Chapter 120: Side Jobs Are Also Profitable

  The first day of business, the bathhouse was open until after 10pm and there were always people inside. Lunch and dinner were prepared by Zhao Shuyan at home and brought over by Qiu Feng on his bicycle. After closing time, Qiu's father and mother thoroughly cleaned the bathhouse before heading back home.

  Qiu Ye and Qiu Feng have already returned due to their studies.

  At this time, I have also finished learning and am waiting at home to help Aunt Qiu with accounting.

  "Hurry, Ma, put the money bag here and we'll help you count it." Qiu Feng is also one of those who can't wait to see the money, as soon as his mother walked in, he started shouting that he wanted to count the money.

  Qiu's mother didn't hesitate either. She put the cloth bag containing money on the table that the children had set up and then she and Qiu's father hurried off to wash their hands and change their clothes.

  Later, the whole family gathered around the table, Qiu's father and mother took out an account book to calculate the accounts. This was proposed by Qiu Ye, when collecting money, let Qiu's mother take the opportunity to record the number of people on the book, so that in the evening when they returned home, as long as they added up the number of people, they could know how much money they had sold tickets for that day.

  Qiu's mother held a pen and was getting more and more delighted in her heart, with a smile on her face that she couldn't hide.

  Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye were in charge of counting the money. These two people are experienced, first they lay out the banknotes flat, put those with the same face value together, then count them stack by stack, and finally add up the total number.

  Half an hour later, the count was finally finished. The bathhouse made over 430 yuan just from selling bath tickets on its first day. Qiu Ye's ice pops and drinks combined sold for over 590 yuan.

  Qiu's mother started with a smile on her face, but when she saw that her daughter was making more than herself, she couldn't hold it in anymore. The way she looked at her child wasn't right either.

  Qiu Ye noticed Qiu's mother's sharp eyes and quickly explained and comforted her.

  "Mom, you've earned enough for today."

  "Hmph, no matter how much more mom earns, it's still not as much as you earn." Qiu's mother wasn't really angry, she just felt a bit unbalanced in her heart, why did her main job never earn more than her daughter's part-time job?

  "Oh, mom, you can't just look at it this way. What you see is only the surface. My over 500 yuan is not all profit, there are costs inside. This bottle of white pear I sell for 0.6 yuan, but the cost is 0.4 yuan. And the ice sticks, their prices aren't low either. If we subtract the costs and calculate the pure profit, I only made less than 200 yuan today. It's not like your money, where every cent you make is pure profit, just like a business with no investment." Qiu Ye seemed to be complaining to her mom with a hint of grievance.

  "You rotten kid, what nonsense are you spouting? What 'no initial investment' business, how come it sounds so bad coming from your mouth? Besides, I've got a contract fee here, where's the 'no initial investment'?" Qiu Ma scolded, trying to conceal her good mood, but her mouth had already split open.

  Qiu Ye muttered to herself, a contract fee of only 1,000 yuan per year, averaged out to just over 3 yuan per day, was that even considered a profit? But she still secretly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, this money she earned was really hard-earned, and she faced danger at all times.

  "It's just this much money, and you two are still fighting with each other, it's really shameful." Mr. Qiu was also in a great mood, and today's good fortune had blown away the gloom that had been hanging over the house for many days. This job was indeed as lucrative as the girl had said.

  Qiu's mother didn't pay attention to Qiu's father's teasing, and said uncertainly: "Old Qiu, we made over 400 in one day, how much will we make in a month? How much will we make in a year?" As Qiu's mother spoke, she became excited, as if she had already made a lot of money.

  It's not that every day is calculated according to this harvest, a month is 12,000, and a year is 145,000. This is a number that Qiu Ma never thought of.

  "Haha, don't get any ideas, this is just the first day of business. It's been a long time since we've had a place to take a bath around here, so everyone has come today. You think it'll be like this every day? Do you think people can bathe every day?" Mr. Qiu verbally struck down Mrs. Qiu, but it was clear that he too was looking forward to the future profits of the bathhouse.

  Qiu's mother was hit by Qiu's father, but she didn't get angry and still looked forward to a beautiful future.

  It's been like this for several days, Qiu Ma has been stuck in the bathhouse, opening the door at 8 am every morning and returning home at 10 pm. Qiu Ba also rushes to the bathhouse after work, thinking he can help his wife with something. Qiu Feng is responsible for delivering lunch and dinner to his parents every day. Qiu Ye has not been guarding the bathhouse alone these days, with only Qiu Ma there, everything has been taken care of, and she just needs to follow along at night to calculate the accounts, so she knows how much money she can make in a day.

  It's a joy to behold that the bathhouse has been bustling with people these days, with daily earnings of around 400 yuan. This makes Qiu Ma smile from ear to ear every day, and even working twelve hours a day doesn't feel tiring to her. If possible, she'd work twenty-four hours non-stop.

