Chapter 5

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“Already set up so quickly, impressive!” Wang Xuejiao gave Xu Yong, who was sitting by the stall reading a magazine, a thumbs-up.

The container holding the food sat on the tricycle without being taken down. Next to it was a small table with a cutting board and disposable bowls and chopsticks arranged neatly.

Beside the small table was a low folding table surrounded by four plastic stools.

This style of braised meat with rice was very popular in Guangdong, but it was rare to see it in other cities. The mainstream lunch for local workers here was boxed meals with various vegetable and meat options.

One meat dish with three vegetables cost four yuan; two meat dishes with three vegetables cost five yuan—affordable and varied.

Xu Yong had initially doubted whether Wang Xuejiao would sell any at all.

“Isn’t it fine if they don’t sell?” Wang Xuejiao said nonchalantly. “We’re not fronting the cost. This is all good meat. If it doesn’t sell, we just take it home ourselves.

We’ll have the stall here for a few days; if business doesn’t pick up, we pack up and leave—makes sense. If in the future we have other missions, at least the locals around here won’t be puzzled seeing us here.

If business booms and we change trades, familiar faces will wonder, right? Then you have to tell one lie after another—too much trouble.”

“You think this through well!” Xu Yong gave her a thumbs-up.

It was ten o’clock, and most of the breakfast stalls outside had packed up, replaced by some selling sundries.

Only one wonton stall remained, the vendor still holding some wrappers and a small half bowl of filling.

These small wontons had very little filling; the vendor would scoop a bit with a wooden spatula, smear it onto the wrapper, pinch it closed, and the wonton was done.

In places like this where business was mobile, the filling was even less, smeared quickly with the spatula.

At eight o’clock, the filling was nearly half a large bowl, and with steady business till ten, only a small amount had been used.

“His filling won’t last a whole day, right?” Wang Xuejiao wondered.

Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out: “Here they come!”

The wonton vendor swiftly folded up the table with his left hand and grabbed a plastic stool with his right, tossing it onto the tricycle. Without bothering to put out the fire on the stove, he kicked off and sped away like a blur, the entire motion seemingly in fast-forward.

Less than twenty seconds after he disappeared, the “Red Sleeve Patrol” arrived.

Other small vendors who hadn’t escaped were fined five yuan each on the spot.

Wang Xuejiao, who had been timing the whole event, looked at her tricycle and then at Xu Yong. “Can you—”

Xu Yong outright denied it. “No!”

He was used to bicycles but couldn’t handle the steering of a tricycle well. After borrowing one yesterday afternoon, he’d practiced for hours overnight and could barely manage to ride it here. To match the wonton vendor’s lightning pace? He’d probably crash within a few meters.

So the two resolved to come early during this period, secure the best spot, and never let their stall be set up outside where they could be chased off.

Things were better now; there was an electric outlet behind them. Wang Xuejiao had checked with management—they allowed her to use an electric rice cooker freely.

Around ten-thirty in the morning, people started arriving: box meal vendors, stir-fry sellers, fried food stalls… gradually unloading goods at their usual spots.

They glanced curiously at Wang Xuejiao and Xu Yong but were too busy to inquire.

At ten-fifty, a weary-looking woman came out from the south building and headed straight for the “dining area.”

Page 2 of 3

Her name was Lu Aimei, a seller of socks and gloves, dealing in both wholesale and retail.

She had arrived at seven that morning. Business was unusually good today; she had been busy showing goods, negotiating prices, packing, and arranging deliveries, never pausing for a moment, afraid to make any mistakes.

Now she was exhausted and hungry, her mind blank. She asked her husband, who had been carrying goods all morning, to watch the stall while she stepped out to buy lunch, clear her head, and catch her breath. She still had to return to handle two large orders, which couldn’t afford any errors.

As customers approached, the various vendors called out enthusiastically, “What would you like to eat today?”

“Start with a radish pancake?”

“Minced meat stir-fried with noodles and pickled vegetables!”

“Box meals, hot rice and dishes!”

Lu Aimei scanned the stalls.

The fried food looked too greasy. She had been up too early and tired all morning—not in the mood for fried stuff.

Waiting for stir-fried dishes took time. Her husband was not good with words; he could only keep watch at the stall, no chance for large orders. She needed to get back quickly.

The box meal stall offered many options, but faced with over twenty varieties of meat and vegetable dishes, her mind went blank. She’d had chicken drumsticks yesterday, pork chops at home last night, the sausages had too much starch, she’d eaten the braised chicken last time, and there was a pile of chicken necks and ribs…

She turned and saw two young people at what used to be a box meal spot, clean and tidy, with shiny stainless steel containers on a small tricycle—looking quite hygienic.

