Chapter 61: Broom Scrambled Eggs
Several people fell silent.
Wu Chunmei also understood in her heart that this was a difficult request to make.
She also felt that Qin Yue might offer suggestions because things were difficult to handle.
But she didn't expect that the one who stood up and said "no" was not Qin Yue, but Qin Lian.
Wu Chunmei's old face flushed red immediately. After a long pause, she spoke to Qin Lian in a very high voice:
"Girl, how can you say that to your mother?"
"No matter how mean your second aunt is, she is still your second aunt! Do you mean that you want Mom to break off the relationship with your second aunt before you are satisfied?"
After he finished speaking, his eyes were filled with tears and he actually felt aggrieved.
Qin Lian kept silent when she saw her mother like this.
She had followed Wu Chunmei since she was a child, so naturally she didn't want to deliberately anger her.
But regarding Wu Chunliu, she couldn't be tactful even if she was given a thousand chances.
After all, this so-called "Second Aunt" never had good intentions. Everyone in the village knew what kind of person she was, and only her mother, who couldn't see clearly, treated her like a treasure.
Wu Chunmei was so upset that she couldn't control herself and wiped her tears with her hands. Even Shuigen noticed something was wrong. She stretched her little hand into Wu Chunmei's old hand and said:
"Auntie, what's wrong with you? Who bullied you? Shuigen will help you beat him up!"
Wu Chunmei couldn't help wanting to laugh again, and she curled her lips, her smile was uglier than crying.
Just when he didn't know what to say, Qin Yue took over the conversation:
"Mom, don't feel wronged. Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for you to do this."
Wu Chunmei then comforted him:
"It's still my eldest son..."
"If Second Aunt asks, just say that I am a gigolo and cannot be the head of the family."
Qin Yue said seriously, with a pleasing smile on his upright face.
“Puff!”
Before Wu Chunmei could say anything, Qin Lian laughed out loud.
"What?"
Wu Chunmei was truly dumbfounded at this moment, and kept asking Qin Yue:
"My dear, how can you say that?"
Qin Yue smiled very cheerfully:
"That's true! People in the city all have two-time jobs, and there's no distinction between heads of the family. In our family, Xia Tang makes more money than I do, so what am I if not a gigolo?"
He even poked her mother with his shoulder:
"Your son can be a gigolo, so you should be proud as a mother! If he were an ordinary person with short height and bad looks, he wouldn't be able to be one!"
After saying this, he exchanged a smug look with Qin Lian, who was laughing so hard, and walked to the front.
Wu Chunmei, who was standing there, was stunned for several seconds, and then she really cried out.
When Xia Tang returned home at night, he always felt that Wu Chunmei looked depressed.
She was obviously unwilling to pay attention to Qin Yue and Xia Tang, but she was even more polite to her.
She felt confused by the feeling of being kept at a distance.
Before going to bed at night, she took the time to ask Qin Yue.
Qin Yue told her what happened before, and Xia Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"You too, the old lady didn't do anything serious, but you actually poked her lungs like that."
Qin Yue hugged Xia Tang from behind, with his chin resting on her shoulder:
"How does this count as poking a lung tube? Isn't this the truth?"
After saying this, he turned Xia Tang's body over and spoke in a low voice, with an especially gentle look in his eyes:
"Sister, you were just looking at me..."
"What did you say..."
Xia Tang's pretty face turned red instantly, and she stared at him with her crystal clear almond eyes. She tried to touch his mouth with her hand, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms instead.
The moment she was hugged, Xia Tang's body softened instantly.
The two people were hugging each other like this, and before they could take any further action, the door of the balcony was suddenly pulled open.
Qin Lian was holding a fruit plate in her hand. Seeing the two people hastily parting, she stammered:
"Shui Gener said... he wanted to eat peanuts."
Xia Tang nodded, turned sideways to let Qin Lian pass, and secretly stretched out his hand and twisted Qin Yue's arm hard.
*
The new year passed in such a lively and noisy manner.
Perhaps it was because Qin Yue and Qin Lian's attitude was too tough, Wu Chunliu did not bring Hu Fang over until Wu Chunmei and the others left.
