The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 35 The wind is rustling and the water is cold

...The best benefactor in life is yourself who strives to improve yourself.

The most perfect state is not that you never make mistakes, but that you never give up on growing...

...Excerpt from Hu Biao's diary collection "Hu Shuo"...

The owner of the voice was a bald man standing on the street, speaking with a strong saliva-like tone; Hu Biao knew this man. After all, after hanging out in Maju Bridge for more than a year, he could still talk to many people.

The bald man is called Qian Wei, and everyone usually calls him Second Brother.

My hometown is in a relatively remote area of ​​Tianjin. I am about 35 or 36 years old this year.

His job was to sell fruits at a roadside stall made from a modified human-powered tricycle. Hu Biao would come to eat from time to time, and the two of them knew each other.

Why isn't his tricycle electric?

It is said that because he had two electric tricycles before, both were confiscated by relevant personnel and he needed to pay 3500 to release them; but Qian Wei bought the goods many times and did not spend that much when he bought them.

After a while, he simply bought a second-hand human-powered tricycle, and he didn't feel bad even if it was confiscated.

After seeing that it was an acquaintance, Hu Biao replied casually:
"Yes, second brother! I ate. I just had oil-splashed noodles and roujiamo. The boss made them so bad and they were so expensive. If I had known earlier, I would have come to your place and ordered a set of Jianbingguozi."

After saying a polite word, Hu Biao prepared to leave.

But I saw the glass cabinet on the tricycle, on which an A4 paper had been stuck at some point, and on the paper was written: The stall owner is busy, this car is for sale.

Immediately, Hu Biao couldn't help but ask:
"What happened to Second Brother? This business was going well, so why did he sell the car and quit?"

"Stop talking! Something happened at home and I have to go back to work. It's hard to pedal this tricycle all the way back, so I might as well just sell it for a few bucks."

After hearing this, Qian Wei answered truthfully.

After he finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something and his eyes suddenly lit up. He continued to say to Hu Biao:

"Hey, man, why don't you just close my stall? From now on, you can go out when you want to, and stay at home when you don't. As long as you don't get caught by those people, it will be much better than doing odd jobs in a month."

"Second brother, I don't have the skill of making pancakes like you do." Hu Biao yelled.

But in my heart, I couldn't help but think of what the boss from Northeast China said just now, "If you have the ability, do it yourself", and I couldn't help but feel excited.

The reason for this is that he has an inexplicable confidence in his heart:

If I modify this car slightly and use it to sell oil-splashed noodles and roujiamo, the taste will definitely not be too bad, at least better than the boss who eats a mouthful of Northeastern grits.

So after a pause, he asked the key question: "Second brother, how much do you plan to sell this stall for?"

If Hu Biao plans to sell oil-splashed noodles and roujiamo in the future, the most critical issue is actually the start-up capital.

After paying for breakfast, he clearly remembered that he still had 1186 yuan in a letter.

Also, if I remember correctly, there is 136 yuan in cash in my pocket wallet. If you add them all up, it would be more than yuan in starting capital.

Although this was the richest time of his life this year.

But he himself had no idea whether it was enough to start a business.

After all, after buying Qian Wei's stall, he still has to rent a house to park his car, and buy some basic ingredients, stoves, and cooking utensils, which may not be enough.

Using Huabei, Baitiao, etc.? He said that he can still use them now.

Of course! If he sold the antique Longines watch he brought back from the Battle of Shanghai, given the quality of the watch, it would definitely be enough to start with.

It is even enough to just rent a store and open a small shop.

But instinctively, Hu Biao didn't want to do this; because this was a precious memory that he planned to treasure for the rest of his life, and he wanted to take it into the coffin, or into a small box.

Fortunately, after a little thought, Qian Wei gave a very good price:

"It's mainly the car. Other things like the small table and bench, gas tank, take-out box, etc. are not worth much and I can give them to you. Just give me 300.

As for making pancakes, the skill is also simple. You can learn it after following me for half a day." "Brother, I bought a car, but I won't learn to make pancakes anymore. I plan to sell other food. Do you think I can get the car?" Hu Biao asked.

