The temple fair was very lively, with all kinds of snacks, acrobatics and game stalls, which kept everyone dazzled.
Of course, there were a lot of people.
Xia Wenyue was carrying a big bag and was leaving with Mao Huimei. "When you're done playing, go back by yourselves. Don't worry about us."
He also told Mao Huizhu, "Follow your dad closely, got it? Be careful of the beggars."
Mao Huizhu had just nodded when she was bumped by someone passing by from behind.
Seeing this, Mao Zhishan simply picked her up, then lowered his head skillfully and let her ride on his shoulders.
"That's good. Don't worry." Mao Zhishan smiled at Xia Wenyue, "It's okay."
Xia Wenyue looked at her little daughter's doting smile and left with Mao Huimei.
Mao Huizhu happily hugged Mao Zhishan's head and exclaimed, "Haha, Dad, there are so many people!"
Mao Zhishan smiled and carried her forward.
Chenchen looked at the scene in amazement. He had never enjoyed that kind of treatment before. He subconsciously glanced at Huo Xuewen, and finally just stretched out his hand and said, "Dad, hug me."
He seemed to know very well that Huo Xuewen would not hold him up like that.
Huo Xuewen had been paying attention to Chenchen's expression. He felt sad when he saw this, for the child and for himself.
He lifted him up like Mao Zhishan did, and somewhat clumsily placed him on his shoulders, "Our Chenchen can ride on Daddy too."
Chenchen was surprised for a moment, but immediately became happy when he realized what was happening, "Dad, it's so tall!"
Huo Xuewen grabbed his little feet with a smile on his face, "Sit still and be careful."
So Chenchen also hugged Huo Xuewen's head like Mao Huizhu did.
Xiao Feng just looked up at them, then turned her head to look at Xia Mian who was dressed beautifully. She was sensible and said nothing, but just held her aunt's hand tightly.
But Xia Mian couldn't agree. To her, her baby must have what other babies have.
"Come!" Xia Mian lifted the child up by his armpits and onto her shoulders, but she was not very familiar with this business.
Just when he was about to ask Mao Huilan for help, suddenly a pair of big hands grabbed Xiaofeng's waist and kidnapped the child.
Xia Mian turned around and saw Ning Shaobai also unskillfully placing the child on his shoulders. He then gestured to the two children in front who were excitedly hugging their father's head and said, "Don't worry that he will get excited and pull your wig off."
aestivation:…
The visual was so vivid that even Ning Shaoyun next to him covered her mouth.
Mao Huilan laughed out loud. Seeing Xia Mian glaring at her, Mao Huilan waved her hands and said with a smile, "Sister, I'm sorry, but... when I think of you... Haha."
They were already in the crowd, and Ning Shaobai's words were not only heard by Ning Shaoyun and Mao Huilan.
Feeling the gazes cast towards her from all sides, Xia Mian felt as if her head was on fire. She gritted her teeth in hatred and turned her head away.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Ning Shaobai immediately carried Xiao Feng and ran away.
Xiao Feng occupied a high position and couldn't help but smile.
"Brother Xiaofeng!" Chenchen was also very happy to see Xiaofeng.
"Dad, wait for them." Mao Huizhu pulled Mao Zhishan's ear and gave him an order to brake.
Now the three children were laughing and playing on the same level again.
Noticing that Huo Xuewen kept glancing at him, Ning Shaobai asked, "What's wrong?"
Huo Xuewen glanced at Xiao Feng, hesitated for a moment and said, "Nothing, I just feel like I don't seem to know you very well."
Ning Shaobai grabbed Xiao Feng's ankle to steady his body and said calmly, "You don't even understand Sister Xiao and Chenchen."
Huo Xuewen choked.
He thought Ning Shaobai's attitude towards him had changed on New Year's Eve, but he didn't expect it to be the same as before.
He turned around and looked at Ning Shaoyun who was walking with Xia Mian.
She was the same. If Chenchen hadn't missed his father, Huo Xuewen doubted that he would have been able to enter the Ning family at all.
"Dad?" Chenchen noticed his emotions, "Are you tired?"
"Not tired," Huo Xuewen grabbed his son's feet and encouraged himself, "Dad will do his best."
The child had no idea what his father was talking about. He just happily sat on his shoulders and bounced back and forth, "Come on, come on!"
