Chapter 117: Saving money is not enough, you also need to be able to make money

  Fang Haibo thought for a moment and also knew that this matter could no longer be changed. His younger brother and sister were not contracted to make tofu, and when others said they would take it down, they took it down. They didn't have anything good to argue with others about.

  "We can only suffer in silence on this matter. Even if we were present at the time, it wouldn't have changed anything. This was a decision made by the leadership during a meeting, and for us small employees, it's too difficult to change."

  "What did the principal say, what's going to happen to my brother and sister next?" Fang Haibo thought that he couldn't do the tofu workshop job anymore, so now he was angry, but it would be better to think of a way to arrange a good job for his brother and sister. Even if they didn't make money, at least it would be easier.

  "Principal Zhang said that he has tried to get a better deal for us, and there are two options for us to choose from. One is the original job of watching the grain store, and the other is watching the bathhouse, which can be contracted out." Qiu's father is also considering this matter now, and doesn't know which one to choose.

  Qiu Ye listened to Qiu Dad's words, and his eyes lit up. He looked at the bathhouse and thought it was a good job, not tiring at all, and earning a decent amount of money. Compared to working in a grain store, this had much more prospects.

  Actually, Qiu Ye didn't know that running a bathhouse was profitable in his past life. It wasn't until his mother chatted with him one time and sighed, saying that Old Zhang's family from the Normal University, who ran a bathhouse, were really rich. A few days ago, their son got married and they bought a new house over 100 square meters for him, fully furnishing it, which cost at least 500,000 yuan. Old Zhang was just an ordinary worker, so where did he get all that money from? It wasn't until then that everyone realized running a bathhouse was actually very profitable.

  At this time, she suddenly heard that her mother also had the opportunity to take a bath, and she was excited. There is another main reason, before her rebirth, she was used to taking baths every day, but after her rebirth, due to circumstances, she could only take a bath once a week, and when she took a bath, it was like going to war, with as many as ten people fighting for one showerhead, which was really unbearable.

  If my mother could take a liking to the bathhouse, it wouldn't just be about making money, but also solving my own bathing problem, that would be great. And by then, she might even be able to enjoy the treatment of a rich person ahead of time, like in Guo Degang's crosstalk, where washing hair and body is all done at once.

  Just as Qiu Ye was speaking, Fang Haibo spoke up.

  "Of these two jobs, relatively speaking, working at a grain store is slightly better, and I can still borrow some light from home."

  "I think so too. Xiaoye's mom can't make up her mind, mainly because she hasn't recovered from the blow this time." Mr. Qiu also nodded and said.

  From today's perspective, running a grain store is definitely better than running a bathhouse. Firstly, it's not tiring, like Zhang Qian, who just sits there knitting sweaters all day and only gets busy when someone comes to buy grain. Secondly, there are some small perks, such as being able to buy supplies for the family at cost, so you don't have to spend money on oil and other things. You can save a lot of money every month. Thirdly, this job is relatively respectable, whoever comes to the grain store will flatter and fawn over the people inside, hoping to build a good relationship with the grain seller so that they can buy more supplies for their family. That's why adults think running a grain store is a better life.

  But Qiu Yeke doesn't think so.

  "Dad, stepdad, I think working at the bathhouse is better than working at the grain store." Qiu Ye spoke up, this was a matter that concerned her family's future development and her own future well-being. She had to express her thoughts and let her parents choose the best option.

  Fang Haibo and Qiu Ba were talking, when suddenly Qiu Ye said something that made them unconsciously shift their gaze to the front.

  "Xiao Ye, what's on your mind? Speak up." Fang Haibo was still relatively democratic, mainly because Qiu Ye had been acting like a little adult for over a year now, and people felt at ease with him handling things.

  Qiu Ye looked at her godfather and then at her father. Seeing that her father was nodding at her, she raised her head, puffed out her chest, and expressed her own views.

  "I think working at a grain store is okay, but there's no future in it. The grain sold at the store is just for sale, and the money earned from selling it goes to the public, not into one's own pocket. Although it can help save some household expenses, it can't earn any real income."

  If a family wants to improve its living conditions, just saving money is not enough. No matter how much you save, it's just ordinary expenses, so you also need to be able to make money.

  "Compared to running a bathhouse or a grain store, this is a way to make money. Think about it carefully, it's actually the same as mom selling tofu. When someone comes to take a bath, mom can earn some money, and that money is real and goes straight into our family's pocket."

  "I agree with my sister, that job of watching the grain store is something nobody wants, we don't want it either." Qiu Feng had been standing on the side all along, and at this moment he suddenly came up with this sentence, which made his stance clear. However, no one paid attention to what he said.

