Chapter 38: First Update

After making her phone call at the landlady’s place, Lin Xuexia rushed back to her stall around four or five in the afternoon to start preparing for the evening dinner rush. Thanks to Fu Wei, who had promptly managed to get a freezer installed in her home, she no longer had to worry about it being conspicuous or getting stolen; she could now confidently purchase much larger quantities of meat.

The braised pork and char siu she had prepared earlier were mostly sold out by noon. Now, she had enough supply to last through the evening, with over a hundred more portions ready to be sold.

For every lunchbox sold, she made a profit of about sixty to seventy cents. If a customer added some braised side dishes, the earnings were even higher. Lin Xuexia did a rough calculation: she could earn twenty to thirty, maybe forty yuan in the morning. At noon and in the evening, she could sell about three to four hundred portions. Her daily net profit hovered between two hundred and four hundred yuan, depending on the day.

Her revenue today was three hundred and eighty-six yuan, nearly four hundred. With another one or two hundred expected for the evening, she had just over eight hundred yuan in her hands. This meant that if the braised pork rice sold well tonight, her total savings would exceed one thousand yuan!

In less than half a month—just ten days of hard work—her savings had grown from the initial one hundred yuan to one thousand! The thought of her wealth crossing the four-digit threshold made her heart pound.

Admittedly, while a thousand yuan sounded like a lot, it wasn’t considered a fortune in this city. It wasn't even enough to buy a single square meter of commercial housing. Occasionally, business owners would swagger down the street holding "Big Brother" mobile phones that looked like bricks, drawing envious stares—those gadgets cost ten or twenty thousand yuan. Installing a landline at home cost at least one or two thousand, not to mention the color televisions that ran for three or four thousand.

Still, holding a thousand yuan was a cause for celebration. Her grandmother’s total life savings amounted to only a thousand yuan. If her grandmother and her uncle’s family knew she had earned that much in less than half a month—while only paying them three yuan in maintenance fees—they would be absolutely livid.

"Little Boss, you're back?" Zhao Huiru greeted her with a bright smile as she arrived at the stall.

Zhao Huiru had been looking radiant these past two days. Having a job to do made her feel revitalized and full of energy. Seeing the high foot traffic at the stall—proof that their food was well-liked—made her feel a sense of pride. Lin Xuexia had already raised her daily wage to five yuan.

"Let’s get ready. Once it hits five o'clock, the crowds will start coming from work," Lin Xuexia said with a smile. In this era, most workplaces ended at five. Between five and six, the streets were packed with people who would stop to buy groceries or window-shop before heading home. Many offices were lax; if things were quiet, people would leave as early as 4:50 PM.

Because there were several schools nearby, many teachers or parents picking up their children would stop by to buy a meal when they saw the long queues.

Zhao Huiru’s son, Zhou Shengyong, came by with his young son to buy two portions. Zhao Huiru beamed as she introduced them to Lin Xuexia: "This is my son and my grandson. No need to charge us for the food, Boss. Just deduct it from my wages today."

With her five-yuan daily wage, she could afford it.

Lin Xuexia laughed. "Sure thing. Give them an extra serving of meat. I won't charge you for that part; just take it at cost."

"Thank you, Boss!"

Zhao Huiru piled the meat high into the two containers, drawing envious looks from the surrounding customers. Those who knew her remarked, "Sister Zhao, you’ve found a great job! Your family won't have to worry about eating meat anymore."

Zhao Huiru felt incredibly satisfied. "You bet!"

Zhou Shengyong bought the food and left instead of eating there. Before he walked away, he couldn't help but look back several times at the long line forming at the stall, the aroma of braised meat lingering in the air. He had wanted to observe more, but his stomach was growling, so he hurried home to eat. Even his son in his arms was tempted by the scent.

Once they were home and eating, his mind began to clear. He and his wife also ran a business at the farmers' market. Their income wasn't bad—better than many, and far better than people back in his hometown—but buying a house remained a distant dream. As self-employed individuals, they didn't have the luxury of company-provided housing like those with state jobs; they had to pay rent and expensive stall fees.

Previously, when his mother, Zhao Huiru, started working at the food stall, he hadn't thought much of it. But hearing from her that her boss’s business was so good—selling hundreds of portions of rice and making so much money—he started to wonder.

Zhou Shengyong didn't know the exact costs or recipes, but he could estimate. He guessed that Lin Xuexia was making a significant daily profit. If this kept up, she could earn thousands a month. If she saved three or four thousand, she could buy a house in three or four years, assuming prices didn't skyrocket.

Zhou Shengyong usually sold dry goods, and there were several others doing the same around him; his income wasn't particularly outstanding. On bad days, the big sales went to others. His wife sold fabric and yarn on the second floor and earned more than him, which made him feel a bit insecure. He had been drifting along, settling for "good enough," but now he saw an opportunity.

If he could sell braised pork rice, wouldn't it be better for his mother to help their own family business? Her boss made hundreds, yet his mother only earned a few yuan a day—that was a huge loss. If only his mother could learn the recipe...

