Before long, a restaurant owner came by to purchase spices. He said Brother Yong had sent him and, with a smile, asked Lin Changyou for a little discount.

Lin Changyou smiled politely. "Don’t worry. Since Ah Yong sent you, I’ll definitely give you a good price."

The restaurant owner bought half a jin of each type of spice. When he saw the dried mushrooms and wood ear fungus, he bought several jin of those as well.

Lin Changyou refilled the compartmentalized display box with spices and calculated the money they had just made. ’Doing business is pretty interesting,’ he thought.

After a rush of customers, Lin Lan checked the time. It was already ten-thirty. She said to Qiaohui, "You watch the shop. I’m going to buy some groceries, and we’ll cook lunch here."

Qiaohui nodded. "Cousin, cooking is too much trouble. Let’s just buy some tofu pudding from next door and have it with rice."

’Since today is our grand opening, if I go buy tofu pudding from Yang Liying, she’ll definitely refuse to take my money,’ Lin Lan thought. She shook her head. "Let’s skip it for today."

She picked up a shopping basket and went to the wet market, noticing that the commune members she had seen that morning carrying eggs, chickens, ducks, and geese were already gone.

Only some vegetable stalls remained. There were far more people selling vegetables here in the market than back at the Eucalyptus Forest.

Lin Lan bought a bunch of garlic sprouts, three celtuces, a head of cauliflower, a handful of spinach, and two radishes.

As she walked on, she reached the butcher stalls in the middle of the market and saw Zhigang sitting on a small stool, his legs stretched out. Only a piece of pork hind leg and a piece of pork liver remained hanging on his rack.

Lin Lan walked up to his stall. "Zhigang, come over to the shop for lunch later."

"Okay," Yang Zhigang agreed readily. He picked up two leg bones and a pork spine. "Sister-in-law, take these bones back for soup. This is all the liver I have left; you can take it and stir-fry it."

"Just put them in my basket." Lin Lan set it down so he could add the bones, then asked with a smile, "How much meat did you sell today?"

Yang Zhigang lowered his voice. "I brought the meat from two pigs. Brother Yong butchered three for a restaurant order, and with Shuiqing’s, that’s seven pigs in total for today. I’m already down to just this, so they must be sold out too."

’At this rate,’ he thought, ’the pigs at the farm will only last until the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month. Good thing Xiangyang acquired another batch for the farm ahead of time.’

’It’s only ten-thirty and he’s already down to about ten jin of hind leg,’ Lin Lan thought. "That’s really fast!" she said with a smile.

"It is," Yang Zhigang said with a grin. "Sister-in-law, you head back first. I’ll stick around a little longer, then I’ll come over."

"Okay." Lin Lan had only taken a couple of steps when she suddenly remembered that Yang Liying wanted pork intestines and blood curd. She turned back to let Yang Zhigang know, then started walking back to the shop.

As she neared her shop, she saw Wang Yong and Liu Fang walking toward her, carrying shopping baskets. The moment Liu Fang spotted Lin Lan, the corners of her lips curled into a smirk.

Lin Lan didn’t want to greet them, so she turned and headed for a stall selling cilantro and green onions, hoping to avoid them.

But for some reason, Liu Fang seemed determined to make a scene. She deliberately pulled Wang Yong right up to Lin Lan. "Oh, isn’t this your old classmate, Lin Lan?"

Wang Yong smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Long time no see, old classmate."

Lin Lan forced a smile. "Yes, long time no see."

Liu Fang shot Lin Lan a triumphant look, then turned to Wang Yong. "Aren’t you going to invite Lin Lan to our wedding?"

Watching Liu Fang’s smug display, Lin Lan couldn’t help but think, ’The whole Liu family is just bizarre.’

Wang Yong glanced at Liu Fang, then turned to Lin Lan and said openly, "Old classmate, Liu Fang and I are holding our wedding reception on the eighth of the second lunar month. I’d like to invite you and your fiancé to come celebrate with us."

