Chapter 14: Money Makes You Happy
Yao Fanghua wrote down the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. She read them to Wu Peng twice, then looked through her old notes to show him. She wrote down two simple lines of dialogue to teach him to read. When Yao Weimin saw Wu Peng enter the room, he stopped watching TV and followed him in to learn.
In her opinion, learning English well boils down to listening, speaking, and memorizing. It would be even better if she could spend some time abroad.
Her university professor had studied abroad and spoke excellent English. She was very skilled in her field and persistently pestered her professor to teach her English. Her professor, fearing criticism for his overseas education, initially refused to teach her. It was only in the last two years, as the situation improved, that he began to privately tutor her. He even gave her his mechanical engineering textbooks from his studies abroad to help her expand her knowledge.
It could be said that their class, the first of its kind, included all of them. Although they were all the teacher's students, she was the true inner disciple, the teacher's pride. The teacher had clearly said she'd been assigned to a machinery factory, but the registration certificate she received indicated a fan factory—she didn't know what had gone wrong. As soon as their course ended, the teacher was invited to a car manufacturing plant, so she didn't bother to ask him about her assignment, to avoid worrying him. Anyway, she was going back to Beijing, so it wouldn't make much difference. Small factories had their advantages; maybe she could have more time to earn extra money on the side.
Because Wu Peng was there, and it was New Year's Eve, Li Chunying wanted to make it a bit more elaborate. She chopped fillings and made a big plate of dumplings, cooked rice porridge and steamed buns, and then stir-fried three dishes one after another.
As the aroma of vegetables wafted out from time to time, those watching TV in the yard couldn't help but sniff.
Yao Deyi brought his bowl to the courtyard to eat. Everyone had come to his house to watch TV; how could he not keep them company? He had to, otherwise it would be awkward, Yao Deyi thought. He went along with whatever they said, even those with malicious teasing. He could tell, but he was tongue-tied and didn't know how to refute them, sometimes even echoing their comments. This made others think he was foolish and easy to bully, perhaps drunk and stupid, which made them even more unrestrained in their teasing.
When Yao Deyi was inexplicably upset, he would go home, sulk, and then down a drink, talking nonsense to vent his frustration. What kind of person does that? Chairman Mao said, "He's not a good person; good people are rewarded..."
Yao Deyi was no longer at the dining table in the main room; Wu Peng had been replaced. Looking at the dumplings, steamed buns, stir-fried cabbage with pork, stir-fried pickled vegetables with eggs, and a plate of stir-fried liver, Wu Peng's smile deepened. With such a sumptuous meal, he figured he wasn't so unpleasant after all.
"Auntie, how did you know I love fried liver? It smells so good! Your cooking is amazing! If anyone ever says your cooking isn't good, I'll be the first to object!" He wasn't exaggerating; he really did love pig liver and pig intestines. And this food was indeed delicious. Auntie Yao was known for her frugality, and the story of her using only a few drops of oil when stir-frying vegetables was widely circulated. This dish, however, clearly showed she'd used a lot of oil.
Wu Peng thought all of this was to entertain him, and he felt quite embarrassed. He planned to bring a bag of snacks when he visited his second aunt early the next morning to wish her a Happy New Year.
After dinner, Yao Weimin left with Wu Peng; the two of them might end up partying all night.
The firecrackers went off all night, but Yao Fanghua wasn't bothered at all; in fact, she slept soundly.
It was still dark when you could hear people coming and going in the courtyard, kowtowing and wishing Grandpa Yao a Happy New Year.
Li Chunying and Yao Deyi also went out to pay New Year's visits early in the morning, and then made dumplings when they came back.
Yao Fanghua ate hot dumplings as soon as she got up in the morning.
Wu Peng visited all his neighbors in the alley to wish them a Happy New Year, then went home for a long nap. When he woke up, he came to the Yao family's house, bringing a cartload of coal briquettes.
His relatives had either broken off or moved away in previous years, and his older brother was far away in the Northeast, so he had nowhere to go during the Spring Festival. He simply stayed at the Yao family's house, and could even call it "working hard and studying"!