Xia Mian, Ning Shaoyun and Mao Huilan followed behind arm in arm, and soon they witnessed a blind date that was almost a "scam" style.
Ning Shaoyun looked at Ning Shaobai who was stopped, and couldn't help but stepped forward quickly, "He's already 25 years old after the New Year, and I don't know what kind of girl he likes."
Xia Mian thought that the person he liked might be a boy.
But it didn't stop her from going to watch the fun.
Ning Shaobai over there seemed to want to leave, but there were too many people around, and the girl looked well-behaved and cute, but her behavior was very bold.
She almost stood in front of Ning Shaobai and said with shining eyes, "What a coincidence! I didn't expect that Dr. Ning would also come to the temple fair."
Not only was she bold, but the middle-aged woman standing next to her was also assisting.
The other party looked at Ning Shaobai with the eyes of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and her whole body was full of satisfaction. "So you are Doctor Ning. I heard that you came back from studying abroad?"
"Doctors in your hospital get paid quite a bit, right?"
"The treatment at Yanda Hospital is pretty good. People of your rank will be given a house after they get married..."
The girl said shyly, "Oh, Mom, what are you talking about?"
The look she gave Ning Shaobai was full of affection, as if they were a couple who had already confirmed their relationship.
Her mother glared at her and said, "What's there to be embarrassed about? Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. You keep talking about Doctor Ning at home every day..."
If Xia Mian didn't know Ning Shaobai well, she would have thought that the two of them were talking about marriage just by hearing this.
Ning Shaoyun also frowned. She wanted to see her brother's fun, but she didn't want to see him being embarrassed.
Just as he was about to step forward to help him out, he heard Ning Shaobai say, "Miss, please move aside. You are blocking my way."
The girl was stunned for a moment, tears immediately welled up in her eyes, and she looked abandoned, "You, what did you say?"
Ning Shaobai said impatiently, "You're blocking my way."
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" The girl's mother scolded, "Our Rourou likes you so much..."
Ning Shaobai interrupted her directly, "I'm sorry, our children are in a hurry to play, please let us go."
The mother and daughter were both stunned. Rourou was the first to react and said in disbelief, "Isn't this your relative's child?"
My mother followed up by asking, "Are you married?"
Ning Shaobai glanced at Rourou meaningfully and asked, "Why? It looks like no one wants you."
aestivation:…
I almost forgot that this venomous-tongued lady had 90% of the credit, and the remaining 10% was given to her.
The girl who seemed to be forced to sell herself ran away with her mother with a red face.
Ning Shaobai turned around and looked at Xia Mian and the other two and asked, "Is it lively and interesting?"
Xia Mian quickly applauded, "It's very exciting, especially the last sentence, which is not very hurtful but very insulting, great!"
Ning Shaoyun said, "Xia Mian summarized it very well."
Mao Huilan carefully observed Ning Shaobai's expression and cautiously followed suit, "Good?"
Seeing this, Xiao Feng also clapped her hands and said in a baby voice, "Great."
Ning Shaobai raised his head and touched his belly, saying angrily, "You little heartless guy."
Xiao Feng giggled while holding her stomach.
"Brother Xiaofeng, hurry up!" Chenchen turned around and called out, "There are stilt walkers here!"
Ning Shaobai rushed over with Xiao Feng.
Unexpectedly, Xia Mian also met an acquaintance.
She looked at Sun Yuexin who waved at her excitedly and said, "What a coincidence."
Li Lizhen smiled, "Really? Come with us."
"Let's do it another day," Xia Mian pointed at Ning Shaoyun and the others not far away, "I came out with my family."
"Wow, are all the people in your family so beautiful?"
A tall and sunny boy behind them smiled and said, "Are you the legendary academic fairy? I have heard of you for a long time."
Sun Xinyue smiled and introduced Xia Mian, "This is our boss Zhao Cheng."
Xia Mian greeted, "Hello."
Zhao Cheng showed his big white teeth, "Hello, Xia Mian, right? I've always heard Xinxin and Lizhen talking about you. Their friends are my friends. You can come to me if you have any problems in the future."
Li Lizhen suddenly said, "By the way, be careful about Hao Jian. He has been fawning on the bully in another courtyard recently and is quite arrogant."
Zhao Cheng immediately said, "If he wants to harass you, tell me my name. If he dares to do that, just break off one of his arms."
