Chapter 31 Sour Papaya

Xia Lulu happily wore the watch and went to see Xie Minghui. She talked to him about the future development. Xie Minghui was skeptical, but was finally convinced.

Xia Lulu wanted to start a business, but Xie Minghui decided to lower his price. Xia Lulu said that she didn't need his help, but she needed to ask for money from the family through marriage, and Xie Minghui acquiesced.

Xia Dashan had a stroke and could only apply for medical retirement. The factory gave him a sum of money, and Xia Lulu took it and went to the provincial capital to purchase goods.

Xia Dong found out and was furious. He decided to wait for Xia Lulu to come back and deal with her.

Xia Dong had never suffered such injustice.

As the only male in the Xia family, he has always enjoyed a superior status in the family.

From small things like a piece of candy, a pen, or New Year's money to big things like the opportunity to go to school, the order of succession... he has always been the first!

But it has to be said that Xia Dong has never known what "give in" means since he was a child!

But now, he was asked to give the watch to Xia Lulu. How could he accept that?

Naturally, Liu Mei understood all of her son's resentment.

But today, she hesitated for a long time before trying to persuade her son:

"I know you bought this...but look...your sister is also going to marry Xie Minghui..."

"Why don't I wait until your father completes the medical retirement procedures and receives the money from the factory, and then give it to you..."

"Give me shit! I bought this watch from the provincial capital! Can you afford it?"

Xia Dong waved his hand, and the things on the tea table fell all over the floor with a crackling sound.

He looked at Liu Mei fiercely, gritting his teeth in anger:

"I want this watch today! If you don't give it to me, you can forget about having me as your son!"

After saying that, he slammed the door and left.

Liu Mei's lips trembled for a long time before she slowly sat down on the stool.

However, even though I had a firm grip on the job, my heart was still not at peace.

Xia Dashan's voice could be heard from inside the house again. He shouted once, but no one answered, so he shouted even louder.

He stayed in the hospital for three days and then was released.

Originally, Liu Mei wanted to stay a few more days, but Xia Lulu said that there was no cure for cerebral congestion.

I am still drooling even after being cured.

Although Xia Dashan woke up, his mouth was so crooked that no one could understand what he said.

Without a man to make the decision, Liu Mei also lost her backbone, so she could only follow Xia Lulu and pull the man back.

Xia Dashan can't move half of his body now, so he definitely can't go to work.

After discussing it with his family, they decided to process his medical retirement.

Although he retired several years early, his pension was halved compared to his salary, but fortunately after completing the formalities, the factory was able to give him a retirement subsidy of 400 yuan and was also able to arrange a wedding for Xia Dong.

While thinking about these things, Liu Mei still had some hope for the future in her heart.

But she didn't expect that now Xia Dashan was paralyzed at home, and she was the only one to take care of him.

Asking for water, asking for food, getting up in the middle of the night, turning over...all became her job alone.

However, Xia Dong and Xia Lulu not only did not feel sorry for their father, but they started to make a fuss at this critical moment.

In the past, Liu Mei would definitely not let Xia Lulu compete with her brother.

But now that she is dating Xie Minghui, she has to swallow back many of the things she used to say freely.

Thinking of this, Liu Mei couldn't help wiping away tears.

She listened to Xia Dashan's unclear voice in the house, stood up, and had to go back inside.

well……

This house...what should I do...

*

At the same time.

Xia Lulu was looking at her hand, repeatedly admiring the exquisite watch on her wrist.

The small dial is coated with a brass color that looks like gold, and the small hands move forward "tick-tick-tick", looking delicate and beautiful.

It’s really beautiful.

When she got married in her last life, she bought a watch like this.

That’s great, I’ve made up for it in this life.

She looked up at Xie Minghui with a hint of infatuation in her eyes.

In the past few days, Xie Minghui has gone from rejecting and remaining silent at the beginning to slowly accepting her existence.

But, people always look lifeless.

Death.

Xia Lulu felt coquettish and snuggled up to him intentionally.

They were sitting on stone benches on the Yunnan University campus. Some students passing by seemed to recognize Xie Minghui and looked in their direction curiously.

Xia Lulu deliberately glared at them and successfully made them look away.

Afterwards, Xia Lulu exaggeratedly leaned on Xie Minghui's shoulder.

She raised her head, stretched her hand high in the air, and watched the small watch ticking on her wrist.

The voice asked lovingly:

"Brother Minghui, let's go get the marriage certificate next Tuesday, okay?"

After hearing this, Xie Minghui seemed to come back to life from the dead.

He turned his head slightly, was silent for a long time, and then said in a sentence:

"Lulu...I'm sorry...but..."

"Don't ask me if I deserve it or not. I did it voluntarily."

Xia Lulu giggled, successfully making Xie Minghui shut his mouth as he was about to say something.

He was silent for a while, then could not help saying:

"I know I hurt you...I can...make it up...but..."

"What but?"

Xia Lulu's face suddenly turned:

"You won't regret it, will you?"

She opened her eyes wide, and it was hard to tell whether it was a threat or something else:

"Xie Minghui, it was consensual at the time, and everyone in your school knows about it!"

"Or do you want my whole family to go to your security department and sue you for hooliganism?"

Xie Minghui was speechless.