Xia Tang actually wanted the two children to stay with them, but after discussing for a long time, Shuigen and Niuzi were finally taken away by Qin Lian.
"Sister-in-law, you have to run the store and take care of your stomach, and you have two children. You are too busy to handle it."
Qin Lian looked at Xia Tang's belly and narrowed her eyes:
"You two little guys, just follow us first!"
Xia Tang nodded and stuffed all the test papers and hand-copied tutoring books that he could buy into Qin Lian's package:
"Then I hope you do well in the exam this time, get admitted to Yun University, and then come back to Yun City."
Qin Lian smiled with her eyes narrowed.
After seeing the family off, Xia Tang's home suddenly felt much emptier.
Xia Tang felt a little disappointed, but after the New Year, there was another wave of customers, so she didn't have time to think about anything else.
Currently, there are three Tang Kee stores in operation.
Store 1 is the best performing store, with a net profit of 1,500 yuan per month. Store 2 is mainly managed by Zhu Cunhua and Minyun, and is smaller in scale and has a lower profit of 700 to 800 yuan. Store 3's profit has also stabilized after the New Year, and has exceeded 1,000 yuan for two consecutive months.
By this calculation, the three stores make a total of more than three thousand yuan in profit per month. Excluding the share given to Minzhi, it is still nearly three thousand yuan per month.
After the Chinese New Year, Chen Minzhi returned the 300 yuan to Xia Tang and officially received her first dividend.
She held the five hundred yuan in her hand and could hardly believe her eyes.
five hundred!
She used to earn more than 50 yuan a month, and when she got a big bonus, it could be over 60 yuan. With this income, she was considered the pillar of the family.
But here in Xia Tang, I can earn 500 a month! That’s ten months’ salary!
She even wondered why she didn't help Xia Tang from the beginning, she would have become a millionaire long ago!
She carefully put the change and the whole money into her pocket. As she held the thick stack of money between her fingers, she felt more secure than ever before.
Money is a person's courage, and it is really true!
"Xia Tang..."
She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say.
My body is full of vigor and I wish I could keep doing this for a month, a year, or forever.
Xia Tang knew what Chen Minzhi was thinking, so she patted Chen Minzhi on the shoulder:
"Sister Minzhi, this store is ours. If you work hard in the future, I am confident that we can surpass the first store."
Chen Minzhi clenched her fists tightly and murmured "hmm" in a low voice.
After a new year, spring is quietly coming to Yuncheng.
In this city full of flowers, the arrival of spring is like a grand and colorful festival, which makes people yearn for it.
Xia Tang still remembers that every time the bustling but short-lived spring came, the whole city was filled with the fragrance of unknown flowers, some sweet, some light, and each scent made people yearn for it.
Yuncheng is a city of flowers and a city of food. Yuncheng people love food and extend their pursuit of food to flowers. Various dishes made with flowers are available in spring, bombarding everyone's taste buds like sweet bombs.
Therefore, this spring, Xia Tang also plans to launch a series of dishes made with flowers, extending the breath of spring from the branches to people's tongues.
However, although she intended to do so, it was not so easy to do.
The first problem is the stable supply of flowers.
During this time, Tang Ji has been using the vegetables sent by Lao Zhang. Although the supply is stable, Lao Zhang's home is in a rural area in the suburbs after all. Lao Zhang cannot provide some of the flowers that Xia Tang wants.
He was so anxious that he even told Xia Tang that he might as well ride his bicycle to a distant village to see if he could find a place that provided vegetables.
Xia Tang shook his head.
Lao Zhang delivered food to her once a day, and he delivered food to three stores each time.
You have to take care of your own vegetable garden, and if you don’t have enough vegetables, you have to buy them from other families in the village.
He is already too busy every day, and if she asks him to go from village to village, she is really afraid that he will be exhausted.
Since Lao Zhang’s approach doesn’t work, she has to find other channels.
Before she found it, she could only buy flowers that were sold in small stalls in the market.
Fortunately, now that spring has arrived, there are more and more stalls selling flowers in the back streets. Although the prices are a bit expensive and unstable, they can still barely make ends meet.
After deciding on the flowers, Xia Tang went straight into the central kitchen and began to "test" the food.
