I'm incredibly ambitious after being reborn.

Chapter 3 An Ordinary First Order

Because the amount of land per capita is relatively small in water towns, old houses in the countryside of Jiyang City that have front and back yards are usually old houses that have been lived in for more than three generations.

Now, all we can guarantee is a front yard or front garden, and walls are rare. A cement drying yard plus a couple of acres of private land is about enough.

The house left by Zhang Daxiang's father, Zhang Zhenghong, is a fairly standard three-story brick-concrete building with a front yard and a backyard. It uses ordinary red brick hollow walls, and the materials used were not particularly good even a decade or two ago.

There wasn't much renovation; it was just ordinary painting. The floor was terrazzo, which made it easy to clean.

"You can cook big pot dishes too?"

Zhang Daxiang was busy preparing vegetables in the morning. The large blower in his house couldn't be powered by electricity, so he "stole" electricity by hanging the cable with hooks directly on the overhead power lines outside with a long pole.

Old man Zhang Qihui was initially somewhat skeptical of his grandson's "business," but now that he saw Zhang Daxiang skillfully "stealing electricity," skillfully buying a large bathtub to use as a frying pan, and even welding out a large steamer with a whirring blower, he no longer had any doubts and only felt that this grandson was a true grandson.

"Taught by the master craftsman at the school-run factory."

"They're soldiers, not cooks."

"You'll know once you've seen it."

"..."

Ok.

Zhang Qihui didn't care how his grandson learned it. He just saw all sorts of stir-fried dishes, steamed dishes, stewed dishes, braised dishes, etc., being prepared. In terms of quantity, there wasn't much, but the utensils were quite large.

A single dish can weigh at least ten or twenty kilograms, along with various alcoholic beverages, tables, chairs, and benches...

It's hard work to move things by an eighteen-year-old, how could he possibly manage... Oh, he could manage.

Not bad.

Seeing his grandson's strength, the old man was completely relieved. With such strength, he wouldn't starve.

Although he still hoped his grandson would have some ambition in his studies, he was already eighteen and could make his own decisions, so he could just give him some advice.

Phew!

Phew!

After pedaling twice, the motorcycle finally sputtered to life, then pulled the flatbed cart toward the national highway next to "Wujiatan".

The sisters-in-law in the family also prepare lunch early. They start thinking about what to have for lunch while eating breakfast, and by around nine o'clock they have to have the dishes ready. They start cooking rice at ten or ten-thirty, and by eleven o'clock or later, there must be a table of lunch ready.

Zhang Daxiang went out around the same time, so they all saw what was happening and started chatting while washing vegetables on the water platform.

The mundane matters of family life are nothing more than this.

"Is Zheng Hong's son, Ah Xiang, not planning to go to university?"

"Didn't you say your grades were pretty good? Did Uncle Qi Hui agree to let you stop studying?"

"He's now obsessed with 'burning twelve incense sticks' to find twelve great-grandsons to inherit the family business. I heard that the land in the Nanxingtou Reed Pond area has already been approved for Little Elephant, and Uncle Qi Hui took out 180,000 at once."

"They only gave up 180,000 for the land? What about the house?"

“My father-in-law said that he had a meeting in the main room the other day and that as long as meals were provided, labor would not be charged. So Uncle Qihui would only have to buy steel bars, cement, bricks and the like.”

"That must have cost a lot of money, right? At least seven or eight hundred thousand, or even over a million. Can Uncle Qi Hui afford that much?"

“He asked Qinglao for 300,000 and borrowed some from a few older brothers, saying that Xiaoxianglao would pay it back in the future, since Xiaoxianglao alone had to find a way to support twelve children.”

"Oh dear, can we afford to raise this little elephant...?"

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha……"

Across a small river, the women washing vegetables on the water's edge let out a disheartened yet cheerful laugh.

Even with twelve incense sticks burned, the seven gourd brothers could only manage to climb one vine, despite their gritted teeth.

