181 Chapter 181 Fireworks (1)
In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day of the new year, and they opened for business. However, business was slow in the new year, and the idle and relaxed days ended on the 15th.
Because of the fireworks show, the town was bustling with people.
Zhou Ying and Gu Chengrui went to their respective shops early in the morning to get busy.
Zhou Ying and Chun Niang rolled out a lot of sweet dumplings, planning to fry them at night to join in the festival.
All kinds of stalls were set up from the afternoon until the evening. The street, which was already narrow, was completely congested.
They set up a small stall to sell the sweet dumplings. Zhou Ying also requested that lanterns be specially made with the big words “Fried Sweet Dumplings” on them to be eye-catching on the night street.
“Candied gourd, sweet and sour candied gourd. Three coppers for one, five coppers for two.”
When Zhou Ying heard this, she and Sun Hongliang went out to buy a bunch for everyone.
Just as she was about to turn around, she felt that someone was touching her money pouch. She immediately grabbed the hand and looked down; it was a skinny seven or eight-year-old child wearing beggar’s clothes, looking at her with a face of panic.
“Let’s go. We’ll talk about why you’re stealing.” Zhou Ying said as she grabbed the candied gourd in one hand and dragged him to her store with the other.
When the child saw this, he immediately frowned and cried out, “Help! There are human traffickers! Please save me!”
“It seems like you’re familiar with the business. Someone must have taught you before.” Zhou Ying’s grip tightened.
Sun Hongliang looked at the child and said, “Kid, you’ve mistakenly targeted the wrong person. No one in this area doesn’t know Manager Zhou, so no one will care even if you scream your lungs out.”
The child shouting at the top of his lungs was stunned for a moment and glanced around. Sure enough, no one was coming to help him. Thinking of that, he raised his hand and tried to bite Zhou Ying’s hand.
Zhou Ying had to retract her hand, and the child immediately took the opportunity to disappear into the crowd.
Seeing this, Zhou Ying had no choice but to return to the store empty-handed. She asked Sun Hongliang to put away the candied gourd in oil paper before asking, “Didn’t we take care of all the little beggars in the town? Why is there more?”
“During the new year, a small group of refugees came to town. Could he be one of them?
“Another possibility is that someone previously hiding somewhere took advantage to steal today.” Sun Hongliang spoke with uncertainty.
Zhou Ying looked at the busy street and said, “There are crooks mixed in with the honest folks tonight, and it’s easy for something to happen. We must be careful.”
“Understood, boss. I’ll get the band of children to come over; they’re smarter than adults.” Sun Hongliang assured her as he called for a child beggar guarding the ventilation fan, giving him a task.
The child beggar immediately took off his vest and hat and ran out.
Seeing this, Zhou Ying went to the back and reminded everyone to be more vigilant tonight.
At night, business was booming, especially at their store that sold fried sweet dumplings. Eight hundred eighty-eight dumplings were sold out in less than an hour.
After dinner, most of everyone went to the dock to watch the fireworks, and the street was much quieter.
When everyone had finished, Zhou Ying handed out the candied gourds, each with a stick.
After they finished, Gu Wen smiled and asked, “Mistress, we’re almost done here. Can we go to the river to watch the fireworks?
“I heard there are also activities such as praying to the gods, lion dancing, and so on. At midnight, there will also be all kinds of fireworks, and it will be a beautiful night.”