  Qiu Baba and Fang Haibo both took Qiu Ye's words to heart. After Qiu Ye finished speaking, they didn't say anything either, and both fell into deep thought, probably weighing the pros and cons of the two jobs.

  This made Qiu Ye anxious, were they agreeing or disagreeing, were they in favor or not? They just wouldn't speak up, and Qiu Ye didn't know if she should continue to talk about the benefits of the bathhouse.

  Not long after, Old Lady Qiu called out that dinner was ready.

  Six dishes and one soup, very sumptuous.

  But everyone seemed to have lost their appetite, even Qiu Feng, who was usually carefree and reckless, felt the atmosphere was off, simply picking at the dishes in front of him with his chopsticks, not sweeping everything on the table like he normally did.

  "Come on, eat! What's wrong? Doesn't it taste good today?" As she said this, she picked up a piece of egg and tasted it herself. It was just right, not too salty or bland.

  Qiu Ye looked at her mother's obviously thinner figure and somewhat sallow complexion, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart. This incident must have been a huge blow to her mother. It wasn't like before, when if their family hadn't tasted the sweetness of success, they could just give up on making tofu. But now that they had finally found a way to make money, it was being snatched away from them, and no one could bear that.

  "It's delicious, mom, it's really delicious. We've been out for a few days and we just miss the taste of your cooking. Mom, you're so thin now, eat more meat to nourish yourself." Qiu Ye picked up the chicken thigh in front of her and handed it to her mother.

  Qiu Feng quietly picked up a piece of pork rib in front of him and put it into his mother's bowl, then stared at her with eager eyes, as if to say "hurry up and eat".

  Qiu's mother watched the actions of the two children, and her heart felt even more distressed. After much difficulty, she had finally found a way to make more money for the kids, but now it was all gone. As a mother, she really was useless. She thought to herself, and her eyes became slightly sour, as if she couldn't hold back anymore.

  "Delicious, you all eat more. Mom is at home every day and eats too much of it, I'm tired of eating it, so you all eat instead."

  She said that she would put the meat back in the bowl for the children, and she didn't know if she could often make delicious food for them in the future. Now there is meat, let's give more to the children to eat, they are all growing up!

  Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye saw their mother's actions and both covered their own rice bowls with their hands, meaning they didn't want to receive it, letting their mother eat the meat.

  Qiu's father looked at the three of them and felt a bit of a headache, "The child is letting you eat, just eat, it's only two pieces of meat, don't keep letting each other have it, you've really lost a lot of weight lately, if you don't eat more your body won't be able to take it."

  Qiu's father knew why his daughter-in-law couldn't eat, so he continued: "Just now I've already talked to Fang's brother, let's not dwell on this matter anymore. They've signed the contract, there won't be any changes, so now we should discuss what you're going to do next."

  Qiu's mother listened to Qiu's father's words and looked at Fang Haibo and his wife, then whispered, "Can't we really make tofu anymore?"

  She still had some hope in her heart, hoping that when Fang Dage and his wife returned, they could help find someone at the university to see if this matter could be salvaged, but unexpectedly, Fang Dage and his wife were also unable to do so.

  "Don't even think about it, they've already taken over the tofu shop and can still return it to us? Besides, I heard they signed a contract with the university this time. If we let them back out now, we'll have to give them a lot of money. What's the point?" Mr. Qiu said with a frown, his wife was so stubborn, once she made up her mind, there was no turning back. These days he had been thinking about how to get the tofu shop back, but his family didn't have the people or the money, how could they compete with Zhang Qi's husband being the vice president of the university?

  Qiu's mother heard that she still had to pay money to get the tofu workshop back, so she was anxious and shouted: "Why should I give her money? The tofu workshop is doing well, it's her who made me lose it. Even if I die, I won't give her a penny." Qiu's mother has been resentful of Zhang Qian and her family since she realized that her tofu-making business had been taken away from her. She went to her mother-in-law's place and had a big argument with them, completely severing ties with those people.

  "It's settled then, this matter is already set in stone, don't think about it anymore, just think about what to do next." Qiu Dad said as he added a piece of meat for his wife. These days, his wife had been so worried that she couldn't eat or sleep, and had lost weight. He felt sorry for her, but there was nothing he could do. His wife just couldn't get over this hurdle, and at home, she couldn't do anything else except think about this matter. If things went on like this, it wouldn't be good, they couldn't let their family life become abnormal just because they weren't doing the tofu business anymore.

  "I think both jobs are okay, and this can be considered as the leader's compensation for you. Xiaoye said that watching the bathhouse is better than watching the grain store. Fengqin, what do you think?" Fang Haibo repeated what Qiu Ye had just said and asked.

  Qiu's mother is usually very strict at home, but she doesn't have any big ideas, so she has to follow the path laid out by others. Now that she's heard that making tofu isn't promising, she's starting to think seriously about what to do next.