After Ji Huai became popular selling rice noodles and fried skewers at the entrance of No. 3 Middle School, many tricycle stalls appeared next to the school, all selling rice noodles and fried skewers.
The vegetarian fried skewers he sells cost 50 cents a skewer, which is definitely not affordable. But they sell a bowl of rice noodles for 5 yuan, and the other party only buys 4 yuan, or including the take-out box, it costs 4.5 yuan.
For students, a dollar less than 50 cents can still attract them. Jihuai's customer flow must have been diluted a little, but only a little. Many students have eaten once and continue to come back to buy their food. .
First of all, in terms of ingredients, those few stalls are not so generous, and the oil for deep-fried skewers is not changed every day. Parents do not allow you to eat more, and the sauce is not as soulful as Ji Huai's. It is far behind them. .
But there is also a new trouble. The place where the stall is set up next to the school is a public place. Originally, there were no people setting up stalls at night. They could set up more than ten small tables. Now those people deliberately came earlier than them and left the tables early. I took it to reserve a seat and deliberately squeezed in.
By the time they arrived, there were no more tables in the remaining space, so the students didn't care. When other customers saw that there was no place to sit, it would affect the business.
No, a few young men came over with a box of wine and looked around: "You don't have anywhere to sit, so how can you drink and chat?"
Cheng Yunyu was also very embarrassed: "The table can't be set, and there's nothing we can do."
In the past, they mainly sold to students, but now things are different. Every late night, many young people come to drink and chat. One table may order hundreds of barbecue skewers, and the profits are considerable.
After hearing what she said, the young man looked at his companion: "There's no place to sit. Should we go somewhere else?"
When everyone gets together, they just want to drink and brag and eat barbecue at the same time, but there's no place to sit.
Cheng Yunyu watched them leave with helplessness in his eyes. This kind of thing happened often during this period. Although their food tastes good, no one likes to take it home to eat.
Seeing the loss of customers little by little, she had no choice but to set up a stall. She couldn't occupy this space alone.
Ji Huai was cooking rice noodles and said, "I saw that the bungalow diagonally across the road was for rent today. I will go to find out the situation tomorrow."
During this time they have been looking for a shop. I looked for them nearby and in urban areas, but it was difficult to find shops, some locations were not good, and some people didn’t have enough traffic.
Cheng Yunyu nodded and took this matter to heart.
The next day, when she got up, she urged him to see the shop. Ji Huai took her on an electric car to the other end of No. 3 Middle School and came to the old bungalow.
The old bungalow faces the street and has only one floor. The houses in this area are quite old and the paint on the walls is cracked, but it has a large space, a full two hundred square meters.
The shop was originally owned by an old couple who opened a small restaurant, selling food to students. However, because it was across the road and surrounded by competitors, the business was not very good. Because it is our own store, we could barely hold on in the past, but this year more small restaurants opened nearby, and it was all in vain.
The old lady said that the rent was two thousand yuan a month, which was not low. Ji Huai had no objection. She just asked for a five-year contract and the rent was paid half a year.
The old couple did not object and asked their son to come back to deal with the matter. For them, they may not be able to earn more than 2,000 yuan a month even if they are busy working, so renting will save them trouble.
The pavement is too shabby and needs to be renovated next.
Ji Huai and his two men had limited funds, so they chose a simple and warm store. The store was located next to the school, so the financial ability of the students had to be taken into consideration.
They bought latex paint, and Cheng Yunyu bought a lot of small items from the Internet. In order to save money, she used a pencil to outline their exclusive logo on the wall, and then colored it little by little.
The bathroom and the wall behind the small bungalow had to be rebuilt. Ji Huai hired a few workers and watched them do the work. When he walked out, he saw that Cheng Yunyu had drawn a cute white bear, and the word "Chu He" had also been outlined.
He stood behind her, folded his hands on his chest, and kept looking at her, with the corners of his mouth curled up and his eyes gentle.
Cheng Yunyu painted seriously and did not notice that he was behind her. She continued painting with the brush, stopping to observe from time to time, and then continued painting.
