Rice with toppings hadn’t become popular yet.

Xia Xiaolan belatedly realized this – not only was Aunt Huang unfamiliar with it, but even Shangdu didn’t have restaurants specializing in it.

To deal with Zhang Cui’s family, Xia Xiaolan was going all out. Though her cooking skills were average, she was “well-experienced” – what fast food hadn’t she eaten across the country? Instead of setting up her stall that morning, she went to the market early to buy ingredients and invited Li Fengmei over for lunch.

Back home, she washed and cut ingredients, and cooked a large pot of rice.

Her knife skills were ordinary, but with no time pressure, she could cut carrots evenly. She braised lamb with onions and carrots.

She made potato beef stew and her favorite braised pork trotters with soybeans.

The mixed aromas of spices and meat wafted over the walls, making all the neighbors’ mouths water.

Grandmother Yu’s household ate so well!

Could street sweepers and self-employed workers afford to eat this well?

Li Fengmei could smell the fragrance from the doorway. Aunt Huang, who had found Yu’s house by asking directions, perked up at the aroma.

“Sister, you must be Xiaolan’s guest?”

As Li Fengmei was talking with Aunt Huang, a bell rang – Liu Fen had finished her morning work.

Aunt Huang recognized Liu Fen, confirming this was indeed Xia Xiaolan’s home. The three entered together to find Xia Xiaolan already prepared. She had packed rice tightly into small bowls, then inverted them onto plates, and casually sprinkled black sesame seeds on top, instantly elevating the presentation.

“Please sit, come taste everything.”

A plate, a mound of rice, a spoon, and braised dishes “poured” over the rice – all three were eager to try.

It was just dishes poured over rice.

Everyone had leftovers at home and ate this way, mixing sauce with rice to make do with a meal. But deliberately pouring good dishes over rice was an unfamiliar eating style to Aunt Huang.

Could this make money?

Half-doubting, she followed Xia Xiaolan’s example, using her spoon to eat the sauce-soaked rice. The flavors of spices and lamb made her take one bite after another until she quickly finished the plate. The plate was spotless, with all the sauce mixed into the rice, nothing wasted.

Xia Xiaolan urged Aunt Huang to try other flavors.

Everyone had healthy appetites, sampling all the dishes – carrot braised lamb, potato beef, and soybean pork trotters.

Aunt Huang seemed to understand something but couldn’t put it into words. Xia Xiaolan didn’t keep her in suspense.

“Would people pay 50 fen for a plate of rice with toppings?”

Aunt Huang nodded then shook her head, “People would eat it, but with lamb and beef prices so high, selling at 50 fen would be a loss…”

The word “dead” stuck in her throat as she suddenly realized – she had finished the rice with sauce but there wasn’t much meat. Where did that satisfying feeling of eating lots of meat come from?

With just a few pieces of meat, selling for a few dimes per plate wouldn’t be a loss.

Seeing Aunt Huang starting to understand, Xia Xiaolan explained directly: “Besides these stewed dishes, stir-fries can also go over rice. It works for rice, it works for noodles – one method, endless flavors.”

Xia Xiaolan explained while Aunt Huang nodded.

Even Li Fengmei and Liu Fen listened intently. Running a small restaurant didn’t sound so hard – why give this business to outsiders instead of keeping it in the family?

This had been Xia Xiaolan’s original plan.

But now she found restaurant work too tiring and looked down on this business – she was purely creating trouble for Zhang Cui’s shop. After two hours of training Aunt Huang, the latter left full of confidence.

“When I open the shop, I must properly thank you!”

Aunt Huang couldn’t stop praising Xia Xiaolan, wondering how other families raised such clever and likable daughters.

After Aunt Huang left, seeing Liu Fen and Li Fengmei’s confusion, Xia Xiaolan explained the situation. Not wanting Liu Fen to think about the annoying Xia family members, she didn’t mention encountering Xia Hongxia at the school gate. Now that Xia Xiaolan had explained about Zhang’s restaurant, Liu Fen was worried – why couldn’t the Xia family leave them alone? Anqing County was so big, yet they had to open their shop near County No. 1 Middle School.