Wu Peng not only brought coal briquettes, but also rice, flour, and oil. The rice and flour were given to him by Wang Huaizhi, who said it was from his work unit and he couldn't finish it. He also brought a frozen pork leg, a pot of pork intestines, and dried wood ear mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms sent to him by his older brother. When he arrived at the Yao family's house, he went straight into Yao Fanghua's room, started a fire, and directed Yao Weimin to move things.
He also slipped two yuan to Yao Weimin.
Yao Weimin, who had just gotten up, felt a twitch between his brows, sensing that this routine was somewhat familiar.
But for the sake of money, labor is naturally the most honorable thing.
So Yao Weimin obediently unloaded the coal briquettes under Yao Fanghua's window and delivered the rice, flour, oil, and other food to Li Chunying.
Wu Peng smiled. Sure enough, money is everything. Money makes the world go round. This trick works well. He grinned at Yao Fanghua.
Li Chunying's brow twitched as she looked at the array of coal briquettes, rice, flour, and oil. What was this all about?
Sure enough, Wu Peng said, "Auntie, my older brother is far away in the Northeast, and I don't have any relatives. I feel so empty during the New Year. If you don't mind, I'd like to stay with you for a few days. Hua Hua is my teacher now, and I want to take advantage of the New Year to study with her for a while."
Wu Peng's story was pitiful, making it hard to bear listening to him. Moreover, he had brought his own food and was trying to drive people away; it didn't seem right. Li Chunying hummed and hawed twice, tacitly agreeing. Although he was a labor camp inmate, this kid shouldn't be inherently bad; he even knew to bring his own food.
Yao Fangyuan was knitting woolen pants by the bedside, Wu Peng sat next to Yao Fanghua at the desk, and Yao Weimin moved a small stool to sit by the stove and memorized the alphabet.
Wu Peng recited the alphabet for a while, then got thirsty. He told Yao Weimin to get some water, slapped a dollar on his hand, and said, "You'll cover my and your sister's tea today. Also, please change the water in your sister's hot water bottle while you're at it."
Yao Weimin was about to get up and take a dollar from the table.
Yao Fangyuan jumped out of bed and rushed outside, saying, "I'll do it."
“Brother Peng, you should focus on your studies. I can handle these tasks.”
Yao Fangyuan rushed off to get the kettle and cups, and also took some tea leaves from Yao Deyi. Then she took Yao Fanghua's hot water bottle, poured the water into a basin for later use, and refilled the hot water bottle with hot water. She also put hot water on the stove to boil.
She decided to stop lounging in bed and instead took a small stool and sat by the stove, knitting woolen trousers while watching the hot water. This way, she was closer to the stove and Wu Peng, making it convenient to add tea and water. Peng was so kind; he hadn't tried to haggle over the price. She was determined to do this one-yuan job well. If she did this one-yuan job well, wouldn't two-yuan, three-yuan, or even five-yuan jobs be just around the corner? Her sister and Peng would find out sooner or later that hiring her was even better.
At the Yao family's house, Wu Peng experienced the joy of being rich for the first time. It's so good to be rich, and it's so fun to spend money.
The woolen pants were halfway through the leg, and Yao Fangyuan took them to Yao Fanghua to compare them.
Wu Peng glanced sideways. "Is she knitting this for you?"
Yao Fanghua looked at the book without even looking up, "Hmm, well woven, three yuan as a reward."
Upon hearing this, Yao Fangyuan's face lit up with joy, and she wove with even more enthusiasm.
Wu Peng paused, thinking, "He really knows how to discipline his younger siblings."
That evening, Wu Peng finally got to eat the braised pork intestines he had been craving. He couldn't help but give Li Chunying a thumbs up; her culinary skills had truly been buried by the hardships of life.
Li Chunying tossed her head triumphantly, "Huahua, how about it?" She won't have to worry about eating out all the time anymore! With a sewing machine at her disposal, Li Chunying could even cook while watching TV, which made her feel eight degrees better. She wasn't so reluctant to use oil and ingredients anymore.
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