The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 377 Barbecue Stall and Birthday Celebration_1

Chapter 377: Chapter 377 Barbecue Stall and Birthday Celebration_1

Li Qing’s barbecue stand opened suddenly the next day, and they were nearly bursting at the seams with customers.

Li Qing hadn’t even finished his meal before he started bustling about, greeting the guests.

Although the place was packed, the faces were mostly familiar.

Last night Li Qing had treated Tang Jianmin and others to dinner, and tonight almost all of them had brought their families to support Li Qing’s new venture.

Someone had even set off a few strings of firecrackers on the main road, fizzing and popping away.

In an instant, it felt like a grand opening.

Han Mei and Wu Xingxing grilled skewers, their mouths curved in smiles the whole time.

Even though they were working amidst smoke and flames, they were genuinely happy.

The booming business also attracted nearby villagers who couldn’t resist joining in on the fun.

They stayed busy until close to midnight before the last of the customers finally left.

Li Qing and the others tidied up the tables and utensils, cleaned up all the trash, and were finally able to take a break.

Han Mei counted the earnings for the day on the counter, bill by bill.

"A total of eight hundred sixty-five yuan. If we could bring in this amount every day, we wouldn’t need to do anything else. Maybe we could open a restaurant next door and focus solely on these two businesses — that should be enough," Han Mei said with a laugh, dividing the money into several portions and handing some to Tian Yue’e and Yu Lan.

"Why are you giving me money? I don’t want it!" Tian Yue’e pushed the money back, shaking her head, "If you do this, I won’t help you anymore."

Yu Lan was even more straightforward, dodging the offer, "I don’t want it either. I only worked for a little while and already earned a hundred. This money came too easily. I’m with Yue’er on this, if you keep trying to give me money, I won’t help out anymore either."

"That’s exactly why I’m giving you money, because we might need your help over the long term!" Han Mei said.

Wu Xingxing also tried to persuade them.

But the four women split into two factions, each sticking to their own arguments, and neither side could convince the other.

Seeing the situation, Li Qing said, "How about we listen to me and decide on this a few days later?"

"The money has to be distributed for sure, but the situation these past two days isn’t normal. Today’s rush was clearly because Tang Jianmin and the others deliberately came to support us. We can’t consider it as a regular day."

"Since we’re all family, maybe we shouldn’t set a fixed wage. Instead, we could share the daily income proportionally."

"No way!" Han Mei immediately objected, "The cost of the supplies is all on you, so wouldn’t that mean you’re essentially giving us money?"

"We are all family, no need to be so particular!" Li Qing said.

It was only because Wu Xingxing was there that he found it difficult to speak plainly.

Otherwise, he could have outright told them that as his women, what’s wrong with him giving them money?

"I think we should do it this way. After deducting the costs, we sisters split the rest," Han Mei decided. "This idea was Xingxing’s, so Xingxing should take a bit more. The rest of us will share equally."

"Whether we earn more or less each day, everyone gets their own share."

"Alright, since you insist on giving us a bit of money, I won’t be polite about it," Tian Yue’e said.

"Even blood brothers should settle accounts clearly. We can’t be too careless when it comes to business," Han Mei said. "This isn’t just a day or two’s work but something we aim to do for a long time. We even want to run a restaurant and make it bigger."

"I should get the same as everyone else," Wu Xingxing said.

"No, you should get more. It’s decided," Han Mei said, firmly putting an end to the matter.

Tian Yue’e and Yu Lan had no objections whatsoever.

The four women quickly settled on the future profit-sharing of their barbecue joint.

As for Li Qing...

He would be the free deliveryman cum porter, cum temporary helper, cum manager in the future.

"Qingzi, tomorrow’s your birthday. How do you plan to celebrate it?" After redistributing the money among everyone, Han Mei suddenly asked Li Qing.

Li Qing was startled, lapsing into a moment of reverie.

Birthday... to him, it was a very distant concept.

Ever since a change had befallen his family, he hadn’t celebrated his birthday in a very long time.

Han Mei, on the other hand, remembered it every year.

But in the previous years, Han Mei had always just brought some food over on Li Qing’s birthday.

Or, she would cook a sumptuous meal and invite Li Qing over.

She never actually mentioned it was for Li Qing’s birthday.

She always helped Li Qing celebrate his birthday without making a fuss about it.

But Li Qing almost always realized Han Mei’s intentions only long after his birthday had passed.

"My birthday... it doesn’t really matter, it’s not necessary to celebrate it," Li Qing said with a light sigh, scratching his neck.

"So tomorrow is Qingzi’s birthday, huh!" Tian Yue’er exclaimed excitedly.

"You should still celebrate it, do you have any wishes?"

Li Qing thought seriously for a moment.

It seemed he had quite a few wishes...

He wanted money, he wanted a big house, and he wished for these women to always be by his side.

He wanted to share a bed under a big quilt, enjoying the fortune of a complete family.

But to make all these wishes come true was not so easy.

After pondering for a while, he laughed softly and shook his head, "For now, I don’t have any wishes. I feel like things are pretty good as they are."

"How can you possibly not have any wishes?" Tian Yue’er muttered and, after pondering thoughtfully for a while, said, "Well, don’t worry about it. We’ll arrange your birthday for you!"

"I agree!" Han Mei laughed, "After all, looking at him like this, he probably can’t think of any wishes."

"I really don’t think there’s a need to celebrate my birthday," Li Qing said, shaking his head and chuckling.

To him, celebrating a birthday had indeed become a very distant concept.

"Then just listen to us!" Tian Yue’er said, patting Li Qing’s shoulder and raising her eyebrows at him.

While everyone was having a lively discussion about it, Wu Xingxing kept her head down the whole time, seemingly lost in thought.

Li Qing noticed but didn’t give it much thought.

Perhaps the topic of birthdays had brought back memories of Wu Xingxing’s own childhood.

Although her family was intact, with healthy parents,

the severe gender discrimination, combined with a plethora of sisters, meant that in her father’s eyes, Wu Xingxing’s greatest value was to marry into a family that could help their own become wealthier and more influential.

In such a family environment, the concept of a birthday was probably not a very pleasant memory for Wu Xingxing either.

When the night grew quiet, the small shop finally closed its doors.

Li Qing and Wu Xingxing first escorted Han Mei home before returning to their own place.

Another fulfilling and rich weekend passed by.

Tomorrow, Li Qing would return to his day-to-day life as a warehouse manager.

After taking on so many tasks, Li Qing was beginning to have second thoughts about this job.

In a little while, once the new rural development project started, he could be so busy he’d barely have time to catch his breath.

But having only worked there for a few days before quitting would be somewhat embarrassing for Li Qing.

What’s more, he felt he would be letting Guan Lin down.

Creak.

The door to the room opened.

Wu Xingxing, who had just taken a bath, walked in wrapped in a towel, her hair still dripping wet.