Chapter 027 Warm-hearted Li Xiuying
Shi Qiu Shui kicked her calves and struggled to turn her head, only to find that it was her father who grabbed her collar. She instantly became as obedient as a kitten whose throat was strangled by fate.
Her big eyes were filled with cuteness: "Dad."
Shi Yue: "Oh, you remember your father now? You forgot about it when you left me to watch the fun just now, right?"
Shi Qiushui: "Hehehe, no no..."
Shi Yue patted Shi Qiushui's head and said, "Not yet. You heard people shouting that there was a commotion here, and you just ran away. Why, do you think watching the fun is so interesting?"
Shi Qiu Shui smiled but said nothing, thinking to himself, it’s really fun to watch the fun!
Shi Yue glanced at her, as if he could see right through her heart, and said, "Even if watching the fun is so fun, you can't just leave me and run away. You're just a little kid, running around on your own. What if you run into a bad guy?"
He gently coaxed her, "Don't think there aren't bad people here. Look at Song Chunsheng, isn't he a bad man? He even sold his own daughter. He's truly evil. What would you do if you ran into a bad guy like him and he took you away and sold you?"
Shi Qiushui nodded seriously: "Dad, I understand. Next time I will definitely not run around alone."
Her father was right to worry. She was a fragile little girl now, and it would be dangerous for her to run around alone.
She held Shi Yue's hand and promised earnestly, "Dad, next time I go to see the fun, I'll definitely bring you along!"
"...No, uh, that's right, um, okay."
Although this sounded a bit off, Shi Yue didn't dwell on it too much.
He looked at Shi Qiushui and asked, "We've seen enough fun, can we go home now?"
Shi Qiushui nodded: "Let's go back!"
As she and Shi Yue walked home, they whispered, "Dad, did you hear what the guy in the wide-brimmed hat said just now? He said that it's illegal for biological parents to sell their children here! They'll be punished the same way as kidnappers!"
Her eyes sparkled, as if she had discovered something great.
Shi Yue nodded: "Yeah, I heard it just now!"
He thought this was a good thing.
The punishment for kidnapping in the laws of the Dayu Dynasty was very severe: 100 strokes of the cane and 3,000-mile exile. Although it was not a direct death sentence, most people would be exiled after being beaten with the cane 100 times without any medical treatment and would not survive, so it was no different from the death penalty.
But even such strict laws do not cover situations where parents sell their children.
Although unless it is a natural disaster or man-made calamity, families who are going through hard times will definitely not sell their children casually, but there are always some people who are born with hard hearts and are cruel, and treat their children as their own property, such as the parents of Xiao Cui, Shi Qiu Shui's former maid.
Shi Qiushui clenched his fists and said, "If only Xiao Cui lived in this era, she could just report her shameless parents to the police and have them arrested!"
Unlike the other servants hired by the Shi family, Xiao Cui was sold to the Shi family by her parents. Originally, they had intended to sell her to a brothel, a place where women could get a higher price than ordinary traffickers. It was Shi Qiushui, who happened to be passing by, who had a soft spot in his heart and asked someone to buy her, and she became Shi Yue's maid.
Later, as soon as the decree of exile for the Shi family was passed on, Xiao Cui's parents came to ask for her back, saying that they felt sorry for Xiao Cui and couldn't bear to see her exiled. But in fact, it was obvious from their words that they wanted to take Xiao Cui back and sell her again.
It was Xiao Cui who reacted quickly. She asked the government's human trafficker for help and sold herself to another official's family as a slave. Although both were selling one's body, Xiao Cui sold herself, so at least she would not end up as a prostitute in a brothel. Moreover, the money from selling her body would go into her own hands and would not be taken away by her heartless parents.
Thinking of that girl Xiao Cui, Shi Yue sighed seriously for the first time and said, "It would be great if that girl could come with us."
Although he didn't have as much contact with Xiao Cui as Shi Qiushui did, he still had a good impression of her. She was a very smart and sensible girl. If Xiao Cui could live in the 1990s, she would definitely have a good life. It's a pity...
Feeling sorry that Xiao Cui couldn't come, the father and daughter sighed and returned to Yard No. 28. The yard was bustling with activity. Yao Dazui vividly described what had just happened in the Song family to the neighbors in the yard who had not gone out to watch the excitement. Li Xiuying added a few words from time to time.