Would it affect Xiaolan’s schooling?

Xia Hongxia liked comparing herself to Xiaolan, growing envious of what she didn’t have – she might spread rumors at school.

Beads of sweat appeared on Liu Fen’s forehead.

They’d moved to Shangdu, but could old bad rumors still affect Xiaolan? And Zhou Cheng, the young man far away in Beijing who didn’t know – what if he heard rumors and minded Xiaolan’s past reputation!

Liu Fen was indecisive, only worrying by herself, now practically numb with anxiety.

Li Fengmei was stronger than her – though surprised, she knew Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t mention these things without reason.

She gradually understood, “…So you taught Aunt Huang about rice with toppings and encouraged her to open a new shop opposite Zhang’s?”

Li Fengmei was both shocked and delighted, finding it extremely satisfying.

If “Blue Phoenix” was doing good business and someone opened another clothing store nearby, she’d probably lie awake worrying about losing customers, with no energy for anything else – this was exactly how to deal with those shameless Xia family members!

Li Fengmei cursed the entire Xia family, from Old Lady Xia to Xia Ziyu, sparing no one young or old.

“Aunt Huang’s shop must thrive, so Zhang Cui won’t have time to scheme against Xiaolan. What are you afraid of? If anyone dares bully my Taotao, I’d scratch their face – aren’t you brave enough to handle Zhang Cui?”

Liu Fen nodded firmly.

From Xia Dajun’s forced divorce, Liu Fen had learned something. Most people in this world were bullies who feared the strong. She could take some abuse, but Xiaolan’s education and future couldn’t be compromised. If Zhang Cui tried anything, she wouldn’t just hit her – she’d want to stab her!

“Mom, Aunt, don’t be too nervous. The Xia family isn’t worth worrying about, let’s just live our lives as usual.”

After cleaning up the leftover food, Xia Xiaolan took a detour to Second-Seven Road, where Liu Yong was busy with several workers. The store had been cleaned thoroughly, the original ceiling removed, and display cases moved out.

Everything was being worked on simultaneously – carpenters and masons weren’t delayed. Once the ceiling, walls, and floor were done, the wooden fixtures would be almost finished too, greatly reducing renovation time.

Liu Yong smiled seeing Xia Xiaolan bringing food, then frowned.

“Xiaolan, we can still get the small spotlights you mentioned, but crystal chandeliers are hard to find.”

Xia Xiaolan had initially wanted a natural wood style but then thought – while she liked the minimalist decor, customers in ’83 might not. People in the 80s were used to simple styles; European decor would truly impress.

Wooden floors were replaced with tiles usually used in restaurant halls, real wood for the ceiling, and European-style wrought iron for floor-standing displays. These renovation materials nearly drove Liu Yong crazy – he had to run all over Shangdu to gather everything.

The ceiling and walls needed relief patterns, but Liu Yong’s workers didn’t know how to do this, so he was figuring it out himself.

These problems could be solved gradually, but Liu Yong truly couldn’t find crystal chandeliers, and without them, the European style wouldn’t stand out.

Changing the decoration style meant exceeding the budget – more carpentry work, floor tiles imitating microcrystalline stone with a shine ordinary white tiles couldn’t match, and expensive – every tile laid was money spent.

The original renovation budget of 6,000 yuan could double.

“Uncle, don’t worry. Let the workers eat first. I’ll think about the crystal chandelier – maybe we can buy one from Yangcheng next time we restock.”

Going over budget for renovation was normal – a big one-time investment would ensure it wouldn’t go out of style for years.

Xia Xiaolan kept the crystal chandelier purchase in mind as she went to set up her stall outside the Railway Bureau residential area.

She had Liu Yong’s house keys, but before she could unpack her goods, she saw the young woman who had bought a coat two days ago looking around:

“I thought you weren’t setting up today. Sister, do you have navy blue in a smaller size than what I bought the other day?”