  These days, the bathhouse business has been doing well, but a problem has emerged: Qiu Ba and Qiu Ma almost always find something that someone else has lost or forgotten when they sweep the bathroom at night.

  Sometimes it's a watch that has fallen into the cabinet, sometimes it's various bathing products on the washing table, and once, Dad Qiu picked up a gold necklace while cleaning hair in the bathtub drain. The things he picked up were varied and numerous.

  Qiu's mom and Qiu's dad have the same opinion on how to deal with these things, which is to return them to their original owners. Although they picked up the items, they never had the intention of keeping them for themselves.

  "Whatever we do, we must follow our conscience and put ourselves in others' shoes. If I were to lose something so valuable, I would be in a terrible mood, even during the New Year's celebration. So, we can't keep these things, we have to return them to their owner."

  Qiu's father nodded vigorously on the side after listening to his daughter-in-law's words, showing his support.

  Qiu Ye blocked their way.

  "Dad, Mom, these things still need to be returned. Our family doesn't lack these things, but have you thought about how to find the owner?" Qiu Ye asked. She dared to confirm that her parents hadn't thought of this problem.

  "What's the big deal, just put all these things by the glass window at the entrance and whoever lost something will recognize it when they see their own stuff?" said Qiu Ma nonchalantly.

  "Mom, how do you know that the person who comes to claim it is really the one who lost it? What if someone sees an opportunity and isn't the real owner, but takes the thing away, and then the actual owner comes looking for their lost item? Do you tell the real owner that their stuff has already been taken by someone else?" Qiu Ye thought these things should be considered ahead of time. If not handled properly, not only would good people not be rewarded, but they'd also get into trouble, which wouldn't be worth it.

  "It can't be, who would do such a thing?" Qiu's mother had high ideological awareness and thought that others were like her, so something like what the girl said shouldn't happen.

  "That's not necessarily true, let alone others, even my third uncle's family can do such a thing." Qiu Ye thought that she understood human nature better than her parents, and since this was a precautionary measure, she cited the most direct example around her.

  Although she really looked down on Third Uncle and Grandma, it's not entirely unfair to say so. Just a few days ago, the two families had a huge falling out that could be described as a complete breakdown in relations. Yet, before even a month has passed, they seem to have already forgotten about what happened that day. On the first day the hot springs resort opened, the whole family (except for Qiu Jiaqing who was nowhere to be found) came again to take advantage of the situation.

  Qiu's mother didn't even bother to look at these relatives, directly ignoring them. Qiu Ye was somewhat fed up with these thick-skinned elders, but Qiu's mother turned around and advised her that having such relatives is always a hassle, no matter what you do. The best approach is to just not take them seriously as people. Of course, when Qiu's mother said this, she still kept it from Qiu's father.

  It's good that these shameless people are not used to taking baths every day. In the first few days, they went to the bathhouse every day and stayed for over an hour each time. Later on, they gradually reduced their frequency to once every few days, and even then, they didn't stay in for long.

  It's also not a duck, being soaked in water for one or two hours every day is definitely unbearable. Taking such a long bath in a public bath requires a good body, as this is an extremely physically demanding activity.

  "Xiao Ye, what are you saying? You can't be impolite." Qiu Dad said to the girl with a tone that wasn't very sincere, he was still there after all, even if it were true, one couldn't just say it out loud.

  Qiu Ye's father stuck out his tongue and knew that he would definitely say something about himself, but it didn't matter as long as mom listened.

  Qiu's mother glared at Qiu's father, her own daughter hadn't said anything wrong, what was he yelling about.

  "What should we do then? Should we keep all these things?" Old Lady Qiu didn't know what to do either.

  "Mom, how about this? We don't have to put things out, just stick a lost and found notice on the wall."

  "If someone lost something so important, they would definitely look everywhere for it. When they see this paper, they will ask us questions. We won't take out the thing first, but ask them what they lost, what are its characteristics, when did they lose it. If it matches with what we found and the time is also right, then it's probably the owner. Then you return the thing to them, how about that? This way, basically no one can pretend to be the owner." Qiu Ye was giving advice to Qiu Ma.

  "What if no one comes to claim it?" asked Mrs. Qiu again.

  "We'll keep the stuff for the owner for three months, and if no one comes to claim it, then it's ownerless, which means it's ours, hehe!" Qiu Ye wasn't entirely unmoved by those glittering things that had been abandoned either - what woman wouldn't love such things?!

  "行, my daughter thinks this method is feasible. If no one comes to claim it, then it's really ours, it belongs to my daughter." Qiu Ma wasn't completely indifferent either, she had been educated since childhood to pick up gold without hiding it, and now this method just happened to take care of all situations.

  Qiu's father didn't have any objections to the decisions made by these two girls. As long as things are done as they said, it's fine. Our family is doing a good deed, not seeking credit, but also doesn't want to cause trouble for ourselves, so let's just do it this way!