Ji Huai's eyes fell on her, then he looked at the small shop that was just beginning to take shape, and walked over to continue packing away the sundries.
There are more and more people setting up stalls at the school gate, and the limited space is not good for them, so they open the shop as soon as possible. Because the store is so big, we have to hire people.
Cheng Yunyu had to collect the bill at the front desk. Originally, the aunt could only clean the table. She also had to hire two waiters, two skewers, and one employee who fried stinky tofu. He would just be responsible for cooking the rice noodles.
Because I have to work night shifts and can't rest, my salary has to be higher. Plus the rent, water and electricity, I have to have a fixed expenditure of at least 15,000 yuan a month.
Before opening the store, Cheng Yunyu was so worried that he couldn't sleep at night. They had very little money left after renovations and rent payments. If they didn't make money, they wouldn't be able to survive for two months.
Ji Huai hugged her and comforted her: "What are you afraid of? In the worst case, we can find another place to set up a stall. We don't expect a high income. Just maintain the previous income. There are definitely risks and opportunities at the same time."
"We still have a few people to support," she added.
"If we can't support her, we'll do it by ourselves. We did it by ourselves before." He put his big hand on her head. "It's okay. I won't die of hunger or fall down."
"Yeah." She got into his arms, "I want too much. In the past, our wish was just to make three thousand yuan. If we failed, we would just keep this store and make three thousand yuan a month. Just a thousand yuan.”
"That won't work." Ji Huai quickly vetoed, "Although I have never thought about getting rich, three thousand yuan is not enough for us to live a worry-free life. We must at least ensure that our life is not stressful, and we cannot let you and me Endure the hardships and have to get married and have children in the future.”
Cheng Yunyu thought about it carefully again.
"You don't think so much now. When you get married and have children, you should start arguing with me because you think I'm incompetent." He said.
"I won't!" She retorted quickly, her baby face wrinkled, silently accusing him.
Ji Huai pinched her little cheek and said, "I'm teasing you, but I take it seriously."
The little girl may not understand anything yet, love comes first. When I got married, I also had beautiful fantasies and desires for the future. Unfortunately, the pressure of life is always so unrelenting and can make people breathless.
Cheng Yunyu was fussing in his arms, and Ji Huai hugged her tightly again, kissed her and said, "Your mother said that you should find someone who is a few years older than you. That way he will love you. If I don't love you, then She should have said that you were blind and married the wrong person, and I can’t let you suffer along with me.”
When she heard him say these words, her little willfulness disappeared without a trace. She puffed her cheeks and said nothing for a long time, feeling warm and sweet in her heart.
He put his arms around her and said in a slow and serious voice: "Although we won't be rich, we won't be so poor that you will suffer too much. I said, if others have it, you will have it too. Why don't you buy something new?" A small three-wheeler? When you have money, I will build a small car for you, a four-wheeled one."
"But I don't know how to open it." She answered in a low voice without confidence.
Ji Huai: "Study. Cheng Yunyu, are you promising?"
"You yell at me!" The little girl's face changed, she opened her little claws and attacked him, her cool beautiful eyes stared at him, and her little cherry mouth began to chatter, "You yell at me, you make fun of me, you hate me! You are ungrateful, you have no conscience, you are a big bad guy..."
"Hmm~~"
He leaned forward directly, blocked her delicate mouth, and held down her two little hands with one hand. The little girl tried to kick him again, but he was crushing her to death.
Cheng Yunyu struggled and pushed him away with his mouth open. Ji Huai leaned his head sideways and said with a smile: "If you don't let me kiss you, I will kiss you. The more you avoid me, the closer you will be."
"I don't want you to kiss me."
"I'll kiss you."
"don't want."
"I'll kiss you."
…
The two of them continued to be in a stalemate. In the end, Cheng Yunyu smiled and said in a soft voice, "I won't."
"Boo~~~"
Someone kissed her loudly and looked like he cared about her.
"Are you going to open a store?"
"Three days before the store opens, students will receive a 30% discount, is it true?"
"Do students also give milk tea?"
