"Uncle, don't worry, I have it all figured out. We're family, and we should support each other. If I have the means, I certainly won't stand by and watch your younger brother's family struggle," Chen Yang assured him.
His uncle also wanted to help his younger brother, but his own resources were limited. He would never be stingy with food when offering support.
However, this wouldn't change the fundamental situation in his younger brother's household.
Without a solution to Qin Kaiyun and her daughter's livelihood, Qin Youtian's wife carried a burden. After all, it wasn't reasonable for a married-out sister to rely on her maiden family for sustenance.
Others might call her heartless, but what could she do? Their entire family was barely scraping by. They weren't a wealthy family that could support a sister and her daughter indefinitely.
"Alright, you go to your uncle's first. I'll go to the fields and inform Yousheng and Yushui about your arrival, telling them to finish work early today."
"You'll have dinner with us tonight. We'll have a few drinks. Let Yousheng prepare a room later, and you can head back tomorrow morning."
Qin Lide gestured to Chen Yang. The last time Chen Yang visited for New Year's on the eighth day, he hadn't had a proper drink with his uncle due to Qin Youtian's affairs. This made his uncle feel he hadn't hosted his nephew well.
"Uncle, I have something to do tomorrow, so I won't be staying for dinner today. I need to head back shortly."
"After I finish up with this matter, I'll visit again. In a few days, I'll take Yousheng and Yushui to meet a leader. Whether our business venture succeeds or not depends on that person."
Chen Yang's idea was straightforward. Tomorrow, he would discuss the details of the first store with the leaders in Jianye. If they were to open more stores later, Xuanwu District would be unavoidable.
Many schools in Jinling were located in Xuanwu District. He planned to have each of his cousins manage a stall near a school, selling breakfast items. It would definitely be profitable.
There was no need for anything too complicated. Selling some boiled eggs, a bowl of clear noodle soup, or making some jianbing would suffice.
In this era of material scarcity, when people struggled to get enough to eat, it was easy to imagine the irresistible appeal of these street snacks, which would later become popular nationwide, especially to students who were inherently greedy and loved to play.
No matter the time, the money from children and students was always the easiest to earn.
Parents might be reluctant to spend on themselves, but they would definitely be willing to buy good food and new clothes for their children.
Of course, if the business were to truly take off, the issue of raw materials would need to be addressed. The eggs from their own chickens wouldn't be enough.
However, many families in the village raised chickens secretly now, just like his aunt, who secretly kept two hens for laying eggs.
In the fields and by the roadsides, there were plenty of things to feed chickens, such as wild vegetables, earthworms, grasshoppers, and toads. The children in the villages knew how to catch insects to feed the chickens.
These hens' eggs were money!
If the business really took off, his cousins could completely purchase eggs from villagers who raised chickens. This way, they wouldn't need egg coupons and could also help the villagers monetize their eggs promptly, saving them the trouble of selling them secretly in the city.
As for the flour for making jianbing, they would have to find ticket scalpers for flour coupons. However, the greens used in jianbing could be grown themselves or purchased from villagers who had private plots.
It would be unrealistic to add fried eggs, bean sprouts, ham sausage, shredded carrots, and various sauces to the jianbing like in later generations. However, Chen Yang believed that a simplified version was feasible.
Fried eggs were possible. Ham sausage was not only difficult to obtain for business but also unaffordable for most people, so it was out of consideration.
However, Chen Yang thought they could use pork cracklings as a substitute. Not too much was needed; a tiny bit in a jianbing would make it incredibly fragrant. If they could sprinkle some thirteen-spice powder, it would be even more enticing.
In this era, a jianbing set like this would definitely attract many students.
Not everyone could afford it, but even if they saved their pocket money for a week or even a month to eat it once, there would still be business.
After all, with so many students in a school, they could rotate their stalls. His cousins could use small pushcarts.
The jianbing could be made like in later generations, with different prices based on added ingredients, such as an extra price for adding an egg, another for adding pork cracklings, and a combined price for both.
After all, even without the reform and opening up, the living conditions of each family varied.
The wages of workers in state-owned factories were not all the same. Those with more money could add more ingredients, while those with limited means could still have a taste.
Chen Yang only had a preliminary idea. The specific implementation would depend on the practical experience of his cousins. Running a catering business involved constantly experimenting and discovering the dishes that customers liked the most.
As time went on, these breakfast stalls might even evolve into breakfast shops, or even small restaurants, and eventually, chain restaurants.
It might be a bit more challenging initially compared to working directly for him as a distributor.
But this was the wild era of reform and opening up. If they truly got into business, their future achievements and development would definitely be better than being a distributor for him.
Moreover, if they succeeded, it would be their own business.
While they were relatives, even if you helped them earn a lot of money, if they always followed behind you, no matter how much they earned, it would never be as substantial as having their own small business.
Regardless of how much they earned or how well they did, ultimately, they would be the ones in charge.
Of course, this was Chen Yang's own thinking. He would help his cousins no matter what choice they made in the end.
Isn't life about this? When you become prosperous, it's natural to lend a hand to your family members.
Of course, this helping hand would be offered without compromising his own earning potential.
As he was contemplating how to guide his cousins in setting up these breakfast stalls, he arrived at his uncle's house.
Before even entering, he could smell a strong scent of traditional Chinese medicine.
Chen Yang saw Qin Kaiyun with a little one, squatting on the ground, adding firewood to the stove. She occasionally fanned the stove with a tattered straw fan.
The firewood was kept outside and had become damp from the snow. It produced a lot of smoke when put in the stove. Without fanning, the fire wouldn't catch.
"Sister Kaiyun, how is Youtian? I came to see him."
Chen Yang walked over and ruffled the little girl's head. The girl was a bit shy, perhaps because her gambling-addicted father often brought people home, scaring her. Seeing Chen Yang, she quickly hid behind her mother.
"Silly girl, this is your cousin uncle. What are you afraid of?"
"Yangzi, Youtian is still lying in bed. His bones are broken. The doctor said it takes a hundred days for broken bones and tendons to heal. He probably won't be able to get out of bed for several months."
Qin Kaiyun seemed numb. She didn't know what to do.
Her gambling-addicted husband was sentenced to three years of labor reform, their home was gone, and her brother was injured. She and her daughter felt like a burden. She didn't even have the courage to face her own family members.