Chapter 58: Chapter 56: If He Keeps Being So Picky, He’ll End Up a Bachelor

The old woman nodded. “Alright. After you go, I’ll take Little Douzi for a walk around the work unit.”

She was going to walk around the work unit and see if anyone was gossiping about Lin Lan.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to get out for a stroll.”

Lin Lan shouldered her back basket, picked up a bag, and headed out toward the Eucalyptus Forest. Before she even got there, she saw Li Xiangyang from a distance, standing idly by the vegetable patch, waiting.

When Li Xiangyang saw Lin Lan approaching, the corners of his lips turned up and he strode over to meet her. “You’re a little late today.”

“Something held me up for a bit!” Lin Lan said with a smile, handing him the basket. “I made some kidney bean rolls for Uncle Li, and some crispy broad beans too. If he likes them, just let me know.”

Li Xiangyang took the basket and smiled. “The old man really likes those kidney bean rolls. He says they’re easy on his stomach.”

“White kidney beans are good for digestion. The elderly can eat more of them.” Lin Lan looked at him and smiled politely. “Master Li, I’ve troubled you these past few days. Today, I want to try selling on my own. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just go back to the area near the clothing factory.”

Li Xiangyang nodded. “Okay. If you decide to go to the clothing factory side, just let me know.”

Lin Lan took out ten yuan and, blushing, handed it to him. “Please accept this small token of my appreciation.”

Seeing her being so formal, Li Xiangyang sighed to himself. “Ding Bang and I are brothers. I should be looking out for you. It’s too impersonal to talk about money for a small favor between friends and relatives.”

“Then should I be paying you for the things in this basket?”

Lin Lan nodded sheepishly. “You’re right, my mistake. From now on, Uncle Li’s kidney bean rolls are on me.”

Li Xiangyang laughed. “Great, I’ll take you up on that offer then!”

“You don’t have to be,” Lin Lan said, following him into the Eucalyptus Forest.

Zhou Xiaohong came over with a wide grin. “Little Lin, you’re finally here! If you’d been any later, I would’ve had to go looking for you.”

Lin Lan looked at her and smiled. “I rushed over as soon as I finished my errands. Sister Zhou, how’s business been these past few days?”

“Business is just so-so,” Zhou Xiaohong said, lowering her voice. “I have a spot at the morning market by the tunnel entrance. Business is better there than here, but the downside is the ten-yuan monthly stall fee. They don’t have anyone selling things like yours over there. If you want to go, I can set you up!”

Lin Lan thought about how the tunnel entrance was even farther than the clothing factory and shook her head. “Thanks, Sister Zhou! But I have to report for work during the day, and I make the crispy broad beans and kidney bean rolls in the afternoon. I only have free time in the evening.”

Zhou Xiaohong looked at her and smiled. “Little Lin, you could make extra crispy broad beans and kidney bean rolls and wholesale them to me! I can sell them over there!” She had tried making them at home a few times, but the taste was never as good as Lin Lan’s.

’Since I’m already paying the stall fee,’ she thought, ’and I’ll be there all day whether I sell one thing or several, I might as well add more items. Lin Lan’s products are good. If I take them over there, I could earn a few more yuan each day.’

Lin Lan thought for a moment, then looked at her. “How much would you want?”

Zhou Xiaohong smiled. “You can’t make too much more anyway, so how about the same amount you currently sell each day?”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “I make everything by hand, so you’re right, I can’t make much more. I currently sell about fifty to sixty bags of crispy broad beans and seventy kidney bean rolls a day. I’ll make that amount for you. For the crispy broad beans and the kidney bean rolls, I’ll knock five fen off each for you. How does that sound?”

Zhou Xiaohong replied without hesitation, “Deal. We’ll go with that price. Sixty bags of crispy broad beans and seventy kidney bean rolls every day. So, should I wait for you to deliver them here, or should I pick them up from your place?”

She quickly calculated that she could make an extra six or seven yuan a day.

