No One Loves Me (GL) - Chapter 15

It wasn’t until after nine o’clock at night that the streets started to clear out.

The customers at the barbecue stand also began to dwindle.

Xin Geling hadn’t had a single sip of water. She had been so focused on grilling that her back was soaked with sweat. It was only when she packed up her stall that she had time to drink.

She crouched down to check, and to her surprise, all the foam boxes containing the 375 skewers of beef, pork, and lamb were completely sold out.

She had sold 25 chicken wings, 20 sausages, and all the chicken knees. The leeks and baby cabbage had also sold well, with barely any left.

Xin Geling grilled the remaining 5 chicken wings and 2 sausages, as well as the leftover leeks and baby cabbage, for their dinner.

After she finished grilling, Xin Geling put them in a bag. “Mom, what do you want to eat? I’ll go buy something for you.”

Lin Huilan sensed that her daughter wanted to buy her some food. She shook her head. “No need to buy anything. I’ll eat when we get home.”

“How about I get you some fried rice noodles?” Xin Geling asked. “I’ll get the kind you used to love. No scallions.”

Lin Huilan watched her daughter walk toward the fried rice noodle stand and could only mumble, “Oh, daughter…”

Xin Geling went to the stand and ordered two portions of fried rice noodles. About ten minutes later, she returned with the two packed orders, put them on the stall, and started to push it back home.

“Mom, let’s go home.”

Lin Huilan glanced at the two orders of fried rice noodles. She was happy that her daughter still remembered that she used to love fried rice noodles. She nodded repeatedly. “Okay, let’s go home.”

The mother and daughter pushed the stall back to their apartment building, then carried the barbecue and fried rice noodles inside.

Lin Huilan took out a kettle and poured Xin Geling some water.

“Come and eat,” Xin Geling said, opening the containers and putting the barbecue on the table.

Lin Huilan sat across from her. She took the chopsticks her daughter had broken in two for her, picked up the steaming fried rice noodles, and looked at her daughter with a sense of gratitude before putting it in her mouth.

Xin Geling picked up her own chopsticks and said with a smile, “Eat.”

Lin Huilan had been hungry for a long time, and the food tasted exceptionally good. Although she was Xin Geling’s mother, at that moment, she felt more like her child.

She was being led by her daughter to make money, to reintegrate into society, and to catch up with the times.

Xin Geling handed her the grilled chicken wings and sausages. “Eat some meat.”

Lin Huilan nodded. “…Okay, you eat too.”

“Mhm,” Xin Geling said.

At a little past 10 p.m., after they had finished eating, Xin Geling went to the bathroom and filled a bucket with water. “Mom, I’m going downstairs to wash the grill. You go take a shower first.”

“How about I come with you?” Lin Huilan asked.

Xin Geling refused her suggestion. “No need. I can do it myself.”

With that, Xin Geling opened the door and went downstairs. She went to the stairwell and started to clean the grease and seasoning off the food stall.

The oil buildup under the grill was the most difficult to clean. It took her half an hour to get the stall clean, and the stainless steel top was now sparkling.

Xin Geling looked at the greasy, dirty bucket and rags and smiled faintly. She brought them back home and used dish soap to clean them before hanging them on the balcony to dry.

At a little past 11 p.m., Xin Geling came out after washing up. Lin Huilan was still awake, too excited to sleep. The mother and daughter sat on the living room sofa and calculated the day’s earnings and net profit.

“The beef, pork, and lamb skewers all sold out. That’s a revenue of 1,000 yuan. We sold 25 chicken wings, which is 175 yuan. We only sold 20 sausages, but that’s 50 yuan. We sold about 40 portions each of leeks and baby cabbage, and 60 portions of chicken knees. The potato slices didn’t sell as well, only 15 portions. That’s another 155 yuan.”

“Our total revenue is 1,330 yuan. If we subtract the 700-yuan cost of ingredients, and we have some seasonings left for tomorrow, so I’ll say we spent 150 on seasonings. We also have 30 sausages left. Each sausage costs 50 cents, so our net profit for today is 495 yuan, almost 500.”

Lin Huilan couldn’t believe it. “We really made 500 yuan?!”

Xin Geling nodded and showed her the total amount that had been transferred to her account. “Of course. This is the result of our hard work today.”

