Chapter 6: Stall Is Open!

After watching the cars from a distance with the baby for a while, Xiao Naiwang took the child and walked toward the small street across the way.

There were already three or four food stalls on this little street. He glanced around and noticed they mainly sold wontons, noodles, steamed buns, and mantou—none of which conflicted with what he planned to offer. He shouldn’t have to worry about upsetting the “locals.”

Seeing a strikingly handsome young man with an adorable little child approaching, several of the food stall owners looked over and called out warmly.

“Young man, want a bowl of wontons? Pork and scallion filling, just forty-five cents a bowl. Guaranteed plenty of meat and a delicious broth!”

“Young man, how about some noodles? We have chicken soup noodles and three-delicacy noodles. One bowl will fill you and that little one right up!”

“Young man, want some buns? Radish and pork for twelve cents each, vegetarian ones ten cents for three.”

“Young man…”

Before Xiao Naiwang could even speak, he’d already learned the prices from each stall. He felt a bit amused and awkward. If he said now that he was just scouting a spot to sell his own food, would it stir up resentment?

Just as he was hesitating, Xiao Naiwang suddenly saw a tall young man in a white shirt pushing a small wooden cart over, accompanied by a middle-aged woman. They were likely also here to sell food. After a moment’s thought, he smiled and walked up to them, addressing the young man. “Hello, could I ask you something?”

The tall young man stared blankly for several seconds before slowly snapping out of it, the tips of his ears turning slightly red. “Y-yes, of course. What did you want to ask?”

“You’re also here to sell food, right?” Xiao Naiwang smiled gently, trying to appear as friendly as possible. “I’d like to set up a stall here too, selling some side dishes to help support the family…” He paused, a little embarrassed, then added, “Are there any requirements for setting up a stall here?”

The middle-aged woman beside the young man had been busy preparing the cart to open for business. Hearing this, she immediately looked up at Xiao Naiwang with suspicion. “What do you want to sell?!”

“Side dishes made from potatoes.” Noticing that several other stall owners were also looking over, Xiao Naiwang quickly smiled and said, “It shouldn’t conflict with what any of you are selling…”

“No conflict at all.” The tall young man gave Xiao Naiwang a friendly smile. “We sell baked flatbreads. Everyone here sells staple foods. If you sell side dishes, it would actually complement us. We might even help each other boost sales.”

Seeing the young man speak up for him, Xiao Naiwang felt a bit of goodwill toward him and smiled. “Yes, it’s complementary. You sound different from the others—are you a high school graduate?”

“That’s right…” The middle-aged woman beside him suddenly chimed in, her expression completely changed, beaming with pride. “My son graduated from high school and is preparing to take the college entrance exam.”

“That’s really impressive.” Xiao Naiwang was genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected to run into a high school student preparing for college exams while scouting for a stall. In this era, that was definitely considered highly educated.

“It’s not that impressive. I’m actually retaking the exam.” The tall young man seemed a little embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. “My name is Ning Xu’an. If you want to set up a stall here, you can just go ahead and do it.”

“Hello, I’m Xiao Naiwang.” Xiao Naiwang smiled and asked, “Do I need to pay any stall fees? Will any officials come to check?”

“No, it won’t.” Ning Xuan smiled. “At most, a few street officials might come by. When they do, just give them two or three yuan symbolically. They don’t come often—maybe once every seven or eight days.”

“Not often?” Ning Xuan’s mother huffed angrily, slapping a towel against the counter. “That’s nearly ten yuan a month! Those black-hearted scoundrels!”

Ten yuan was indeed a significant amount. Nowadays, the average worker earned just over thirty yuan a month. Those with better jobs might make fifty or sixty, while junior cadres earned a little over a hundred. Farmers in rural areas earned even less, with most making under thirty yuan a month.

“Will you only come in the evenings?” Xiao Naiwang asked Ning Xuan. “What about mornings and afternoons?”

