He Fang spoke with lingering fear, "Earlier, I thought earning money was easy for you, but now it seems difficult. Girl, it would be best if you let your man help handle this. As a young woman, it’s unsafe for you to face several men. What if they really attempt something?"
This time they brought four men but failed to drive Tong Yao away. Next time, they are sure to send even more fierce and worse guys. Having a man for support would be a good idea.
Tong Yao did not want to continue the topic and brushed it off, saying, "We’ll see when the time comes!"
Seeing that Tong Yao didn’t take her advice seriously, He Fang earnestly tried to persuade her, "Girl, don’t think I’m being a busybody. Without a man, some things are just impossible. My husband is lazy and doesn’t work, but I still don’t want to divorce him. Part of the reason is that a man is needed at home. Without a man to support the family, the neighbours will bully you..."
Mid-sentence, Mr. Niu arrived on his bicycle as usual. He first asked Tong Yao after dismounting, "Yaoyao, did I disrupt anything?"
Tong Yao gave a playful smile and shook her head, "Not at all, your timing is perfect."
Mr. Niu breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Tong Yao sold milk tea to students and it had to be prepared before school started. The breeding farms was not exactly close by and he had to deliver to another place first, which required him to arrive by 6 a.m. Luckily, he hadn’t caused any delays and Tong Yao was good-tempered.
If they lost such a valuable customer, his entire family would be starving.
Seeing Mr. Niu about to leave after delivering the fresh milk, He Fang had a sudden idea. She leaned over to Tong Yao and whispered, "Girl, why don’t you ask Mr. Niu to stay and help out? Even though he’s a bit older, he is still better than us two women and a child!"
As Tong Yao was about to pour fresh milk into the pot, she heard this suggestion. She softly comforted her, "Sister Fang, don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, I’ll handle it. You just need to take care of Niuniu and the stall as I told you."
"Why won’t you take my advice?" Seeing that Tong Yao still wouldn’t listen, He Fang spontaneously tried to stop Mr. Niu who was about to leave, "Mr. Niu, are you going somewhere else to deliver fresh milk?"
In order to maintain the freshness of the milk in the scorching weather, Tong Yao required Mr. Niu to deliver it three times a day. With one delivery in the morning, one around noon and another in the afternoon, Mr. Niu was free from deliveries in the morning and could, therefore, be asked to stay and help them.
"I have to deliver fresh milk to some individual customers." Mr. Niu was a warm-hearted man and guessed that He Fang might need help with something. So he said, "If you need help with anything, just tell me."
Before He Fang could reply, Tong Yao spoke first, "Mr. Niu, it’s nothing serious. Sister Fang was just asking casually. You should leave to deliver the milk soon. Don’t be late."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Niu didn’t hesitate any further and set off on his bicycle.
Watching as Mr. Niu left, He Fang grew anxious, "Girl, do you think I’m meddling too much? If you had asked him just now, Mr. Niu would have definitely agreed to help us look after things. We are a big customer for him. If we can’t keep up with the milk tea business, it would be a loss for him too!"
Having known each other for almost half a month, Tong Yao was usually good-tempered and polite, with them both being familiar with each other. He Fang directly expressed that she thought Tong Yao was young and clueless about the severity of these matters. As the older one, she had tried to give Tong Yao advice, but now she was a bit upset at anguishing over a thankless task.
Tong Yao was also getting a bit fed up. She was not afraid to offend people, with a stern look on her face she spoke earnestly, "Sister Fang, I know you are concerned about me, but I hope you don’t worry too much. I have my own thoughts. Mr. Niu is just a milk delivery man. It’s not his duty to do these things for us."
Tong Yao addressed He Fang as ’Sister Fang’ out of politeness. They were in an employer-employee relationship, one paid and the other worked. But now, as He Fang was getting overly involved, Tong Yao frowned.
Utilizing Mr. Niu to keep an eye on the venue was similar to how some people in the 21st century exploit delivery drivers to get extra work out of them. It involved others in things that were beyond their responsibilities, and Tong Yao disliked this.
It was only then that He Fang noticed Tong Yao’s stern face. Seeing that she was genuinely upset, she paused and fell silent.
Despite of Tong Yao usually being as cheerful and affable as a child, when she turned serious, she exuded an air of authority that was somewhat intimidating.
Niuniu, with her big eyes, looked from Tong Yao to He Fang. Even at her young age, she keenly observed that they seemed to be arguing. She cautiously tugged at Tong Yao’s clothes and asked in a soft voice, "Sister Yaoyao, are you mad at mom?"
Upon hearing her, Tong Yao flashed a smile and gently pinched Niuniu’s cheek, "Sis is not angry, Niuniu, don’t worry. Sit on the chair and play for a while. I’ll get you a milk tea later."
On hearing this, Niuniu immediately grinned. She happily ran over to sit down and looked forward to drinking milk tea. She liked Tong Yao a lot as she brought her out, gave her milk tea to drink and she didn’t have to see her scary father at home.
...
The school’s general store was run by a middle-aged couple. The man, Wang Fugui, in his fifties while the woman, Yuan Erhua, was in her forties. The couple had a quite comfortable life running a store in the school. Their yearly income was higher than that of the school teachers. Being the only general store in the school, no one competed in business with them. Their daily income was good and they had built three new houses in the village. They had not borrowed a fixed penny from anyone for their three sons’ weddings.
Just when life was going well, they noticed a sudden decline in the sales of soda and popsicles some time ago. They initially thought it was temporary until they found out that students were filling their water bottles with a dark yellow beverage, a milk tea sold by a young girl named Tong Yao at the school gate.
Upon hearing this, Wang Fugui immediately went to talk with the principal. As they were relatives, he thought the principal would give him face and drive Tong Yao away. But to his surprise, the principal refused, saying that the school had no jurisdiction over what happened outside its gate.
An enraged Wang Fugui endured for a couple of days. As he watched his business slipping away, he couldn’t help but rally a few of his relatives for a meal at a restaurant, asking them to drive away the girl selling milk tea. He had already checked that the boss of the milk tea was a girl in her late teens.
His relatives vowed to shoulder the responsibility, and Wang Fugui was assured that he could get rid of Tong Yao. Unexpectedly, it was almost eight or nine o’clock, and his relatives hadn’t returned. Seeing that he couldn’t wait any longer, Wang Fugui decided to go out and see what was going on himself. But before he reached the school gate, he saw students carrying bottles of milk tea.
What was going on?
Were a few grown-up men unable to handle a little girl?
Wang Fugui jogged all the way to the school gate, only to almost pass out from anger. His relatives were nowhere to be seen, but there was a long line in front of Tong Yao’s stall.