Ning Xin’s words made Director Zhang laugh.
“You’re an interesting young lady. If you’re not opening a shop, what do you need all these things for? I have several hundred bowls here! Just how many people are in your family that you’d need so many?”
“I don’t need that many,” Ning Xin answered honestly.
After saying that, she glanced at Xu Shaonian and explained, “Director Zhang, I know you and Brother Shaonian have a good relationship, and he and my brother are also good friends. Today, we asked him to introduce us so we could find you.
To be honest with you, my family really is considering opening a restaurant. But we don’t have that much money, so we can’t afford brand new things. Look, if I also take some tables, chairs, and pots and bowls off your hands, could you give us a better price for the sake of Brother Shaonian?”
Ning Xin’s words left the three people present stunned.
Ning Yi had no idea his sister had such plans!
In his mind, Xiao Xin had merely taken Aunt Wang’s advice to sell some herbal tea to make a bit of money while the weather was hot. Once it cooled down, she would naturally go back to whatever she was doing before.
Xu Shaonian, however, immediately understood that this girl was trying to distance herself from him in her words.
Was she worried that because her family was going into business, people would look down on them, and she didn’t want to drag him into it?
With that thought, Xu Shaonian lowered his gaze, hiding a hint of a smile at the corner of his eyes.
He couldn’t help but wonder if she would think differently once she found out what he actually did.
As for Director Zhang, he didn’t expect his offhand joke to actually hit the mark.
Unsure how to respond to the young girl’s request, he instinctively turned to look at Xu Shaonian.
Xu Shaonian stepped forward and stood beside Ning Xin.
Looking at Director Zhang, he slightly curled his lips and said, “Since my little sister has asked, Director, won’t you do us a favor?”
“Ah, of course, it’s only right!”
With Xu Shaonian’s words, Director Zhang became noticeably more enthusiastic.
He even moved down the stacked tables and chairs so Ning Xin could take her pick.
Although she had only sold herbal tea for half a day and earned just a few yuan, it only strengthened Ning Xin’s resolve to open a restaurant.
Her family’s situation was simply too perfect for it; it would be a waste not to take advantage of it.
Not to mention anything else, just the three rooms at her doorstep were prime storefronts facing the main road, the kind of property that would be impossible to buy with money in later times.
If she made good use of that location, it would be difficult not to make money!
If it weren’t for Xu Shaonian bringing them here today and showing her these items, making Ning Xin feel that this opportunity was too good to pass up,
she might have needed a few more days to think it over.
But now, if she didn’t seize this opportunity, Ning Xin felt she would definitely regret it in the future.
Despite thinking this, Ning Xin didn’t let herself get carried away.
She didn’t dare buy too much in one go.
After carefully inspecting all the tables and chairs, she selected ten tables and twenty square stools.
In addition, she picked out forty bowls that were identical and looked very new, along with one large pot, but nothing else.
The tables she chose weren’t the old, heavy square ones from the cafeteria, but rather the school’s broken desks that had been stored in this warehouse.
Of course, she only chose ones with minor damage. She didn’t take any that were missing legs or were severely damaged.
Regardless, since these tables and chairs were all retired items, the price was naturally low.
Including the pots and bowls, Director Zhang charged her a total of fifty yuan, and even threw in a large soup bucket for free.
Adding the two thermos buckets from earlier, Ning Xin had spent one hundred yuan on enough items to fill nearly half a room.
She was overjoyed, feeling she had gotten an incredible bargain!
Ning Yi, however, was tight-lipped with distress over the expense.
With so many items, the three of them couldn’t possibly take everything back on their own.
In the end, Xu Shaonian suggested asking Director Zhang to borrow a cart from the construction team.
Of course, they wouldn’t interfere with their work during the day, they would come back after dark to pick everything up, with him and Ning Yi handling it together.
Director Zhang readily agreed.
Since they would be returning later that evening, Ning Xin suggested that Xu Shaonian come home with them for dinner.
He didn’t refuse.
On the way back, Ning Xin had her brother stop the bike for a moment. She went to the herbal pharmacy to buy some medicinal herbs she would need for the next few days, and then the three of them headed home.
As soon as they entered the alley, Ning Xin spotted someone sitting on the steps at her front door.
Drawing closer, she saw it was a middle-aged woman, probably in her early fifties.
The woman seemed unwell.
She sat on the stone steps at the entrance, leaning against the doorframe, her eyes half-closed and her complexion pale.
Having been a medical woman in the past, Ning Xin could tell with just one look that this woman was suffering from exhaustion coupled with heatstroke, which was why she couldn’t go any further.
Without stopping to ask who the woman was, Ning Xin quickly had the two men help her carry the woman into the courtyard.
Once inside, she called out toward the house, “Grandma! Grandma!” But there was no response.
By then, the woman had been settled onto a bamboo bed in the yard.
With all the commotion, she had somewhat recovered.
She managed a faint smile toward the three of them and explained softly, “I’m sorry to intrude. I just wanted to buy a cup of herbal tea. I wasn’t feeling well, and when I passed by the alley entrance, a neighbor mentioned that your family’s herbal tea helps relieve heat, so I thought I’d come and get a bowl.”
Hearing this, Ning Xin quickly went to the kitchen.
