Chapter 18: The Couple’s Stall

Xu An excitedly went back to the inner room and took out paper and a pen. She sat next to Zhou Yu, writing and calculating.

“Pork belly is 78 cents a pound, pig trotters are 50 cents, pig ears are 35 cents, a set of pig offal is about 30 pounds, which is 3 yuan, plus the vegetables we bought and all the spices.”

Xu An carefully calculated with a pen on paper. As she muttered to herself, Zhou Yu’s gaze fell on the strands of loose hair, his rough knuckles gently twirled, his hand felt itchy.

Xu An carefully considered the final estimated cost and looked up at Zhou Yu.

“The cost of one pot is over 20 yuan, but the braising sauce can be reused. Even if it’s 20 yuan a pot, 50 pounds of meat and vegetables, Zhou Yu, what price do you think we should set for one pound?”

“1.5 yuan for meat, 90 cents for vegetables.” The man’s voice was flat.

It was about the same price Xu An had in mind.

“I thought so too. The time and effort spent on making these things definitely has to be factored in. Besides, a normal person’s appetite wouldn’t be more than a pound at a time. 50 cents is about right. People who know how to spend money can accept 50 cents, but those who don’t know how to spend money, 30 or 40 cents is all they can afford.”

They mainly had to make money from those who knew how to spend money.

Xu An finished with a smile, then saw the man lazily squinting at her. Thinking of this man’s bottomless stomach, she coughed lightly. She was talking about a normal appetite, Zhou Yu was definitely not normal.

“Zhou Yu, I want to try it tomorrow. What do you think?”

“This big pot, we’ll move it to the early market tomorrow morning, just to test the waters. If it’s successful, we’ll order a custom-made large pot and increase the amount. If the volume is large enough, maybe we can even lower the price of the meat. If it doesn’t work, we’ll try making something else.”

Zhou Yu’s gaze lingered on Xu An, “Consulting me?”

Xu An coughed lightly, “There’s only 400 yuan left at home. I was thinking of finding something to do, and we still have some capital. Do you agree?”

She had only been here for a few days, and the 1,600 yuan dowry was gone, leaving only 400 yuan. A normal family wouldn’t be able to handle spending like this. This man, while not patient, never cared about money.

Zhou Yu nodded slightly, “If you want to try, go ahead. Don’t complain if you spend all the money.”

Xu An nodded quickly, “Yes, don’t worry.”

This money was all spent by her. How could she complain? As long as Zhou Yu didn’t mind her spending money, that would be enough. It seemed like, at least for now, he was letting her have her way.

Zhou Yu stared at the woman’s smiling eyes, his dark eyes lowered slightly. It seemed like he needed to find something to do.

Xu An put away the paper and pen, then took her pajamas and went to take a bath. Zhou Yu stared at the woman’s back as she went out, at the soft white skin behind her ear, his throat rolled. No wonder she was so white.

The next day, Xu An also got up early, quickly tidied herself up, and Zhou Yu brought her the pot of braised meat. She carried the honeycomb coal stove, took some plastic bags, a few sets of bowls and chopsticks, and went out with Zhou Yu.

They left early, so they didn’t see many neighbors. Those who did see them stared at the couple’s grand setup, with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.

Xu An ignored the stares and went to the early market with Zhou Yu early. They searched for a long time on a street, but could only find a corner spot. All the other places were taken.

She panted as she placed the stove on the street. Zhou Yu brought the pot of braised meat onto the stove. Xu An quickly tied the plastic bags, two chairs, and a few sets of bowls and chopsticks.

When everything was ready, Xu An tilted her head and looked at Zhou Yu, her breath fogging up.

“Zhou Yu, should we shout out?”

Street food vendors usually do that, right? Xu An regretted not buying a loudspeaker to help shout. She was a little embarrassed to open her mouth now.

There were so many things she hadn’t prepared. Their stall didn’t even have a price tag. They were a little too hasty.

Well, today was just a try. If they succeeded in doing business, they would go back and perfect the things that weren’t perfect.

Xu An rubbed her hands, standing in the cold wind. Zhou Yu stood beside her, silent for a moment, then took off the lid covering the braised meat pot.

The aroma of the braised meat pot, steaming hot, hit them in the face. The domineering aroma began to fill the entire street. The stall, which had been deserted just now, now had occasional glances coming over, but no one dared to step forward.

Xu An said softly, “I forgot to put up a price tag yesterday. I guess it won’t be easy to open for business today.”

