Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Xu Meng’s first thought was how to sell the watermelon.

Then an image flashed through her head—decades later, skewered fruit would be sold everywhere.

Commerce was just beginning to recover, and not many people had that kind of business sense yet. Nobody had ever tried selling watermelon by the slice.

Hey, why not sell it by the slice?

"Absolutely! We sure are!" Xu Meng grinned as her mind raced ahead. "A whole melon is too much to eat at once, so we’re slicing it up—fifty cents a slice."

"Fifty cents..." The woman hesitated. "That seems expensive, doesn’t it?"

Xu Meng swiftly cut off a slice and neatly trimmed the rind, leaving just a small handle. "Miss, we hauled this melon from way out of town. Besides, you’re catching a train. If you bought a whole one, you could bring it onboard, but they’ll confiscate your knife at security. How are you going to cut it on board? And right now, there’s nowhere else to buy watermelon."

The woman blushed at being called “Miss.”

But coming from a young girl, it didn’t sound flirtatious—just sweet.

The child, however, couldn’t wait and reached out to grab a piece.

Before the woman could say anything, a guy behind her pulled out a dollar. "Cut me two slices like that one, trim the rind a bit more—just enough to hold. Do you take care of the rinds?"

"Sure thing! Just eat here and toss them back to me when you're done. I’ll clean them up. The city’s cracking down on litter—get caught tossing trash and the enforcers will ticket you." Xu Meng noticed his accent—he looked fresh off the train, so she gave him a heads-up.

They weren’t even inside the station yet, just outside in the busy station plaza where travelers came and went. He had that just-got-into-town look.

Xu Meng was a hometown girl through and through. Even if her family didn’t give her much money, she’d always loved exploring. There wasn’t a tourist spot she didn’t know. She was a smooth talker, spouting local know-how so fast the man kept nodding along—and drawing a crowd.

Xu Meng shot Feng Yanwen a glance, who quickly stepped in to collect payment.

Two slices were ready, and the traveler took them and stood nearby to eat.

His companion, an elderly woman, took a bite and said happily, "So sweet! This hits the spot. Just got off the train and my mouth was parched."

Without sliced watermelon, these tourists would’ve gone thirsty—they wouldn’t have bought a whole melon.

Who wants to carry half a watermelon each and stand on the street gnawing it before moving on?

Xu Meng smiled brightly. "Watermelons are pricier this year. Unless you’ve got a big family, who can finish a whole one? I carried this from way out of town—it was no easy task. Fifty cents won’t break the bank or leave you cheated. It cools you down too. Come try some fresh melon!"

Old folks loved girls like her—sweet-talking and chatty. They ate it up.

Fifty cents wasn’t chump change—it could buy two meat buns, three cabbage buns, or five bowls of tea.

But this year’s watermelons really were expensive, and plenty hadn’t tasted one yet.

And with this heatwave being a killer, anyone crowding into the station was either rushing for a train or just off one. After traveling so long, everyone was tired and thirsty. The little girl’s mother quickly dug out some coins. "Cut a slice for my daughter too."

Xu Meng already had it ready—once paid, she trimmed the rind and handed over a neat slice.

The woman was pleased Xu Meng had kept her hands off the fruit and passed it to her daughter.

The girl had been all teary-eyed, but after one bite of crisp, sweet juice, she shouted, "Mommy, it’s so good! Really good!"

Her voice worked like magic—the next moment, you could hear folks gulping hard.

--- *Footnote: The term “mao piaozi” refers to small-denomination bills (like Mao Zedong’s portrait on yuan notes), commonly used in the 1980s to describe loose change or low-value currency.

People who had gathered to watch the scene around them began reaching into their pockets.

"Give me a slice too," someone said, pulling out money. "Don’t cut it too small."

Feng Yanwen was sharp-eyed and quickly took the payment before telling her daughter, "Cut it carefully and make sure you don't give anyone a small piece."