“We’ll come in the morning, at noon, and around five in the afternoon—these are the three main mealtimes. Some students and people living nearby come here to buy meals. Then we leave after nine. The students here have evening self-study sessions that end at nine, and a few might buy a late-night snack if they’re hungry, though not many.”

Xiao Naiwang now had a clear idea and felt grateful for Ning Xuan’s honesty. A pair of dimples appeared on his face. “Thank you. We’ll set up our stall tomorrow afternoon. When we do, we’ll treat you to a taste and see if you like it.”

“N-no, that’s not necessary…” Ning Xuan suddenly blushed, stammering as he waved his hands. “R-running a business… it’s not easy for anyone.”

“Exactly, it’s not easy. Yet you still told me everything, which shows you’re a good person.” Xiao Naiwang genuinely felt Ning Xuan was decent. Although he could have figured things out by observing for a couple of days, the fact that Ning Xuan had been upfront meant he owed him a favor.

After chatting a bit more with Ning Xuan, Xiao Naiwang picked up Xiao Baobao and headed home. When they arrived, all three members of the Zhou family were there. However, perhaps because Zhou Yiguo had said something, Zhou Yurou and Zhou Chuanjing only glared at him venomously and muttered sarcastic, indirect insults instead of directly picking a fight.

Xiao Naiwang pretended not to see or hear them. As long as they didn’t cause trouble outright, he couldn’t be bothered to engage. He went straight to the kitchen to cook.

He prepared enough food for five people. After all, if he only cooked for himself, it would inevitably lead to another big confrontation. Fine—feeding those people could count as covering the rent.

However, he wouldn’t be footing the entire grocery bill anymore.

After dinner, Xiao Naiwang took Baobao back to their room, pulled out a small notebook, and started calculating costs.

Potatoes cost five fen per jin. One jin could make about two and a half servings of wolf-tooth potatoes. Factoring in seasoning, paper bowls, oil, and coal briquettes, the cost per serving came to around three fen. So, he couldn’t price it lower than three fen.

Currently, plain vegetarian steamed buns cost about one mao for three, while meat-filled ones were one mao one or one mao two each. Sesame seed cakes were six fen apiece. Therefore, he couldn’t set his price too high either.

After much thought, Xiao Naiwang settled on five fen per serving. Honestly, based on modern pricing for wolf-tooth potatoes, he could easily charge over one mao five. But for now, he didn’t dare ask for too much…

Forget it. Once the business stabilized, he could consider raising the price.

After finishing his calculations, Xiao Naiwang picked up Baobao, who had been quietly watching him with his little head tilted. Gently pinching the child’s cheek, he asked softly, “What are you looking at, Baobao?”

“Daddy is so…so amazing!” Xiao Baobao’s little face flushed slightly, his dark, sparkling eyes moist as he waved his tiny hands. “Daddy is so amazing!”

Xiao Naiwang smiled. “Where is Daddy amazing?”

“Daddy…” Xiao Baobao blinked in confusion, his little face growing even redder. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he just felt his daddy was especially amazing!

“Daddy is just amazing…”

“Alright, Daddy is amazing…” Xiao Naiwang kissed Baobao’s little cheek, then suddenly had an idea. “Does Baobao want to become amazing too?”

Xiao Baobao paused for a moment before exclaiming loudly, “Yes!”

He didn’t really understand how to become amazing, but he just felt it was something wonderful…

“Then, how about Daddy teaches Baobao to recite poems?”

“Recite…poems?” Xiao Baobao blinked his moist eyes again, still confused.

“Reciting poetry,” Xiao Naiwang explained patiently and gently to Xiao Baobao. “Poetry is a very beautiful form of language and culture. Babies who can recite poetry are super amazing. Should our Xiao Baobao learn to recite poems too?”

“Yes!” Xiao Baobao nodded eagerly. Even though he still didn’t fully understand, he wanted to be a super amazing baby because he had a super amazing daddy!

