CH 43

8-10 minutes

After listening to this for a while, Liu Fengchun understood what was going on. He knew about Manager Liang’s character, but they were from the same town and he didn’t do anything serious, so he just turned a blind eye.

“Do you pay the vendor fee for opening a stall here?”

Mo Ling replied while working, “I pay it every day, like I’m supposed to.”

“Is this a temporary business, or are you going to be running it long-term?”

“Of course we want to run it long-term.” Mo Yan said.

“The shops and businesses here, including Manager Liang’s, all have business documents. This means they’re business owners with fixed business locations, so they don’t have to come early every day to occupy a stop. The vegetable vendors in the market only come here every market day, so they just pay the vendor fee.”

Before he could finish talking, Mo Yan had figured out that this was a business licence. With one, theirs were a legal operation, and no one could force them to leave.

“We understand, and we hope the governing official will be able to grant us a business document. We’ll be sure to pay the necessary fees on time.”

“Okay, we still have to go to the market and patrol the streets. After you close for the day, you can go pick up your document at my office.”

Manager Liang hadn’t given up yet, “Sir, let us not forget that a lot of people suffered from diarrhoea after eating at their stall.”

Liu Fengchun put his hands down and said, “Is there anyone who got diarrhoea yesterday here? Manager Liang, if we didn’t live in the same town, I would have to do an in-depth investigation into this matter.”

Mo Yan said, “I asked Mr. Cao to look at the leftover meat from yesterday. He said that there was a lot of nitrate in the braised pork. People won’t be seriously affected by it in the long term and will just have diarrhoea.”

Someone in the crowd said, “Something similar just happened last spring!”

Everyone looked at each other and understood. Worst case scenario, this was an act of poisoning and the culprit could be thrown into prison. In the best case, the food wasn’t made proper;y and something went wrong. Manager Liang was also from Qianshui City, so Liu Fengchun didn’t want to escalate things and send him to court.

The people around Liu Fengchun said, “Leave! Do your own business.”

Mo Yan said, “He ruined our basket of duck eggs! He has to pay!”

Manager Liang tried to slip away. However, Lu Junming barred his path with his staff, “You caused this incident, so you will pay!”

Manager Liang was stingy and couldn’t bear to lose money, so he said, “Can you prove that I broke the duck eggs?”

The situation was chaotic at the time, and even Zhong Cheng couldn’t figure out who pushed him, but he was the one who tripped over the basket of duck eggs.

“Forget it, these are all eggs from my family’s ducks anyways. I brought a cart to sell this time, and I’ll give some more to you.”

Everyone turned to see a cart just outside the crowd, with several baskets full of duck eggs on it. The crowd said that this young man was really stupid, because it obviously wasn’t his fault, but he decided to pay for it himself.

Liu Fengchun was anxious to go to the market and patrol the streets, so he said, “Just deal with this yourselves! Remember to get a business document so both our lives will be easier.”

The governing official had already spoken, so Mo Yan could only let go of the matter.

Zhong Cheng brought another basket of duck eggs over, and Mo Ling counted out the money for him. They only gave one hundred and fifty dollars to him and not a dollar more.

“Zhong Cheng, we only have this much money left. We’ll…”

Zhong Cheng smiled, “Don’t worry about it. We still have to do business with each other in the future, after all!”

He took the money and left. Some people said that this young man was kind, while others said that he was stupid. Everyone had their own opinions. [1]

Mo Ling was busy fulfilling the customers’ orders, and Mo Yan picked up the unbroken duck eggs while watching the fire. Others had cracked shells but weren’t broken. They couldn’t be made into salted eggs, so Mo Yan just put them in a pot to be fried later.

The ground was also cleaned up, and the onlookers dispersed. They went to the market, and everything returned to normal.

This wasn’t the first time such a thing has happened. Most people would’ve retreated after facing a situation like this, so Manager Liang didn’t expect them to be so headstrong.

There were many people at the market day. After the onlookers spread the word of what happened today, today’s business was exceptionally good. The meat they bought had sold out by the time it was mid-morning. The two were reluctant to close for the day, so Mo Yan went to buy some more.

When she was returning from buying the meat, she saw Mr. Tian coming from the opposite direction. Mo Yan bowed and said, “Mr. Tian, ​​I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I’m here to buy some writing utensils and daily essentials.”

“Sir, have a safe trip.”

Mo Yan was about to leave when Mr. Tian said, “I passed by the gate of the road in the morning and saw people around your stall, saying unacceptable profanities.”

Mo Yan said coldly, “What others say is their business and has nothing to do with us. If you dislike their language, go the other way.” After saying that, she ran to the stall. [2]

Business had slowed down significantly by noon, as the people gradually left. Mo Yan said, “Sis, let’s go get our business document!”

The two closed shop and went to the governing official’s office together.

Passing by the braised meat shop, Shopkeeper Zhou greeted them, “Are you going to get your business document?”

The two nodded their heads. The pork stall opposite the braised meat shop hadn’t closed yet, and the fat shopkeeper asked, “How is a small vendor getting a business document before my meat store?”

Shopkeeper Zhou said, “I told you to do it earlier, but you refused!”

“Yes, yes, elder brother, you’re right. I’ll do it later. Can you guarantee for me?” It turns out that they were brothers. In hindsight, they looked similar except for the fact one was tall and the other was short.

“Do you need a guarantee for a business document?” Mo Yan asked.

The younger shopkeeper Zhou said, “Of course.”

“Then who can guarantee for you?”

“It has to be someone the governing official can trust. If there isn’t a suitable person, just ask your village to issue a document for you.”

Mo Ling said, “We’re already here, so let’s go ask first! If it doesn’t work out for us, we can go back to the village to get the document.”

Along the way, Mo Ling only felt that the purse hanging on her waist was heavier than ever, but she was also in a better mood than ever.

Liu Fengchun hadn’t left yet when they arrived. He doesn’t always stay here this long every day, but because today was a market day, he had a lot of things on his plate. Seeing their sisters coming, he was unexpectedly polite.

After carefully inquiring with the governing official, they found out they needed a guarantee for a business document, but unexpectedly, they didn’t need to find one.

“Hasn’t someone already vouched for you?”

“Who?”

“Mr. Cao from Cao’s Medical Centre.”

It turned out to be Mr. Cao, and it must be because Cao Zhang asked him to.

Mr. Cao has signed the document, and it has been completed smoothly. The records had been logged as well. Mo Yan took the document and read it carefully.

“Sir, if we want to change our location or rent a storefront in the future, will this document be of use?”

Liu Fengchun said sternly, “Of course, after all, it has my stamp. If you want to change locations in the future, tell me and I’ll give you a new one.”

“Then how much does this document cost?”

Post-edit notes: Cao Zhang and Mr. Cao really look out for the Mo sisters a lot… maybe a little too much, if you know what I mean.

[1] This is the most transparent attempt at trying to not do show-not-tell I’ve ever seen.

[2] Mo Yan really doesn’t like Mr. Tian huh. Is she jealous of him or overprotective or her sister?