She hadn’t been home in the afternoon, so naturally, there was no herbal tea already brewed.
On the table by the stove sat two basins, each containing jasmine flowers and mint leaves soaking in water.
It looked like her grandmother had gathered them in the afternoon.
Ning Xin didn’t stop to wonder where her grandmother had gone.
She quickly brewed a cup using the cooled boiled water at home, making sure to add some spirit spring water as well.
She brought the herbal tea out, and the woman drank it all in one go. Her complexion visibly improved, no longer as pale as before.
In fact, a hint of color even began to return to her face.
The effect astonished not only the woman but Xu Shaonian as well.
He couldn’t help but give Ning Xin a deep, thoughtful look.
The woman let out a long breath and gave Ning Xin a grateful look.
“Thank you, young lady. I’ll be on my way now. I don’t want to impose any further.”
“You’re welcome,” Ning Xin said, waving her hand.
But she added, “Auntie, if you’re not in a hurry, don’t leave just yet. Stay and rest a while longer; wait until the sun goes down before heading out. You’ve just come down with heatstroke, and walking a long distance right away will be very taxing.”
There were no taxis in those days, and the nearest bus stop was quite a walk from here.
The woman clearly wasn’t in good health, and Ning Xin was worried that by the time she reached the bus stop, the effects of the herbal tea she had just drunk would have worn off.
The woman herself seemed to feel that her body truly couldn’t handle it.
She didn’t refuse Ning Xin’s suggestion and instead said apologetically, “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
“Everyone faces difficulties when they’re away from home. It’s no trouble at all.”
No sooner had Ning Xin said this than Old Madam Ning walked in from behind the screen wall.
She clearly didn’t expect so many people in the courtyard. After a brief pause, she said, “Xiao Xin, you’re back? Are you hungry? Grandma will go make dinner right now.”
But Ning Xin’s attention was drawn to the large bundle of lotus flowers, lotus leaves, and lotus seed pods in her grandmother’s hand.
“Grandma, where did you get these?” she asked, ignoring her grandmother’s question and pointing at the flowers and leaves with sparkling eyes.
Seeing her like this, Old Madam Ning smiled.
“Your uncle came to town on business today. Your aunt knew you loved these, so she insisted he bring some over. He was driving a tractor and couldn’t leave it, so he had someone call me out to pick them up.”
At this point, Old Madam Ning looked at the woman and asked curiously, “And you are?”
The woman had already sat up on the bamboo bed and was slowly sipping another cup of tea that Ning Yi had poured for her.
When she heard the question, she quickly repeated what she had explained earlier.
Old Madam Ning immediately wore an apologetic expression and said repeatedly, “Oh dear, I only stepped out for a moment. If I had been here, I certainly wouldn’t have let you wait outside the door.”
Then she asked, “I didn’t lock the gate. Why didn’t you come in and sit down?”
The woman smiled but didn’t respond. Ning Xin, too, was left speechless.
Having spent so much time in the countryside, Old Madam Ning wasn’t in the habit of locking the door when she went out. That was why the gate had been left wide open even though no one was home.
But who, unless they were particularly bold, would just walk into someone’s house without calling out first?
Ning Xin didn’t have the heart to lecture her grandmother about it at the moment.
She walked over and took the lotus flowers and leaves, then said with a coaxing smile, “Grandma, let me make dinner tonight, okay? I promise it’ll taste delicious! Brother brought his best friend home, Brother Shaonian really helped us out a lot today. I want to make something good for all of you to try.”
Because of the heat, and since the wound on her face hadn’t fully healed, Old Madam Ning had been keeping her from spending too long in the kitchen, worried that sweating might affect her recovery.
But seeing the eager look in her granddaughter’s eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
Only when her granddaughter mentioned there was a guest did she notice the young man standing beside her grandson.
With an outsider present, she felt even less inclined to embarrass her granddaughter.
After greeting Xu Shaonian, Old Madam Ning followed Ning Xin into the kitchen.
Ning Xin opened the cupboard, took a look inside, and pulled out a small bag of polished round-grained rice.
She washed the rice, added plenty of water, and set it over the fire to cook into congee.
Then she picked up a lotus flower and began pulling off its petals.
Seeing this, Old Madam Ning was taken aback.
“Aren’t these your favorites? I was just about to find an empty soy sauce bottle, wash it out, and put them in your room for you. Why are you pulling them apart?”
When faced with a choice between culinary delight and aesthetic elegance, the decision was obvious for someone who loved food.
Without looking up, Ning Xin simply said, “To eat.”
Then she lifted her head and called out the door, “Brother, tell that auntie not to leave just yet. Since we have lotus flowers, I’m going to brew some stamen tea for her!”
Lotus flowers can help relieve dizziness caused by summer heat, while lotus stamens are known to nourish the heart and calm the mind.
If she wasn’t mistaken, that woman was suffering from severe internal depletion. In modern terms, she had serious menopausal symptoms.
Beyond the heatstroke, she likely hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time.
The poor condition of her complexion was probably largely due to insomnia.
If her aunt hadn’t sent over these lotus flowers and leaves, Ning Xin wouldn’t have gone out of her way.
But since they were here, she was more than willing to brew a cup of tea for the woman.