Lin Lan thought for a moment. “You should pick them up from my house. Food like this is best when it’s fresh. I’ll get up early tomorrow to make it. What time can you come by to get it?”

Zhou Xiaohong said, “Seven-thirty. Can you have them ready by then?”

Lin Lan considered it. ’The commune loudspeaker starts at six-thirty, so if I get up at five, it should be no problem. The only trouble is that I don’t have a watch, so I’ll have to wake up when the rooster crows.’

“I can. When we’re packing up, you can come with me so you know where I live.” After saying that, she thought of the coal issue. “Sister Zhou, do you know anyone who can get coal?”

Zhou Xiaohong said in a low voice, “For coal, you’ll have to ask Xiangyang for help. He’s the one who helps my family get it too.”

Lin Lan glanced at Li Xiangyang, who was over by the vegetable patch cutting meat. “Okay, I’ll ask him after we pack up.”

Just then, business started to pick up. Zhou Xiaohong gave a quick “okay” and got busy with her customers.

A woman in her forties or fifties walked up to Lin Lan’s back basket and pointed at a smaller basket sitting on top of it. “Give me two bags of crispy broad beans and four bean rolls!”

“Alrighty!” Lin Lan smiled brightly as she packed the crispy broad beans and kidney bean rolls into the woman’s basket and took her money. “Thank you for your business, ma’am!”

The woman gave a faint smile. “Keep up the good work. Make sure your food is fresh and clean, or people will get an upset stomach.”

Lin Lan nodded. “Don’t you worry. I always make everything right before I come here to guarantee it’s fresh and hygienic.”

The woman nodded and left with her basket. A few more customers came after her.

’Lin Lan noticed that more customers had been buying kidney bean rolls lately. I’ll have to make more tomorrow.’

While tending to her business, she kept scanning her surroundings but didn’t spot anyone suspicious. After about an hour, the crowd in the Eucalyptus Forest thinned out, and she had sold out of everything she’d made for the day.

After packing up, Lin Lan glanced over at Li Xiangyang’s spot and saw he was also packing up. She walked over and said with a smile, “Master Li, all done for the day?”

“The weather’s hot, so I brought less meat today. It sold out faster,” Li Xiangyang said. He then pulled two soup bones, tied together with hemp rope, from his back basket. “Take these back and make some soup for Little Douzi!”

“Thank you!” Lin Lan took them and put them in her own back basket. She glanced around before asking in a low voice, “I wanted to ask, do you know where to buy black market coal?”

Li Xiangyang glanced at Lin Lan. “Are you out of firewood?”

Lin Lan nodded. “Yeah. I use a lot of firewood for cooking, and we don’t get coal ration tickets in the countryside. I want to buy a bunch to stock up.”

“As it happens, my family has two truckloads of coal arriving tomorrow. I can spare two tons for you. I’ll have it delivered to you tonight,” Li Xiangyang said in a low voice.

Lin Lan hadn’t expected him to agree so readily and thanked him profusely. “Thank you! Thank you so much.”

Li Xiangyang smiled at her grateful expression. “We’re all young people here. You don’t need to be so formal.”

“I do. Without your kind help, I’d be out of business soon.” ’In her two lives combined, Lin Lan was already over sixty years old, and she knew you could never be too polite.’

Just then, Zhou Xiaohong finished packing up her stall and walked over. “Little Lin, let’s go!”

Lin Lan smiled and nodded. “Okay! Let me just buy some eggs before we leave.”

Zhou Xiaohong then looked at Li Xiangyang. “Xiangyang, about what I told you the other day… are you really not going to check it out?”

“Not interested!” Li Xiangyang shouldered his back basket and walked away without a backward glance.

Zhou Xiaohong huffed indignantly at his retreating back, exasperated. “Still being so picky! If he keeps this up, he’ll be a bachelor for life.”

Amused, Lin Lan glanced at her, then pulled her along to buy some eggs and a few turnips to stew with the soup bones. The two of them then left the Eucalyptus Forest together.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep