Whitaker Scarlett had also dealt with leaders before; someone like Parker Jace’s father could really be considered a minor official.
A minor official is relative to the status of the previous generation, and for the current Whitaker Scarlett, it is indeed quite difficult to handle. The relatives of the Parker family are distributed across various units and departments; isn’t it easy to make things difficult for an individual?
The situation is quite troublesome, but she does not regret having a meal with Parker Jace’s mother.
They have bullied her to this extent; shouldn’t she fight back?
If the Parker family really holds a grudge against her because of this, Whitaker Scarlett will have to face it head-on, as business cannot always be smooth sailing. Whitaker Scarlett considers the Parker family as a trial on her path to success… It is true that she needs to change the location of her stall; staying in the same place makes it easy for trouble to find her.
Whitaker Scarlett originally did not want to open a fixed store so soon, but with the Parker family as a potential threat, she really needs to end her guerrilla warfare early.
Opening a store requires procedures; with a business license, it will take some effort for others to find trouble. Of course, it is also possible that it will be easier for them to cause her trouble; a fixed store cannot just be closed down at will. The monk can run, but the temple cannot.
Compared to the troubles of opening a store, the dangers of setting up a stall are greater.
At this time, there are no “urban management” officials to scare small vendors, so who is responsible for city management? City appearance, industry and commerce, sanitation, traffic… even public security and the municipal government can manage, each enforcing their own laws, making small vendors comply obediently.
Whitaker Scarlett is also relieved that she did not open a snack shop.
Selling food seems to require the least technical skill, but in reality, there are many more aspects to consider. Can you make money just by having skills? What if customers get food poisoning? What if thugs come to extort and cause trouble? Selling clothes does not require too good hygiene conditions, but anyone can make a fuss about a snack shop; not to mention industry and commerce inspections, even the health bureau can make you kneel obediently.
Looking at it this way, Rosalie’s family being able to open two thriving shops at the entrance of Greenfield County East High School is quite impressive. Whitaker Scarlett guesses that Maria’s Snack Shop” must have someone backing it. If a rural person without connections comes to the city to do business, seeing you make a lot of money, how can they not be envious? It is common for thugs to extort and blackmail; they might even directly take over the business.
Whitaker Scarlett is not completely in the dark; there is indeed someone behind “Maria’s Snack Shop,” and that person is Principal Ben of Greenfield County County East High School.
Principal Ben is not looking after the snack shop for money or profit; he simply likes good students like Rosalie.
Those who can get into university are all good students, and even in poverty, they do not forget to study. How could Principal Ben not like someone like Rosalie?
He helped Maria secure the prime shop at the entrance of the school after witnessing two thugs overturning Maria’s stall, spilling soup everywhere. Maria was crying on the ground, saying things like her mother was useless, while Rosalie, who had just received a scholarship from Principal Ben, squatted down to help her rural mother’s mom pick up bowls, saying she would stop studying, and the mother and daughter cried together.
How could it be otherwise? With Rosalie’s grades, the hope of getting into university is so great!
Principal Ben scolded the two thugs away and asked Rosalie if there was anything he could help with.
Rosalie was particularly sensible and did not make any demands, but she did not say she would stop studying again. Principal Ben encountered Maria a few more times afterward; it is particularly difficult for a woman to support her daughter alone with a snack stall.
At that time, Rosalie was still in her first year of high school. In the 1980s, there were not many vendors in the county town, and money was tight; the business of the snack stall was not good either. Principal Ben was quite angry at that time; didn’t the Whitaker family have anyone else?
Later, after understanding the situation from the side, he learned that the entire Whitaker family did not support Rosalie, a girl, in continuing her studies.
“Can’t a girl go to university?”
Principal Ben said this when he got home, and he kept in mind the difficulties of this diligent and simple student. By last year, when Rosalie was in her third year of high school, her mock exam scores fluctuated. To help Rosalie focus on her studies, Principal Ben finally stepped in to help—there were two shops diagonally across from County East High School, and Principal Ben believed Maria could turn her snack stall into a store.
If it weren’t for Rosalie’s focus on her studies, Principal Ben wouldn’t have bothered with this matter.
However, the timing for Maria to open a store was clearly ripe, and Principal Ben’s help was effective. After two years of hard work, Maria not only honed her skills in making snacks but also saved up some capital to open a store.
“Maria’s Snack Shop” is doing very well; Rosalie does not worry about her livelihood, and her academic performance is stable.
This year, she even successfully got into Capital Normal University as a genuine undergraduate student, making Principal Ben feel that his help was not in vain. The principal of a key middle school in the county is not considered much in the officialdom, but the leaders of the county education bureau may not be as popular as Principal Ben. Not to mention Principal Ben’s former students nowadays, whose families do not have children who want to go to university?
If sons and daughters do not take the exam, there are also nephews and nieces. “Maria’s Snack Shop” was personally endorsed by Principal Ben, and after it opened, no one came to cause trouble. Principal Ben did this without expecting anything in return; he was simply helping a good student from a poor family.
