Old Mrs. Song is reborn; get out of here, you scumbag husband and illegitimate child!

Song Xianglan sat at the table, taking big bites of a steaming hot meat bun.

"I've already taken care of your shop and shipped some goods to Beijing. They should arrive in a few days, so take this opportunity to sell them all."

The mother and daughter chatted while eating.

"Give me the keys to the courtyard house you bought, and I'll have a car deliver them to you when the goods arrive."

Song Tingting took a sip of porridge. "The key is in the box on my bedside table."

"Go to school on time tomorrow, don't ask for leave." Song Xianglan swallowed the bun in her mouth, looked up at Song Tingting and instructed, "The foreman is overseeing the shop's renovation, I'll just keep an eye on things here. You go to class as usual."

Song Tingting held her bowl of porridge and nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Mom, just call me if you need anything."

"Just focus on your studies at school. Don't worry about money." Song Xianglan tapped the rim of her bowl with her chopsticks. "Our family doesn't lack money to support your education. After you finish your undergraduate degree, you can take the postgraduate entrance exam and then get a doctorate. Our family will produce a great intellectual."

Song Tingting took these words to heart.

She has grown into a graceful young woman with relaxed features and an elegant demeanor.

Today she changed into a clean, faded white shirt, paired with slim-fit jeans, and tied her hair in a high ponytail with a blue silk scarf.

She exudes youthful energy.

Song Xianglan stared at her daughter for a while, then changed the subject.

"If there are any handsome and decent guys in school, you should date them. Don't just study all day and become a block of wood."

Song Tingting's face flushed slightly.

"Mom, what did you say? Right now, I'm only thinking about studying; I can't think about anything else."

"You can balance your studies and your life." Song Xianglan finished her porridge in a few gulps. "If you meet a good guy, you should date him. That way, you won't waste your college life. After you finish eating, let's take those two baskets of fruit to the front and sell them."

Song Tingting quickly cleared away the bowls and chopsticks: "Where are we buying them?"

"Sell it at the entrance of a big shopping mall. There are lots of people there."

Song Tingting would rather sell fruit than let Song Xianglan continue that topic.

Her mother, not following the usual path, encouraged her to have a campus romance.

Song Tingting shook off the random thoughts in her head and ran to the front yard to call over Bai Gang, who often pulled a tricycle in the neighborhood.

Bai Gang lived in the front yard. He was a strong man. He came over and helped carry the two large baskets of longan and dragon fruit onto the tricycle.

Then they put the burlap sack containing the bananas on top as well.

Song Xianglan slung a bamboo basket over her shoulder, filled with dried mackerel and dried shrimp, intending to scout out the way along the way.

The two went out.

Aunt Wu from next door stood at the door with an enamel mug in her hand. Seeing this scene, she smacked her lips:

"Oh dear, young lady. Your daughter is a top student from Peking University. How can she work as a self-employed person like you? It's so embarrassing to be out in public like that. When she finds a husband, he'll look down on her."

Song Xianglan snapped the door shut with a "click," then turned to stare at Aunt Wu.

"Does she not need money for university living expenses? I run a small business and earn clean money to support my daughter's education. Who dares to look down on me? Let them get as far away as possible. There are plenty of men pursuing my daughter; I don't care about those people."

Aunt Wu was speechless, staring blankly. "I'm doing this all for your own good."

Which respectable family doesn't have a secure job but end up being self-employed? People like Bai Gang have no choice.

Unable to find work after returning to the city from the countryside, he had no choice but to earn some money by driving a tricycle to pick up passengers and goods.

She carried the jar and slunk back into the house.

Song Xianglan and her daughter rode a bicycle behind Bai Gang's tricycle.

We soon arrived at the largest department store in the vicinity.

The crowds were dense.

Song Xianglan asked Bai Gang to unload the basket on the open ground slightly to the side of the mall entrance, and took out 50 cents from her pocket and handed it to him.

Bai Gang thanked him and rode away on his bicycle.

Song Xianglan told Tingting to stay where she was and watch the stall, then took a dragon fruit of a suitable size and headed straight for the security guard standing guard at the mall entrance.

"Comrade."

Song Xianglan put on a simple, honest smile. "I'm an old farmer from a remote area. My daughter is studying at university in Beijing. Life in Beijing is expensive, so I brought some southern fruits from my hometown to sell while I was taking her to school."

She wore a slightly worn shirt, blue trousers, and cloth shoes with thick soles today, looking every bit the part of a genuine old farmer.

The security guard glanced at the dragon fruit in her hand. Red skin and green stem—he'd never seen anything like it before.

"What is this?"

"Dragon fruit, a specialty of our South." Song Xianglan shoved a dragon fruit into the security guard's hand. "You can eat it as soon as you peel it; the flesh is very sweet."

The most effective thing about this stuff is that it lubricates the intestines and promotes bowel movements; after eating it, your digestive system will be clear and you'll be relieved of constipation.