Zhou Yu said lazily, “Soon.”

The smell was already enough to attract people. They wouldn’t have to worry about customers.

The braised meat pot was already boiling, and the aroma was getting stronger.

Xu An was about to freeze, but she finally welcomed her first customer.

“What are you selling? What’s the price?”

The person asking the price was a stylish woman with permed hair, a bright and dignified appearance, about thirty years old. She looked at Xu An.

Someone was asking, Xu An quickly introduced her, “This is braised meat I made myself. Meat is 1.5 yuan a pound, vegetables are 90 cents a pound.”

The woman didn’t say anything about the price, she just said, “90 cents for vegetables? It’s more expensive than meat. How does it taste?”

Seeing her expression, Xu An knew that she was not short of money, but she had to make sure the taste was good. If the taste was good, she would be a loyal customer.

Xu An immediately scooped out some vegetables for her and said loudly, “Zhou Yu, help me put a plastic bag over the bowl.”

The woman’s voice was clear and bright, filled with joy. Zhou Yu took a plastic bag and put it over the bowl. Xu An immediately put the vegetables and a small piece of pork belly in it. “Try it first.”

After she finished speaking, Xu An took out the chopsticks for the customer. The woman, half-believing, picked up the chopsticks, took a bite of the pork belly first, her skeptical eyes lit up slightly. She then ate the vegetables Xu An had picked out for her, then put down her chopsticks.

“Okay, it tastes pretty good. Is your hygiene okay? I see you don’t have a hygiene permit or a business license.”

Xu An smiled and assured her, “This is our first day setting up a stall. We’re just testing the waters to see if we can sell anything. When we officially open for business, we’ll definitely have all these things. Don’t worry.”

This customer was a discerning one, Xu An thought quietly.

The woman nodded. She often came to this street. Xu An was telling the truth about this being her first day setting up a stall. She didn’t ask any more questions, she simply said, “Give me three pounds of meat and one pound of vegetables.”

Xu An’s eyes lit up with excitement. Her first customer was a big customer. She looked at Zhou Yu beside her with excitement and lightly raised her chin.

Zhou Yu raised his eyebrows and curled his lips.

“For meat, there’s pork belly, pig trotters, and pig offal. Do you want just one, or do you want a little bit of everything? I’ll put a little bit of each vegetable for you.”

Hearing Xu An’s introduction, the woman frowned slightly, a little regretful. Why were they all these things? But she wanted them all. She sighed, “Alright, put a little bit of everything for me.”

Xu An quickly packed them for her. After weighing them, she asked with a smile, “Do you need soup?”

The aroma of the braised meat soup was irresistible. This thing was so delicious, it must be because of the soup. The woman nodded, “Put some soup in too.”

Xu An took another plastic bag and filled it with soup for her. She handed the things over.

The woman took out 5.4 yuan and handed it to Xu An. Xu An took the 5 yuan with a smile, “You’re our first customer, I’ll give you a discount.”

The woman raised her eyebrows, but didn’t refuse. She readily accepted it and took her things away.

After watching her walk away, Xu An’s smiling lips stretched wider. She held the money and turned to Zhou Yu, waving her hand in front of him.

“Zhou Yu! We made money.”

The woman’s happiness was evident on her face. Zhou Yu’s thin lips twitched slightly, he hummed softly.

Why was she so happy about this?

Xu An happily put the money away. With this first person to try it out, the rest was easier to sell. Many people came over smelling the aroma, but most were dissuaded by the price. However, after trying it, many people bought it. This pot wasn’t that big, and by 10 am, their newly opened stall had ended its first day of business.

Zhou Yu had already started packing up the stall. Xu An put all the money in her pocket, not in a hurry to count it.

After selling the braised meat, the couple took their stall things and left. On their way home, they passed by the alleyway, and many people pointed at the couple.

“This Zhou Yu went to jail for speculation and profiteering for three years. Now that he’s just out, he’s teaching his beautiful wife to speculate and profiteer with him. I think he’ll be caught sooner or later.”

“That’s right. Which family doesn’t live a decent life? These crooked ways of making money from the people, I spit!

“The eldest has a proper job, and his third brother is a proper college student. But this second son has gone astray. He doesn’t want to learn anything, he just wants to get rich overnight. He’s got a bad heart.”

These people were pointing at them because they had seen them setting up a stall on the street.

Xu An frowned and turned to look at Zhou Yu. The man was carrying things and didn’t say a word.

