TPW – Chapter 48

It had rained last night, finally making the air less stuffy. The refreshing morning gave people a faint sense of autumn in the air.

After lunch, Li Hongjun came to visit, carrying a big net bag with at least a seven-kilogram watermelon inside.

As soon as he arrived, all the kids in the big courtyard got excited, gathering around their uncle in a circle. Once they heard he was a friend of Qiao An’s dad, they lost interest.

“How come Qiao An’s dad is rich, and his friends are rich too? I’ve seen more than once some uncles bringing delicious food to Qiao An’s home!” Little Chen Jingkang complained indignantly.

“That’s because Qiao An’s dad runs a street stall. My mom says, people running stalls can meet a lot of people!”

“How many people?”

“Countless.”

Qiao An eagerly fetched a kitchen knife from the kitchen and handed it to Li Hongjun.

Li Hongjun cut the watermelon into evenly thick triangular slices with a few crisp chops. He bit off the core in the middle — sweet and crunchy. Li Hongjun said it was just taken out of the freezer; eating it made one feel completely cooled down — refreshing!

Except, uh… it had a bit of a garlic smell.

“Where did it come from? Was it ice-chilled?” Qiao Lu sighed contentedly.

“Li Yu gave it. His father-in-law somehow got a foreign exchange coupon and bought a refrigerator for the family. They froze three big watermelons, and since I had some business with him today, he gave me one.”

Qiao Lu munched and remarked, “Such a big watermelon given to you for free, Brother Li really is generous.”

Li Hongjun laughed happily, “Haha! That’s why we’re bros. If Hai Zhou comes too, I’ll give him one as well.”

Outside, among the children’s swallowing sounds, they finished two slices of watermelon. Qiao Lu went to the kitchen to get a basin, put the leftover watermelon pieces in it, and handed it to her son.

“An’an, take this out and share it with your good friends.”

He quickly bit off the last piece of red flesh and shook the juice off his small hands: “Okay~”

At that moment, Qiao An looked like a saint, holding the big basin as he walked toward the kids, radiating a shining holy light all over!

The little ones surged around him, and Chen Jiamei squeezed in to join the fun: “I’m a kid too, Qiao An, give me a piece.”

When there’s a benefit, you become a kid; when there isn’t, you say you’re an adult. For a bite of food, Chen Jiamei really didn’t care about shame.

Zhang Hongyan didn’t understand how she gave birth to such a shameless daughter.

“Auntie, didn’t you say you’re an adult? This watermelon is for kids; you can’t eat it!”

Chen Jiamei quickly covered Chen Jingkang’s mouth: “You talk too much!”

“Give it to sister.” Obedient as Qiao An was, he still gave her a slice in the end.

Chen Jiamei smiled, showing a row of little teeth, and rubbed his head: “Ah, Qiao An is really nice. If you were my nephew, you’d definitely be more likable than Chen Jingkang.”

“Who cares if you like me!” Chen Jingkang spat a watermelon seed at her, pouting: “Qiao An wouldn’t want to be your nephew anyway.”

Qiao Lu finished eating the watermelon, went to the well to pump water and wash her hands, rinsed the empty basin, then washed her son’s hands and face.

“All done, watermelon is finished and hands are clean. An’an, since everyone is here now, why don’t you tell a story to the kids? Didn’t mom tell you lots of stories before? Share one with everyone.”

“Tell a story? I want to listen to a story!” Full and content, and still getting to hear a story — what a heavenly day!

“I want to listen too!”

“Me too!”

“See? Everyone wants to hear. How about it, tell us a story.” Qiao Lu looked at her son with anticipation shining in her eyes.

It was a bit sudden but not too sudden. Mom had already suggested he tell stories to practice his language skills and gain confidence, so he could become a brave little boy.

Fidgeting with his fingers for a moment, he nodded: “Okay then.”

“I, I’ll tell you the story of the Tortoise and the Hare today.”

Qiao Lu felt relieved and went back to the room to discuss the shop-opening matters with Xu Haizhou and Li Hongjun.

The situation was a bit tricky — the landlord of the shop Qiao Lu chose refused to rent. The landlord said they could rent, but only to government or state-owned units.

“Do you know what she said?” Li Hongjun imitated the female landlord’s tone, dramatically flicking his pinky finger: “With this stall here, you’re just looking for trouble! Didn’t you see the news? Last week, in Lian, a guy selling screws got caught. Aren’t you scared? We don’t want bad luck!”

