This was a sure, no-loss deal, no reason not to do it. Back in the village, people would’ve fought tooth and nail over such an opportunity.
But out of the five neighboring households in the compound, only three were willing to give it a try, the other two didn’t even bother, thinking it a waste of time to send someone to stake out a spot. Lin Wanying didn’t push them.
Her godmother, worried she’d feel discouraged, said, “Auntie Liu and Uncle Zhang’s families both have kids with good jobs, plus pensions, they’re afraid setting up a stall would embarrass their kids and themselves.”
Lin Wanying said, “Back in our village, if you could earn money just by putting in effort, people would line up for it. They’re just living too comfortably.”
Zhao Xiuzhu laughed. “You’re right about that. Once they can’t put food on the table, they’ll start scheming ways to earn money. But those two families both have iron rice bowls, there’s no way they’ll ever go hungry. We’ve said our piece up front today, so if they regret it later, they can’t blame us.”
Lin Wanying also went to ask Gu Liansheng: “You’re close with Yan Qizong, ask him if any of his relatives or friends want to set up a stall. And your mentor’s family too, once the market forms and a management office gets set up, coming to me for favors won’t work anymore.”
Gu Liansheng said with a smile, “No need on my end, really. All their relatives and friends have jobs already, they’d find it embarrassing to set up a stall, don’t need it.”
Lin Wanying nodded: “I’ve said it ahead of time to all of you. Even if you regret it later, swallow it yourselves, don’t even bring it up to me, or besides getting scolded, it’ll only hurt our relationship, nothing good comes of it.”
Gu Liansheng promised: “Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of person.”
…
The slap came fast. The wild market formed faster than anyone had imagined.
The vendors at Lion Bridge whose business had plummeted spread the word one to ten, ten to a hundred, and more than half of them moved over. Add in the jobless folks nearby who wanted to give it a try, and within just a few days, a bustling wild market had formed.
Once it had reached a real scale, this time the district itself set up a management office and held a vote for management staff. Lin Wanying was elected director by an overwhelming majority of votes. From then on, setting up a stall, what to sell, everything had to follow the arrangement. It wasn’t a matter of claiming whatever spot you wanted, what you sold also had to fit within the category assigned to your stall’s location.
A market needed a well-organized range of goods to truly thrive, that was something her mentor had taught her.
Yan Qizong came to Gu Liansheng to ask a favor: “My wife’s cousin has nothing to do, and the family wants him to try setting up a stall like everyone else, at your wife’s market, we’d feel more at ease that way. Can you put in a word? Any spot at all, just something to keep him busy.”
Gu Liansheng was baffled: “Your family can’t even get him a job? His parents don’t have a position he could inherit?”
“He’s too restless, can’t handle a regular structured job. Says setting up a stall sounds free and easy, no one watching how he sits or stands. Are you having some kind of trouble with this?”
Actually there was no trouble at all, he could still get a good spot for him, but he’d already declared firmly to his wife that there’d be no favors, and now he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
Fortunately Yan Qizong was understanding and wouldn’t put a friend in a tough spot, only giving him a jab:
“Your wife’s the one who told you to come ask me. Would asking cost you a piece of flesh? You’re really testing my patience. Forget it, don’t make things difficult for yourself, I’ll come up with my own excuse for my wife’s side.”
…
Neighbors in the compound also started asking for favors.
It started when Auntie Liu asked Zhao Xiuzhu about her daily earnings. Zhao Xiuzhu, being the godmother, had the best spot, right next to Huinan and Shuisheng, earning several yuan a day.
And setting up a stall only meant working the two peak hours of morning and evening, free the rest of the day. Neither Auntie Liu’s family nor Uncle Zhang’s family earned even a hundred-some yuan a month between any one person. Auntie Liu asked Zhao Xiuzhu to put in a good word, wanting to claim a spot to set up a stall too.
“Do you know how much a spot transfer fee costs now? At least two hundred yuan.” Zhao Xiuzhu couldn’t resist rubbing it in a little, after all, when the offer had been handed to them earlier, they hadn’t wanted it.
Auntie Liu kept pleading, and Zhao Xiuzhu reluctantly agreed to try, though she couldn’t promise it would work out.
…
Lin Wanying had already anticipated this kind of back-and-forth. Before setting up the management office, she’d deliberately kept a few mediocre spots in reserve for exactly this kind of situation, another thing her mentor had taught her.
Since she was going to give it to them anyway, Lin Wanying asked Gu Liansheng once more: “Auntie Liu saw everyone else earning money, having meat with every meal, laughing and chatting, and got tempted, so she asked our godmother to put in a word. We’re neighbors in the same compound, I already anticipated they might regret their choice. Do you want to ask around again on your end? Miss this chance, and there really won’t be any backdoor left to walk through.”
In this world of favors and social ties, her mentor had taught her, depending on the situation, keep a reserve back and give it out as needed, and you can earn double the goodwill.
Gu Liansheng felt like he’d been given a new lease on life, that there was even a second chance to regret his earlier answer. His wife was too good.
He was so pleased he couldn’t sit still: “That would be wonderful. I’ll go ask right now, give me a few hours.”
Lin Wanying said, “No rush. Ask tomorrow when you’re at work, and again after work. It’s getting dark, don’t go running off now.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind the trip.”
…
Gu Liansheng ran over to Yan Qizong’s house and told the couple the good news.
A few days ago, Yan Qizong’s excuse had worked out well, and his wife thought her husband had simply spoken too late, now, with this chance feeling like something regained after being lost, she was deeply grateful, saying she’d properly thank them another day.
Yan Qizong walked Gu Liansheng out and praised his wife without holding back: “No wonder your wife gets things done, look how beautifully she handled this.”