Chen Minzhi arrived later than Xia Tang.
After she received her dividend some time ago, she moved out with Xiaoxiao and Minyun and temporarily rented a small yard nearby.
She was also thinking that she could buy another set after a few more months.
Houses are not expensive nowadays, but not many can be transferred with property rights, so if you want to buy a house, you have to take risks.
As soon as she entered the yard, she felt the whole yard was filled with the fragrance of flowers. Looking again, she saw all kinds of flowers piled on the ground.
There are golden broom flowers, thick-petaled magnolias, pure white and bluish bitter thorn flowers, roses of various colors...
Flowers of all kinds are piled up in winnowing baskets, and just looking at them is a visual feast.
Chen Minzhi couldn't help but marvel at it.
Walking into the kitchen, Xia Tang and Zhu Cunhua were peeling off the petals of the magnolia flowers one by one and soaking them in clean water.
The pure white magnolia flowers floating on the water look plump and white, which makes them look much more adorable than when they were on the trees.
"Xia Tang, what are you going to do?"
Chen Minzhi washed her hands, took the magnolia flowers from Xia Tang's hand, and broke them apart skillfully.
Xia Tang's belly was already quite big at this time.
She was wearing a loose, thin sweater and had her hair tied up loosely, which made her look much gentler than before.
She gently pressed her hand on the white cloth and said:
"Magnolia flowers can be used to make many kinds of dishes. I want to try whether it is better to make preserves or use it to make stewed meat."
“什麽？還能做蜜餞？釀肉？”
陳敏芝可從來沒聽過這一出，頓時眼睛睜得大大的：
“夏棠，你沒在騙我吧”
朱村花笑着接話道：
“我一開始也不信呢，但是剛剛夏棠姐做了金雀花炒蛋，我就什麽都信了。對了敏芝姐，金雀花炒蛋就放在那邊的桌子上，你要不要試試看？”
陳敏芝回頭一看，金燦燦油汪汪的炒蛋正放在自己不遠的臺子上，看上去特別有食欲。
她笑着回頭：
“行，等我幫你們做完這個，就去試試。”
一整個下午，三個女人在廚房裏忙碌個不停。
各種菜式都試了個遍，吃到最後，終于确定今年春天主要推的有三種——金雀花炒蛋、玉蘭蜜餞和苦刺花豆米粑粑。
金雀花炒蛋是春天雲省鄉下常見的一種菜肴。