…
As always, a lot of people gathered in front of the white tricycle. Ji Huai posted on the front of the car the news that they were about to open a store. The store was offering a 30% discount for the first three days. You could get a cup of milk tea with your student ID and add your address.
They didn't need to tell them the address. Everyone had already noticed the white-painted store opposite. There were also some rather western-style booths outside, with the white bear painted on them.
Ji Huai was cooking rice noodles and half-jokingly said: "Don't you always dislike the small number of tables in my house? There is no place to hide when it rains, and it's too cold in winter, so I rented a shop."
"Will the price of renting a shop increase? If your price increases, I can't afford it." This is also a question that students are concerned about.
Ji Huai: "No increase, original price."
As soon as he said this, the students cheered again, saying that he had a conscience.
Several stalls nearby were relieved to see that he was going to open a shop. They were close, and with Ji Huai gone, they could also get a share of the pie.
Originally, there was only one person following Ji Huai's example of selling rice noodles and barbecue, but now three more people have come. There are only so many students, and the diversion is too serious. They work hard all night, and sometimes they don't even make dozens of dollars. All they want is Ji Huai. Leave quickly.
When Ji Huai's store opened, the students were already on vacation.
They just want to hold on. They just need to protect their capital during this period. After the Chinese New Year and students go back to school, business may pick up.
Who would have thought that as soon as this shop opened, the small shop would be filled with people even before it got dark that night.
The auntie who fried stinky tofu never stopped. Many people were queuing up to buy it. The fried skewers were constantly being fried. There were also rows of fried stinky tofu on the grill. Everything prepared that day was sold out.
Although the milk tea was a gift, Ji Huai was not careless. They asked a nearby milk tea shop to deliver it. It was cheap, delicious, and used a lot of ingredients.
The small shop was packed with people and business was booming.
Cheng Yunyu stood in front of the counter, constantly checking the bills, using the computer to check out, and from time to time passing the red banknotes he received through the banknote detector.
Ji Huai is also very hard-working, because he is worried that the cost will be too high to support the students' enrollment, and there are also employees to help with the work, and they don't need their help when wearing strings, so they also get up in the morning to work.
Barbecue and stinky tofu are not sold in the morning, but rice noodles are sold in the morning, and everyone will come for breakfast.
Not to mention, there are quite a lot of people coming to buy, and dozens of bowls can be sold in the morning. Cheng Yunyu was doing the accounting and found that she could sell dozens of bowls in one morning and earn more than 100 yuan. She got up more actively than anyone else.
The two of them worked from dawn to dusk and stayed busy until the first day of the Lunar New Year. Then they reluctantly closed the store, gave the employees three days off, and went home to celebrate the New Year.
Employees who have been on the job for less than a month still have to be given some symbolic wages and bonuses to go back to celebrate the New Year.
All their savings were invested in the store. Spend a little here and a little there. Boss Ji and his wife are actually very poor. If they were not poor, they would not get up in the morning to cook rice noodles and sell them.
They have been very busy in the past six months and have not bought any clothes or shoes. The cloth shoes Cheng Yunyu wore were about to be glued. As the Chinese New Year was approaching, Ji Huai hurriedly took her to buy new clothes.
Cheng Yunyu is still reluctant to spend money. Although they have promoted the store, many people don't know that they have opened a store. Another reason is that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there are many people renting houses nearby, or people whose hometown is not here. Everyone is gone and students are on vacation, so there is less traffic.
Their current average daily income is only around one thousand. Sometimes, when it is only five or six hundred, they cannot make ends meet, and their cash flow is really tight.
In the past, the two of them could earn hundreds from working, but now they support six people, as well as shop, water and electricity bills, and various other miscellaneous expenses. The income has not increased much, so it makes people anxious.
"We are of the same age. If we don't dress up now, when will we dress up?" Ji Huai was very ambitious and didn't think too much. He took her hand to the store and asked her to try on an apricot-colored windbreaker.
Cheng Yunyu liked it very much when she saw it. She looked at the tag quietly and read, nine hundred and ninety-nine. She pulled him to leave: "Ninety-nine is too expensive for me!"
