The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 319 - 309: Everyone’s Here

After sending Jiang Yiyi off, Lu Jingqiu put the sheets she’d taken down from the dormitory into the washing machine.

Then she cooked herself a bowl of millet porridge and blanched some green beans.

She ate simply at home, unlike the bird’s nest porridge from yesterday, thinking that Jiang Nanzhou should be on the train by now.

Thinking was one thing, but eating was still a must. She could only eat these bland foods now; if she couldn’t keep even these down, morning sickness would be very uncomfortable.

As Lu Jingqiu was eating, there was a knock at the door. She wondered who it could be but, to her surprise, it was Shen Mu when she opened the door.

"How did you get here? Come in quickly."

"Sister-in-law, didn’t my brother say that your store is opening tomorrow? I didn’t have anything to do at school, so I planned to come and help out with Shang Ze."

"Come in quickly, have you eaten?"

Shen Mu scratched his head: "I haven’t."

"Well, that’s perfect. I made extra porridge, but not enough veggies. I’ll fry you an egg."

He couldn’t dream of letting Lu Jingqiu cook. He quickly said, "Sister-in-law, I’ll do it."

Lu Jingqiu remembered how they’d cooked for themselves when they were in the countryside, so she didn’t stand on ceremony and led him to the kitchen, saying, "The eggs are here, I’ll go cut some chives. I don’t want to eat meat recently, so we don’t have any at home."

"Eggs are fine. Life is much better now than when we were down in the countryside."

Certainly, it was much better than before, and it was only going to get better.

Frying up some chives and egg would take no more than five minutes.

The aunt and nephew had a simple meal together in the dining room, and Shen Mu inquired about the situation at their store.

Lu Jingqiu said, "The skill is Xue Jianian’s. We just got the idea on a whim to start a store together. Xinyue and I won’t be managing it. In the future, all decisions will be up to Niannian. We’ll just wait for our share of the profits."

Shen Mu laughed, "That’s great. Invest a little money, then just sit at home and wait for the profits. Second sister-in-law, if there are any more good deals like this, remember to include me."

Lu Jingqiu laughed, thinking about his post-graduation experiences, saying, "Sure, but if you have any good projects in the future, make sure to include me too. Of course, it’s not just about investing a little money and then getting returns. Business has its ups and downs. When it’s loss-making, the money invested can really be gone, and there are risks."

Shen Mu agreed, "Indeed, but I feel that nowadays you can make money in pretty much anything."

"Have you and Tingshang been still going to the public institution recently?"

"Yes, every Saturday, so I’ve learned a lot lately too. Tingshang said you were looking for a place, did you find one?"

"He told me about the construction of the agricultural wholesale market. I was thinking of buying some land over there, but they’re not selling there."

"Buying land? Sister-in-law, how much money do you have to be thinking of buying land?"

Lu Jingqiu replied, "It’s not me. My second cousin wants to buy it. I’m just helping to have a look."

"Oh, right, the second cousin." Shen Mu knew about Yang Mingchao’s business and that he had money. After thinking for a bit, he said, "I know a place, it’s in the north of the city. Although they aren’t building factories there, the city might develop in that direction. You could buy land there."

"Oh, is the tip reliable?"

Shen Mu smiled and said, "It’s hard to say, but I’ve seen it myself."

Lu Jingqiu felt that there seemed to be some merit to this and thought about checking it out when she had the time.

After the two had eaten, Lu Jingqiu mentioned she needed to visit Xue Jianian’s place. Shen Mu, remembering his elder brother’s instructions, couldn’t rest easy.

He quickly grabbed the flashlight on the windowsill and followed her, "Second sister-in-law, I’ll accompany you."

The two of them didn’t ride bikes, they walked over. By then, Luo Xinyue and her husband had already arrived.

However, Shang Ze and Wei Jincheng were discussing motorbikes at the door. Seeing this, Shen Mu joined them.

Lu Jingqiu passed the men by and went straight inside, "Niannian, Xinyue, I’m here."

"Jingqiu, come here, look at this! This is our sales for today."

