over half of it was already gone.
Seems she had underestimated him.
The weather was really cold. The scalding-hot wontons were only lukewarm after a short while. Jiang Qingning sped up and started eating them in big mouthfuls.
The hot wontons warmed her up from the inside out.
“Uncle, your wontons are really delicious. You could totally open a shop,” Jiang Qingning complimented with a smile as she returned her empty bowl.
The vendor happily took the bowl. “I’m saving up for that! Please come visit often when I do open a shop.”
“Sure! Your wontons are so tasty, I’ll definitely come, and I’ll bring my parents too.”
“Haha, then I thank you in advance!”
The vendor was in a great mood. When boiling the wontons for the takeaway order, he added an extra handful. That overflowing bowl of wontons ended up in Jiang Liye’s stomach.
“I’ll go return the bowl. Old Huang, can you keep an eye on Qingning for me?” Jiang Liye said, wiping his mouth.
Huang Guoqing nodded. “Sure, Brother Liye. Go ahead, I’ve got it here.”
Jiang Qingning sat on her little toy deer, sheltered from the wind, and counted the money. One yuan, two yuan, ten yuan, fifty…
By the time Jiang Liye returned, Jiang Qingning had already counted the money twice.
“So, how much did we make this morning?”
“Two hundred and eleven yuan.”
Jiang Liye stroked his chin. “Tsk, seems these little kids aren’t as flush with cash as those older boys yesterday.”
Most of the customers in the morning were kids around ten years old, who didn’t have much money. In the end, nearly all of them emptied their pockets. Several even pooled together five-jiao coins to make up two yuan to play.
“But at least no one won any money this morning. Besides a few toys that were won, this money is pure profit,” Jiang Liye said, comforting his niece in case she was disappointed.
In his view, over two hundred yuan in half a day was already shocking, but compared to yesterday afternoon, it was a bit less. He was worried the child might feel let down.
Jiang Qingning naturally didn’t feel any letdown. Instead, she smiled and said, “Hehe, kids are weaker, they can’t throw the rings that far. Of course they wouldn’t win the money. They didn’t even win the bigger toys placed further away.”
Jiang Liye teased her, “Looks like Boss Jiang has everything figured out. You have the makings of a big boss.”
Jiang Qingning lifted her chin proudly. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Uncle. When I make my fortune in the future, I won’t neglect an old-timer employee like you.”
“Whoa, then I better perform well! I’m a founding member of Team Boss Jiang right now!”
The uncle and niece bantered back and forth to pass the time. No one was coming at this hour, and it was pretty boring just sitting here in the wind.
Close to one o’clock, people gradually started trickling back.
The boy in the leather jacket from yesterday afternoon came back today, bringing a whole group with him. Jiang Qingning had a good memory and recognized two or three from yesterday; the rest were new faces.
“Little boss, I brought some new friends to support your business today. Pretty decent of me, huh?” the leather-jacket boy said with a grin.
Jiang Qingning replied warmly, “Thank you, brother. You’re so nice. Today, I’ll treat you to a two-yuan game.”
The leather-jacket boy readily pulled out a ten-yuan bill. “Haha, then give me another ten yuan’s worth!”
He then said to the people behind him, “Anyone want to play? I’ll treat each of you to two yuan’s worth!”
“Of course we want to play!” several voices called out loudly.
Someone from the group laughed, “Since Minyong’s treating today, I’m definitely going to have a good time.”
“Minyong’s got plenty of pocket money. Let’s not save any for him. Let’s fleece him good!”
A girl with a high ponytail said, “Since he’s treating you guys to ring toss, I’ll treat everyone to candied haws.”
Someone immediately waved to Huang Guoqing nearby. “Hey, candied haw seller! Get over here! Our Sister Na is treating! One candied haw per person!”
There were twelve or thirteen of these young men and women. Huang Guoqing happily hurried over upon hearing this, smiling as he recommended, “I’ve got a newly developed product—tangerine candied haws! Sweet and sour. Would you like to try them?”
The high-ponytail Sister Na nodded indifferently. “Then give everyone an extra tangerine candied haw each.”
“Wow, Sister Na is so generous!”
“Thanks, Sister Na!”
Everyone laughed and flattered her. The reason they often hung out together was because Leather Jacket and High Ponytail were both rich and generous, always treating everyone.
This group of youngsters might seem a bit aimless, loafing around all day, but for small vendors, they were swift and generous big spenders.
Amidst the lively scene of eating candied haws and playing ring toss, these fun-loving, boisterous young people created quite a commotion, drawing many onlookers.
It saved Jiang Qingning the trouble of having to shout to attract customers.
The crowd this afternoon was even bigger than yesterday. Besides those who hadn’t had their fill of fun yesterday, the rest were passersby drawn in. The daily foot traffic here was substantial.
Jiang Qingning was so busy she could hardly keep up with collecting money. The line of people waiting to play stretched long. It seemed like Chinese people loved queues—the longer the line, the more people came to pay and join it.
It was as if everyone was thinking, Everyone else is lining up; if I don’t, I’ll miss out.
Huang Guoqing sold out of all the candied haws he’d brought today before 4 p.m. He secretly regretted not bringing more.
It was too late to go home and make more now, so he hurried off to the wholesale market to buy more fruit. He definitely had to bring more tomorrow.
“Sister Na, maybe we should give up,” someone in the line whispered to High Ponytail. “You’ve already spent almost fifty yuan. It’s not like you absolutely have to win that doll.”
On the stall, there was a doll wearing a plaid dress, placed on the far edge of the row behind the fifty-yuan bill. Sister Na had taken a liking to it at first sight. Unfortunately, her skill wasn’t up to par. Even after spending fifty yuan, she still hadn’t won it.
“No! I have to win it today!” Sister Na was stubborn.
Someone suggested, “How about having Xiaofei win it for you? He just won a fifty-yuan bill!”
Sister Na was principled. “No. I want to win it myself.” After a moment’s thought, she gritted her teeth. “I refuse to believe I can’t get it today!”
The person who tried to persuade her stuck out their tongue secretly. Alright then, you have money, you do what you want.
Jiang Qingning loved customers who were rich and willful like this. She smiled and encouraged, “Sister, you were so close just now! It was almost there. Blame the wind.”
“Sister, do you want to try again? I see the sister behind you really wants this doll too. Should we let her try first?”
“This doll is a limited edition. You can’t even buy it anymore these days.”
…
After spending nearly a hundred yuan, Sister Na finally, through sheer persistence (and spending), managed to win the coveted doll.
Watching this, Jiang Liye was inwardly muttering, hesitating whether he should advise Jiang Qingning to just privately give the doll to that girl. He was worried she might get angry and cause trouble at the stall later.
Judging by the girl’s demeanor, her family was undoubtedly wealthy and influential. If she decided to make a fuss, it could get troublesome.
When he finally saw her succeed, Jiang Liye was even happier than she was. He hurried over and handed her the doll.