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 consecutive 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 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."
"What? You can also make preserves? Stewed meat?"
Chen Minzhi had never heard of this before, and her eyes widened immediately:
"Xia Tang, you are not lying to me, are you?"
Zhu Cunhua smiled and continued:
"I didn't believe it at first, but when Sister Xia Tang made scrambled eggs with broom just now, I believed everything. By the way, Sister Minzhi, the scrambled eggs with broom are on the table over there, do you want to try it?"
Chen Minzhi looked back and saw the golden and greasy scrambled eggs placed on the table not far from her. They looked particularly appetizing.
She smiled and looked back:
"Okay, once I've done this for you guys, I'll go try it."
The three women were busy in the kitchen all afternoon.
After trying all kinds of dishes, I finally decided to recommend three main ones this spring - gorse scrambled eggs, magnolia preserves, and bitter thorn bean rice cakes.
Fried eggs with broom is a common dish in the countryside of Yunnan Province in spring.
Remove the stalks of the golden broom flowers, wash them clean, blanch them until cooked, and mix them with the eggs.
The fried dishes are very beautiful in yellow and green, taste fragrant and tender, and have a special spring flavor.
Xia Tang's fried broom eggs add ham as a seasoning to the two traditional ingredients. The salty ham blends with the fragrance of broom, making the taste even more tempting.
Magnolia candied fruit is a sweet snack.
Pick the thick magnolia petals, wash them with salt and drain them, then mix the petals with sugar in a uniform proportion, simmer over low heat until the petals become transparent, and you can eat them.
The sweetness of magnolia preserves is not the particularly strong sweetness of ordinary preserves, but it is sweet with a hint of floral fragrance. It is a very interesting little dessert.
The bitter thorn flower bean rice baba uses bitter thorn flowers, which are often eaten by country people in spring, as the main ingredient. It is mixed with green beans and rice to make baba. It has a fresh and fragrant taste and a soft and glutinous texture. Both in terms of taste and appearance, it is especially suitable for spring tasting.
Chen Minzhi and Xia Tang were busy until almost evening, and only then did they decide on all three dishes.
She looked at Xia Tang and said sincerely:
"No wonder so many people love Tang Kee's snacks. You really deserve to be rich."
Xia Tang smiled with her lips pursed:
"That's all thanks to you as a food connoisseur."
Chen Minzhi laughed.
She went out alone today, so Xiaoxiao asked Minyun to help take care of her.
Seeing that it was getting late, he brought back a portion of bitter thorn bean rice cake on his helmet as a snack for Xiaoxiao.
Before I even reached the gate, I suddenly saw someone.
Chen Minzhi paused.
The person opposite him turned out to be her ex-husband, Du Linsheng, whom she hadn't seen for a while.
Looking at Du Linsheng, whose face had become much thinner, Chen Minzhi suddenly felt fortunate that she did not bring Xiaoxiao with her.
Xia Tang and Zhu Cunhua were still tidying up in the house when they suddenly heard the noise outside gradually getting louder.
She and Zhu Cunhua went out to see, but saw a strange man holding Chen Minzhi's arm tightly.
Chen Minzhi suddenly raised her hand and slapped the man in front of her hard.
The sound of "pop" scared Xia Tang.
However, the man did not dodge or evade, and even kept staring at Chen Minzhi, saying:
"If that helps you calm down, go ahead!"
But Chen Minzhi couldn't raise her hand anymore.
Xia Tang walked over and grabbed Chen Minzhi with one hand.
The man let go of his hand only after he saw her and Zhu Cunhua.
But he still didn’t give up and said:
"Minzhi, come back with me."
Chen Minzhi spat in his face:
"Get out of here! I'll go back with you unless I die!"
The man finally left.
Xia Tang held Chen Minzhi's hand and felt that her hands were sweaty, all covered with cold sweat.
She brought Chen Minzhi back to the yard.
Even when she sat on the stone bench in the yard, Chen Minzhi's sweat had not yet disappeared.
She looked at Xia Tang's concerned eyes and suddenly felt like crying:
"Xia Tang, how can he have the nerve...how can he..."
She couldn't continue.
Xia Tang held her hand and felt her body trembling slightly.
After a long while, she calmed down and slowly told what had just happened.
It turned out that Du Linsheng had come to her to "remarry" just now.
She said she regretted it, but in reality, it was because her mother-in-law, Wang Kaiyun, and the new daughter-in-law did not get along, and there was a huge quarrel at home.
The new bride was a distant relative of Wang Kaiyun's family, but unexpectedly, within two months of the marriage, there was a lot of trouble.
Wang Kaiyun disliked the new daughter-in-law for always taking things from her parents' home, while the new daughter-in-law complained that her mother-in-law was stealing and always bossing her around.
When the situation was at its worst, the new daughter-in-law even threatened to take medicine.
After being blocked several times, he just threw up his sleeves and went back to his hometown, and no one could take him back.
She and Wang Kaiyun were not getting along, Du Linsheng also disliked her, and their marriage was on the verge of breaking up again.
At this time, the family remembered how good Chen Minzhi was.