“Baobao is so good.” Xiao Naiwang rewarded him with a kiss on his little forehead, then thought for a moment and said, “Today, let’s learn ‘Ode to the Goose.’ It’s a poem about a big white goose swimming…”

“Big white goose swim…” Xiao Baobao’s mouth formed a perfect “O” as he gasped in awe. He felt like he knew about big white geese—he remembered them as particularly large, fierce little animals with long necks…so scary!

“That’s right, the big white goose swimming…” Xiao Naiwang smiled and patted Xiao Baobao’s little head. “Daddy will recite one line, and Baobao will repeat it, okay?”

“Okay.” Xiao Baobao nodded firmly with his little head.

“The first line is…Goose, goose, goose.”

Xiao Baobao repeated in his soft, childish voice, “Goose~ goose~ goose~”

Xiao Naiwang was utterly charmed by Baobao’s sweet little voice and gently ruffled his hair, praising him, “Baobao is so great. The second line is…With neck curved, it sings to the sky.”

Xiao Baobao felt a bit shy but also very happy, continuing to try his best to repeat, “With…neck…sings to the sky…”

“Not ‘neck’…” Xiao Naiwang chuckled. “Watch Daddy’s mouth, ‘With—neck—'”

Xiao Baobao opened his little mouth wide. “With…neck…”

“Baobao is so great, you said it right again. Now, let’s say the whole line together: With neck curved, it sings to the sky.”

“With neck curved…sings to the sky…”

Xiao Naiwang taught Baobao for a while. Once Baobao could recite everything and even string together two or three lines, he went to the kitchen to fetch water. He helped Baobao wash up and prepared for bed, knowing tomorrow would be a tiring day and that they might not have the chance to sleep so early for the next few months.

……

The next noon, Xiao Naiwang shelled the roasted peanuts, chopped them finely, and stir-fried them again in a pan to bring out their full aroma. Then, he washed the small red chilies and green onions, finally arranging all the seasonings in their proper places.

Then he washed all the potatoes, peeled and cut them, soaking them in clean buckets with water. He also tried making two batches of wolf tooth potatoes on the coal briquette stove, both operations went smoothly and the taste was excellent, finally putting his mind at ease.

By half past three, everything was packed up and securely loaded onto the small pushcart. Xiao Naiwang pushed the cart and took the baby out.

When they arrived at the small street near the middle school, it was around half past four. Other stalls were already set up, and the aroma wafted freely along the street. Xiao Naiwang took a deep breath and suddenly felt a bit nervous.

What if his cooking didn’t suit the tastes of people in this era…

Xiao Naiwang shook his head vigorously and clenched his fists. No! It wasn’t his style to lose confidence before even starting!

“Daddy…”

Looking down, Xiao Naiwang saw Xiao Baobao looking up at him with worried eyes, his little hand tugging at the hem of his clothes. “Daddy, what’s wrong…”

Xiao Naiwang: “…”

“Daddy’s fine. There was just a mosquito flying around, and I shook my head to shoo it away.” Xiao Naiwang held the baby’s little hand and smiled. “Let’s go over there. Stay close to Daddy.”

“Mm.” Xiao Baobao obediently toddled along, following his father.

Xiao Naiwang’s heart softened. When they first set out, he had been carrying Xiao Baobao, but halfway there, many sections were uphill. With one hand pushing the cart, it was unstable, so the baby had walked on his own. Despite walking for so long, he hadn’t complained once about being tired—so well-behaved it was almost unbelievable.

“Brother Xiao, you’re here. Let me help you.” Ning Xu’an came forward enthusiastically. After hearing yesterday that Xiao Naiwang was two years older, he had started calling him “Brother Xiao.”

“Thank you.” Xiao Naiwang smiled and, together with Ning Xu’an, parked the pushcart, unloaded the coal briquette stove, and began lighting it.

Once the coal briquette stove was lit and burning brightly, it was almost five o’clock. The middle school let out at a quarter past five, so Xiao Naiwang decided to start cooking now. By the time the students finished class, the aroma would be just right.