Chapter 14: On the First Day, People Started Ordering Food

“Sell! Sell!”

Xie Yunshu jumped up, her excited little face flushed red. “Big brother, there’s pork with vegetables and vermicelli, braised tofu, rice, and steamed buns. What would you like to eat?”

She had been shouting for a long time with no one coming, but now sitting here dazed, people actually started to show up!

In a flurry, she opened the lids of the two pots: “Pork with vegetables and vermicelli, one big spoon for 30 cents; braised tofu, one spoon for 15 cents…”

There was quite a lot of meat in the pork and vegetable stew — one spoonful could cover four or five pieces. The meat was cut in large chunks, and the soup had a layer of oil on top. Just looking at it made your mouth water.

The leading man didn’t hesitate. He handed over his enamel bowl: “One spoon each of the pork-vegetable stew and tofu, and two big steamed buns! Little girl, don’t skimp on the portions!”

“Don’t worry!” Xie Yunshu was happy inside and moved even faster, scooping two spoonfuls that nearly filled the bowl. “Big brother, do you want buns? Two for 10 cents, all homemade, big and fragrant! There’s also rice — 10 cents a big spoonful. I promise you’ll get full!”

The man chuckled, “I’ll buy your rice next time; today I brought some, don’t want to waste it!”

A few men behind him couldn’t wait any longer and each passed their bowls forward: “Me too, one spoon!”

“Oh, and I heard Qiangzi say there’s chili — can’t go without chili in this cold winter!”

“With this dish, I can eat three big buns!”

“Qiangzi’s not lying, this food is really affordable!”

Xie Yunshu scooped food and collected money. In just a few minutes, the busy work was done. This time she didn’t hold back on the chili — anyone who asked got a spoonful, definitely enough to eat an extra big bun!

After this round of work, the men carried their bowls and headed for the construction site. Xie Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief. The Qiangzi they mentioned must be the man who took some chili earlier. Looks like giving away the chili was worth it — basically free advertising for her.

If she hadn’t softened a bit, Qiangzi wouldn’t have spoken up for her…

Nervous and excited, although she only made 2.5 yuan so far, Xie Yunshu was sweating again. She took two sips of water and just took off her hat when a bunch of men came rushing over from a distance.

This time there were even more — about ten or so, looking like they were hunting in a group…

“Little girl, I only want pork and vegetables!”

“I want braised tofu, plus a spoonful of chili!”

“I’m from the south, don’t like steamed buns, just rice for me!”

“These buns are really good, little girl, are you from the north too?”

…

People talking over each other, rushing around, waiting for Xie Yunshu to catch her breath. The food in the pots was almost gone, only about ten buns left, and some rice boxes, enough for maybe seven or eight servings. Even if there were leftovers, they’d take it home and eat it — no loss today.

Xie Yunshu carefully counted the money. Finally, she had time to take off her scarf. Her fine bangs were damp with sweat, sticking to her smooth pale forehead. Her big bright eyes shone even brighter than the sunlight — she was happy.

She had already calculated the cost of the meals. If all sold, she could make five yuan profit. So far, she’d sold 23.30 yuan…

“Comrade, is there still rice?” a somewhat young male voice sounded.

Xie Yunshu quickly stuffed the money away, smiling brightly: “Yes! What do you want? I’ll serve it up for you!”

It was a skinny young man, about twenty, not much older than Xie Yingcheng, slightly embarrassed as he fiddled with his sleeve: “It’s my first day working today, didn’t bring an enamel bowl. I heard there’s boxed meals here, so I came to ask.”

He was a farmer from Haicheng, failed the university entrance exam, so he came to find work. He heard construction sites paid well and wanted to try. He’d worked all morning and was dizzy with hunger. After asking around, he found out they didn’t provide meals — everyone brought their own.

Xie Yunshu smiled: “No problem, I have disposable lunch boxes! Whatever you want to eat, I’ll serve it up right now!”

The young man had only 30 cents in his pocket. He put it on the tricycle cart, looking at the fatty pork and feeling even hungrier: “Do I have to pay for the lunch box? Can I wash and return it after eating?”

Disposable lunch boxes cost 0.5 cents each, and one yuan could buy two. The boxes were expensive individually, but if everyone cleaned and returned them, her costs wouldn’t rise.

Xie Yunshu scooped half a spoon of pork and vegetables, half a spoon of tofu, and a full box of rice. She handed him chopsticks: “These are disposable — you have to throw them away after eating. Eat here, I’ve got hot water to rinse with. But remember to bring an enamel bowl next time — these boxes are shallow, can’t hold soup or sauce. You’d lose out!”

This kid looked about the same as Yingcheng. Xie Yunshu thought about how Yingcheng had also done odd jobs on construction sites before. Back then, he never knew how to eat lunch properly — always starving like a refugee by evening…

Du Xianglong was really starving. He didn’t care about talking, just wolfed down the food.

“Slow down, don’t choke yourself!” Xie Yunshu warned, then filled another clean lunch box with hot water. “Selling this to you for 30 cents, I’m losing money — just the disposable lunch box alone costs me three!”

Du Xianglong swallowed hard, his face flushed red. “I-I’ll definitely bring an enamel bowl tomorrow.”

Xie Yunshu hadn’t prepared many disposable boxes — just a backup plan. These workers ate large portions; they liked to soak buns in the soup or sauce. The disposable boxes weren’t really suitable.

She said this without caring much about the few cents. She waved her hand: “Just spread the word for me.”

“You’re coming again tomorrow?” Du Xianglong’s eyes lit up. This food tasted better than home. He could earn seven or eight yuan a day, and half a yuan for lunch was affordable.

Though not sold out yet, Xie Yunshu was confident: “Definitely!”

At worst, she could make fewer servings tomorrow…

Before she could think how much less to make, about ten more workers came rushing up, likely hearing about it already. They immediately called out: “Little sister, ten portions, one spoon pork-vegetable stew, one spoon tofu each, with chili!”

Xie Yunshu was dumbfounded — not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Just a moment ago she was thinking about cutting back tomorrow, but in this short time, she didn’t have enough food to sell!

In the end, the workers took all the food, buns, rice, and chili — not a drop of soup left. Better to have food than eat cold buns. Before leaving, several big men reminded her: “Little sister, make more tomorrow. We’ve got lots of workers on the site!”

Du Xianglong finished eating too. After a good meal, his eyes looked much brighter. He smiled at Xie Yunshu: “Make some big potatoes tomorrow, add more vermicelli and stuff. The food will fill us up!”

Ha! On the very first day, people were already ordering food!