Wan Zhenzhen did go back to her parents' home. It took her more than two hours to walk home in the dark.
Her mother opened the door for her with her clothes on, cursing, "You're asking for trouble! What are you doing going back to your parents' home in the middle of the night?"
Wan Zhenzhen didn't dare to tell the truth, so she could only scrawl, "I was late selling popsicles, so I wanted to come back and make ends meet for the night."
She knew her mother's temper, and quickly took out five yuan from her pocket: "There's nothing to sell at night, take this money and buy meat for Bao Jin tomorrow."
After receiving the money, Wan's mother gave her a good face and said, "Okay, there is no water in the bathroom right now, so you can just scoop some water from the bucket to wash. Don't scoop too much, because you will need it for cooking tomorrow morning."
After saying that, he yawned and went back to sleep.
Wan Zhenzhen simply tidied up the room, made a bed with chairs in the living room, and slept in her clothes. Her house had two bedrooms and a living room, but since Baojin started elementary school, her mother sent her to the living room to be the head of the living room.
Wan Zhenzhen lay there for a while but couldn't fall asleep. Her heart was still pounding and her mind was full of messy thoughts.
What to do?
What to do?
Will Wang Hua want to divorce her?
Wan Zhenzhen was really scared. In her previous life, she had tried two options: one was to find a man to live with, and the other was to go south and wander around. Both options failed, and she spent half her life in regret.
It is now 1983, and people say that the south is the best place. Some people quit their jobs and go south to wander around. But Wan Zhenzhen doesn't dare to go. People are relegated away from their hometowns. She went to the south in the 1990s and couldn't bear the hardship and difficulties there. She doesn't dare to go there this time.
What's more, nowadays, people don't even have ID cards, and they rely on letters of introduction to go out. However, since the reform and opening up for several years, the control of letters of introduction is not so strict anymore. In some places, people are so chaotic that they dare to rob cars. She is a woman, and she only delivers food when she goes out alone.
As for getting married, when she was in contact with Wang Hua, she also tried to contact the children of several leaders in the oil field. The key was that she was not as sweet-talking and coaxing as Qian Qing. With just a pretty face, she naturally could not marry into those families with outstanding conditions.
After all, her life's hope lies on Qian Qing.
The key is that Qian Qing ignores her now!
Her business was booming, but she had no intention of pulling her out. She had just bought a tricycle to squeeze Qian Qing out of her business, but then this happened. She would only be further away from Qian Qing from now on.
Wan Zhenzhen slammed the chair beneath her and gritted her teeth.
She has always had a sense of superiority since her rebirth, especially when she sees many people looking forward to a bleak future, while she can review her life experiences in her mind.
She knew the future direction earlier than anyone else. The market economy was inevitable, and the now sought-after worker positions would become known as "factory girls" in a few years.
Every time she thought of these changes, she was extremely happy and felt that she was the center of the world. Everything should give way to her, otherwise why did God let her be reborn? Isn't it because he wanted her to live a good life and make up for the shortcomings of her life?
She believed this firmly until she suffered at the hands of Qian Qing.
But now the reality is sliding towards the same track as her previous life, with the only slight difference being that Qian Qing is actually living a better life and getting off to a faster start than in her previous life.
Wan Zhenzhen turned over and cursed Qian Qing in her heart for who knows how many times.
Is such a person worthy of living?
Isn't the purpose of her life to make others feel miserable?
I've cursed and hated, but the problem before me remains unsolved.
When faced with a problem, everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Some will try to find the root cause. Some will act decisively and react quickly. Others will treat failure as a valuable asset and put it into their life experience library, so as not to make the same mistake again in the future.
But Wan is not good at solving problems, so she can only escape.
This escape lasted three or four days.
Wang Hua was so angry that he didn't go to look for her. He just kept his head down and went to get off work all day. He didn't even bother to save face. He had a gloomy face and didn't look good to anyone.
The women in the tube-shaped building were secretly shocked. Although the men did not spread gossip, they also felt in their hearts that such a person should not be closely associated with.
Who can you blame for this? What does it have to do with your neighbors upstairs?
The tricycle that Wang Hua smashed was thrown into the carport downstairs, and everyone consciously left a space when parking their cars.
