Chapter 10: Three Little Helpers

Xu Meng widened her eyes and looked at the youngest, who was about to cry. “Do you know how to do origami?”

The youngest shook his head.

Xu Meng turned to the eldest. “Go get one of those exercise books that’s already filled with writing.”

The second child had already gone into the room in pieces—by which time he came out, he was holding several exercise books in his hands.

“Look, this is a big frog.” Xu Meng handed the folded paper to the youngest and confiscated their marbles. “You’re not allowed to play with marbles anymore.”

The second child was indignant and pointed at the youngest. “It’s all your fault. I had saved up so many marbles!” Those were hard-won from other kids.

Then he put on a fawning smile and turned to Xu Meng. “Sister, I won’t play with the marbles in front of the youngest next time. Can you give them back, please?”

There really wasn’t much for kids to play with back then. For boys, marbles were the most common pastime.

Xu Meng thought for a moment. “If your little brother gets hold of one and swallows it, that’s no joke.”

The second child swore to the heavens. “He won’t get near them.”

Nonsense. They played together all the time—who knew when one might end up in his mouth.

Xu Meng ignored him and held up the bag of marbles seriously. “Next time you want to play, you come get them from me. When you’re done, you deposit them back with me. You all need to understand, Aunt Liu specifically entrusted you to my mom. If something happens to your little brother right after we’ve just moved in, do you know what’ll happen to us?”

They might even be kicked out.

The second child shrank his neck and was called away by the eldest to take a bath.

The three kids bathed using a washbasin. The water had been warmed by the sun during the day and was still hot now. The youngest went first, then the second child, and finally the eldest.

They didn’t use any soap. Just rinsing with plain water—though not entirely clean—meant there were no chemical pollutants. After everyone finished, they poured the used water straight into the flower bed, getting rid of the dirty water and watering the plants at the same time.

Perfect.

After dumping out the dirty water, the eldest suddenly said, “My mom used to do it this way too.”

No wonder their family had built so many vegetable beds. Wasn’t it perfect—growing vegetables and disposing of dirty water all at once?

Xu Meng also lit the fire and boiled water. She and Feng Yanwen bathed together. Thankfully, they had bought a washbasin as well. Families without a bathroom could only squat inside a basin to wash.

Soap wasn’t something they could use every day either. Once they used soap, they had to rinse thoroughly and change the water in between—it was a hassle. Every time bath time came around, Xu Meng longed for a private bathroom. It was still manageable in summer, but once winter arrived, they’d have to go to the public bathhouse, and even that only happened once every ten days or half a month.

The next day, Zhang Guifen came by to deliver watermelons. Following Chang Xi’s directions, she brought them to the newly rented house.

That day, Xu Meng received twelve watermelons. When Zhang Guifen left, she was all smiles and only asked how many melons would be needed the next day before heading off.

Xu Meng, however, found herself troubled by the sight of all those watermelons. The train station was still a ways off, and after her previous experience, she now had a psychological aversion to hauling large watermelons.

“This isn’t a problem,” the eldest said, suddenly pulling out a small pushcart from somewhere. He generously offered, “You can use this.”

The thing was somewhat like an early version of a baby stroller. It could carry both people and goods. The wheels were repurposed from a woman’s bicycle, the frame was crafted by a carpenter and finely sanded, and the basket was made of canvas. Xu Meng gave it a push and found it rather lightweight, with decent load capacity—it could transport five or six large watermelons at once.

“This thing is great. Who made it?”

The eldest’s eyes dimmed. “My dad.” Then he fell silent.

When his father passed away, the boy had already been old enough to remember things. Mentioning his dad still brought on sorrow.

Xu Meng was briefly taken aback. “…Then I’ll borrow it for a while, and tonight I’ll treat you all to watermelon.”

The moment the kids heard “watermelon,” they couldn’t help but swallow hungrily. Even the eldest’s sorrow lightened.

Xu Meng felt an impulse to slice up a watermelon for them right then and there.

Because the watermelon served as a tempting reward, the kids were especially well-behaved. In the morning, they followed Xu Meng around like little shadows, helping her get small buckets and stools ready. With the addition of the pushcart, she and her mother had a much easier time getting to the train station compared to the day before.

As soon as Xu Meng set the watermelons down, people began to gather around.

“Well now, what’s all this about?”

“She’s selling watermelons? These are so big—who’s going to buy one and take it on the train?”

Xu Meng picked up a watermelon, placed it on a tray, and began her pitch. “Watermelons for sale, sweet and juicy watermelon slices, only five mao (0.5 yuan) per slice. Refreshing and not greasy—come get your watermelon!”

She cut open the watermelon, shaved off the rind on top, and showed the crowd how large the slices were. The red flesh was fragrant and juicy, giving off a fresh fruity aroma. Some thirsty onlookers couldn’t help but swallow, and soon, people began pulling out their money.

Feng Yanwen wasn’t good with words, so Xu Meng continued doing the shouting.

Xu Meng quickly put her strengths to use. One slice sold, then another. Business today was especially smooth. They had twelve watermelons, four more than yesterday, yet they sold out before four o’clock. As the two of them tallied up the day’s earnings, a quiet excitement began to build inside them.

