Chapter Thirteen: Steamed Meatballs

  But Qiu's mother is still entangled in the issue of whether or not to let her daughter become a street vendor. In her heart, she definitely cannot let her go sell things, as she has never attended school and can't even count to 100. If she lets her go sell things, won't she end up selling herself? So she thinks it's better to discuss this with Old Qiu tonight and ask for his opinion, after all he has more education than herself and is a middle school graduate, which makes him half an educated person.

  Qiu's mother seemed to have understood, and as she walked home with her daughter, she lectured: "You're just a child, don't worry about things that aren't your concern. You have parents, so focus on studying well and getting into university, then you'll get a good job and make me proud."

  Qiu Ye walked away with a pout, but her mom's words didn't count as she still managed to get some benefits for herself.

  "You just promised me, and now you're going back on your word. Hmph! But if you leave all the tofu lees for me tomorrow, I'll forgive you. And I promise you that when I grow up, I'll definitely get into the best university in the country, bring honor to our family, and find a job that makes a lot of money without having to work hard. How about it?"

  "Good, my girl really has ambition. Mom is looking forward to you getting into college and being filial to me." Madam Qiu was delighted by her daughter's great ambition and thought to herself that she must think of ways to earn more money, or else when her daughter gets into college in the future, they won't have enough money for tuition, what will they do then?

  Qiu Ye thought to herself, "Mom just promised me that tomorrow I'll get all the tofu dregs. Tomorrow, I'll turn them into cash and it will be wonderful."

  The two people who spoke in riddles both had their own thoughts and returned home with a smile on their faces.

  In the evening, when Mr. Qiu came back from work, under the expectant gaze of his daughter, he showed off his skills, mixing tofu dregs with shredded carrots, seasoning them, and then shaping them into small balls, which were then cooked in a boiling pot.

  Looking at the white spherical object dotted with green starbursts, Qiu Ye felt a little excited, this was going to be his money-making tool for his first pot of gold.

  The dinner table was filled with laughter, Qiu Feng looked at the Mapo tofu and boiled dumplings on the table, and he devoured them in a frenzy. His parents watched their happy child with smiling faces, savoring the rare delicious food on the table.

  Qiu Ye only smiled wryly, using chopsticks to pick up a white dumpling, and after taking just one bite, she almost cried. How could this not be the taste of her memories? She remembered that when she was young, eating such boiled dumplings also felt delicious, but now, as soon as she took a bite, she could detect a faint bean paste flavor and radish flavor.

  She was at a loss, but when she looked up and saw her brother's expression as if he had eaten the best delicacies, she suddenly understood. When they were young, their family was poor and didn't eat well, so for kids who usually ate potatoes, cabbage, and pickles, occasionally eating boiled dumplings was already a treat.

  She thought that the money-making plan she had been thinking about all day was going to fall through, and only children from families like theirs would think these meatballs tasted good. Even those who were slightly better off than them wouldn't like it. More importantly, their family was already very poor, and there weren't many people poorer than them at the university.

  Qiu's father saw his daughter take a bite of the bun and then stop eating, staring at it. He thought she didn't like the taste, so he said: "Old lady, why aren't you eating? Doesn't it taste good? Do you want your mom to get some soy sauce for you to dip it in?"

  Qiu Feng, who was eating with his head down, heard his father's words and looked up at his sister, thinking to himself, "This little girl is so spoiled, she doesn't like this dish, she doesn't like that dish, humph, it's all because mom and dad are spoiling her." But seeing his sister's pitiful appearance, as a brother, he couldn't just think of himself eating.

  Qiu Feng looked at the steamed buns and Mapo tofu on the table, and pushed the Mapo tofu towards his sister, implying that since she didn't want to eat the buns, she should have more tofu instead.

  Dull-witted Qiu Ye heard his father's words and suddenly had an epiphany - Ah, the bun itself doesn't taste good, but you can brush a layer of sauce on it! Just like the roasted gluten in later generations, when eaten dry, there's no flavor at all, it's really unpalatable. But after brushing a layer of sauce on it, the flavor completely changes, and eating it leaves a lasting impression.

  "Old girl? Old girl? What's wrong with you, why are you still staring blankly?" Qiu Dad asked Qiu Mom to pour a small dish of soy sauce for the girl and put it in front of her, but she didn't even look at it, still maintaining that posture, with her mouth agape.

  "Your daughter was acting strange today, when she came back this afternoon, she even asked me to make more tofu for her to sell, and with the little money she has, she can't even count it clearly, in the end, she'll probably end up selling herself off!" said Mrs. Qiu, talking about her daughter's crazy idea from this afternoon.

  "Oh, my girl still wants to sell tofu to make money, old lady, you tell dad, why do you want to make money?" Mr. Qiu's tone was just coaxing the child, he thought from his heart that this might be a kind of game the child wanted to play.

  Qiu Ye snapped back to attention when his mom spoke, then listened as one parent asked distrustful questions and the other obviously humored him, getting annoyed - if he didn't say something now, how would he get by in the future?

  "Mom, Dad, I'm not kidding, I really want to make money because I want to grow up and attend the best university in the country, and also study abroad like Uncle Fang downstairs. Uncle Fang said it costs a lot of money, so I want to start saving from now on. Didn't you say, Dad, that you wanted me and my brother to study hard? You said 'knowledge is power', I think money is the same, I'm just afraid of 'not having enough money when I need it'."

  Qiu's father and mother fell silent after hearing the girl's words. They felt incompetent as parents for not being able to earn enough money, making their young child worry about her future tuition fees. At this moment, they truly realized that earning money was urgent. Qiu's mother also seriously considered the suggestion the girl had made in the afternoon, and she was willing to swallow her pride to earn enough money for her child's university tuition.

  "Old girl, how do you plan to make money? Are you going to ask your mom to make tofu for you to sell?" Mr. Qiu asked the girl very seriously, thinking that perhaps her way of thinking was simpler than theirs and wouldn't consider unnecessary things, but would come up with more suitable ideas for the family.

  "No, that's the money I earned for mom. I want to earn my own money." Qiu Ye shook her head, thinking that she might as well take this opportunity to have an open and honest talk with her dad and mom. If not, after she starts her own business, they will know about it anyway. Of course, when she said "myself", she emphasized it strongly, stressing the importance of earning her own money and saving it herself. If she doesn't make it clear beforehand, in the future when her mom sees that she has earned a lot of money, she won't be able to get her hands on it. Her mom is like an iron rooster, easy to put money in but harder than climbing to heaven to take it out. So, the funds must be controlled by herself.

  "Oh, then how are you going to make money?" Qiu's father became even more interested, his own daughter had some ideas in her mind, just like him.

  "I want to start selling boiled dumplings tomorrow." Qiu Ye said excitedly to his father about his plan.

  Qiu's father heard the girl's words and his newly risen pride immediately disappeared. This child is still like her mother in many ways!