Wang Hua felt uncomfortable every time he saw it. He felt like the smashed tricycle, isolated by everyone.
Old lady Wang had not changed, and was even very excited when Wang Hua said that she wanted a divorce. During the few days when Wan Zhenzhen returned to her parents' home, she had already started chatting about family matters, thinking about how to choose a daughter-in-law that she would like.
****
After Wan Zhenzhen calmed down, Qian Qing's business went much more smoothly. Although Zidi posted a clear notice that small vendors were no longer prohibited from setting up stalls at the door, there were a few more popsicle carts at the door after school these few days, Qian Qing still didn't feel pressured.
When it comes to doing business, as long as the other party is not competing maliciously, there is nothing to avoid.
The market is so big. If she finishes her meal without leaving some soup for others, how can she continue to thrive in the future?
As her money became more and more stable, Qian Qing's popularity in the tube-shaped building also improved.
In the past, people thought she was good, but she had only been here for a short time, so most of the time they were just nodding acquaintances. Now it is different. In this era, having a good character is a pass, and no one will question such a person.
Her house has been very busy these days, with people coming to bring her food every time it's dinner time.
They are not rare things, but they can express people's intimacy.
A small bowl of peanuts, a handful of greens, a few pieces of fish...
Among them, the families of Xue Dabao and Xu Sijin came the most frequently. Except for the first two days when the two "heroic mothers" of Xue Dabao and Xu Sijin came in person, the two families sent Xue Dabao and Xu Sijin to run errands in the past two days.
The two children also liked to run to sister Qian Qing's house, and every time they came, they would rush in with a small bowl in their arms.
Because Qian’s mother’s cooking smells delicious!
The fragrance had already been tormenting the people around in the past few days, and now if you smell it up close, it's almost enough to make you dizzy.
Xue Dabao couldn't hold back his saliva and handed the small bowl in his hand to Qian's mother: "Grandma Qian, this is the dried fish my mother made. Let me get you some."
Xue Dabao's mother grew up in the south by the sea when she was young, and she has always been good at cooking fish. The fish head soup she delivered a few days ago was good even for Qian Qing, who was used to Qian's mother's cooking and was a bit picky.
Qian's mother patted his head lovingly and said, "Thank you, mom. It looks delicious."
Not to be outdone, Xu Sijin next to him handed over a plate of pickled cabbage: "And me, and me! This is the pickled cabbage my grandma sent me. My mom asked me to take some. Mom said that pickled cabbage with vermicelli is especially delicious!"
Qian's mother took it, patted his head, and praised him in various ways.
"We made fried chicken with potatoes today. I'll pack some for you to take back."
Qianmu Fried Chicken is cooked using the Shandong cuisine method. The chicken is stir-fried raw without being marinated. Several kinds of seasonings are carefully blended. The fried chicken is served with sauce and has a lingering salty aroma.
When the chicken is almost cooked, add a few potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are slightly soft and have a glutinous texture.
Qian Qing still has a little regret. If this is a clay pot, put a row of small cakes on the edge, and wait until the chicken is cooked, the small cakes will also become crispy and fragrant on the bottom, which will be delicious! The small cakes dipped in the sauce of the fried chicken are so delicious.
But it’s not bad now. The aroma of fried chicken is particularly overbearing and can be smelled on this floor.
Xue Dabao and Xu Sijin looked at the fried chicken in the pot eagerly. Although they were very greedy, they still refused.
It is not easy to eat meat these days. Although the family conditions of the two children are not bad, they cannot buy meat every few days.
In the past two days, Qian's mother cooked some home-cooked dishes, and the two children would accept her kindness and take some back home. But forget about the meat today. If they really take it back, their mother will have to beat someone up.
"No, grandma, let's go back!"
The two little monkeys took a deep breath, turned around and ran away.
Qian's mother followed behind and shouted several times but to no avail.
"These two kids run really fast."
When she turned around, she saw Qian Qing smiling, and Qian's mother was also a little embarrassed.
Of course she knew what her daughter meant. Compared with these two children, the Wan family's Wanbaojin really didn't look good.
