Chapter 114

Chapter 114

"What? Sell hot pot base at the train station?" Huzi's mother's eyes widened, "What in the world is hot pot base?"

Hot pot base wasn't something produced in the capital, so naturally, she had no idea about it. Although Zhang Mingqing had been selling it flying off the shelves near Peking University for the past six months, this was way above the consumption level of Huzi's mother. Their family rarely ate hot pot—even dining out was something they could count on their fingers.

So, hot pot was completely foreign to Huzi's mom.

Xu Meng then took out a packaged hot pot base. "Here's what it looks like. If you go near Peking University or Tsinghua University, this shop is killing it right now—it's the biggest restaurant in that area. The owner is a friend of mine, and they're selling hot pot base. Wanna take some to sell?"

Huzi's mother hesitated.

Xu Meng continued, "Last time, you even asked my mom if there was any way to make money and said to come straight to you. Getting cold feet now? How about this—I’ll talk to my friend first and get you some inventory. You can sell it at the train station plaza. Just tell people this 'Zhuangyuan' brand hot pot base is the same as the one used at Peking University’s Zhuangyuan Hot Pot Restaurant. Kids who eat this will be having the same brand as Peking University students. Think about it—parents from out of town who can’t bring their kids here would kill to try Peking University’s specialty food, right? Plus, for the first month, you can sell on consignment. You’ll settle the payment when you restock next time. What do you think?"

She knew Huzi's mother’s concerns. When she sold watermelons before, wasn’t it the same?

No money? Just sell on consignment. As long as payments were timely, it wasn’t a big deal. She could promise that on Zhang Mingqing’s behalf.

Then, she took out a bag from her backpack. "This is it. One bag can make about three to four servings. Just dissolve it in boiling water and cook whatever you want in it. It’s very convenient. Wanna test it out first?"

Huzi's mother took the bag and sized up Xu Meng for a moment. "Can you really decide this?"

Xu Meng felt there was no issue, so she nodded. "You could go solo, but even better yet if you could find more people."

Huzi's mother’s eyes lit up. "They all get consignment too?"

Xu Meng smiled. "Only folks as solid as you."

Huzi's mother asked, "How many people do you need?"

Xu Meng had already considered this. The market wasn’t that big, so they didn’t need too many people.

She planned to start with about ten sellers. If it didn’t sell well at the train station, they’d just have to accept it.

So, she laid out the plan to Huzi's mother, who agreed readily. She promised to find the people herself and act as their guarantor. They’d take some stock from Xu Meng to test the waters first. Even if sales were poor, the cost would only be a few hundred yuan—something the shop could afford. The details would be discussed once she found the right people.

And just like that, before even finishing a bowl of noodles, they'd struck a deal.

As soon as Xu Meng left, Huzi's father came out from the kitchen. "Are you really planning to find people to sell this hot pot base for her?"

And she’d be the guarantor for all of them? This woman had guts.

Huzi's mother shot him an annoyed look. "We don’t have to pay for the inventory upfront or worry about unsold stock. If she weren’t so young and unable to make big decisions, I’d want to take even more. Think about it—if we distribute these, even just clearing thirty cents a bag adds up. Plus, since I’m finding the people, I can pick those I know well."

Chen Hu grew anxious. "You want to make thirty cents off this? Aren’t you cheating Xu Meng?"

Huzi's mother pinched his ear. "Good thing Xu Meng doesn’t fancy you, or you’d be defending her left and right. You think Xu Meng's dumb? She’s sharp. And what’s wrong with me making a few cents for finding people? It’s not like it’s easy work or that I’m not taking any risk by being the guarantor. The wholesale price to her is two and a half yuan per bag, and the retail price is three and a half. Who cares who pockets the difference in between?"

At three and a half yuan per bag, that was a full kuai profit per bag—a pretty high margin.

Chen Hu, being a straight shooter, felt his mother was taking advantage of Xu Meng. Furious, he marched back into the kitchen.

Huzi's father was only worried about losing money in business. That’s why their noodle shop had stayed small all these years—he refused to spend on renovations or expansion. Huzi's mother had argued with him countless times over this. Now, she couldn’t be bothered to stay in the shop, tired of dealing with these two.

"The shop doesn’t need so many people anyway. I’ll be busy with outside matters for a while, so you take care of things here. Oh, is your second sister still unemployed?"