He knew Lin Lan was engaged and had even heard that her fiancé had provided a generous betrothal gift. He was sincerely happy for her.

Seeing his sincerity, Lin Lan offered her own genuine congratulations. "Okay. Congratulations! I wish you both a hundred years of happiness together."

"Thank you, thank you! You’re busy, so we’ll get out of your hair," Wang Yong said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Take care."

Lin Lan carried her groceries back to the shop. From there, she rode her bike to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Qiaohui said, "Cousin, we don’t have any pickled vegetables or pickled ginger for the pork liver."

Lin Lan glanced at Tong Xinglan. "Xinglan, could you ride back and grab some? And while you’re at it, tell my mom not to make lunch for us."

"Okay!" Tong Xinglan put down her rolling pin, washed her hands, and headed out.

Lin Lan poured the pre-mixed flour into the mixer, flipped the switch, and the machine whirred to life.

With the mixer, they no longer had to strenuously knead the dough by hand. Both Lin Yuezhen and Qiaohui found it to be a huge labor-saver.

Lin Lan and Lin Yuezhen cut the dough into noodles, then dropped them into a wok of hot oil to fry them for the Sachima.

The bestsellers this morning had been the Sachima and egg-yolk pastries, followed by the puffed rice candy and kidney bean rolls.

She did a quick estimate of the morning’s revenue. ’While the stall at the Eucalyptus Forest made money,’ she thought, ’the difference in foot traffic compared to a proper market is just immense.’

The gap between running a stall and running a proper pastry shop was even greater.

’Her thoughts turned to the other shop space next to the department store, which was already renovated but sitting empty. Once business here gets on track, I can use Wu Shufen’s name to apply for another business license. Then I can finally open that pastry shop.’

Lin Lan appreciated the direction the new policies were taking. As long as you had the ability, you could open shops all over the country.

「At noon」

Lin Lan rode her bike to the department store. Inside, she saw Yao Xiuyun and a round-faced woman with two long braids talking with Old Li.

When Old Li saw Lin Lan at the door, he smiled. "Little Lin is here."

Yao Xiuyun turned to her. "Well, if it isn’t the busy bee herself. I think you’re even busier than I am."

Lin Lan shot her a playful glare, then smiled at Old Li. "Dad, you can go have lunch on the south side of town now."

She had already squeezed in a trip to the market to buy groceries, cooked lunch, and even sent a portion over to Zhigang.

Old Li stood up. "Alright. You watch things for a bit. He Li has gone to the backyard to eat."

After Old Li left, Yao Xiuyun said to the round-faced woman, "Sister, this is Lin Lan."

"Hello, Little Lin," Xiang Qun said, a little shyly.

Lin Lan smiled and returned the greeting. After sitting down, she said to Xiang Qun, "Sister Xiang, Xiuyun has probably told you about the job. I wanted to ask, do you know how to use a scale and keep accounts?"

Xiang Qun said nervously, "I do. I worked as a temp at the supply and marketing cooperative for a few months."

Lin Lan smiled. "That’s great. In a little while, I’ll take you to the shop so you can see it. If you decide to take the job, I’ll explain the rules of the shop to you."

Xiang Qun looked at Lin Lan. "Little Lin, to be perfectly honest, when I was temping at the cooperative last year, I only made a little over ten yuan a month. The pay you’re offering is much better, and that’s not even counting the commission."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Xiuyun has probably told you about my situation. In my circumstances and at my age, am I really in any position to be picky? As long as you don’t send me away, I’ll work hard for the money."

Lin Lan smiled and extended her hand. "Then I look forward to working with you."

Xiang Qun gratefully shook her hand. "Thank you, Little Lin. Thank you both for all your help."

Watching them, Yao Xiuyun smiled. "Sister, Sister Lin is a great boss. You won’t regret working for her."

Xiang Qun smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Xiuyun. I’m so grateful for your help over the years. If it weren’t for you, my son and I..."

Yao Xiuyun patted her hand, signaling for her not to say any more.