"How much?"

Luo Xinyue couldn’t wait to say, "Over thirty, more than thirty."

"Ah, that much?"

The two giggled like little fools. Luo Xinyue said, "I can hardly believe it, this is just the second day, and we haven’t even had our grand opening yet."

Xue Jianian smiled and kept quiet. They didn’t know that her own grain and oil shop earned much more in one day, with virtually no costs—pure profit.

Of course, that business was different from this one. This store was legitimate.

"I’ve done the math. Based on today’s sales, our store could make at least seven hundred in net profit a month.

That’s per month. Over a year, each person could get a few thousand yuan. Although it’s not a lot..."

Before she could finish, Luo Xinyue interrupted, "How is that not a lot? That’s already a huge amount! A few thousand yuan can buy a house, and even if we don’t earn enough in the first year, we definitely could within two years. It’s so much higher than what a regular worker makes."

Xue Jianian said with a smile, "Indeed it is."

Lu Jingqiu asked, "How was today?"

Xue Jianian replied, "I told you, the soup is easy to prepare. I’ll work overtime tonight and stew a pot of beef. Also, we need to take care of the people who are helping us with the pancakes."

Luo Xinyue inquired, "Jingqiu, about the auntie you mentioned before, did she say anything?"

"Not yet, I... I’ll go ask about it tomorrow. If they don’t make them, we need to find someone else right away."

"Yes, so we have to make the pancakes ourselves for the next couple of days."

Lu Jingqiu said, "Aren’t you going to stew the meat tonight? When I get back, I’ll make some at home. How many do you need?"

"Fifty or sixty should do,"

Lou Xinyue said, "Making pancakes takes time. Jingqiu, let’s split up the task, it’ll be faster that way."

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "Okay."

Xue Jianian commented, "I’ll take the flyers over first thing tomorrow morning and show them how to use the ticket numbers. Also, this morning there were more than a dozen people who came for the beef soup. Plenty came at lunch, but not as many in the evening."

"Nobody eats at night?"

Lu Jingqiu explained, "The main issue is that it’s just soup, and people might think it’s actually a soup store and won’t feel full. Once we have more regulars, they’ll realize that our beef soup is suitable for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Yeah, let’s keep it up."

"Any problems with the staff in the store today?"

"All good. It’s just the beginning, so everyone’s enthusiastic, but we have too many people and don’t need that many. I organized the work for tonight: two in the kitchen in the morning, one in the afternoon. Two shifts."

"That sounds good."

"Yeah, it’s just the start, and we’re not in the store, so we might miss some issues. We’ll have to observe more as we go."

"This holiday is a great opportunity for experience."

After discussing, everyone went home. Xue Jianian insisted they each take a few kilos of flour, but both declined.

But Xue Jianian said, "This is a partnership; everything needs to be accounted for. You shouldn’t be shortchanged."

In the end, they couldn’t refuse and each took some flour.

After dropping Lu Jingqiu off at her place, Shen Mu prepared to leave. Lu Jingqiu checked the time—it was past nine, almost ten—and said, "Ah Mu, why don’t you stay here tonight? We’ve kept a room for you, and it’s late now. Besides, you still need to help us early tomorrow; you won’t make it in time."

Shen Mu shook his head, "No need, I’ll head back."

Lu Jingqiu understood his reservations and didn’t insist further, "Then you probably won’t have any buses at this hour. Take the motorcycle to school."

Shen Mu replied, "I’d rather cycle. I’m worried I won’t ride it well, and besides, the school is a big community; it’s not safe either."

Shen Mu was afraid of losing the motorcycle, belonging to his second brother. He also didn’t have his brother’s skill and was wary of riding at night.

Lu Jingqiu could only let him cycle back, reminding him to be careful on the road.

Watching Shen Mu ride off into the distance, Lu Jingqiu locked the door and went to the kitchen to make the pancakes. Thirty pancakes didn’t seem like much, but it took over an hour.

By the end, she was barely keeping up. After she finished making the pancakes, Lu Jingqiu collapsed on her bed and fell asleep in a second.