Chapter 7: Careful with the oil

He held out his hands wordlessly.

Mianmian set the cloth-wrapped bundle down and opened it carefully.

No hesitation this time. She laid everything out with steady fingers—the bangles, the earrings, the jade hairpin, even the red string with the gold beads.

The clerk said nothing for a moment, just stared.

"Sentimental set."

She nodded once. "That's why I'm selling it."

He appraised the pieces quietly, weighing them in one hand, holding them to the light. His fingers were careful, respectful.

"Three hundred and sixty yuan," he finally said. "I can't go higher."

It was less than she hoped, but more than she expected.

She bowed slightly. "I'll take it."

He wrote the receipt without further talk, counted out the money, and handed her the stack wrapped in thin brown paper. She tucked it inside her coat, clutching it close.

Her steps felt firmer when she left the shop.

Now she had 460 yuan in hand.

By the time Gu Mianmian left the pawnshop, the sun was climbing toward its late-morning peak, bright and brisk against the winter sky. The wind still carried a sharp bite, but the worst of the morning frost had faded.

360 yuan. It was tucked deep in her coat pocket, wrapped in brown paper.

She didn't slow down.

First, she went to the plaza behind North Gate Street, where handymen usually waited between jobs. It didn't take long to find someone — an older man with a warm jacket, oil-stained hands, and a missing tooth. He quoted her thirty yuan to fix the rusted sink pipes, replace a cracked tile near the stove, and check the gas line.

She nodded and paid the deposit on the spot.

Then she headed for the morning market.

Stalls were still open, loud and clattering with shouts and the sharp scent of vinegar and steam.

Mianmian moved quickly, bargaining when she could, choosing essentials with care: two cooking pots, a stack of cheap bowls, spoons, a cutting board, oil, spices, two kettles, one for her apartment upstairs, and three large ladles.

She even picked up four plastic stools and a second-hand steel wok from a cart parked beside the tofu stall.

By noon, her arms were full again.

She flagged down a delivery boy and two scrappy neighborhood kids, maybe twelve or thirteen, ran up from a nearby corner.

One had a runny nose and the other carried a crate like it was a badge of honor.

"You opening a shop?" the braver one asked.

Mianmian nodded. "You want to help me carry some of this?"

"For a price?"

She grinned faintly. "For food. On my opening day."

The two kids looked at each other, then nodded fast.

"Deal!"

They took to the task with the gusto only hungry children could muster. One balanced the ladles like swords across his shoulders, and the other stacked the bowls into a teetering tower in his arms. Mianmian carried the lighter bags, letting the boys handle the bulk. She would never admit it aloud, but her back and shoulders were already beginning to protest from days of nonstop labor.

By the time they reached her shop, the handyman was already crouched under the kitchen sink, tools scattered beside him like a surgeon at work. He gave her a nod as she passed, and Mianmian felt something shift inside her — a strange, unfamiliar feeling. Something like... hope.

She unlocked the front door. The familiar creak echoed into the empty shop.

"Set everything by the counter," she said, holding it open for the boys. "Careful with the oil."

They obeyed, stacking bowls and kettles and chopping boards like tiny merchants preparing a feast.

"You're really opening a restaurant?" the younger one asked again.

"I am," Mianmian replied as she wiped the counter with a rag. "And I'll need brave boys like you to taste the first batch. You still eat spicy food?"

"Of course!" he puffed his chest. "I ate spicy noodles without crying!"

The other elbowed him. "You cried after three bites."

"Did not!"

They bickered the whole way down the stairs, the sound oddly comforting. Mianmian smiled to herself as she watched them from the doorway.

Once they left, she got to work immediately.

She scrubbed the windows until her arms burned, peeled off the old paper menu still pasted on the back wall, and tossed the rusted signage into the trash pile near the alley gate.

The walls would need repainting, but that could wait a day or two. The stove worked, at least after the handyman cleaned out the burner jets.

By the time she returned to her apartment upstairs, her entire body ached, from the soles of her feet to the backs of her hands.

She dropped the now-empty baskets near the cabinet and sat heavily in the armchair, staring at the bare corner meant to be her bedroom.

The old mattress had been tossed earlier. It reeked of mildew, too far gone to salvage. She had already paid for a new bed and bed frame, which was getting delivered.

Tomorrow she would finish the painting and buy ingredients. That was another round of money leaving.

She had already spent up to a 700+ yuan in total and she could see her expense getting even higher.

She had left her food cart back in the gu family house, she would make some time to go and retrieve it.

Her mind went back to the wedding day, she wondered how they settled it.

Yuying definitely married Feibai in the end but whether the Lin family would respect her as much..she doubted that.

Tomorrow, she would finish the repairs and needful and then get her flyers and ingredients.

For now, she stood up and walked back down to the restaurant.

Just in time to see the delivery boys with her bed, she smiled and rushed to them.

"Thank you.."

The boys nodded "Where should we.."

"Upstairs.."

Mianmian smiled she could finally get some well deserved sleep. The handyman stopped her at the second step.

"Im done with the repairs little miss, if anything isn't to your liking I'll be back to take care of it. Good luck.."

She bowed slightly "Thank you.."

He nodded and left with his tools, Mianmian happily turned and headed up the stairs.

The boys were already fixing the frame when she got in.

And her bedsheets had been placed on the chair, she had gotten a new one which costed her a little over 6 yuan but it was worth it.

"All done miss.."

Mianmian smiled and thanked them "Thank you and don't forget to come to my opening day, flyers will be out tomorrow so don't forget tell all your friends and family.."