Qiao Lu was genuinely caught off guard: “Uh… what should we do then?”

Actually, if they couldn’t rent a place, Qiao Lu wasn’t too anxious. After all, she knew the historical trend — even if the environment was tough now, by ’85 they could definitely rent a shop and open a store.

For now… it was still early. At worst, they could keep running the stall for another year or two, hard work and all.

“If it really doesn’t work, go to Baiyun Street,” Xu Haizhou suggested.

The Baiyun Street small commodity market actually existed around ’81. It was a bit remote, bordering Lian and the neighboring Jiulong city. As for foot traffic… well, Xu Haizhou had inspected it a few times and felt it was just average, not as good as running a street stall.

This year, with a crackdown on vendors, urban management didn’t allow small vendors to randomly set up stalls in the city, so the small commodity market suddenly became popular.

The female landlord also suggested Li Hongjun open a shop on Baiyun Street, saying many vendors went there. It was a sort of “no man’s land,” officially called an “Economic Special Zone,” the largest “trading center” in Lian City. Actually, it was just a temporary name to give the vendors a place to go without causing city disorder.

If all were banned, it would affect social stability since many relied on this business for their livelihood. So the government thought it better to allocate a small piece of land to settle these small vendors, which would help improve social stability.

“Yes, I’ve been there too. It’s livelier than before, but I don’t know how much money can be made.”

Qiao Lu: “Is it stalls or…?”

Xu Haizhou: “It’s shops, but built by connecting rows of iron sheds, separated by boards. Each is a shop.”

Calling it a shop is actually quite generous compared to later times — it’s more like a marketplace.

“Having a shed is better than being exposed to wind and sun,” Qiao Lu nodded.

“But it’s far from here — about an hour by bike,” Li Hongjun said.

“That’s two hours for a round trip, isn’t it? Then I can’t go home for lunch…”

But considering its proximity to the Nanhu Jiayuan residential area, it’s about half an hour by bike. If they could buy a place there, it would save half the commute time.

Whether for commuting time or having a private bathroom, Nanhu Jiayuan was a must-have!

Unfortunately, we haven’t saved enough money yet.

But thinking about it, I suddenly feel motivated.

Gotta start making some quick cash!

“All right, Baiyun Street it is…” Qiao Lu thought of another problem: “But where do we get the goods from?”

Clothes produced by the Lian Garment Factory only supply the big department stores or government-run shops, and they simply don’t bother supplying private vendors.

Xu Haizhou said, “Don’t worry about the goods, I’ll go find Yang Lidong.”

He’s been in this business for four years now, but not selling in Lian itself—he’s in a small county under Lian’s jurisdiction. The demand there isn’t smaller than in Lian, and the competition isn’t as fierce, so he makes a good profit.

“Good, even if it’s a bit out of the way, let’s camp out at the small commodity market for a few days to see how the traffic is. If it’s good, we can settle down there. Constantly moving around isn’t really ideal.”

Just as Xu Haizhou was about to reply, Qiao An, who had been telling stories in the yard, suddenly ran in crying:

“Waaah—Mommy, Mommy, I never want to tell stories again—”

The three exchanged confused looks. He seemed fine just a moment ago when they left.

“What happened? Weren’t you happy just now? Who bullied you?” Who upset our little crybaby now?

Qiao An’s face was red from crying, every feature filled with grievance: “Mommy, I was telling the story of the Farmer and the Snake, but Tian Xiaomai said the snake was bad and ungrateful. I told her the snake was naturally bad and that the farmer was wrong to swallow it. Tian Xiaomai said I’m an idiot and that I was making things up.”

Tian Xiaomai is the youngest daughter of Tian Jianzhong’s older brother, five years old. Her family currently lives in a welfare apartment assigned by their workplace. Sometimes the kids come to the big yard to play and have played with Qiao An. She’s lively but a bit stubborn.

Seeing their little treasure so serious and upset, Qiao Lu smiled helplessly.

Actually, in children’s worldview, good is rewarded and evil is punished. From a child’s perspective, the story of the Farmer and the Snake really does make the snake seem wrong—after all, the farmer saved it but the snake bit him back, that’s just evil! How could the farmer be wrong? He was just kind and did nothing wrong.

