CHAPTER 169: 168: COMPETITION (SECOND UPDATE) VOTE FOR MONTHLY TICKET

Today is the second day of selling vegetable buns. When Zhao Guodong and his group arrived, they found that several other families were there as well, and Ye Ling had come along too. Recognizing them as families from the village, those families only nodded and smiled in greeting to Ye Ling, looking a bit embarrassed, so they didn’t say much more.

Zhao Guodong was a bit anxious. Several families had shown up, and he wasn’t sure if they could outperform them. Just when they planned to wait in the duty room next to the small station, they found the door locked. Zhao Guodong looked at Zhang Linong, intending to ask what was going on, but Ye Ling called them over.

"It must be because we made money last time. Today, they’re not as polite anymore. That’s how people are. Forget it, let’s just stand outside for a while." Ye Ling was glad she had told them to wear their heavy coats when they came out.

The boys’ coats were military coats that their fathers had exchanged from the army, so they were especially warm. The cotton-padded jacket Ye Ling wore was made by her grandmother before she passed away. It was made oversized, and Ye Ling was thin back then too. Although she had grown taller now, she was still slender, so wearing it still seemed a bit loose. Ye Ling wore layers of clothes inside to keep warm.

Since they couldn’t stay in the duty room, the vegetable buns in the basket would get cold quickly. The group stood around the basket, chatting about school, switching from one topic to another. It was lively to talk about. When they saw the train approaching from afar, they got excited again.

Meanwhile, the other few families were getting impatient. As soon as they saw the train coming, they rushed to the platform, shouting, "Queue up, queue up, don’t push."

It was clearly meant for Zhao Guodong and his group who were running over from the back.

Ye Ling glanced over and didn’t pay any attention to it.

Zhao Guodong didn’t care about it either, "What queue? We’re not getting on the train. Whoever can sell their stuff has the skills. It takes just a few minutes, and you want us to wait until you’ve sold everything before queuing. I’ve never heard of such a thing."

Zhao Guodong directly pulled the basket to the front of the platform, not lining up behind the villagers. The villagers, who had been made embarrassed by the comment, looked elsewhere, pretending not to hear it, but feeling guilty. They intended to sell first, thinking the kids would be easy to handle. They didn’t expect to be called out directly and felt embarrassed.

Still, they were a bit upset. Quietly, they held a grudge. An outsider was competing with the villagers, and that Ye Family girl was really unreasonable.

They had heard that yesterday the Ye Family girl sold all her vegetable buns and made quite a bit, which stirred the villagers’ hearts. Some families were too embarrassed to do it right away, but a few didn’t care about that and simply followed suit, making vegetable buns to sell today.

Now, with the train about to stop, they were all prepared and waiting for the train to arrive to start selling their vegetable buns. Ye Ling, however, knew that with so many people today, it wouldn’t be easy to sell on the train. Before the train stopped, she called Zhao Guodong and the others over to discuss.

"Let’s put two vegetable buns together today. This way, it’s easier to grab. Let’s not take the basket on board. Each of us will carry some vegetable buns and go up directly. This way, it’s convenient and doesn’t delay us picking buns from the basket while being crowded. See how many each person can carry and just take that many." Ye Ling explained her idea.

Zhao Guodong also thought it was a good idea. When the train stopped, the other villagers were already on board. Only then did Ye Ling and Zhao Guodong take the vegetable buns and board the train. When Ye Ling saw the train attendant, she handed over two buns.

The attendant didn’t want them, but Ye Ling was persuasive, avoiding any trouble with the attendant and making them feel it was reasonable to accept the buns. The buns from the villagers who got on first were made of cornmeal. At first, the passengers on the train didn’t hesitate to consider them. But when Ye Ling and the others brought out the mixed-flour vegetable buns, everyone naturally bought the mixed-flour ones. White flour was expensive, and families only had it during New Year. But the vegetable buns had white flour, which was rare, so everyone scrambled for the mixed-flour buns. As a result, when getting off the train, the buns Ye Ling and her group brought were all sold out. They had made just enough, and those who couldn’t get mixed-flour buns only bought cornmeal ones, which were cheaper than Ye Ling’s buns and didn’t sell as well, leaving some unsold.

As they got off the train, the other villagers did not look pleased, but they knew it wasn’t Ye Ling’s fault. They blamed the situation on Ye Ling insisting on making mixed-flour buns, which affected their sales. So when they passed by Ye Ling, they didn’t show a good face.

Zhao Guodong was smug, "Hmph, went up to sell first and couldn’t even sell, then blame others? If you’re going to blame, blame your own vegetable buns for not being good."

"Alright, let’s go back." There was no need to revel in short-term victories.

Ye Ling spoke up, and Zhao Guodong didn’t say more. When they got home, Ye Ling counted the money earned from yesterday and today, totaling twenty-five yuan. "Let’s use this to buy materials and some New Year’s food tomorrow. Before we go home, we can pool the money and then share it."

"No need to give us any, just keep it. We’re just helping you out. Besides, eating this every day doesn’t even cover the cost." Zhao Guodong didn’t care about this.

He didn’t want to share Ye Ling’s money either. In his heart, he felt that only money earned by himself gave him confidence.

"Let’s not talk about this now. Let’s head back. Sales are good today, so we’ll go to town tomorrow to buy more supplies. We’ll just run until the second of February, then head back to the city since school starts soon." Ye Ling was full of energy.

Wang Ping and the others were also happy, and started chatting with Zhao Guodong. Zhang Linong, however, was very quiet and just smiled along. When they got home and planned to go to town the next day, they decided to eat two meals during the winter. Ye Ling prepared the meal early, served the noodles, and while eating, she thought that too much of the same thing can be tiring. Tomorrow they should buy some rice in town.

After eating, with nothing much to do, Ye Ling took out the books she brought and called them over to read. Zhao Guodong lay on the kang and went to sleep. Wang Ping turned a few pages and also fell asleep, leaving only Zhang Linong and Ye Ling awake.

"Do you think the villagers will actually cause trouble?" Watching Dongzi sleep, Zhang Linong asked Ye Ling softly.

Ye Ling looked up from her book, "It’s hard to say. But better safe than sorry. Tomorrow we’ll go to town, and let’s leave two people at home to keep watch." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read it on m.qidian.com.)