Chapter 14: Eat Better

The sky was gray and dim. Gao Chunyan draped a coat over her shoulders and knocked on the neighboring door. Hearing the sound, Lin Xuexia opened it at once. The two exchanged a glance; no further words were needed. They carried their things downstairs and prepared to set out.

The rolling shutter of the grocery shop on the ground floor had not yet been opened. After Gao Chunyan called out twice, the proprietress yawned and opened the small door, allowing Lin Xuexia to carry the things out of the freezer and load them onto the tricycle.

Having benefited from Fu Wei’s careful organization the day before, Lin Xuexia stacked everything in neat order that morning. She sat on the tricycle and held the large pot steady beside her. She had cooked a great deal of plain rice porridge and was afraid it might spill; once they reached the stall, she would have to cook another pot.

Gao Chunyan pedaled briskly away. Along the way, she could not resist looking back at the small building they rented. There were not many people on the street, and one could see all the way to its end. Compared with the high-rises in the distance, whose outlines could barely be made out, the modest three-story building where they lived was utterly ordinary, even somewhat shabby.

But if she could own a house like that, why would she still need to rise before dawn and work until dark every day?

As the thought crossed her mind, Gao Chunyan unconsciously held her breath. Her heart began to pound. On countless mornings in the past, she had set out for her stall with exactly the same fantasy.

But once she calculated the cost of buying land and putting up a building, then thought of her family’s yearly savings, her spirits sank again. She and Old Liu earned more here than they did back home, and managed to save a little more, too. Even if they returned to their hometown to build a house, they would have to grit their teeth and live frugally. Here, on the other hand… their small savings were barely a drop in the bucket.

She did not even dare dream of the splendid, prosperous high-rises in the city. To her, even the landlady’s little three-story house was beyond reach.

By the time Gao Chunyan came back to herself, she had arrived at her stall. A concrete pillar and a canopy made a makeshift stand that could barely shelter them from the wind and rain. This was the place on which she depended for her livelihood.

The gulf between fantasy and reality was simply too vast. She sighed bitterly inside, wondering when these days would ever come to an end. She had not the slightest enthusiasm for life.

She was always quarreling with Liu Xigui about returning to their hometown precisely because she wanted to cut off her fantasies. If she stayed here, she could not help thinking about the city’s prosperity and longing for a house of her own. Then she would think of how she rose before dawn and worked until dark without knowing when she might ever get ahead, and all her motivation would vanish.

They might as well muddle through life like this—taking one day at a time and making do as best they could.

Gao Chunyan mechanically lit the stove and set water to boil. Beside her, however, Lin Xuexia was full of energy. She unfolded the tables, chairs, and stools one by one, wiping each of them down with a cloth. Her plain porridge and cold dishes had already been arranged. Another pot of porridge was simmering on the borrowed stove, filling the air around them with the warm fragrance of rice.

“Xuexia.” Gao Chunyan called her name. She glanced around the stall and realized that ever since Lin Xuexia had arrived, her rice-noodle stand had become far cleaner and tidier. The previous day, after selling all her porridge, Lin Xuexia had chatted with her while wearing gloves and wiping the grime from many of the utensils.

Take the lid of the pot in her hands, for instance. It had once been coated in a layer of dust, and Gao Chunyan had never bothered to clean it. Now that it was spotless, she had to admit it looked rather bright.

Lin Xuexia turned her head. “What is it, Aunt Chunyan?”

“I was just thinking, girl, you’re truly full of energy. Then again, you’re about to start a family, and that young man Wei is quite handsome.” Gao Chunyan teased her a few times. Lin Xuexia’s vitality was infectious, and it made Gao Chunyan feel comfortable as well, sweeping away the gloom in her heart.

Once the surroundings had been cleaned and the environment improved, anyone would feel better.

At the mention of Fu Wei, Lin Xuexia remembered what he had done the day before and muttered, “He only looks decent on the outside.”

Gao Chunyan pressed her lips together to hide a smile. Whenever Lin Xuexia spoke of Fu Wei, there was irritation in her voice, but the affection in her eyes was impossible to conceal. Could Gao Chunyan really fail to tell whether the girl had feelings for him?

Her rice-noodle stall looked better not only because the surroundings had changed, but also because it now had such a beautiful young woman beside it. Even dressed in the plainest clothes, Lin Xuexia had drawn more than one compliment the previous day. People had called her fresh and lovely, then asked whether she had a sweetheart.

When they heard that she did, they were all deeply disappointed.