They were about the same age. Every time Wan Baojin came to the house and looked eager for food, Qian's mother would secretly persuade herself, "He is just a child and doesn't know anything." "Just eat a few bites. How much can it cost?"
If children don’t understand, how can adults not understand?
Wan Baojin ate and drank for free at her house, but the Wan family never said a word.
Yes, one or two bites of food is nothing, but who has an easy life these days?
Even the price of pork has only been relaxed in the past two years. In the past few years, anyone who wanted to have a good meal had to save up money for a long time.
Qian's mother said shyly, "I'll go give them some."
She will definitely have a good talk with Lao Qian when she goes home this time. Wanbaojin is not her own child, so why does he have the right to come and eat for free? And those families in the tube building who are eager to see Wanbaojin and follow his example should not come to their house anymore!
If she has extra money, she might as well make more delicious food for Xue Dabao and Xu Sijin!
At least these two children would call her "Grandma Qian" every time they saw her.
At noon, Qian's mother fried a whole chicken, which weighed more than three pounds. Together with potatoes, it was almost enough for four or five adults.
She simply gathered together all the small bowls in the house and gave them to everyone she knew over the past few days.
Qian Qing brought a bowl of rice to Chen Xinran who lived next door. She was very grateful for Chen Xinran's help, as he had been bringing her food almost every meal these days.
Chen Xinran was both happy and a little helpless: "Really, you deliver food so frequently, I feel like my taste is going to be spoiled by Auntie. I'm going to be hungry and thin after Auntie leaves."
Qian Qing smiled and said, "That's great, come to my house and I'll treat you as my elder sister from now on."
Neither of them is shy and their personalities are similar. Their relationship has made rapid progress in the past few days and they are so eager to get married.
Chen happily poured the chicken into her lunch box, washed the bowl and handed it to Qian Qing.
"Of course you can. I'll ask Auntie if she wants me. Don't tell me, I really need a good sister."
Chen Xinran's words were sincere. She was not close to her father, and her stepmother's sister was also a layer away from her. Especially when she thought of what Zhao Nan had said to her yesterday in a tactful way, that Tian Xue had been pestering him recently.
Chen Xinran couldn't understand why Tian Xue was so blind and had to come and mess with her and Zhao Nan, even though her father was a well-known figure in the railway industry. She was obviously not bad looking, and if she listened to her family's arrangements, her good stepmother would definitely choose a good husband for her. Why did she set her sights on Zhao Nan?
And today, her uncle called her out of nowhere and asked her if she had received the money, and if it wasn't enough, he would send her some more.
Chen Xinran's heart sank. Her parents separated early, and she took her mother's surname. Later, her mother died early. If her father hadn't been in a critical situation for promotion and brought her here because he was afraid that people would say he didn't care about his daughter, she would have lost any relationship with this place.
But even after she was brought back to live with us, she hardly stayed at home for more than a few days.
She lived on campus in middle school, going home one or two days a week, and she was also busy in college, spending her winter and summer vacations in the laboratory. Under these circumstances, everyone assumed that she would get married in a few years and they would just keep their relationship for the sake of face.
Now she and Zhao Nan are engaged and will get married after the Chinese New Year.
She could never have imagined that at this juncture, her stepmother would do such a disgraceful thing, deducting the money sent by her uncle, and her stepsister even tried to steal her boyfriend.
Chen Xinran was chatting casually with Qian Qing, thinking in her heart that she had to go back today to find out everything.
Zhao Nan said that her step-sister had been spending a lot of money recently, and she always gave him expensive things. Although he didn't accept them, he was a little nervous and suggested that Chen Xinran talk to her father and tell him not to be so high-profile.
If you are a leader, even if your children are extravagant, they won’t spend hundreds of dollars on watches, right?
Chen Xinran sneered in her heart. Zhao Nan's matter was a small matter. After all, if a man wanted to leave, she, Chen Xinran, would not be a shameless person who would cling to him. Moreover, the two of them had been together for several years, and she still had confidence in Zhao Nan's character.
But one thousand dollars can't just be left like this.
Her uncle had supported her a lot over the years, and would send her a few hundred yuan every year no matter how difficult the family was. But now that she was working, how could she still be so generous?
Tian Xue, it would be better if she was smarter and didn't touch the thousand yuan.