Chapter 9 Yao's Lackey
Wu Peng had run away, leaving Yao Fanghua alone to face Li Chunying's incessant nagging. She dragged Yao Deyi and Yao Weimin along, making them move the cabinet, insisting on returning it to Wu Peng. She kept calling him a convict and a "good guy."
Yao Fanghua's face turned cold. "I said no refunds, and that's final. Don't touch my things, or don't blame me for turning hostile. Is dinner ready? I paid for the meals."
“What are you eating for? Stop eating! Who am I working for every day? It’s all for you, for this family. Look at this poor house, it leaks in the summer and lets in the wind in the winter. I’ve wanted to fix the roof but I haven’t been able to afford to, and I haven’t been able to replace the windows either. Everyone else has glass windows, but ours is still made of paper. Why is my life so miserable? Are you all hoping I die? I’d rather just die.” After wailing, Li Chunying collapsed into the inner room and cried.
Li Chunying's crying annoyed everyone in the room.
Actually, the Yao family wasn't at the bottom. Although they couldn't compare to Uncle Yao and the Yu family in the courtyard, they were still better than the Zhong family.
Yao Deyi still sided with his wife, glaring at Yao Fanghua, "Be frugal and simple, how can you spend money recklessly? Your mother wasn't wrong, quickly apologize to your mother." "Look at you, how much money have you spent since you came back? Do you even know how to manage money? Look at this down jacket of yours, what's the use of it being so expensive? I've told you to focus on natural beauty, don't compare yourself to others, and don't do these fancy things all the time."
As soon as Yao Deyi finished speaking, Li Chunying's crying in the inner room became noticeably louder.
Yao Fanghua ignored him, slapped five yuan on her hand to Yao Weimin, and said, "Go cook."
Faced with a choice between his mother, his sister, and money, Yao Weimin decisively chose money and loudly replied, "Okay!"
Yao Fanghua: "Fry a few eggs with plenty of oil, then fry some bread slices. Cook some rice porridge, take a piece of meat from the jar, and make a stir-fried cabbage with meat."
Everyone stores up food before the New Year. Li Chunying was no exception. In the corner of the Yao family's house, there was a pile of cabbage and radishes, a small jar of pickled meat, a jar of salted vegetables, a jar of fried tofu, some rendered lard, and steamed buns, vegetable buns, and bean buns. This was all food stored up for the Lunar New Year. The meat might even last until the weather warmed up.
Yao Fanghua: "Dad, are you going to eat? If not, Weimin, make enough for two."
"I didn't say I wouldn't eat."
Yao Fanghua: "Dad needs to be thrifty. Weimin, just steam a bun for Dad and give him some rice porridge. Dad is so frugal, he probably won't drink today, and maybe he won't drink at all in the future."
Yao Deyi mumbled, "Liquor is my lifeblood. Besides, they eat meat, while I, as their father, am left eating steamed buns."
Yao Fangyuan quickly replied, "I'll eat too. I'm not thrifty."
Yao Fanghua: "You have to wash the dishes after you eat, or you can cook them yourself."
"You pay me to wash the dishes?"
Yao Fanghua glanced at Yao Fangyuan from head to toe. "Okay, I'll give you a dollar if you wash the dishes."
Yao Fangyuan jumped up and down, "Why? Why does Yao Weimin get two yuan while I only get one?" What is she missing!
"In short, you only get one yuan for washing the dishes. Take it or leave it. If you don't want to do it, Weimin will."
"What if I want to cook?"
"You'll get two yuan for cooking."
Yao Fangyuan stomped her foot again, shouting, "Why?!"
"Take it or leave it." Yao Fanghua turned and went back into the house to fiddle with the safe.
Yao Weimin chuckled to himself, turned on the stove, added coal briquettes, and quickly began pouring oil into the iron pot.
"I'll do it! I'll cook and wash the dishes today!" Yao Fangyuan was determined. She would rather earn less than let Yao Weimin earn all the money! Besides, two yuan wasn't a small amount. If she washed the dishes too, she could earn three yuan in total.
