Chapter 9: Going to the Construction Site to Sell Lunch Boxes

Only then did Zhou Xinyue stop crying and smiled through her tears as she wiped her eyes: “Zhixing ge, weren’t you going home to cook? I’ll go with you. Yunshu hasn’t been home these past two days, and you’re so busy with work—who’s going to clean the house?”

Lu Zhixing shook his head: “No need.”

“I just want to repay you for your kindness, nothing else!”

Zhou Xinyue smiled confidently at him: “I’ve already applied to the hospital for a unit’s apartment, planning to get familiar with the family quarters in advance! A righteous person has nothing to fear from rumors—Zhixing ge, are you still worried about what others say?”

Lu Zhixing frowned: “You’re not going to live in my apartment anymore?”

“No, that’s your marital home, I can’t live there forever. Yunshu would get mad again!” Zhou Xinyue laughed and pushed her bicycle: “Today I just wanted to tell you this. But it’s understandable if Yunshu minds—I’ll return the key to you. Once she cools off, she’ll definitely come back.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhixing relaxed and said: “Then let’s go together.”

He also hoped Yunshu would calm down and come back soon. After spending so much time together, being alone at home made him feel an inexplicable anxiety. He knew she would return—but didn’t know when…

When they got married, the family prepared a marital home for them, but it was far from the hospital. Yunshu insisted on moving to the family quarters near the hospital. Thinking the house would be empty otherwise, he allowed Zhou Xinyue and her child to move in first, never expecting Yunshu to be so upset.

Money and housing are external things and don’t represent his feelings. He only felt he had made a mistake by having Yunshu admitted to the psychiatric ward, which caused her to lose her job.

But he never thought helping Zhou Xinyue was wrong…

The two of them rode their bicycles, one following the other, into the family quarters. Chen Xue saw them through the window and quickly called out to her husband: “Look, Doctor Lu and Nurse Zhou are so compatible! That Xie Yunshu is just unnecessary!”

Zhang Qingshan and Lu Zhixing are both doctors at the hospital, but Zhang is an internal medicine doctor and doesn’t often cross paths with Lu Zhixing. Hearing his wife’s words, he glanced outside and frowned: “Why did Lu Zhixing come back and bring Zhou Xinyue here?”

Xie Yunshu has gone back to her parents’ home, and he isn’t comforting her—how could he bring another woman home?

Chen Xue lowered her voice mysteriously: “Why not? You wouldn’t know this gossip if you didn’t ask. Actually, Lu Zhixing’s heart belongs to Zhou Xinyue. They’re the perfect couple! Xie Yunshu is causing trouble now; she’ll regret it badly later.”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Zhang Qingshan scolded her: “If this spreads, how do you think Xie Yunshu will feel?”

Chen Xue plopped down: “What do you know, big man! The Lu family never liked Xie Yunshu. Now that she has a mental illness, would the Lu family accept such a daughter-in-law? Zhou Xinyue is different—Mrs. Lu treats her like her own daughter. I heard when Zhou Xinyue was brought back, she cried until her eyes were red! The position of Lu family daughter-in-law will be replaced sooner or later!”

Xie Yunshu has no backing at all. Nobody knows why Lu Zhixing picked her in the first place—probably just because she looked good? She’s just a packaging factory worker, no special skills, aside from cooking well and taking care of a good man, what other advantages?

Zhou Xinyue is different. I heard before she left, she could have gone to university, and she grew up with Lu Zhixing as childhood sweethearts—they’re very close! Even if she has a child, so what? Xie Yunshu has been married over a year, but there’s no sign of a baby, right?

Chen Xue already heard from Zhang Qingshan that Lu Zhixing will be promoted to vice director next year. Such a young vice director has a bright future! Anyone with eyes can see Lu Zhixing has special feelings for Zhou Xinyue. If she plays her cards right with Zhou Xinyue, maybe her husband will arrange a nice position for her later!

Zhang Qingshan hadn’t paid much attention before, but hearing Chen Xue and seeing Lu Zhixing bringing Zhou Xinyue home made him feel something was off.

He’s a man too, but can’t be as great as Lu Zhixing—who else would give money they earn to another woman? Normally, every penny of his salary goes to his wife, or else Chen Xue would drive him crazy!

Poor Xie Yunshu. Losing her job and divorcing now, life will surely be hard!

At this moment, Xie Yunshu was riding a simple bike around the streets. Apart from cooking, she had no special skills, so she set her sights on selling lunch boxes. But how to make the lunch boxes, how to price them, and where to sell were all problems. She couldn’t just blindly sell without a plan.

Most state-run units have canteens and wouldn’t buy boxed lunches outside. School gates were no good either—students eat in the canteen. Other places, like outside department stores, no either—shoppers are mostly young people and couples who go to small restaurants when tired. Who would buy a boxed lunch and sit on the ground eating? That would ruin their image!

Haicheng is developing fast, and the private economy is booming—there are vendors everywhere pushing carts or setting up stalls selling clothes, shoes, pastries, sunflower seeds, candies, vegetables, and fruits. The old streets are bustling with people, but Xie Yunshu had never seen anyone selling lunch boxes!

There are many small restaurants, with fast food, steamed buns, noodles, and even big restaurants.

Looking farther away, high-rise buildings are under construction. This area gathers many migrants, as locals don’t want this tough, exhausting work.

Most laborers are outsiders carrying their luggage here to earn money. Xie Mingcheng also worked here as a day laborer before. Conditions were poor but pay was decent, earning almost 15 yuan a day—a high wage.

She remembered that after Xie Mingcheng failed the college entrance exam, with no connections, he came here to work. He got up at six in the morning and worked until seven at night. For lunch, he brought cold rice and water because there were no restaurants nearby, and even if there were, they couldn’t afford expensive meals.

But without some energy from food, how could laborers work? At that time, Li Fenlan, worried about her son, rode her bike every noon to bring him food. She was kind-hearted, knowing life is tough, and always cooked extra salty soup for the workers.

Thinking of this, Xie Yunshu’s eyes lit up! The construction site is a perfect place to sell lunch boxes now!

She’s an action taker. She immediately rode her bike to the nearest construction site. It’s winter, but the workers were busy and lively. Just from what Xie Yunshu saw, there were dozens of workers.

Conservatively estimated, about 70-80 male laborers eat here daily. If she made 30 lunch boxes a day, she could definitely sell them all. Selling each lunch box at 80 cents with a profit of a little over 10 cents, 30 lunch boxes would bring 3 yuan in profit during lunch alone.

By this calculation, she could earn at least 90 yuan a month, which is more than working a regular job! Plus, she doesn’t have to work in the afternoon and has time to read and handle other matters…

Xie Yunshu took a deep breath, feeling excited inside. Planning is nothing without action—she decided to go buy a tricycle and rice right away!