Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 365

Xiangzi's least regretful thing was working for Zhao Da'e.

Cheng Jinxiang listened in surprise. She knew that Zhao Da'e was involved in the water-selling business, but she did not expect that Zhao Da'e's water-selling business would grow bigger and bigger, to the point that he could even afford to pay Xiangzi and others' wages. You know, the wages of ordinary people might only be one or two hundred, so if Zhao Da'e could afford to pay wages, he must be making a lot of money.

Slowly, the van arrived at the train station. Xiangzi called out to the back, "We're here! We're at the train station!"

Zhao Da'e was dozing off in the van, leaning against the window and drifting into a dream, but Cheng Jinxiao gently nudged him awake. Cheng Jinxiao said softly, "Da'e, we've arrived at the train station."

Zhao Da'e was still half asleep when she saw the train station. She woke up a bit and stubbornly stood up. "Are we here? Auntie, let's get off."

Zhao Da'e scratched his head, clearly still not quite recovered.

Cheng Jinxiao smiled when she saw this; Zhao Da'e's confused look was just too cute.

However, before Zhao Da'e could fully recover, Cheng Jinxiao spoke first, "Xiangzi, you can drop us off here. I can manage with Da'e."

Xiangzi nodded and smiled, "Okay, Auntie, be careful on the train, don't go hungry."

Cheng Jinxiao is Zhao Da'e's aunt, and according to seniority, Zhao Da'e is his great-aunt. Therefore, Xiangzi should call Cheng Jinxiao "Grand Aunt".

Cheng Jinxiang covered her mouth and laughed, "Alright, stop calling me 'Auntie Grandma.' It makes me sound so old. I'm just a senior in the family, not that much older than you."

Xiangzi said bitterly, "Grandma, if I don't call you that, should I call you Sister Xiao? If I do, my mother will chase after me and beat me, saying that I have no respect for elders and have messed up the generational order."

Helpless, Cheng Jinxiao simply went along with Xiangzi and then got off the bus with the goose.

The train station was bustling with people. Zhao Da'e had also come to her senses by this time. The two of them first went to the ticket office to buy train tickets. Here, one adult can bring one child for free, but the child can only sit on the adult's lap and has no extra seating. If you want to buy a seat for the child, you have to buy it at half price.

Zhao Da'e wasn't the type to compromise himself, so he bought two seats with a wave of his hand, of course, he paid for them himself.

Zhao Da'e lives in Quanshui County. To buy a train ticket from there to Jinzhou, the journey takes four or five hours. An adult ticket costs 12 yuan, while Zhao Da'e's half-price child ticket is 6 yuan. The ticket would cost 18 yuan in total. He took out 18 yuan from a pocket sewn into his underwear. It was all small change, nothing much. Zhao Da'e was afraid that if he put too much in there, people would covet it. Of course, Zhao Da'e also sewed other pockets in other places to carry some larger sums of money, just in case.

Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiao bought tickets for the 11:45 AM train, so they had to wait another 45 minutes, which was already the earliest train.

While waiting for the bus, Cheng Jinxiao hesitated for a moment, wondering whether she should say what she wanted to say.

Zhao Da'e noticed the conflict on Cheng Jinxiao's face and asked, "Auntie, is there anything you want to say to me?"

Seeing this, Cheng Jinxiao sighed. Nothing can be hidden from Da'e.

"Big Goose, I'll be frank. I heard from your mother that you're planning to open a clothing store in the county town. I just wanted to ask if you need any help with the store? I can do all the odd jobs, like cleaning and introducing clothes."

Cheng Jinxiao wanted to ask if she could work at the clothing store owned by Zhao Da'e.

Most jobs in the county town are either government-employed or require technical skills. Other jobs are either purely manual labor and are always short-staffed, or the wages are ridiculously low.

Cheng Jinxiao wanted to work at Zhao Dage's clothing store. Firstly, it was her niece's store, so the job was stable and she wouldn't be easily fired as long as it stayed open. She might even be able to learn a lot from her niece. Secondly, she saw Zhao Dage's potential. If Zhao Dage could make her water business so successful, her clothing store wouldn't be much different.

Zhao Da'e couldn't help but laugh when she heard this. She thought it was something serious, but she didn't expect it to be this. But it's nothing. It's just a job position. Besides, the clothing store is short-staffed anyway, so it's good that they can send their own people to fill the position.

