Her daughter followed closely behind her, tread by tread. With both hands pushing the cart, she couldn't attend to her and could only let her cling to her clothes, following tightly. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novelꜰire.net
Fortunately, the distance wasn't too far. She couldn't use the pedestrian path and had to take the cycle lane. What usually took ten-odd minutes ended up taking more than half an hour. By the time they reached snack street, it was already eleven o'clock, and many vendors had already set up their stalls.
Mainly because it was their first day, she had pushed the cart from home. From tonight on, she could lock the cart up here instead of pushing it back home. She noticed other vendors around did the same; those that needed to move things around used personal tricycles to haul their goods.
Everyone around was in competition, so very few people spoke to her. Even when she couldn't push the cart up to the platform, no one offered to help; in the end, it was with her daughter's assistance that she barely managed to get it up.
This experience made Gong Mingxia profoundly understand that it truly is better to rely on oneself than others.
Once the cart was parked, she had her daughter sit on the side while she hung the price list she had written out next to the sign.
She moved the rice cooker to a table behind her, pulled out the stove beneath the cart, and lit it to speed up heating.
Gong Mingxia's spot was at the very end of snack street, a rather poor location, but being able to secure a spot was lucky enough, and she had no chance to choose her position.
The influx of people on snack street peaked between twelve and one in the afternoon, as the area was surrounded by office buildings and residential communities. Unlike factories where people could eat at eleven or half past, here they generally didn't get off work until twelve. Though from eleven onwards, a steady stream of people headed this way, those weren't the office workers; they were just foodies passing by.
Watching the vendors in the middle bustle with activity, the further back she went, the more dismal the flow of people became. By the time it reached her spot, there was practically no interest.
Gong Mingxia let out a long sigh, reminding herself to stay calm. In business, there are bound to be losses and wins.
Xiao Xiao was already sensible. Seeing her mom head out before dawn and busy herself with preparing meals all morning, yet attracting no customers, she too was anxious.
Her eyes whirled with thought, and she immediately stood in front of the stall, shouting to the people around,
"Uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, are you hungry? Come try my mom's boxed meals! We have chicken, pork, hot dishes, cold dishes, rice, and flavored noodles. Lots of variety, delicious and affordable, come and try!"
Gong Mingxia had seen others yell to attract customers, but she never managed to spit it out herself. She didn't expect her little daughter to outdo her, serving up words with such ease—she was truly astonished.
And what surprised her even more came after. Seeing that standing in front of their own stall and shouting attracted no one, Xiao Xiao simply ran into the crowd, showing their price list to everyone, introducing items, Gong Mingxia witnessed the whole process and was left thoroughly impressed.
Thinking of how her daughter could be so bold at such a young age, she, an older woman with thick skin, felt there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Thus, she cheerfully took her place at the edge of the stall, lifting a professional smile, and shouted to the passing foodies,
"Come, come, come, try Xiao Xiao's family's fast food! If you're in a hurry, sit down and enjoy a quick meal. We have rice, vegetables, noodles, and soup. Two yuan fills you up, three yuan treats you well. I guarantee you'll want more. With every purchase of a Xiao Xiao's fast food, you get a coupon. Collect five, and you'll get a bowl of our evening health porridge for free—economical and worth it, come and have a taste!"
It had to be said, the mother-daughter's selling cries finally had some effect, and soon people began to gather in front of their meal cart.
"What kind of dishes do you have?"
Gong Mingxia quickly opened the lids, "Six hot dishes, two cold dishes. Here's potato stew with chicken, here's braised pork with glass noodles, see, it's got lotus slices, pork belly, glass noodles. Anyone who orders the Tomato and Egg will get a fried egg on the side. For vegetarians, we have dry pot cauliflower, sour and spicy bean sprouts, and Mapo Tofu. Lastly, there's cold mixed lotus root and kelp. Choose whatever you want to eat; the specific prices are all listed above!"