After Huang Dashan left, Lin Wan used a tricycle to pull the four bags of mushrooms home in two trips.
The next day, Huang Dashan came over happily early in the morning. Seeing that the shop wasn’t open, he sat at the door waiting.
But as he waited, he felt something was off. It was already past ten, and the store still hadn’t opened.
His first thought was that Lin Wan had tricked him. Luckily, he came over again today.
Huang Dashan was visibly angry and was about to leave when he thought better of it and decided to ask the small shop next door.
He generously bought himself a box of two-cent cigarettes, "Big sister, when does this store open?"
"They open in the afternoon, around two or three. Brother, if you want to eat, you’d better go elsewhere first. They run a night market and only operate at night."
"Operating only at night, isn’t it a waste to keep it closed during the day?"
"Oh dear brother, you’ve got it wrong. Their business is good. When it’s cold, they do hotpot. Now that it’s hot, hotpot’s not doable, so they concentrate on the night market with grilled dishes. Their business is brisk, and the food is tasty."
Huang Dashan left the small shop, the gloom on his face dissipating, and patiently waited till past two in the afternoon when the shop opened. "Brother Huang, when did you get here?"
"Not long ago, I just came to tell you, sis, your task—I’ve taken it."
Lin Wan glanced at the many cigarette butts on the ground and realized he’d been there for a while, but didn’t ask more, quickly bringing him inside and giving him a bottle of chilled drink. "Brother Huang, can you deliver it tomorrow?"
"I can, definitely deliver it to you."
With good prices and home delivery, this business is doable, Lin Wan was secretly thrilled. "Brother Huang, you don’t have to come so early from now on. We open at around two in the afternoon. Just deliver when the shop opens. If the supply is abundant, even delivering once every two or three days is fine. Crayfish can be kept in water and won’t die in two to three days."
"I can, we started casting nets yesterday afternoon. Everyone in the village is catching crayfish. We’ll definitely supply your goods, Sister Lin." "Okay, then I trouble you, Brother Huang."
Huang Dashan was a straightforward person. The crayfish he delivered were all large red ones. Slippery fish were hard to catch, but he brought various kinds, and Lin Wan picked a few good ones for grilling, about twenty. She didn’t make it hard for Huang Dashan.
This eased Huang Dashan’s concerns quite a bit, and he even gifted her two extra fish.
Lin Wan settled the bill with them directly. One day’s work could earn over fifty yuan, leaving the two brothers overjoyed. After giving some to the brigade, and sacrificing over a pound, they made quite a lot in one trip.
Each ended up with five yuan, and over a month, they could earn more than a hundred.
More than a hundred yuan, they could buy a bicycle. Reform and opening up were indeed beneficial.
On the way, the two brothers were hoping their village would dissolve soon. The rich people in S City were still around; some came this way specifically to eat grilled lamb and crayfish.
The lamb and beef on the market still required meat vouchers, which she didn’t have enough of, so she had to go to the black market and find a long-term supplier. It’s costly, but the citizens loved it.
The middle-aged man Wu Liu, who visited her store often since it opened, Lin Wan learned through conversations that he runs a foreign trade company in S City, specializing in dealing goods and earning profit margins.
He often stayed with business partners and came to eat here.