Chapter 20: My Name Is Actually Written Here
At 2:00 PM, the stream of customers in front of Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant finally dissipated.
After telling the servers to put away the long tables outside, the owner returned to her seat behind the cash register and began to calculate the earnings from the lunch rush.
The meat dishes were fatally attractive to the workers. Heavy on oil and salt, they looked appetizing and went well with rice. Coupled with the free daily soup and a tiger-skin egg, they had indeed drawn in a lot of workers.
Almost everyone who came to look ended up buying a meal to-go. The dishes they had prepared were nearly all gone; sales were excellent.
After a quick calculation, a wide smile blossomed on the owner’s face.
From the lunch rush alone, she had sold sixty-seven lunch boxes, bringing in 536 yuan. The cost was just under 100 yuan, for a net profit of over 400.
’I really made a brilliant decision. Over 400 a day means more than 10,000 a month! That’s almost as much as our entire profit for a whole month used to be.’
Gleefully putting away the ledger, she had a sudden urge to switch all the meat in her kitchen to meat from Anxin Food Processing Company.
But today was only the first day. It was a bit too hasty. She decided to wait a couple more days, and if there were no problems, she would make the full switch.
The neighboring restaurants had been paying close attention since seeing Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant’s actions in the morning. Seeing how brisk their business was, they all started getting ideas.
’Maybe I should try it too? Even if I only sell ten or twenty portions, that’s still extra income.’
In the factory cafeteria, many workers used to think that just getting a full stomach was enough.
But recently, more and more people were bringing lunch boxes to eat in the cafeteria, and the aroma was impossible to ignore. The noodles from the cafeteria still tasted the same, but they were getting harder to swallow with each passing day.
When they thought about how others could get a filling meal with meat, vegetables, and soup for just eight yuan a day, they wondered why the factory cafeteria, with its five-yuan meal standard, served them noodles every single day.
At the very least, they could have cooked some rice and served it with a couple of decent dishes.
This dissatisfaction spread among the workers. It finally erupted when they saw that today’s noodle topping was, yet again, just a few meager shreds of meat.
"Ever since the weather started getting hot, we’ve been eating noodles for almost half a month. Don’t tell me we’re going to be eating noodles every day for the next two or three months?"
With someone taking the lead, other disgruntled workers quickly chimed in.
"Exactly! It’s either rice noodles, or flat rice noodles, or wheat noodles. The toppings are always the same few options, and none of them have even a hundred grams of meat. We’re all getting skinny!"
"My pigs at home eat better than this," Xu Dongliang shouted from within the crowd, then quickly slipped away before anyone could spot him.
This comment triggered a new wave of protests.
The kitchen staff were unconcerned at first. The workers would complain for a bit, but it’s not like it would cost them a piece of meat. They didn’t take the complaints seriously.
But the protests grew louder and louder, making the woman serving food at the window uneasy.
They had pulled a lot of strings and paid out a lot of favors to get the contract for this cafeteria. They had only just broken even and hadn’t started making a profit yet.
If the workers caused a big enough scene and the site management decided to switch contractors, they wouldn’t even have a place to cry.
The serving woman immediately leaned halfway out the window and yelled at the indignant workers outside, "No more noodles tomorrow! We’ll cook rice!"
"Will there be meat dishes?"
"Yes, yes, yes! You’ll get everything you want! Rice, meat, vegetables, and soup!"
Hearing there would be meat, vegetables, and soup, the rowdy workers gradually quieted down. Without others backing them up, the few who had started the commotion couldn’t keep it going and had to give up.
’Alright, we’ll wait for tomorrow. If tomorrow’s food isn’t satisfactory, we’ll start this all over again.’
Seeing the gathered workers slowly disperse, the serving woman finally breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Wang Qiang, who was sitting in the corner of the room playing on his phone, and said, "Qiangzi, this afternoon, confirm tomorrow’s menu with Master Liu. We need at least one meat dish."
"Got it," Wang Qiang replied distractedly, completely absorbed in his game.
The next day, when Xu An arrived at the construction site entrance, he found that his usual spot was already taken.
It was a tricycle cart, similar to his own, but brand new and sparkling. It was obviously a recent purchase.
On the cart was a simple stove, and a small gas canister was tied to the side of the seat.
