Chapter 14
Lin Huailan clutched Xin Geling’s arm, wanting to speak but stopping herself. “Mom isn’t saying I don’t believe you. It’s just…”
The words reached her lips, but Lin Huailan swallowed them back. In the end, she compromised.
Continuing to collect cardboard could not bring any real qualitative change to their family’s life. She had to keep up with her daughter’s pace.
The next day, Xin Geling got up around five or six, planning to go to the farmers’ market and ask where people sourced fresh meat.
Lin Huailan did not go out to collect cardboard. Seeing her daughter get up so early, she wanted to go with her too.
So the mother and daughter went to the farmers’ market together. After asking at several pork stalls, they discovered that those people all had business licenses. They directly slaughtered live pigs and sold the meat at their stalls. Among them, the market price of pork belly was twenty yuan per kilogram.
After asking several stalls for their prices and writing them down, Xin Geling went to ask the stalls selling beef chuck and lamb. The market price of beef was seventy yuan per kilogram, while lamb was sixty-four yuan per kilogram.
Compared with the prices online, these were indeed very expensive. But for the sake of fresh ingredients, Xin Geling still decided to choose genuine, fresh ingredients.
Most barbecue meats were pork, lamb, and beef, so she bought five jin of beef chuck, five jin of lamb, and five jin of pork belly.
Lin Huailan had never bought that much meat in her life. Seeing Xin Geling buy so much at once, her heart jumped wildly, and she hurriedly stopped her. “Daughter, why are you buying so much meat all at once? What if it doesn’t sell…”
Xin Geling said, “Mom, to do business, you have to prepare the ingredients. This doesn’t count as much.”
This amount was only her first attempt.
Lin Huailan was still anxious. “Then what if it doesn’t sell?”
Xin Geling prepared her for the worst-case scenario. “Mom, don’t worry. If not a single skewer sells, we’ll eat them ourselves. If it’s because the price is too high, we can lower the price and sell them at a loss. Even if, in the end, we still lose money overall, I’ve calculated the trial-and-error cost. We won’t lose too much.”
“If we can’t even accept this small trial-and-error cost and are afraid to try, then we’re not suited to doing business in this lifetime.”
Lin Huailan looked at her daughter’s serious expression and listened to her careful analysis. Only after a long while did she slowly let go. “Then… go ahead and buy it. Mom won’t interfere.”
Xin Geling took the meat the stall owner handed her, then also bought some corn, chives, potatoes, onions, and other vegetables, as well as scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, doubanjiang, salt, chili powder, pepper, and other seasonings, chicken wings, a box of grilled sausages, two jin of chicken cartilage, bamboo skewers, and so on. In total, she spent about nine hundred yuan. Of that, the seasonings accounted for around two hundred, while the ingredient cost was around seven hundred.
Xin Geling and Lin Huailan carried everything back home.
Looking at the house piled full of things, Lin Huailan asked worriedly, “What do we do next?”
Xin Geling took out her notebook and calculated. “Mom, these ingredients cost around seven hundred yuan. The bottles and jars of seasonings, plus the bamboo skewers, cost about two hundred. Even if they don’t sell, these seasonings won’t expire any time soon. As for the seven hundred yuan ingredient cost, even if I sell them at a discount, in the end, we’ll only lose around three hundred and fifty. This is the worst result I’ve set in advance. Besides, we may not necessarily lose money. There’s still the possibility of earning money.”
She closed the notebook and looked at Lin Huailan. “We have to try. No matter how bad it gets, it won’t be worse than where we are now.”
Lin Huailan sighed. “All right. I’ll listen to you.”
Xin Geling hugged Lin Huailan and rubbed her thin shoulder. “Mom, listen to me. Even if I work the whole night and only earn fifty yuan, it’ll still be worth it.”
She did not want to see Ms. Lin run around all day collecting cardboard and still fail to earn even fifty yuan, all while exhausting her body.
After easing Lin Huailan’s worries and sense of crisis, the mother and daughter began dividing the work.
“Mom, help me prepare the scallions, ginger, garlic, and these things.”
“Okay.”
Xin Geling arranged for her to help with the prep work, while she cut all fifteen jin of meat into cubes.
She took out basins to hold the three kinds of meat separately, poured in the marinade she had mixed, stirred everything together, and placed them in the refrigerator to marinate for two hours.
The chicken wings and chicken cartilage were placed in separate basins and mixed with different marinades, then also placed in the refrigerator to marinate.
Next, the mother and daughter processed the vegetables together, washing them clean and skewering them.
After lunch, the two of them continued working.
Once the marinated meat cubes were taken out, Xin Geling threaded all of them onto bamboo skewers. One jin of meat could make about twenty-five skewers, so fifteen jin of meat gave them 375 skewers.
After spreading out the cost of the seasonings, Xin Geling began calculating the pricing and gross profit margin of each item.
