Seventies Sweetheart: From Breakup to Billionaire-Chapter 175: Never Suffered Hardship

No one told her roasting sunflower seeds was so exhausting.

The preliminary preparation work was also quite tedious.

Several times during the process, the siblings wanted to quit, but thinking of Lin Xiang’s adept demeanor, they gritted their teeth and persevered.

Seeing Lin Xiang come, Chunya’s eyes sparkled, "Girl, come try the sunflower seeds I roasted. How’s the taste? Is it good enough?"

Lin Xiang grabbed a handful, "It’s okay, but the heat needs to be adjusted a bit. Stir it for another three minutes and it’ll be good."

She tasted Dong Sheng’s, "Far worse than your sister’s, stir it for another ten minutes."

Dong Sheng sulked, "I’m still a kid!"

"No, you’re the leader of Li Hua Team’s kids!" Lin Xiang patted Dong Sheng’s shoulder, "Just think, tomorrow you can sell freshly flavored roasted sunflower seeds at the market, earn your own tuition, and buy notebooks, pencils, erasers, and treats for your buddies with your earnings. Doesn’t that give you a surge of motivation?"

Dong Sheng nodded firmly, "I feel like I can roast another batch!"

The money-making idea Lin Xiang suggested to Fifth Aunt’s family was to sell roasted sunflower seeds.

At the market, there were also raw sunflower seeds for sale, freshly shelled from the sunflowers. They can’t match the roasted ones for fragrance.

Dong Sheng roasts original flavored seeds, while Chunya roasts five-spice flavored seeds.

The most basic two flavors, which are more acceptable to the general public.

The sunflower seeds were bartered by Fifth Aunt using her own eggs with people in the village. Although it was a bit unfair, the sunflowers at the back of the mountain were plentiful, making it a no-cost trade, but eggs are expensive.

However, Fifth Aunt trusted Lin Xiang, gritted her teeth, and exchanged the eggs.

Even if they couldn’t make money, it would let Dong Sheng experience how difficult earning money is. He would understand how rare the opportunity to study is now and would surely study hard.

In the kitchen, under Fifth Aunt’s expectant gaze, Fifth Uncle shook his head, "Still lacking a bit in taste, it’s not quite the same as the flavor the girl cooked previously."

Even though it was made with Lin Xiang’s recipe, without Lin Xiang’s seasoned hands and precise kitchen scale, Fifth Aunt wasn’t accurate in the quantity of seasoning, and the taste, though not bad, felt a bit off.

Lin Xiang tasted the soup, "Delicious with salt! Fifth Aunt, be bold with salt, don’t be stingy. If the budget allows, it’s best to buy some MSG from town; it’ll taste much better."

MSG doesn’t require coupons, but it’s very expensive, costing more than three times as much as salt, and ordinary families are reluctant to spend money on MSG.

But to ensure the business does well, upfront investment is unavoidable.

So Fifth Uncle went to the city to buy MSG.

Lin Xiang explained her intention.

"Alright, since the flavor can’t be made right without salt, come over and I’ll measure your size and try to make you new clothes before school starts."

The fabric colors were bright: pink, goose yellow, sky blue, and red.

The red color was something Chunya couldn’t describe, but it was different from the deep red used in the wedding dress her mom bought last time; this red evokes thoughts of brightness and vitality.

"Girl, when I earn money from selling sunflower seeds, can I buy some fabric from you? I want to make new clothes too."

"Of course. Based on my mom’s last set price, I’ll give you a forty-percent discount."

"Forty-percent discount? What’s a forty-percent discount?"

She’s only heard of bone fractures.

Lin Xiang teasingly kept it a mystery, "You’ll find out when the time comes."

After putting the fabric down, mother and daughter returned home.

Upon learning that Lin Xiang had single-handedly opened a bun workshop, Mrs. Lin frowned, "Why didn’t you let me go? Just sitting there, I could’ve done the work and earned full work points. Where else can you find such an easy job?"

"It’s not easy. Every day, you have to wake up at around four in the morning. You’ll be sitting for two to three hours."

Mrs. Lin couldn’t get up early.

First she had Mr. Lin, then Lin An, and now Lin Xiang.

Since getting married, she really hadn’t suffered much hardship.

Getting up at five thirty to sell spicy noodle was already her limit.

Besides, earning money and earning work points feel different.

"But I always feel like I should be doing something."

"No rush. You’ll have things to do once school starts. Take these few days to rest up."

Lin Xiang stretched lazily, "I’ll go read for a bit."

Otherwise, as the sun sets, the lighting indoors gets too dim, and candles hurt the eyes, making it impossible to read.

Lin Xiang couldn’t help thinking that many communes were now electrified.

Mianyang Town was one of the poorest towns in Ji Province Jishi, and their commune was at the bottom among several communes, so Li Hua Team was even further removed from achieving advancement.

Electrification was supposed to be a long way off, but now with the bun workshop, maybe within a few months they’ll have electricity.

By then, she could read at night.

While pondering, Lin Xiang heard knocking, "Girl, Smartie Liu is here to see you."

"Liu Pei?"

Lin Xiang closed the book and got up to go to the main room; Liu Pei was already seated, Mrs. Lin served her a cup of hot water and generously added a bit of sugar.

She meant well but accidentally added too much, making the drink overly sweet.

Mrs. Lin thought to herself, previously relying on Lin An’s connections, they ate so much from Smartie Liu. Now she could finally return a little.

She didn’t know her children had already repaid everything they owed Smartie Liu long ago.

But her heartfelt gesture was destined to go unreciprocated.

"You two chat, I’ll go visiting, I’ll be back later."

Once Mrs. Lin left, Liu Pei put down the water cup she held and got straight to the point, "Comrade Lin Xiang, I’ve come to see you today to shamelessly ask for help."

"Tell me. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll do my best."

Material debts can be repaid, but emotional debts are hard to settle!

"I heard you helped the team set up a bun workshop and are selecting two people from among the educated youth, is that right?"

"Yes. Does Smartie Liu want to join the bun workshop?"

Lin Xiang immediately guessed her intention, Liu Pei blushed and nodded, "I’m not afraid of your ridicule, I participated in this year’s college entrance exam. But my preparation wasn’t thorough, except for politics; I didn’t complete the major questions in several subjects. I expect to fail the college entrance exam this time."

"So I’m planning to make persistent efforts and attend next year’s college entrance exam. But when spring comes and there’s more work in the fields, I’ll have less time to review, so I was thinking of earning work points at the bun workshop, which would leave me more time to study, striving for a good result in next year’s exam."

She decided to take the college entrance exam because last time she saw Lin Xiang holding a book, and it sparked the idea. Even in the educated youth spot, she reviewed secretly and didn’t prepare much.

After speaking, she dared not look at Lin Xiang, fearing she’d see an expression of disdain.