Chapter 9: Do You Know Anywhere to Rent?

Seeing the change in Baobao’s expression, Xiao Naiwang almost laughed unkindly. Suppressing the corners of his mouth, he said, “If you want to collect money, Baobao, you must first learn to recognize it. So you need to work hard at studying.”

“Mm!” Xiao Baobao clenched his little fists and nodded vigorously with his small head. “Baobao will try hard!”

“To learn to recognize money, you must first learn numbers.” Xiao Naiwang smiled and slowly guided him. “So let’s start by learning to count, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Baobao is so good. Today, we’ll learn from one to five.” Xiao Naiwang took out a small notebook and a pen, writing a row of numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. He pointed to them with his finger and showed Baobao. “This is one.”

“One…” Xiao Baobao’s soft, milky voice followed along very seriously.

“This is two.”

“Two…”

After teaching Baobao for a while, Xiao Naiwang was very surprised to discover that Xiao Baobao was truly clever. In just a short time, he could already recognize numbers one through five very skillfully. Even when they were scrambled, he could recite them without a single mistake. He had taught his nephew before, but that kid took several days and still pointed at 5 while saying 3, which had been quite exhausting for him.

Next, Xiao Naiwang began teaching Xiao Baobao how to write the numbers one through five.

The afternoon passed in pleasant parent-child time and sporadic bits of business. By a little after four, Xiao Naiwang began preparing seriously again.

Xiao Baobao sat obediently on a small stool in the back, using his soft, milky voice to continue earnestly reciting, “One, two, three, four, five. Five, four, three, two, one…”

Ning Xuan, from the neighboring stall, stole a glance during a busy moment and couldn’t help but smile. When he looked at Xiao Naiwang, who remained strikingly handsome even while busy, a faint blush crept onto his face.

From a little after four to a little after six, Xiao Naiwang sold over a hundred more portions, completely selling out all the wolf tooth potatoes.

On the way home with Baobao, Xiao Naiwang bought a pencil and two practice notebooks with square grids, planning to use them to teach Baobao how to write. His current financial situation didn’t allow him to buy textbooks; otherwise, he would have liked to buy some storybooks and literacy workbooks.

When they returned, the Zhou Yiguo family was surprisingly absent. Xiao Naiwang didn’t think much of it. He tidied up, cooked some food, ate with Baobao, and then went back to the room to wash up.

After washing up and sitting on the bed, Xiao Naiwang took out his account book and began calculating. Beside him, Xiao Baobao also took out his small notebook, opened it, and recited with a serious expression, “One, two, three, four, five.”

Today, he had made a total of 194 portions. After deducting one portion he ate himself and the portions given to Ning Xuan, the noodle soup stall owner, and the steamed bun stall owner, the gross profit was nine yuan and fifty cents. However, the net profit… was actually only a little over four yuan.

Xiao Naiwang sighed, planning to buy a hundred jin of potatoes tomorrow. He also needed to arrange with the vendor to have the vegetables delivered here daily from now on, which would save him a lot of time.

The vendor would likely agree, as he was a big customer.

After finishing the calculations, Xiao Naiwang prepared to teach Baobao some poems and counting for a while longer. Suddenly, he heard a commotion in the living room—a drunken man’s voice shouting, “Brother, that Xiao Naiwang just sees you as upright and caring, treating him too well, so he wants to walk all over you. That kind of bitch—just beat him! Beat him until he’s docile, and he won’t dare make a peep!”

“Exactly!” That was Zhou Yurou’s voice. “I’ve been saying that all along, but my brother just won’t listen!”

Listening to the cursing and foul language from the living room, Xiao Naiwang furrowed his brows and quickly searched through his memories. He finally remembered that the man ranting and raving in the living room, loudly proclaiming his “household rules,” was Zhou Yiguo’s first cousin—Zhou Yihua.

In the original book, Zhou Yihua was another Zhou family relative who, along with Zhou Yurou, relentlessly bullied and looked down on the original host. He believed the original host relied on Zhou Yiguo for support and coveted the Zhou family business. Little did he realize how that business had somehow become “their Zhou family’s” business.

Xiao Naiwang turned off the light, locked the door, and held Xiao Baobao as he closed his eyes to rest. These people… he couldn’t be bothered to waste his energy or mood on dealing with them.