This is such an adorable second-year student. Xia Mian suppressed her laughter and said, "Thank you very much in advance."
As they were chatting, a sweet voice came from behind, "Gu Zhou, it's Li Lizhen and the others."
Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen's brows frowned almost immediately.
Xia Mian turned around and saw Tian Xueya and Gu Zhou two steps away. They were standing one in front of the other. They didn't look like a young couple on a date. Maybe they just met by chance.
Tian Xueya smiled sweetly and stepped forward to greet Sun Yuexin, Li Lizhen and Zhao Cheng, "What a coincidence, you guys are here to visit the temple fair too?"
Then he turned around and said to Gu Zhou behind him, "Gu Zhou, do you want to join us?"
Xia Mian tilted her head. Why did she sound so provocative
Li Lizhen likes Gu Zhou. She could tell after just the first time they met. How could Tian Xueya not know
No wonder Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen are so annoyed by this girl.
Xia Mian was thinking about it, when Sun Yuexin, who had just looked disgusted, suddenly took Xia Mian's arm and said, "Okay, it's a good opportunity for me to introduce our classmates to you."
She looked at Tian Xueya and said, "Her name is Xia Mian. What do you think? Pretty, right? I think if she came to our school, she would definitely be the campus beauty."
Seeing Gu Zhou's gaze, Li Lizhen smiled proudly, "And she is also very good at studying."
aestivation:…
What good will it bring to you if this silly girl shows off to Gu Zhou
Xia Mian greeted the two of them out of politeness, "Tian Xueya, Gu Zhou, hello."
Gu Zhou seemed to be chatting with him, "Hello." Then he asked, "Which class are you from?"
Tian Xueya was nervous at this moment, and subconsciously stood next to Gu Zhou and said, "Yes, are you going to transfer to our class at the beginning of the school year? Which school did you go to before? Why did you quit studying there?"
She glanced at Sun Yuexin, Li Lizhen and Zhao Cheng meaningfully, as if Xia Mian had not learned well by hanging out with this group of people and had made some mistake and was expelled.
Sun Yuexin was immediately angry, "Tian Xueya, what do you mean?!"
Tian Xueya was so frightened that she shrank to Gu Zhou's side, almost clinging tightly to him. Li Lizhen's expression also changed.
Tian Xueya grabbed Gu Zhou's coat as if seeking protection, and said carefully, "I'm sorry, I'm just a little curious. If it's inconvenient to say, forget it."
It was as if they would suddenly attack people at any time.
Xia Mian was amused by her, "Well, it's really not convenient to say. After all, it involves a criminal case. You will slowly understand it when we become classmates."
"A criminal case?" Tian Xueya's face turned really pale this time, and she looked at Gu Zhou pitifully.
Gu Zhou's attitude also instantly turned cold. He raised his hand to look at his watch and said, "Sorry, we have an appointment. We'll leave first. Bye."
Xia Mian looked at their backs as they left and couldn't help laughing. She originally wanted to say that this school hunk had a low EQ, but seeing that Li Lizhen looked a little sad, she changed her words and said, "This school hunk Gu is quite simple."
"That's right," Li Lizhen said, "He was fooled by Tian Xueya. He is such a fool."
Sun Yuexin's focus was elsewhere. "What are you talking about? What criminal case? Didn't you move here from your hometown?"
Xia Mian smiled and said, "Well, I did help the police catch one before I moved in. Ah! No, they were two perverts. Isn't it a criminal case?" She said mysteriously, "One of them will be sentenced to death."
Zhao Cheng looked at her with shining eyes, "You are so cool, what case is it?"
Xia Mian looked at Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen who were eager to learn, and said with a smile, "This must be kept secret."
The man nodded in understanding and asked no more questions.
"It's just..." Sun Yuexin said, "Why did you say that to Tian Xueya? She's not a good person. She looks jealous of your beauty. Who knows what she'll say about you after you go to school."
Li Lizhen said, "Yes, when you come to school, it's one thing for those idiots who obey her orders to chatter in your ears, but I'm afraid they will cause trouble for you."
Xia Mian smiled and said, "Don't you still have my protection?"
Zhao Cheng immediately said, "Don't worry, if I really cause you trouble, just tell me my name."
"Don't worry. I'm just worried that she won't tell you," Xia Mian patted Sun Yuexin's shoulder and said, "How could the school easily accept a student with a criminal record? If she dares to spread rumors, she must be jealous."