Xu Meng smiled and replied, "Sure thing. If it’s too small, I’ll give you extra."

The Xu family was large, so if the melon wasn’t sliced evenly, the smallest piece always ended up with her. That’s why she’d practiced cutting melons until her slices looked evenly sized—at least to onlookers, they seemed about the same.

Crowds tend to follow suit. Once another person paid, others started pulling out money too. The watermelon wasn’t very big, and selling it by the slice meant it ran out quickly. Whatever Xu Meng could cut, she could sell, and soon it was all gone.

Feng Yanwen was swamped collecting money. When the melon was sold out, disappointed people had no choice but to leave, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Good, at least she wouldn’t have to haul the melon around anymore.

And they had made quite a bit from it.

Still, the melon had been a gift for them to eat, and instead, they’d sold it—it felt kinda bad.

Holding a stack of cash in her hand, she suddenly felt a sense of reassurance.

Earlier, Feng Yanwen had counted each transaction—seventeen slices sold in total, adding up to eight yuan and fifty cents.

"Xu Meng, what’s going on here? What are you doing?" After the crowd dispersed, a petite girl pushed her way through from the edge and exclaimed loudly at the sight of Xu Meng. "Oh! I heard someone outside was selling melon, and it turns out it was you! What a coincidence—great minds think alike! What are you up to?"

She energetically grabbed Xu Meng’s hand.

This was Chang Xi from their teenage years. Xu Meng’s heart swelled.

They had been seatmates in middle school. Back then, the school cafeteria was always packed—Xu Meng often couldn’t get any dishes, while Chang Xi frequently couldn’t get rice. Eventually, they teamed up—one would get rice, the other would get dishes. Over those three years, they became inseparable, though they were separated when they entered high school.

So Chang Xi would also be a senior next semester.

In her past life, Chang Xi hadn’t gotten into college and ended up getting a job on the railways, becoming a railway worker like her mother.

Later, Xu Meng heard that Chang Xi had been set up with a young man who worked at the station. He was from out of town and quite handsome, but his family had many relatives. Every time they visited Beijing, they stayed at Chang Xi’s house, turning it into something like a crash pad for relatives. The man was big on saving face and insisted on hosting every relative who came by. Eventually, it became unclear who really lived there, and the couple’s conflicts grew worse.

When her family’s house was demolished, the compensation was generous, but the man secretly transferred the money and ran off with a younger woman. Chang Xi, however, was tough. After years of court fights, she managed to recover the money.

In this life, Chang Xi should be preparing for her senior year. Her parents were too busy to pay her much attention, and since railway employees’ children had hiring advantages, she had not a care in the world.

After her boisterous greeting, Chang Xi finally noticed Feng Yanwen standing there and awkwardly called out, "Teacher Feng." Feng Yanwen had once taught her.

"Chang Xi, are your parents home?" If they were, staying over would be a bit awkward.

Chang Xi waved her hand. "Don’t even mention it. My dad left yesterday and won’t be back for another seven days—he’s away for eight total."

Xu Meng relaxed and explained that she needed to stay for a few days. "I’ll start looking for a place tomorrow and move out as soon as I find one."

Chang Xi replied, "Sure, you can stay longer if you want. We’ve got an empty storage room at home."

Xu Meng thought about how Chang Xi’s parents were still around, which might make things a little inconvenient, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up. She winked at Feng Yanwen, signaling her to follow along.

Feng Yanwen wasn’t as bold as Xu Meng. The idea of crashing at someone else’s place made her hesitate.

Chang Xi said, "My parents would love having more people around to keep me company. I’m not saying you can’t move out, but since you’ve come to me, I’m guessing money’s tight, right? I know you—you always overthink politeness for no reason. My parents are on long-haul shifts these days, so they’re rarely around anyway."

Xu Meng didn’t say no immediately.