At the mention of his second sister, Huzi's father softened. She had never held a steady job all these years.

"Yeah, she is. Are you thinking of hiring her? Planning to make money off her too?" Huzi's father’s second sister had been idle at home, without a proper job. Now that her kids were older, expenses kept piling up, and money didn't stretch far. Sure, she was a city dweller, even a capital resident—but life was a real struggle.

Huzi's mother stood up and went to fetch the paper and pen used for writing the menu. She first wrote down the name of the second elder sister: "What's the matter? I'm working so hard, and now even the three-mao profit is being taken from me. Like it or lump it. If she can find Xu Meng on her own, she can go get the goods from Xu Meng herself."

Let's see if Xu Meng, who has some connection with her, would give her credit.

Huzi's father obediently shut his mouth.

Huzi's mother first thought through all her close relatives, writing down names as she thought of them.

Including her own sisters and sisters-in-law, she excluded those who couldn't articulate clearly for now. As long as the relatives were sharp, she listed them, mentally drafting a plan as she went, eventually planning for over ten people.

"I'm off now?"

"So soon?"

"No hustle, no muscle." With that, Huzi's mother left the father and son behind and went out.

Once outside, Huzi's mother first gathered a few neighbors she was close to near the big locust tree to discuss the details thoroughly. They roughly agreed on how to pitch it and what to say, then picked spots to sell. Some neighbors felt they didn’t necessarily have to sell at the train station and even considered setting up stalls in the market.

Huzi's mother let them be, as long as they didn’t all cluster together.

After all the discussions, Huzi's mother went to visit her relatives.

The closest was her second elder sister.

Huzi's father was the only son, but he had several sisters. This second sister's family was struggling the most. Even in this season, she was still selling tourist maps at the train station. Before visiting her, Huzi's mother thought for a moment and bought two tins of food to bring along.

When she arrived at the second sister's place, the sister had just returned from outside.

Hurrying home by around four to cook for her husband and son, she didn’t even have time to clean up after dinner before heading back to the station for a few more hours. Nowadays, there were too many people selling maps, and sometimes she might not sell a single one in an hour.

"Second sister, just got back?" Huzi's mother happened to run into her.

The second sister was carrying a bag of maps, clearly not having sold many. Seeing Huzi's mother with gifts, she quickly invited her in: "You shouldn’t have brought anything. Huzi’s all grown up now and will soon be dating and getting married. There’s so much to spend on."

Huzi's mother knew how frugal the second sister was, so she always brought snacks to treat her a little.

She was cheerful by nature and got along with both sisters-in-law.

As they talked, Huzi's mother followed the second sister inside. Seeing her rush to the kitchen to knead dough as soon as she entered, Huzi's mother fussed at her: "How’s business lately? At your age, don’t overwork yourself. How much did you make today?"

Chen Fangfang sighed: "Earlier when it was cold, fewer people were selling, so business was decent. But now there are more people again, and I only pull in two or three kuai a day."

Huzi's mother tutted, deeply feeling how hard it was to earn money.

At least her family had the shop and house left by her in-laws, so they got by. The second sister's siblings were numerous, and none got help from their parents. The brothers weren’t doing well either, sometimes even needing help from the sisters.

Huzi's mother had intended to help tidy the kitchen, but it was so small that one person could barely fit, let alone two.

Residents of this generation seemed masters at making the most of tiny spaces.

Huzi's mother cut to the chase: "I’ve got a side hustle—selling hot pot base. You can get the goods on credit, sell them, and pay when you get more stock. Want to give it a try?"

The second sister immediately rushed out of the kitchen: "What kind of hot pot base is this? Is it easy to sell?"

...

Huzi's mother spent the entire afternoon and evening running around. By the time she returned from her parents' place, it was already ten at night.

Chen Hu had been sent out by his father several times to look for her. Finally spotting her from afar, Chen Hu dashed over.

Huzi’s mom took the coat he handed over and put it on.

It wasn't this cold when she went out in the afternoon, but the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees by evening.

Chen Hu asked, "Why are you back so late?"

Huzi’s mom let out a breath of steam. "Heh, got caught up talking at your aunt's place."

Chen Hu scratched his head. "Dad sent me out to look for you like three times."

Huzi’s mom was annoyed. "Why didn't he come out to find me himself?"

Chen Hu chuckled. "He even went to my second aunt’s house and just got back."