将金燦燦的金雀花摘掉花蒂洗幹淨，燙熟後與雞蛋一起攪拌均勻。
炒出來的菜肴黃黃綠綠的十分好看，吃起來又香又嫩，特別具有春天的氣息。
而經過夏棠烹饪出的金雀花炒蛋，在兩種傳統的食材上又添加了火腿作為調味，鹹香的火腿與金雀花的清香融合在一起，滋味更加誘人。
玉蘭蜜餞則是一款甜口的小零食。
将肥厚的玉蘭花瓣摘下，用鹽搓洗之後瀝幹，随後将花瓣與糖按照比例拌勻，再小火熬煮到花瓣透明的狀态，就可以吃了。
玉蘭蜜餞的甜不是一般蜜餞那種特別濃厚的甜味，而是甜中帶着一股花香，是一種別有趣味的小甜品。
而苦刺花豆米粑粑，則用了鄉下人春天常吃的苦刺花作為主要的食材，和青豆米混合做成粑粑，味道鮮香口感軟糯，無論是從味覺還是觀感，都特別适合春天品嘗。
陳敏芝跟着夏棠一直忙到快要晚上，這才将這三樣菜全都定了下來。
她看着夏棠，由衷的說：
“怪不得棠記的小吃這麽多人愛吃，真是活該你發財。”
夏棠抿着嘴笑：
“那也得多虧了你這個美食品鑒官才是。”
陳敏芝笑了起來。
她今天一個人出來，笑笑讓敏雲幫忙帶着。
看着天色晚了，便用盔子帶了一份苦刺花豆米粑粑回去給笑笑加餐。
還沒走到大門口，突然見到了一個人。
陳敏芝的腳步頓住了。
對面的人，居然是他有日子沒見的前夫，杜林生。
看着臉瘦了不少的杜林生，陳敏芝突然慶幸，自己沒把笑笑給帶過來。
夏棠和朱村花仍在屋裏收拾，突然聽到外頭漸漸地聲音大了起來。
她和朱村花走出去看，卻見到一個陌生的男人死死的拉着陳敏芝的胳膊。
而陳敏芝的手突然揚起，狠狠的給了眼前男人一巴掌。
“啪”的一聲，把夏棠都給吓到了。
可是，那個男人居然不躲也不閃，甚至就那麽一直盯着陳敏芝，嘴裏頭說：
“要是這樣能讓你消氣，那就打吧！”
陳敏芝的手卻揮不下去了。
夏棠走了過去，一只手拽住了陳敏芝。
男人看到她和朱村花，方才将手放了開。
但是仍然不放棄的說：
“敏芝，跟我回去。”
陳敏芝一口吐沫吐在了他臉上：
“給我滾吧！跟你回去，除非我死了！”
男人最終還是滾了。
夏棠攥着陳敏芝的手，只覺得她的手上汗津津的，全都是冷汗。
她将陳敏芝又帶回了院子。
一直到坐在院裏的石凳上，陳敏芝身上的汗仍沒有消掉。
她看着夏棠關切的眼神，突然間有些想哭：
“夏棠，你說他怎麽有臉……怎麽能……”
她又說不下去了。
夏棠攥着她的手，感覺到她的身體微微的顫抖着。
過了好一會兒，她方才冷靜了下來，慢慢的講到了剛剛的事情。
原來，剛剛杜林生是來找她“複婚”的。
嘴裏說着後悔，但實際上，卻是因為婆婆王開雲和新媳婦合不來，家裏頭吵得鬧翻天。
那個新媳婦，還是王開雲娘家的遠房親戚，可沒想到，結婚沒兩個月，就鬧得不可開交。
王開雲嫌棄新媳婦總是往娘家拿東西，新媳婦則埋怨婆婆摳門，還總對她指手畫腳。
鬧得最厲害的時候，新媳婦甚至揚言要喝藥。
被攔了幾次之後，更是一甩袖子回了老家，誰接都接不回來。
她和王開雲鬧不來，杜林生也看她不順眼，兩個人的婚姻又到了破碎的邊緣。
這時候，一家人才想起了陳敏芝的好。
說到這裏，陳敏芝又忍不住替自己委屈：
“夏棠，你說他們把我當什麽了！一個垃圾回收站嗎？”
“憑什麽別人不要的東西，我就能給收了？”
“還口口聲聲的為了笑笑。笑笑有這麽個爹，我都替笑笑感覺到臉紅！”
夏棠安慰的拍了拍陳敏芝的手。
這件事情，她一聽就知道，是陳敏芝的那個前婆婆又作妖了。
她看不上快言快語的陳敏芝，原本以為娶個親戚進門當兒媳婦，自己更好拿捏。
哪知道新媳婦根本不是省油的燈。
王開雲想要原形畢露繼續作，可沒想到新媳婦根本不吃她那一套。
而杜林生那樣的媽寶男，則根本沒有平衡家庭的能力。
見到自己的這個老婆将家裏頭搞得雞飛狗跳，這才想起原來那一個的好。
陳敏芝是好啊！
可是她憑什麽要你呢？
一旁，陳敏芝還在因為杜林生的事情發着愁：
“夏棠，你說他要是再來纏着我咋辦啊？”
夏棠想了想：
“這個也好辦。”
“要不，你就讓倉庫的小劉跟着你幾天，跟多了，杜林生就知難而退了。”
小劉是中央廚房最主要的勞動力，負責食材的搬運整理和送菜。
他個子高，塊頭大，力氣也大，一站過去，就是一座山。
“他？”
陳敏芝有些遲疑：
“他行嗎？”
夏棠輕輕一笑：
“行倒是行，不過在那之前啊，還得做件事兒。”
夏棠說完這句話，第二天就領着小劉去了後街最時髦的理發店和服裝店。
等小劉從理發店和服裝店出來，已經從一個老實本分的樸實小夥兒，徹底變成了一個“二流子”。
頭上頂着一頭靓麗的卷毛，身上穿着藍綠色的花襯衫，棕黃色的皮帶露在牛仔褲的外面，腳底下的尖頭皮鞋恨不得能紮人。
後街沒有紋身服務，夏棠便讓會畫國畫的師傅在胳膊上畫了一條張牙舞爪的龍，別看樣子像不像，單看那架勢，确實夠威風的。