Xu An’s voice was clear, “There are so many people setting up stalls and buying things on this street. They’re doing business openly. How is that speculation and profiteering? If you can’t stand it, poke your own eyes out. You’re always gossiping. The sour smell is so strong, I can smell it from here. It’s really stinky!”

As she spoke, she exaggeratedly pinched her nose, as if she couldn’t stand it anymore.

Zhou Yu turned to look at the woman, the corners of his lips lazily curled up.

The gossipers didn’t expect Zhou Yu’s wife to be the same as him. They secretly complained behind their backs, but they dared to say it openly. They wanted to argue, but they were afraid of Zhou Yu, the reformed criminal, and dared not provoke him.

After Xu An finished speaking, the knot in her heart dissipated. She pulled Zhou Yu and walked towards their house.

Zhou Yu stared at the woman’s lively ponytail swinging beside him, following her step by step back to the Zhou family courtyard.

As soon as they returned, they saw Zhou Dandan whispering to her mother in the courtyard. They were startled when they saw the couple enter.

Then their eyes fell on the things the couple brought back.

Pan Hehua looked at the second son and his wife, wanting to scold them but afraid to. She was afraid that the second son would spread gossip in front of the neighbors, so she could only ask patiently.

“Second son’s wife, I heard Dandan say that you and the second son went to the early market to sell things this morning?”

No wonder they were startled. It turned out they were guilty of reporting.

Xu An nodded, “Mom, you know I spend money like water. This is because I don’t want to take money from you anymore, so I thought of a way to make my own money.”

Zhou Yu put down the things in his hands, then came back to take the things from Xu An’s hands. He ignored the mother and daughter.

Pan Hehua frowned, “Second son’s wife, our Zhou family is a respectable family. You don’t have a proper job, and now you’re doing these shady things. This is just making the neighbors gossip.”

Xu An couldn’t help but laugh like Zhou Yu, she said without a word, “The Zhou family’s gossip? Those who want to gossip have already seen enough. What’s another little bit?”

“Besides, what kind of respectable family is the Zhou family? A respectable family wouldn’t do such shady things?”

Seeing that she was about to bring up the past again, Pan Hehua was furious, “I can’t argue with you.”

Xu An raised her eyebrows, not looking at the mother and daughter whose faces were twisted with anger. She went into the house on her own.

As soon as she entered, she spun around in place a few times, cheering. Her sparkling eyes met Zhou Yu’s. Xu An sat down on a chair with a smile, happily took out the money she had earned today from her bag, carefully arranged it neatly, and started counting it.

Zhou Yu went to change the honeycomb coal and brought the stove in. As soon as he entered, he saw the woman looking up at him with a smile that seemed to never fade.

Zhou Yu paused for a moment, put the stove next to Xu An, and sat down on a chair.

Xu An waved the neat pile of money in front of him,

“Zhou Yu, we made 63 yuan from this pot today. After deducting the cost, we made 40 yuan a day.”

She handed the money to Zhou Yu and said enthusiastically, “Count it.”

Zhou Yu didn’t take it. He pushed the money back into Xu An’s hand.

Xu An happily put it away and looked at Zhou Yu with pride, “Zhou Hongguang asked you for a job that paid 18 yuan a month. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

“Fortunately, you didn’t go. We’ll go order a big pot this afternoon. From now on, we’ll cook at least 100 pounds at a time, and we’ll make more money.”

“Also, we’ll go to the administrative department to get the hygiene permit and business license in the next two days. Our things are clean, we can’t skip these procedures.”

The woman was really happy after making money. Zhou Yu’s flat lips couldn’t help but twitch.

Xu An put away the money. The couple ate lunch and went out without delay. Xu An asked Zhou Yu to take her to a place that made pots. They ordered a big pot and agreed to pick it up the next day.

Xu An and Zhou Yu went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy pig offal and pig trotters. They were out of pork belly, so they had to give up.

They would still use the small pot to sell tomorrow. Something is better than nothing.

After buying the things, the couple went home. Unexpectedly, they saw Feng Yirou back home.

What was this?

Was she coaxed back by Zhou Hongguang? She was easy to coax.

Xu An and Zhou Yu exchanged glances and ignored the family. They went back to the east room.

Zhou Hongguang called out to them, “Sister-in-law, Yirou said that she saw you and the second son when she went out yesterday. The family asked me, why did you lie to us?”