Early the next morning, Xiao Naiwang made a simple meal. After eating, he took Baobao to the vegetable market. He had already agreed on the price and delivery time with the vegetable vendor. The farmer was very happy and enthusiastic, giving Xiao Naiwang several large bunches of green onions and immediately offering to help deliver the vegetables to his door.

After showing the farmer the way, Xiao Naiwang sent him back. He then carried two sacks of potatoes into the kitchen. However, just as he was about to start washing the potatoes, a young woman suddenly walked over. She was holding a three- or four-year-old boy in her arms, followed by a six- or seven-year-old girl.

Xiao Naiwang’s expression shifted slightly. He knew this was Zhou Yihua’s wife and children. Not wanting to engage with them, he simply focused on his work while using his arm to shield Baobao, keeping him behind him.

But just because he wanted peace and quiet didn’t mean others did. Seeing him silently working without saying a word, the woman raised her sharp, drawn-out voice, “Oh~~ so you really are going to sell potatoes. When my brother-in-law said you were going into business selling food, I couldn’t believe it. So many people lose money these days. Just before the New Year, one of my neighbors lost money selling clothes and ended up drinking pesticide and dying. Tsk tsk…”

The woman feigned regret with a click of her tongue before advising Xiao Naiwang, “How much can you really earn from this in a day? Probably not much, right? I remember my brother-in-law said you used to be a teacher and even went to college. With such a high education, wouldn’t it be better to find a proper job in town? Otherwise, after studying all those years, you might end up earning less and having a worse job than us who never even finished middle school.”

Xiao Naiwang detected the schadenfreude and probing intent in her words and wanted even less to do with her. He efficiently washed and chopped the potatoes. But while he remained quiet, the woman seemed offended and inexplicably grew angry. “I’m talking to you! Are you deaf?!”

Xiao Naiwang stopped what he was doing and glanced at her. “Not profitable, very hard work, costs higher than profits, wasted education. Anything else you want to know?”

The woman’s face stiffened for a moment. She pointed at Xiao Naiwang, spittle flying as she shouted, “What are you being so arrogant about? My husband is my brother-in-law’s first cousin, much closer to him than you are. I’m his wife. What right do you have to act so high and mighty in front of me?! Besides, you’re someone who can’t even have children. In this family, you should obediently serve my brother-in-law, take care of my sister-in-law and Xiao Jing, and show me some respect too. Do you understand?!”

“I don’t.”

Xiao Naiwang looked expressionlessly at the two children in the woman’s arms and the one she was holding by the hand—a little boy and a little girl who, like their mother, looked down their noses at him with contempt—and felt nothing but exhaustion.

Is this really the right way to raise children…?

“You…” Suddenly, footsteps sounded from outside. The woman was about to say something but abruptly closed her mouth, shooting Xiao Naiwang a sharp glare.

Zhou Yiguo walked in. It was unclear whether he had heard anything earlier, but his expression seemed perfectly normal as he looked at Xiao Naiwang and said gently, “Xiao Wang, Yihua’s family has moved to town and can’t find a suitable place to rent for now, so they’ll be staying with us for a while. You went to bed early yesterday, so I didn’t have a chance to introduce them. This is Yihua’s wife, Chun Juan, and the two children are Chuan Mei and Chuan Yao.”

“You can invite whoever you want to stay here. I have no objections, as long as you remember what you said before.” Xiao Naiwang glanced at Zhou Yihua, who had followed behind Zhou Yiguo and was looking at him with disgust, and sneered inwardly. “And don’t let them cause trouble for me. After all… if they cause trouble, it won’t do you any good either. You wouldn’t want to shoot yourself in the foot.”

“Brother, what does he mean by that?!” Zhou Yihua frowned, his loud voice ringing out.

“Nothing at all. Weren’t you planning to take Chun Juan to look for work? Come on, I’ll take you around town while we’re at it.” Zhou Yiguo’s eyes darkened slightly as he ushered everyone out of the kitchen.

Zhou Yihua’s voice, however, continued to drone on. “Brother, if Chun Juan goes to work, she won’t be able to look after the kids. That Xiao Naiwang has nothing to do anyway—what else would he do if not watch the kids? You can’t just let him freeload, can you?”

