Here’s the text with “—” replaced by commas:
When Wen Kai looked up, Wen Ying’s moment on screen had already passed.
“Grandma, who did you see?”
Grandma Wen wasn’t sure, “It looked like your sister, Wen Ying.”
Zhu Meiqun brought out the last dish from the kitchen, “How would Wen Ying be on TV?”
Grandma Wen wondered the same thing, how could Wen Ying be on television?
The promo was still playing. Wen Kai watched for a bit and couldn’t help but laugh, “Wen Ying’s been running a stall in Rongcheng, right? This show’s about the food on Rongcheng’s late-night snack street. Looks like her stall’s area is holding a food festival, this is the promo for it.”
Zhu Meiqun suddenly got it.
“So the TV crew filmed the promo and accidentally caught Wen Ying in the shot? Mom, your eyesight’s incredible!”
Wen Kai didn’t think it looked accidental. The promo spent a lot of time on a stall called “Shrimp King” from the snack street. On screen, a poised, pretty girl confidently gave an interview, saying she’d donate “Shrimp King’s” food festival profits, hoping their small effort could bring warmth to others.
Right then, the screen flashed her school’s name.
It was the high school Wen Ying had gotten into.
School hadn’t even started, and she was already living it up. She’d clearly adapted well to Rongcheng, good thing she hadn’t listened to him and stayed in their small town.
Wen Kai grew even more determined to aim for Beijing.
“Mom, I’ve decided, I’m going to repeat the year.”
Zhu Meiqun let out a surprised “Ah?”
They were just watching TV, how’d they jump to repeating a year?
Wen Kai had made up his mind, and his parents couldn’t sway him. They called in Wen Dongrong, the most educated in the family.
Wen Dongrong chatted with Wen Kai alone for a bit, then came out and nodded to his brother and sister-in-law, “Wen Kai’s got his own ideas. As long as he keeps his head straight, he’s unlikely to do worse next year than this one. If he wants to repeat, let him. Otherwise, even if he goes to another college this year, he’ll always feel regret. If money’s tight, I’ll cover a year.”
Uncle Wen shook his head, “It’s not about money, we just don’t want him to suffer. But if he’s set on repeating, fine, let him.”
Repeating didn’t cost much, just another year of living expenses. With Wen Kai’s scores above the first-tier cutoff, any school would welcome him; he wouldn’t drag down their admission rates.
Wen Dongrong had recently dealt with Shu Guobing, a freeloader with a bad attitude. Compared to that, his brother and sister-in-law didn’t want to take advantage of him, so he cared even more about Wen Kai’s repeat year. Wen Kai had scored over thirty points above the cutoff in their small town, put him in a better school, and his odds of getting into his dream university next year would soar.
Wen Dongrong’s first thought was the provincial key school.
But it wasn’t settled yet, so he kept quiet. Grandma Wen had upset her second son by doing nothing a couple days ago, and today she tried to make up for it, saying she’d just seen Wen Ying on TV.
“She was on TV?”
Wen Dongrong usually watched news and current affairs, not food shows, so he was genuinely shocked to hear Wen Ying had made it on air.
Grandma Wen couldn’t explain it well, but Wen Kai clarified, “It’s Xiaoying’s snack stall, city TV interviewed them and shot a bunch of promo footage. Second Uncle, I think Xiaoying’s little venture is shaping up nicely.”
When others praised Wen Ying, Wen Dongrong would usually downplay it.
The next day, when the promo aired again, he watched with Chen Ru and felt a pang of regret.
If only Wen Ying had been the one interviewed.
“She’d at least snag a city-level ‘Three Goods’ award.”
Regret aside, he didn’t push it. He figured Wen Ying, hanging with rich kids, was more like their sidekick. Qin Jiao getting on TV must’ve been her family pulling strings.
His connections worked in their small town, but in the provincial capital, they meant little.
Chen Ru wasn’t convinced, “You’re saying she’s selling shrimp and can actually earn enough for tutoring and tuition?”
Wen Dongrong nodded, “With TV promo, she’ll definitely make over ten thousand yuan. But it’s not her business alone, she won’t get the lion’s share.”
No helping it.
If Wen Ying went solo, she wouldn’t have TV-worthy resources.
Teaming up with rich kids got her the exposure, but profits had to be split.
Chen Ru wasn’t sure if she felt more relieved or disappointed.
Relieved that Wen Ying wouldn’t earn too much, fail her bet, and have to listen again. Disappointed that, in the provincial capital, their family’s edge was gone, other parents outshone them, offering what she and Wen Dongrong couldn’t.
,That’s exactly why Wen Ying had to work harder than others!
Wen Dongrong no longer cared how much she earned from the stall. Connections mattered more than the cash, he hoped she’d manage them well.
On the third day of the promo, the food festival kicked off. After all the buildup, Rongcheng’s snack street was packed, every shop and stall buzzing. “Shrimp King” sold over five hundred pounds of braised shrimp in one night. Without Wen Ying recruiting unpaid “temps,” Wang Shuang alone couldn’t have kept up washing shrimp.
Wang Shuang tallied the day’s earnings. Street stalls had high margins, if business stayed this hot, they’d net over 4,000 yuan a day, 120,000 a month, over a million a year, enough to buy two upscale condos outright!
Such a low-key gig could rake in that much?
Wang Jun was floored by his naive son.
“What street stall makes over a million a year? If that were true, everyone’d quit their jobs to set up stalls! You’re pulling this off because you’re the only ones in Rongcheng crazy enough to get on TV!”
Success meant picking the right field and partners.
Most stall owners would grin in their sleep over a thousand yuan a day.
Ten thousand a month, and they’d be over the moon.
Even the ambitious ones grew from temp stalls to shops, then branched out, advertising later. Who starts with a stall, skips the shop phase, and jumps straight to promotion?
Wen Ying flipped the playbook, promote the shrimp first, pioneer Rongcheng’s untapped market, get people hooked, then plan a shop.
Wang Jun had no doubt her ambition went beyond one store, branches were inevitable.
But he warned his son, “You worked hard to make shrimp a thing. It used to be ditch trash no one cared about. Now others see it’s profitable, competitors are coming.”
Let them come.
Wang Shuang rolled up his sleeves, telling his dad, “You’re not the only phone seller on Taisheng South Road, right? Your phone mart still stands tall there. Our ‘Shrimp King’ will stay the industry boss.”
Wen Ying said it: no fear of competition or copycats. As long as customers knew “Shrimp King,” it’d always be the cash cow.
Share the broth after taking the meat, fair enough!
,Hoard it all, and jealous eyes turn red, ready to tear their share away.
