“Yeah, they also told us we should go set up again tomorrow because there were too many people this morning to sell anything,” Big Brother Ye added.
Ye Qiu took out a sign and placed it in front of their small cart. “Mom, I made a sign for our stall to hang on the cart.”
Big Brother Ye asked in confusion, “Little Brother, why do you need a sign? Our family’s crepe stall is already famous. Everyone knows our crepes; we don’t need a sign to be doing so well.”
“You fool, everyone in the village surely knows we’re making money selling crepes in town. If they see us doing this, they might want to set up stalls too. The sign will show that we are the authentic ones!” After boasting to others, Ye Mother was actually worried that others would come and steal their business. With a sign, everyone would know which food belonged to them.
Their Ye Qiu really was smart!
Big Brother Ye nodded innocently, “Mom, why didn’t I think of that? You and Little Brother are really clever.”
Ye Xia and Zhou Caiyan spent all afternoon at home trying to make those crepes. It wasn’t that crepes were hard to make; buy one and you would know exactly what was inside. But no matter how they tried, they just couldn’t replicate the taste.
“With just one pickled vegetable, you can’t even get that right? Didn’t you follow Mom around the house making pickled vegetables every day?” Ye Xia looked at the crepes on the table, curious as to why they tasted wrong. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was that made them less delicious than Ye Mother’s.
Ye’s Second sister-in-law felt a bit guilty upon hearing Ye Qiu’s words but then proudly replied, “Well… you don’t even like pickles, so why should I waste my time? Plus, Mom doesn’t like to call me over when she makes them, probably because she was already worried about us!”
“Why don’t you try this?” Ye’s Second sister-in-law said, pretending to be mysterious.
Ye Xia took a bite and, to be honest, after tasting so much that afternoon, he couldn’t tell if it was good or bad anymore.
Ye’s Second sister-in-law boasted, “The pickles inside were obtained from a procurement officer at the state-owned restaurant!”
“A state-owned restaurant? No wonder it tastes different from others.”
“Hmph, if I hadn’t caught him sneaking out food to resell, he wouldn’t have sold them to me. And even then, it cost me a dime a pound!”
The two of them dreamed of their future successes together. Zhou Caiyan nudged Ye Xia and asked, “They sell theirs for three dimes each. How do we sell ours? Do we match their price?”
Ye Qiu sneered, “Let’s sell it for a dime cheaper! We’ll definitely sell even more!”
“But these are both egg-filled and deep-fried crepes, and we even use pickles from the state-owned restaurant. We’re only selling them for two cents?” Hearing Ye Xia’s words made Ye’s Second sister-in-law feel a bit distressed. At this price, when would she ever make big money!
“You’re silly! Although we earn less per sale, we can sell more! Once they can’t keep up, we can just raise the price later!”
“Let’s have our son go to school tomorrow and promote us well. I won’t believe we’re worse than them!”
Indeed, Ye Chengcai and Ye Xiaohua had been sent off to school, which is why the two had so much time on their hands. When Ye’s Second sister-in-law saw Ye Xiaohua while sending her son to school, her first reaction was disbelief. Why should a little girl like her go to school? This meant that Ye Mother must have earned a lot of money; otherwise, why would she let Ye Xiaohua attend school?
Marrying Ye Xia, she could be said to be a local celebrity. Everyone comparing their daughters to her, and she couldn’t accept that Big Sister Ye, who just stayed at home washing clothes and cooking, might suddenly appear on her level!
Early the next morning, Ye Xia and the others happily climbed onto the ox cart. A few aunts nearby couldn’t help but gossip when they saw Ye Xia. They had all heard about it yesterday—Ye Qiu had become quite successful, with a queue of people waiting to buy at his stall in town!
“Oh, Ye Xia, you’re going to town, aren’t you? I heard your mom’s business is booming lately.”
“Exactly! They say Ye Qiu came up with the idea. If you hadn’t split your family, wouldn’t you have known?”
Ye Xia, hearing their pointed remarks, pretended to be deceived. “Oh, that Third Brother, now that he has a way to make money, he…”
Beside them, Li Guihua perked up at Ye Xia’s words. Could it be that there was some secret behind the family split?
Wasn’t it Ye Second who felt so disgruntled with the family that he insisted on separating?
“Initially, he wanted me to help him for free; when I turned him down because I was too busy at the factory, he became dissatisfied. I never thought things would develop to this point.”
Wang Dali, one of those who rode the ox cart back with Ye Mother yesterday, snickered. “I heard Ye Qiu actually gave everyone in the family wages; he even paid for little Hua to go to school. How does that contradict what you just said?”
“My mom just likes to talk nonsense. Besides, I never wanted to split the family,” Ye Xia’s face turned crimson.
In an instant, everyone looked at Ye Xia with mocking eyes.
You are the one wanting to split the family, you are the one taking advantage, and now you are the one unhappy—it seems you have a lot to complain about.
When Ye’s Mother arrived at the location, she felt something was off. Had a new stall opened nearby? Why was there already a line?
“Second Brother, what are you doing here?”
Ye Mother was surprised to see Ye Xia across the way. Ye Xia should be working at the factory now! Looking closely, her anger rose.
Ye Xia had set up a crepe stall directly opposite the Ye family’s cart, mimicking their setup!
Zhou Caiyan saw Ye’s Mother and greeted her enthusiastically. Under Ye Mother’s fierce gaze, she returned to her stall and loudly called out,
“Delicious crepes, two cents each!”
Hearing the shouts from across the way, Ye Mother nearly ground her silver teeth in frustration.
She never imagined that the first person to come and snatch business would be from her own family!
“Aren’t crepes supposed to sell for three dimes each?”
“I heard a lady is selling them, and she looks quite young!”
“Which Ye family stall is it? I heard they don’t have a sign. It can’t be a fake, can it?”
Today was the first day Ye Mother’s crepes were officially branded. Unaware, onlookers mistook Ye Xia’s stall as the authentic one since everyone said the original stall didn’t have a sign.
One stall without a sign, and the other with a sign on a small cart—it was clear that the former better matched people’s idea of what a stall should be.