Qian Wei: "I don't have much prepared today, and I can sell it all before 6 pm at the latest. You can come and pick up the car then."

"Okay." After finalizing the deal, Hu Biao hurried off. He was planning to open his stall tomorrow, and if he wanted to do that, he still had a lot of preparation to do today...

******
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, Hu Biao finally found the house.

The house is in a village four or five kilometers away. It was originally a storage room of a fellow villager's home, with an area of ​​only twelve or thirteen square meters.

The windows are very small and the lighting is very poor.

So the room was incredibly cold and damp, and most of the yellowed wall paint had fallen off.

In the room, there was no other furniture except an old bed, a broken table, and a coal stove for heating.

If you want to use the toilet or water, you have to go to the yard.

Such an environment is naturally very poor, but the rent is only 300 yuan a month, and the deposit is only 200 yuan; in addition, the landlord generously stated that Hu Biao's tricycle and stall belongings can all be placed in the corner of the yard.

Besides! No matter how dark, damp and bad the house is, can it be worse than the No. 7 position?
Without any hesitation, Hu Biao decisively signed a rental contract with the landlord and paid 500 yuan.

Afterwards, Hu Biao walked to find Qian Wei, watched him sell the ingredients, and then swept 300 yuan, thus completing the handover of the most important business tools.

While riding the rickshaw, Hu Biao bought some necessary pots, pans, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

For dinner, I just bought a pack of Kangshuaifu instant noodles, the kind that comes in a large bag with extra quantity.

In order to save money, they went to a second-hand store to buy pots, pans, and utensils. However, after buying them all, they spent more than 231.32 yuan, and their total assets were only yuan.

If I go shopping for food early tomorrow morning with this money, I guess it will be almost gone.

"It's okay! As long as I can make the business successful, I'll be rich." Hu Biao comforted himself in this way as he returned under the dim street lights and felt the freezing wind.

But after returning to the cramped rental house, Hu Biao suddenly slapped his head and realized that he had overlooked something very important.

A coal stove would be enough for heating, cooking meat and baking Baiji steamed buns, but I forgot to buy honeycomb coal; I didn't even have a mattress, sheets or quilt for the bed for the night.

It’s not too late now, I can still buy it if I go out, but what about the money for the ingredients?
If I don’t buy it, won’t I freeze to death?

What to do? Of course, he shamelessly borrowed ten coal briquettes from the landlord. After cooking a pack of instant noodles, he covered himself with all his clothes without taking them off, and made do with it for the night.

Good guy! Although the silly boy sleeps on a cold kang, it all depends on the strong fire.

In today's weather, Hu Biao hardly slept at all that night because it was too cold.

At four o'clock in the morning, Hu Biao went out again. Taking advantage of the freshness and good quality of the ingredients in the morning, he bought as much good flour, pork belly, rapeseed oil and various ingredients as possible.

Due to the high quality requirements, the quantity is only enough for today's stall, and the funds are only the last 32 cents left.

Then, it’s time to cook the meat, roast the peppers to make chili powder, knead the dough, and make the dough ferment?

Definitely not. Before doing this, Hu Biao gritted his teeth, took a bag of Liby laundry detergent and washed himself and a set of clothes inside and out.

Because he always remembered what the old squad leader said: "When cooking, the person who cooks must be clean."

The washed clothes are hung next to the stove and should be dry in a day.

The water was so cold, and the whole process was so ecstatic that it was simply unspeakable to outsiders.

What was somewhat magical was that after Hu Biao forced himself to take a cold shower, he felt his whole body was hot and he was not so cold anymore.

Finally, Hu Biao, who planned to do business in the evening, set off on his tricycle a little after five o'clock in the afternoon.

As the sky was getting dark, I thought about the quilt and coal briquettes for heating, which I would need to rely on today's business funds to buy.

For a moment, the young man's heart was filled with a sense of tragic grandeur, like the wind whistling and the Yi River cold...

(End of this chapter)