Yin Yue set up a stall in the night market. Although the income was meager, she was supported by an inner belief that said, “I can definitely make big money if I’m reborn.” So, she could barely manage, putting on a smile to deal with customers all day. Originally, she could scrape by like this.
However, what she couldn’t accept was that she, a daughter of heaven, a woman who refused to give up, she had actually become a part of the control group!
Leaving Wenshui Village, she and her husband Qin Mao, who struggled to establish themselves, were not the only ones. There was another middle-aged couple from the same village, originally from Guangdong Province. As they grew older and found it increasingly difficult to work in the fields due to physical exhaustion, they had no choice but to borrow money from the villagers and set up a stall to do business in the city.
But unlike Yin Yue, this couple was sincere and had excellent skills. They ran a breakfast stall, selling common items such as buns, steamed buns, fried dough sticks, flower rolls, small steamed buns, red sugar sponge cake, eight treasure porridge, and shumai. The most special items were some sugar-filled custard buns and walnut buns. They only set up their stall for a few hours each day, but the customers always flocked to them. Often, in less than two hours, the entire stall would be empty, and the couple could pack up and go home.
Their choice of location was also very strategic, often near state-owned factories or school entrances, taking advantage of the peak flow of people during the morning, whether heading to work or school.
Coupled with their excellent skills, they had many repeat customers. Some citizens, upon seeing the couple’s faces, developed a habit of coming to buy breakfast spontaneously. So, in just half a year, the couple earned a considerable amount of money, and returned home in a prosperous manner for the Chinese New Year.
Meanwhile, Yin Yue found herself with empty pockets, which greatly stimulated her. With her wealth of advanced experiences, she couldn’t believe she was still not as successful as the elderly couple from the same village! Ordinary buns and steamed buns were actually earning more than her?? The fact that she was outperformed by the elderly couple stirred her competitive spirit.
Ignoring Qin Mao’s advice to “improve our skills or switch to another business,” she began buying fresh bones, as well as seasonings like peppercorns, chili bean paste, star anise, fermented black beans, and more from the market. She started preparing the ingredients for a spicy hot pot base, even preparing three levels of spiciness: mild, medium, and numbingly spicy with the addition of facing heaven chili peppers. She refused to believe that this Sichuan-style cuisine wouldn’t capture the locals’ attention.
After several failures and depleting all her savings to buy bones for broth, she finally managed to produce a decent product. Feeling the spicy and refreshing taste, she couldn’t wait to set up her stall and showcase her creation.
However, it was the same old story. In the initial period, everyone was attracted by this novel snack. When customers flooded in, Yin Yue’s ideas were copied again, and she even awakened many stall owners, prompting them to create spicy delicacies that suited the local taste, such as burritos with spicy strips, oden with small chili peppers, red and white yang soup, and more, each of which was very popular.
Unconsciously, Yin Yue has provided a dowry for others.1contributed valuable knowledge, ideas, or benefits to others
Despite not needing a storefront for her stall, meaning lower costs, Yin Yue’e and her husband had to wake up before dawn every day to go to the market and tirelessly purchase ingredients. In the past, Yin Yue, at the Yin family home, was accustomed to sleeping in as much as she liked, sometimes even luxuriously sleeping until mid-morning. The most she would endure for this habit was the occasional scolding from the elderly lady, which didn’t bother her much.
But now things were different. If they went to the market late, the vegetables and meat would all be picked over, and nothing would be fresh, making it impossible to attract customers. So Yin Yue had to endure, getting up early every day, and when night fell, they would tirelessly push the stall to the night market. After a while, Yin Yue couldn’t take it anymore. She felt that everything was far from the scenes she had imagined for making big money.
Besides the cost of these ingredients, they had to light a fire to cook at home, which incurred expenses for gas, water, and electricity. There was also the rent for the house. The landlord had already expressed dissatisfaction with them cooking at home every day, even harshly driving the young couple out several times. Now, they were even starting to cook spicy hot pot in the middle of the night. Wasn’t this preventing the neighbors from sleeping?
So they had to find another place.
Moreover, because Yin Yue’s soup-making skills were really subpar, to save money, they used bones that weren’t fresh enough. Added to that were issues like sometimes putting too much or too little seasoning, insufficient cooking time, and other problems. With this inconsistent soup-making skill, they naturally couldn’t retain repeat customers. Without repeat customers, they could only attract young people looking to try something new for one-time consumption. However, those young people weren’t fools. After trying it and finding the taste nothing special beyond being spicy and refreshing, they wouldn’t come back. Not to mention other stalls also offered spicy hot pot, with better prices and flavors. They would surely choose other stalls.
So after several months, instead of making money, they were still drowning in debt.
Counting the meager income at night, Yin Yue’s eyes were exhausted. She held her frustration inside, looking at her husband sleeping soundly beside her. Every day, he only knew how to nod and agree with customers, leaving all the thoughts about making money to her. She worried about this meager income every day, losing sleep over it, while the other side slept soundly without a care in the world. The more Yin Yue looked, the more annoyed she became, unable to control herself from kicking him off the bed.