“When you first came to rent a room that day, the landlady even told me to keep an eye on you and be careful. It seems she was worrying for nothing.” Gao Chunyan began gossiping about the landlady, Chen Miaorong.

Lin Xuexia asked curiously, “Why?”

“She said you looked like a pretty young girl who had come here from elsewhere to seek refuge with someone. She was afraid that if our Old Liu ever made a fortune, you might steal my man.” Gao Chunyan found the whole thing hilarious. “That’s exactly what happened to the landlady’s own husband.”

“Her husband struck it rich and became wealthy. He built this house, then got involved with a younger woman. When they divorced, he left her this building.” Gao Chunyan curled her lips. “If our Uncle Liu ever really made it big and got me a building like this to rent out, then I wouldn’t care whether the marriage ended or not. I’d only want the building and the children.”

She did not take Chen Miaorong’s words to heart in the slightest. “The landlady used to tell me all the time that a man didn’t need to be too rich, because money would make him go bad. She even said she envied me, that my husband and I lived such a plain and peaceful life—”

At that, Gao Chunyan rolled her eyes. “What a thing to say when she doesn’t have to suffer for it. Why doesn’t she rise before dawn and work until dark at a stall like me? Then she could let me enjoy a life of collecting rent while lying around.”

“Let her come live this so-called ‘poor but cozy’ life.” Gao Chunyan was seething inside. The landlady collected five or six hundred yuan in rent every month, just from the two little shops below, and the rent went up every year. That meant she did nothing at all yet earned the equivalent of two people’s wages each month.

For Gao Chunyan to struggle her way to that point would take at least ten years. Who knew what the world would look like a decade from now? Unless a fortune suddenly fell from the sky, or Old Liu truly struck it rich by some stroke of luck.

With the landlady’s example constantly before her, Gao Chunyan had never been able to keep her emotions balanced. She dreamed of that kind of leisurely life and therefore did not care all that much about the rice-noodle stall.

Still, business at the stall had seemed much better the day before. She had earned more than usual, though she had no idea how long it would last.

Gao Chunyan did not dare hope for too much. In the beginning, she had also devoted herself wholeheartedly to the rice-noodle stall, and there had been a few busy days. But before long, business had thinned out. Whenever you ran a good business, someone else would come along and imitate you, ruining your trade and leaving you constantly anxious. In the end, she had grown too tired to compete. She simply kept the stall open without striving too hard, and somehow that steady trickle of income gave her a more comfortable life.

Selling rice noodles was still better than running the clothing stall next door. At least it was a skill. In the late 1980s, things were no longer as they had been before. Everyone had once lacked clothes, but if you bought the wrong styles, you might not be able to sell them at all. Her rice-noodle business could be slow without losing much money. Unsold clothes, however, meant a huge loss from tied-up inventory.

“Aunt Chunyan, one day we’ll be able to live well too.” Lin Xuexia smiled as she thought of the future she would build once she had saved enough money to put up a house. Her heart surged with excitement.

Just then, someone came to buy porridge. It was a returning customer from the day before—a woman in her forties or fifties, with shoulder-length hair and a round face.

“I’d like two servings of plain porridge.”

Lin Xuexia ladled out two portions. The round-faced woman took a pair of chopsticks and frantically piled food into the dishes. Lin Xuexia said nothing, letting her fill them however she wished.

Once the dishes were packed full, the middle-aged woman left contentedly, convinced she had gotten a bargain. She would eat one portion with steamed buns that morning alongside her husband, then stir-fry a small dish at noon and serve it with the cold vegetables. It would save her a great deal of trouble.

Her cooking was poor, and her husband was no better. The two of them simply made do with whatever they had, only occasionally daring to eat at a restaurant as a treat.

Lin Xuexia’s cold dishes were genuinely delicious with the porridge. They were a little too salty to eat by themselves, but excellent with rice or porridge. Besides, there were so many varieties that one would not grow tired of them easily.

After the woman left, Gao Chunyan could not stand it anymore. “She stuffed in far too much. You didn’t even say anything.”

Lin Xuexia smiled. “It’s fine.”

That was how business worked. When it was time to be generous, one had to be generous. Quibbling over such petty gains only trapped a person in narrow-minded calculations and kept the business from growing.

“You certainly have a broad heart. I’m the one who gets angry just watching.” Gao Chunyan patted her chest.

“Two bowls of rice noodles.”

“One serving of porridge, packed to go.”

And so it went.