Just like his own, a bamboo pole was tied to the front of the tricycle. A whiteboard hung from it, which read: "Fried Noodles, Fried Rice Noodles, Fried Rice - All 4 Yuan. Egg - 1 Yuan."
The stall owner looked to be in his thirties, with dark skin that suggested he often did heavy labor. He was half a head shorter than Xu An but more solidly built. Wearing a thin tank top, he revealed a set of sinewy muscles.
When his eyes met Xu An’s, he didn’t look away at all, even giving him a slight nod.
’This guy means business.’
Xu An sighed to himself. ’This has not been a good week. Competitors are popping up one after another.’
Everyone had noticed this construction site. Seeing how well his business was doing, they all wanted a piece of the pie.
Xu An parked his tricycle next to the fried noodle stall, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to the owner, asking in a friendly tone, "Your surname?"
"My surname is Zhang. Everyone calls me Old Zhang." Seeing Xu An being so polite and even offering him a cigarette, Old Zhang was quite pleased. ’This young man isn’t bad; he knows how to get along with people.’
Who would have thought Xu An’s next words would be: "This is my spot. Please move."
Old Zhang’s hand, which had just taken the cigarette, froze. He shoved it right back into Xu An’s hand. He wanted to tilt his head back to look down on Xu An contemptuously, but realizing Xu An was taller than him, he saw that tactic wouldn’t work. Instead, he put on a fierce and menacing expression.
"Is your name written on this piece of land? Don’t you understand first come, first served? I was here first, so I claimed this spot. If you want it, you’d better get here earlier tomorrow."
If Xu An hadn’t gotten a temporary stall permit, he wouldn’t have minded moving over to the side, as he believed in making money amicably.
But he *had* gotten a temporary stall permit, so this spot was, in fact, registered under his name.
The city management officers themselves had come here to measure the space and get his signature before approving the temporary stall permit.
Xu An took out the temporary stall permit he carried with him every day, held it up for Old Zhang to see, and explained seriously.
"This document is a temporary stall permit. It registers the specific location of my stall. So, I hate to say it, but the spot you’re on right now is, in fact, registered in my name."
"Tch. Who’s to say that permit is real? For all I know, you just made it up to trick me." Old Zhang had never heard of a "temporary stall permit"; he only knew about hygiene permits and business licenses.
’A permit for a roadside stall? He must really take me for a fool.’
Seeing his disbelief, Xu An didn’t get angry. He calmly took out two other permits from his bag, fiddling with all three in his hands, and muttered to himself in a calm voice just loud enough to be heard.
"I got all these permits from the City Management Office and the Health Bureau. If the officers get called, I’ve got nothing to worry about. I’m fully licensed.
But I can’t say the same for other people. No permits at all... they might get their equipment confiscated and have to write a self-criticism letter to get it back. Then they’d have to apply for permits, and by the time those are approved, at least a week will have passed.
Who knows what this spot will look like in a week? There might not be any room left for him by then."
Watching Xu An put his permits away, Old Zhang thought the young man was backing down. He didn’t expect him to switch tactics and threaten him instead.
Old Zhang’s nostrils flared, and he was about to lose his temper.
But then his eyes swept over the permits in Xu An’s hands, and his anger fizzled out.
He’d seen a hygiene permit before, and a health certificate too. The two permits in Xu An’s hand looked exactly like the ones he remembered.
A wave of uncertainty washed over him. He didn’t know if the permits were real or fake.
But he didn’t dare take the gamble. Winning would only mean keeping this one spot. But if he lost, it would probably be just as the young man said: he’d be delayed for a week, and by then, who knows how many stalls would have set up in front of this construction site.
There were plenty of others who wanted to set up a stall here; he had just been a step faster.
Between saving face and making money, Old Zhang chose to make money.
"Kids these days... so young, don’t study properly, don’t know how to respect their elders. All they think about is money. This younger generation... hopeless," Old Zhang grumbled, but his hands moved quickly as he pushed his stall to the side.
Satisfied, Xu An set up his own stall in his familiar spot.
Once he was all set up, he glanced over at Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant to see what they were up to today, only to find that all four shops across the street had pulled out banners and set up long tables in front.
Shit!
’Selling all forty lunch boxes today... might be a long shot.’