“What’s wrong, wife?” Qin Mao, who didn’t get angry at his increasingly unpredictable wife after marriage, rubbed his eyes and climbed up from the cold floor. It was a cold day, and he wanted to return to the warm bed.
But his good-natured appearance and easygoing demeanor only further irritated Yin Yue. She kicked him off the bed again, grabbed the blanket, and with tears streaming down her face, she cried out, “Why are you so useless? Why? You weren’t like this before. You used to be capable of making big money! Why do I see no abilities in you now, just like those useless people in the village? Haven’t I treated you well enough? Why don’t you quickly become a capable man and repay me properly!”
She wanted him to treat her like her sister did, to hold her in the palm of his hand, like a delicate hothouse flower, sheltered from wind and rain, without worrying about the trivialities of family matters. Just be a refined and extravagant rich lady. What was the difference between her and her sister? Why was the same Qin Mao so drastically different in performance? Thinking about this, tears uncontrollably fell from Yin Yue’s eyes, moistening the blanket.
Before? But he used to be like this. Qin Mao was puzzled by his wife’s complaints. Of course, he felt uncomfortable after being scolded and berated by his wife. However, since coming to the city, he had seen everything his wife did and the strategies she planned. He knew they couldn’t make money, and they were still in debt. His wife was under a lot of pressure and suffering. So, he understood her bad temper, and seeing her with swollen red eyes and teary expression, he could only tolerate and comfort her.
“Don’t cry, wife. You’re right. I’m useless and can’t provide you with a good life. But we’re still young. As long as we’re willing to endure hardship, our days will definitely get better.” He said these words sincerely, and when Yin Yue heard them, her restless emotions were slightly eased. She thought maybe she had been too impatient.
Qin Mao was only twenty-two years old now. In contemporary terms, he was just an ordinary senior in college. At this age, many boys are caught between immaturity and maturity, often seeming a bit clueless. It’s normal for them to look a bit unsuccessful for a while. Perhaps, after enduring for a couple more years, he would mature.
Yin Yue could only console herself this way, recalling her sister Yin Yujiao sitting in a small car, wearing a fur coat, holding a precious pet, looking like a wealthy lady. She imagined that same image with her own face, constantly providing positive reassurance to herself.
After the couple’s argument subsided, the landlord downstairs knocked on their door again, complaining, “It’s midnight, why aren’t you two sleeping? What’s all the fuss about? By the way, I told you to move out within three days. Why haven’t you moved out yet?” Nowadays, the sound insulation between floors and rooms is not good. When one family has a quarrel, the whole building knows. Since Yin Yue and Qin Mao often had quarrels, it became a frequent occurrence, earning them the displeasure of their neighbors.
Being scolded and even driven away, Qin Mao felt embarrassed. He quickly apologized and repeatedly assured them that they would move out as soon as they found a place. However, Yin Yue wore a displeased expression, muttered a couple of curses, and then, after Qin Mao returned looking like he’d been scolded to the point of being drenched in dog blood, she came up with a new idea.
“Qin Mao, customers are saying that our hot pot base is not tasty.”
Qin Mao smiled helplessly, feeling tired. “You just realized that?” He had told his wife several times before, but she had always been stubborn, insisting that the key to hot pot was not the broth but the spices. As long as it was numbing and spicy enough, and not stingy with the chili peppers, it would be good.
However, reality proved that the deliciousness of hot pot was indeed greatly influenced by the quality of the broth.
Yin Yue snapped out of her stubbornness and pouted. “But I don’t know how to make broth.” In the Yin family, her sister Yin Yujiao was the one who handled household chores and was skilled in the kitchen. Yin Yujiao was even willing to teach her sister how to cook, including making broth. However, Yin Yue, finding it too tedious and tiring, declined the offer, thinking that having her sister in charge of cooking at home was enough.
In reality, what she worried about was that if she learned how to cook, Grandma Luo would definitely force her into the kitchen, and she would be compelled to take up the spatula and cook for the whole family. Wouldn’t that make her the family’s cook? Why should she cook for Yin Minglu, that useless cousin of hers? She refused to do it!
Now Yin Yue regretted not immediately agreeing and even putting effort into learning when her sister wanted to teach her. She regretted the current situation where her broth-making skills were lacking. She truly regretted her past decisions.
Hearing her wife say she couldn’t make broth, Qin Mao said, “It’s okay, we can learn. Many things are learned from scratch. As long as we are willing to learn, our skills will improve, and when that happens, we can switch to selling in a different market. More customers will come.” Qin Mao was confident about this.
However, Yin Yue didn’t share the same optimism. She pondered and said, “I think our hot pot technique has been copied everywhere, and the market is clearly saturated. Let’s not do it. Besides, we have to get up early every day to buy ingredients at the market. It’s too hard. Let’s try something else.”