With this kind of thinking, Tian Xiaomai and Qiao An argued, leading to the current situation.

But if you really debate, you can’t say Tian Xiaomai is wrong either. Both are kindergarten-age kids, but Qiao An sees things too clearly; it’s normal that Tian Xiaomai can’t accept his view.

“What about the other kids? Did they all say you were wrong?”

The little guy pouted: “No, everyone said I told the story well, only Xiao Mai said I was an idiot and a liar.”

“See? Xiao Mai is just one person. Most people support you, so no need to pay attention to that small part. Just ignore it. Also, some people don’t like the money—can you expect everyone to like you?”

Thinking about it, Qiao An nodded: “I want everyone to like me.”

That’s not a good idea. Qiao Lu was about to teach him more when Xu Haizhou suddenly picked up their son onto his lap and spoke patiently.

“An’an, being a person means you can’t just pay attention to praise, and you can’t just focus on criticism either. Praise can make you arrogant and complacent, while criticism can make you lose confidence… We should take the useful parts from both. Why care too much about what others think? Like Mommy said, some people don’t even like money, so would they necessarily like An’an?”

Qiao An was stunned: “Daddy talks so deeply, I don’t understand.”

Xu Haizhou ruffled his hair: “You will, little by little.”

For some reason, smelling Dad’s scent and hearing his calm voice made An’an’s mood suddenly peaceful.

“Little darling, do you still feel sad now?” Li Hongjun asked him with a smile.

“No, Daddy and Mommy comfort me, so I’m not sad anymore.” He smiled sweetly, then realized Uncle Hongjun was here and shyly snuggled into Xu Haizhou’s arms.

Xu Haizhou smiled and tapped his nose: “So you just came here for comfort?”

Qiao An giggled softly, voice like a baby’s and gentle: “I hope every time I’m sad, Daddy and Mommy will comfort me, then I won’t be sad.”

“Brother Kangkang’s mom doesn’t comfort him. Once, Kangkang got hit on the head by a big brother’s ball and got a big bump that hurt a lot. Then Aunt Lin scolded Kangkang for being clumsy and not watching where he was going. Kangkang was sad for a long, long time. But An’an’s not like that. When I go home, Mommy comforts me and I stop being sad right away!”

“But what if Mommy’s not there when you’re sad? Who will comfort you?” Qiao Lu asked.

“Hmm… Daddy.” Daddy is also gentle and comforting, but with Mommy around, Qiao An always prefers her embrace.

“What if neither Daddy nor Mommy is around?” Xu Haizhou asked.

“Hmm… then… what do I do?” He’s never been away from Mommy; she’s always by his side.

“Then An’an will have to find a way to self-regulate and soothe yourself, to make yourself happy.” Xu Haizhou said.

“I don’t know how.” Qiao An scratched his face.

Qiao Lu smiled: “You will. Mommy believes in you. Even without us, you can still calm yourself down. That means you’re growing up.”

“Really? That means growing up?”

“Yes.”

The little guy’s eyes lit up: “Okay! Mommy, I got it. I won’t be mad at Xiao Mai anymore. If I can’t win arguments with them, I’ll just ignore them to death!”

Hahaha—

Li Hongjun laughed mercilessly.

The couple exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but smile—how did they raise such a silly little pig?

“It’s ignore, not ‘ignore to death,’” Qiao Lu corrected.

“Okay, I’ll ignore her, disregard her!”

“Good boy. It’s not worth damaging your health over it.”

“Yeah!” Getting down from Xu Haizhou’s lap, he cupped Qiao Lu’s face and kissed her: “Mommy, I won’t be angry. I’ll smile every day.”

“All right, then, no more worries. Go play!” Qiao Lu patted his little bottom.

“I’m going to find Brother Kangkang to play!”

He turned and hurried off to find friends.

Xu Haizhou raised his brow: “Already not sad?”

“Uh-huh.” Qiao Lu smiled.

“You’re good at comforting the kid.”

Qiao Lu leaned her elbow on his left shoulder and looked at him, smiling: “One day you get mad, and I’ll guarantee I can cheer you up in minutes.”

“Really?” Xu Haizhou chuckled. “Who’d get mad just to be cheered up?”

“Uh-huh.”

“All right, waiting for the chance.” Despite that, Xu Haizhou agreed seriously.