Various flirtatious terms flowed freely from the women's mouths, while Zhang Daxiang, after many twists and turns, arrived at the metasequoia forest beside "Wujiatan" and erected a banner and sign. The advantage of metasequoia trees is that they grow straight up and down, even straighter than pine trees. He made a banner, stretched it taut, and fixed it to the trunk. He also put up a freestanding "Fast Food" sign by the roadside, and then hurriedly began to set up tables and chairs.

He had already tidied up this vacant lot a few days ago. It was originally a storage area left over from road construction, and now it has been covered with some leftover demolition waste, making it look quite flat.

It's enough for a makeshift stall.

Since it was June, we still needed to set up a tent. The tent was made by Zhang Daxiang himself using telescopic poles. After setting it up, we pulled on the fixing ropes, and from a distance, it looked like a two-courtyard storefront.

There were considerations behind setting up a stall here. Firstly, it's not a big problem for large trucks to park on the side of the road. Secondly, it's in the middle of nowhere, with a market town about ten miles to the east and a long stretch of farmland to the west. There are places to repair cars, patch tires, and rest, but the prices for food are not low, generally starting at eight yuan.

Zhang Daxiang's banners and signs clearly state "Fast food starts from three yuan".

A meat dish costs three yuan, while other dishes like stir-fried cauliflower with meat and steamed eggs are considered vegetarian. Rice is free, since the Zhang family has no shortage of rice paddies.

The profit margin isn't high, but it's not low either; you can earn a little over one yuan from three yuan, mainly because there's no storefront advantage.

Just as they set up two tables and chairs, a large eight-wheeled truck carrying fertilizer slowly pulled up. With a hiss, a woman in the passenger seat shouted, "Sir, which kind of fast food do you sell?"

"One meat dish and three vegetable dishes cost three yuan, two meat dishes cost four yuan, and three meat dishes cost five yuan."

Zhang Daxiang is tall and wears a mask, so people only think he is young, but they can't tell his actual age. After all, he spends a lot of time outdoors, so his skin is rough and dark, which is different from that of an ordinary teenager.

Holding a large ladle and wearing an apron, Zhang Daxiang seemed to sense the woman's worry and pointed to the mobile business license he was displaying. "It's licensed, don't worry."

"Two three-meat dishes to go, and an extra box of rice."

"What would you like to eat?"

"Let me see what's there."

The large eight-wheeled vehicle was still running. The woman got out to order food, and the driver, presumably her husband, called out from across the street, "I want pork chop! Do you have pork chop?"

"some!"

He raised his voice in response, and the driver was immediately pleased, asking, "Is there any hot water? I'd like a cup of tea."

"Yes, would you like some tea?"

"I have my own tea."

He then handed over a large teapot, at least two liters in size. The woman stood on tiptoe to take the teapot, and then thanked Zhang Daxiang, who had brought over a kettle of hot water.

"Pork chop...chicken leg...fried fish, I'll have a piece of fried fish, and just a little bit of vegetables, like potatoes, cabbage...cauliflower stir-fried with meat, are those considered vegetables?"

"There's not much pork belly in it, so it can't really be considered a meat dish. It's just cauliflower with a bit of meat flavor."

"Then I'll have cauliflower stir-fried with pork... Is that really considered a vegetarian dish?"

"Yes. Don't worry, it's clean, legitimate pork. It's certified."

"Then let's stir-fry cauliflower with pork."

The woman ultimately decided that stir-fried cauliflower with pork was the most cost-effective vegetarian dish, so she ordered two portions of it.

Zhang Daxiang scooped rice from the rice bucket, put it into a plastic bag, and handed it over.

"Ten yuan, right?"

"Correct."

He handed over ten yuan, which Zhang Daxiang took, tossed into the money box, and said, "If you enjoyed the meal, come again next time."

"it is good."

After getting into the car, the woman waved again from the passenger seat, and the eight-wheeled vehicle started moving and drove away.

Zhang Daxiang casually jotted down the accounts, making it an unremarkable opening.

(End of this chapter)