Chapter 22
Two or three students who had just gotten out of school walked past the stall cart, dressed in their uniforms and brimming with youthful energy as they discussed whether they should participate in the school sports meet.
A mother with a three-year-old child in hand held an electric scooter key and crouched in front of the old woman selling vegetables at the stall opposite, asking how much a bunch of choy sum cost.
A delivery rider had just picked up three or four cups of milk tea from the Mixue counter nearby. With one foot, he pushed off on his electric scooter and disappeared into the crowd.
This snack street was awakening into its evening scenery at dusk.
Hearing Xie Zhitang’s words, Xin Geling could only put down the skewers in her hands and pick up a rag to wipe her hands.
She walked behind Xie Zhitang, held her left hand with one hand and her right hand with the other, then used the curved knife to cut decorative slits into the intact part of the sausage.
To make sure she remembered the feel of it, Xin Geling cut two more slits higher up.
“Like this. Don’t use too much force. If the sausage breaks, it won’t look good when we sell it.”
Xie Zhitang felt the warmth behind her and the slightly rough texture of the skin on the back of her hand. Only in the end did she shift her attention to the depth of the cuts.
“Like this?” Xie Zhitang cut a slit, but accidentally cut too deeply again.
“Turn the sausage a little. Switch to the other side.”
Xie Zhitang obediently turned the bamboo skewer, rotating it to the intact side of the sausage that had not yet been cut.
Xin Geling tightened her hold on her right hand, trying to let her feel what the depth of the slit should be like.
“The knife is very sharp. Just press lightly.”
Xie Zhitang said, “Okay.”
Xin Geling taught her a few more cuts, then finally let go and let her try. Under her guidance, Xie Zhitang learned it very quickly.
“Is it like this, Sister?”
Xin Geling glanced at it. “You learn very quickly. That’s right.”
The corners of Xie Zhitang’s mouth curved. She took a brand-new sausage from the box and peeled off the casing. “I’ll keep helping Sister cut the slits.”
Xin Geling frowned. “You don’t need to cut them. Give it to me.”
The thing in Xie Zhitang’s hand was taken away, and for a moment, her hands were empty. She could only stand to the side and watch Xin Geling cut the slits.
Sister cut them quickly and well. In one minute, she had finished five sausages. She needed to pre-grill them, so she stood in front of the grill again, brushing oil and turning them.
Xie Zhitang glanced at the curved knife beside her. Silently, she picked it up, peeled off a sausage casing, and carefully cut slits into it.
At that moment, a customer came over, but the way he ordered was a little different. He directly handed over two hundred-yuan bills and said, “Boss, give me two hundred yuan’s worth of barbecue. Just use it all up.”
It was also Xin Geling’s first time encountering this way of ordering. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”
The customer said, “No. Anything is fine. More meat, fewer vegetables.”
“Okay.” Xin Geling wanted to take the calculator and calculate, but unexpectedly, Xie Zhitang picked it up first. She also flipped open an old notebook, touched the pen tip to the page, and asked, “How many people are eating?”
The customer said, “Three people.”
“Okay.” Xie Zhitang indicated that she understood and swiftly wrote the names and quantities of the dishes on the page.
Before long, her gentle voice sounded. “For two hundred yuan, I’ll give you twenty beef skewers, twenty lamb skewers, fifteen pork belly skewers, three chicken wings, four grilled sausages, and five chicken cartilage skewers. The meat items come to one hundred and eighty-one yuan. Is it all right if I use the remaining nineteen yuan for vegetables?”
The customer listened, thought briefly, and said, “Sure!”
After repeating the items once, Xie Zhitang clipped the notebook to the canopy of the stall cart, right where Xin Geling could see it.
Xin Geling quietly watched her operate from the side. That smooth, flowing series of actions made her look especially professional, making Xin Geling very curious.
But the customer was waiting, so she could only focus on the work in her hands first and grill this two hundred yuan’s worth of barbecue.
It took about twenty minutes before the two hundred yuan’s worth of food was finished. Xie Zhitang bagged and packed it from the side, then handed it over. “Here you go.”
The customer carried the heavy portion of barbecue and muttered, “This is even more than what I get when I order at a barbecue restaurant…”
Before leaving, he looked at the barbecue stall again, then finally went.