Zhou Shengyong’s mind raced. He decided to discuss it with his mother when she returned.

By six o'clock, most of the food was sold. With the stall’s lights flickering on, Lin Xuexia’s total earnings had officially crossed the one-thousand-yuan mark. She entrusted the stall to Gao Chunyan and Zhao Huiru and left with Fu Wei, who had come to pick her up to go buy clothes. He had bragged yesterday that he would buy her a dozen outfits.

Fu Wei was riding his motorcycle as usual. He wore light blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a slightly darker blue denim jacket. On his belt, alongside a large ring of keys, was a black pager.

Lin Xuexia knew the motorcycle was rented—or rather, it had once belonged to Fu Wei. He had sold it to a local business owner to pay off debts. But the buyer was a bit timid and found the bike too fast, feeling safer on a bicycle, so it sat idle until Fu Wei rented it back.

Is this what the world of men is like? Lin Xuexia wondered. She would eventually meet wealthy bosses who bought cars worth hundreds of thousands only to let them gather dust in garages because they were too afraid to drive them and too stingy to let a driver take them out.

Fu Wei didn't have enough money to buy a new bike yet, so he rented this one; it was certainly more convenient than a bicycle. Lin Xuexia glanced at the pager on his belt, curious if that was rented too. Was that even possible? If so, she wanted one.

Fu Wei noticed her gaze and the corner of his mouth curled up. He unclipped the pager and placed it in her palm. "It's a pager. If you want to reach me, you can use a landline to send me a message..."

He explained how it worked—essentially a portable mailbox that could only receive text messages. To send a message, one had to call a paging station from a landline, which would then transmit the text to the recipient's pager.

Compared to the clunky, ten-thousand-yuan "Big Brother" phones, a pager that could receive messages on the go cost only two or three thousand yuan. It was cost-effective and had become increasingly popular in the last few years.

Fu Wei had been taking on many odd jobs lately and was constantly on the move, so he needed it to stay reachable. If money hadn't been tight, he would have gotten one for Lin Xuexia too, but he was afraid she wouldn't want it. Besides, he figured she didn't really need one yet. Still, it would be wonderful if he could pique her interest.

For example, if she sent him a message at noon saying, "I miss you, your loving Xuexia."

*Cough, cough.* That wasn't a line Fu Wei could come up with; it was his buddy Zhong Xiangdong, who, upon seeing the pager, had rambled on about romantic fantasies—buying one for his beloved, sending sweet messages morning, noon, and night. Fu Wei had initially thought, *If you have that much energy, why not just call each other on the phone?*

But if it were Lin Xuexia sending him messages every day saying she missed him... Fu Wei looked up at the sky and thought, *Damn, that’s actually a great idea.*

*Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang,* he thought. His buddy Zhong Xiangdong was actually useful for something—a real "dog-headed strategist."

"Wifey, hop on. You can play with it while we ride," Fu Wei said generously, letting his wife fiddle with the little black machine however she liked.

Lin Xuexia sat behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist and leaning against his back, while her other hand gripped the pager. "Is it new? Did you buy it?"

Fu Wei gave a soft "Mm."

Lin Xuexia closed her eyes, fighting the urge to pinch his waist. Compared to this new pager, her one thousand yuan didn't seem like much—at least, a thousand yuan couldn't buy a brand-new pager. Aside from envy and jealousy, she felt... well, more envy and jealousy.

However, she didn't really need one for her work yet. Would she just message Fu Wei all day? It would be convenient, but not strictly necessary. In a few years, mobile phones would be even more useful, and pagers would be obsolete after their short run in the nineties.

*I will earn more than Fu Wei one day!* Lin Xuexia resolved silently.

In her past life, Fu Wei had earned more than her. But in this life, she was reborn with a healthy body, abundant energy, and knowledge of the future. She didn't have to surpass him immediately, but at the very least, she would be his equal.

"Wifey, do you like it? Want to buy one later?"

Lin Xuexia leaned against Fu Wei, her forehead resting on his back. Suddenly, earning a thousand yuan didn't feel so exciting; there were just too many things to spend money on. If she bought a pager, wouldn't she then need to save for a mobile phone? And then there were color TVs, washing machines, refrigerators... and she still wanted to build a house!

*Keep going, work hard!*

Lin Xuexia: "I'll work hard to buy one in the future. I have one thousand yuan in total today."

Fu Wei: "Impressive. Then you'll be able to buy one very soon."

Fu Wei now believed in her ability to earn money; she could buy it with her own skills.

Lin Xuexia slanted her eyes. "Buying that isn't my top priority."

Fu Wei chuckled and changed the subject. "This thing is pretty fun. Want to try calling the paging station to send me a message tomorrow?"

Lin Xuexia, caught off guard, agreed immediately. "Sure."

"You don't know how yet. I'll teach you exactly what to send."

Lin Xuexia: "?"