"Sure, Auntie, it's no problem for you to work at my clothing store. However, once we find a source of clothing, we'll be opening the store and making money right away, which will take about half a month. Are you sure you want to work here?"

Cheng Jinxiao's eyes lit up. "I'll do it! Big Goose, Auntie will do business with you and make money with you, as long as you don't look down on Auntie!"

Zhao Da'e laughed, "Auntie, how could I possibly dislike you? If I really did, Mom would probably be the first to beat me up."

Cheng Jinxiao pointed at Zhao Da'e's forehead and said, "You, you."

Zhao Da'e pouted and said, "Auntie, I'm your boss now. You can't just poke my head like that, or I won't pay you!" Zhao Da'e pretended to threaten.

Cheng Jinxiao couldn't help but laugh out loud, and deliberately reached out to poke Zhao Dage again, "Oh, you, I haven't even started working for you yet, and you've already put on an act. No matter what, I'm still your aunt, and I can poke your head whenever I want. If you have any objections, go ask your mom."

Cheng Jinxiao brought up Zhao Da'e's elderly mother, and Zhao Da'e couldn't help but exclaim "Huh?" with wide eyes, "Auntie, why did you include Mom in this?"

Cheng Jinxiao couldn't help but rub Zhao Da'e's cheeks. Zhao Da'e had been eating well lately, and his face was chubby and felt very strong. "If we don't call your mother, then no one will be able to discipline you."

As she spoke, Cheng Jinxiao couldn't help but sigh, "But Da'e, to be honest, Auntie has to thank you for giving me this job opportunity. I plan to work in the county town and move there when I have a salary, instead of living at your aunt's house."

After all, the Cheng family is the eldest brother's home, and it's not appropriate for her, the younger sister-in-law, to stay there all the time. Outsiders would gossip, and if it goes on for too long, her sister-in-law would also have opinions. She had already been living in the Cheng family for several months, and it would be embarrassing to stay any longer. So Cheng Jinxiao thought about finding a job in the county town and settling down there. There are more opportunities in the county town, which is better than farming in the village. Besides, she didn't have her own land in the village, and she couldn't farm much anyway.

When Zhao Da'e learned that Cheng Jinxiao wanted to stay in the county town because she was embarrassed to stay at her uncle's house, she subconsciously said, "Auntie, don't worry, I've prepared a room for you in my new house. You can come and stay in my new house. There are plenty of rooms."

Cheng Jinxiao felt a warmth in her heart, but she still shook her head and said with a wry smile, "That's true, but Da'e, if you can make money, your aunt wants to buy herself a room of her own. Living under someone else's roof is never as comfortable as living in your own home. Your mother is at your uncle's house too. Once you make money, you should quickly build a new house and bring your mother to live in the new house. Don't move to your father's place anymore, where she has to endure your grandmother's scorn and insults."

After hearing this, Zhao Da'e nodded, patted his chest, and promised, "Don't worry, Auntie, I've already hired workers to build my new house. Construction will start in a few days, and it might be finished in a few months."

Cheng Jinxiao felt relieved after hearing this, and then pinched Zhao Dage's cheeks with both hands, "I know, Dage is a reliable person, much more so than your father."

Zhao Da'e pouted, unable to speak a complete sentence because her cheeks were being pinched, only making "mmm" sounds, "Auntie... stop pinching me."

Zhao Da'e's cheeks were being pinched, making it difficult for him to speak clearly.

Cheng Jinxiao's lips curled up into a sly smile, and she said decisively, "No way."

Time flew by, and several tens of minutes later, Zhao Da'e had already shouldered her luggage. The train was about to arrive at the station. Cheng Jinxiao held Zhao Da'e's hand to prevent her from being swept away by the crowd, otherwise she would be lost.

"Big Goose, hold your aunt's hand and don't wander off, understand?" Cheng Jinxiao said to Zhao Big Goose with a serious expression.

Zhao Da'e nodded. She was also aware of the importance of the matter. There were many people and suspicious eyes at the train station. If she got lost and encountered human traffickers, she would be in big trouble.

Zhao Da'e held Cheng Jinxiao's clothes tightly the whole time, while Cheng Jinxiao held Zhao Da'e's hand. Fortunately, nothing happened along the way.

Once on the bus, I sat down, put my luggage aside, and finally got to rest properly.