"Otherwise, why would she want to hurt me like that when I'm just a transfer student and I don't even know her?"
"That's right!" Li Lizhen clapped her hands and said, "Then I'll tear off her fake mask!"
"Not only that," Xia Mian smiled mysteriously, "I have a trick up my sleeve. I promise to make you happy!"
"Really?!" Sun Yuexin asked, "What's the back-up plan?"
"This will be kept secret for now, and we'll know when the time comes," Xia Mian said with a smile, "But I may have to ask you to help, I don't know if you're willing to do so."
Sun Yuexin said, "What are you talking about? I promise I will do anything to save you!"
Xia Mian smiled and said, "Okay, that's what I want you to say!"
She turned around and saw that Xiaofeng and Chenchen had already walked quite far away. She said goodbye and said, "Let's not talk about it for now. See you when school starts."
The group returned home after shopping until they were exhausted. Even the two little ones, Chenchen and Xiaofeng, could not walk anymore and obediently let the adults hold their hands and walk back.
Xia Wenyue and Mao Huimei came back earlier than them. Aunt Wei had already prepared the meal, and everyone gathered together to eat and chat.
The three little ones were fiddling with the various foods and toys they had harvested today on a small table nearby.
Everyone mainly wanted to hear Xia Wenyue’s plans for the new year.
The reason why Xia Wenyue came back late before the New Year was that she had a new idea after inspecting the Chuan Chuan Xiang market there.
"There is a Wang's skewers stall across the street. The taste is exactly the same, and the ingredients are the same. I asked around and found out that
It's run by a family, with five brothers each occupying a street. Because the food tastes good, every stall is very popular."
“Isn’t this a chain?”
"Chain?" Xia Wenyue was puzzled.
"Well." Xia Mian thought for a moment and gave an example, "For example, our Xinsheng Chuanchuanxiang, we make the soup and ingredients uniformly. Anyone in Yan City who wants to make Chuanchuanxiang can come to us to get the goods."
“By then, Xinsheng Chuanchuanxiang’s stalls will be spread all over Yan City.”
Xia Mian tilted his head and said, "But the timing is not right now. The Chuan Chuan Xiang stall will open at 10 o'clock at the latest. Even if we work overnight, we can't prepare so much goods."
"If you prepare it a day in advance, it will go bad easily in the summer without cold storage."
And transportation is also a big problem. There are few cold storages these days, let alone cold chains.
Xia Wenyue understood and couldn't help but say, "You know a lot."
Xia Mian chuckled and said quickly, "I heard it from Doctor Ning. Foreign chains are quite interesting."
Ning Shaobai looked up at her but didn't expose her.
Xia Wenyue didn't think much about it, and just continued, "I didn't think about opening a chain, I just wanted to sell seasonings and ingredients."
"The Wang family's skewers are sold in the morning. When the soup is not enough at noon, they have seasoning packets and soup stock in their car. When they see that the soup is running low, they just add in the soup and continue cooking. It's very convenient."
"There are ingredients. The ingredients there are really rich."
"Especially the fish tofu and fish balls, which are really delicious, but we don't have them in the north, and we can't even get them in stock, so I wondered if we could make them ourselves."
"With this signature food, it will be difficult for other stalls to steal our business."
Xia Wenyue had obviously made a lot of preparations. "We can go to the workshop to consult about the machines and methods. It's not expensive. A total investment of a few thousand yuan is enough."
"Today, Huimei and I went to the food stalls at the temple fair, and we found that fish tofu can be used not only in our skewers stall, but also in hot pot restaurants, barbecue stalls, teppanyaki and the like."
Mao Huimei said, "We sent 10 of them out today. Let them try it first and see if there are any connections."
At this point, Xia Wenyue said, "Yes, Sister Wei. I left my address and your phone number. Please remember to pick me up when the time comes."
"Of course that's fine."
Xia Wenyue has already thought of a plan. "It's just right that the weather is cold, so we can sell pancakes while also selling ingredients like fish tofu, fish balls, and vegetarian sausages."
"When I make some money in the future, I will open a small factory and make soup packets as well."
"After that, just like Xia Mian said, if anyone wants to sell skewers in the future, they can buy from us."
At this point, she gave an example, "In this case, people like Wang Pangma can get the seasonings and ingredients directly from us, and they only need to make some bone soup at home, which not only saves trouble but also reduces costs."
