Sun Dong is here again.

Liu Xiangchun didn't say no either. They had already agreed yesterday that "sisters are sisters, and personal favors are personal favors."

After seeing his younger sister off, Liu Xiangchun turned around and saw Chen Xiu staring blankly at the intersection. "What are you looking at? Go back inside and cook. Is it still noodles for breakfast this morning?"

Chen Xiu did not answer, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

Shortly after Liu Xiangmei left, Wang Yao was woken up by Sun Min, who said, "School is about to start, so we'd better read some books before school starts. Otherwise, it will take a while to get back into the swing of things after school starts."

Wang Yao felt that Sun Min's words made a lot of sense. Most importantly, she was no longer a student who had just graduated from junior high school, but someone who had been struggling in society for more than ten years. She had long forgotten what she had learned in her previous life.

She doesn't even know many basic junior high school concepts right now, so it's really necessary for her to brush up on them before the start of the new semester!

So when Liu Xiangmei returned home, she saw Wang Yao and Sun Min sitting side by side at the desk reading, and her elderly mother smiled with satisfaction.

She whispered to her second sister, "It's a good thing we have Xiaomin, otherwise my Yaoyao might have played until school starts."

Liu Xiangqiu took the groceries from her younger sister and told her to go eat breakfast first, then smiled and said, "You're all good kids."

He sighed inwardly. They were both unfortunate children; one had already lost his father, and the other didn't even know if he would have one in the future.

Today, the four of them planned to have Liu Xiangqiu and Liu Xiangmei prepare the dishes first. Around 11 o'clock, Wang Yao directed Liu Xiangmei to cook, while Liu Xiangqiu and Sun Min packed rice.

After Liu Xiangmei finished cooking all the dishes, the four of them packed the food together. Around 11:40, they were able to pack all the boxed meals.

Liu Xiangmei still puts a small quilt in a foam box to keep it warm, then takes fifty boxed meals and rides her tricycle to the Dongling construction site.

Originally, Liu Xiangqiu planned to stay and sell boxed lunches on the first floor with Wang Yao, but Wang Yao and Sun Min both patted their chests and said they could do it and didn't need the adults' help, so she had no choice but to go with Liu Xiangmei instead.

Wang Yao and Sun Min then put the remaining boxed lunches into a styrofoam box and carried it to the entrance on the first floor.

Sun Min handed out boxed lunches, and Wang Yao collected the money. Those who had paid the deposit yesterday took their meals first, and after paying the remaining balance, Wang Yao crossed out the names of the registered people one by one.

Several people who hadn't paid their deposits yesterday also came to join in the fun. Fortunately, Liu Xiangmei made more than a dozen extra portions today, so these people didn't end up coming back empty-handed.

Landlady Sister Xu still sat on a small stool to the side, watching the two children sell boxed lunches in an orderly manner while eating her own boxed lunch.

Today's dishes are different from yesterday's.

Yesterday, when Liu Xiangqiu's family came over for dinner, they brought a large piece of cured pork. Together with the green beans I bought from her family today, I made a stir-fry of green beans and cured pork.

The cured meat from Liu Xiangqiu's family is smoked over firewood, and the smoking process is very thorough, giving it not only a salty and savory flavor but also a smoky taste.

Liu Xiangmei's knife skills are indeed excellent. She cuts each piece of cured pork into even slices. After being put into the pot, the pork curls slightly as it is stir-fried. The fatty parts gradually become translucent, while the lean parts turn a deep red. Then, she stir-fries it with blanched green beans and spices. The bright green beans and the oily cured pork intertwine perfectly, whetting everyone's appetite.

When Sister Xu saw the stir-fried green beans with cured pork, her eyes lit up. She couldn't wait to pick up a piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. It wasn't greasy at all. On the contrary, the smoky and spice flavors suppressed the greasiness of the pork. The fatty meat was oily and the lean meat was dry and fragrant. The green beans, which were soaked in the oil, also showed a completely different aroma.

"Yaoyao, the stir-fried cured pork your mom made today tastes pretty good."

Wang Yao took a moment to reply, "I'm glad you like it."

Actually, her mother had a good grasp of the cooking time, the amount of various seasonings and spices, but Wang Yao tasted it as soon as it came out of the pot and found that her mother's cooking was still a little inferior to hers.

It has nothing to do with the food itself; it's entirely due to differences in the skill level of the chef, but most people can't actually taste the difference.

The landlord ate while praising, "The tiger-skin peppers are really flavorful. How did you make them? They taste almost the same as the ones I used to cook in the earthen stove when I was a kid. I haven't tasted this flavor in many years."

"The scrambled eggs with tomatoes are so tender! The tomatoes are even cooked until they're almost mushy. Oh my, this is absolutely divine when mixed with rice..."

Soon after, Sister Xu's old friends joined in, saying, "That's right, I always feel that this scrambled eggs with tomatoes tastes better than other restaurants."

"You're so happy with just scrambled eggs with tomatoes? You haven't had yesterday's dishes. Yesterday's Kung Pao Chicken was truly amazing."

...

As everyone ate and discussed, Wang Yao's several dozen boxed lunches were quickly emptied and taken upstairs, leaving those who hadn't bought any to watch enviously as Sister Xu and her group smacked their lips.

Wang Yao didn't collect any more deposits today because she felt that collecting deposits would only increase her workload, and some people were still uneasy even after paying deposits.