Gu Liansheng was full of admiration too: “I praised her as well. She said it’s all thanks to her mentor’s good teaching, that mentor of hers really has some skill. He’s here for the economic conference and about to go down south to serve as an advisor. Go on back, I’m heading over to our own mentor’s place to mention the stall matter.”
…
Gu Liansheng’s mentor couldn’t be bothered with such small household matters, and said, “Such a good opportunity, give it to someone else. My family doesn’t need it.”
Gu Liansheng was genuinely afraid that when his mentor’s wife came back from visiting relatives, the same mistake he’d made earlier would repeat itself, and said, “Mentor, call your wife right now. If she says she doesn’t want it, I’ll go straight away, otherwise, neither of us will have a peaceful day.”
“There’s no phone on her end, can’t reach her.”
“Then just have any relative of yours go claim a spot, don’t transfer it away, you can even get a resale fee out of it.”
His mentor thought that made sense: “Your junior classmate’s on summer break with nothing to do, tell him to go claim a spot.”
…
Lin Wanying had finished setting the rules for the new market and was about to head out of town. Her mentor was going to Pengcheng, and would coincidentally end up traveling with Xu Youcheng’s mother-in-law, that’s how it had gone in her past life, and it should happen again this time.
She’d go along with her mentor. On the road, Xu Youcheng’s mother-in-law would have no chance to win the mentor’s favor in front of her, and once they reached Pengcheng, protecting her mentor from harm was the whole point of this trip.
Gu Liansheng was worried, afraid she wouldn’t be safe on the road, but Wanying, who’d traveled from her hometown to the capital with her brother and single-handedly whipped a brand-new market into shape, made safety concerns sound like a weak excuse.
Gu Liansheng himself often went away for days at a time on cases, so he just asked: “How long will you be gone this time?”
“At most half a month.” The crisis her mentor would face in Pengcheng was set to happen right when he arrived, once she resolved it, she’d come straight back.
Half a month wasn’t too long, and her plans deserved support. “Mom can get around fine on her own now, don’t worry about us. Go with an easy mind.”
Lin Wanying laughed: “I actually expected you to object, and prepared myself for an argument.”
That would’ve been the old Xu Youcheng, never once supporting Wanying’s decisions. Gu Liansheng wasn’t petty like that, the more impressive his wife became, the prouder he felt.
…
And, coincidentally, an old case from a few years back had turned up new evidence, and the bureau needed to send two people to Guangzhou to question a witness again, most likely a wasted trip that wouldn’t yield much, and given the distance, no one really wanted to go.
Gu Liansheng volunteered eagerly, and asked, “Master, my wife and her mentor are heading to Pengcheng, that’s close by. Once I’m done with my business, could I go find her?”
His master said, none too pleased: “So that’s why you’re so eager today. Fine, go with Qizong then.”
…
Lin Wanying and Gu Liansheng agreed that whoever finished their business first would go find the other. Her excuse was that she wanted to broaden her horizons alongside her mentor and see the pilot reform city firsthand, her mentor approved wholeheartedly, never noticing her little scheme.
She had two little schemes of her own, one, to disrupt any chance for her mentor and He Jinzhi to hit it off, the other, to prevent her mentor from being harmed. These two things were the real purpose of this trip.
The train only had hard seats available. After boarding, she told her mentor to stay in his seat while she went to find the conductor to see if she could get a sleeper upgrade.
Fortunately, two more stops down the line, a hard sleeper opened up, and she quickly paid the difference, securing two sleeper tickets.
By the time she got back, her mentor was already chatting face to face with He Jinzhi, such a coincidence, their seats had ended up right next to each other. Just like in her past life. He Jinzhi’s part in this had been engineered, she could have bought a ticket for the same train, but ending up in the same car was just He Jinzhi’s remaining luck not yet spent.
…
Lin Wanying, surprised but friendly, introduced them: “Auntie He, what a coincidence! Mentor, this is Xu Youcheng’s current mother-in-law.”
Ji Huaien’s smile widened: “The world is said to be vast, but it’s small too, running into Youcheng’s family even on a train, what a coincidence.”
He Jinzhi seemed surprised as well: “Youcheng admires you the most. Never expected to run into you on a train, must be fate.”
Both her mentor and He Jinzhi had excellent composure, neither’s smile so much as flickered. Old foxes, both of them, and Lin Wanying couldn’t match that.
She was only half their age, so she could afford to speak without much filter, and complained to her mentor: “Mentor, remember when Auntie He came and knelt at the compound gate over the Lion Bridge market business, putting me in an impossible spot? What do you make of her kneeling like that?”
Neither of her students had mentioned this before, if not for the chance encounter on the train, her young student wouldn’t be venting like this out of context. Must have really been upset.
Ji Huaien laughed: “We’ve all been through being sent down, thick skin doesn’t bother us much anymore. If kneeling can achieve the goal, and also leave you looking disrespectful to an elder, that’s killing two birds with one stone [1]killing two birds with one stone (yī jiàn shuāng diāo, 一箭雙鵰), Idiom, literally “one arrow, two hawks”, describes a single action that achieves two goals at once, here needling … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3158668_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3158668_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); without lifting a finger. Too bad she ran into you, unmoved by any of it. But I’m sure Youcheng’s mother-in-law wouldn’t have such ill intentions, I was just analyzing the possibility just now.”
Lin Wanying smiled: “Good that Mentor understands.”
He Jinzhi was nearly bursting with anger inside, but couldn’t let it show.
They chatted a bit more, nothing of substance, and then Lin Wanying told her mentor they could head to the sleeper car now.
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