Chapter 65: Still thinking about money?
Ren Baobei gave Shen Yuzhu four red sausages. After getting off the car, she found a secluded spot and bought some other things, especially fresh meat and pork bones, totaling twenty jin (10 kg).
After waiting at the intersection for a while, an oxcart passed by. She paid three cents and added four White Rabbit milk candies, which made the old man driving the cart take a detour and give her a ride.
Every day, oxcarts from various brigades traveled back and forth between the production team and the county town, which could be considered a sideline for the production team to earn money during the off-season.
It was already evening when they arrived at the village. From afar, Shen Yuzhu saw Shen Yuming standing at the crossroads with several children, and she quickly waved.
"sister!"
"Hey, Xiaojie, your aunt is back! Look!"
"Auntie, Auntie..."
"Auntie's back! Auntie's back!"
When they were almost there, Shen Yuzhu had Shen Yuming take the children onto the oxcart and took out two meat buns from her bag and handed them to the old man driving the oxcart.
"Thank you for your hard work, sir. Please have this to tide you over."
"Oh dear, how could I accept this? It's made with wheat flour!"
"Take this. It's so late. It's more than an hour's journey back to the next production team. What if you get hungry? Please eat it as a token of my gratitude for your willingness to take me such a long way."
The young girl was so enthusiastic, and the meat buns were so tempting, that the old man didn't refuse anymore. The aroma smelled just like the ones outside the state-run restaurant, so he ate one in a few bites and hid the other in his pocket, thinking of taking it home for his grandson.
The old man escorted Shen Yuzhu to the entrance of the courtyard and even helped her take her things down and carry them inside.
Shen Yuming thanked the old man profusely before letting him leave. Zhang Jie and her children saw the old man to the door and said that if they met again next time, he would be given free transportation.
Shen Yuzhu placed the things on the table, and Shen Yuming lit the kerosene lamp. After the room was bright, Shen Yuming poured her a cup of hot water.
"Hurry up and drink this to warm yourself up. I've already heated the kang (heated brick bed) for you and filled two kettles with hot water. I'm going to make noodles for dinner; the dough is all ready. Take a rest while I go cook."
"Sister, stop fussing. I bought food on my way from the county town. We can have steamed buns and mutton soup. Oh, I also bought braised pork. Tell the kids to come and eat."
Seeing that she had taken out her lunchboxes one by one, Shen Yuming did not refuse. He called Zhang Jie and the other children back and they began to eat dinner.
"Sister, what a coincidence that you were waiting for me at the village entrance!"
"It's not a coincidence at all. Ever since you left, these children have been waiting at the crossroads every day as soon as it gets dark, afraid that you won't come back. They go every day. It's just a coincidence that the hot water is always ready, as is the kang (heated brick bed), and the dough is always prepared at home. They're just waiting for you to come back!"
Shen Yuzhu took a sip of mutton soup and chuckled. The kinship she had longed for in Lü Jiahao in her previous life was easily obtained in this life by her sister.
"Sis, let me show you something. Here it is, a junior translator's certificate. I got accepted, and I also made a friend. She read two of my short stories, and they passed the review. They will be published in the newspaper later."
"Wow, Yuzhu, you're amazing! I don't recognize this either, but I can tell at a glance it's a good thing. Yuzhu, you're really something."
"Auntie is amazing, Auntie is the best."
Shen Yuzhu pinched Panpan's little face and said with a smile, "That's right, our Panpan will be very capable in the future."
After the meal, Shen Yuzhu took out the things she had brought for Shen Yuming: a cotton-padded coat and shoes for each child, a bunch of red sausage, ten catties of fresh meat, some biscuits and snacks, and a large piece of braised meat.
“These were given to me by my friend. His family has a lot of food coupons. There are plenty of supplies in the provincial capital, and I happened to buy some.”
"Okay, I won't stand on ceremony with you, but you have to eat with me during the New Year holiday. I don't know what you need to do and can't help you, but I can do things like cooking and laundry. Can you come over for meals every day?"
"Sister, I..."
"Don't make excuses, I won't listen. Yuzhu, I have the money you gave me, and Zhang Li's subsidy. We've stocked up on a lot of winter vegetables this year, and we can't eat them all. Just listen to me, okay?"
No wonder she accepted the gift so readily. She thought her older sister had finally figured it out; it turns out she had this in mind.
Shen Yuzhu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but I won't go in the morning, I can't get up."
"Okay, okay, whatever you want. If it's too cold to come over, I'll bring you food. You must be tired from your journey, so I'll boil some water for you to soak your feet and go to bed early!"
"Okay!"
After receiving his sister's reply, Shen Yuming walked back with light steps, as if he had finally found something he could do for his sister, and felt extremely satisfied.
While she was boiling water, Shen Yuzhu chatted with several children and heard many interesting things happening in the village.
"Xiaojie, Panpan, Qianqian, it's almost time to hibernate. Auntie has a task for you. Now that you're in school and know a little bit, you'll have to teach Mommy to read, okay?"
"Okay, I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
"Auntie, I'm determined to teach Mom well."
"Would Mom like to learn?"
Shen Yuzhu rubbed Qianqian's head and said, "Your mother wanted to go to school when she was a child, but she didn't have the opportunity. Now that the family is doing well, if you are willing to teach her, she will definitely be willing to learn."
As the group was chatting, Qiancheng took a few steps closer to Shen Yuzhu, puffed out his chest, and patted it.
"Me, and me too."
"Yes, yes, and our future too. Good child, you're growing now, so you need to eat more and also keep an eye on Mom's studies, okay?"
"Yes, I will definitely complete Aunt's task."
The little guy, I don't know where he learned it from, even saluted Shen Yuzhu.
The next morning, several people who knew that Shen Yuzhu had returned came to see her. Liang Manxiu also brought Wang Yanhong and Zhang Shujuan with her this time. The two of them looked a little flustered as soon as they entered the door.
Shen Yuzhu was initially a little confused, but after listening to what they had to say, her expression changed. Qiao Wangshu, however, was not as calm as her and stood up abruptly.
He pointed at them and started cursing. Wang Yanhong and Zhang Shujuan felt guilty and dared not utter a word in rebuttal.
However, Shen Yuzhu was still quite surprised that these two people didn't cause her trouble like they did in her previous life. She focused her attention on Wang Yanhong, who was a smart person.
In her past life, when she was down on her luck, she didn't hold back when bullying her. In this life, she has been strong from the beginning, so she doesn't dare to act recklessly, especially after learning that she has a soldier fiancé, she chooses to side with her.
"Okay, I understand. If Yu Manman or Qiao Nianyu comes to you again and asks you to do something, just do it. Just let me know when you get back."
Wang Yanhong: "...What about the money? If we take it, do we keep it for ourselves, or do you want a share too?"
Everyone: "..."
Even now, they're still thinking about money!
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