After the lunch shift ended, Cheng Su took Ning Ge, the porter, to the market where she bargained repeatedly and spent one hundred and eighty yuan to buy two electric fans. When paying, she sighed deeply, her heart aching with the expense.
Each carrying one, they headed back, and after installing one of the fans in the small restaurant and feeling the cool breeze, Cheng Su finally felt a bit better.
There’s no gain without pain, she would earn it back eventually. Seeing her savings decrease, she was even more determined not to sell the pineapple jam recipe.
The jam had a low cost, high profit, and quick returns, definitely faster than the restaurant’s revenue, but to keep operating, she needed to go through the proper procedures.
"Aren’t we installing this one?" Ning Ge asked, pointing to the other fan.
"That one goes home," Cheng Su replied, glancing at the sky and noticing the yard was already tidied up. She tidied herself a bit, then called for Ning Ge to go home with her.
As Ning Ge carried the fan, a sudden thought crossed his mind, but he wasn’t sure about it.
Back at the compound, people saw Cheng Su with someone they didn’t recognize and couldn’t help but inquire.
"Oh, this is a friend of our Old Qi, who came to Qing City for a visit. He’s staying with us temporarily." Cheng Su explained with a smile.
"He’s quite a handsome young man, what’s his name, does he have a partner?"
The warmhearted auntie’s eyes sparkled slightly upon seeing Ning Ge’s face, and the others’ eyes were practically glued to him.
"Auntie, my name is Ning Ge, and I’m still single." Ning Ge, who was quite sociable, replied with a smile, "If auntie is willing, find me someone as beautiful as you."
"My, what a sweet-talker this young man is. Alright, leave it to me, and I’ll find you a bride who’s as beautiful and virtuous as they come," she promised.
Cheng Su gave Ning Ge a sly glance.
When they had left the crowd and were heading towards the stairway, she said, "Don’t create trouble for yourself. Sister-in-law Huang loves playing matchmaker. Watch her set you up with a dozen girls for blind dates."
Ning Ge was startled. "You’re serious?"
Cheng Su scoffed. "Do you think I’m joking?" She didn’t want any unsightly incidents in her house.
Ning Ge suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
After locking up the bike, they entered the building only to see Hualing carrying a bag of vegetables to the kitchen and looking surprised at the fan Ning Ge was carrying.
Hualing knew about Ning Ge showing up at Cheng Su’s home these past few days, but she didn’t know the specifics and was too jealous of Cheng Su to ask.
Now, seeing Ning Ge carrying a box with a fan printed on it, she was somewhat stunned.
"You’re back, did you buy a new fan?" Hualing stared at the fan.
Heaven knows how long she had wanted a fan, and yet Old Chen just hadn’t bought her one.
Cheng Su’s family already had a fan, and now, are they buying another new one?
"Yeah, we only have one fan at home, and it’s really inconvenient to move it around. We have two rooms, you know, and if we have guests, it gets hot. So we just decided to buy another one for more comfort whenever someone stays over," Cheng Su responded cheerfully, taking out her keys to open the door and let Ning Ge in.
The simple act of buying an extra fan, just to make guests comfortable and for convenience, without concern for cost, made Hualing’s heart swell with envy even more.