With no customers around, Xin Geling was about to ask what she was doing. Ms. Lin had been chased back to rest, and now Xie Zhitang was helping her at the stall?
“Boss, five pork belly skewers, two chicken wings, and three chive skewers.”
Just as she was about to speak, someone else placed an order. Xin Geling could only continue grilling, busy nonstop.
One after another, more and more customers gathered in front of the stall, including quite a few returning customers.
Once Xin Geling started, she remained busy until eight at night.
“Sister, drink some water.” Xie Zhitang unscrewed the cap of the bottle of water she had brought and handed it to Xin Geling.
Xin Geling’s throat was indeed dry and thirsty, her lips parched. She took the water and raised her head to drink, returning it only after she had drunk half.
Then she focused on the barbecue again.
She did not notice at all that after taking the bottle back, Xie Zhitang did not immediately cap it, but drank two sips herself.
The heat from the grill rose through the wire rack, making Xin Geling sweat at her temples. The back of her clothes was damp.
In the gap while she was turning the skewers, brushing oil, and checking whether they were done, a handkerchief suddenly pressed against her temple and lightly dabbed downward twice, absorbing the sweat.
Xin Geling froze, then turned her head to look at Xie Zhitang.
But Xie Zhitang met her gaze in confusion. “What’s wrong, Sister?”
For a moment, Xin Geling did not know how to say the words that had reached her lips. Right after that, she saw Xie Zhitang use the same handkerchief to wipe her own forehead.
Perhaps she had forgotten to bring a hair tie. Xie Zhitang’s long hair was somewhat inconvenient and hot, so she could only gather it all in her hand, lift it slightly, and use the handkerchief to wipe the sweat at the back of her neck.
After wiping the sweat, she casually placed the handkerchief back into her bag, while her long hair could only continue falling down her back.
Xin Geling withdrew her gaze. After finishing the orders in hand, while no one was coming over, she took off her gloves, walked out from behind the stall cart, and crouched in front of a small street stall opposite that sold claw clips.
“How much are these?”
“Three yuan each.”
Xin Geling looked at the dazzling array of claw clips in all kinds of colors and styles spread across the ground. She chose a light purple one and went back.
“If you’re hot, clip your hair up.” As Xin Geling spoke, she handed the claw clip she had just bought to Xie Zhitang.
Xie Zhitang stared at the claw clip in her hand. It was a light purple shark claw clip, simple in style, not ugly, and actually quite pretty.
“Mm.”
Xie Zhitang took it and, right in front of Xin Geling, clipped up all her black hair. A few curled strands fell by her temples, making her temperament look even gentler.
Because all her hair was clipped up, her neck was also exposed to the air. It was slender and long, and her skin was as fair as snow.
It made it hard to look away. Even the air no longer seemed entirely filled with the fragrance of barbecue, as if threads of sweet, refreshing fragrance had been infused into it.
Xin Geling’s gaze lingered there for a few seconds before moving away. With a complicated expression, she put her gloves back on and continued grilling.
As the night went on, the space behind the stall cart turned into two halves, one occupied by Xin Geling and the other by Xie Zhitang. Xin Geling was responsible for grilling, while Xie Zhitang was responsible for calculating bills, collecting money, bagging, and packing. When she had free time, she would even crouch down and take fresh skewers from the foam boxes for Xin Geling.
Tonight, grilled sausages sold quite a lot. Basically, Xie Zhitang handled the sausages—peeling the casing, inserting skewers, and cutting the slits. She did all of it.
After nine, there were fewer people on the snack street.
The small stalls on both sides began packing up one after another, preparing to go home.
After Xin Geling finished grilling the final order, she turned off the gas cylinder. Once the flame went out, the grill was not as hot anymore. She took off her gloves and sat on a stool to rest.
At that moment, Xie Zhitang also happened to finish packing the last order and handed it to the customer.
“Come again next time.”
Xin Geling’s gaze was drawn over by her voice. All night, Xie Zhitang had been saying “come again next time” to others. Xin Geling herself rarely said it. In her eyes, quality was the main reason customers returned.
Besides, this was not a restaurant with a storefront and service industry standards. People who bought barbecue from a snack stall were not here for the service. Whether that sentence was said or not did not actually make much difference.