Their little noodle shop was doing alright, closing at eight in the evening. But when it was time to shut down, Huzi’s mom still hadn't returned, so Huzi’s dad got worried and rushed to his sister's house to look for her. Only then did he find out she hadn't even eaten dinner and had gone to her parents' place. He rushed over to her sisters’ places but ended up missing her.

In the end, Huzi's father came back even later than she did.

Huzi’s mom was so excited that she hardly slept a wink, dying to go see Xu Meng that very night.

If it weren't for Huzi's father saying, "You might not need sleep, but Xu Meng does. What time is it? Just go cut her off in the morning or wait for her at the kid's school."

Huzi’s mom slapped her knee and agreed and even set the alarm for 5:30 a.m.

But the moment she fell asleep, the alarm went off, jolting her awake.

Huzi’s mom quickly got up and hopped on her bike and booked it to Xu Meng’s school.

Hot pot base definitely wouldn’t fly off the shelves like watermelons, but the profit per pack was higher—each pack sold meant a buck in profit. Who wouldn't want to do this?

Even she and Zhang Mingqing thought that if the hot pot base really caught on, it might be more profitable than running a hot pot restaurant.

What she didn't expect, though, was that Huzi’s mom would ask for over 300 packs of hot pot base in one go.

"Three hundred packs?" Xu Meng thought she must have misheard. Even the big-shot vendor at the market had only stocked a hundred packs yesterday, yet Huzi’s mom wanted 300 at once. Was she just stocking up because she could buy on credit?

Xu Meng had planned to observe the sales first before recruiting more people later.

Little did she know, Huzi’s mom had the same idea—snatching up as much as she could since Xu Meng had said supplies were limited. The more she sold, the more she'd earn. Even if she distributed all 300 packs, she'd still make a hundred yuan in profit.

Pfft! A hundred bucks wasn’t bad!

Huzi's shop only made about five or six hundred yuan a month now—just scraping by.

Huzi’s mom quickly put on a smile. "Don’t sweat it, I’ve got the distributors lined up."

Xu Meng nodded. "What about the goods? Should we deliver them to your shop?"

Huzi’s mom was about to say she could pick them up herself, but then she thought the other party might want to see the scale of her place. So she asked Xu Meng to arrange delivery to her shop, to make a good impression and letting people know she had a proper store.

So during the day, Xu Meng took a break and went to a public phone booth outside the school. She first called Zhang Mingqing's shop.

Zhang Mingqing hadn't even gotten the labels done yet. When Xu Meng told her the distributors were already lined up and the buyer wanted 300 packs right away, she was over the moon. She immediately rushed to the advertising company to hurry up the label printing. As soon as the labels were ready, she'd have her staff package everything and hand-deliver the 300 packs to the Chen Family Noodle Shop near the big locust tree.

At the Chen Family Noodle Shop, Huzi’s mom had just seen off a customer when a gorgeous, stylish woman walked in.

"Sorry, we're closed. No more noodles left," Huzi’s mom said with a polite smile, giving the woman a once-over.

Zhang Mingqing surveyed the shop and asked, "Are you Wang Yuehua?"

Wang Yuehua is Huzi's mother's real name. Xu Meng had been calling her "Huzi's mom" since childhood, and this time she specifically asked Feng Yanwen what her full name was.

Huzi's mother gave her a once-over and nodded.

Zhang Mingqing smiled and said, "I'm Xu Meng's friend. You're the one who ordered 300 bags of hot-pot base, right? I've brought the goods. Next time, if you sell out and want more, you can go directly to our store. It's on Xuefu Road—just ask around for Zhuangyuanlou Hot Pot Restaurant, and everyone there knows it."

This visit was just to get acquainted. Though Huzi's family's shop is small, it’s still a proper store. Having someone like this is good enough. Three hundred bags of hot-pot base is a decent amount—not too much, not too little. Still, Zhang Mingqing wasn’t worried about Huzi's mother running off—she just felt that Xu Meng’s sales method sounded unreliable no matter how she thought about it.

Relying on a bunch of street vendors to sell it?

But at this point, she was willing to try anything, and Zhang Mingqing didn’t have many options.

She could sell it in her own store, but the customer base was too small. Even if nearby residents came specifically to buy the hot-pot base, how much hot-pot base could a couple of families even go through?

So she doubted Huzi’s mom would sell much.