Business at the stall remained good that day. Lin Xuexia’s porridge sold well, while customers continued streaming to Gao Chunyan’s rice-noodle stand. That was simply how food businesses worked. When two stalls stood next to each other, their business was usually about equal. If one happened to attract a customer first, it was easier for the other to draw customers as well. Passersby, seeing a crowd, instinctively chose the stall with more people.

Someone who had originally planned to buy rice noodles might see the number of people buying porridge and think that, at only fifty cents a serving, it was worth trying once. Someone who had intended to buy porridge might smell the enticing fragrance of rice noodles and decide that a bowl would be nice now, while they could come back for porridge at noon.

“You’ve got quite a crowd today.” The man selling fruit nearby came over when he noticed that Gao Chunyan’s stall was busier than usual.

He and his wife ran the fruit stall together, taking turns watching it. Gao Chunyan’s business was rarely this good, so with sales suddenly picking up, she ought to be earning more than before.

“Not too bad.”

“Little sister, how many servings of porridge can you sell in a day? A hundred bowls?”

Lin Xuexia answered vaguely, “About that.”

The fruit seller looked over the things on her table. His eyes shifted as he considered something, but he said nothing and walked away.

Once most of the porridge had been sold, Lin Xuexia also sold several bowls of flower clam noodles. She estimated that she would earn fifty or sixty yuan that day.

Gao Chunyan calculated silently. “Even if business drops by half later, you’ll still be able to establish yourself with this.”

Earning ten or twenty yuan a day would be enough to get by, as long as nothing unexpected happened.

“If business stays this good for a few days, people will come and imitate you,” Gao Chunyan warned. “Don’t spend all the money you’re making now. Save some. If someone starts selling the same things as you, you won’t be earning nearly as much as you are now.”

“Mm.” Lin Xuexia nodded.

In truth, she was not worried in the slightest. She never intended to make selling porridge her main occupation. It was merely the simplest and most convenient option; she had plenty of other ideas.

Once she had accumulated enough money, she would pay someone to look after the stall for her.

Lin Xuexia counted five yuan from her coin purse and handed it to Gao Chunyan. Gao Chunyan hurriedly waved it away. “What are you doing?”

“Aunt Chunyan, this is my stall fee. From now on, I’ll give you five yuan every day.”

After her initial surprise, Gao Chunyan quickly refused. “How could I accept that? Take it back, take it back.”

“Auntie, that’s what we agreed on before. Just keep it.” Lin Xuexia did not yet have the means to rent a stall in this area. Even if she could afford one, she would never find a location as good as this. In truth, she was still taking advantage of Gao Chunyan.

Besides, Gao Chunyan had helped her in her previous life, and Lin Xuexia was genuinely grateful to her.

“Even if we split it evenly, three-fifty would be enough,” Gao Chunyan said.

“But we can’t split it evenly. You’ve helped me so much, Auntie. I’d be ashamed to take advantage of you again.” Lin Xuexia pressed the money into her hand.

After a brief tug-of-war, Gao Chunyan accepted it with delight.

The more Gao Chunyan looked at Lin Xuexia, the more pleased she became. Looking at her own rice-noodle stall, she felt better than ever. In the past, whether the wind blew or rain fell, she had to pay roughly seven yuan in stall rent every day. When the weather was good, business was a little better. But whenever typhoons brought days of torrential rain, she was simply throwing money away.

With Lin Xuexia helping her shoulder five yuan of the cost, her daily rent had suddenly fallen to two yuan. Gao Chunyan calculated it in her head and instantly felt invigorated.

It was as if the burden on her body had vanished in an instant. The daily rent had always hung over her like a sword. If she did not open the stall, she lost money. Sometimes, even when she felt ill, she had to grit her teeth and leave the house. It broke her heart. If the weather remained terrible for an entire week, she would not only fail to earn anything but might lose dozens of yuan. Just thinking about it made her miserable.

Now, however, staying home meant losing only two yuan. Suddenly, that seemed entirely bearable.

More than anyone, Gao Chunyan now hoped that Lin Xuexia’s business would grow. The girl was practically dearer to her than her own daughter.

Lin Xuexia borrowed her tricycle, and Gao Chunyan was extremely generous, letting her use it whenever she pleased. She even helped watch the stall and collect the money from the porridge sales.

“You go on. I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”

Lin Xuexia climbed onto the tricycle and prepared to buy meat and vegetables. Fu Wei had said the day before that he would bring people to deliver some furniture for her. She could not accept everything from him without offering anything in return; at the very least, she ought to prepare some food and drink to entertain them.

Now that she had finally begun earning money, she wanted to eat a little better too and improve her life.