At this point, Chen Minzhi couldn't help but feel sorry for herself:
"Xia Tang, what do they think I am? A garbage recycling station?"
"Why should I accept something that others don't want?"
"You keep saying it's all for Xiaoxiao. I feel ashamed for Xiaoxiao to have such a father!"
Xia Tang patted Chen Minzhi's hand comfortingly.
As soon as she heard about this, she knew that it was Chen Minzhi's ex-mother-in-law who was causing trouble again.
She looked down on the quick-talking Chen Minzhi and originally thought that marrying a relative as a daughter-in-law would give her an easier time controlling the situation.
But the new daughter-in-law turned out to be such a hassle.
Wang Kaiyun wanted to show her true colors and continue, but she didn't expect her new wife to not buy into her tricks at all.
A mama's boy like Du Linsheng has no ability to balance the family.
Seeing that his current wife had made a mess of the house, he finally remembered how good the original one was.
Chen Minzhi is good!
But why does she want you?
On the side, Chen Minzhi was still worried about Du Linsheng's matter:
"Xia Tang, what do you think I should do if he comes to bother me again?"
Xia Tang thought about it:
"That's easy."
"Or, you can let Xiao Liu from the warehouse follow you for a few days. If he follows you for too long, Du Linsheng will give up."
Xiao Liu is the main laborer in the central kitchen, responsible for transporting and sorting ingredients and delivering dishes.
He is tall, big, and strong. When he stands there, he looks like a mountain.
"he?"
Chen Minzhi was a little hesitant:
"Can he do it?"
Xia Tang smiled lightly:
"Okay, but before that, there's one more thing I have to do."
After Xia Tang said this, he took Xiao Liu to the most fashionable barber shop and clothing store in the back street the next day.
When Xiao Liu came out of the barber shop and the clothing store, he had completely transformed from an honest and simple young man into a "second-rate guy".
He had a head of beautiful curly hair, a blue-green floral shirt on, a brown-yellow leather belt sticking out from his jeans, and pointed leather shoes on his feet that looked like they could prick people.
There were no tattoo services in the back street, so Xia Tang asked a Chinese painting artist to paint a dragon with bared fangs and claws on his arm. Don't be fooled by whether it looks like a dragon or not, just looking at the posture, it is indeed majestic enough.
He was wearing a leather jacket that was one size too small, and he looked so handsome that people would walk around him in the street.
Xiao Liu looked at himself in the mirror and scratched his head helplessly:
"Sister Xia Tang, what has become of me?"
Xia Tang put his sunglasses on his shirt and patted his shoulder:
"Don't say anything. If you can protect Sister Minzhi this time, I'll give you a raise!"
When Xiao Liu heard about the salary increase, his eyes lit up and he immediately jumped up:
"Yes, sir!"
"Okay, you can't do this. Hold a cigarette and let me see."
"Well, it's okay. Just stretch one leg forward a little and don't stand too straight..."
Chen Minzhi was shocked by Xia Tang's actions.
However, no matter whether she was surprised or not, starting from the next day, Xiao Liu, who had dressed up carefully, followed her.
Whether going home or to a snack bar, he always followed behind us. Even when we went to pick up Xiaoxiao, our classmates and parents had to walk around us.
Chen Minzhi felt awkward, but after Xiao Liu helped her fend off Du Linsheng several times, she felt that Xia Tang's trick worked.
After all, even if Du Linsheng and Wang Kaiyun were unreasonable, they were only unreasonable among normal people.
In fact, this kind of people are most afraid of encountering troublemakers.
And now Xiao Liu is the kind of "troublemaker" they hate the most.
*
While Chen Minzhi and Xiao Liu were bravely fighting against her ex-husband, on the other side, some families who bought orchid seedlings fell into a rare predicament after half a year of success.
Logically speaking, there is still more than half a year before the orchid seedlings can be recycled, and there is no reason for those who bought the seedlings to ask her for money.
But in reality, there are always some people who can't keep their cool.
In the last batch of large purchases of seedlings, only a very small number of people bought the seedlings at the original price. Most people had to buy the orchid seedlings from others at a marked-up price.
If the increase is small, it is still affordable, but some are bought at several times the price.
There is no doubt that these people feel lucky:
Even if they bought a seedling for 80 yuan, when Boss Zheng took it back for 100 yuan, they could still make 20 yuan.
However, there are problems with this:
In order to buy expensive seedlings, many people have to collect money from relatives, and the high price of seedlings is a heavy burden for the whole family.
Moreover, the orchid seedlings are alive. What should I do if they die before the time to harvest them?
This is the situation that Liang Yanfang faced.
When the orchid seedlings first sprouted, she actually didn't pay much attention to them.
When the craze really started, I hurriedly said I wanted to buy, but the price had already risen very high.
Liang Yanfang wanted to buy some, but she was just a housewife. The expenses of her family were supported by her husband's monthly salary of more than 40 yuan, so she had no extra money to buy seedlings.
Liang Yanfang thought about it all night and finally dragged Wang Kaiyun into the water with sweet words.
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.
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