身上再穿了一件小一號的小皮衣，那架勢，在大街上都得讓人繞着走。
小劉打量着鏡子裏頭的自己，無措的撓了撓後腦勺：
“夏棠姐，我這……成啥樣了啊？”
夏棠将墨鏡往他的襯衫上一別，拍了拍他的肩膀：
“別說成啥樣了，你這次要是把敏芝姐保護好了，我給你漲工資！”
一聽漲工資，小劉眼睛都亮了，頓時雙腳一并：
“遵命！”
“行了，不能用這個姿勢，叼根煙我瞅瞅。”
“嗯，還行，一條腿伸前頭點兒，別站得太板正……”
陳敏芝被夏棠的這一番操作給驚掉了下巴。
然而不管她驚訝不驚訝，第二天開始，精心打扮後的小劉便跟定她了。
不管是回家還是去小吃店，他始終跟在身後，那架勢，就連去接笑笑的時候，同學家長都得繞着走。
陳敏芝覺得別扭，但是，等小劉幫她攔了好幾次杜林生之後，她又覺得，夏棠的這個招，行。
畢竟，杜林生和王開雲就算是不講理，那也是正常人裏頭的不講理。
這種人其實最害怕遇到刺頭了。
而現如今的小劉，就是他們最讨厭的那種“刺頭”。
*
就在陳敏芝帶着小劉勇鬥前夫的時候，另一頭，買了蘭花苗的有些人家，在半年的得意之後，卻難得的陷入了困境。
照理說，現在距離回收蘭花苗的時間，還有大半年，那些買了苗的人沒道理朝她要錢。
但實際上，總有些沉不住氣的人。
上一批的大筆買苗，只有極少數的人是買的原價苗，大部分人買的時候，都需要從別人的手裏頭買加了價的蘭花苗。
要是加的少還算能夠承受，但有些，卻是翻了幾倍的價格買的。
這些人心裏無疑存在着僥幸：
就算是八十塊錢買了一株苗又怎麽樣，到時候鄭老板一百塊收回去，他們也還能夠賺二十。
可是，這也存在着問題：
很多人為了買高價的苗，錢都是從親戚那裏湊過來的，高價收苗讓全家不堪重負。
而且這蘭花苗是活的，如果還沒到收苗的時候，苗死了該怎麽辦啊？
梁豔芳面臨的就是這種情況。
之前蘭花苗剛起的時候，她其實沒放在眼裏。
等這熱潮真的起了勢，才慌慌張張的說要買，可是苗已經漲得很高了。
梁豔芳想要買，可自己只是個家庭婦女，一家老小的開銷靠着當工人的丈夫一個月四十多的工資撐着，哪裏有餘錢來買苗。
梁豔芳尋思了一晚上，幹脆甜言蜜語的，将王開雲也拉下了水。
Not only did she cheat Wang Kaiyun out of 400 yuan, she also took a little from Chen Meijuan, and with the miscellaneous money from other relatives, she collected a total of 700 yuan and bought ten seedlings.
Seven hundred for ten trees and seventy for one tree is really expensive, but Liang Yanfang didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Anyway, when Boss Zheng buys them, she can earn thirty dollars for each tree!
These thirty are enough!
Who knows, next year another big boss may come back to acquire the company and sell it for a higher price!
Liang Yanfang looked at the orchid seedlings as if they were eyeballs.
The ten seedlings were kept in her living room. Logically speaking, Liang Yanfang didn't have to go to work, so she could watch them day and night, so there was no doubt that nothing would go wrong.
But one day when she went out, she came back and found that all the seedlings had wilted.
Two days later, the roots of all the seedlings rotted.
The seedlings died and the money was gone.