Chapter 34: Troublemakers in the 1980s 4: Sister-in-law’s Breakfast Shop

Xiang Ying was also very happy when he heard that the two did not plan to divorce.

"Today I discussed with your eldest brother whether to let your third brother move to my house so that it would be easier to take care of him. I was afraid he wouldn't agree. It's really great that you're willing to stay. To be honest, I have a daughter myself, Lanlan, who is the same age as Shiwei. If you really get divorced, Shian will be fine because she has grandma to take care of her, but Shiwei will be pitiful..."

These words touched Shen Qian's heart. She knew that both the two children and Zhou Shengmo had been supported by her eldest brother and his family during this period. She quickly said, "Thank you for your help, sister-in-law. I'll go to your shop tomorrow to help you check it out."

As the two were chatting, Zhou Shengwu came out of the room carrying his younger brother on his back. They both glanced over at the sight of him. Shen Qian saw that the eldest brother had turned around and went to the bathroom with Zhou Shengmo on his back. Then she whispered, "Sister-in-law, does Zhou Shengmo have to be carried to the bathroom by the eldest brother during this period?"

Xiang Ying looked reluctant, but he continued, "Hey, sister-in-law, this matter... We originally put a litter box under his bed so he could do it in bed, and it wouldn't be a problem for us to clean up for him more often. But he refused to do it, saying he didn't want to. He just forced himself to hold it in. He usually wouldn't even drink a sip of water, and his appetite was no more than a cat's, for fear of bothering others..."

As Xiang Ying spoke, his nose felt sore and he couldn't continue.

She paused before continuing, "Sister-in-law, you may need to persuade me more. I live close to your eldest brother, so I can ask him to make a few more trips. You can't keep going like this. How can your third brother handle this?"

Only then did Shen Qian understand how Zhou Shengmo had made himself so thin.

I don't want to trouble others to help me go to the toilet, but I don't accept pooping in the potty, so I can only endure it.

In the original book, he tortured himself to the point where he only had ten years left to live.

Shen Qian thought, since she had decided not to divorce Zhou Shengmo, this matter naturally had to be resolved.

"Well, I'll find a chance to talk to him, but I may have to trouble you during this period. As you know, I don't spend much time with him, and I'm afraid he won't be able to accept me taking over for a while."

"We know that it's a blessing for us that you can stay. We'll come as usual and send the two children back to your parents-in-law's home." Xiang Ying patted the back of Shen Qian's hand to comfort her and told her not to worry.

Zhou Shiwei had been listening quietly until this moment when she quickly interrupted: "Auntie, Mom told me to go home and live!"

Xiang Ying was stunned. At this time, Zhou Siyuan also came out with Zhou Shian and heard what he said. Zhou Siyuan asked her nephew, "Your sister is coming back to live with us. What about you?"

Zhou Shian hid behind his aunt and shouted, "I don't want it, I want to go back to my grandma's house!"

Shi Wei saw her brother was going back, and she was afraid that he would take her away with him. She sobbed anxiously, "I want to stay, I want to stay, Mom, I want to be at home with you!"

Both children started crying. Shen Qian knew that Zhou Shian was probably spoiled by his grandmother and would not be able to accept living with them for a while, but he could not force him.

She could only look at Xiang Ying and Zhou Siyuan apologetically: "Shi An can't accept it, so please send him back."

Zhou Siyuan breathed a sigh of relief: "My mother probably can't bear to part with this eldest grandson. Let's do this for now. Shi Wei will stay with you, and Shi An will stay with grandma. His grandma will pick him up and drop him off at kindergarten. You don't have to worry. Just go see him when you have time."

"Okay."

So the matter was settled. Zhou Shian was taken back to his grandmother's house by his aunt, and Zhou Shiwei stayed to live with Chen Qian and the others.

Chen Qian had never taken care of such a young child before, but with the memories of her original body and Zhou Shiwei being very well behaved, it wasn't difficult to take care of her.

After giving her a bath and drying her hair, Shen Qian carried her to the bed in the small bedroom and read her a few fairy tales, and she fell asleep.

Even when she fell asleep, her little hands were still clutching the hem of Shen Qian's clothes, as if she was still worried that her mother would be gone when she woke up.

Shen Qian coaxed her daughter and then went to the bedroom to find Zhou Shengmo.

Zhou Shengmo looked a little uncomfortable when he saw her. Shen Qian said, "The bed next door is too small. Weiwei has already fallen asleep. I'll come over and sleep."

Zhou Shengmo said "Oh" but did not express any objection.

The bedroom next door was rather cramped, with two children's beds placed in it. Chen Qian had considered just sleeping next to her daughter for one night, but then she thought there was no need to put herself in a difficult position, so she came over to sleep in the big bed. After all, they were a couple, so it shouldn't be too awkward.

"Do you brush your teeth?"

"No need, I already washed it after dinner."

"Would you like some water?"

“No need.”

"Do you want to go to the bathroom?"

Zhou Shengmo stayed in the quilt for a while, then said, "I don't want to."

"I can help you..."

"Need not."

Shen Qian was too lazy to persuade him. She knew that solving Zhou Shengmo's problem was not a matter of simply taking over the responsibility of care. She already had some ideas, but the details still needed to be confirmed by someone.

"Then I'll go to sleep. Call me if you need anything." Shen Qian had already changed into pajamas. Seeing that Zhou Shengmo had no objection, she lifted the quilt and lay down on the bed.

Sleepiness quickly came over her, and she closed her eyes. In a daze, she heard Zhou Shengmo say, "Tomorrow you go see your sister-in-law. They will take you to choose welfare housing. Just pick the one you like. I have no objection. I have already told them everything."

