The eldest lady didn't notice the eyes of the people in the room. She lowered her head to eat potatoes, her mouth full of oil, and she was eating deliciously. She was still smiling and said, "Have you seen the third and fourth courtyards behind us? It was where the ladies of the upper class lived in the past. The ladies of the upper class were not allowed to go out of the second courtyard."

She was talking to herself, totally unaware that the mood in the room had dropped sharply. As soon as Mr. Ma finished speaking, she rejected his answer and he was so angry that his face turned green.

Aunt Xu put away her smile and said unhappily, "Wu Xiuhua, you have never been able to keep your mouth shut. What do you mean by unfaithful to one's wife? These potatoes were made by an unfaithful woman. If you have the guts, don't eat them. Give them back to the owner."

"I've already eaten it, why are you returning it? Aren't you making things difficult for me?" said the eldest lady, sounding particularly aggrieved.

Aunt Xu: "You ate someone else's food and you're still complaining, as if someone is bullying you. If you can't talk, can't you just shut up?"

The lady curled her lips and said, "It was just a joke, but you took it too seriously. No wonder people say you are destined to be a widow. Your temper is too..."

When she said this, the aunt might not have thought about it and had no bad intentions, but at this moment everyone in the room changed their expressions.

The eldest master threw her chopsticks and said, "Go home and wash your dishes!"

Master Ma also glared at her, looking as if he was very disappointed with her.

The mother went to see Lin Minjun, hoping that the girl would speak up to help her save the situation so that she would not lose face completely.

But Lin Minjun just smiled at her and didn't say anything.

"Are you not leaving yet?" the eldest master scolded again.

What happened? It was just a joke, but everyone acted like she had committed a heinous crime.

The eldest mother felt wronged and muttered to herself. She picked up her chopsticks and walked out. When she reached the door, the eldest master caught up with her in a few steps.

The eldest master said: "Xiuhua, we have been married for many years. I didn't mean to embarrass you. You saw the look on Lao Ma's face just now. You know what I mean, right?"

"I know, Xu Yongfang is too sincere." The mother felt relieved immediately.

I turned and walked towards the second courtyard, feeling a little happy in my heart, thinking that the old man was so nice to me.

When the eldest lady left, Lin Minjun subconsciously followed her back. When the eldest lady's back completely disappeared, she withdrew her gaze thoughtfully and smiled at Grandpa Ma, "Thank you, Grandpa Ma, you all said that the taste is good, so I feel relieved. Otherwise, Aunt Xu and I will go to other people's houses to deliver some?"

"Go quickly, Xiao Xu, you go with her. This girl is really good and independent." Grandpa Ma said quickly.

There was still half a potato in the basin. Lin Minjun followed behind Aunt Xu, mainly to get to know the back house and the people entering the yard.

First, we walked to the entrance of the courtyard. Aunt Xu pointed to the side room and the east wing and said, "The three rooms here are occupied by the Xia family. The head of their family is Xia Guirong. You can just call her Aunt Xia."

Lin Minjun nodded and was about to send in the fried potatoes and say hello.

After taking a few steps out, she was stopped by Aunt Xu again, "Don't go in yet, I have something to tell you, her husband also had an accident that year, and the one who left with my husband is also a widow, with only one son left. Now the son has married and has been sent to another place. There is only an old woman, a daughter-in-law, and two grandsons at home. The others are fine, except for Xia Guirong..."

At this point, Aunt Xu paused, "She has a temper like a firecracker, and always likes to think of herself as a man. She is close to Aunt Yi, so you should just stop by."

Aunt Xia is not to be trifled with!

Lin Minjun came to this conclusion immediately, nodded silently, and followed Aunt Xu in. After looking around, she found that Aunt Xia was not there, and only two little boys were at home. She took a bowl from her kitchen and fed the two children some food first.

Aunt Xu looked at the two children who were eating like they were fighting a war, and said, "Even if we pass this house, wait for Old Xia to come back, and I will come again to tell you. Now let's go to the back house, which is where two families live. We will pass by the house after that."

There are five rooms in the back house. Lin Minjun occupies the outermost one. The woman next door is still a widow named Xu Saozi, who has only one daughter. The two innermost rooms belong to a technician from the power supply bureau, a single man who goes out early and comes back late. Lin Minjun has never been there.

The other people in the yard just met briefly and got to know the newcomers in the yard, and the busy day ended like this.

Recently, I was stocking up on autumn vegetables. Potatoes were cheap, retailing at 25 cents a pound. Lin Minjun went to the suburbs to buy them wholesale from farmers for only 15 cents. At first, she bought and transported them back and forth by herself. One day, Aunt Xu saw her and borrowed a tricycle for her. Lin Minjun ran back and forth several times, and the corners of the house were full of potatoes.

Since the purpose was to adjust the taste, it would not be enough to just feed the people in the courtyard. There happened to be a lot of potatoes, so Lin Minjun made some every day, gave them to the neighbors, and after they had tasted them, she went to find her former educated youth friends and let them try the flavor.

While delivering the things, they can also exchange addresses and tell them where they live now and what they plan to do in the future.

They had agreed to be lifelong friends, and they had really maintained their friendship in their last life. Lin Minjun didn't want to lose these friends.

However, being a self-employed person and setting up a stall is still a fashionable thing in this era. Some people are optimistic about it, while naturally some people are not.

