"Feng."
"Why aren't the workers coming out yet? I'm almost melting from the heat."
At 11:25 AM, Wang Yaofa pedaled his tricycle, his eyes fixed on the construction site entrance. Puffs of dust drifted out from time to time, but not a single living soul was in sight. The last time he had stared at a doorway with this much intensity was when he stood hesitating outside a certain foot-massage parlor, though the hunger in his eyes had never diminished.
As expected, a teenage boy's desires were always so straightforward and uncomplicated.
"I asked around. They only knock off at half past eleven. These construction sites are huge, so it takes them a while to walk out even after finishing work. Don't worry about lacking customers; someone's bound to come buy. Don't forget your lines later."
"This is the persona we created for our product."
Wang Yaofa nodded heavily, then turned his head with a conflicted look. "Is this considered cheating? They're migrant workers, after all. The internet says they're really poor."
"Hmph."
"Don't think like that."
Liu Chuanfeng immediately squashed this untimely notion. "What nutrition can they possibly get eating Chinese cabbage every single day?"
"Our meals have solid, real meat and solid, real vegetables, all fresh from the market. Ten bucks a portion, and we even throw in an aluminum lunchbox. The cheapest bowl of lamian nearby costs ten yuan, and you can barely find a few shreds of meat in it. Who else has as much a conscience as we do?"
"Even if they eat with us for a whole month, it comes out to six or seven hundred a day—wait, no, their monthly living expenses on site are one thousand to fifteen hundred, which leaves plenty for them to buy cigarettes."
"Besides, we're making money, but we're also looking out for their health."
"They're away from home year after year, doing so much heavy labor, suffering countless injuries, and contributing so much to our city's development. When they're no longer useful in the future, they'll be left with a body full of illnesses and no pension."
"Who's going to care about them then? We might as well seize the opportunity now and let them eat something nutritious. It won't change their lives, but it'll give them more strength to work and better nourishment."
"Tell me, are we doing anything wrong?"
"Do you still think this is cheating?"
"Now let me tell you."
"What we are doing is a good deed."
"Things that nobody else is willing to do, we'll do. And listen to me: we'll earn every single cent we deserve, and we won't screw over a single person we shouldn't."
"We're much better than those people sitting in office buildings. At least the money we make is earned with a clear conscience."
Finishing his cadence-filled speech, Liu Chuanfeng paused to catch his breath. Only a mature man like himself could brag without turning red or skipping a heartbeat. Pangzi was still too green, reduced to silently gazing up at his lofty and majestic image.
Wang Yaofa's eyes sparkled as he listened. "Feng, you look insanely cool when you say things like that."
"You sound just like a character in a movie."
Liu Chuanfeng raised an eyebrow, straightened his posture, and jutted out his chin. "Oh?"
"Which handsome guy?"
"Tell me, let's hear it."
Wang Yaofa rubbed his chin. "He is indeed quite handsome."
"Probably very few people can compare to him."
The corners of Liu Chuanfeng's mouth couldn't help curling up. "Which handsome guy could possibly compare to me? Speak."
"He could be described as below one person and above ten thousand—none other than Yu Huatian of the Western Depot."
"What the hell, you fat bastard! Are you saying I'm a eunuch?"
Furious in an instant, Liu Chuanfeng snatched up his folding fan and swiped at him. Wang Yaofa immediately bolted, but before he'd even run two circles, he shouted, "They're coming out! They're coming out!"
Liu Chuanfeng looked over and saw workers starting to trickle out in twos and threes. He hurriedly stopped, grabbed a foam signboard, and placed it on the front of the cart. It read: *One meat dish, two veggie dishes, plus a free lunch box for only ten yuan!*
Of course, just holding a sign wasn't enough. Occasionally someone would wander over to take a look, but that didn't mean they would actually buy.
The sun was scorching at this hour, and having worked all morning, they all wanted to rush back to eat and take a nap before heading back to work in the afternoon. So Liu Chuanfeng and Wang Yaofa quickly started shouting at the top of their lungs: "Ten-yuan boxed meals! Today's special is big chunks of braised pork!"
"Buy a meal and get a free lunch box!"
At first, Wang Yaofa felt a bit embarrassed, but seeing how natural Liu Chuanfeng looked, he gradually let loose. If Liu Chuanfeng could sound this cool shouting, he definitely could too.
Yet he didn't know the difference between buyer's shows and seller's shows; in Liu Chuanfeng's eyes, he looked more like Pigy butcher hawking meat.
Hearing that it was only ten yuan for one meat and two vegetable dishes—and crucially, that it came with a free lunch box.
The most important part was the free lunch box.
In this country, whenever people heard the word "free," who wouldn't hesitate for a second, especially the older folks who harbored a sort of instinctive impulse?
Then, seeing that it was just two young lads, their interest dipped instantly. In their experience, beardless youths couldn't be trusted to get things done.
But Liu Chuanfeng had already anticipated this and immediately shouted out again: "Feel free to take a look as you pass by! We're college students trying to earn our tuition!"
"The food was bought fresh from the market this morning and cooked on the spot. It's still warm."
"You can check the portion size before you buy."
"And the lunch boxes we're giving away are made of aluminum."
As soon as Liu Chuanfeng finished shouting, he pulled out an aluminum lunch box. The few interested workers instantly stopped in their tracks. Taking a box like that home to wash and steam rice in—it didn't get better than that.
More importantly, these two kids were college students out earning their tuition. That immediately reminded them of their own children; weren't they out there struggling hard precisely for the sake of the next generation? A surge of sympathy welled up, and one by one, they crowded around to take a closer look.
"Young man, ten yuan a box?"
Liu Chuanfeng nodded and opened one of the containers. An instant wave of fragrance spilled out. The boxes were packed to the brim, each containing four large chunks of braised pork, along with stir-fried tomatoes with eggs and mapo tofu. It looked both appetizing and deeply sincere.
Having worked all day, they were already starving, and Liu Chuanfeng even caught someone swallowing hard.
The food wasn't expensive either; everyone could afford it. With this available, who would want to go back to eating plain Chinese cabbage and instant soup? Of course, it wasn't that they couldn't, but this counted as a treat.
"I'll take one."
Someone finally couldn't hold back and spoke up. Once the first person broke the ice, a second followed shortly. Liu Chuanfeng handed out the boxes while Wang Yaofa collected the money and made change. Working in perfect sync, they sold out their entire supply in half an hour.
Some people who didn't get any looked rather disappointed.
"We'll be back tonight," Liu Chuanfeng said with a smile. "We'll be coming around every day for a while. If there's anything specific you want to eat, you can let us know in advance, and we'll do our best to make it."
Hearing that, their faces lit up instantly. Being able to place custom orders—who wouldn't be happy about that?
Of course, Liu Chuanfeng did it on purpose. Letting them pick their own dishes saved him the trouble of guessing what flavors they liked. On the way back, Wang Yaofa counted the money: "We brought a hundred and twenty portions."
"A total of twelve hundred."
"Buying the groceries and lunch boxes this morning cost four hundred and twenty. We made a net profit of almost eight hundred in a single noon!"
"Good grief, we're going to make a fortune!"
"This is my first pot of gold in life!"
Wang Yaofa grinned from ear to ear, feeling as though gold coins were raining down before his eyes. As soon as they got back, he'd grab the rice cooker. At that moment, he was bursting with motivation, his legs pumping the tricycle pedals with such force that he stood up to sprint, letting out "Hey, ho" grunts as he rode.
Liu Chuanfeng looked with utter disdain at the way he was twisting his waist up ahead; the fat bastard was just a headset away from being a spinning instructor at a gym.