Chen Qian just said "hmm" and fell into a deep sleep.

Zhou Shengmo listened to the even breathing of the person next to him, but he couldn't fall asleep at all.

After being injured for such a long time, except for the initial period, he has become accustomed to being alone.

His family knew that he liked to be alone and did not disturb him. But now that there was another person around him, his wife, he felt very strange. He was not even used to sleeping in the same bed with her.

Zhou Shengmo couldn't help but look back, she seemed to be sleeping soundly.

How long can she tolerate him? Zhou Shengmo couldn't help but wonder in his heart.

A week, a month, or... a year?

Thinking of a year, he couldn't help but sigh. He was afraid that he couldn't endure it that long, so what about three months?

Although Zhou Shengmo was used to being alone, the person lying next to him was his wife, with whom he had two children. He felt that this person was both familiar and unfamiliar. The saying "sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams" probably refers to a tragic couple like them.

A sigh was heard in the darkness.

…

When Chen Qian woke up the next morning, Zhou Shengmo was still sleeping. She woke up her daughter first. Zhou Shiwei woke up and started crying again, saying that she dreamed that her mother left again. She had to coax her daughter into silence.

After he and his daughter had washed up, his elder brother and sister-in-law also arrived.

Xiang Ying stuffed three buns into Shen Qian's arms: "Try this, these are the meat buns sold in my shop."

Shen Qian took two bites and said nothing.

My daughter Shi Wei ate with relish: "Auntie's buns are really delicious."

Xiang Ying smiled and rubbed her head: "Weiwei is so sweet."

Then he said to Shen Qian: "This child is really not picky about food. She says everything I cook is delicious. It would be great if our Lanlan was like her. She can't get used to the food I cook."

Shen Qian noticed that although his daughter said that she liked the buns made by the aunt, she only took a big bite at the beginning, and then took small bites. After she finally finished one bun, she would not eat the second one.

When Chen Qian was about to take the first bite, he knew that this skill was fine to make at home, but he probably wouldn't do well if he opened a store.

"The buns are okay, but there's room for improvement." Shen Qian gave a very pertinent evaluation.

Xiang Ying blushed slightly. "It's great that my sister-in-law is willing to tell the truth. Actually, I know my cooking skills are average, but I just can't think of a way. Why don't you come with me to the store later? I'll ask your eldest brother to take the child to kindergarten. He has to take Lanlan there anyway. After we go to my store, I'll accompany you to choose a welfare house."

"good."

She may not be able to help with other things, but she can really help with cooking.

After the two of them agreed, Shen Qian entrusted his daughter to his eldest brother and followed his eldest sister-in-law to the small restaurant she opened.

The sunlight shines through the gaps between the mottled leaves and onto the newly paved asphalt road. After coming out of the family building and crossing two streets, I arrived at the door of the small restaurant opened by Xiang Ying.

Shen Qian didn't enter the store, but observed the surroundings first.

The small restaurant is located at the corner of the street. The store is not big. There are several restaurants nearby, which are larger than this one.

This street doesn't have a strong commercial atmosphere, but there are quite a few people passing by.

"There's a machinery factory nearby, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Just around the corner from the next street is the main entrance to the machinery factory. Your eldest brother works there."

Shen Qian nodded. The machinery factory is a state-owned military enterprise with a large scale, and the treatment in the factory is not bad.

"We currently run three meals a day. In the morning, we sell steamed buns, steamed buns, flower rolls, and rice porridge. At noon, we sell fast food. In the evening, we sell Chinese food. My mother has come to help, but business is so bad that she has no time to run the store."

Shen Qian carefully checked the dough that was still rising in the store, as well as the stuffing that had been mixed and ready to use, and then went to the kitchen to check the various ingredients that had been purchased for use.

While washing his hands, Shen Qian said, "Sister-in-law, I'll make you a basket of meat buns. You can try selling them."

Xiang Ying didn't expect Shen Qian to come and start right away, so he quickly said, "Okay, I'll help you."

"No, just stand by and watch. If you can't remember, it's best to write down the key points in a small notebook."

Seeing that Shen Qian was about to mince the meat again, her mother Wang Fangqing quickly stopped her and said, "My daughter, just use the ready-made stuffing. It would be a shame not to use the stuffing I just mixed."

Shen Qian decisively refused: "No, I'll do it again."

She chose a piece of top-quality hind leg meat, which was in a good position and looked fresh, making it perfect for making meat buns.

Aunt Wang gasped in pain and kept complaining, "Isn't this a waste? What if we can't sell it? We can save it for lunch and cook two more dishes in case we have customers."

Xiang Ying was a little embarrassed, but Chen Qian ignored her and skillfully added salt, soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, minced ginger, chopped green onion and other seasonings into the minced meat bowl.

As Chen Qian added the seasonings, he explained, "Salt is used to enhance the base flavor, cooking wine can remove the fishy smell, and sugar can enhance the flavor, but don't put too much, otherwise it will overwhelm the flavor. Minced ginger and chopped green onion can remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma."

As she stirred the minced meat, she said, "When stirring the minced meat, stir it in one direction so that the minced meat can be firm."

Xiang Ying took notes in a small notebook and asked, "But why do we have to add water while stirring?" She learned cooking from her parents at home, and they never taught her this.

Aunt Wang couldn't help but say, "I'm afraid this won't taste good. Who would add water to their buns?"

Shen Qian smiled and said, "You can keep this question for now. You'll know when you try the buns after they're steamed."

The mixed stuffing was placed aside to marinate, and Shen Qian started to knead the dough.