Isn't this the spirit of craftsmanship that modern sanitary napkin manufacturers advocate?
They keep calling themselves the "God of Sushi" or the "God of Ramen".
It's utterly ridiculous.
In her opinion, the craftsmen in front of her are the ones who truly embody the spirit of craftsmanship.
He is the god of jade!
“Alright, keep those two pieces of jade here. After you cut them open, come to the shop and call me. I’m the manager of Yan’s Pastry Shop. I’ll discuss the details and sign a contract with you after they’re cut open. For now, we’ll make jade pendants with a cloud pattern surrounding the character ‘Yan’ in the center. We’ll make as many as we can, and we’ll deal with the scraps later.”
Yan Xia left the two pieces of jade raw materials at the jade workshop, gave a few simple instructions, and then left.
She had already eaten lunch and had nothing to do in the afternoon. Her daughter-in-law was taking a nap with her granddaughter, but she couldn't sleep, so she thought she would come to the jade workshop to order a jade pendant. Now that she was done with her work, she planned to go to the shop to help out.
Since the weather got warmer, her shop has stopped taking a lunch break.
It's so hot that people who are sensitive to heat have a hard time falling asleep.
So there were quite a lot of customers.
Many customers bring their friends to the second floor of her pastry shop after their meal to have some chilled sweet soup and sit for a while.
"I'm going to hit you! You dare to covet my sister? You stinking, ragged-clothed, penniless wretch who spends all day shoveling manure and never brushes your teeth! You're not even worthy of a single hair on my sister's head! If you dare come to my shop again, I'll immediately report you to the authorities, have you arrested and thrown into jail, and give you a good beating. Your whole family is a mess. The old one has a mean face, the young one is like an idiot, and this grown man is as fat as a wild boar, all he knows is eating! Do you want to eat manure? Get out of here! If you dare say anything nonsense to my sister again, I'll beat you to death."
Before she even reached the shop entrance, Yan Xia heard her youngest daughter, Chang Yi, cursing.
Her heart tightened, and she jogged back.
As soon as I stepped into the shop, I saw a large crowd gathered on the first floor.
Chang Yi was surrounded by the crowd, pointing at a man and cursing.
The man was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, his hair was tied up with a thin ribbon, and his face was long and square, like a mahjong player. His slanted eyes looked just like Zhu Qiumei's. He was scolded and his face turned red. He raised his right hand as if to hit her.
How could Yan Xia let him hit Chang Yi? She quickly pushed through the crowd, rushed over, grabbed the man's hand, and kicked him hard.
The man crashed into the stair railing.
He felt a dull pain in his chest and lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.
"Oh dear, someone's been hit! Who will report this to the authorities? This Yan Xia has no regard for the law! How dare she hit my grandson in broad daylight in front of everyone! What if something serious happens? My poor grandson, his father is dead, his grandparents are dead, and my daughter couldn't support the two brothers, so she brought them back to her parents' home. But our lives are even more miserable."
My only son died, and my daughter-in-law went with him. We only had one son, and we, the old couple, couldn't even support ourselves. Now we have a pair of grandchildren to raise. We only have two able-bodied men in the family, and you injured one of them. How are we supposed to survive? We can't go on living. I might as well hang myself right here in front of this shop and let everyone see how vicious this kind of businessman is. He must have done a lot of despicable things in the past.”
Upon seeing this, Tian immediately collapsed to the ground, slapping her thighs with both hands, crying and singing.
Yan Xia frowned.
She knew Tian Shi; she was Zhu Qiumei's biological mother.
When the original owner was a child, she went to the Zhu family's house to play with Zhu Qiumei. At that time, the Zhu family was having lunch. The original owner wanted to leave, but Zhu Qiumei stopped her and said that they would go to the mountain to pick mushrooms together in the afternoon. The original owner could only obediently sit in the yard and wait for her.
After all, the original owner's family only ate two meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Although she was a little hungry, she was also sensible enough to know that it was impolite to go to someone else's house during mealtime, so she didn't even go into the main room.
Tian took a bowl and came to the courtyard, sat down next to Yan Xia to eat, and smacked her lips as she ate. She pretended to be kind and asked the original owner if she had eaten. The original owner shook her head, so Tian took the bowl she had just finished eating from and scooped a bowl of raw water from the vat for the original owner to fill her stomach with water.
They didn't even bring the original owner a single wild vegetable to eat, and they even had a mocking smile on their faces.
You should know that when the original owner was a child, he often shared mushrooms and wild vegetables with Zhu Qiumei. Because Zhu Qiumei never worked seriously, the original owner was afraid that she would be scolded, so he dug and picked them even more.
The stir-fried wild vegetables that the Zhu family ate for lunch that day were dug up by the original owner.
This event was deeply etched in the original owner's memory.
The original owner remembered that bowl of raw water mixed with bits of wild vegetables very clearly.
Of course she wouldn't drink it.
After that day, the original owner didn't like playing with Zhu Qiumei as much anymore; she preferred to go to the mountains alone to dig for wild vegetables.
Tian loved to put on airs.
He put on a great show.
Even surpassing the original owner's mother, Yan Xia's eyes turned slightly cold.
She stood in front of Tian and watched her wail.
"Oh dear, what a pitiful old woman. If you ask me, Manager Yan, you shouldn't have hit him. He didn't even hit your daughter yet, and it was your daughter who cursed the man first. If she hadn't cursed him, none of this would have happened. Manager Yan, you hit too hard. Why don't you give this old woman ten taels of silver as compensation? Tsk tsk, so pitiful."
A woman in her thirties, whom Yan Xia didn't recognize, walked up to her and offered her some advice.
Do you feel sorry for her?
Yan Xia looked at her expressionlessly.
"Yes, she's so pitiful. Her son-in-law died, her son and daughter-in-law died, and she's so old and still has to raise her grandson. How pitiful!" The female customer didn't know Yan Xia. This was only the second time she had come to Yan's Pastry Shop to buy things.
Naturally, he couldn't understand Yan Xia's expression, which was about to erupt in anger.
"If you feel sorry for her, then give her ten taels of silver. Go all the way and find wives for her two grandsons, help her build a bigger house, and it would be best to give her a dozen or so acres of land as well. Oh, what if there are no strong laborers? Call your family and have them help her plant the grain and harvest it every year. Oh dear, she's getting old, so you'll need to buy a few maids to take care of her. Alright, I've told you everything. Go do it."
Yan Xia said with a half-smile.
"What do you mean? Why should I give her money, help her build a house, and get her married? Am I crazy? My family has no money left to spend, why should I give it to her?"
The female customer instantly flew into a rage.
Baring its teeth and brandishing its claws.
"Yeah, you know you're not sick anymore, so what, you think I am? I worked so hard to earn this money, and you're giving it to her? Why don't you give it to her? It's ridiculous. So you're playing the good guy and taking me for a fool? What, where's your kindness? Is it just your mouth that's kind? You keep saying she's pitiful, but you pay up! All you've got is to force me to give you money so you can boost your reputation, right? I'll say the same thing to you, and you won't agree. Don't you understand the principle of 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you'?"
Yan Xia took a step closer, leaned in close to the female customer's face, and fiercely retorted.
Before she could retort, Yan Xia spoke again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
