Qiaohui came in from the backyard carrying a basin of clothes. "Cousin, Li Wu is asking if you need flour and white sugar."

"Yes, tell him to deliver it to the South City Market in a couple of days." Lin Lan thought for a moment, then added, "And have Hou Gui send us more milk powder, yeast, raisins, and other ingredients."

She planned to make several more varieties of pastries for the grand opening to fill the display cases, so they wouldn’t look so empty.

Qiaohui nodded and carried the basin out.

Lin Lan looked around but didn’t see Wu Shufen and her husband. She asked curiously, "Where are my parents?"

Lin Yuezhen gestured that Wu Shufen and her husband had gone to Yang Liying’s house to get some brine for making pickled vegetables.

"Lin Lan, are you home?" Li Guizhi’s voice called out from the courtyard gate.

"I’m here!" Lin Lan called back, walking out to meet her.

Li Guizhi walked in with a smile, holding a white earthenware bowl. "My mother’s family made some sesame candy and gave me some. I brought it over for you to try."

"Thank you!" Lin Lan saw the milky-white pieces of candy in the bowl, coated in roasted cornmeal. She picked one up and took a bite. The candy slowly melted in her mouth—fragrant, crispy, sweet, and chewy. She smiled. "It’s so fragrant and sweet! Sister Li, your mother is really skilled."

Li Guizhi was happy to see she liked it. "My mother didn’t make it, my father did. He’s from Jinkou River and married into our family. Everyone from his hometown knows how to make sesame candy. My dad made a batch a few days ago, planning to sell it."

It suddenly occurred to Lin Lan that she needed malt sugar to make sachima. She said to Li Guizhi, "I need malt sugar for my pastries, and I need a rather large amount. The wholesale price is a bit cheaper than retail. If you don’t mind the lower price, you can sell it to me."

Li Guizhi’s face lit up, and she nodded happily. "Of course! Why wouldn’t we? Malt sugar is much less work than sesame candy. Once it’s boiled, we can deliver it. My dad’s malt sugar is made from sweet potatoes and malt—it’s sweeter and chewier than the kind made from corn."

Sesame candy required adding sesame seeds and peanuts, which was not only laborious but also more expensive. Once the syrup was boiled and cooled slightly, it had to be pulled while still hot. It took two strong laborers to continuously flip and pull it without a moment’s rest. This was how the candy got its white color and dense texture.

Lin Lan told her the price she was paying Hou Gui for malt sugar. "Sister Li, go back and talk to your parents. If they’re okay with this price, have them deliver it to me before the end of the month."

"Okay," Li Guizhi agreed. After a moment’s hesitation, she asked Lin Lan, "Little Lin, my daughter, Pingping, graduated from middle school but didn’t get into a technical secondary school. I heard you were hiring for your shop. Are you still looking for people?"

Lin Lan thought for a moment and said, "Sister Li, the shop is already fully staffed. Besides, I think it would be a waste for your Pingping to just be a worker, having graduated from middle school."

"I think you could open a small general store at home. She could manage the store while studying accounting books on the side. In the future, she could get an accounting certificate. In the long run, that’s a better path than working for me."

’She didn’t want to hire people from their village to work in her shop. The more familiar people were, the more comparisons would be drawn. Most importantly, a successful business in the shop would easily attract envy.’

Li Guizhi was intrigued. "We can open a general store?"

"Of course!" Lin Lan pointed toward the part of their courtyard wall that faced the tractor path. "You could build a door over there, put up a small room, and stock things like melon seeds, peanuts, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, candy, liquor, and even playing cards to sell."

Hearing about sourcing inventory, Li Guizhi grew worried. "Little Lin, where would we even get all that stuff to sell? And does it require a lot of startup money?"

Lin Lan shook her head. "To be honest, I’m not sure how much capital it takes to open a general store. How about this: you go back and discuss it with Brother Zhang and Pingping first. If you decide to do it, I can introduce you to a wholesaler."

She was only offering a suggestion. Whether or not they acted on it was up to Li Guizhi and her husband.

Li Guizhi stood up. "Thank you, Little Lin. I’ll go back and discuss it with them right now."

Seeing her hurry back, Zhang Rongqing quickly went up to her. "What did Little Lin say?"

"Little Lin said..." Li Guizhi repeated what Lin Lan had told him, then looked at him and asked, "What do you think? Can we really open a general store?"

Zhang Rongqing lowered his head in thought for a moment, then shook it. "I’m not sure. But I think we should talk to Pingping about what Little Lin said, about her studying accounting."

Li Guizhi looked at him worriedly. "Do you think our Pingping can really learn accounting?"

Zhang Rongqing’s eyes widened. "Why not? Accountant Jin isn’t even as educated as our Pingping."

Li Guizhi rolled her eyes at him. "I heard Accountant Jin’s father was an old bookkeeper. He learned the trade from his dad. You and I are just clueless country folk. We’d have to find someone to teach Pingping."

Zhang Rongqing stood up, rubbing the stubble on his chin. He paced around the room a few times and said to Li Guizhi, "My father is on good terms with Accountant Jin. I’ll go ask him to help me find out if there’s a future in accounting. If there is, then we’ll figure out a way."

Seeing he was about to leave, Li Guizhi grabbed his arm. "But what do you really think about opening a general store?"

Zhang Rongqing frowned. "We don’t know the first thing about running a store. Look at the brigade’s general store—it has tobacco, liquor, everything. You know how much money we have. Is it enough to open a store?"

Hearing this, Li Guizhi grew worried again. "Then what should we do?"

Zhang Rongqing thought for a moment. "How about we go and ask Little Lin to teach us how to sell fried potatoes?"

The other day, he passed by the spot where Yang Meihua had set up her stall. Both of her small square tables were packed with customers eating fried potatoes. For fried potatoes, you just need to buy a stove and find someone to sell you some coal, and you’re in business.

Opening a general store would require breaking through a wall and building a room. They definitely didn’t have enough money for that.

"I don’t know..." Li Guizhi looked at Zhang Rongqing. "If we start selling fried potatoes too, Yang Meihua won’t be happy."

Zhang Rongqing shot her a look. "Are you an idiot? The East Market is huge! Yang Meihua has her stall in the south part of the city. We could set up at Dongzikou, or over by the glass factory on the west side!"

"The main issue is Little Lin. Yang Meihua’s family is related to her. We’re not relatives, we’re not connected at all. I don’t know if she’d be willing to teach her money-making secrets to us."

Li Guizhi lowered her head in thought for a moment, then looked up at Zhang Rongqing. "When you get back, I’ll go find Little Lin. I’ll tell her we’ll pay her tuition to learn how to make fried potatoes, and we’ll buy the seasoning from her from now on."

"Okay. You stay home and think it over carefully. I’m heading to my father’s place first," Zhang Rongqing said before walking toward the gate.

After Li Guizhi left, Lin Lan went back inside. She took out a notebook and listed the quantities of flour, milk powder, and other ingredients she needed to buy, then put the list in the small pouch she used for making change at her stall. Then she went to the woodshed, picked out a basket of mature pumpkins, and carried it toward the kitchen.

’She’d been so busy with the new shop lately that she’d almost forgotten she only had a few days left before she couldn’t set up her stall in the Eucalyptus Forest anymore. It was time to start preparing for the pastry shop’s opening.’