Without waiting for Qin Mao to speak, Yin Yue had already decided on her own, “There’s a lot of foot traffic at night. Let’s not do hot pot; let’s do barbecue. Set it up like a big stall, buy some tables, chairs, and benches, so customers can sit and eat. When things stabilize, we can sell beer, drinks, and crayfish; it will definitely sell well.” Previously, she disliked the strong smoke from barbecue, thinking that being around the stove for an extended period would accelerate skin aging. Now, thinking about it, she realized she had been mistaken. When it came to making money, there was no need to be concerned about aging. What did accelerated aging matter when the money was in hand?
Moreover, the more important point was that Qin Mao would be the one doing the grilling, not her. Aging and greasiness had nothing to do with her.
Yin Yue controlled the family’s finances, and her strong and authoritative control, along with her decisive and swift actions, made it impossible for Qin Mao to object. The matter was settled.
So, when the New Year came, the couple not only didn’t make any money, but their debts increased even more. They were even kicked out in the dead of winter because they couldn’t afford the rent, with the new landlord showing no mercy.
The couple could only sneak back to Wenshui Village. The festive atmosphere for the New Year was already well set, with every household hanging joyful red lanterns at their doors. Watching the smiles on the faces of relatives and friends as they met, Yin Yue felt a deep sense of loss.
In the past six months, not only did she fail to make money, but due to frequent taste-testing of barbecue, her figure had become plump, her skin turned yellowish, dark, and rough. Because life was not going well, she appeared to have aged three years. Comparing herself to her good sister Yin Yujiao, who had been diligently studying at home, she noticed that Yujiao’s skin was fair, delicate, and her face had even become a bit rounder.
In just half a year, the two had already created a gap in appearance. If they were not from the same village, people might have thought that Yin Yujiao was the younger sister, and Yin Yue was the older one. Upon returning home, she even saw Yin Yujiao applying a gel-like skincare product to her face. She immediately widened her eyes. It was a well-known domestic brand often seen in TV commercials and sold in department stores, with a price tag of fifty yuan per box.
Every time she saw it, she felt envious, but she couldn’t bear to buy it, and most importantly, she couldn’t afford it. How could her sister, a poor girl from a neighboring village, afford such luxury?
The answer was soon revealed.
It turned out that the cousin, Xiao Bao, who had been ignored by her all along, had played nearly fifty roles in the past six months. Recently, he was selected as the main actor for the teenage years in the drama “Love Story of the Fragrant Tower” and was featured in the best-selling magazine “Popular” in the city. His handsome face became well-known to the public.
Numerous offers for acting and advertising poured in, resulting in a substantial increase in income. With the rise in his popularity and earnings, the family’s financial situation gradually improved. Although the child hadn’t returned home in six months, he continuously sent many things back to the village from the city.
Everyone in the family received a share, including money and daily necessities. For Yin Yujiao, the elder sister, he bought beautiful hair ties, snowflake cream for skincare, hand cream, and even makeup products like lipstick. Each item was carefully selected by the young boy.
There were also small leather shoes and a little leather coat, which she hesitated to wear and kept locked in the wardrobe. The transformed Yin Yujiao, presented to everyone, resembled a fashionable city girl.
Hearing all this, Yin Yue felt a wave of dizziness and had to steady herself by leaning against the wall. When she left Wenshui Village before, she was eager because she had fantasized about making big money, establishing a successful business, and becoming the boss, counting money comfortably every day. She envisioned returning to Wenshui Village during the New Year, wearing fashionable leather shoes and a stylish leather coat displayed in the mall, showing off how much she earned in the city.
However, in the end, she had nothing. She accumulated a pile of debts and achieved nothing. On the contrary, her sister, whom she looked down upon, had dressed up beautifully, reminiscent of their past life.
All of this was brought about by her second cousin, Xiao Bao, the little boy she had underestimated, who was now a golden boy at the age of nine. How could she accept this? Naturally, she was deeply affected.
Even when she and Qin Mao returned to the village, the people who lent her money half a year ago quickly came to her door. Everyone’s reason was, “Yue’er, it’s the New Year, and everyone urgently needs money. When will you pay back the money you owe us? You promised to repay in two months. You can’t go back on your word.”
“!!!” Where would she get the money to repay them? Yin Yue was harassed to the point of being overwhelmed, and she could only say a few perfunctory words. However, these people were relentless and didn’t go to her family. It was because Grandma Luo had previously made it clear that Yin Yue, once married, was considered part of the Qin family, not related to the Yin family. Therefore, they only recognized her and her husband, blocking them to demand repayment.
Just when Yin Yue was helplessly entangled, a black sedan, after enduring the baptism of muddy roads, slowly drove into Wenshui Village.
Yin Yue’s eyes widened in an instant, bursting with intense envy. However, the car stopped right in front of her. The window rolled down slowly, revealing a face she could never forget.
“Sister, why are you here?” The person was still swinging his legs, wearing expensive-looking small leather shoes, and small sunglasses hanging on the collar. His tone carried a subtle hint of schadenfreude.
The author has something to say: I’m late! Sorry for keeping you waiting, lovely readers!
Thanks to the little angels for voting and nourishing me with the nutrient solutions!
The author has something to say: I’m late! Sorry for keeping you waiting, lovely readers!
Thanks to the little angels for voting and nourishing me with the nutrient solutions!
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