NOVPUB
Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Big Sale
Tong Yao only bought a hundred bubble tea cups, hardly enough to keep up with the demand. Seeing the students queuing up, each with a water bottle in hand, an idea struck her. She shouted to the students, "Bubble tea will be one cent cheaper if you fill it in your own cups!"
Hearing they could save by not requiring a cup, many students were tempted. A shy fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl peeked out from the crowd to ask,
"What if I haven’t finished drinking the water in my cup?"
"You can come back during break time or after school. I’ll be here all day," Tong Yao answered.
After some thought, the young girl said, "I guess I’ll come back during the break." After all, buying now would mean standing in line. It seemed more sensible to return during a break.
Seeing the girl’s decision, several other students decided to come back after finishing the water in their bottles. This caused the queue to shorten a bit, but then more students came to join the line. Some even poured out their water to fill their bottles with bubble tea. By class time, she had sold over seventy cups, busier than a spinning top, non-stop.
Seeing the situation, He Fang was stunned, sweating from all the effort. She didn’t have time to say anything until the students had finally cleared out. Then she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, your business is so easy. Is the bubble tea really that good? It’s like the students are under some spell to be buying it like crazy."
A pork vendor wouldn’t have had such good business!
In all her life, She had never seen so many people queuing to buy something. Judging by the situation, there would likely be many more students buying bubble tea during the breaks, which meant she could earn several dozen yuan in a day.
My, God! This business is too good.
"Sister Fang, you’ll know once you try it." At that moment, Niuniu had just finished her bubble tea, so Tong Yao refilled the cup and handed it to He Fang to try.
He Fang felt bad drinking it for free, but her curiosity got the better of her. She took the cup, had a sip, and her eyes instantly lit up. "Wow, this is too good! The milk flavor is rich and not at all musky."
Tong Yao smiled sweetly and squinted her eyes, "It’s even better with ice cubes." This nifty creation from the 21st century which was the talk of the town in her time, is now something irresistible in this era as well.
"We can add ice cubes? Isn’t that like eating popsicles?" He Fang mused. It did sound quite refreshing to consume a cold drink in the heat.
He Fang couldn’t resist another sip of the bubble tea. However, she didn’t dare to drink the rest, and gave it to Niuniu instead.
The sun was gradually rising, and the heat was making everyone sweat. He Fang helped Tong Yao move her stuff under a big tree. Only then did they feel a bit cooler.
Seeing all the students that bought her bubble tea, Tong Yao realized that she wouldn’t be able to handle everything on her own. Judging by today’s situation, she could easily earn twenty or thirty yuan a day. If she recruited someone to help, she wouldn’t be so tired. She looked at He Fang and an idea popped into her mind.
"Sister Fang, how about I pay you an extra twenty yuan a month to help me here every day?"
"Yes, yes, yes." He Fang nodded her head vigorously without any hesitation, "Sis, twenty is too much. Fifteen is enough. Dispensing bubble tea isn’t tiring at all. I won’t feel right taking so much money."
With the rent and the additional wage, she would be earning thirty-five yuan a month; that’s even more than what her husband was earning in the factory. Dispensing a few cups of bubble tea and earning this much was like picking up money from the street. It made her feel guilty.
Tong Yao replied, "It’s not that much. Even though the task isn’t strenuous, it’s still going to take up a lot of your time."
He Fang’s eyes teared up with gratitude, "Sis, you are too kind. I must have done a lot of good deeds in my past life to meet you."
Tong Yao always found heavy emotional scenes awkward, so she quickly changed the topic, "Sister Fang, if you work here, you won’t have time to cook for Niuniu’s dad. Won’t he be mad?"
"It’s okay." Although He Fang was generally afraid of her husband, she was firm this time. "If he doesn’t allow me to work, I’ll go and complain to his parents."
In reality, He Fang’s in-laws didn’t treat her well because she had given birth to a girl. However, they would undoubtedly side with her if it meant she was going out to work.
Seeing He Fang still in deep love with her abusive husband, Tong Yao felt the urge to shake her awake. She couldn’t understand why He Fang would stick with such a man. But since He Fang refused to leave him, Tong Yao didn’t push the matter further and sidestepped the topic to avoid unnecessary irritation.
The charcoal quickly burnt out and Tong Yao replaced it with a new one to continue boiling the milk tea. The water in the bucket was almost finished. He Fang took the initiative to refill it. Just about the time a session ended, some students came out to buy bubble tea, as envisioned by Tong Yao, most of them came with their cups.
She sold another thirty or so cups during the break, and by lunchtime, she ran out of fresh milk. Luckily, the milkman arrived just in time. Seeing this, Tong Yao figured that the three extra liters of milk might not be sufficient and decided to order more. "Milkman, could you send another three liters over please! And send seven liters tomorrow morning, and eight in the afternoon."
The milkman was overjoyed and kept nodding, too excited to say anything else. Not wanting to delay Tong Yao’s business, he quickly hopped on his bike and headed back to the Breeding Farm to fetch three liters of milk.
On his return, seeing his face flushed from the heat, Tong Yao filled a cup of fresh milk for him to drink. At first, he declined, but when he saw that Tong Yao genuinely wanted to share, he cleaned his hands several times before accepting. But instead of drinking it, he took the bubble tea, got on his bike, and left.
After he had left, He Fang commented, "He probably wasn’t taking the milk tea for himself but to share it with his family at home. My dad is the same, whenever he comes across something tasty, he never eats it himself but always brings it back for us to enjoy."
Tong Yao wasn’t fussy about it, "Parents are all alike." She had given the bubble tea to him, and it was up to him to decide who to share it with.
As Tong Yao was speaking, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the class. A group of children ran out of the school, most of them heading straight home, but some came over to queue up for the bubble tea. During dismissal, all their water bottles were empty, and everyone wanted their drinks in their water bottles to save money. This perfectly suited Tong Yao. She happily sold over a hundred cups.
During lunch break, she managed to sell nearly two hundred cups. Even school teachers came curiously to try her bubble tea. There was one couple among them, with the male being called Teacher Fu and the female Teacher Wen. Teacher Fu was generous and bought a cup for Teacher Wen, as well as one for each of their colleagues.
Teacher Wen took a sip of her bubble tea, her eyes lit up with delight. "This bubble tea is even better than soda!"
The other teachers, after trying it, agreed, "Indeed, it’s delicious. It’s just that it’s more expensive than soda."