After calculating, the cost price of a beef skewer was around 1.5 yuan per skewer, pork belly 0.6 yuan per skewer, lamb 1.5 yuan per skewer, chicken wings thirty skewers with a cost price of about 5.5 yuan per skewer, and grilled sausages 1.1 yuan per skewer.
Potatoes, corn, baby cabbage, chives, and chicken cartilage had low costs and many skewers, so basically the cost of each skewer did not exceed 0.5 yuan.
Looking at these cost prices, Xin Geling decided to price beef skewers and lamb skewers at three yuan each, pork belly at two yuan each, chicken wings at seven yuan each, and grilled sausages at 2.5 yuan each.
All the other items would be priced uniformly at one yuan per skewer.
After setting the prices, Xin Geling went downstairs to a nearby print shop and printed out the menu and payment QR code, then pasted them on the front of the stall cart.
She also bought several large foam boxes, placed some ice inside them, then put all the ingredients into the foam boxes to keep them chilled and prevent them from spoiling.
As evening approached, a little after five, people on the street began pushing out carts one after another to set up stalls.
Xin Geling took over the previous stall owner’s spot and pushed out the stall cart filled with ingredients.
She put on gloves, laid out all the dishes in front of the stall cart, and placed the sauce for brushing to one side. She had also prepared two hundred kraft paper bags for packaging. After doing all of this, she turned on the gas cylinder and lit the fire, preparing to grill the meat skewers in advance so customers would not have to wait too long after placing an order.
Passersby came and went. Lin Huailan stood beside Xin Geling, somewhat at a loss. Although she had once been a teacher, these years she had been trapped in her own world. On top of poverty, she could not even afford to buy meat once a month, eating pickles with plain congee every day. She had long since lost sensitivity to the outside price of meat.
She kept feeling that no one would come to buy it. Who would buy a three-yuan meat skewer? That price was several times more expensive than seven years ago.
But seeing her daughter already skillfully grilling the skewers, the fragrance rising in waves, she thought again of the trial-and-error cost… and steadied herself a little, swallowing the worry back into her stomach.
Compared with Lin Huailan’s anxiety and unease, Xin Geling appeared much calmer. She even had the mind to hand the freshly grilled beef skewer to her first.
“Mom, try it.”
Lin Huailan looked at her daughter and shook her head. “Mom won’t eat it.”
It was so expensive. How could she bear to?
It was enough for her to collect five jin of cardboard.
Xin Geling still motioned for her to eat. “Mom, just eat it. You can also give me some feedback and see whether I need to improve the recipe.”
Only after hearing this did Lin Huailan realize that her daughter was not simply giving it to her to eat, but also wanted her to evaluate it and help improve the recipe. Holding the mindset of completing a task, Lin Huailan took the beef skewer and carefully ate a bite.
The marinated beef skewer released a burst of fragrance and juice when bitten into. It was not dry at all. A layer of unique barbecue seasoning had been sprinkled over the surface, and the meatiness of the beef and the spicy numbing flavor mingled in the mouth, making one’s appetite surge.
Seeing her stop after one bite, Xin Geling asked, “How is it?”
“It’s good…” Lin Huailan lowered her head and kept nodding, then choked up softly. “It’s the first time Mom has eaten barbecue this delicious…”
The last time she had eaten it was seven years ago, when she had taken her daughter outside to eat. She had not expected that seven years later, she would eat barbecue personally grilled by her daughter after her release from prison.
Xin Geling stared at the thin, frail woman before her. A single portion of barbecue had crossed seven years. She did not dare imagine what kind of life Ms. Lin had lived all these years. Her eyes ached, but she worked hard to stay calm and said in a natural tone, “Mom, you’ll eat even more delicious things in the future.”
Lin Huailan wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. “…Okay.”
She continued eating the rest of the beef skewer, feeling more and more reassured with every bite.
Such delicious barbecue, barbecue grilled by her daughter—selling it for three yuan was not expensive. Not expensive at all.
“Sister, can I have one of everything?”
Suddenly, an elementary school student around ten years old came to the front of the stall cart and ordered one of every item as soon as she opened her mouth.
A strange feeling flashed through Xin Geling’s mind, but the arrival of the first order did not allow her to think too deeply. She could only say, “All right. Please wait a moment.”
After saying that, she began taking out one of every item and placing them on the grill.
Seeing that someone had finally come to buy her daughter’s barbecue, Lin Huailan held back her excitement and took out the calculator to calculate carefully. She calculated it three full times before saying, “Altogether, twenty-two yuan and five mao.”
The elementary school student handed over a fifty-yuan note. “Here.”
Lin Huailan took it and looked at her daughter, who was seriously grilling. A warm current surged in her heart, and she felt even more relieved. It turned out her daughter had thought things through early and asked her to prepare change for some larger notes. So she had been waiting for these people who paid in cash.
“Here’s twenty-seven yuan and five mao in change.” Lin Huailan quickly took out twenty-seven yuan and five mao from her old waist pouch. If nothing else, she had plenty of five-mao and one-mao coins.
