"It’s much warmer here than over there; in winter over there, you dress like a bear. I’m used to it, so I’ll help you in the shop for the next few days. You and Mom should rest well."
"There must be snow over there. I’ve never seen snow since I was a kid. I really want to see it," said Han Yi, who is local to this city.
"There will be a chance. Before coming back this year, the teacher told me to help serve meals in the canteen next year. That would cover my living expenses for a month. When there’s a chance next year, I’ll take you and Mom for a tour in the big city."
It’s almost the end of the year, and the street market gets busier by the day. Their family business is also doing better than usual.
Thankfully, my older brother is back to help. Otherwise, Mom and I wouldn’t have managed.
On the sixteenth of the last lunar month, just as they were busy at midday, eight or nine people rushed into the shop.
Without saying a word, they drove out the customers and started smashing things with wooden sticks in hand.
"What are you doing? Stop it right now, or I’ll call the police!" Lin Yinghui stepped forward to seize the sticks but didn’t succeed and instead got hit several times.
Lin Wan quickly ran up to pull Lin Yinghui back, "Brother!"
"Call the police? Still thinking of calling the police? Go ahead, I guarantee you won’t get out once you’re in," said Er Qiangzi, who hadn’t been seen for a long time, appearing arrogantly in the shop doorway.
"It’s you? Wasn’t it supposed to be two months? How come you’re out so quickly?"
"Xiao Wan, do you know him?" Liang Hongmei held onto the two children, worried they might go forward.
"Mom, it’s a long story," Lin Wan said, looking at Er Qiangzi, "What do you want?"
"Nothing." Er Qiangzi crossed his arms over his chest, glanced at Lin Wan, then said to the two staff members who had entered the doorway: "Brother Yang, their food is not clean. Last time I ate here, I got diarrhea after going back."
One of the staff members nodded at Er Qiangzi and then turned to Lin Wan and her family, saying, "Do you not know that what you’re doing can’t be seen in daylight?"
"Comrade, the loudspeakers keep encouraging us to eat and dress well," Liang Hongmei said, trembling inside from the scene.
"Encouraging you to thrive doesn’t mean you can harm the common people. You make a meal with your family’s grains and sell it at such a high price. Who gave you the authority?" The staff member looked around and continued, "We suspect your shop’s hygiene is poor, making people sick. Now we have to conduct an inspection."
"Comrade, this is our first time doing business, and we don’t know much about this. Please give us some leeway," Lin Wan said, as they didn’t have proper operational procedures.
"Harming the common people is a serious matter. If someone dies from eating, do you think leniency is easy to come by?" Brother Yang said, then told his companions, "Take everything, seal up the shop. Considering it’s your first offense and your lack of education, we won’t arrest you this time. But if there’s a next time, you’ll be in jail."
"Comrade, we earned everything here through hard work. Please have mercy and let us off. We’re just a family of orphans and widows earning pennies day by day," Liang Hongmei panicked upon hearing their belongings would be confiscated and the shop closed. She clutched Brother Yang, pleading.
Brother Yang shrugged off Liang Hongmei in disgust, "Stop whining about poverty here. If you don’t want to be shut down, use your brain and think."
As Brother Yang spoke, he urged them to hurry and collect things.
The mother and her two children rushed to stop them from taking things, not caring how many hits they took; it didn’t seem painful now.
Watching as the belongings gathered over the past few months were all taken away, Liang Hongmei, unable to bear the heartache, sat on the ground crying.
Lin Wan glared angrily at Er Qiangzi, who was gloating on the side, "This is revenge."