The last family Lin Minjun visited today was Han Xiaorui's. Han Xiaorui's mother is a teacher at the school and has arranged for her to work in the school.

Han Xiaorui was crunching fried potatoes when she heard Lin Minjun say that she had rented a house. She was so surprised that she stopped eating.

Then I heard Lin Minjun say that she had bought some tools and was planning to set up a stall to sell fried potatoes. Now, I was so scared that I dropped my chopsticks.

"No, no, no, Xiao Ajun, I'll pick it up myself." Han Xiaorui said hurriedly, bending down to pick up the chopsticks. When she came back up, she looked like she had seen a ghost and asked quietly, "Are you really breaking up with Deping? Are you not going to contact each other anymore?"

Lin Minjun thought for a moment, "We're really separated. We can't say we don't keep in touch. After all, North City is so small, and we still have mutual friends. If someone asks me to go over for dinner, should I not go or him? So I thought, let's just be ordinary friends and don't meet unless necessary."

"That's right. You two are our friends. We are all in this together. If one of you doesn't go, we won't be happy." Han Xiaorui nodded quickly and asked more carefully, "Then what happened to you two? Why did you break up? You were fine before you got on the train. Why did you suddenly..."

"It's nothing, I just found it inappropriate, not suitable in any way." Lin Minjun thought about it in her mind. It can't be said that Lu Deping made any mistakes or let her down in any way. He was just too greedy. He wanted to appease his mother and let his wife live in peace. He always wanted to treat everyone equally.

But when it comes to the inability to have children, it will never be fair, and sooner or later this bowl of water will be thrown out.

When she thought of Lu Deping, she couldn't help but think of her past life. When she thought of her past life, she thought of the twenty years she had spent trying to have a child. Lin Minjun closed her eyes, collected her thoughts, and when she opened them again, her eyes were clear. Although her voice was soft, it was particularly firm, "Anyway, it's impossible for us."

The handsome man and beautiful woman were the perfect match in everyone's eyes. Han Xiaorui felt a little regretful, but she came over and said, "Since you don't want to get married, I have good news for you. Two days ago, Luo Lin asked me to ask you if he can help you find a job. I think it's so hard for you to sell food at the stall. It's better to let him arrange it for you. Having a proper job is worse than selling food at the stall every day. What do you think?"

Luo Lin had the best family conditions among the educated youth. No one knew what he did specifically, but I heard that his father was an official and often appeared in newspapers, and his mother was the editor-in-chief of a newspaper, so it was not a problem to arrange a job for him.

But Lin Minjun already knew that if you rely on a mountain, the mountain will fall, if you rely on people, they will run away, but can't you rely on yourself? She will not betray herself.

She looked up at the sky outside. It was getting dark. She smiled and stood up, still refusing. "Thank Luo Lin for me, but it's really not necessary. I've already troubled you enough. Isn't it good like this now?"

"It's getting dark, I have to go back, I'm leaving now."

She saw that Han Xiaorui still wanted to keep her to talk, and also knew that she wanted to persuade her, so she waved her hand and ran out of Han's house in two quick steps.

When she came out, the bamboo basket was full. When she returned to the courtyard, the basket was empty, with only empty bowls left. When Lin Minjun walked, there was a clanging sound in the basket, like a bell.

She walked briskly and ran into Aunt Xu when she reached the entrance of the alley.

Aunt Xu was busy washing clothes. She only looked up when she heard the clanging sound. When she saw Lin Minjun, she asked, "Minjun, can you sell the fried potatoes now? I'm so tired after taking a shower today and I'm too lazy to cook. Can you sell me some?"

"Why not? Of course I can." Lin Minjun said without thinking, "I just happen to have another copy at home. I'll fry it again and send it to you later?"

There is a bowl left at home, which was originally prepared for dinner. Since someone wants it, I'll sell it.

Aunt Xu took the soap and rubbed the clothes. As she rubbed, she answered, "How much is one serving?"

This really stumped Lin Minjun. She had been busy adjusting the taste these days and hadn't officially opened the restaurant yet, so she certainly hadn't thought about how much sales she could get.

After thinking and calculating, she said, "Give me ten cents."

Ten cents? Aunt Xu thought it was a bit expensive, so she asked, "How much is in one serving?"

"It's the enamel bowl I brought to you yesterday, probably just that bowl." Lin Minjun gestured.

Aunt Xu's frown instantly relaxed, and she couldn't help but say, "What a bargain! Can you afford it?"

Now potatoes are sold at 25 cents per pound. The enamel bowl that Lin Minjun mentioned can hold six taels of potatoes, and this is the price for six taels of potatoes.

For the same price, the things you buy are still made by others, so isn’t it cheaper?

Lin Minjun narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Sure! I'll go back and prepare it, and bring it to you later."

The potatoes she bought were all at wholesale prices, which were much cheaper than retail prices. Even after adding in the ingredients and oil, she could still make a small profit of half, which was enough.

The small business had already attracted business before it was officially opened. Lin Minjun carried a bamboo basket, which made a lot of noise all the way home. After arriving home, she immediately put the things in and went to the kitchen at the door to re-fry some dumplings and send them to Aunt Xu so that she could have a hot meal.

But her good mood came to an abrupt end the moment she opened the kitchen door.

The bowl of fried potatoes that had been left on the table was gone.

No, the bowl is still there, but the fried potatoes are gone!