CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 137: GROUP ORDER

Lin Xiang: ...

Mrs. Lin has a good mindset; she resolutely avoids internal conflict by passing the buck onto others.

Pretty good!

"It’s okay, didn’t I write it down? Limited to today only. When we set up the stall again tomorrow, it’ll be ten cents a bowl again."

Mrs. Lin carefully calculated, "Even if we sell it for ten cents a bowl, four bowls only bring in thirty cents; it averages out to less than eight cents a bowl. It’s still a bit of a loss. How about from tomorrow, we do a buy-five-get-one-free? That way it works out to precisely eight cents a bowl. What do you think?"

"I think your idea is great. But how many bowls can we really sell in a day? Doing a buy-five-get-one-free is a bit difficult in practice. Let’s try it today first; if it works well, we can switch to buy-five-get-one-free tomorrow."

Only then did Mrs. Lin stop giving her opinion and continued her task of attracting customers.

For this, Lin Xiang specially taught her a set of phrases.

"Everyone, come and take a look, come and take a look! Today, to celebrate our spicy rice noodles’ new flavor, we’re offering a buy-four-get-one-free deal. Buy four bowls of spicy rice noodles and only pay for three. Do the math; isn’t it a great deal? This offer is limited to today only; don’t miss it! You’re welcome to come and try our spicy rice noodles."

"Everyone, come and take a look..."

The food stall isn’t very big. Mrs. Lin cupped her hands like a megaphone, walking back and forth in the small courtyard, repeating her persuasive sales pitch.

Although it was a bit hard on her throat, the effect was obvious. In no time, a crowd had gathered in front of the stall.

"Comrade, what exactly does this buy-four-get-one-free mean?"

Lin Xiang patiently explained: "It means you buy four bowls of spicy rice noodles and get one bowl free. Our spicy rice noodles and three-flavor potato noodles both cost eight cents a bowl. Originally, buying four bowls would cost thirty-two cents, but now it only costs twenty-four cents, saving you eight cents."

Some who were good at math had already started calculating.

Doing the math, it was indeed cheaper than the spicy noodles across the street, and their noodles had a single flavor, while this place also had three-flavor potato noodles, suitable for kids and the elderly in the family.

"I’m alone at the market today, what if I can’t eat four bowls?"

"This offer doesn’t have other restrictions. If you can’t eat four alone, you can split the order with others and just work out the cost among yourselves."

"Can strangers split an order too?"

"Of course! But you need to agree in advance on how many bowls each person will buy and how much they will pay. We don’t want any fights in front of our stall over mismatched payments that could affect our business."

"Does the free bowl also include seaweed?"

"Of course. Every bowl has the same ingredients and portion size, so no worries. If you find that the free bowl doesn’t have seaweed or is smaller in portion size, feel free to come to me for a refund."

All noon long, Lin Xiang didn’t stop, as people kept coming to have spicy noodles.

"Are you alone? I am too. Want to split an order? We’ll save over a cent per bowl this way!"

"Oh, my family only has three people; is there anyone who’s alone and wants to split?"

Lin Xiang heard these exchanges so much that her ears were going numb, but the effect was evident. The extra sweet potato noodles Mrs. Lin had prepared were almost all gone, and half the potato noodles had been sold.

Although the price per bowl was a bit lower than before, they sold a total of 104 bowls today.

It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that they sent off the last few customers.

Lin Xiang, who had been boiling and scooping noodles nonstop, was so exhausted that her arms couldn’t be lifted.

Mrs. Lin, who had been calling out to customers, had a voice so hoarse she was unwilling to say another word.

Chunya and Fifth Uncle didn’t feel great either, all suffering from aching backs and legs.

"I saw a place selling steamed buns over there. I’ll go buy a few for us to eat."

Fifth Uncle waved his hand, "No need to go to the trouble; we still have potato noodles, right? We’ll just cook those and eat. Those buns are dry; nowhere near as tasty as potato noodles."

"Alright, then let’s eat noodles first. Later, when I come back from town, I’ll buy some nice ingredients, and we’ll have a proper meal."

Mrs. Lin took a sip of hot water and asked Lin Xiang, "Are you going to town later?"

"I want to go to the hospital and cook a nice meal for my brother to help him recover quickly. The town hospital isn’t far from here. You guys can go home after closing the stall, and I’ll head to town for a bit before going home."

Mrs. Lin held a bowl full of water, frowning while looking at Lin Xiang.

But Lin Xiang was already up and preparing noodles, unaware of Mrs. Lin’s complex expression.

After eating the potato noodles, they all worked together to load their stuff onto the cart, and Fifth Uncle, Chunya, and Mrs. Lin returned to the village first, while Lin Xiang headed to the town hospital.

"Second Sister-in-law, do you want to visit Lin Yun at the hospital? Chunya and I can take these things back."

"No, I’m tired. I want to go back and rest."

Hospital.

Lin Xiang first went to the ward to see Lin Yun.

Lin Yun was half-reclining on the bed, looking at the big tree outside the window.

It was already deep winter, and most of the tree’s leaves had fallen, leaving bare branches.

Every now and then, a small bird would perch on a branch but would soon fly away.

When Lin Xiang entered, she saw Lin Yun looking rather lonely.

"Have you eaten?"

Her words broke the somber and low atmosphere in the ward.

Lin Yun turned his head sharply. Seeing Lin Xiang, a feeling emerged in his heart that he couldn’t quite identify. "I thought you weren’t coming today."

"I originally planned to come in the afternoon to cook for you, but business was so good today I only came after closing. Did you have lunch? I’ll rent a stove from the cafeteria and make you something nice."

"No need to trouble yourself, the food I’m getting is fine, I can get used to it. You should rest a bit."

Under Lin Yun’s insistence, Lin Xiang didn’t end up renting a stove.

"Today’s meal was sent over by the commander’s guards, bought from a state-run restaurant; it’s better than the cafeteria food. So, don’t worry about me not eating well."

"I know you’re busy with the business these days, so you don’t have to come to the hospital; it’s quite bothersome."

Lin Xiang sat on a stool with her arms crossed, squinting at Lin Yun, "Did you do something to let mom and me down?"

Lin Yun looked bewildered, "No, nothing like that."

"But I feel like you seem a little guilty."

Lin Yun smiled wryly, "There’s nothing like that. I thought you were mad yesterday, that’s why you didn’t want to come."

Lin Xiang touched her nose, "There’s nothing like that! Didn’t I say, this concerns your future, and you need to think it through before deciding. You can consider mom and me, but don’t let us become obstacles on your path."

"We’re all family, it’s fine to talk things out; it’s not so easy to get mad."

Hearing Lin Xiang say that, Lin Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, being in the hospital with nothing to do, you might as well go home and rest. You have to set up the stall early every day, and you’re busy all day; it must be quite tiring."