Yao Weimin brandished a spatula, yelling, "Get lost! I'll beat you up if you dare steal my money!"
Yao Fangyuan wasn't afraid of him at all. She turned around and went outside to get some cabbage, washed it, and started chopping it. She was confident that she could cook much better than Yao Weimin, hmph.
Li Chunying was still making noises in the inner room, while Yao Weimin and Yao Fangyuan were already vying to cook in the living room.
Yao Deyi also turned off the fire, sat down, and started smoking.
Yao Fanghua's hands were cold, so she grabbed a hand warmer. One of the two safes had a key lock, and the other a combination lock. Neither was easy to handle.
It's unclear whether Yao Weimin was enlightened by Yao Fanghua's money, but the kid took a coal briquette and came to his sister's room, lit the stove, put a pot on it, and started cooking rice porridge in the room.
The aroma of rice porridge filled the air, and the room gradually warmed up.
Smelling the delicious aroma of the vegetables and hearing the sizzling sound of oil in the pan, Li Chunying felt a pang of heartache. She jumped up, rushed to the stove, grabbed the spatula, and glared at Yao Fangyuan and Yao Weimin. "You spendthrifts!" she yelled.
"Mom, you go and rest. I'll do all the cooking from now on." Yao Fangyuan grabbed the spatula.
"Go rest over there!" Li Chunying glared at her youngest daughter, telling her that if she was made to cook, all the oil and meat in the house would have to be used by her.
"You used to complain that I didn't do anything, but now that I'm doing something, why are you unhappy? Don't cut off my source of income!" Yao Fangyuan stomped her foot. Yao Weimin was right; Mom was indeed cutting off their source of income.
The mother and daughter were vying to cook the dishes. Yao Weimin went next door to get some rice porridge, saying, "Sister, I've already made the steamed bun slices and fried eggs."
Yao Fanghua didn't even look up. "Okay, I'll wash my hands and eat now."
"Okay, I'll go get the rice first."
"Wait a minute." Yao Fanghua took a men's watch out of her bag. "Here you go."
Yao Weimin held the watch, his mouth stretching to his ears in a wide grin. Wearing it would be so respectable; he could show it off to relatives during the New Year, and at work, he'd be so proud of his coworkers. Yao Weimin put it on right then and there, even rolling up his sleeve to reveal the gleaming watch on his left wrist. Carrying a pot of rice porridge, he went to the main room, his smile so wide it seemed to disappear from his eyes.
Seeing her foolish son laughing so happily, Li Chunying was furious. She favored this son the most, but what happened? He treated his own sister better than his own mother! He was as obedient as a grandson in front of his sister!
However, these resentments vanished when he saw the gleaming watch on his simple-minded son's wrist. His eyes flickered, "Did your sister give it to you?"
"Mmm, isn't it pretty?"
"What a waste of money. It's better to save money than to waste it," Li Chunying muttered. "But this kid will save himself some money when he looks for a girlfriend in the future."
Even Yao Deyi couldn't help but glance at the watch several times; it was indeed quite beautiful, and wearing it made him feel like his whole aura was different.
"I want a watch too! I want a watch too!" Yao Fangyuan cried out in anger, stomping her feet repeatedly.
Li Chunying: "What do you need? Go ask your sister."
Yao Fangyuan fell silent. How could Yao Fanghua possibly give it to her? She had offended her sister the very first day she returned.
Yao Weimin diligently served his sister rice porridge, set out the bowls and chopsticks, and placed a bowl of fried eggs and fried mantou in front of her. This was almost like a lackey serving his master, Li Chunying thought to herself.
Yao Fanghua nodded secretly as she ate. This kid's cooking skills were pretty good; the steamed bun slices were thin, fried until crispy, and not too oily. The fried eggs were also good, smooth and tender. Yao Fanghua didn't like them overcooked.
And this cabbage, it tastes better with more oil.
The whole family ate without even looking up; who would have thought that Chinese cabbage could taste so good?
Finally, Yao Weimin and Yao Fangyuan used steamed buns to clean up all the soup.
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