The security guard was a very filial son; his elderly father was worried about finding a toilet every day.

Hearing this, her eyes lit up. "It really cures constipation? Auntie, do you have any more? I'll buy two for my dad to try."

Yes, yes.

Song Xianglan ran back to the basket, picked out two slightly smaller ones, and handed them to the security guard, saying, "This is a gift from the old lady. Take them and eat them before you come back to find me."

The security guard was holding three dragon fruits; he felt obligated to accept their gifts.

They turned a blind eye to their setting up stalls at the entrance.

"You guys move aside a bit. From now on, sell whatever you want here. If you run into my colleague on duty, just say you're a relative of mine from Muping."

"Everyone says there are many good people in Beijing. I'm so glad I met you."

After dealing with the security guards, Song Xianglan returned to her stall.

Tingting had already laid the empty snakeskin bag on the ground, and arranged the dragon fruit, longan, and bananas neatly according to their categories.

Two young men wearing polyester shirts were passing by.

Tingting stood up straight and shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Handsome buddy, we have fresh longan, dragon fruit, and bananas from the south. Would you like to take a look?"

The word "handsome guy" made the two young men feel very uncomfortable, and they walked over with their faces red.

"Comrade, how much is this fruit?"

Before Song Xianglan arrived, she had inquired about the supply and marketing cooperative's situation.

"Bananas are two yuan a pound, dragon fruit is two yuan three jiao, and longan is two yuan six jiao. Young man, these prices are much cheaper than at the supply and marketing cooperative."

Go to the supply and marketing cooperative and you'll see they're selling those blackened bananas for 2.3 yuan a pound. Mine are freshly picked from the tree.

The two young men looked down and did the math; it was indeed a good deal.

The fruit displayed here is fresh.

Some of the bananas were still green.

At that moment, several middle-aged women walked out of the mall.

They all had fashionable permed hair, wore floral dresses, and carried shopping bags from the department store; they clearly came from well-off families.

Song Xianglan, with her sharp eyes, called out loudly:

"Hey girl, come take a look. Fresh fruit just arrived from Xincheng. Fresh longan and dragon fruit, you can't even find them in supermarkets."

Several middle-aged women were attracted by the loud voice and turned to walk over.

One of the women, wearing a red dress, spoke up:

"Sister, judging from your accent, you must be from Xincheng, right? Your way of speaking is different from ours in Beijing, it's quite pleasant to listen to."

Song Xianglan felt pleased to be praised for her pleasant speech.

People from Beijing have good judgment, unlike those peasants from Koizumi Brigade who always complain about her talking and arguing.

A complete shrew.

Song Xianglan took a clean knife out of the basket, picked up a dragon fruit, and with a swift motion, cut it into several pieces, arranging them on a prepared enamel plate.

"Young ladies, you should try dragon fruit, it's delicious. It's good for women's skin and beauty."

She brought the plate to the women.

The woman in the red dress picked up a piece of fruit and ate it. "Ma'am, this fruit is so expensive, are you just cutting it for us to eat for free? What if we don't buy it?"

"Business is all about mutual consent." Song Xianglan grabbed a few more longans and handed one to each person. "If you like them and think they're worth it, then you can pay more."

If you don't like it, you'd think it's taking up space even if it were given to you for free, let alone buying it. Nobody's money comes from thin air.

Several women found these words agreeable and picked up a longan to try.

The flesh is sweet and juicy.

"Delicious. These longans are so sweet, much better than those dried-out ones from the supply and marketing cooperative."

"Yes, when you go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, the sales clerks always have long faces, and there's no rule about offering samples."

The women immediately took out their wallets.

"I want three of these dragon fruits."

"Weigh out five catties of longan for me."

"Give me a bunch of bananas."

"Give me five catties of longan."

"I have a large family, and I also need to send some to my maternal family. Give me ten catties of longan, five dragon fruits, and a bunch of bananas too."

The two young men next to me also each bought two jin of longan.

We bought a bunch of bananas together.

Tingting deftly wrapped the fruit in newspaper, weighed it, collected the money, and gave change. Her movements were swift and efficient.

It took no more than half an hour.

They sold almost 100 yuan worth of goods right after opening.

Song Xianglan held a stack of ten-yuan notes and small change in her hand, her eyes full of smiles.

Business is really good in Beijing.

There are many people, they have money, and they are willing to spend it.

The fruits that are readily available on the mountains back home are all rare finds here.

Back home, dried longan was sold, but middlemen relentlessly drove down the price, so we barely made a few cents per pound.

Upon arriving in Beijing, fresh fruit was sold at exorbitant prices.

At this rate, these two baskets of fruit should sell out this morning.

Song Xianglan put the money into her inner pocket.

After finishing this job, we need to immediately figure out how to get the next batch of goods into Beijing.