Sweeping Natural Disasters (席卷天灾)

Chapter 4

At seven o'clock, the workers left work and went home. Looking at the chaotic mess in her home, Qiao Qingqing tidied up a bit before heading out for dinner. She went to a dumpling shop outside the neighborhood and ate pan-fried chive dumplings, a dish she hadn't had in ten years. She also ordered her favorite steamed dumplings and finished everything with a bowl of wonton soup. The shop had been open for nearly thirty years, operating since her birth, known for its fresh ingredients and great business.

She placed an order with the owner: a thousand assorted pan-fried dumplings, a thousand steamed dumplings, a thousand servings of wonton soup, along with five hundred servings of beef brisket noodles and five hundred servings of fried wontons.

"Ah?" The owner, holding the paper receipt, was taken aback. "Qingqing, did you make a mistake? Ten servings, five servings?"

"Uncle, it's a thousand servings, five hundred servings. Let me repeat it. The total price is twenty-four thousand and five, right? I'll give you ten thousand as a deposit." Without looking back at the menu, Qiao Qingqing scanned the QR code and transferred the money.

"Oh my! This won't work!" The owner was startled, hearing the payment confirmation. He frowned at Qiao Qingqing. "If you really want to buy this much, I'd be happy to sell, but I can't sell it at retail price. That's unfair! Let me give you a 20% discount, and you can pay me the remaining ten thousand."

"Fine," Qiao Qingqing replied, not bothering to argue.

"When do you need these? Is it for a company gathering?"

"Yes, the company is having a gathering. But it's not urgent. I need them delivered in three batches over the next two weeks."

The owner breathed a sigh of relief. "That makes it simpler. Come by on Wednesday, and I'll have the first batch ready for you."

"Okay, I'll drive over Wednesday morning to pick them up."

Once the last customers left the shop, the owner immediately closed the shutters and closed for the day.

This order would keep the couple very busy. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't sell four thousand servings in half a month. But with a familiar buyer like Qiao Qingqing, who lived just across the neighborhood, and with the deposit in hand, they weren't worried about her canceling the order. If this deal went through, their little shop would thrive for the next three years!

After this extravagant spending, Qiao Qingqing felt extremely happy. Spending money felt good! In her past life, they hadn't spent all the family's money, around a million or so. It was the hard-earned down payment they had scrimped and saved for, thinking about it made her heart ache.

In high spirits, Qiao Qingqing drove to the farmer's market. As she was about to get out of the car, her husband, Shao Sheng'an, called: "I've reached Yuecheng. The next train to Huacheng arrives at ten. I'll be home past midnight. Have you had dinner?"

Qiao Qingqing was thrilled, but she restrained herself. "I've eaten. I'm going to the farmer's market to buy some things. See you tonight."

In Yuecheng, Shao Sheng'an finally felt at ease. She's going shopping at the farmer's market, so everything should be fine now, right?

He yawned; jet lag and lack of sleep made his head throb. He had to find a hotel, book an hourly room, set five alarms, and closed his eyes, drifting off.

It was already dark, yet the farmer's market was still brightly lit. There were still plenty of vegetables, albeit a bit worn from being out all day. Qiao Qingqing browsed a few stalls and settled on one with the most extensive variety of vegetables, both seasonal and off-season. She placed an order for all the vegetables at the stall: a hundred kilograms of each type of vegetable, a hundred melons of each type, except for potatoes and tomatoes, for which she wanted two hundred kilograms each. She asked for the delivery to be made the day after tomorrow.