Chapter 21: Trust Your People, or Don’t Use Them

Dinner was dumplings, still two fillings: leek and pork, and fennel and pork. The family ate until their bellies were round. Zhou Fen was initially hesitant to eat much, but seeing her family enjoying the meal, she couldn’t resist and ate quite a bit.

After dinner, showering, and eating watermelon, everyone went to bed early.

Jiang Yiyi wanted Zhou Fen to sleep in her room, but Gu’s mother was afraid of disturbing her sleep, so she let Zhou Fen sleep with them.

After midnight, Gu Yunchi and Zhou Fen quietly got up and went to the kitchen to make cold noodles.

Jiang Yiyi woke up at 6:30 am. The sky was bright, and 250 servings of cold noodles were ready.

She went out with her toiletries and saw Gu Yunchi energetically making breakfast. She sighed, “No wonder she’s the heroine of the book; she’s full of energy.”

Zhou Fen was also energetic. She thought making cold noodles would be difficult, but it turned out to be so simple. She learned it in the morning, and she wouldn’t have to return home after going to the county town today; she could start there directly, saving her younger sister from running back and forth.

“Little sister, get up. Wash up and eat. After eating, let’s go to the county town early.”

There was only one bicycle at home. Gu Yunchi had to carry Gu’s mother and the two children, so Zhou Fen had to walk. She had to leave early. If she weren’t at the Gu family’s, she would have been eating a steamed bun while walking.

The Gu family didn’t have steamed buns. Jiang Yiyi disliked them, finding them scratchy in the throat, so she had Gu Yunchi steam mantou (steamed buns). Now that the family had a daily income, Gu Yunchi was willing to make them, steaming large, round mantou.

After breakfast, Gu Yunyang and Gu Yuncan went to school. Two portions of cold noodles were left for them to eat after school. Jiang Yiyi prepared the tricycle, letting Gu’s mother and the two children sit on it.

Gu’s mother took out money for Jiang Yiyi. Her daughter-in-law was renting a house and buying a tricycle, so she must not have much money left. She used the 2,000 yuan returned by the Qin family for medical expenses. This money was originally intended as a fallback for her daughter and two granddaughters, but it seemed unnecessary now.

She gave Jiang Yiyi 200 yuan.

Jiang Yiyi refused, “I have money. You keep this for emergencies.”

Gu’s mother wouldn’t hear it, “If you don’t take it, I won’t go to the hospital.”

She didn’t really want to go. She felt her body getting better every day. She wanted to reassure Jiang Yiyi and Gu Yunchi, and she also wanted to see the rented house in the county town before agreeing to go.

Jiang Yiyi had no choice but to accept the money, planning to return it to Gu’s mother in the evening.

She rode the tricycle with Gu’s mother and the two children, and Gu Yunchi rode the bicycle with Zhou Fen. They went to the county town together.

Some villagers were already working in the fields. Seeing Jiang Yiyi riding a tricycle, they were surprised. In this era, not every family had a bicycle, let alone a tricycle.

“The Gu family’s cold noodles are really making a lot of money. In just a few days, they bought a tricycle.”

“It’s 30 cents a serving. They must sell dozens of servings a day, right?”

“You’re wrong. Even if they sell 100 servings a day, it’s only 30 yuan. Tricycles aren’t cheap; they cost 300 or 400 yuan. How many days have they been selling cold noodles?”

Someone’s eyes widened.

“You mean they sell hundreds of servings a day?”

“No way. Who eats such expensive things every day?”

“Can you keep it down? If they can’t sell that much, how could they afford a tricycle?”

“Didn’t they say Gu Yunchi got 2,000 yuan back from the Qin family? Maybe they used that money to buy it.”

“If that’s the case, the Gu family’s daughter-in-law is too scheming.”

“Exactly. No wonder she didn’t let Gu Yunchi go back that day. She probably wanted them to divorce so she could keep the 2,000 yuan for herself.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover. The Gu family’s daughter-in-law is so ruthless.”

…

Jiang Yiyi naturally couldn’t hear the gossip. Carrying three people, she rode slowly. They arrived in the county town around 9 am. She first went to the state-run restaurant to deliver the goods.

“Eighty servings today.”

Manager Huang said.

He didn’t expect the cold noodles to sell so well. Every table ordered one or two servings, and some even took them home for their families. Without cooking or frying, just adding some ingredients, each serving could earn several cents or even a yuan.

After leaving eighty servings, Jiang Yiyi took everyone to the rented house. Jiang Jinfeng had already arrived, as had Wu Gang. There was a truck in the yard, loaded with coal.

The coal was delivered before the payment was made. Wu Gang’s connections were indeed impressive. Jiang Yiyi paid the money, and the truck driver immediately unloaded the coal. As soon as the truck left the yard, Jiang Jinfeng immediately closed the gate, looking as if many people wanted to rush in to grab the coal.

Jiang Yiyi wanted to laugh. She took out the money for Wu Gang, “I won’t go to the Niu Pi Dai Chang. You go and sign the contract.”

Looking at the thick stack of money, Wu Gang was very excited by Jiang Yiyi’s trust in him. “Don’t worry, there won’t be any mistakes.”

Jiang Yiyi nodded, “Trust your people, or don’t use them.”

Jiang Jinfeng was worried. It was several hundred yuan after all. Watching Wu Gang’s departing back, he whispered, “Little sister, you need to be more careful. Don’t trust anyone easily.”

“I’m going to promote him.”

Jiang Yiyi said this, and Jiang Jinfeng understood. His sister was testing Wu Gang, but the amount was too much. If Wu Gang ran away with the money, his sister would be devastated.

“Mom, eldest sister, wait here for a while. I’ll deliver the cold noodles first.”

Gu’s mother and Gu Yunchi recovered from their shock. They thought Jiang Yiyi only rented a small yard, but it was so big.

“Sister-in-law, go ahead. I’ll take Mom to the hospital.”

“I’ll be back in half an hour. Let’s go together when I return.”

Gu Yunchi nodded.

Jiang Yiyi first delivered fifty servings to Li Lan, then to Zhang Mei. Zhang Mei had sold 100 servings yesterday and was very confident. “Yiyi, leave me twenty more servings today.”

She had thought it over yesterday. If she couldn’t sell them all at noon, she could sell them at night.

“I’m taking my mother-in-law to the hospital today, so I didn’t make many. Sell these first. If you sell them all, I’ll give you more tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, Sister Zhang…” Jiang Yiyi said as she gave her the cold noodles, “You can talk about selling cold noodles, but try not to tell outsiders how much money you’ve made.”

It wasn’t that Jiang Yiyi was afraid of others knowing how profitable the cold noodles were, but she was afraid that Zhang Mei and her children would be targeted. In this era, where the basic salary of a worker was only thirty or forty yuan, Zhang Mei’s income was easily enviable. She and her children had no one to rely on, and if they were targeted, it would be a big disaster.

Zhang Mei nodded, “I understand.”

A total of 250 servings were made, with 230 servings wholesaled. Jiang Yiyi took the remaining twenty servings back to the rented place, cut five servings, and instructed Jiang Jinfeng and his wife that Wu Gang would pick them up. Then she and Gu Yunchi took Tiantian, Yueyue, and Gu’s mother to the hospital.

In this era, people rarely went to the hospital unless they were seriously ill, so there weren’t many people there.

“Dad!”

Tiantian suddenly shouted, pointing to the distance.