Chapter 133: Starting Tomorrow, You Have to Call Me Boss Xie

When Shen Subai pushed the door open, Tian Hao was pacing outside with his hands in his pockets.

“Brother Shen, you’re done with your call so soon? Aunt Lian’s not mad anymore?”

“Probably not,” Shen Subai said, slipping his notebook into his pocket. He’d just laid out the facts — it wasn’t his fault his mother liked to overthink.

Tian Hao admired him a bit. “Aunt Lian’s temper is fierce. Only you can calm her down… Brother Shen, since it’s all settled now, why don’t we go grab a meal together?”

Shen Subai stepped back a bit. “No time. And tomorrow at lunch, keep your distance from me.”

Tian Hao was confused. “Isn’t the canteen starting trial operations tomorrow? Yunshu’s selling food on the first floor, right? If you don’t eat with me, who will you eat with?”

Shen Subai gave him an apologetic glance. “Your Aunt Lian said to keep me away from you.”

What did that mean? Aunt Su was rejecting him because he was a spoiled rich kid? Afraid he’d corrupt Brother Su? Tian Hao was frustrated as he went back to the office — and found a big envelope on his desk with a note beneath it. Shen Subai’s sharp handwriting read two big words: Compensation.

Compensation? For what?

Tian Hao was puzzled. Thinking Aunt Lian looked down on him, Shen Subai gave him ten yuan as compensation? Wow, Brother Shen was truly a loyal friend. Tian Hao felt touched and shoved the money in his pocket. He’d be loyal too — ready to back Shen Subai up anytime.

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When Xie Yunshu arrived at the dormitory, Li Fenlan was peeking outside. Seeing her arrive on the motorized tricycle, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why are you so late?”

Xie Yunshu wore a cotton mask on the way to hide the small wounds on her face from worrying Li Fenlan. When she got off, her eyes shone like stars.

“Mom, starting tomorrow, you have to call me Boss Xie!”

She was confident the month-long trial operation would succeed. As long as she didn’t give up, she’d work hard — she wasn’t afraid of hardship or fatigue when it came to making money.

Li Fenlan smiled, infected by her daughter’s mood. “Boss Xie, what good news has you so excited?”

Starting tomorrow at the site, she’d be selling meals. She definitely couldn’t handle it alone. Besides the workers, the project staff needed food too. Though the south site hadn’t started staffing yet, just these people kept her busy.

They had to prepare for the official contract signing after a month, and besides Aunt Zhao, she’d have to find more helpers.

Xie Yunshu followed Li Fenlan inside. “Mom, the canteen contract is confirmed. You need to find a few more people ahead of time. Tomorrow we start trial operations.”

Li Fenlan was surprised. “I thought bidding started in March. Why suddenly trial operations?”

“I don’t know either, but it’s good news. Over three hundred people eating three meals a day! Mom, just a few of us won’t manage. I’m going upstairs soon to find Aunt Zhao and see if she knows anyone suitable.”

Xie Yunshu plopped onto the bed, stretching her arms. The fight had been rough — before she was holding her breath, now her whole body ached a bit. She stood, kicked her legs, and felt energized again.

She pulled out a notebook, wrote a few lines, tore them off, and dashed out. “Mom, I’m going upstairs to find Aunt Zhao!”

From riding the tricycle to the site selling meals, to delivering boxed lunches to the project office, and now contracting the canteen — Xie Yunshu still found it surreal. She was more of a doer than a thinker. Instead of worrying, it was better to just get started.

The project was government-managed, and she was only investing labor and time. What was there to fear?

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Aunt Zhao was upstairs fussing with a ball of yarn. She was helping Yunshu earn 40 yuan a month, but with Xiao Yun about to enter university and the second child going to high school, the family had expenses everywhere.

Supporting three kids wasn’t easy, and they had little savings. She wanted to learn knitting from Li Fenlan to make some extra money. She was never idle a minute.

But her big strong hands were good for steaming buns and kneading dough, not knitting. Her fingers didn’t obey, and she kept making mistakes. At this pace, she couldn’t even earn a single yuan a month.

Seeing Xie Yunshu enter, she quickly put down her work.

“Yunshu, are you going to buy groceries? I’ll come along.”

She felt bad since a day’s wage was only half a day’s work. But grocery shopping was tricky — it involved spending money, which could cause disputes.

Xie Yunshu pulled up a chair. “Aunt Zhao, no rush on groceries — we still have a lot of meat. I came to talk to you about something.”

Selling meals inside, one person had to serve food and collect money. It would be too busy for just one. Aunt Zhao and Li Fenlan would have to help — which meant extra work. And once official operations started, it would only get busier.

She knew Aunt Zhao was capable and didn’t want to shortchange her.

“Anyway, for this month we’ll do it like this. You and my mom serve the food, I’ll handle the money. We have to work hard,” Xie Yunshu said. Before Aunt Zhao could answer, she added, “I want to give you an extra ten yuan this month, okay? Since tomorrow’s the first day, I’m not sure how it’ll go.”

She wasn’t sure how many people would eat or how much profit would come in. If the profit was good and the workload heavy, she’d raise Aunt Zhao’s wage.

Aunt Zhao swallowed nervously, uncertain. “Yunshu, you want to add ten yuan? That’d be fifty a month!”

The packaging factory was struggling — even at full attendance, a month’s pay was 40 yuan. After the New Year, the factory started work but was already complaining. They said the warehouse was overstocked and with national reforms, the factory must be self-sufficient, no more bonuses next month.

So Aunt Zhao was anxious and wanted to earn extra knitting.

Xie Yunshu nodded. “Yes, selling food at the site will be busy, especially since lunch won’t be on schedule. Aunt Zhao, if you can handle it, when more workers come next month, I’ll definitely raise your pay.”

Aunt Zhao rubbed her face and threw the yarn aside. “You aunt doesn’t like eating lunch on time! Yunshu, you definitely have to use me for this job! Don’t worry, I’m steady serving meals — not too much, not too little!”

Even if she didn’t get the extra ten yuan, or stayed at forty a month, she should go sell meals with Yunshu! But money was tight, so Aunt Zhao couldn’t just refuse — she wanted to work hard and earn her wage.