Cheng Jinxiao took out some steamed buns and pickled vegetables from her bag. She had been traveling for several hours and was quite hungry, so she thought she would eat something.

Looking at the simple meal, Zhao Da'e suddenly missed the big fish and meat dishes he used to eat during the Chinese New Year.

Suddenly, Zhao Da'e had an idea. "Auntie, would you like to eat the boxed meals on the train?"

The boxed meals on the train cost only two or three yuan. The food wasn't very good, but it was cooked, with vegetables and meat, and it was filling.

Cheng Jinxiao hesitated, mainly because she felt the boxed meals on the train weren't worth the price, and she had brought her own food.

Zhao Da'e noticed the hesitation on Cheng Jinxiao's face and said, "Don't worry, Auntie, I have money. You brought me here, so I'll pay for everything for the journey in Jinzhou. If you feel bad about it, you can take me sightseeing later when you've earned more money. So please don't refuse my offer to buy you boxed lunches. Eating well is the most important thing. Otherwise, what's the point of earning money?"

Cheng Jinxiao sighed, "I can't argue with you. Even so, every little bit of money saved is a good thing."

Cheng Jinxiao has always been frugal, and the things she uses are also quite simple.

Zhao Da'e grasped Cheng Jinxiao's hand. "Auntie, we're all family, so you don't need to be so polite with me. Every little bit helps, but the steamed buns and pickled vegetables I brought are too bland. I'm still growing, so I need to eat more meat. Buying the boxed meals from the train is the perfect solution."

Hearing Zhao Da'e say that, Cheng Jinxiao immediately felt less guilty. "Da'e, you're right. You're still growing, so you can't eat such bland food. You need to eat something nutritious."

At this point, Cheng Jinxiao recalled the days when Zhao Da'e and Zhou Tianfu came to pick her up several months ago and they bought boxed meals on the train. Cheng Jinxiao tentatively asked, "Da'e, do you still have the idea of ​​buying boxed meals on the train? That is, we can ask the vendor to order a few boxed meals at a low price and then sell them at a high price, just like we did last time."

Cheng Jinxiao wanted to make money. No matter what, money was the most important thing, and she would make as much money as she could.

Zhao Da'e laughed and said, "Okay, Auntie, let's go sell boxed lunches together and try to earn a few dozen yuan on the train to make back our ticket money."

Thinking it over and doing it, Zhao Da'e went to the train ticket seller to negotiate the price of the boxed meals. He bought about thirty boxed meals at a low price, and then bought some candy. He sold them in the same way as before, raising the price of one boxed meal to three yuan, and selling two boxed meals together for four yuan, and giving away a bottle of water or candy as a bonus.

With such a comparable price, the boxed meals sold out quickly, and since it was lunchtime, there were many people buying them. Moreover, this train was heading to a coastal city, where workers generally earn higher wages and have some money to buy boxed meals. In just a few tens of minutes, the boxed meals were sold out, and Zhao Da'e even went to the salesperson to get dozens more boxed meals.

Zhao Da'e and Cheng Jinxiao sold the meals together; one pushed the cart while the other promoted them, and they sold the boxed meals very quickly.

However, the two never noticed that a pair of eyes had been watching them from the shadows.

After selling the boxed meals, the two of them counted the money: one yuan... three yuan... five yuan... forty-three yuan.

After deducting costs, the net profit is about 25 yuan, which is the profit from selling one lunchbox.

Cheng Jinxiao's eyes lit up. If he were on the train that night, selling so many boxed meals would definitely earn him back the round-trip train tickets, and he might even earn an extra few dozen yuan. It was just a pity that he wouldn't earn as much as he did the first time he sold boxed meals on the train.

Cheng Jinxiao sighed, "Big Goose, do you think we'll sell fewer and fewer boxed lunches?"

Zhao Da'e thought for a moment and replied, "Auntie, it's no secret that we sell boxed lunches on the volcano. If someone sees us, they'll definitely follow suit and sell boxed lunches too. Or maybe the train vendors on other trains will know that we sell boxed lunches. They'll know that our method of selling boxed lunches can make money, and they'll definitely all try to imitate us."

“Today when I went to talk to the saleswoman about the price, I heard her say that she had heard from her colleagues about us selling boxed meals on other trains. This saleswoman was intentionally raising the price of the boxed meals for us to sell, hoping to make some money from it. But I didn’t fall for it. As soon as the saleswoman raised the price, I wanted to turn around and leave.”