Although it was only one yuan, she had heard some people complain yesterday that she was just a child and that people who paid her deposits were careless. But since she had already collected deposits from some people, she simply accepted them all.

So today she didn't accept any deposits from anyone, and tomorrow she'll cook the same amount as today.

"What if we make them but can't sell them all?" Liu Xiangmei, who had just returned from selling boxed lunches, felt a little uneasy when she heard Wang Yao's plan.

Wang Yao pondered, "There shouldn't be that many. There are still people who didn't buy any today. If we really can't sell them all, we'll eat them ourselves. If we can't eat them all, we'll send them to my aunt's house to feed the pigs the next day."

Liu Xiangmei shook her head, "The weather is so hot now, won't the food spoil overnight?"

"So, Mom, don't you think our house is missing an appliance?"

"What appliance?" Liu Xiangmei asked.

"Refrigerators, how can we in this business not have refrigerators?"

Liu Xiangmei shook her head even more vigorously, "No, no, you just open your mouth and say you want to buy a refrigerator. Do you know how expensive refrigerators are? They cost several thousand yuan! We can't afford them."

Well, Wang Yao just suddenly thought of a refrigerator, but her family doesn't have the means to buy one yet.

Then keep making money, make lots and lots of money, and buy whatever you want.

“Let’s order a hundred servings now, a hundred servings a day, fifty servings each at home and fifty servings at the construction site,” Wang Yao said.

Liu Xiangmei thought for a moment, "One hundred copies is fine, but I suggest that we keep thirty copies at home for now and seventy copies at the construction site."

She explained why she thought that way: many people in her hometown can actually cook for themselves, but some people just want to try something new, and after one or two meals, they want to change their taste.

But it's different at the construction site. There are three construction sites in Dongling now. I don't know if it was the workers at the construction site she went to these past two days who helped promote it, but today many workers from other construction sites came to ask about it, but she has already sold out.

The demand at the construction site has increased, so she wants to increase the supply.

Her idea was unanimously agreed upon by everyone.

After discussing what would happen tomorrow, they prepared to take a lunch break, but Sun Dong arrived at their door at that moment.

Liu Xiangqiu opened the door and saw Sun Dong covered in sweat. "Why did you come here in the middle of the day again?"

As soon as Sun Dong entered the room, he gulped down a large glass of water, took a breath, and then said, "I sent my mother to my second son's place!"

"Huh? So fast?"

Liu Xiangqiu and Liu Xiangmei exchanged a glance. Just a few days ago, they had been discussing how to first control Sun Dong, then Sun Lao Er, and finally have Sun Lao Er appease Sun Lao Tai. How come Sun Dong did it so easily?

Seeing Sun Dong nod, Liu Xiangqiu asked again, "Would the second son's family be willing? Would your mother be willing to live with the second son's family?"

Sun Dong was about to open his mouth to answer when he saw his sister-in-law listening intently, so he shut his mouth again.

Liu Xiangmei rolled her eyes, stood up and walked towards the bedroom, "Do you think I want to listen to your family's dirty secrets?"

Although she said that, after she went to the bedroom and closed the door, she pressed her ear against the door to eavesdrop, and Wang Yao and Sun Min immediately followed suit.

Now it's just the two of them. Sun Dong took Liu Xiangqiu's hand and said, "I promised to give the second son two hundred yuan every month as living expenses for my mother, and he agreed. As for my mother, I told her that if she doesn't go to live with the second son, I will send her to a nursing home."

The conditions in the nursing homes in Zhou County are not good. There are even rumors that the elderly are beaten after moving in, and that they cannot eat or sleep well. Therefore, no elderly people in Zhou County are willing to go to nursing homes.

Seeing that Liu Xiangqiu remained silent, Sun Dong asked, "Do you think two hundred yuan is too much? If it's any less, I'm afraid the second brother won't agree."

Liu Xiangqiu shook his head. "Not much, but not a small amount either. Why did you suddenly decide to send your mother away?"

Sun Dong thought about how he and his mother had been overwhelmed with work while Liu Xiangqiu was away, and his head started to ache. But he didn't tell Liu Xiangqiu directly.

Instead, she said, "For so many years, haven't I always listened to you? I've always been on your side."

Liu Xiangqiu felt a lump in her throat; all her efforts over the years had finally paid off.

Sun Dong wiped away Liu Xiangqiu's tears. "Alright, let's live a good life together as a family from now on. Come home with me. By the way, where's Xiaomin?"

Liu Xiangqiu felt happy at the thought that there would be no more annoying people in the house, and immediately got up and walked towards the bedroom.

Hearing footsteps, the people in the bedroom quickly retreated.

Liu Xiangqiu opened the door. "Xiaomin, your dad is here."

Sun Min saw Liu Xiangqiu's reddened eyes. Unlike Liu Xiangqiu, she was not easy to coax. Without even thinking, she knew that her father couldn't bear it all by himself and was only making this choice out of desperation.

But she still smiled and asked, "Did my dad come to pick us up and take us home?"

"Yeah, come out quickly!"

Liu Xiangmei saw the family of three sitting together, radiating happiness, but she still couldn't help but warn Sun Dong.

“My sister always put up with you and suffered injustices at your house before, and you just pretended not to see it. I didn’t know then, but now I do. I’m telling you, Sun Dong, if you make my sister run out of the house crying again, I’ll never forgive you and I’ll make her divorce you.”