The old hen clucked a few times and then lowered her head to peck at the vegetable leaves.
Besides the chicken coop, there's a small plot of land in the backyard, all lush and green.
There were bok choy, lettuce, sweet lettuce... and a ring of white radishes were planted around it, each one plump and thick, half of it emerging from the soil, the whole garden lush and green.
Xiao Cheng was rarely home, and the original owner of this body had no intention of staying there. She hadn't even been to the backyard, let alone planted vegetables or raised chickens. All of this was the result of Xiao Wei's hard work!
Bai Lu was both admiring and heartbroken. She took the eggs, picked some bok choy, and cleaned them thoroughly.
Place it in a small bamboo sieve to drain the water.
He practiced military boxing in the yard again to get some exercise before leisurely heading out.
"The waves surge and flow, the mighty river never ceases its course, washing away all the affairs of the world..."
The radio in Li Shuixian's shop was playing "Shanghai Bund," and she sang along, but the music was so awful that even the stray dogs on the street were disgusted, baring their teeth and howling a few times before running away.
No one else could ruin a classic hit song like this.
Despite the risk of having her ears polluted by noise, Bai Lu went inside and knocked on the cashier's counter.
Li Shuixian turned around, singing a little tune, her eyes narrowing into slits with laughter: "Lulu's here."
Before scraping the money, he pointed to the new tape recorder and showed it off to Bai Lu: "This thing is called a tape recorder. You've probably never seen one before, right? This is a new treasure. Our family is the only one in the whole town with one. My husband just brought it back from the city yesterday. It cost more than 800 yuan!"
"Look, this is called an antenna. I heard it can be used to search for channels and listen to programs. It's so novel!" Li Shuixian said, gesturing wildly as she insisted on demonstrating for Bai Lu.
"And what's more, this tape recorder can sing. Look, just put a tape in here and it starts singing right away. It's also very easy to learn. I could sing it after just two tries. Listen to how well I sang it just now, how similar it was to the one inside, there's no difference at all, right?"
Before Bai Lu could answer, Li Shuixian sang a song on the spot, howling with overwhelming force, like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.
Not satisfied with that, its chubby hands and feet started to dance and swing wildly.
Bai Lu watched her go crazy in silence.
When she looked over, he even put on an expression of surprise, shock, and admiration.
Li Shuixian's vanity was greatly satisfied. After showing off, she took a small handkerchief, wiped her sweat, and asked her, "How much money did Xiao Cheng give you when he came back last night?"
"One thousand yuan."
Bai Lu stretched out a finger, looking as simple-minded as before.
"A thousand yuan! So much!" Li Shuixian's eyes gleamed as she stared intently into her pocket.
"Where's the money? Where did you put it? Have you brought it back? Give it to me now, I'll buy you a better ticket, a sleeper berth, where you can not only sit but also sleep, with a private compartment!"
Bai Lu shook her head honestly: "He's going back again."
"Why are you giving it back after giving it to me? What's going on?" Li Shuixian asked anxiously, half believing it.
Bai Lu was also very anxious, clutching the hem of her clothes and saying, "He said that if I give the money to my younger brother, he won't give me any more money."
Li Shuixian frowned: "Why would he say that? Didn't you not give it to me? Didn't you explain?"
"I explained," Bai Lu said with a wronged look. "I even took out that hundred yuan, but Xiao Cheng took the money back and didn't believe me. He said that I didn't give it to my brother, so why did I only have a hundred yuan left? He asked me what I bought."
"I can't explain it..."
Seeing her thousand yuan go down the drain, Li Shuixian felt pain all over her body. "Is Xiao Cheng crazy?!"
“You’ve been living here for over two months now. You don’t need to buy groceries or anything else. How long can five hundred yuan last? It’ll be gone in a few days if you go out and buy a few outfits.”
After unleashing a torrent of angry words through gritted teeth, Li Shuixian looked at Bai Lu with exasperation: "So what do we do now?"
"I don't have enough money to buy a train ticket."
Bai Lu's face was filled with sadness, grief, and despair, her eyes reddening with anxiety: "I... I don't know either."
She couldn't just say yes directly, because that would be too obvious.
You absolutely cannot mention money; she'll throw out the bait, and no matter how you try to circumvent it, there's only one way to do it in the end.
This solution could only be suggested by Li Shuixian. If she did, Li Shuixian would definitely become wary and distrust her.
Bai Lu stood awkwardly to the side, her fingers digging into the counter, her eyes filled with hope as she looked at Li Shuixian.
After thinking it over, Li Shuixian stared at her again and again before tentatively asking, "Does Xiao Cheng mean that as long as you can prove that you didn't give the money to your brother, he'll continue to give you money for household expenses?"
Bai Lu bit her lower lip and shook her head in confusion: "I don't know. That's what he said. Anyway, no matter how much money he gives you, you'll give it to your brother. It's better not to give it to him at all."
"From now on, he will buy whatever we need."
Xiao Cheng is a man of wide connections; he knows all sorts of people, so he definitely wouldn't buy anything from Li Shuixian's shop.
Li Shuixian had seen Xiao Cheng with his arm around the rice processing plant owner. She thought that Xiao Cheng might get all the rice from him in the future, and she wouldn't earn a single penny.
Not to mention that thousand yuan.
"Did Xiao Cheng really tell you that?" Li Shuixian still had doubts, but not about Bai Lu, who was naive and innocent, but about Xiao Cheng, who was shrewd and ruthless.
Bai Lu nodded earnestly without blushing, her heart racing, or her breath catching in her throat: "Yes."
"Xiao Cheng has seen my brother come to see me a few times and has always believed that I gave the money to my brother."
Li Shuixian narrowed her eyes. She was definitely going to take the thousand yuan, and she had already thought of a way to do it.
But it's a bit risky, and she's still considering it.
Across the street, there was a bicycle shop where a group of imposing men were demanding payment from the owner, holding up payment reminders from suppliers.
"Brother Cheng, isn't that your wife?"
The man with a cigarette in his mouth gestured with his chin toward the other end of the street and spoke to the man beside him.
The man looked up, took the cigarette out of his mouth, lit it in the ashtray on the shopkeeper's counter, and stubbed it out.
She ran her long, slender, white fingertips across the corner of her lips and said in a light tone, "Mm."
Xiao Dazhuang, who had just finished collecting money with a sack, came over and asked, "What's your sister-in-law doing there? That shop is a total rip-off. Should we go over and support her?"
Another man nodded in agreement.
My sister-in-law is so naive and simple-minded. If she goes to a shady shop to buy things, she'll surely swindle all of Cheng-ge's money.
Xiao Cheng withdrew his gaze, sat down on the wooden chair, crossed one leg, and said coldly, "No need."
The brothers immediately shut up.
They're being nosy. Cheng-ge and his wife don't get along well to begin with, so it's none of their business to meddle.
The shop owner served Xiao Cheng tea with great hospitality, not daring to ask a single question, let alone kick him out.
"Who's missing?" Xiao Cheng asked.
Luo Shiliu knew what he was asking and replied, "Mr. Li from the sand and gravel yard at the city wharf went out of town on business a few days ago, and I heard he'll be back in the next couple of days."
This is the last order.
Xiao Cheng picked up the tea in front of him and took a sip.
"The proprietress actually gave money to my sister-in-law, what's going on?" Wang Hao went out to throw away a cigarette butt and looked on in surprise.
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