Back then, Chang Xi had been the same way. Xu Meng had stayed with her for over a month, and her family had always been very welcoming.

But this time, Xu Meng needed a long-term place to stay. Once Chang Xi’s parents came back, there definitely wouldn’t be enough room, so she still had to find another place. Still, having an extra week was already a big help—and she’d just figured out a quick way to make some cash.

The three chatted as they walked until they reached the Chang family home.

The place Chang Xi lived in now was a small courtyard handed down from her grandparents. Back then, the people living here weren’t well-off, so the houses were built low to the ground. The storage room she mentioned was actually the room she had lived in as a child, at the very front of the courtyard. Later, after her grandparents passed away, Chang Xi moved in with her parents, and the room was left empty, eventually becoming a storage space. Now, it was packed with all kinds of junk.

Xu Meng remembered that this room had been rented out before, so it had a door facing the outside and could function as an independent room, which was quite convenient.

Folks back then didn’t care much about privacy—otherwise, living in a crowded courtyard would’ve driven you crazy. Having a room like this was pretty much the same as living in a shared courtyard.

“I’ve been meaning to clean this place up for a while, but no one in the family had the time. Now’s the perfect time to finally clean it up.”

As run-down as the place was, since they’d be staying here for a few days, they still needed to tidy it up properly. The mother and daughter got to work, along with Chang Xi. They moved things out while sorting through them, tossing out a bunch of useless old stuff. A lot of it was old items that were no longer any good.

Xu Meng glanced around—there was almost nothing usable in the room.

“Do you have any spare bed planks at home?”

Chang Xi hesitated—that clearly meant no.

Back then, people didn’t just throw things away carelessly. Xu Meng searched inside and outside the house and found a few bricks. She asked Feng Yanwen to help pile them into a makeshift bed frame. They still needed to find a bed plank, but since they’d need one eventually anyway, they could probably find something at a nearby secondhand furniture store.

“Mom, we need to buy some things.”

“What do we need?”

Feng Yanwen had no experience running away from home and was totally lost.

Xu Meng scanned the room again. “We should make a list. Some things we’ll need long-term, so we can’t buy the cheapest options.”

Chang Xi cut in, “Xu Meng, did you really run away from home?”

Xu Meng hesitated. She had always dreamed of running away from home as a kid, and Chang Xi knew that.

“...Yeah.”

“Alright, then I’ll take you to the secondhand furniture store later to pick up some stuff. Just buy what you need—don’t go crazy with it.”

Xu Meng thought for a moment, then pulled out her paper and pen and actually made a list, including but not limited to: bed planks, bamboo mats, washbasins, toothbrushes, towels, and so on. Fortunately, it wasn’t hot this season, so they didn’t need blankets—which was one less thing to worry about.

Luckily, they were in the city center, and there were secondhand furniture stores nearby where they could buy some of these things.

Chang Xi had lived in this area for many years and was very familiar with it. “There are a lot of residents around here, so there are several secondhand furniture shops. You can buy furniture there—sometimes you can find really good stuff for less than half the price of new items. But you could just use our bed if you want.”

As if! It was bad enough staying in someone else’s house—taking their bed apart would be beyond rude.

Besides, Xu Meng planned to stay here long-term. Once she rented a proper place, she could just haul the bed plank over, so she didn’t want to cut corners.

Xu Meng hadn’t realized secondhand furniture stores already existed at this time. “What else can we buy besides bed planks?”

“Oh, tons of things. You’ll see when you go. They take in all sorts of stuff people can’t move with them.”

“Alright, then Chang Xi and I will go check out the furniture store.” She assigned Feng Yanwen to buy towels and toothbrushes.

Feng Yanwen didn’t know why she was so fired up. She had only earned eight and a half yuan, but she was oddly excited. When Xu Meng told her to go buy things, she bolted out the door without hesitation. Meanwhile, Xu Meng and Chang Xi headed to the secondhand store with their money.