Rebirth: My Mother is a Virgin Mary

Setting up a stall is easier said than done. I always thought I had considered everything in the early stages, but I still missed a lot of small details. For example, I bought disposable lunch boxes for chicken feet and equipped them with disposable gloves, but I forgot to buy food bags. I also prepared folding tables and folding stools, bought food boxes that can maintain a constant temperature, and even lighting for setting up a stall. Suddenly, I thought: How can I let people know that I sell chicken feet? There is no sign! It is definitely too late to make a sign now, and the cost is also high, so I asked Cheng Xinyuan to go to the stationery store to buy a small blackboard for children and a box of colored chalks, and draw by myself, to ensure that there is no repetition every day!

Everything is ready, except for the chicken feet. Chicken feet are easy to make, just cook the chicken feet and soak them in the sauce. But the difficulty lies in…

"Sister, do we have to sell boneless chicken feet? Can't we sell bone-in chicken feet..." After opening a small basin of chicken feet, Cheng Xinyuan couldn't bear it anymore and protested to me plaintively, raising her hands in disposable gloves.

"No! This is our specialty. There are many people selling bone-in chicken feet, but they are not pleasant to eat and not so tasty. There are also many people selling boneless chicken feet, but the taste may not be as good as mine. Since we are doing it, how can we be the same as others?" My hands kept moving. The chicken feet in my hands were like a good baby, allowing me to fiddle with them with ease. Cheng Xinyuan just got started and was not so skilled yet. "Sister will give you a salary, an hourly wage~" I showed two fingers, and Cheng Xinyuan's eyes lit up: "Come on! Chicken feet baby, keep fighting!"

On the first day of the trial operation, I didn't buy too many chicken feet ingredients. Although I was very confident in myself, I was still afraid that I couldn't sell them all, so I had to be cautious. I poured the prepared water into the food box filled with boneless chicken feet. The chicken feet were cut into small pieces to make them easier to taste and easier to eat. I silently calculated how much money I could make today: chicken feet are wholesale prices, less than 100 yuan for 20 catties, plus side dishes, seasonings, packaging, etc., not counting labor, the net cost is controlled within 120 yuan; 20 catties of chicken feet are about 15 catties after deboning, and each portion of chicken feet is half a catty, 10 yuan per portion, and there can be 27 or 28 portions after tasting, so the total income is 280 yuan. Oh, if you calculate it this way, you can still earn more than 100 yuan! Of course, this is also hard-earned money. Cheng Xinyuan and I took more than an hour to debone. Of course, the premise for me to earn more than 100 yuan is that all the chicken feet today can be sold out~ It doesn't matter, everything is difficult at the beginning!

I closed the lid of the fresh-keeping food box, put it in the refrigerator, and looked at the time. It was not yet one o'clock in the afternoon, and the expected time to go on sale was half past five in the afternoon. Hmm, enough time for marinating!

The lunch was sent by Ms. Lin’s customer friend. It was shepherd’s purse and beef dumplings, which were very delicious. I ate more than 20 of them, and then I was busy preparing to set up the stall.

"Look at your sister's enthusiasm," Ms. Lin laughed so hard that her eyes could not open. "I don't think your sister studied so hard when she was studying..."

Cheng Xinyuan stuffed his mouth with dumplings: "Studying is easy for my sister. She finally has something she is interested in and can make money. How can she not be enthusiastic?"

"Do you think your sister can sell out all the products at her stall today? Although I have confidence in your sister, I'm still a little scared." Ms. Lin said worriedly.

"Don't worry, my sister didn't make so much. She also prepared food tasting. Believe me, as long as there are people tasting, there will definitely be people who will buy it! Besides, I will go with you, and I can attract people by just shouting!" Cheng Xinyuan must be the one who is truly full of fighting spirit, right?

Cheng Xinyuan took the blackboard with the sign I had drawn and praised, "Mom, you really buried a genius when you didn't let my sister learn to paint!"

"It's your dad who thinks it's too expensive and useless to paint. And your sister is always so sensible... Alas..." Ms. Lin sighed from the corner. If there are no customers in the store, Ms. Lin must be ironing clothes.

"Drawing is useless? It depends on the person. Look at Yao Yuan, he has been drawing since elementary school, so he is naturally different. Some people even ask him to draw for them. Look at sister Xindan, she learned to draw in order to become an art student, thinking it was a shortcut, but she didn't even get into college. She still has no talent, and she spent a lot of money..." Cheng Xinyuan turned the small blackboard over and over again, "It's really strange, how did you and my dad give birth to my sister with our genes? She hasn't practiced calligraphy, and you wouldn't spend money for her to practice. But look at her handwriting, it's so beautiful, it can even be a separate font!"

Ms. Lin took the small blackboard. The strokes of the words on it were full and powerful, with a kind of free and unrestrained beauty. There were also lovely art paintings dotted next to it. "Your sister is really talented in art. She can design flowers on this small blackboard. I'm afraid that even advertising companies can't come up with such a good idea!" Ms. Lin stroked it gently and exclaimed in admiration.

