บท 17: Planning for Tuition
The days of vacation passed pleasantly, but after just two days of enjoyment, Shen Ting was burdened with worries.
The high school tuition for three years amounted to six or seven thousand yuan, yet she currently had less than seven hundred. Shen Ting had to figure out a way to gather enough money within just two months.
What could help her amass such a sum in such a short time? Her first thought was the lottery. She took ten yuan and bought five tickets, hoping for a stroke of luck to win her the six or seven thousand she needed.
She wasn't greedy—just the tuition would suffice.
However, while dreams are full and rich, reality is often stark. Shen Ting's luck wasn't too bad; three of her five tickets won prizes—a towel, two toothbrushes, and five yuan. She had recovered her initial investment, but the disappointment in her heart lingered for half a day.
She tried asking the system for help, but the system sternly told her that it was a beauty-enhancing system and had no function for helping the host cheat.
Embarrassed by the response, Shen Ting never brought it up again with the straightforward Venus 001.
One day, while she lay on the roof of her house, staring at the clear blue sky, she suddenly heard a rhythmic cry from afar: "Sugar-coated hawthorns, one yuan per skewer, delicious sugar-coated hawthorns!"
A street vendor. The word popped into Shen Ting's mind, and as she thought of the tangy sweetness of the hawthorns, her mouth began to water. She sat up, ready to go downstairs and buy some, when inspiration struck. She had a brilliant idea.
Street food vendors, the most common sight in food streets everywhere.
Many of them had small stalls, cooking in front, with a few tables set up behind. With a few lamps lit under a tent, they created a small, warm space, attracting food lovers to stop and savor their offerings.
In her past life, Shen Ting had once, out of sheer boredom, secretly observed the patronage of a barbecue stall for an entire evening. From six in the evening until eleven or twelve at night, customers came in an endless stream.
The tables were filled and emptied, emptied and filled again, with at least a hundred or two hundred patrons. One could imagine the impressive revenue from just one night.
Shen Ting saw an opportunity in that hawthorn vendor. Unfortunately, she only had seven hundred yuan at the moment. She needed a partner. Without hesitation, Shen Ting thought of Fang Qin—she could only think of Fang Qin.
After explaining her plan roughly to Fang Qin, Shen Ting proposed that if the stall was set up, she would handle the food preparation, while Fang Qin would take care of serving dishes and cleaning up.
Fang Qin had some money and had always wanted to run a small business but didn't know what to do. After hearing Shen Ting's idea, she found it feasible and readily agreed to invest the bulk of the money. If they made a profit, they would split it equally.
Shen Ting hadn't expected to split the profits equally. Renting a stall would cost Fang Qin more than a little money. Shen Ting thought that since she would handle the cooking and invest some money herself, she could shamelessly propose a forty-sixty split.
To her surprise, Fang Qin insisted on a fifty-fifty split. Shen Ting felt it would be unfair to take advantage of her—after all, Fang Qin's money wasn't easily earned, and besides, she had her own daughter, Fang Kelu, to send to high school.
"Aunt Fang, let's do a forty-sixty split. I should be able to earn my tuition in two months." Despite its small scale, a food stall, with good business, could still bring in a daily profit of four or five hundred yuan.
Fang Qin remained firm on a fifty-fifty split. "Don't think I'm at a loss. I'm just helping with the serving and tidying up. You're the one doing all the hard work with the food."
Shen Ting wanted to argue, but Fang Qin cut her off. She grabbed her wallet, and they took a bus together to a nearby wholesale market to buy supplies.
Tables and chairs, disposable chopsticks and bowls, seasonings, and, following Shen Ting's instructions, they even custom-ordered a small food cart. After a long day of running around, they were both exhausted.
It wasn't until dinnertime that Fang Kelu found out what they had been up to all day and immediately raised a practical question: Where would they set up the stall?
Good locations had high competition; bad locations lacked foot traffic.
Shen Ting had already thought this through. They were planning to sell homestyle stir-fry, targeting local residents and office workers during the summer break. A mobile stall would suffice; they didn't need to rent a permanent spot on a food street.
The ideal location would be near office buildings and residential areas. But the challenge was that mobile stalls were often chased away by city management, and it would be cumbersome to haul around tables and chairs, especially in bad weather.
"I think the intersection at XX Road would be perfect," Fang Qin suggested, tracing the area with her hand on the table.
"The location isn't particularly bustling, but a lot of people pass by every day. Some have long commutes and can't make it home for lunch, so they eat nearby. I know someone who lives there, and we can store the tables and chairs at her place."
Fang Kelu knew the area well. It was a great spot for small business, but unfortunately, it was controlled by a local gang, and setting up a stall there would require paying protection fees. Worse, gangsters would occasionally stop by to eat without paying.
It just so happened that the gang controlling the area was the rival of Fang Kelu's former faction.
If Fang Kelu were still in the gang, she could've helped keep an eye on things. But now that she was determined to leave that life behind, she couldn't rely on her gang's influence. Still, it was such a good spot... Should she ask Hong Xi to watch out for them?
"Let's settle it then. Tomorrow morning, we'll buy the ingredients, set the prices in the afternoon, and be ready to open the day after," Shen Ting said eagerly, rolling up her sleeves with enthusiasm.
Watching her brimming with excitement, and seeing the anticipation on Fang Qin's face, Fang Kelu resolved to ask Hong Xi for help. After all, it was just for a summer—there shouldn't be any major trouble.
Preparing homestyle stir-fry didn't require too many ingredients, just some meat, vegetables, seasonings, and a few large pots of rice.
In the first few days of business, things went exceptionally well. Shen Ting's cooking skills weren't at the level of a professional chef, but for those without discerning palates, it was quite good.
Their stall was clean, the prices were fair, and Fang Qin was chatty, often making the diners laugh heartily. As time passed, returning customers brought new ones, and business grew better each day.
After half a month, Shen Ting calculated their profits and found they had made nearly four thousand yuan. If they could maintain this momentum, her tuition would be covered with some to spare.
Her heart filled with motivation. Though tired from the daily work, Shen Ting felt content. With every hour of her day occupied, she almost forgot about her mission to win over Hong Xi—until that day when someone came to cause trouble at the stall.
On their second day at the stall, someone came to collect protection fees. Fang Kelu had already warned Shen Ting that if it was just some harmless thugs looking for money, they could give them a little and send them on their way.
If, however, they were there to stir up trouble or freeload without paying, it was best to ignore them.
A few days earlier, a group of small-time thugs had come by asking for money. Shen Ting let Fang Qin give them two hundred yuan, and they left laughing. After that, no one else had come.
But that day, as soon as they opened the stall, Shen Ting saw a few people approaching from afar. At first, she thought they were customers and was about to ask Fang Qin to greet them, when suddenly, without a word, they started smashing the stall.
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