The next day, as dawn broke, Wu Qiaoqiao sat up in bed with a yawn. She picked up her women's watch from the bedside table and saw that it was already past 5 a.m. Looking at the three children sleeping next to her—one half-grown and three smaller—she felt an urge to slap each of them on the bottom.
It turned out that the children were very happy when they heard that they were going to find Liu Mingfeng yesterday. The five of them played on the kang in Wu Qiaoqiao's room until very late. In the end, only Liu Xiangjun went back to his room to sleep with his eyes half-closed, while Liu Xiangqin, Liu Xiangguo, and Niu Niu fell asleep in her room.
It wouldn't have been a problem originally, but Wu Qiao had already arranged with her second uncle yesterday that she would go to town this morning to deliver some chickens, ducks, and vegetables to Liu Mingxin's restaurant.
Over the past three years, due to the country's development, Liu Mingxin realized that things were not going to work out in the state-run restaurant. So she sold her job at the state-run restaurant to someone else and opened a small restaurant in town with her husband. At that time, she had a big fight with her sister-in-law because of this restaurant. In the end, her mother-in-law and father-in-law decided to separate the family property, which allowed them to get rid of her sister-in-law and her family of deadbeats.
The ingredients needed for Liu Mingxin's restaurant are all sourced from Liu Ercheng's family. After the land was distributed to individuals, Liu Ercheng, along with his eldest son Liu Dahu, Liu Sanqian's son Liu Dashu, and the women of both families, farmed and grew vegetables at home. They also fenced off land on the mountain to raise chickens and ducks. Since Liu Mingxin opened his restaurant, their daily task is to pick fresh vegetables from the fields and deliver them, along with the chickens and ducks they caught the day before and the eggs they collected, to Liu Mingxin's restaurant early in the morning.
Because it was agreed upon yesterday, this is how things turned out. Wu Qiaoqiao yawned and wiped away the tears that flowed from the corners of her eyes as she yawned. She got up and took out a pair of black suit pants and a white short-sleeved shirt from the closet. After changing, she took out a brown leather belt that was two fingers wide from the drawer next to her and tied it around her slender waist. Finally, she tied her long black hair, which reached the middle of her back, into a high ponytail. Before going out, she took out a black sun hat from the closet next to her and put it on. After putting it on, she prepared to go out to wash up.
As soon as she went outside, she saw that the kitchen light was on. She went in and saw Zhao Xiuxiang busy at the stove.
"Mom, why are you up so early? Why don't you sleep a little longer? There's no rush for breakfast; I can just make myself something. Besides, I'm going to deliver some things to my little sister, so it's fine to eat at her place."
When Zhao Xiuxiang saw Wu Qiaoqiao come in, she straightened up, picked up a rag and wiped her hands. Looking at Wu Qiaoqiao's beautiful outfit, she couldn't help but nod. In her opinion, young people should dress up nicely. A few years ago, due to special reasons, everyone was dressed in drab clothes. Now that the country has opened up, they should dress up properly.
"Wow, you're all dressed up so nicely! Did Vivi mail this outfit back again?"
When Wu Qiaoqiao heard Zhao Xiuxiang praise her beauty, she happily spun around in front of her.
"Yes, Mom, isn't it beautiful? But how did you know that these clothes were mailed back by Weiwei?"
Upon hearing Wu Qiaoqiao's question, Zhao Xiuxiang pointed to a pattern on the corner of her shirt, then to a pattern on the left pocket of her pants that was exactly the same as the one on her shirt, and said to Wu Qiaoqiao.
"Isn't this the 'low' brand that you told me about, with some kind of trademark?"
When Wu Qiaoqiao heard Zhao Xiuxiang say "that's right," she gave her a thumbs up, indicating that she was very smart. Zhao Xiuxiang smiled and patted Wu Qiaoqiao, telling her to hurry up and wash up so she could have breakfast. Wu Qiaoqiao agreed and went to the well in the yard to brush her teeth and wash her face.
While Wu Qiaoqiao was brushing her teeth and washing her face, Zhao Xiuxiang had already prepared a bowl of porridge and a stack of pancakes and brought them out of the kitchen, placing them on the table in the yard. It was still a bit hot to eat breakfast in the kitchen that day, so her family had already eaten in the yard.
After washing up, Wu Qiaoqiao saw that Zhao Xiuxiang had already brought her breakfast. Without being polite, she sat down at the table and started eating. She asked Zhao Xiuxiang if she wanted some, but Zhao Xiuxiang said it was too early and she would eat later, telling Wu Qiaoqiao not to worry about her and to hurry up and go next door after she finished eating, as she could already hear the busy sounds coming from next door.
So Wu Qiaoqiao didn't stand on ceremony with Zhao Xiuxiang. After slurping down her corn porridge and pancakes, she wiped her hands and face with a towel, applied some skincare products, and then went out to walk next door.
When we arrived at Liu Ercheng's house next door, we saw them loading vegetable baskets, cages for chickens and ducks, and egg trays made of straw onto their tricycles, which contained chicken, duck and goose eggs.
Seeing that they were all busy, Wu Qiaoqiao was about to go and help, but was stopped by her second aunt, Zhou Cuihua.
"No, stand aside. You're dressed so nicely, don't get it dirty. We can finish this in no time."
After Wu Qiaoqiao saw Zhou Cuihua finish speaking, her second uncle and third aunt all nodded and stood aside to wait without being polite.
Soon, the vegetables, chickens, ducks, and eggs that had been rinsed in the river to remove most of the soil, along with the eggs, were loaded onto the vehicle and secured with ropes. She then stepped forward and sat on the seat of the tricycle.
After getting on, she waved to the crowd at the door, then pushed off with her feet. Zhou Cuihua, who was about to speak to her, could only raise her hand and watch her receding figure. She then lowered her hand and spoke to her husband, Liu Ercheng, who was standing next to her.
"Sigh, Qiaoya is still as energetic as ever. I was thinking of asking her to call Yaya, Xiangdong, and Xiangnan back. Although they have already finished their summer homework, there are still less than two weeks until school starts, so they need to come back to review their lessons. They can't work at their aunt's shop to earn money anymore."
Liu Ercheng invited everyone inside to prepare breakfast. Every morning they had to get up early to harvest vegetables, then wash them briefly by the river before loading them onto a cart and delivering them to Liu Mingxin. By the time they finished, they were starving. So, each morning, while everyone was working, one person would take turns preparing breakfast, and by the time the work was finished, they could eat. It was the same now; Liu Ercheng ushered everyone in, answering his wife's question as he did so.
"You don't need to worry about it. Didn't we already talk about it yesterday? Qiaoqiao is a very capable girl. She will definitely pass on the message to Da Ya and those two brothers."
Zhou Cuihua agreed with this and didn't say anything more. Instead, she invited her third sister-in-law, nephew, and niece-in-law to come in for breakfast with their child.
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