Chapter 5: Compensation

Tao Yu calmly sized up the man before her, who was nearly 1.9 meters tall. She then looked at the car in front of her.

It was obviously the same car that almost hit her yesterday.

Song Hecheng seemed to sense something. He took a long stride, walking around the car, his well-tailored western suit appearing before Tao Yu.

He bent down, extending his long arm to pick up the stick with the damaged candied fruit, then handed it to Tao Yu.

“Sorry, comrade, it was our mistake. We’ll buy it.”

Tao Yu took the stick from him, lowering her eyes. His warm, low voice was familiar—he was the man from the back seat of the car yesterday.

A glint of mischief flashed in her eyes. She then lifted her gaze and returned to her usual calm demeanor, saying two words softly.

“Five yuan.”

Xiao Zhang was stunned. Was he hearing things? Three skewers of candied fruit were worth maybe one yuan, and she wanted five!

Before he could say anything, Song Hecheng had already taken out his wallet and pulled out a ten yuan bill, offering it to Tao Yu while apologizing again, his tone sincere and gentle.

“This is compensation, I’m truly sorry.”

Tao Yu looked up at him, her eyes seemingly pondering something. Her tone remained calm.

“It’s too much. I don’t have change to give you.”

Song Hecheng smiled politely, his demeanor graceful as he handed her the money.

“This is also for the compensation from yesterday. Again, I apologize.”

Tao Yu was momentarily stunned. Xiao Zhang was astonished, his mouth agape.

What? This woman was the one from yesterday with the long bangs covering her face!

Xiao Zhang couldn’t help but look at Tao Yu again, his eyes now full of surprise.

To be honest, once she lifted her bangs, she was quite pretty. She didn’t seem so intimidating anymore…

Tao Yu ignored Xiao Zhang’s gaze. She quickly regained her composure, pocketing the ten yuan note and silently stepping aside.

Song Hecheng nodded slightly at Tao Yu, then got into the car and drove off.

Tao Yu watched the car disappear in the distance, holding the ten yuan bill in her hand, a cold smile playing on her lips.

Being rich is nice, she thought.

Then she remembered the man’s warm, elegant smile, but it quickly faded from her face.

Inside the car, Xiao Zhang nervously thought about how to apologize to Mr. Song. But before he could speak, Song Hecheng said sternly.

“Three months’ salary will be deducted. This is the last warning.”

Xiao Zhang immediately nodded, not daring to argue.

Although losing three months’ salary felt like a painful blow, as long as Song Hecheng didn’t fire him, he would count himself lucky.

Sigh, I really need to drink less in the future. It causes too many problems!

When Tao Yu returned to Li Juan’s place, Li Juan had already sold all the vegetables for the day. She was in a good mood, and when she saw Tao Yu coming back with the sold-out straw stick, Li Juan was even more delighted.

They couldn’t talk much on the street, so they gathered their things and happily went home.

Back at the house, Li Juan counted the money she had earned today, her face full of joy. She excitedly said to Tao Yu.

“We not only sold all the vegetables two hours earlier today, but we also made an extra 10 cents profit!”

“With the money from the candied fruit, we earned 50 cents today!”

Then, Li Juan began to enthusiastically share her plans for the future.

“At this rate, if I leave earlier and buy more vegetables, I can make at least 10 to 15 yuan a month!”

Li Juan was really excited. In the past, her daily profit from selling vegetables was only about 20 cents, sometimes even less. At best, she’d make 5 yuan a month. But now, following her daughter’s method and working harder, her monthly profits could easily double!

Without hesitation, Li Juan decided that starting tomorrow, she would leave earlier to buy vegetables, and maybe even try selling fruit in the city. The profit from that should be good too.

As for Tao Yu, Li Juan didn’t want her to continue helping with selling vegetables. The work was too tiring, and she didn’t want her daughter to suffer.

Tao Yu listened to Li Juan’s excited plans, remaining calm as usual. She neither disagreed nor agreed with Li Juan’s arrangements.

In the following days, Li Juan worked harder than ever, while Tao Yu kept busy as well. She went to the recycling station and quietly brought back a pile of books.

There were scattered high school and middle school textbooks, a couple of English books, and even two about fashion design.

Tao Yu just flipped through these books without intending to read them. She had bought them for another reason. In total, the books cost her one yuan.

In the following month, when Li Juan returned home, she often found Tao Yu reading books, and Tao Yu frequently accompanied her to sell vegetables.

Tao Yu also passed by the big courtyard gate often, but she hadn’t encountered that black car again.

Actually, Xiao Zhang had driven through the big courtyard once. At that time, Tao Yu was quietly standing behind the vegetable stall, helping Li Juan collect the money.

Xiao Zhang must have remembered Tao Yu. As he passed by, he muttered quietly, “Isn’t that the woman from the other day? Turns out she’s selling vegetables here, business seems pretty good…”

Holding a file in his hand, Song Hecheng sat in the backseat, unsure if he heard Xiao Zhang’s muttering. His gaze remained unchanged, though the scarf around his neck seemed to shift from apricot-colored to white…

A month quickly passed, and with this month of care, Tao Yu had helped the original owner recover quite a bit of strength. Her complexion improved significantly, especially the bruise and scar on her neck, which had faded to the point where she no longer needed to cover it with a scarf.

Recently, when Tao Yu accompanied Li Juan out, a few of the neighbors would greet her, and Tao Yu calmly responded to each one.

As a result, the neighborhood began to gossip, speculating that Tao Yu had recovered from her illness. Everyone was surprised when they saw how pretty Tao Yu had become…

At the same time, the mechanical factory in the city, which had been bustling, posted an official announcement that it would start recruiting workers in a few days.

Tao Yu saw the recruitment notice from a distance and made plans to apply.

However, Li Juan told Tao Yu she wasn’t going to apply to the factory. Instead, she planned to keep selling vegetables, and it looked like she was going to work even harder.

This month, Li Juan had really started selling fruits along with vegetables and the red and green candied hawthorn skewers. She earned a solid 50 yuan this month!

Earning 50 yuan in a month far exceeded Li Juan’s expectations. In the past, she never even dared to dream of such a sum. That’s why she decided to work even harder, no matter how exhausting it was.

Tao Yu noticed how Li Juan’s face had become more and more worn after working harder each day, walking to several villages, and staying up early and late. Her fingers were rougher, and it seemed that even though Li Juan worked tirelessly, it was still very limited.

Even if they earned some money, Li Juan was burning out, and her health was deteriorating—definitely not worth it.

Hard work doesn’t bring wealth; it only ensures basic survival. It takes brains, opportunities, and luck to make more money, and Tao Yu already had other ideas.