Xu An tilted her head and stared at Feng Yirou, puzzled, “Huh? I thought Big sister-in-law was determined to divorce Big brother. Seeing her rushing out, she must have not wanted others to know. Zhou Yu and I are not the kind of people who meddle in other people’s business even after we’ve split up. We didn’t say anything.”

She looked at Feng Yirou, “Big sister-in-law, Big brother is a fraud. You really like him. I thought you would be angry for a while, at least. I thought you wanted to calm down.”

But she came back today. She could accept this.

Feng Yirou took a deep breath. She really didn’t like this second brother and his wife, but Zhou Hongguang had forced Zhou Yu to take the blame for him. She never thought she would one day be trampled underfoot by this couple. It was an insult to her personality.

Zhou Hongguang could do this kind of thing. She was angry and ashamed, but this man was coaxing her. She had already married him, and besides…

They had been married for three years and had no children. Zhou Hongguang hadn’t said anything, so she decided to give him another chance.

“Sister-in-law is right. We shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business.”

She couldn’t hold her head up in front of this couple she looked down upon. This was a day that Feng Yirou, who had always been well-mannered, had never imagined.

So it was really over? She was really generous.

Xu An glanced at Zhou Hongguang. There was no drama to watch. She went back to the east room with Zhou Yu.

Zhou Hongguang stared at the couple carrying large bags into the east room, and said in a low voice.

“Mom, did you say that Dandan saw the second son setting up a stall today?”

Pan Hehua nodded angrily, “That’s right. He’s just embarrassing our Zhou family.”

Zhou Hongguang stared at the second son’s limping back and casually said in a low voice, “How’s business?”

Pan Hehua hesitated and didn’t speak. Zhou Dandan next to her said loudly, “I saw that all the things in that pot were sold out.”

“I don’t know what’s so good about it, but a lot of people bought it.”

Mentioning the braised meat, Zhou Dandan couldn’t help but swallow. She didn’t know how her mother picked it, but she picked such a wife for the second son.

Zhou Hongguang lowered his head, his expression unclear.

Pan Hehua quickly said, “Even if business is good, what’s the point? You can’t do this for a lifetime. It’s not as good as your job, Hongguang. The second son and his wife are just messing around. What will they do when the country doesn’t allow stalls anymore?”

Zhou Hongguang didn’t say anything. He took Feng Yiyou back to the west room.

Xu An and Zhou Yu returned to their room. The couple started to clean up the things they had bought.

Xu An looked at Zhou Yu and said loudly, “Your big brother is really amazing. He coaxed her back in a day.”

It seems like he doesn’t mind.

Zhou Yu scoffed and didn’t say anything.

Xu An put the things on to cook, sat on a chair, warming herself by the stove, and looked at Zhou Yu, “Zhou Yu, you won’t be uncomfortable selling this, will you?”

Zhou Yu looked up at her and said flatly, “Why do you think that?”

Xu An said softly, “Three years ago, you were completely innocent. You were even charged with speculation and profiteering. Now I’m asking you to set up a stall with me. I’m afraid you won’t say it on the surface, but you’ll feel uncomfortable in your heart.”

Zhou Yu stared at Xu An lazily, “Thinking too much.”

“I’m happy to make money.”

Xu An breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yu thought for a moment, scoffed, and said, “You’re worried that I’ll be unhappy. I’m very happy. But, the eldest is probably not happy now.”

What does it have to do with Zhou Hongguang? Xu An didn’t understand. “Why is he unhappy?”

Zhou Yu leaned back on the chair, arms crossed, his face mocking.

Xu An’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. After thinking for a moment, she had an epiphany and stared at Zhou Yu.

“Zhou Hongguang wouldn’t be jealous because we’re making money, would he?”

He looked calm and didn’t ask them about their stall. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be jealous. Wouldn’t he be more likely to look down upon them?

Zhou Yu sneered, “Are you stupid? Three years ago, he was supposed to be the one in jail for speculation and profiteering. He knows how much money you can make doing this.”

Xu An was uncertain, “So, he’s… afraid that we’ll make more money than him and overshadow him?”

He didn’t show any signs of it, and he didn’t mention it. If he really thought that way, it would be terrifying.

Zhou Yu said sarcastically, “Who knows?”

Xu An said softly, “That’s right, I don’t care. It’s the right thing for us to make our own money.”

Staring at the woman’s easily satisfied look, Zhou Yu shifted his gaze to the pot of braised meat, casually responding.