Everyone in the courtyard was soft-hearted and couldn't help crying as they listened. Some of those with bad tempers had already started cursing Song Chunsheng, calling him a worthless person. Even the good-natured old lady Yang, who didn't know how to curse, gnashed her teeth and said, "Song Chunsheng is really a piece of shit!"
Li Xiuying nodded in agreement: "Of course!"
She now remembered the purpose of her return and pulled Old Lady Yang aside, saying, "Old Yang, Li Juan looks so pitiful. Shouldn't we think of a way to help her?"
"Yes!" Old Lady Yang nodded without hesitation, then asked doubtfully, "But how can we help her?"
Li Xiuying didn't hesitate and said directly, "Li Juan doesn't have a job. We can help her find one. Lao Yang, I remember your son said he wanted to find a new cleaner. Why don't you ask your son and see if Li Juan is suitable?"
Although Old Lady Yang usually likes to smooth things over, she is indeed kind-hearted. Upon hearing what Li Xiuying said, she immediately stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go call Zhiqiang and ask him!"
She walked out of the courtyard with a few whizzing steps and headed towards the entrance of the alley.
There is a landline phone installed in the small shop at the entrance of the alley. People in the alley usually go there to make phone calls.
Old Lady Yang went out for a while and quickly came back with a smile on her face. She said, "I just called my Zhiqiang. He said he would be back soon. Let's talk when he comes back."
Li Xiuying was anxious: "Did your son tell me whether he will hire anyone?"
Old Lady Yang: "Zhiqiang said he would come back later to talk about it. I guess he didn't recruit anyone."
Li Xiuying: "That should be the case. If he recruits someone, he will probably tell you directly. Let's wait until he comes back."
"Okay, wait a minute."
Old Mrs. Yang brought out two small stools and sat in the yard with Li Xiuying waiting for her son to come back. After Yao Dazui finished gossiping with others, he also brought a small stool over and waited together. They waited for more than an hour or two. When Shi Qiu Shui finished his meal, he saw that although Yao Dazui and Li Xiuying were gone, Old Mrs. Yang was still sitting in the yard waiting.
Shi Qiushui blinked and asked, "Grandma Yang, aren't you going home for dinner?"
Old Lady Yang: "The meal is ready, except for cooking the vegetables. I'll wait for Zhiqiang to come back before cooking, so that he doesn't have to heat it up when he comes back to eat."
"Oh oh oh." Shi Qiu Shui nodded.
Old Lady Yang was probably bored herself, so she started talking to herself, "My son Zhiqiang has been so busy these past two years that he hasn't had time to eat. His stomach is so hungry that he feels uncomfortable eating anything cold. I can't control him eating out, but when he comes home to eat, I always pay attention to him and don't let him eat cold food."
"Stomach problems are really hard to deal with. Adults and children can easily get stomach problems if they don't pay attention, especially children your age, Xiaoqiu. If you're picky about food..." She looked at Shi Qiushui's chubby little face and paused, "You're not picky about food, are you?"
Shi Qiushui puffed out her belly proudly: "Yeah! I'm not picky about food, I eat everything!"
Old Lady Yang: "It's good not to be picky about food. It's good not to be picky about food. Eating everything will keep you healthy and nutritionally balanced. That's what children should do..."
"Mom! I'm back!"
Shi Qiu Shui was talking to Old Lady Yang when she suddenly heard an unfamiliar male voice behind her. She turned her head and saw a man in his thirties with a round face who looked very similar to Old Lady Yang walking in. She knew without a doubt that this must be Old Lady Yang's son, Yang Zhiqiang.
Sure enough, the next second, Old Lady Yang came up to him with a smile on her face: "Son, you are finally back!"
She looked at Yang Zhiqiang and said distressedly: "You've lost weight again. Didn't you not eat well outside again? Didn't I tell you that you have stomach problems and must eat on time? Didn't you take my words to heart? You are like this..."
Yang Zhiqiang interrupted with a smile: "Oh, Mom, look at what you said is so weird. I haven't been home for only a week. How can I tell whether I have lost weight or not?"