“What are you selling?” Lu Aimei asked.

“Braised pork rice!” Wang Xuejiao pointed to the menu on the container.

“Ten yuan?!” Lu Aimei’s first thought was, “That’s expensive!”

Ten yuan could buy half a roast duck these days.

“We have meat, vegetables, and rice—balanced nutrition, clean and hygienic!” Wang Xuejiao repeated her sales pitch.

She then opened the stainless-steel insulated container; the aroma of braised meat floated out with the steam, directly hitting Lu Aimei’s face.

“Smells so good.” Lu Aimei inhaled deeply.

“We have pork, beef, duck, chicken, offal, tofu, and eggs.”

Wang Xuejiao scooped out a piece of amber-braised pork knuckle. The skin glistened, and between the skin and meat wasn’t greasy fat but translucent tendons. The piece trembled slightly in the ladle, the skin and tendons showing their elasticity.

The braising flavor was different from normal seasoning packets—there was an extra appetizing freshness. Lu Aimei, already tired and ready to just eat quickly, suddenly felt her appetite stir.

Ten yuan it is, then—not something to eat every day anyway.

Decision made, Lu Aimei said, “Two Family Combos, please.”

“Got it!” Wang Xuejiao tossed some baby bok choy and cabbage leaves into boiling water. While blanching the vegetables, she swiftly chopped pig ears, pork knuckle, and dried tofu into small pieces, halved the braised eggs, and just finished as the vegetables were ready.

The freshly blanched greens were vibrant and appetizing, nothing like the wilted yellow leaves typical of box meal stalls.

Still, Lu Aimei hesitated: “Boiling in plain water without oil or salt—will it taste good?”

Before she finished her thought, Wang Xuejiao had packed full four meal boxes.

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Almost all box meal vendors now followed the same method: one box with rice at the bottom, toppings placed directly on top. Two meat and three vegetable dishes didn’t amount to much.

Wang Xuejiao’s approach was like twenty-first-century delivery: except for mixed or fried rice, who puts dishes directly on rice? That would draw complaints.

So she packed a full box of rice, plus a separate box of braised meat and vegetables, then bagged them together.

Xu Yong, standing nearby, was amazed and couldn’t help blurting out, “That’s way too much! The thousand yuan Uncle Suo gave you won’t even cover your losses!”

“Women talk, men don’t interrupt! This is a good start! Gotta give a little extra!” Wang Xuejiao had noticed how the other box meal vendors served portions. Hers was a bit generous, but she’d give a reasonable excuse now and serve less next time.

She handed the plastic bag to Lu Aimei: “You’re our first customer today, so here’s a little extra—won’t happen for everyone.”

Lu Aimei smiled as she took it, thinking the young girl knew her business. Ten yuan wasn’t cheap, but hearing that made her feel specially cared for, lifting her spirits.

Being savvy in business wasn’t unusual; every stallholder in this large market was sharp.

Lu Aimei returned to her stall and saw her husband sitting there, looking dejected.

“What’s wrong? Lost a hundred thousand yuan’s worth of business?” she teased.

He handed her a hundred-yuan note with a solemn face.

Lu Aimei’s heart skipped a beat as she grabbed it. “Fake?”

The four great leaders’ portraits looked dignified; at first glance, there was no issue. But holding it up to the light revealed the watermark was odd—a hooked nose and a strangely shaped mouth, more like a foreign sorcerer than a Chinese figure.

The paper felt strange too. The Braille section had no texture at all, just like ordinary paper.

Lu Aimei asked, “Where did this money come from?”

“After you left, someone came to buy cotton gloves. I quoted forty yuan; he didn’t haggle and gave me a hundred. I gave him change, and he left. I was happy at first… but once he was gone, I realized the money felt off…”

Her husband’s voice grew more upset.

Lu Aimei frowned. Counterfeit money couldn’t circulate; banks would confiscate it on the spot.

Her business mostly relied on volume wholesale with thin profits. Losing the cost of an eight-yuan glove and sixty-yuan real cash was painful.

She thought about how she had just struggled over twenty yuan for braised meat rice, and now sixty-eight yuan was gone in an instant.

Lu Aimei felt sorrowful and reproached her husband, “Why weren’t you more careful? Who buys things without bargaining here? It had to be someone with bad intentions! And the fake money was so obvious—how did you not notice?”

Her husband was reluctant to accept it. Holding the counterfeit note, he pondered how to spend it.

He glanced at the braised pork rice in front of him and suddenly had an idea. Checking the time, it was only eleven—not the lunch rush yet.

Around noon, stall owners would gather to eat, and the outer stalls would get busy…

Just then, Lu Aimei opened the plastic bag: “Enough of this. Let’s eat first.”