But she was very grateful that Xie Zhitang went to such trouble to greet customers for her.
Catching sight of the high heels Xie Zhitang was wearing, Xin Geling realized she truly had come straight from the company after finishing work.
And she had actually stood here for several hours. Xin Geling immediately stood up and gave the stool to her.
“Sit down and rest for a while.”
Xie Zhitang looked at Xin Geling. Seeing her being considerate, her heart softened. She did not stand on ceremony and sat down directly.
She really was a little tired from standing. Even her ankles were sore. Xie Zhitang could not help bending down to rub them.
Unexpectedly, just after she rubbed them a couple of times, the thin woman before her suddenly half-crouched and touched her ankle.
The warmth passed onto her skin, and Xie Zhitang’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. She subconsciously wanted to move away, but Xin Geling held her.
“I’ll rub it for you.” Xin Geling lowered her brows and eyes, massaging seriously.
Xie Zhitang bit her lip. Gradually, she stopped struggling and let Xin Geling massage her foot. Her hands braced against the two sides of the stool as she watched Sister rub it for her.
In her more than twenty years of life, this was the first time anyone had massaged her foot on a street after the smoke and fire had dispersed.
The summer night was stuffy, but her heart was very quiet.
Xie Zhitang opened the storage compartment of the stall cart and saw that the foam boxes inside were basically all sold out. Curious, she asked, “Sister, about how much can you earn tonight?”
Xin Geling roughly estimated in her heart. “I basically doubled the ingredients I bought. Yesterday, we didn’t sell much, and today we sold the goods bought yesterday. The profit is probably around seven or eight hundred.”
Today, she had also set up earlier than the past two days, investing quite a lot of time.
The profit from all three days totaled around fifteen hundred.
“What if you include labor?” Xie Zhitang asked again.
Xin Geling said, “How do you calculate labor?”
Xie Zhitang asked, “What was Sister’s revenue?”
Xin Geling said, “I only remember the revenue on the first day was 1,330. On Sunday, because Ms. Lin fainted, we didn’t sell much. Today plus yesterday’s revenue, minus yesterday’s losses, should probably be around 2,500.”
Xie Zhitang took out the calculator and calculated while analyzing. “Then for labor, I’ll count ten percent per person. You and Auntie worked together, so total labor is twenty percent. Averaged over these three days, daily revenue is around 1,300. Subtract labor, then subtract ingredient cost.”
At this point, Xie Zhitang asked her, “What’s the ingredient cost?”
Xin Geling said, “On average, nine hundred.”
Xie Zhitang quickly calculated. “Daily revenue of 1,300, minus 260 for labor, then minus ingredient cost. Total daily profit is—140.”
She turned the calculator around for Xin Geling to see.
Xin Geling propped one hand on her knee. “So once labor is included, the net profit becomes that little.”
Xie Zhitang pressed on. “I’ve always felt Sister’s prices were a little low. I’ve eaten a lot of barbecue, and places that use real, fresh meat for barbecue don’t sell it cheaply.”
The meaning behind her words was that she hoped Xin Geling would raise the prices a little and not sell her labor so cheaply.
Xin Geling understood what she meant and quietly looked into her eyes. “Xie Zhitang, have you thought about it this way? This little stall provides me and Ms. Lin with two positions that pay a daily wage of 130. With two stable jobs, plus a monthly subsidy of 4,200, compared with the living environment Ms. Lin and I had before, isn’t this much better?”
Ms. Lin no longer needed to run to remote places every day to collect cardboard, nor go hungry working all day just to earn fifty yuan, unwilling even to buy a bottle of water, unable to even guarantee enough food and warmth.
Being refuted, Xie Zhitang froze. She slowly put down the calculator, feeling somewhat upset. “When Sister looks at the problem this way, it makes me seem rather mercenary.”
Xin Geling put down her foot and smiled. “We’re just looking at the problem from different angles. You think I should set prices based on market standards, while what I’m thinking about is whether our current situation can improve.”
Xie Zhitang set the calculator aside. Thinking Xin Geling did not want to raise prices, it made her calculations seem especially unnecessary. She stood up and forced a faint smile. “I’ll go back first.”
Just as she was about to leave, Xin Geling said, “I plan to raise the prices.”
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!