Born in the 1980s, she was remarried and became a stepmother; a cold, rough man doted on her, pinchi

Chapter 18: Let's talk about cooperation and sell steamed buns!
After seeing Qin Yishen off, Jiang Man took Shi An and Shi Ning back to the village.

Although the two children had rarely been to the city, they looked around curiously at the sights, but they were sensible enough not to ask Jiang Man for anything.

Jiang Man saw all of this and patted Shi An and Shi Ning's little heads: "How about Mom takes you to the city to go shopping this weekend? I'll buy you two delicious food and two new outfits."

"I don't need new clothes, just being able to come to the city to go shopping is already great!"

Shi Ning shook her head knowingly. She knew that her father worked hard to earn money, otherwise he wouldn't always be away from home.

Jiang Man once again marveled at how sensible the two children were. Today was the day to send Yi Shen off, so she specially asked the two children for a day off.

When I got home, the carpenter was waiting at the door, and the cart was carrying the prepared steamers.

"You're back? Did you see Yi Shen off?"

Jiang Man nodded and let the two children go into the yard first.

"I've seen them off. You must have been waiting quite a while, right?"

"No, I just arrived a little while ago. I'll help you unload your things in the yard. If you need any help in the future, just let me know. I've watched Yi Shen grow up; he's a good kid."

Jiang Man smiled. It seemed that everyone who knew Qin Yishen would say he was a good person, so someone as good as him couldn't possibly have the same fate as in his previous life.

After seeing the carpenter off, Jiang Man went to find Wang Xiu.

"Xiuer, are you home?"

"Coming, coming, is that your sister-in-law?"

Wang Xiu's happy voice came from inside the house. A moment later, the door opened, and Wang Xiu saw that it was indeed Jiang Man. Her face immediately lit up with a smile.

"Sister-in-law, what brings you here today? Come in and have a seat."

Jiang Man smiled somewhat embarrassedly and followed Wang Xiu into the house. After sitting down on the stool, she hesitated before speaking, "Xiu'er, I came here today to ask you to look after my two children. I'm going out to find a flour supplier and a pork supplier. If we can reach an agreement today, we can set up a stall tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiu immediately understood and said with a smile, "Hey, I thought it was something serious. It's just this? Don't worry, I love the two little ones very much. You can rest assured that they're in my care."

Jiang Man felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She stood up, took Wang Xiu's hand, and said, "Okay, I'll be going now. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Wang Xiu glared at her, feigning anger, and said, "Don't mention the trouble. My brother's back in the army, so it's only right that we look after each other. Just go ahead and do your thing. The kids are with me; I'll make sure they're taken good care of."

After settling the two children in, Jiang Man went to town.

At that time, the grain store was not large, with several rows of shelves piled high with various bags of grain, and a faint aroma of grain filled the air.

Jiang Man walked into a grain store. The sales clerk inside was busy calculating on an abacus. When she looked up and saw her, she asked, "Comrade, what would you like to buy?"

Jiang Man quickly smiled and said, "Comrade, I'd like to ask if we have any good quality flour here? I'm planning to start a steamed bun business, and I'll be using a lot of it, so I'd like to find a reliable supplier."

Upon hearing this, the sales clerk sized her up and said, "Oh, you're in the steamed bun business? You'll have to choose the right flour. We have a few types of flour here that are quite suitable for making pasta, but if it's a large quantity, the price and such will need to be discussed further. If you're interested, I can contact your supplier for you."

Upon hearing that there was hope, Jiang Man's eyes lit up immediately, and she quickly said, "That's great! Comrade, could you please help me make some connections? I'm just starting out, and I'd like to find someone I can work with long-term, someone whose quality is guaranteed, and someone whose price we can negotiate." The sales clerk nodded, noted down some of Jiang Man's basic information, and told her to go home and wait for news, saying she would inquire as soon as possible.

After leaving the grain store, Jiang Man headed straight for the butcher shop in town.

Several pork racks hung in the butcher shop, and there were some scraps of meat on the cutting board. The smell of meat mixed with the stench of blood filled the air.

The butcher was chopping meat on the cutting board when he saw Jiang Man come in. He stopped what he was doing and asked, "Young lady, buying meat?"

Jiang Man smiled and stepped forward, saying, "Boss, I'm not here to buy meat. I want to start a steamed bun business and I wanted to ask if you could supply me with pork. I need quite a lot, but the meat has to be of good quality, fresh and clean."

Upon hearing this, the butcher became interested. He put down his knife, wiped his hands, and said, "Oh, you're making steamed buns? Of course, the quality of the pork has to be very good. The meat here is all collected daily from nearby villages, it's very fresh. But if you're buying in large quantities, we'll have to discuss the price carefully. How much are you planning to buy?"

Jiang Man explained his approximate needs and then began discussing issues such as price and delivery time with the butcher.

The two chatted back and forth, with Jiang Man calculating the costs and thinking about how to secure more favorable terms. After all, the business had just started, and every penny had to be spent wisely.

They talked for a while, and although they hadn't reached a complete agreement, they had a general idea. Jiang Man thought she would go back and think about it some more, and then come back to discuss it in detail next time.

By the time they got back to the village, it was already dark. Jiang Man had dinner at Wang Xiu's house before taking the two children home.

The next morning, the butcher and the grain store owner called.

When Jiang Man heard someone calling her to answer the phone, she thought it was Qin Yishen calling, but she didn't expect it to be the grain store.

After agreeing on the quantity, the grain store and butcher shop owners said they would deliver it before tonight, so Jiang Man felt relieved and went home to pack her tricycle and the things she would need to set up her stall the next morning.

Upon hearing the news, Wang Xiu rushed over immediately after finishing her dinner.

"Sister-in-law, I heard the goods have all been delivered?"

Wang Xiuxian walked in first, followed by Xu Laosan.

"We're here! I'm kneading the dough right now so I can make steamed buns tomorrow morning!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Laosan immediately rolled up his sleeves and laughed, "I'll do the rubbing, I'm strong. Sister-in-law, you and Xiuer go and do other things!"

"Alright, then Xiuer and I will go mix the filling. Tomorrow morning we'll make pork and scallion dumplings, and also boil a pot of tea eggs!"

Shi An and Shi Ning would sometimes go to the kitchen to take a look, and sometimes squat down next to Wang Xiu and Jiang Man to take a look.

"Mom, is there anything we can do to help?"

When Jiang Man looked at Shi An and Shi Ning, the two little ones, with their innocent and naive eyes, she felt her heart melt.

She kissed each of them and said, "Of course you can. How about you go help Mom feed the chickens, ducks, and geese?"

(End of this chapter)