"The boss lady can't be so casual." Ji Huai took off his windbreaker and persuaded her, "We can make more money. Business will be better after the Chinese New Year, and we won't be so embarrassed."
"But it's so expensive." She still couldn't bear it.
"Do you like it?" he asked her.
Cheng Yunyu was silent. She liked it very much, but it was expensive.
"A good piece of clothing can be worn for many years. I used to earn a thousand yuan a day. Isn't it worth using a thousand yuan to exchange for this piece of clothing?" After he finished speaking, he continued, "I think it's worth it. Spend the money." It’s yours, otherwise it’s just a number.”
She still tried this dress after his persuasion. The long windbreaker was worn on her body, and the shape was correct. Her whole temperament was completely different.
The shopping guide quickly matched her with a set of long sweaters and pants. She hesitated and went to the fitting room to change into them. When she came out, Ji Huai's eyes were locked on her.
She was originally a delicate and immature little girl, but now she looks more like a goddess with her delicate curves and slim figure.
He chose a pair of mid-length boots with high heels for her: "This will look better on you."
Cheng Yunyu came over and sat on the sofa. She took the boots and leaned forward to put them on herself. Ji Huai was helping her.
She had rarely worn high heels, but after wearing them, her figure suddenly became taller and more feminine. The colors of her clothes were softly matched, making her look charming and charming without losing her charm.
"This is what I want." Ji Huai made the decision for her.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine for the windbreaker, three hundred and ninety-nine for the sweater, two hundred and ninety-nine for the pants, and six hundred and ninety-nine for the boots, a total of nearly two thousand four. He swiped the card without hesitation, but Cheng Yunyu's attempts to stop him were ineffective.
"It's so expensive. We can go somewhere else and have a look." She kept tugging on the hem of his clothes.
Ji Huai said: "It's so beautiful. It looks so beautiful when you put it on. Other stores may not have such beautiful clothes."
Seeing that she was still struggling, he took her over and said, "It's what you spent. You have worked so hard in the past six months, so you should treat it as a reward for yourself. Let's go buy a set of clothes for our parents. It's cold this year."
The parents he mentioned were naturally Father Cheng and Mother Cheng.
Cheng Yunyu also wanted to improve his favor in front of his parents, so they bought two sweaters for Cheng's father and a coat for Cheng's mother.
Although she was reluctant to part with herself, she was very willing to part with Ji Huai. After buying her parents' clothes, she planned to buy him a few sets of clothes and a few pairs of shoes.
Ji Huai used to like buying clothes, but since he set up a stall, he has never bought any. He is very busy every day.
But he didn't plan to go: "I'm hungry, let's go eat first."
After the two of them walked around for a day, Cheng Yunyu was also hungry, so they went to eat. Now that the economy is looser, we no longer have to eat in restaurants, and we can boldly go to small restaurants.
After they finished eating, no matter what she said, Ji Huai didn't want to go shopping anymore. He kept saying that he was tired and too lazy to go shopping, so he wanted to go back to sleep first.
"Wear new clothes for the New Year," she insisted.
"I didn't buy clothes in the past few years. I don't believe this. Let's go home." He carried a few bags and held her with the other hand. "A grown man doesn't care about this."
"What do you care?" she wondered.
He looked back at her and replied without hesitation: "I have money in my pocket, and I have a wife and children by my side."
Cheng Yunyu: "...he is clearly a spirited young man, and he talks like this."
Ji Huai: "It's time to get married next year. Do you think I'm still eighteen?"
His words made her laugh.
Cheng Yunyu originally wanted to get up early the next day to buy him some sets of clothes, but Ji Huai urged her to pack her things quickly after she got up early. It was time to go back for the New Year.
She was holding a bunch of things and it was difficult to hold them, so he called her a taxi and took her back.
The village was lively. When Cheng Yunyu went back, many people had returned. Several ladies were chatting around on the side of the road, and they looked curiously when they saw a taxi coming.
Cheng Yunyu was wearing new clothes. As soon as she got out of the car, she immediately became the center of attention.