Old Lady Yang shook her head: "No, I can see that you have lost weight. Tell me honestly, have you not taken care of eating again?"
"Oh, Mom, I..." Yang Zhiqiang looked a little embarrassed. He tried to change the subject: "Oh, Mom, when you called me just now, didn't you ask me if I was hiring? Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"
Li Xiuying happened to come out at this time. When she heard Yang Zhiqiang asking this, she hurried forward to explain: "Zhiqiang, this is what happened. Let me tell you..."
She recounted the whole story in a long and rambling manner, then asked, "How about it, Zhiqiang, can you recruit Li Juan to your store?"
Yang Zhiqiang finally understood what was going on. It turned out that his mother's soft-heartedness had struck again. However, he was not unhappy because his store was indeed short of staff. He had hired a new cleaner before, but that person was dishonest and he had kicked that person out yesterday. So now he needed someone to introduce him to a new cleaner so that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of recruiting people himself.
But if he wanted to recruit someone, he had to meet that person first. He showed an embarrassment and said, "Auntie Li, I don't know this Li Juan, and I don't know how she works. I can't just hire her because she's pitiful, right?"
Li Xiuying groaned and said, "It's not that difficult. I'll call Li Juan over and show you what's going on!"
She said this without even giving Yang Zhiqiang the chance to refuse, and went out in a hurry. After a while, she came back with Li Juan.
Li Juan was breathing heavily, her hair was messy from running, but her eyes were shining with hope.
After meeting her for the first time, Yang Zhiqiang was quite satisfied with Li Juan. Although Li Juan looked a little disheveled, it could be seen from her clean clothes and details such as the gaps between her fingernails that she was a clean person.
Yang Zhiqiang was looking at Li Juan, and Li Juan was also looking at Yang Zhiqiang. She asked expectantly, "Auntie Li said you were looking for a cleaner. Is that true?"
Yang Zhiqiang nodded: "Yes, I want to recruit a cleaner. Let me tell you in advance, I am recruiting a cleaner for my own store. My store is not big, it is just a private store selling home appliances. Now, besides me, there are only three employees in the store. Just looking at my configuration, you can see that my store cannot be compared with the state-owned factories. The salary and benefits of my employees here cannot be compared with those of large factories. So if you can't accept it, then let's..."
"Yes! I can accept it!" Li Juan said impatiently: "As long as you can pay me a salary every month, I can do it!"
Yang Zhiqiang was speechless. "Of course I can. If I hire you to work, I must pay you. Let me tell you about my salary package. If you come here, I can pay you 180 yuan a month, but you don't have to rest. You work from 7 am to 7 pm every day. But you don't have to work all day. You mainly clean and do some work before the store opens in the morning and after closing at night. If you don't have anything to do during the day, you can rest. Do you think this package is acceptable?"
To be honest, considering that she never had a day off and had to work twelve hours a day, the salary Yang Zhiqiang paid was not high. But Li Juan was still very happy. She nodded repeatedly: "Sure, sure, boss, I can do it!"
One hundred and eighty yuan is enough for her and her daughter to live on!
Yang Zhiqiang nodded. "Since you think it's okay, then come with me to the store tomorrow and try working there. I'll see how you do your job. But let me be frank: if you don't do your job well, I don't want you."
Li Juan nodded excitedly: "Of course I should, of course. Don't worry, boss, I will definitely work hard!"
Li Juan was so excited that she was incoherent and couldn't speak. However, Li Xiuying beside her said a few good words to help.
"Don't worry, Zhiqiang. Li Juan is very efficient at her job. Your Aunt Yao has asked around before. She's in charge of everything in the Song family, big or small. Cleaning your shop is no problem for her."
Li Juan could only nod excitedly: "Yeah, it's not difficult for me."
Yang Zhiqiang: "Let's see after work tomorrow."
Li Juan: "Okay, I will work hard at work tomorrow!"
Yang Zhiqiang: "Okay, okay, if there's nothing else, I'll go home first."
Li Xiuying: "Nothing else."
"Okay." Yang Zhiqiang turned to Old Lady Yang and said, "Let's go, Mom. Let's go home. I'm hungry."
