Chapter 900

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

After finishing this phone call to Niu Chunsheng, Wang Erhai felt full of drive.

He felt that with Niu Chunsheng's help, the New Era Restaurant would definitely be revived!

So he immediately went to tell his mother Li Xiulan:

"Mom, how about we raise more chickens!"

Li Xiulan smiled broadly:

"Good, good, even if you didn't say it I'd raise more chickens. Your eldest sister-in-law is pregnant, and later during confinement she'll need to drink chicken soup every day so her milk supply will be sufficient!"

Wang Erhai then said:

"Mom, I want to use the chickens you raise as ingredients for the New Era Restaurant! Once you've raised them well, I'll come purchase them, paying you at the price of farm free-range chickens!"

Li Xiulan however said:

"Silly child, I don't need you to give me money. Raising chickens is so simple — I just casually feed them leftover rice and dishes, feed them old corn, and they're raised just fine. It doesn't cost money!"

Wang Erhai hurriedly said:

"Deal, deal. The chickens my restaurant needs aren't just one or two — over a year, it could be at least several hundred, even over a thousand!"

Li Xiulan laughed heartily:

"If your business can really get that good, I'll be laughing in my sleep!"

Wang Erhai then said:

"How about this — tomorrow happens to be market day. Let's go to town together and buy some chicks to bring back. We'll start raising chickens from tomorrow!"

Wang Erhai has many shortcomings, but he has one virtue: once he sets his mind on something, he always acts on it immediately!

So the next day, bright and early, just as dawn was breaking, he got up, helped his mother make breakfast, watered the vegetable patch, and fed the chickens and ducks.

After the morning chores were done, he then drove, carrying Li Xiulan, and together they headed for the town market.

Arriving at the market, it was only around seven in the morning.

If this were in the city, this hour would still be too early.

But in the rural areas, the villagers all like to go to the early market, so early in the morning there are actually more people, more bustle.

Although this remote small town has suffered severe population loss and has long since lost the vitality of its heyday.

Still, this early market has plenty of people.

A glance down the whole Market Street reveals nothing but a sea of bobbing heads.

It's just that most of these people are old uncles and aunties; young people are rarely seen.

The town's market street is still that same market street — it hasn't changed in over twenty years.

Not only have the street stalls and hardware facilities not changed, even the shoppers are still the same batch of people from twenty years ago.

Only they've long since turned from youths into elders.

Wang Erhai and his mother walked along the bustling street, and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

He didn't know how long it had been since he last came shopping with his mother.

He vaguely remembered that before, his mother was alone at home, raising the three brothers.

She held one by the left hand, one by the right hand, and carried another on her back, coming to the market.

The thing the three brothers looked forward to most as children was being able to come to "Baby Food Street" on market day — even if they didn't buy any snacks, just strolling the street made them happy.

Not to mention, every time Mother would buy some fruit jelly, hawthorn cakes, dried bayberries, and such cheap snacks for the three brothers to eat.

When sugarcane season came, she'd even buy a big bundle of sugarcane to take home.

Back then sugarcane at the market was cheap; in a bumper year, five yuan could buy a big bundle of sugarcane, enough for the three brothers to gnaw on for a whole week.

Passing by the convenience store Niu Chunsheng used to run.

Li Xiulan said to Wang Erhai:

"Let's go in and have a look! Buy some salt — we're out at home."

Wang Erhai nodded.

Together they entered the convenience store.

"Boss, give me a pack of salt!"

Li Xiulan's face wore a simple, honest smile.

"Xiulan, out shopping again, eh."

The store's boss had long since been replaced by someone else.

This is a middle-aged boss named Lin Guofu. He is Lin Dajun's younger brother, and also Lin Xiaofang's uncle.

When Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang went to the county town to develop, they handed this convenience store over to Lin Guofu to manage.

Lin Guofu has guarded this shop ever since, earning a steady living rain or shine, living quite comfortably.

So when facing customers, he's always cheerful, smiling simply and broadly, unable to close his mouth.

This attitude of his has won many repeat customers.

Li Xiulan is all the more a long-standing repeat customer.

"Yeah, planning to buy some chicks to take back."

"Is this your son?"