"If my sister had also chosen to be an art student, with her good academic performance, she would have been admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the China Academy of Art, or the Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts!" Cheng Xinyuan said with some regret.

"What are you talking about? Your sister didn't become an art student but was able to get into Peking University and Tsinghua University. Have you forgotten her college entrance examination results?" Ms. Lin glanced at him.

Cheng Xinyuan slapped his forehead and said, "Oh! That's right! How could I forget about this! Her grades are too good! Do you think my sister would be very different if she repeated a year~"

"Everyone thinks so, except your sister. So many people advised her to repeat the year, but she herself was unwilling to do so. Now I think about it, your sister really wanted to escape from this home..." Ms. Lin paused while ironing clothes, "But it's not bad now. People can't foresee things that haven't happened yet. As long as your sister is happy!"

When I entered the room, Cheng Xinyuan was in a daze. I waved my hand in front of his eyes but he didn't respond. "What are you thinking about so intently?" I snapped my fingers and Cheng Xinyuan finally came back to his senses.

"Are you all ready?" Cheng Xinyuan looked at the small cart outside the door.

"Well, get ready to go my employees!" I shouted to cheer myself up!

"I wish you a successful start and a fruitful return!" This was the blessing Ms. Lin gave us before we left.

“No~no~no~” Cheng Xinyuan waved his hand, “Dear mother, we can’t return with a full load. You have to wish us to return with an empty suitcase!”

At 5:20 in the afternoon, Cheng Xinyuan and I set out with a cart to set up a stall. The night market was very close to us, only five minutes away.

At 6:10 pm, Ms. Lin looked at her two children who were pulling the cart back and was a little surprised: "What happened? Is setting up the stall not going well?"

Cheng Xinyuan and I looked at each other and smiled in confusion. Ms. Lin was even more confused: "Did someone bully you because you are young? Isn't it said that the night market is well managed? What kind of people can't even accommodate two children!" Ms. Lin's face was filled with anger, and she was about to get angry...

Cheng Xinyuan couldn't hold it in any longer: "Mom! Can't you think of something nice~"

"Is there a possibility?" I said mysteriously.

“We’re sold out!” Cheng Xinyuan and I shouted in unison, spinning, jumping, and high-fiving each other.

"Sold... sold out?!" Ms. Lin opened her mouth and eyes wide, saying in disbelief. Cheng Xinyuan took out a food box from the cart, and there were only some soup, lemon slices and other side dishes in the box. Cheng Xinyuan proudly raised it above his head to show Ms. Lin, like a sign girl in a boxing match.

"Oh my God!" Ms. Lin was extremely surprised and couldn't stop laughing, "My daughter is so amazing! It's only been half an hour and they're all sold out! Hahahahahahaha..."

"What did I say? My sister must be good! She's even better than I thought! I'm telling you, the chicken feet were sold out before I could even start shouting!" Cheng Xinyuan described the scene of selling chicken feet to Ms. Lin with great excitement. "My sister and I had just set up the stall when an old man came over to try the food and bought two boxes after he finished eating!"

"Yes, yes, I didn't expect the opening to be so smooth! I remember a big brother came with some wine, and after tasting it, he directly bought four boxes! When there were the most people, Cheng Xinyuan and I were in a hurry, afraid of making mistakes~" I also said excitedly.

"If you ask me, the little blackboard my sister drew played a big role. When we first set up the stall, who knew what we were selling in the incubator? The words on the little blackboard were bright and beautiful, so people always came to see what was written on it. Then they saw that there was food tasting, and once they tried it, they couldn't stop..."

"I really didn't expect it to sell out so quickly. In the end, there was less than one portion left. Cheng Xinyuan and I originally wanted to take some back to eat, but a sister came over and insisted on buying them. She also asked me if I would come tomorrow. I saw that there was only a little left, and even half a portion was not enough. I didn't feel comfortable asking for money, so I gave it to her for free and told her to come back if she liked it and to help introduce it to others~"

"Mom, my sister is like you in this respect, she's too honest! Our portion is half a pound, which is 250 grams. According to my sister's weighing method, each portion of pure chicken feet costs at least 300 yuan, and customers can also add soup as they like..."

"Only affordable products can keep repeat customers! Small profits but quick turnover. What's wrong with adding soup? The box is so small, how much can you add~"

"Yes, yes, yes! Everything my sister says is right!" Cheng Xinyuan nodded continuously. "At this rate of sales, we will have to sell at least 50 kilograms tomorrow..." he asked expectantly.

I shook my head: "No, a maximum of 40 kilograms a day, otherwise I won't be able to finish removing all the chicken feet. I don't make a lot of money from this, so there's no need to torture myself like that. Let's just stick to the concept of 'limited quantity per day, while stocks last', and we won't be afraid that no one will come~"

Cheng Xinyuan and I did the math and found that we sold a total of 260 yuan, which is a little less than I expected, but still very good. It's a good start!

Ms. Lin's face was full of smiles as she looked at her cheering children. For the first time, she truly felt that life was so vivid and beautiful.