Chapter 12: She Said She Wants a Divorce?

Northern and southern eating habits differ, but when it comes to rough manual labor, the workers are mostly rough types who don’t fuss much. But steamed buns are a different story.

Xie Yunshu pressed her lips together and stood up, heading out, but Li Fenlan quickly called after her, “You haven’t finished your meal yet, where are you going?”

“Mom, I’m going upstairs to learn from Aunt Zhao!”

Before finishing her sentence, she was already upstairs.

Li Fenlan looked at Xie Mingcheng with confusion, “Learn? What is your sister learning?”

Xie Mingcheng was also puzzled, “I don’t know!”

Northerners love eating steamed buns, especially male laborers — only buns give them the energy to work! Aunt Zhao came from the north and often steamed large buns and big stuffed buns at home. Xie Yunshu had eaten them a few times when she was little — soft, fragrant, and sweet buns, very tasty.

She figured the dishes could stay the same, but this staple food needed two types: both rice and buns had to be prepared!

The next day, before dawn, Xie Yunshu got up.

She briskly chopped vegetables, sliced pork, soaked vermicelli, heated the wok, added oil, scallions, ginger, and garlic — the aroma wafted through the little window on the balcony…

On the second floor, Lin Cuiping turned over, woken by the smell, and grumbled under her blanket, “Xie Yunshu really is crazy. Why bother making trouble for herself, leaving the spacious staff housing to come here?”

She slept in a bunk bed with her younger brother and sister below. The smell was so strong the kids also woke up.

“Sis, yesterday I heard Yunshu say she wants to divorce that doctor!” 14-year-old Lin Cuixiang whispered, a bit confused, “Didn’t you say Yunshu would hold on tight to that doctor? How could she bear to divorce?”

Hearing this, Lin Cuiping instantly perked up, “She said she wants a divorce?”

“Yeah, the day before yesterday I heard her talking to Aunt Xie downstairs, she even cried!” The soundproofing between floors wasn’t good — any noise could be heard, and recalling it, Lin Cuixiang nodded firmly, “She also said she won’t come back anymore, that she wants to buy Aunt Xie a big house to live in!”

Lin Cuiping curled her lips, “She’s just bragging! Relying on selling these crappy boxed meals, she’ll never afford a house in this life!”

A house costs tens of thousands, how many boxed meals would she have to sell? No wonder Doctor Lu doesn’t want her!

Sniffing hard, Lin Cuiping turned over and closed her eyes again, but that smell was really tempting…

Ha, this dumb girl Xie Yunshu definitely won’t sell any meals. When she returns with her tail between her legs, she might even have to hand out the leftover food to them!

The packaging factory cafeteria meals weren’t good and required meal tickets; although cheap, the taste was really mediocre. Thinking this, Lin Cuiping rubbed her belly, planning to eat less at lunch and wait for Yunshu to come crying, delivering meals door to door!

Downstairs, Li Fenlan was also up, cutting tofu and frying it in oil, preparing to braise it.

Xie Yunshu was cutting big chunks of pork, stir-frying with soy sauce, then placing it in a big plate. Looking at a small stove, she worried, “Tomorrow I need to buy another stove, and also steam rice and buns — this is too slow!”

Li Fenlan, hearing about steaming buns, worried, “You learned how to steam buns just yesterday?”

“No,” Xie Yunshu honestly shook her head, but then smiled, “But I talked with Aunt Zhao, she’ll come help me in the mornings, and I’ll pay her wages!”

Aunt Zhao originally came back with Uncle Zhao from the Down to the Countryside Movement as an educated youth. She never had formal work and usually just looked after kids, washed clothes, and did some sewing.

“Pay wages?” Li Fenlan was shocked by her daughter’s idea, eyes wide, “Yunshu, we haven’t even earned a penny yet, why pay someone first?”

Selling boxed meals and hiring help…

Xie Yunshu blinked innocently, “Steaming buns is so hard, I can’t learn it quickly.”

You have to knead dough, get the water-to-flour ratio right, let the dough ferment — Yunshu heard all this yesterday and was totally confused. This is way more complicated than steaming rice! She originally planned to have Aunt Zhao steam buns at her place, and buy them from her.

But the price wasn’t certain, and Aunt Zhao didn’t have enough flour at home, so Yunshu decided to use her own flour and have Aunt Zhao come to her house to help. She would pay her one yuan per morning.

At first, Aunt Zhao refused stubbornly. She was idle at home and felt funny getting paid for helping steam buns — she worried the neighbors would laugh at her. Also, Yunshu paying her a whole yuan at once was a lot; a typical worker’s wage was only one or two yuan per day. She felt embarrassed to take money.

After much persuasion, Yunshu almost sat in her house crying before Aunt Zhao finally relented: “I’ll take 50 cents, and not just for steaming buns — you can have me do anything.”

Aunt Zhao was a typical northern woman — energetic and sincere, no shirking implied.

Xie Yunshu happily agreed, “Aunt Zhao, you steam those big buns, they’ll definitely sell great!”

Aunt Zhao sighed and shook her head. Though it was just 50 cents, over a month it almost matched half her husband’s wages. This silly girl’s business was so immature, how could she actually make money?

They say no business is without trickery; a business must count every penny. Aunt Zhao thought Yunshu’s venture was tough!

Xie Yunshu hadn’t calculated that carefully. The workers here were all poor, and their earnings were hard-earned. Food sales usually had a 50% profit margin. She was riding a tricycle selling boxed meals on the construction site, but only counted a 30% profit margin.

She prepared enough food for 30 people — five catties of pork, twenty catties of large vegetables, and two catties of vermicelli stewed in pork fat. For those who don’t eat spicy food, she separately made a small enamel pot of chili oil. Another pot was braised tofu, with fried pork and pickles stewed to a soft, tasty mess.

She steamed about twenty buns, rice was piled high in a metal basin, all loaded onto the tricycle — quite a spectacle.

It was cold, so Yunshu worried the food would get cold early. She bought two small stoves to keep the large pots warm on low heat. Buns were kept in an insulated box, rice wrapped in thick cotton blankets, so the workers could have hot meals when they came.

“Yunshu, why don’t I come with you?” Li Fenlan still worried, “Can you manage on your own?”

Xie Yunshu gave her a bright smile, “Don’t worry, it’s not a technical skill! I can handle it myself!”

Li Fenlan put a hat on her and added, “If you don’t sell out, don’t worry, come back right after lunch!”

“If we don’t sell out, we’ll eat it ourselves!” This was her first time doing business. Xie Yunshu didn’t know how it would turn out, but at least she had taken the first step!

Around 10:30 a.m., she put on a thick dark red padded coat, wrapped a red scarf, showing only her eyes, and pushed the tricycle towards the southern construction site of Haicheng.

Like running toward a life she rightfully deserved…