Xia Lulu was finally satisfied and she put her arm around Xie Minghui affectionately:

"Look how nice I am. I don't ask you for a dowry or the 'three big things'. When you marry me, you will know what it means to marry a golden rooster!"

*

After the beginning of autumn, the autumn colors gradually deepen.

Yuncheng is located in the south of China, and autumn comes later there.

But even so, we can still feel the arrival of autumn from the weather that is getting cooler day by day.

In the past few years, Xia Tang would always fall ill every autumn.

Sneezing and runny nose are considered mild symptoms, but sometimes if it persists for a long time, you may have a cough for more than a month.

Before, Xia Tang just thought that he was not in good health.

After I got married and had a certain degree of autonomy, I realized that I actually didn’t have enough clothes to wear.

So, when she felt the autumn coming, she had one more task to do when she arrived at the morning market: buy autumn clothes.

Things are cheap at the morning market, and clothes are not expensive either.

This year, there are several more stalls specializing in selling fashionable clothes, with strange and bizarre clothes scattered on the white cloth spread out on the stalls. If you ask, they are the fashionable styles from Guangzhou.

Guangzhou...

Hearing this familiar place name, Xia Tang thought of the person who is now in Guangzhou.

A few days ago, Xia Tang received a telegram, also from Qin Yue.

Every word in the telegram cost money, so Qin Yue didn't send too much content. He just sent a few concise words: "Guangzhou is doing well, arrived safely, I miss you very much."

When he received the message, Xia Tang held the small piece of telegram paper in his hand, and as he read it, the tips of his ears gradually turned red.

She didn't know why Qin Yue wrote the four words "I miss you so much" on the telegram.

When I was here before, I would blush if someone teased me.

Now I am not ashamed anymore.

She tucked the telegram paper carefully away, lowered her head, and casually rummaged through the clothes stall.

"Girl, you are so pretty, why don't you buy these bell-bottom pants! This is a new style from Guangzhou, it's so pretty!"

The enthusiastic proprietress pushed a pair of sky blue bell-bottoms in front of Xia Tang. The exaggerated bell-bottoms made Xia Tang laugh.

She politely declined, picked out a pair of black tweed trousers for herself, and bought a thick orange and yellow bouclé sweater.

The prices at the morning market are cheaper, but autumn and winter clothes are not that much cheaper.

I spent a total of fifteen yuan on the two pieces of clothing.

Xia Tang rummaged through the pile of clothes and picked out three identical blue sweaters, knitted with two strands of wool. The styles looked simple and delicate.

"Boss, I want to buy three more pieces. Can you give me a discount?"

The lady boss took it and looked at it, and was delighted:

"Girl, these three are exactly the same. Are you here to buy some from me?"

Xia Tang pursed her lips and said, "I'll take it back to make work clothes."

In the past few days, Ma Dafeng and the other two have gradually gotten the hang of it, which has reduced her workload a lot.

Among the three, Ma Dafeng was the most efficient, Chen Meijuan was not as good, but she could still do things like serving dishes, and Chen Minyun was always silent, but she was the last one to leave every day. She would often go back with Xia Tang after he closed the shop.

Xia Tang was generally satisfied with them. Seeing that the autumn weather was getting cooler, he decided to buy everyone a sweater when they became permanent employees. Letting them wear it to work would make them look energetic and also be a benefit.

The lady boss didn't know Xia Tang had so many plans, and seeing that she bought a lot, she finally gave her a discount. The three sweaters were finally given to Xia Tang at 15 yuan.

She bought the clothes and other purchases and slowly walked back to Tang Kee Snack Shop.

After running the business steadily for a while, there aren't so many people gathering at the door when the store is not open.

But when she got to the door, a familiar old customer greeted her:

"Boss Xia, let's open the store."

Xia Tang smiled and nodded.

Not long after entering the door, Ma Dafeng and Chen Meijuan walked in one after another.

Ma Dafeng came in and couldn't help rubbing his hands:

"What a weather..."

After saying this, he quickly poured out yesterday's hot water from the thermos and drank several big gulps.

She was an old woman, and any money she saved was spent on her son and daughter-in-law, so naturally she didn't have enough clothes to wear.

When Xia Tang handed her the clothes, Ma Dafeng was stunned with astonishment:

"Is this... is this for me?"

Xia Tang smiled and nodded:

"Wear it when you come to the store next time. The three of you wear the same thing, it will make you look more energetic."

Ma Dafeng uttered an "ah" earnestly, touched the thick sweater lovingly, and was almost reluctant to put the clothes down.

Both of them liked the sweater very much and put it on as soon as they got it.

Several people were busy with their own work. Xia Tang also washed his hands and prepared to start today's work.

Nowadays, Tangji Snack Shop’s small pot rice noodles have already gained a good reputation.

But if you only focus on one category, it will inevitably be boring.

Therefore, Xia Tang wanted to make some refreshing and appetizing sour papaya today.

Sour papaya is fermented from raw papaya. Papaya with a certain crispness is selected. Through fermentation, the hard papaya undergoes a miraculous chemical reaction, turning the color into golden yellow. At the same time, the papaya itself will gradually change from a monotonous papaya to a more sour and sweet taste.

Sour papaya has a crisp taste. Once cooked, it can be used as an appetizer or in a variety of dishes. It is full of flavor.