Old Lady Yang smiled and said, "Okay, let's go home. I've already prepared the meal. I just need to cook the vegetables. Go home and wash your hands first. I'll cook right away. It will be ready soon..."
Yang Zhiqiang and Old Lady Yang went home and entered the house. Li Juan was also about to leave, but was stopped by Li Xiuying.
Li Xiuying pulled Li Juan to sit on the small bench where Old Lady Yang had been sitting and said, "Come, Juan'er, let's chat."
"Oh, okay." Li Juan sat down in a daze.
She actually didn't know what Li Xiuying wanted to talk to her. In fact, before Li Xiuying broke into her house tonight and said she wanted to introduce her to a job, she didn't even know Li Xiuying, so she couldn't guess what Li Xiuying wanted to talk to her.
Shi Qiu Shui didn't know what Li Xiuying wanted to talk about with Li Juan. She sat on the small stool next to them out of curiosity. Relying on her young age, she knew that the adults would not be on guard against her when they were chatting, so she eavesdropped openly.
Just as Shi Qiu Shui expected, Li Xiuying ignored her existence and started chatting with Li Juan.
She took Li Juan's hand and said, "You may not know me very well, so let me introduce myself. I live in this courtyard. My name is Li Xiuying. I'm the Li Xiuying who robbed her husband of his house and drove his family to the northwest because he had another woman. You've been married here for quite some time, so you should have heard of me, right?"
It’s not that Li Xiuying is arrogant, but she is indeed quite famous in this area because of her divorce, but it’s not a good reputation.
Li Juan had obviously heard about Li Xiuying's deeds from others, and nodded awkwardly: "Yeah, I've heard about you..."
Li Xiuying became interested and asked, "What have you heard others say about me? That I'm cruel? Or that I'm greedy? Or something else?"
Li Juan bit her lip and stopped talking.
Li Xiuying raised the corner of her mouth and said with a smile, "So it has both?"
Li Juan nodded, and when she realized what she had done, she quickly waved her hand: "No..."
"Oh!" Li Xiuying waved her hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry, I'm not angry. People have been talking about me behind my back for years. If I wanted to be angry, I would have calmed down long ago."
She had a smile on her face. "I can recite all the things they said. It's like, I'm too cruel, I can report even the person next to me at will; or, I'm too narrow-minded, I sent that man to the northwest just because he had another woman; or, I'm too vicious, I sent his parents to the northwest together to grab the house... I used to get angry about these things, but I don't get angry now. I am indeed cruel and narrow-minded. So what? I'm happy and I don't care what they say."
Because of Li Xiuying's attitude, Li Juan was momentarily distracted, but she quickly came to her senses. She took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to speak: "Aunt Li, I think you're amazing!"
Admiration flashed in her eyes, and she said, "Really, Aunt Li, I think you're amazing. You can divorce me just like that, send that shameless man to the Northwest, take away his house, and even raise your own daughter to become a university student. You're really amazing!"
It would be great if she could be as good as Aunt Li, but unfortunately...
Li Xiuying noticed the disappointment in Li Juan's eyes and said, "Well, what's the big deal? If you want, you can do it too."
She looked at Li Juan encouragingly and said, "I've wanted to ask you before, are you planning to divorce Song Chunsheng?"
Li Juan pursed her lips and was silent for a while before saying, "I thought about divorcing him."
She said: "Actually, when I found out that he wanted to sell Song Nan, my daughter, I wanted to divorce him and take Song Nan away. But I have no money, no job, and no education. It's hard to support myself, let alone Song Nan..."
Li Xiuying: "So what do you think now? Don't you have a job now?"
Under Li Xiuying's encouraging and tolerant eyes, Li Juan breathed a sigh of relief and boldly spoke her mind: "I don't know if Boss Yang can keep me. If he can keep me, I will work hard, make money and then divorce Song Chunsheng. Even if a divorce is not possible, I will move out with Song Nan and rent a house!"
After the experience of Song Chunsheng almost selling Song Nan, she really didn't feel comfortable continuing to live with Song Chunsheng!
After confirming that Li Juan had no regrets about leaving Song Chunsheng, Li Xiuying said directly: "If you really want to move out of the Song family, I can take you in."