Lin Guofu took out a pack of salt, handed it to Li Xiulan, and asked this one sentence.

"Yeah, my second son. Now he's not only a Village Cadre, but also the Boss of the New Era Restaurant in Town!"

Li Xiulan laughed, bringing up her Second Brother's status, her face wearing pride and a smile.

Lin Guofu immediately laughed and praised:

"Wow, your son is really impressive, so Promising! Unlike my son, he can only Go Out to work, and even working he can't figure it out, not a penny saved all year!"

Li Xiulan laughed and said:

"You have this Convenience Store, no need to panic, children and grandchildren have their own blessings! If it really doesn't work, let him come back to guard the store later!"

Lin Guofu laughed heartily:

"That's true, I also can't be bothered to care about him!"

Li Xiulan suddenly remembered something at this moment:

"Right, do you have Fruit Jelly here? Get me two jin of Fruit Jelly!"

"Yes yes, right over there, what flavor do you want, go pick yourself, all just nine yuan per jin."

"Good good!"

Li Xiulan walked Inside the Convenience Store.

Pulled down a Plastic bag hanging on the side, then started selecting Fruit Jelly.

Picked some, saw Hawthorn Cake on the side, then asked again:

"Boss, how do you Sell this Hawthorn Cake?"

"Also one price!"

Li Xiulan grabbed a handful, Put it in the Plastic bag.

Laughing, she said to Wang Erhai:

"Erhai, these are all snacks you three brothers liked to eat in Childhood, buy some to take back to satisfy your craving, otherwise in the Village you don't have any good snacks to eat!"

"Mom, don't buy that much, buy a little is enough, I can't eat that much."

"Okay okay, just buy two jin!"

Finally when Wang Erhai and Li Xiulan came out of the Convenience Store, they carried a small red Plastic bag in hand, filled with Hawthorn Cake and Fruit Jelly, agreed to only buy two jin, but ended up buying over three jin.

That was because Li Xiulan thought Wang Erhai liked to eat it, afraid buying too little wouldn't be enough for Wang Erhai to eat.

You know, when Wang Erhai was a child, he could wolf down one jin of Fruit Jelly in a day.

Wang Erhai took out a Fruit Jelly, tore open the wrapping film, ate a bite.

Still the Taste of childhood, full of sweetener flavor.

This Fruit Jelly, all technology and ruthless stuff.

But it was one of the few snacks the three brothers could access in their impoverished childhood.

Wang Erhai ate one and couldn't eat more.

Where is there anything tasty about this?

He didn't even know, how could he love eating this stuff so much in his childhood?

Can Only Say, back then there was no food, forget snacks, couldn't even eat enough Meals, so as long as there were snacks, no matter what snacks, they were definitely tasty.

When there were no snacks, they even went up the Mountain to find Wild Fruits to eat, even unripe bayberries, unripe wild grapes, and half-ripe hawthorns, they could eat with relish.

Unripe bayberries and wild grapes, that sourness, and half-ripe hawthorns, eating too much would make you unable to poop.

But these wild kids from the Mountain, ate regardless. Worst case use a Chopstick dipped in Peanut Oil to poke the butt hole.

Wang Erhai has Grown Up now, suddenly Discovered this Fruit Jelly isn't tasty, but the beautiful childhood memories still made him Endure the cloying sweetener taste and eat a few more.

Finished eating Fruit Jelly, also ate a few packs of Hawthorn Cake.

What he ate wasn't cheap snacks, but a rumination on a beautiful childhood.

There's a saying: a happy childhood can heal a lifetime, while an unhappy childhood takes a lifetime to heal.

Very fortunate Wang Erhai's childhood belongs to the former.

His childhood was very poor, but not lacking love.

Mother's strength and spirit of enduring hardship and labor, have always Influenced his life.

Let him even when encountering Setbacks, Grit Teeth and Persist.

Compared to the Hardships Mother experienced Initially, the Setbacks he experiences now, simply Don't Count!

"Mom, let's go, we're going to buy chicks!"

Wang Erhai finished eating the Hawthorn Cake in hand, said this one Sentence to Li Xiulan.

"Okay!" Li Xiulan smiling on her face: "Wait a bit I'll teach you, how to pick chicks!"