Mrs. Lu finished work early and was the first to return home. As she entered the house from the kitchen in the backyard, she smelled a strong aroma.
Mrs. Lu recalled that the sweet popcorn she had fed her on Saturday hadn't smelled this good.
So Madam Lu asked Lu Qiqi, who was making chili salt, "Qiqi, what delicious food are you making again?"
Lu Qiqi mixed and crushed the chili peppers and salt, then sprinkled them on the potato chips and tossed them evenly with a winnowing basket.
Lu Qiqi, who had just put down the winnowing basket, said, "Auntie, come and try the potato chips I just made."
After washing her hands thoroughly before returning home, Ms. Lu took a potato chip and put it in her mouth. The salty, spicy, and crispy potato chip instantly made her mouth water.
Mrs. Lu's eyes widened in delight, and she gave a thumbs up, saying, "This is delicious! Give me another piece!"
Lu Qiqi said with a smile, "Auntie, please feel free to eat as much as you like. This is easy to make."
As Mrs. Lu put potato chips in her mouth, she asked, "What the hell are these potato chips? How are they made? They smell so good and taste oily. You just 'bang' them with that metal thing?"
When Lu mentioned the smell of oil, Li Changlong, who had witnessed Lu Qiqi making potato chips, stood silently in the corner, listening intently to what Lu Qiqi had to say, wondering if he could get rid of this meal of stir-fried bamboo shoots and pork.
Lu Qiqi pointed with a grin at the oil pan that had just cooled down and said, "It's fried in lard. You put potato slices into the hot oil and fry them until..."
Before Lu Qiqi could finish speaking, Madam Lu caught the key point. When she saw half a pot of lard, her heart ached terribly!
Mrs. Lu was already a little out of breath. She said, "This stuff uses so much oil! This isn't eating! This is clearly eating money!"
Lu Qiqi picked at her ear. She was so tired of hearing Lu Shi say that phrase.
However, he always agreed to it, but never actually did it.
Lu Qiqi perfectly embodies the meaning of being incorrigible and extremely stubborn!
As soon as Li entered the door, she heard Lu's heartbroken voice and asked in confusion, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"
As if she had found a helper, Madam Lu quickly pulled Madam Li to the pot, pointing to the half-filled pot of oil and saying, "Look at these kids, what have they been doing at home!"
"They actually used half a pot of oil to make those damn potato chips! That oil would have been enough for our family to eat for a long time!"
Looking at the half-filled pot of oil, Li glanced at Li Changlong. Li Changlong dared not meet Li's gaze and lowered his head sheepishly, waiting to be scolded.
Unexpectedly, instead of scolding her, Madam Li smiled and said, "Seventh Sister must have made something delicious. Let me have a taste too."
Upon hearing what Li said, Tuesday grabbed a handful of potato chips from the winnowing basket and gave them to Li.
Ms. Li took the potato chip with both hands, picked up a piece, ate it, and said with a smile, "It's really delicious. It was worth all the oil."
“Little sister, you…” Madam Lu did not expect that Madam Li would not help her teach the children to be frugal and not wasteful, but instead praised the potato chips as delicious.
But those potato chips were really delicious, Lu thought to himself.
“Sister-in-law,” Li said, “if the children like it, just make it. We’re not like we used to be when we had nothing.”
"Whose family can eat white rice and flatbread every day, and have cured meat hanging in their house in winter?"
"We have so much food, yet we still live frugally like before, reluctant to eat anything. When will we ever finish eating all this cured meat in the house?"
"Besides, this lard was rendered from the fat that Seventh Sister bought. She doesn't mind that the lard is expensive, so why are you complaining about wasting oil?"
"But we absolutely cannot use half a pot of oil!" Madam Lu was persuaded by Madam Li, but she still insisted on her own idea, feeling that it was wrong to waste oil.
Lu Qiqi knew that Lu's mindset couldn't be changed overnight, but even after so long, their family could still argue over a pot of lard, which meant she wasn't earning enough money.
Lu Qiqi winked at Zhou Liu, who was standing to the side, and said, "Xiao Liu, feed your aunt a few potato chips. She likes them."
On Saturday, he immediately understood and actually started feeding Lu Shi.
Ms. Lu already favored Saturdays, so when she ate the potato chips that were given to her on Saturdays, she didn't feel it was a waste. Instead, she felt that Ms. Li's words made some sense.
Just as Lu Qiqi finished smoothing out Lu Shi's hair on Saturday, Li Qingshan and Lu Dahai returned from outside.
So Lu Qiqi revealed her plan, saying, "After the New Year, I plan to send Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Ayao to the school."
Sending the child to school was a decision Lu Qiqi had made long ago, and everyone knew it. However, tuition fees and the cost of writing materials were a huge expense.
How can we afford to send so many people to school at once?
Madam Lu began, “Back then, when Li Yuanxu went to school to take the imperial examination, it exhausted Li Yuantian and his wife. Seeing that they worked hard from dawn till dusk every day and still couldn’t afford a single sheet of paper, I felt that Aunt Zhang had done a terrible job of harming her two sons.”
Li Qingshan and Li Shi remained silent. After a moment of contemplation, Lu Dahai said, "Let's pool our money first, set aside some for buying seeds and rice, and use the rest to send the children to school."
Having made charcoal cakes for so long, Lu Dahai had accumulated quite a bit of wealth, which was why he was able to suggest pooling his money.
Back when we lived in Yushan Town, I never even dared to think about sending my child to school.
What's more, he sent four children to school at once.
On Thursday and Friday, I realized that things weren't going well at home. Right now, only my third brother is earning money at the noodle shop, which is not enough to support the three brothers' schooling.
On Thursday and Friday, they said in unison, "I'm not going to school anymore."
Everyone turned their attention to the two children, especially Lu Qiqi's scrutinizing gaze, which made Thursday and Friday lower their heads somewhat guiltily.
Lu Qiqi asked, "Do you really not want to go to school anymore, or do you feel that your family doesn't have the money to support your education and you don't want to be a burden on your family?"
Every word Lu Qiqi said hit the nail on the head, striking a chord with Thursday and Friday.
They could only lower their heads and remain silent, as if they had done something wrong, standing there as if they were being punished in class.
Lu Qiqi could understand this feeling all too well. In her previous life, although she was the senior disciple of Mount Emei, apart from what her master required her to learn, she could only learn other hobbies by working part-time to have the opportunity to learn what she wanted to learn, such as making food.
When you lack the ability, all your ideas are just empty talk.
She said, "Although tuition fees and writing materials are expensive, we can earn our own tuition!"
The moment the words "earning tuition fees" were uttered, people on Thursday and Friday looked up.
On Thursday, he asked, "Can we?"
Lu Qiqi smiled and patted Zhou Si's head, saying, "How will you know if you can do it if you don't try?"
"Don't easily admit defeat if you haven't tried it. So what if you fail? Just get up and try again."
On Thursday and Friday, they nodded as if they understood, but on Monday, they and Li Changlong understood.
On Monday, he asked, "Are there any good ways to make money?"
Li Changlong said, "I'm idle at home, so I can go and help."
Many hands make light work, so Lu Qiqi said, "Then let's set up a stall tomorrow and sell popcorn and potato chips!"
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