Chapter 17: Everything waiting to be done
For Su Can's family, the busy days began. Even Su Can pitched in on weekends. With a basin full of clean water set outside the entrance, he helped wash the glass shelves, take stock, and rearrange the displays, trying to make the whole shop look presentable and tidy. Although it was too late at this stage to redo the decor, they could at least give the place a fresh, clean feel.
Although they had become one of the four businesses designated as suppliers for municipal procurement, they were the smallest and weakest of the bunch by any measure.
Their shop also became a regular stop on his eldest uncle Zeng Qu anming and aunt Yin Shuying's after-dinner walks. Zeng Qu anming probably had never expected Su Licheng and Zeng Ke's performance at the bidding meeting to astonish him, much less that they would actually secure a place among the city's designated suppliers.
Almost unconsciously, he made the street where Su Can's family shop stood part of their daily route. He chatted with Su Can's parents, with fewer reprimands in his tone, and asked about Su Can's studies and school life. His expectations of Su Licheng and Zeng Ke were no longer limited to saving for Su Can's university tuition. Instead, he took a longer view, raising the question of buying him a home and finding him a wife in the future.
Su Can could not help grinning at that. It seemed that parents and elders always had another goal or stage of life to worry about.
Zeng Na, who was looking at the goods beside the shelves, noticed Su Can's expression. Since everyone happened to be on the subject, his mother Zeng Ke teasingly asked his older cousin, who now attended City First