Chapter 281
At the small stall stood three children of about thirteen or fourteen, dressed in ragged clothes. Si Nian glanced over and raised an eyebrow slightly. It had been a while since she came to the city, but this was the first time she had seen anyone wearing patched clothing.
The kids were also quite tanned, clearly having endured their share of hardship.
In front of them was a small flat griddle, with a few already-fried pancakes wrapped in newspaper beside it.
She sniffed the air. The smell, to be honest, was just like the pancakes her own little Zedong made.
"Sis, these are egg-stuffed pancakes. Ten cents each, buy two get one free." Brother Chen and the others had just arrived to set up their stall. None of them had done business before, their faces stiff with nervousness.
They had prepared themselves for a total loss, never expecting someone to inquire so soon.
And not just anyone—two women who looked incredibly wealthy, fashionable, and beautiful.
Fatty and Xiangzi were already so nervous they couldn't speak.
They hid behind Brother Chen, only peeking out with their heads to steal glances at the two women.
Brother Chen was the calmest of them. He hurriedly stepped forward, though his tense little face still betrayed his nerves.
"Wow, so cheap! Only ten cents. I'll take two," Fu Qianqian said immediately.
Anyone who could come to this area to watch movies certainly wasn't short on money. Ten cents was indeed very cheap for them.
Brother Chen and the others exchanged a look, immediately delighted. They quickly wiped their hands and began packing the pancakes for the two women.
Si Nian noticed that although the clothes were patched, they were washed until faded. Their hands were dark, but their nails were trimmed very short and clean.
However, there were some red, swollen, and blistered spots on their hands, likely burns from cooking.
She raised an eyebrow, finding it quite interesting.
Seeing someone make a purchase, others naturally gathered around.
Soon, the pancakes Brother Chen and the others had prepared were sold out.
He appeared calm, but was actually flustered, and within moments, a few more blisters appeared on his hands.
The pain made him grimace.
Although what they made wasn't as neat and refined as what Zhou Zedong produced, after learning for a few days, they weren't too bad either.
They had originally been worried they wouldn't sell anything.
And they had been unlucky; they remembered it was Sunday, a school holiday, only on their very first day of business.
They had already pushed the stall out, and going back empty-handed felt too disappointing.
So they wandered over to the cinema area. Seeing others setting up stalls there, they decided to stop.
They had already resigned themselves to eating whatever they couldn't sell.
Who knew they would sell so well!
It was their first day, so they hadn't prepared much batter.
After selling just over thirty pancakes, they were nearly out.
In less than two hours, the three of them had earned three dollars.
Not just Fatty and Xiangzi, but even Brother Chen himself was dumbfounded.
Usually, when they collected scrap to sell, they could hardly make a dollar in a whole day of backbreaking work.
Yet with the pancakes, they made three dollars in two hours.
It was simply astonishing.
Although half of this money had to be given to Zhou Zedong, they didn't feel the slightest bit regretful.
Counting the money over and over, they pushed their stall home.
They had three pancakes left as a reward for themselves.
But before they could get back, they were intercepted by two children.
"Boss, little boss, is it buy two get one free for these egg pancakes?" Zhou Zehan pointed at the crooked characters written in chalk on the stall that read 'Buy Two Get One Free.'
Jiang Jiu smacked his lips. The two kids, having run until they were sweating and now starving, felt incredibly lucky to stumble upon someone selling stuffed pancakes just after leaving the tenement building.
Brother Chen and the others exchanged glances, looked at their remaining three pancakes, then at the two little kids in front of them with their mouths watering...
Zhou Zedong was playing a number game when he heard his younger brother's excited shouts.
"Brother, brother, I bought stuffed pancakes! Want some~" Little Second Brother, eating the pancake in huge bites, ran towards him.
"It's buy two get one free, such a good deal. It tastes just like the ones you make."
Zhou Zedong's hands, which were manipulating the game, paused as he looked over.
"..."
Over the next few days, a few stalls selling egg-stuffed pancakes appeared near the school gate.
Because of the 'buy two get one free' offer, the children pooled their money to buy and share.
Business was so good that the other nearby stall owners watched with envy.
Zhou Zedong watched his younger brother squeeze into the crowd, then glanced at Brother Chen and the others before looking away.
Little Second Brother popped his head out from the crowd. "Brother! Big brother, come over here! It's buy two get one free! Jiang Jiu and I pooled our money to buy one, the three of us can share."
Fatty and the others now recognized these two kids, who came to buy pancakes every day.
Hearing this, they instinctively looked over and spotted Zhou Zedong, who was holding a book.
Zhou Zedong: ...Pretend not to know them.
Fatty: "Brother Dong!"
Zhou Zedong: "..."
Brother Chen stomped on his buddy's foot.
Little Second Brother was surprised. "Did you just call my brother something?"
Brother Chen packed an especially large pancake for him and said with a smile, "You heard wrong, little friend."
Little Second Brother took the pancake. That made sense.
How could they possibly know his big brother?
He took a bite and said with a grin, "Big brother, you're really amazing. The pancakes you make are as delicious as my big brother's."
Brother Chen: "..."
Recently, Zhou Zedong had to prepare for a competition. Although Si Nian had high hopes for him, he hadn't been in the city for long.
The knowledge he gained in the countryside was too limited, so he was desperately catching up during this period.
Therefore, Si Nian hadn't been making him get up to prepare breakfast.
Si Nian now had to go to work and had grown lazier about mornings.
In the city, unlike the countryside where you had to cook for yourself out of necessity, you could buy whatever you wanted to eat outside. Sometimes she would sleep in a bit longer and buy something for the two kids on her way out.
As a result, Zehan hadn't eaten his brother's pancakes for quite some time, and he was feeling nostalgic.
Seeing that Zhou Zedong didn't want any, he stuffed the remaining pancake into his own mouth in two bites.
Little Second Brother now had a huge amount of physical activity. He had joined a sports competition and trained every day.
Running in the morning, running in the evening.
His stamina was so strong that he had already become the class sports committee member.
Now, for every P.E. class, he led the runs.
The P.E. teacher was a retired national athlete.
He even wanted to take him on as a disciple.
Zhou Zehan wasn't interested, saying unless he got a little red flower for it.
The P.E. teacher had never encountered a situation where little red flowers were demanded for P.E. class and was now going to the homeroom teacher for advice.
He exercised a lot and ate a lot too.
The flesh on his body had become firm.
He ate more but actually looked a bit leaner.
Jiang Jiu, on the other hand, was in a sorry state.
He mastered the eating part, but his stamina couldn't keep up.
His little face was now perfectly round. He was fair and delicate to begin with, and now, plump and round, he looked quite pretty and cute, almost like a little girl.
After a full week, Brother Chen and the others had earned over fifty dollars.
Zhou Zedong got twenty-five as his share.
The remaining money was split among the three of them.
After dividing the money, Zhou Zedong was about to leave. Perhaps because of the previous incident with Teacher Xu, Si Nian had told him to go home early with his brother after school.
So he basically never lingered outside.
Just as he turned a corner, he heard a familiar voice: "Cousin, he lives right in there. You have to teach him a good lesson for me. Best to break his hand, so he can't participate in the competition. Hah, isn't this a slum? Country bumpkin for sure, pretending to be rich."
Zhou Zedong's eyes darkened.
It was Li Youcai.