"We make a lot of money."
Xia Mian couldn't help but give Xia Wenyue a thumbs up, "Auntie, you have a great vision. You turned your competitor into your partner."
Xia Wenyue smiled and said, "I learned this on this trip. There was a big boss sitting next to me on the road, and he was very nice."
She sighed, "They say reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. It's true. Let's make more money in the future and take you out for a walk when we have the chance."
Mao Huilan clapped her hands suddenly and said, "Mom, I think your idea of selling seasoning packets is a great idea!"
"There is a classmate from No. 5 Middle School in my cram school. He had eaten our skewers before and always wanted to try them, but unfortunately they don't have any in front of No. 5 Middle School."
"If our seasoning packets can be sold, they can buy them and eat them themselves. We don't have to sell them to people who make food."
Xia Wenyue suddenly realized, "That's right, Huilan's brain works quickly."
"Mom, I think it's feasible." Mao Huimei also said, "My colleague's sister-in-law hasn't paid wages in the factory for more than half a year. They said they might lay off employees this year. It's estimated that many people will be laid off. They are worried."
"She's already thinking about starting a small business, and she's thinking about paying for a master. But here, she doesn't have to pay for a master. She can just set up a small stall and get seasonings and ingredients from us."
"That's right," Aunt Wei said, "Many factories are closed this year, and more and more people are doing business. Your skewers are cheap and easy to make, and most importantly, they make money. In a place as big as Yan City, it's not bad to open more than ten stalls."
…
Everyone talked at once, and the more they spoke, the more they felt that Xia Wenyue's idea was feasible.
Ning Shaobai said, "There is an instant noodle factory outside the Third Ring Road that is about to close down. If you want to run it, you can directly buy it and run it."
"Instant noodle factories have ready-made production lines for making ingredient packets. We can just adjust them and use them directly, which is quite convenient."
Xia Wenyue hesitated for a moment, "It must cost a lot of money to run a factory, right?"
After saying that, he laughed again, "I guess I can't afford it, so I'll start with fish tofu, fish balls, and vegetarian sausages. Once these are cooked, if they sell well, the other ingredients can follow slowly."
Mao Zhishan said, "It doesn't matter if we go and take a look. Even if we can't close it now, we'll have a better idea when we want to do it in the future."
"That's right." Xia Wenyue asked, "Xiaobai, is the instant noodle factory you're talking about the one near the Third Ring Road?"
"Yes." Ning Shaobai said, "In fact, if you are satisfied at that time, you can use the factory as a mortgage loan to the bank, which is enough for you to buy the factory."
Xia Wenyue nodded to show that she understood, but obviously did not take it to heart. Ordinary people simply had no idea about loans.
It depends on the factory, but the preparation of fish tofu and fish balls can be started in advance.
The venue is ready, and there are four or five empty rooms in the back building, so freeing up two of them would be enough.
Just a few days later, Aunt Wei received a call from someone who expressed interest in fish balls and fish tofu and wanted to purchase them.
Before purchasing the machine, Xia Wenyue discussed this matter with Xia Mian alone.
The skewers stall has been set up for four months. Although sales have dropped since the weather turned cold, Xia Mian still received nearly four thousand in dividends based on the commissions.
"Did you raise the money yourself, or did you invest in this machine?"
Xia Wenyue explained to her, "We will not lose money if we only make fish tofu and fish balls. They are really delicious, and we don't have them in the north. If we promote them slowly in the future, we will definitely be able to sell more and more. Even if we don't sell much, we can still sell them slowly at our own stall."
"So Second Aunt suggested that you buy shares. What do you think?"
Since Xia Wenyue had the idea of buying the machine, he must have only considered his own money, and now he was just taking care of her.
"Don't think about it," Xia Mian said with a smile, "I will definitely invest in you. Not only the fish tofu, but also when you open a factory in the future."
She took Xia Wenyue's arm and said, "Aunt, my dream is to be a teacher."
"So, I will have to rely on your dividends to support me and Xiaofeng from now on!"
Xia Wenyue smiled and rubbed her head with her hand, "Teachers should be careful not to teach the children bad things!"
"That's definitely not the case." Xia Mian said proudly, "I'm really good at teaching students."
Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen, who were studying at home, sneezed at the same time due to the stimulation.