Chapter 125 Chapter 125——
Lin Chunxing knew in the morning that Lin Chuntao had bought mutton, but Pei Ying was busy at the time, so Lin Chuntao did not tell him.
The last time I had mutton hotpot was on August 15th. More than two months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Although the flavor of mutton is not long-lasting and it is easy to get tired of eating it often, the mint-cooked mutton made by Lin Chuntao, paired with the roasted chili dipping sauce, is spicy and refreshing. He misses it a little after not eating it for a while. He also thought that when the sisters Lin Chuntao and Lin Chunxing both have birthdays in a while, he would buy a few pounds to eat together.
I didn’t expect Lin Chuntao to buy it today.
Lin Duoer heard footsteps and came out of the house. Seeing that it was Lin Chunxing and the others coming back, she smiled with her eyes curved.
"Second sister, brother-in-law, you are back."
"The meal is almost ready, come and wash your hands and get ready to eat."
As Lin Duo'er was talking, Lin Chunxing asked, "Where's my sister?"
Lin Duoer said, "Go to the backyard and call Aunt Guizhi and the others. I'll scoop some water for you to wash your hands." As she spoke, she ran to get a clay basin, scooped two scoops of cold water into it, and added a scoop of hot water.
Pei Ying carried the backpack into the house and put it down, then washed his hands and went back to the house to change clothes.
Lin Chunxing took out the vegetables, meat and other things from the backpack and put them away, then looked at the prepared dishes.
“So many dishes?”
Lin Duoer said, "Sister said today marks our one-month anniversary of selling sauce, so she invited Grandma and Aunt Guizhi to dinner."
Lin Chunxing smiled when she heard this, and Lin Duoer whispered beside her, "Sister also said that we should eat it once a month from now on."
Lin Chunxing probably understood what Lin Chuntao meant. She worked hard every month, and after collecting the money, she would call the workers to have a meal and chat together, but it was not certain whether they would eat mutton every month. Seeing Lin Duoer like this, Lin Chunxing smiled and said, "Sister, you mean to have a meal together once a month, not to eat mutton every month."
Lin Duoer opened her mouth wide, "Isn't it?"
Lin Chunxing looked at the cut mutton, seven or eight pounds. Even if Feng Guan's family gave a discount, so much meat would still cost more than four hundred coins. How could she possibly eat it every month?
There were more than a dozen people in total, including Aunt Guizhi. In fact, killing two roosters was enough for the meal, and it didn't cost more than two hundred coins to buy two big roosters.
But seeing Lin Duo'er's innocent look, Lin Chunxing didn't explain it to her in detail. She just said, "You'll get tired of eating mutton every month. It would be better to eat chicken, pork head, pork belly, and pig's trotters in rotation."
Lin Duoer really loves eating pork head with dried chili oil. When she heard Lin Chunxing's words, she agreed, "Really? Pork head is delicious too."
As she spoke, Lin Chunxing quickly washed her hands, called Lin Duoer to move the table and chairs to the yard, and then brought out the hot pot dishes prepared by Lin Chuntao. As soon as they were ready, Lin Chuntao and Lin Chunhe led Lin Shuilian and Grandma and others over.
Also coming with them were the two children from Lin Shuilian's family. Because of the Tian family's affairs, the two children had been staying quietly at home these days. When they wanted to come to see Lin Shuilian, they would ask the old lady to send them there, and when they wanted to go back, Aunt Guizhi would send them back.
When Lin Chuntao went to the backyard just now, the two children were not there. Lin Chuntao asked Lin Shuilian to bring them over, but she waved her hands and refused to go. Lin Chuntao had to go and get the two children herself.
Aunt Guizhi saw Lin Chuntao go and bring the child over, so she could only say, "The children are making a fuss, so just let them eat at home. Why did you go and get them?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Huzi and Yin'er are both very well behaved. Why are you making such a fuss? Come on, the soup is ready. Go get some bowls and chopsticks and start eating."
Aunt Guizhi certainly knew what Lin Chuntao was thinking. The two children were still very young, and they were here with Lin Shuilian. If they wanted to eat something delicious, she would definitely call the two children along.
But she thought that Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng were also working here, so she only called the two children from Shuilian's family and not their own children, fearing that they would have a problem with Lin Chuntao.
Many mothers want to take their children with them when they eat delicious food.
But Sun and the others would not care so much. They felt that Lin Chuntao was biased. Lin Shuilian was not much older than Lin Chuntao. They had watched her grow up since childhood. She had this little defect in her body and was well-behaved since childhood. Aunt Guizhi carefully chose a husband for her, and she suffered such a great suffering. Now she brought her two children back to her parents' home to live. They also felt sympathy for her and felt that Lin Shuilian and her mother were pitiful.
Lin Chuntao felt sorry for the two children, and they understood very well that they would not have the concerns that Aunt Guizhi had at all.
There was a partition wall and a door between the front and back yards of Lin Chuntao's yard. After passing through the partition wall and door, they smelled a strong fragrance. The two children followed Lin Shuilian, and the brother and sister each held one of Lin Shuilian's hands.
The two children were very familiar with Lin Chuntao and her sisters, but when Lin Shuilian and the others were working in the backyard, the two children would not run around in the yard. They would always follow the adults and only play in the backyard. They were not very familiar with the front yard.
But as soon as they stepped through the door, they saw the big steaming pot in the middle of the yard. It smelled so good that the brother and sister swallowed their saliva at the same time.
When Sun and the others smelled the mutton, they were all shocked.
