The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 236 - 228: Divergence

Chapter 236: Chapter 228: Divergence

In the afternoon, Jiang Nanzhou picked her up and discovered that the kitchen at her home was already stocked with cooked dishes.

There were three or four dishes, plus the meat left over from Sunday.

Lu Jingqiu exclaimed in surprise, "Did you make all this?"

Jiang Nanzhou smiled and said, "Uncle Lu and I did it together."

"Ah, the two of you made it?"

"Yeah."

At that moment, Lu Jingqiu’s eyes welled up with warmth, feeling touched.

After washing her hands, Father Lu also came back from the outside, carrying a bag full of buns.

"Aunt Liu said that the store in the community has wild vegetable meat buns today, so I hurried over to take a look and grabbed eight of them. Since everyone’s back, let’s set the table and start the meal," he said.

Although Jiang Nanzhou hadn’t yet registered his marriage with Lu Jingqiu, Father Lu already treated him like a son-in-law.

He didn’t pay too much attention to the couple, and during the meal, Jiang Nanzhou mentioned that he was going to travel back to Capital City with his father for four or five days and then return.

Lu Jingqiu also felt that he should go back to check on his grandfather, who must be worried about him.

The next day, Jiang Nanzhou dropped Lu Jingqiu off at school and then boarded the train to Capital City with Lu Xianrun.

She used to have her partner pick her up and drop her off at school every day, but the next day she was back in the dormitory, behaving herself.

That Sunday, she was also busy. After settling accounts with Carpenter Uncle, she put up a sign with two large characters, "For Rent," and directly wrote down the phone number of their courtyard’s management office.

Xue Jianian was preparing to rent one, and Lu Jingqiu had also asked Yang Min and a few other shops, where their rent ranged from ten to fifteen yuan. Hers was a two-story place, habitable on the upper floor, and even had a toilet.

Lu Jingqiu managed to rent it out for twenty-five yuan, giving it to Xue Jianian for twenty yuan a month.

Xue Jianian was preparing to get a sign made that week and asked for Lu Jingqiu’s opinion: "Jingqiu, how about calling my shop Grain and Oil?"

"That’s good, people will know what you’re selling just by the name. But you should have your own brand, right? In the future, there will be many grain and oil shops, and people won’t recognize yours just by the name," Lu Jingqiu advised.

Xue Jianian said, "Xue’s Grain and Oil."

"Hmm."

"I’ll ask Carpenter Uncle to make me some wooden racks too, the kind that can hold vegetables. I can get my hands on some of the current vegetables, all kinds of grains, rice, millet, wheat flour, various beans, and poultry like chickens, ducks, geese... oh, and fruits too."

"You probably know the villages in the suburbs better than I do. Can you collect this much produce every week?" Lu Jingqiu asked.

Xue Jianian vaguely replied, "Yes."

After putting up the "For Rent" notice, Lu Jingqiu went straight home.

She mailed off the illustration she had designed for Liberation Newspaper.

This month, just from illustrations for Liberation and West City Daily News, she had made ten yuan.

On Monday, Zhang Miao asked her to visit the office, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yang said that next month they were going to print 100,000 copies of the solar terms pictures she had drawn, which meant she was going to make five hundred yuan.

Over the past few months, Lu Jingqiu, when alone, had hardly spent any money, so she already had one or two hundred yuan on her.

She was just wondering when her second cousin would come back.

Right around dinner time, a certain someone came back carrying a Lei Feng bag.

"Second cousin, why was this trip so long?"

"Didn’t the team issue a new policy? After we delivered the goods, we helped with a few short hauls and made a few tens of yuan. On the way, we also traded some wool and fabric, and sold a few watches and radios," he answered.

He said, taking out Lu Jingqiu’s share, which amounted to over three thousand.

"Second cousin, wasn’t it supposed to be May before Logistics Department Wei Jincheng gives the final payment? You’re not going to tell me this is what you’ve earned recently, are you?"

Yang Mingchao nodded, stuffing the meat bun on the table that Lu Jingqiu hadn’t gotten around to eat into his mouth, "Yeah, what else? We’ve been running around for so long, we’re not just aware of hauling stuff, this time out, I’ve noticed people in the city have a lot of money, buying stuff without tickets, and they’re not stingy either. Some county towns also have pretty good consumption, especially for watches and radios, they’re for weddings."

"Oh, are there a lot of people doing business now?"

"Isn’t that the case? Every city is very lively, you can find all kinds of things for sale, the previous black markets have now become regularized, no longer needing to sneak around. Qiuqiu, is the storefront you built ready?

What do you think about me opening a fixed sales point, buying some big-ticket items like refrigerators and washing machines, which I can also get a hold of?"

"As long as it’s cheaper than the department stores, it’s best to get some stuff similar to what they have in the Friendship Store. People’s lives are getting better and better, and so are the things they aspire to have."

"I can also get those foreign brand watches, has the shop been rented out?"

"One of them has been rented out."

Yang Mingchao said, "So fast?"

Lu Jingqiu smiled, "It’s rented to Xue Jianian. She sells rice, flour, grains, and oils."

"Don’t rent out the other one in a hurry, save it for me."

"Second cousin, it’s twenty yuan a month, you know."

"Hey, I make enough to cover the rent just by selling one watch. Is the room big? If not, I can’t fit much in there."

"It’s quite large. You can fit around four or five each of fridges, washing machines, sewing machines. If you have more stuff, you can rent a warehouse nearby."

"That should be enough."

Both of her storefronts didn’t even need to be rented out, as they were simply taken over by the two of them.

If there were another two sets like this next to the street, it would be even better. The rent she collected every month would be enough to pay someone’s salary for several months.

Thinking about the three thousand yuan in her hand that hadn’t even had time to warm up, Lu Jingqiu hesitated again.

It’s best to hold on to the money for now.

The next day, the second cousin and Fourth Brother Gao went to see the new storefront. Fourth Brother Gao felt that renting a place was unnecessary.

After all, their truckload of goods sometimes sold out even before they reached West City.

Yang Mingchao felt it was very necessary, as more and more people went into business and citizens had more channels to buy things. Having a fixed spot would be just like supply and marketing cooperatives or department buildings; customers would come to them on their own.

Gao Da was reluctant, but Yang Mingchao wanted to do it, so he finally went behind his back and paid for the rental himself.

He planned to have his cousin look after it.

When he came back that evening, Lu Jingqiu saw that the second cousin kept sighing and asked, "Second cousin, what’s wrong?"

"On this trip, Ah Da and I had a disagreement. I want to leave the transport team, get a truck of my own, and haul goods by myself, but Ah Da can’t bear to part with it."

Lu Jingqiu knew that it was only a matter of time before they separated and advised, "You and he are not one entity, having your own ideas is quite normal. But, I think the second cousin’s idea is pretty good."

Yang Mingchao looked at Lu Jingqiu in shock, "You think I should go it alone, but whenever I bring this up with people, they don’t understand. They all say it’s unstable out there, that there’s no guarantee of making money every month, no salary, and it’s very risky."

"But they haven’t thought about the fact that you can make in one month what they make in a year or even two years.

In a person’s life, opportunities aren’t always available every moment, but when they are, you have to seize them. It’s like a gift of fortune from the heavens.

Right now, the country allows individual trading. That’s state-supported. With such a great opportunity, the second cousin should give it a try. However, after going out, it’s not easy to buy vehicles, right?"