Because Xin Geling had already placed some items on the grill as soon as they set up the stall, when the first customer placed an order, she only needed to continue grilling for five or six minutes before everything was done.
“Do you want it spicier, or…?” she asked.
The elementary school student quickly looked toward the distance. “S-spicier, please.”
Xin Geling noticed this action and grew suspicious. “Okay.”
Without showing anything, she sprinkled the skewers with slightly spicier barbecue seasoning, placed them into a kraft paper bag, and handed it over. “Thank you for coming.”
After receiving it, the elementary school student walked straight into the crowd. Xin Geling’s gaze followed her until she saw the student stop in front of a car with the barbecue. A slender hand reached out, took it, and said something to the student. Before long, the elementary school student skipped away.
The car window closed.
Through the gaps in the passing crowd, Xin Geling saw the license plate.
She froze. She could not be more familiar with that plate.
“Daughter, I didn’t expect it would really sell.” The anxiety on Lin Huailan’s face was replaced by joy. Her brows relaxed, and she beamed, as though someone had boosted her morale. Even her spirit seemed different.
“How much can this portion earn?” she asked like a child.
Xin Geling turned her attention back to Ms. Lin and put more ingredients onto the grill. As she grilled, she said, “The cost of this portion is around fourteen. If we don’t count labor, the profit is at least eight yuan and five mao.”
Lin Huailan was so happy she could not close her mouth. “Eight yuan and five mao is a lot. Better than Mom collecting cardboard.”
Xin Geling smiled and looked at her. This price was cheap compared with others in the same line. Since the ingredients were freshly purchased, not semi-finished products sold online, the time invested was also greater than others, so the profit would certainly not be as good as other vendors.
But for them, it was already a decent profit.
Xin Geling set her goal very low. As long as she earned more than Ms. Lin did collecting cardboard, then even if the labor transferred onto her own body was greater, it would be worth it.
“Ms. Lin, keep your voice down.”
Lin Huailan immediately closed her mouth. “Okay, okay. Mom won’t shout.”
Xin Geling bent down to take more ingredients. When she stood up, she looked again toward the direction of the car from earlier.
Unexpectedly, that car had already driven away.
“Boss, five beef skewers.”
“Okay. Fifteen altogether.”
“I transferred it.”
“Okay, received.”
Another customer came to order. It was a plump man. Xin Geling calmly turned the beef skewers, picked out five skewers, brushed oil, and sprinkled seasoning.
Lin Huailan helped from the side, picking up a kraft paper bag and helping her daughter put the five beef skewers inside.
The plump man took them and immediately began eating. He had originally only wanted to try this newly opened barbecue stall, but had not expected the flavor to be surprisingly good.
“Boss, your beef skewers taste really good. Spicy, numbing, fresh, and fragrant. The meat is juicy, not dry or tough, and it tastes very fresh.”
Before Xin Geling could say anything, Lin Huailan spoke first with pride. “Of course. My daughter and I bought all this meat from the farmers’ market this morning. How could it not be fresh?”
While Ms. Lin was speaking with the plump man, several more people preparing to order barbecue gathered in front of the stall.
Xin Geling greeted them. “What would you like?”
Someone ordered, “Three pork belly skewers.”
Another said, “I want two lamb skewers, three beef skewers, and one chive skewer.”
“Okay, please wait a moment.” Xin Geling noted down these orders and threw herself into the busy work of grilling.
The plump man was still lingering in front of the stall. He bent down to inspect the ingredients, seeing that the meat looked firm. “It really isn’t semi-finished product. Your meat is all bought fresh?”
Xin Geling said, “Mm. We bought it from the farmers’ market and marinated and skewered it ourselves.”
As the plump man ate and watched her grill, the aroma of meat drifting from his mouth made the other two customers keep swallowing.
The grill sizzled with oil. After the seasoning was sprinkled on, the fragrance burst out again. Several nearby stalls could all smell the aroma of her barbecue.
The five beef skewers were quickly eaten. The plump man crumpled the kraft paper bag together and stared eagerly at the barbecue in Xin Geling’s hands, his craving stirred until he wanted to order another portion.
“Boss, boss, give me another five beef skewers, five lamb skewers, five pork belly skewers, and two chive skewers!”
“All right.” Xin Geling had not expected him to be able to order a second round. This counted as her first returning customer. “Please wait a moment.”
There were more and more customers in front of the stall cart. Xin Geling had no time to pay attention to Lin Huailan, continuously taking out ingredients and placing them on the grill.
Lin Huailan helped her from the side, keeping track of who had ordered which items, who had paid, who had not paid, and constantly bagging and packing.
“Thank you for coming. Come again next time.” Every time Lin Huailan handed out a portion of barbecue, she said this sentence.
Compared with the busy Xin Geling, Lin Huailan’s work seemed much lighter. During the waiting intervals, seeing her daughter so busy that she was sweating, she quickly took out a towel to wipe her daughter’s sweat.
She could not let her daughter tire herself out.
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