Lin Huilan swallowed. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Mom, why would I lie to you?” Xin Geling asked, amused.

“If barbecue is so profitable, why isn’t everyone doing it?” Lin Huilan asked.

Xin Geling knew she would still be skeptical, so she had to explain. “We’re not the only ones selling barbecue on the food street, Mom. There are a few other stalls, but have you noticed their ingredients? Most of their ingredients are the semi-finished products they sell online. They just put them on the grill, which saves them a lot of time marinating and skewering. The ingredients aren’t fresh, and some have a lot of additives and preservatives. The taste isn’t as good as ours. Another reason is that our prices are cheaper than theirs. Their beef skewers cost four or five yuan each, and their vegetable skewers are 1.5 yuan or more. People will naturally choose us more.”

After hearing her analysis, Lin Huilan finally believed her daughter when she said they had made 500 yuan in one night.

“That’s good, daughter. We’ll do it again tomorrow, and every day. I don’t have to collect cardboard anymore. I don’t make much money collecting cardboard all day. Barbecue is so much better. It’s easy, and we can make a lot of money.”

Xin Geling agreed with her. “Tomorrow is Sunday, so there will be more people. We’ll buy more meat and try to sell more skewers.”

Lin Huilan nodded happily. “Yes, yes. We’ll get up early tomorrow and buy more ingredients.”

Xin Geling closed her notebook. “Okay, let’s go to bed early, Mom.”

“Definitely. I’m going to bed. You should go to bed early too, daughter.”

Xin Geling stood up, turned off the lights in the living room, and walked to her room. “Good night.”

Once in her room, Xin Geling took out her phone and opened the chat with Xie Zhitang. She didn’t know whether she should ask her if she had come by earlier.

It was clearly her car.

And she seemed to have patronized her stall.

Xin Geling decided to message her anyway, since the barbecue stand was set up with her money.

Xin Geling: Are you asleep?

Xie Zhitang replied so quickly that it was as if she had been waiting by her phone.

Tangtang: Not yet.

Xin Geling: Did you come by today?

Tangtang: Yes. I was going to see Tangtang, but I realized you weren’t there. Then I remembered it was your day off, and when I went back, I saw you had a barbecue stand.

Xin Geling: So you had a student order for you?

Tangtang: You knew?

Xin Geling: I saw him run to your car.

Tangtang: I thought about how your aunt doesn’t like me, so I didn’t go over. Your barbecue was really good, Sister. The meat was juicy and smelled great. It was better than the one I had before.

Xin Geling: You’re too kind.

Tangtang: How was business tonight, Sister?

Xin Geling: It was pretty good. We sold almost all of the ingredients.

Tangtang: You’re so amazing, Sister.

Xin Geling: Not really.

Xie Zhitang, wearing her nightgown, poured herself a cup of warm water. She looked at the chat log and recalled how she had gone to the pet grooming shop today and hadn’t seen anyone. She was curious where Xin Geling was, so she checked her location and found that she was on the food street.

She wanted to go and support her, but she had to be mindful of her aunt. She knew her aunt wouldn’t want her there, so she had to ask a student to order for her.

Her aunt…

“Who told you to come here?! Get out! Don’t you dare come near my daughter again!”

“She’s the reason you went to prison for seven years!”

“She ruined your life, boo-hoo…”

Xie Zhitang’s mood gradually became heavy. She put down her phone and stared blankly at the glass of water she was pouring until it overflowed.

Her aunt had never liked her…

In her three years of college, the money she made from her part-time jobs was only enough to cover her travel expenses to Ningchun City. Besides visiting Xin Geling in prison, if she had any extra money, she would specifically go to Lingzhang Street to see her aunt and buy her some fruit.

But every time, she was rejected. She had no choice but to ask Grandma Chen for help and send it to her under her name.

In her fourth year, she started her internship at the 4Agg company. When she had more money, she tried to buy more expensive things for her aunt, hoping she would forgive her.

But the result was the same. Everything was thrown back at her. Her aunt was determined not to accept her kindness. When her landlord wanted to increase her rent, she secretly paid the difference so her aunt wouldn’t find out.

Now that her sister was out of prison, she still hadn’t earned her aunt’s forgiveness. When she saw them setting up the barbecue stall, she could only watch from a distance, like a lonely traveler who could never get close.