Chapter 18: I’ll Write to Big Brother

Jiang Yiyi returned home after dark.

From the moment she entered, Gu Yunyang had been staring at her, as if he could bore a hole through her. It was so obvious that Jiang Yiyi naturally noticed. She knew Gu Yunyang was hostile towards her, but she didn’t take it to heart. He was just a little kid; after a few days, he’d forget all about it. Just yesterday, he had called her “sister-in-law,” but now the little brat seemed even more hostile.

She beckoned to Gu Yunyang.

Gu Yunyang approached with a sullen face.

Jiang Yiyi bent down to his level, saying nothing.

Gu Yunyang, still young, felt uneasy under her gaze and couldn’t hold back. “What…what do you want?”

“That’s what I want to ask you. What do you want?”

“I…”

Gu Yunyang clenched his fists, making up his mind. “You can’t rent a house in the county town.”

“I’m planning to wholesale liangpi (cold skin noodles). I’ll be able to sell at least a thousand servings a day. Your older sister can’t handle it alone. Besides, she gets up at dawn every day to make them, which is not only hard on her body but also affects everyone else’s sleep. Renting a house in the county town is the most suitable solution.”

Gu Yunyang was stunned by the prospect of selling a thousand servings a day. He momentarily forgot about stopping Jiang Yiyi from renting a house in the county town. “Re-really a thousand servings?”

“Maybe two thousand, three thousand, five thousand, ten thousand…”

With each number Jiang Yiyi mentioned, Gu Yunyang’s eyes widened. Ten thousand servings? That would be three thousand yuan a day!

He swallowed, unable to imagine what it would be like to have three thousand yuan coming into the family every day.

“Still objecting?”

“No more.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Gu Yunyang realized what he had said and felt a pang of regret. He had been led by the nose by this woman.

“Yo-you better keep your word, or-or I’ll write a letter to Big Brother.”

Jiang Yiyi raised an eyebrow. “Can you write?”

Gu Yunyang’s face instantly flushed red. He was rather slow, always scoring last in his class, but he was almost finished with first grade and recognized quite a few characters.

“An-anyway, you-you remember my words!”

After his threat, he turned and ran back into the house.

Gu Yunchi came out carrying a dish and saw Gu Yunyang running back into the house. He smiled and asked, “Sister-in-law, what did you say to him?”

Jiang Yiyi replied mysteriously, “A secret. I can’t tell you.”

Gu Yunchi chuckled.

Since her divorce, her smile had grown brighter day by day, and the worry lines on her face had completely disappeared.

…

Early the next morning, Jiang Jinfeng brought Zhou Fen over, and then he and Jiang Yiyi went to the county town. They had made two hundred servings. Since it was still early, Jiang Yiyi first delivered fifty servings to the state-run restaurant, then took Jiang Jinfeng to meet Wu Gang.

Wu Gang had been waiting. After he went home yesterday and told his wife, she urged him to go and promote the deal quickly. If they had no more income, their family would truly be reduced to eating the wind.

“It was eighty yuan a month, but I said you’re family, and the factory leader reduced it to seventy yuan, but it needs to be paid for a year upfront.”

Seventy yuan a month, eight hundred and forty yuan a year. Wu Gang was worried that Jiang Yiyi couldn’t afford it. This was already after the factory leader reduced the price by ten yuan due to Wu Gang’s many years of contribution to the factory.

This was exactly what Jiang Yiyi wanted. Renting for a year would save a lot of trouble. If she hadn’t been low on funds, she would have rented for five years. The economy would develop rapidly in the next few years, and the rent would certainly increase accordingly.

“No problem.”

Leaving Jiang Jinfeng to wait at the factory building, Jiang Yiyi and Wu Gang signed the contract and paid the rent. Before they reached the factory building, they saw a large group of people, led by Jiang’s father. They were pulling different carts loaded with bricks and earth.

She and Jiang Jinfeng had come by bicycle. Jiang’s father and his group were only half an hour behind them, meaning they had set off earlier.

Jiang Yiyi hurried over. “Dad, why are you here so early?”

“The sooner we finish, the sooner you can use it.”

Jiang’s father had called people who were close to the family in the village. They had all watched Jiang Yiyi grow up and were surprised to learn that she was renting a house in the county town to sell liangpi. They were all looking at her now.

“We won’t let the uncles and aunts work for nothing today. Two yuan per person, and lunch is provided.”

Jiang’s father wanted to stop her but it was too late. He immediately regretted calling so many people. He had wanted to help his daughter finish early, so he called ten people.

The people who came to help were surprised and delighted to hear about the payment, wanting to refuse but unable to resist the money.

They pulled the carts inside and started planning where to build the stove.

“Ten is enough for now.”

The yard was large enough for twenty stoves, but Jiang Yiyi let Jiang’s father take charge. She gave Jiang Jinfeng one hundred yuan to buy ten iron pots and asked Wu Gang, “Do you know anyone who sells coal? I want to buy a ton.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go find him now.”

Jiang Yiyi stopped him. “I also want to make some small leather bags. Do you know anyone?”

Plastic bags didn’t exist yet. Jiang Yiyi wanted to use small leather bags as an alternative, making it convenient for customers to carry their liangpi.

“What size?”

Jiang Yiyi gestured. “If possible, order ten thousand.”

She needed them not only for the liangpi but also for other things she would sell later.

Wu Gang was initially hesitant about the size she gestured, but when he heard that she wanted ten thousand, he immediately nodded. “I’ll go talk to them.”

The leather bag factory only produced large bags, and they didn’t have such small ones. To produce them, they would have to change the production line. A few years ago, the leather bag factory owner would never have agreed, but in the past two years, all factories were struggling, including the leather bag factory. They would definitely accept such a large order.

“Good. If you get these two things done today, consider it your wages—five yuan.”

Wu Gang was overjoyed and rode his bicycle away quickly.

Jiang Yiyi told Jiang’s father that she would buy lunch and went to the textile factory to deliver liangpi.

A woman was already waiting there, with a stall set up. Seeing Jiang Yiyi, she rushed over. “I was too excited yesterday and forgot to tell you, my name is Zhang Mei.”

“My name is Jiang Yiyi. Call me Yiyi, Sister Zhang. I’ll leave you a hundred servings first. I’ll come back later. If you can’t sell them all, I’ll come back and sell the rest.”

Zhang Mei was very grateful. After the excitement yesterday, she had thought about this problem: what if she couldn’t sell them all? She didn’t expect Jiang Yiyi to have already considered this.

Jiang Yiyi went to the aluminum factory gate. She had only a few servings left, and she needed to keep some for herself. She didn’t need to come here, but she wanted to ask Brother Liu to make some more flat-bottomed pans.

She set up her stall, and workers gradually came out of the factory. Jiang Yiyi saw Brother Liu and waved to him. “Brother Liu!”