On the way home, Feng Yanwen remembered the promise they made to share some watermelon with the kids. So the two of them took a short detour to the market, bought another melon from Zhang Guifen, and also placed an order for tomorrow’s batch.

“Fourteen melons tomorrow?” Zhang Guifen couldn’t help but smile in delight.

She had brought along a few extra watermelons this morning, and by now they were almost sold out. If Xu Meng and her mother could take this many every day, business would be much easier this year. Zhang Guifen hurriedly picked out another melon for them and didn’t ask any more questions about how they ran their sales.

When the two returned home, it was still a bit early for dinner.

Xu Meng cut out a quarter of the watermelon and sliced it into pieces, then handed one slice each to the three younger boys.

The kids probably hadn’t had watermelon in a long time. As soon as they saw it, they began drooling with hunger. When each of them finally got their slice, they buried their heads and ate without even looking up, quiet and well-behaved as could be.

Feng Yanwen had never had children of her own, but she loved kids dearly. Watching them like this tugged at her heart.

The eldest still managed to keep his composure, eating politely and neatly. The second child, on the other hand, devoured his slice like a harvesting machine. In just a few bites, it was completely gone, rind and all. The youngest had a small mouth and ended up with watermelon all over his face. The second child, after finishing his own, originally wanted to sneak another bite, but when he saw the piece in the youngest’s hands covered in slobber, he looked a bit disgusted. “Can’t you eat properly?”

The youngest didn’t even spare him a glance, fully focused on munching his watermelon.

Xu Meng burst out laughing at the sight of the kids. “Still want more watermelon?”

The second child eagerly nodded, almost jumping with excitement.

Xu Meng pointed at the little buckets and basins. “Go wash those. If you help me with chores every day, I’ll save a piece like this for each of you.”

Even the eldest was tempted. After all, they didn’t go to school and had nothing else to do. He asked quickly, “Anything else? We can do a lot of things.”

Xu Meng’s mind was spinning fast. She and Feng Yanwen were busy from morning to night, and when they got home, she still needed time to study and review. Having help around the house was definitely a good thing. This was what people called mutual benefit—give a little, and there’d be no guilt about making use of the kids. So she pointed at the vegetable garden in the yard and said, “Help me turn over those plots of soil, and wash all the pots and jars too. Can you handle that?”

The eldest nodded repeatedly. “We can. We’re really well-behaved.”

The second child asked, “So does that mean we get watermelon again tomorrow?”

He was already starting to salivate again.

Xu Meng nodded. “Do a good job, and I’ll give you more watermelon tomorrow.”

Feng Yanwen saw this and didn’t stop her. Feeling sorry for the kids was one thing, but if you kept feeding them for free and they got used to it, it would be hard to deal with in the future. What Mengmeng was doing was just right. She was already exhausted enough and just wanted to lie down for a bit when she got home. She certainly didn’t have the energy to clean up on top of that.

The remaining watermelon was divided up. Xu Meng kept a portion for herself, gave a share to Chang Xi, another to Sister Liu, and the rest—a large chunk—was given to Wang Shuanzhu, the man who sold secondhand goods.

He had looked out for them and helped them find quite a few good things.

At first, Wang Shuanzhu was a bit surprised, but when he heard they were also giving some to others, he accepted it without hesitation.

Feng Yanwen quickly tallied up the accounts. Including the one watermelon they bought for eating, they still made over forty yuan. Holding the money in her hands, she felt a sense of security she hadn’t experienced in a long time, and her thoughts began to turn.

That night, as they were getting ready for bed, Feng Yanwen couldn’t help but ask, “Mengmeng, do you think the two of us could sell watermelons in separate places?”

If they split up, wouldn’t they be able to make even more money?

As soon as Feng Yanwen brought up the idea, Xu Meng immediately rejected it.

“First, one person has to cut and another has to handle the money. When there’s a crowd, it really gets overwhelming. I don’t want us to end up not making money on either side. Second, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you go out alone.”

Feng Yanwen couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Xu Meng continued, “But what you said actually reminded me—though we can’t sell in two separate places, we can sell two different things in the same spot. Besides watermelons, we could sell something else too.”

Feng Yanwen’s eyes lit up. “What else can we sell?”

“Mom, have you noticed? The people buying watermelons from us are mostly out-of-towners and tourists.”

“Well of course,” Feng Yanwen said. “Local folks wouldn’t come all the way to the train station just to buy a watermelon.”

Today while Xu Meng chatted with customers, Feng Yanwen had been listening attentively—not just to the introductions of popular tourist spots, but also memorizing bits of sales talk. Though she had a reserved personality, she was sharp and quick-witted.

“So tell me,” Xu Meng said, “do you think we could stock some tourist maps?”

“You want to sell tourist maps?” Feng Yanwen slapped her thigh. “That’s it! Why didn’t I think of that? I know where to get them.”

“Mom, you’ve got a source?”

Feng Yanwen had worked as a teacher before and often dealt with bookstore owners. She actually did have access to that kind of supply channel.