Li Juan suddenly looked at Li Xiuying, her eyes full of shock. She had never expected Li Xiuying to say that.
She looked at Li Xiuying blankly, not understanding why she was so nice to her, helping her find a job and wanting to take her in. Was there anything about her that was worth Li Xiuying's covetousness?
Li Xiuying saw the suspicion in her eyes and said with a smile, "Don't overthink it. I'm willing to help you because I think you look a lot like me when I was going through a divorce."
At that time, she was as helpless, confused and pitiful as Li Juan is now, so when she saw Li Juan, she couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.
She said, "I'm helping you, just like I helped myself back then."
Li Juan looked at Li Xiuying steadily. She didn't know whether she should trust Li Xiuying. But then she thought again, it seemed that there was nothing she could gain from her. On the contrary, Li Xiuying gave her more.
Thinking of this, she composed herself and tried to remain calm and said, "I will pay you the rent."
Li Xiuying was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
Li Juan repeated it again with a serious expression: "I will pay you the rent according to the market price."
Then, blushing, she added in an embarrassed whisper, "But I have to wait until I get my salary. I don't have any money yet."
"Hahaha, okay." Li Xiuying agreed with a smile. She didn't care about the rent, but she knew that if she didn't let Li Juan pay the rent, Li Juan would definitely not feel at ease.
She laughed enough and asked, "When are you moving in?"
Li Juan was a little embarrassed: "Is it okay today?"
Ever since Song Chunsheng nearly sold Song Nan, she didn't dare leave Song Nan alone at home with Song Chunsheng and Old Mrs. Ding. But tomorrow she had to go to work at Yang Zhiqiang's shop, so Song Nan had no choice but to stay at home...
If she moved out today, then even if she locked Song Nan alone at home tomorrow, it would be safer than letting her stay at the Song family.
Li Xiuying was stunned for a moment: "Sure, my house is already in good shape, you can move in and live here."
The empty part of her house now is her daughter's bedroom. Because her daughter comes back occasionally, she cleans it regularly and hangs the quilts and other things out to dry regularly. It's really no problem for her to move in and live there.
She asked, "Are you moving in tonight? Then I'll go home with you and pack my things."
Li Juan nodded gratefully, then shook her head: "I'll move tonight, but you don't need to help me pack. I can do it myself."
Li Xiuying: "Hey, are you afraid of bothering me? Don't be afraid of bothering me. I'll go with you to clean up. It won't take long. Let's finish it quickly and rest. Look, it's already past seven o'clock and it's almost dark. If you clean up by yourself until nine or ten o'clock, I won't be able to sleep well, right?"
Li Juan bit her lip, a little hesitant. She knew that what Li Xiuying said was right, but she was still a little worried.
She opened her mouth and stammered, "I'm afraid. I'm afraid Song Chunsheng will cause trouble and won't let me go."
It has to be said that given Song Chunsheng's personality, there is a high possibility that he will make trouble and not let Li Juan and Song Nan, mother and daughter, go.
Li Xiuying smiled: "Then shouldn't I go?"
She asked Li Juan, "Did you think that if he didn't let you go, you would beat him up until he let you go?"
Li Juan nodded silently. That was what she thought.
"Wouldn't it be more effective if I beat him together with you?" Li Xiuying didn't even wait for Li Juan to reply. She grabbed the big broom in the yard and walked out. When she was almost out the door, she remembered her and called out to her, "Li Juan, let's go?"
"Oh oh." Li Juan subconsciously followed Li Xiuying's footsteps.
Seeing the two people walking away, Shi Qiushui finally reacted. She took two steps with her short legs, remembered something, turned around and shouted into the house: "Dad!"
Shi Yue poked his head out: "Huh?"
Shi Qiushui: "Grandma Li is going to the Song family to fight! Hurry up, let's go watch the fun!"
Shi Yue: "...Okay, wait for me."
Shi Qiushui: "Dad, hurry up, or we'll be late!"
Shi Qiu Shui's crisp baby voice was very contagious, and soon Gao Cuifen, Ma Yulan, the young couple from the Liu family... every household in the compound heard that Li Xiuying was going to fight, and they all came out, quickly following the footsteps of Shi's father-in-law and daughter, to watch the fun together.
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