“That’s right, big brother,” Chun Juan’s voice chimed in. “Although I’m not too comfortable with it and I’m reluctant, there’s no other way. We’ll just have to ask sister-in-law to help look after the children. After all, I have to find work—I can’t compare to sister-in-law, who doesn’t do anything…”

Xiao Naiwang found it all rather amusing. They looked down on him and despised him, yet they were still scheming to have him help take care of their children. They kept saying he didn’t do any work, as if serving their entire family was his duty. How absurd.

It seemed he needed to find a place to move out as soon as possible. Xiao Naiwang sighed resignedly, cut the potatoes, soaked them in water, and placed them in a bucket. He then started frying his special chili oil and Sichuan pepper garlic oil. While these people were away, he needed to make as much as possible to avoid any more trouble later.

By eleven o’clock, Xiao Naiwang had pushed his cart out the door, taking the baby with him.

This time, it was almost noon by the time he arrived. As soon as he got there, a crowd of elderly men and women swarmed around him, complaining that he had come too late.

Xiao Naiwang greeted them one by one with a smile and hurriedly began unloading his things. Fortunately, he had already lit the coal briquette stove at home; otherwise, he would have had to wait another half hour after arriving.

Not long after, the school bell rang, and students poured out, making the crowd around his stall even larger. Xiao Naiwang was so busy he felt dizzy. At that moment, a man’s voice cut through the noise with unusual clarity.

“Boss, you’re so busy. Have you considered raising your prices? What you’re selling is far too cheap.”

What a pleasant and considerate voice!

Xiao Naiwang looked up and saw a tall, handsome, and exceptionally masculine man standing in front of his stall. He froze for a moment—wasn’t this the big shot from before? Could it be that this big shot also really liked his spicy potato skewers?

“Hello.” Xiao Naiwang smiled, revealing two small dimples. “Would you like a portion?”

“Three portions, please. Two extra spicy and one less spicy.”

“Alright, coming right up.” Xiao Naiwang’s smile grew even more genuine as he swiftly got to work. The people gathered around, however, began chattering away. “Boss, don’t listen to him about raising prices. If you raise them again, we won’t be able to afford it.”

“Yeah, boss, we buy from you every day. You should focus on small profits but quick turnover.”

“Boss, take care of us students. We rely on your dish to go with our meals!”

“Boss…”

“I won’t.” Xiao Naiwang smiled at the crowd, quickly frying and seasoning the potatoes. Xie Chengye, standing nearby, watched the skilled Xiao Naiwang. Even the most ordinary, even mundane actions seemed to carry a kind of beauty that tugged at the heartstrings—his fair, slender fingers, his delicate and graceful neck, and especially his eyes, filled with vibrant, warm vitality, so captivating it was hard to look away.

Xie Chengye felt a bit uneasy. It was the first time he’d been so interested in someone, but they were already taken. Talk about bad luck…

After getting his potatoes, Xie Chengye left. The previous two times, it had been his younger brother who bought the wolf tooth potatoes. It seemed he’d just have to keep sending his brother in the future.

That noon, Xiao Naiwang sold over a hundred and ten portions, even better than he’d expected. It seemed the effect of repeat customers and word-of-mouth was quite good.

Seeing Xiao Naiwang finally take a break, Ning Xu’an put down his textbook and walked over. “Brother Xiao.”

“Little Ning.” Xiao Naiwang washed his hands and face with soap, his skin still damp and his expression cheerful. “What’s up?”

“N-nothing.” Ning Xu’an stammered slightly before adding, “I just saw how busy you were. Maybe I could help you out a bit in the evenings? Our business is much quieter than yours.”

“It’s fine, no need. Thank you, though.” Noticing Ning Xu’an’s mother casting a wary and dissatisfied look their way, Xiao Naiwang awkwardly wiped his face and smiled. “You focus on your studies. I can manage this on my own.”

“Xiao’an, what are you doing over there?!” Ning Xu’an’s mother’s voice rang out the next moment.

“Mom, I’m just talking with Brother Xiao. Why don’t you recline your chair and rest for a bit?” Ning Xu’an turned to reassure his mother before facing Xiao Naiwang again. “Brother Xiao, your business has already taken off in just three days. With more repeat customers and word spreading, it’ll only get busier. You should get another stove and hire someone to help.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Xiao Naiwang smiled. “But I don’t have the capital for it yet. Speaking of which…” He suddenly remembered the matter of renting a place and paused. “Do you know anywhere with rooms for rent?”