She made herself something to eat, because after sitting on the train for two days, the moment her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep. In the early morning, just as dawn was breaking, Qin Xiangnuan got up. The weather in Capital City was still nice at that time, without any sandstorms, and one could hear the crisp chirping of birds in the morning.
She went to the park and looked for a place to set up her stall. Indeed, it was a good spot; there were quite a lot of people. Some elderly people were exercising, practicing Tai Chi, playing chess, and even singing Beijing opera.
Qin Xiangnuan found herself a spot to set up her stall. At that time, there wasn’t a restriction against street vending yet; people just weren’t aware of it. Compared to Capital City, there were more businesses in the Southern regions. She probably stayed there until about eight o’clock, by which time the number of people exercising had dwindled, but there were still many who passed through the park on their way to work.
Qin Xiangnuan calculated her time. The nearest school to the Siheyuan was just a few steps away. She would get up in the morning, sell lotus leaf pancakes for two hours, then go to school—she could keep up with this schedule. No matter what, she was determined to attend high school and college.
By the time she returned, she had already prepared the vegetables needed for the morning. Initially, she thought about selling lotus leaf buns with vegetables, but eventually, she found it too troublesome since steaming them took time. Therefore, she decided to make Conghua pancakes, which could be eaten with or without vegetables, and could be made and sold simultaneously.
Yes, that’s how she spent her days. She prepared the dough in advance, and in the morning, she placed the stove and other items on a tricycle. She had modified the tricycle herself; the stove and a cutting board were on it, and there was no need to move the stove—a young girl like her really couldn’t manage to move them around.
Before dawn, she rode her tricycle to the park. Despite the early hour, there were still people around.
She parked her tricycle at a strategically selected spot on the busiest path, which was quite suitable for selling goods. She arranged everything, opened the furnace door, and inside, the coal was burning vigorously.
After washing her hands with a plastic bottle, she started making Conghua pancakes. As the sky began to lighten, more people started to appear.
"Hey, is there food for sale today?" A person rushing by was surprised to see Qin Xiangnuan’s stall and smelled the inviting aroma.
"How much?" This person had already taken out money, incredibly hungry, and would have to wait until noon if he didn’t eat now.
"Uncle, this is Conghua pancake. It’s 40 cents with vegetables and 30 cents without."
The cost of living in Capital City was generally higher than other places, so she raised the price slightly, but it wasn’t by much, which made it easier to handle the transactions.
The 30-cent Conghua pancake was mere 30 cents.
The person initially thought one pancake would suffice, but then found that the vegetables Qin Xiangnuan stir-fried looked appetizing: finely sliced potatoes, sweet and sour cabbage, finely minced spicy peppers, nicely colored carrot strips, seaweed strips, and a sauce that looked tasty.
"Add some vegetables," he said while handing over ten cents to Qin Xiangnuan, who received it and put on a plastic bag over her hand. She then took a freshly made Conghua pancake, sliced it open, and started adding a generous amount of vegetables inside. The vegetables were cheap, so adding extra wouldn’t make her lose much, and a small pancake couldn’t hold that much anyway.