CHAPTER 139: CHAPTER 139: KNOWING GRATITUDE

Zhao Xiaohong saw someone, and immediately asked for help: "Master, I’m running out of oysters and river shrimp, can you help me buy some?"

Without a word, Lin Qin rode off on her bicycle.

The seafood wholesale shop wasn’t far from there, and there were still people in the shop. As soon as she arrived, she explained the situation to Lin Shaojun.

Lin Shaojun immediately took out six bags of oysters, "These are six pounds, is that enough? There are also eight pounds of river shrimp, which were originally for Guoxing Restaurant, but you can take them first. I’ll let Brother Wenjun know later."

Lin Qin nodded, "Then pack it all up for me and just put it on the tab for now."

When the goods were delivered to Zhao Xiaohong, she quickly took up a bucket to borrow some water. Luckily, she had brought along flour and sweet potato starch,

Lin Qin watched the stall for her while she went to the side to prepare the mix.

After a bout of hurriedness, she finally got the batter mixed.

She started frying shrimp cakes and oyster cakes, and the aroma wafted far, increasingly attracting customers to the stall.

Lin Qin had promised to help, and she wasn’t one to leave halfway. She stayed on until after 3 PM.

Everything was sold out.

Lin Qin asked, "How are you going back now? Should we call a tricycle to load your things?"

Zhao Xiaohong said awkwardly, "My second brother rides a tricycle, so I’ll wait and see if he comes here to take me back. If not, I’ll wait a little while until he comes to pick me up around five."

Lin Qin looked at the sky, slightly twitching her mouth, "You’ll have to wait for a long time if that’s the case. Let me go to the seafood shop and have Shaoyun ride an electric tricycle over to help you. Our family has an unused cart that you can borrow for your stall, just come find me at Nanxi later."

"Master, you’ve helped me so much, I don’t even know how to thank you!" Zhao Xiaohong said, tearfully.

Lin Qin nonchalantly said, "You’ve called me Master; what’s wrong with me giving you a hand? No need for formalities!"

After Lin Qin left, Zhao Xiaohong hurriedly tidied up her things.

Soon, Lin Shaojun arrived, and with his help, Zhao Xiaohong’s problem was solved easily. The electric tricycle was effortless and fast, reaching her place in the blink of an eye.

Lin Shaojun took a look at the cramped and narrow rental room before asking a few more questions to roughly understand Zhao Xiaohong’s situation.

Because she made some money, Zhao Xiaohong immediately paid Lin Shaojun for the oysters and river shrimp.

After Lin Shaojun left, she first calculated today’s earnings and carefully noted the numbers on paper. Not knowing many characters, only she could understand her records.

After a detailed calculation, she found out she made over fifteen yuan in one day, her heart pounding with excitement.

She quickly hid the money, then took some with her to go to Nanxi to rent a cart from Lin Qin.

At her insistence, Lin Qin accepted three yuan and rented the cart to her for six days.

In the evening, Zhao Xiaohong’s brothers and sisters came back from work. When they heard she made over fifteen yuan in a day from the stall, they were all stunned.

It wasn’t until they saw the money with their own eyes and heard Zhao Xiaohong vividly recount the day’s events that they slowly accepted the reality.

Zhao Weiguo was overjoyed, "Little sister, you’re luckier than us, having someone to help you. Work hard and save up for your dowry first."

Zhao Xiaohong suddenly stopped smiling, gritting her teeth, "Big brother, why don’t you all join me in setting up a stall too? If I can make fifteen yuan a day, that’s several hundred a month!"

Zhao Weijia laughed, "Do you think it’s so easy to make money at a stall? It’s just because of the National Day period; otherwise, you wouldn’t earn this much at other times. Plus, you can’t set up a stall in windy or rainy weather. At the end of the year, you might not earn as much as working for someone else. Don’t get carried away, leaving a good job at the daycare to set up a stall!"

Zhao Xiaoqing nodded repeatedly, "Second brother is right, you must not quit the daycare job."

That job is the most respectable among the four siblings with a high salary, really hard to find. Besides, they owed favors to relatives, they can’t just quit.

Zhao Xiaohong nodded repeatedly, "Don’t worry, I’ll definitely do my job well. I just want to balance it; the daycare’s afternoon snack schedule is at three, and I usually get off around 3:30. I can set up a stall then, close around seven in the evening, and can make some money in two hours at the city center. Also in the morning, I start work at 7:30, so setting up a stall around five and closing after seven, or having the third sister take over.

She starts work at ten, so she can run the stall until 9:30 and keep the earnings herself. Isn’t that good?"

Zhao Xiaoqing and the others looked at each other, and after a while, Zhao Weiguo nodded, "If you can balance it, I have no objections."

Zhao Weijia also agreed, "In that case, I’ll go pick you up at night for safety."

Zhao Xiaoqing had no objections either.

With the National Day ongoing, Zhao Xiaohong ran her stall alone, and Zhao Xiaoqing helped for a while in the morning. Witnessing the booming business firsthand, she had a different view of making money from the stall.

Within the short seven days of National Day, Zhao Xiaohong earned over a hundred, boosting everyone’s confidence.

But after the National Day, business was noticeably slower.

Zhao Xiaohong thought about it and decided to set up a stall at the vegetable market in the morning and at Friendship Square in the evening.

Switching places made business boom again, averaging over two yuan in the morning by herself, and with Zhao Xiaoqing setting up for longer, coinciding with others going to work, she often made three yuan.

An evening stall averaged another three yuan a day.

At the end of the month, Zhao Xiaohong could earn an additional 160 yuan or so, without delaying her daycare job.

Zhao Xiaoqing also saved an extra eighty or ninety yuan, which was not a small sum for her.

Seeing Zhao Xiaohong making money from the stall while not neglecting her main job, and still caring for the children’s food with dedication, Lin Qin nodded silently, reassured to attend her classes.

Before long, it was winter break.

Teacher Su had already prepared a pile of materials for Lin Qin and said solemnly, "You’ve been taking classes for two years now, your foundation is solid. Don’t slack off during this winter break. Finish all these papers, and I’ll grade them when the school starts. Be sure to pass the college entrance exam next year!"

With determined eyes, Lin Qin nodded, "Teacher Su, I won’t let you down."

After Teacher Su left with satisfaction, Lin Qin’s shoulders slumped, she immediately packed up, went to the daycare to pick up the kids, and passed by Sister Fang’s workstation.

Sister Fang called her over, "Young lady, wait a moment, I have something for you."

"What is it?" Lin Qin approached curiously and found that Sister Fang was giving her two sets of baby clothes, immediately shaking her head to refuse, "Why did you go to such trouble?"

Sister Fang playfully scolded, "Don’t think I don’t know about you helping Xiaohong with her stall! Those kids are really filial and sensible. As soon as they made money, they eagerly came to pay back and bought me a lot of things, saying it’s for taking care of them.

I felt so guilty, but seeing their lives improve makes me happy too. Now that it’s the holiday, we won’t see each other until next year. This is a little token from me, and I’ll be unhappy if you don’t accept it!"