Mr. Wen snapped his knife into the chopping board, the business yesterday was good, and that family’s business was worse than theirs. He was thinking, once they could no longer keep up, he would take over that shop. Such a small shop couldn’t possibly ask for much rent, at most 30 yuan. Their family alone made nearly 200 yuan just yesterday. That damn Hua family is despicable, the absolute worst capitalists. They make thousands a month, yet only pay fifty yuan to their son Wendi; they don’t need that trivial fifty yuan. Their Wendi has skills now and can make delicious pancakes himself. Do they even need them?
Unexpectedly, the next day, the Hua family opened their doors, but they weren’t selling scallion pancakes, but something else, and his heart swelled with more pride, thinking the Huas got scared and didn’t dare sell the same item as them.
But his smugness didn’t last long before he saw the Hua family’s shop crowded with people. Sneaking a peek while using the restroom, he wished he hadn’t looked. Almost made him explode with rage.
What? A small pancake with some vegetables costs 20 cents, with some meat costs 25 cents, and that sour and spicy noodle dish, selling for 30 cents a bowl? Are they robbing people or what?
He came back and pulled Wendi to ask, "Dan, make that sour and spicy noodle dish they offer. I saw many people eating it, and it costs 30 cents a bowl, it’s such a money-making affair. And those lotus leaf pancakes, so tiny and just filled with some vegetables, cost 20 cents. We work ourselves to death and our pancakes cost just ten cents, so cheap, and now no one’s eating them anymore, they all want those 20-cent lotus leaf pancakes."
"Dad..." Wendi paled and stomped his foot, "I don’t know how to make those."
"How useless can you be?" Mr. Wen suddenly lost his temper and slapped Wendi across the face.
Wendi covered his face, feeling truly wronged, "Dad, I really don’t know how. When I came here, they were just selling scallion pancakes, and as I said, anyone can make those filled vegetables, but the taste depends on their sauces, even Aunt Hua doesn’t know. It’s all ready-made from someone else, where it comes from, I don’t know, let alone their current lotus leaf pancakes and sour and spicy noodles. I really haven’t seen them."
Hearing this, Mr. Wen felt an urge to beat his useless daughter again. She couldn’t even learn that; what was she good for? They haven’t made any money yet, and this month’s rent is uncertain. The whole family is cramped in a tiny shabby house, just that tiny bit of space. He still wants to build a house and get his son a wife. If they don’t make money, he’ll beat this useless daughter to death.
Of course, this was just the beginning. Their business was neither good nor bad; initially, they could see some money coming in. But originally there were many vendors, and moreover, people went for the good flavors. The scallion pancakes were exactly as Qin Xiangnuan had said, some people really got tired of it, they all switched to eating Aunt Hua’s lotus leaf pancakes instead. Plus, the Wen family really didn’t pay attention to hygiene. Someone saw Mr. Wen coming back from the toilet and not washing his hands before kneading the dough, and to save costs, the pancakes were made smaller and smaller.
"Dad," Wendi couldn’t watch anymore.
"These pancakes can’t be made smaller, Xiang Nuan said, when doing business we can’t skimp ."
"What do you know?" Mr. Wen, uneducated, cursed terribly, "Who’s Xiang Nuan, who’s a fart? Am I your father, or is she your father? You go learn how those lotus leaf pancakes are made, or else, I’ll beat you to death."