When they got closer, they saw the meat slices in the pot and in the basket on the table. They estimated that there were more than six or seven pounds. On June 6th, their whole family only bought five or six pounds, and that was because it was cheap to kill sheep in the village. In the city, one pound costs sixty cents, so six or seven pounds would cost four or five hundred cents!
Lin Chuntao can make money, but she is also willing to spend money. She is not only generous to herself, but also to them.
Pei Ying changed his clothes and came out. When he saw Grandma and Aunt Guizhi, he greeted them.
Lin Chuntao invited everyone to take a seat. All those having dinner today were acquaintances, so they all sat around the fire.
Aunt Guizhi pulled the two children to sit down, and then Lin Shuilian followed suit. Meng Yun also chose a seat and sat next to Lin Shuilian.
In the morning, I only heard Lin Chuntao say that we would have lunch here at noon. I didn't expect that it was a mutton hotpot. The thick white soup was boiling and the thin slices of mutton were also boiling with the soup. They also eat mutton over there, but they like to stew it in large pieces. They have never seen it eaten this way.
Lin Chunhe served everyone a dipping sauce. She had only added a little bit of chili pepper to it, and the rest was prepared by Feng Guan and the others. Lin Chuntao said, "How about trying this dipping sauce? The mutton vendors in the county are giving out dipping sauce, and their business has improved a lot."
Pei Ying looked at the chili powder in the bowl and raised his eyebrows slightly. Lin Chuntao saw his expression and smiled, "I felt that the chili powder was not enough, so I added some more."
Sun smiled and said, "I haven't been to the county town for a while. They even give me dipping sauce. Doesn't this mutton become more expensive?"
Lin Chuntao replied, "No, it's still the same price as before. The shopkeeper is familiar with me, so he gave me a little discount and even gave me some sheep's blood and offal."
After that, Lin Chunxing and the others served the rice, and Lin Chuntao invited them to start eating.
There was so much mutton, so we ate to our heart's content and everyone had a full belly.
When Hu and the others returned home that evening, they still weren't feeling hungry. She said to Sun, "Mom, Chuntao spent about five hundred coins on this pot of mutton for lunch, right?"
Sun nodded.
"That should be about the same."
Hu lowered her voice mysteriously and asked, "Did Chuntao make a lot of money?"
Hearing this, Deng looked at Sun curiously. Sun glanced at them both and said in a deep voice, "We work here every day. Have you ever calculated how much money she takes away in a month?"
Mrs. Hu was stunned for a moment, and Mrs. Sun said, "There are four of us in our family, Guizhi's mother and daughter, and Madam Meng, a total of six people. The five of us are paid 20 wen a day, and Jiahui is paid 30 wen. We have to take 130 wen from her every day. How much does it cost per month?"
Deng hissed coldly, "Doesn't that mean four strings of cash went out?"
Sun said, "Yes, she spent four strings of cash. You can also add in the money she spent on peppers and beans, and the spices I saw her using to make her sauce, which were all very expensive. She also sold her sauce to a man in the county town, and I heard she gave him 20% of it. She sold her sauce for eighteen coins per pound, and she gave him three or four coins. She used the rest to buy beans and peppers, and to pay us wages, so the remaining money wasn't particularly large."
Mrs. Hu took a deep breath, and Mrs. Sun said, "Chun Tao was willing to give us so much mutton. The wages are the same. If she deducted a little and gave you ten cents a day, you would still come to work, right?"
Hearing her mother-in-law's serious tone, Mrs. Hu looked a little embarrassed. Mrs. Sun said, "Even if she makes a lot of money, it's hers and has nothing to do with us. But don't think that just because she makes money, she should give us something."
Mrs. Hu quickly said, "No, my daughter-in-law is not that kind of person."
Sun said, "When people get along for a long time, they should not be too greedy. Once people are greedy, they will become unable to fill the gap and lose all the affection they have worked so hard to accumulate."
Mrs. Hu and Mrs. Deng nodded.
Lin Jiahui followed behind his grandmother and two aunts, listening quietly without saying a word.
According to their current relationship with Lin Chuntao, as long as Lin Chuntao keeps working hard in the future, their family will become well-off. Indeed, the more Lin Chuntao earns, the better.
Lin Shuilian, Aunt Guizhi and the other four generations of grandparents and grandchildren went back together. The two children jumped around the adults and were still happy about the meat they had eaten at noon.
Lin Shuilian gestured and said to Aunt Guizhi, "Chun Tao is so nice."
Aunt Guizhi smiled, patted her head, and then said, "She has a good heart."
Lin Shuilian listened to Aunt Guizhi's words and gestured again: "Let's go buy a big goose and kill it, and invite her and Chunxing and the others to come home for dinner. Thank her."
Aunt Guizhi nodded slightly, then said, "Mother will arrange it."
Lin Shuilian: "Use my money."
Aunt Guizhi: "No need, mother has money here."
Lin Shuilian: "Use mine."
Aunt Guizhi said, "What's yours and mine? You are my only daughter, and all the money in the house is yours. You can keep your wages yourself."
Hearing Aunt Guizhi say this, Lin Shuilian's eyes became watery. Ever since she came back from the divorce, she heard from her children that many people were gossiping about her behind her back. She was afraid that her parents would be unhappy if they knew, or that they would marry her off again. Now, hearing her mother's words, she felt relieved and touched.
The sun had set, but the sky was still bright.
After seeing off Aunt Guizhi and the others, the sisters cleaned up the dishes together.
Lin Chuntao called all her sisters to sit in the main room and prepared to hold a small family meeting.
The main thing is to talk about how much money was collected when checking out today, how much was earned and spent on sauces and soup noodles this month, and starting from next month, everyone will receive a share of the money and keep it as their own small treasury.
We need to discuss how much each person will receive.
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