Chapter 1 Congratulations on activating the Super Chef Training System
Midsummer, Yangcheng, a small rental room.
The laborious operation of the old fan and the third aunt who kept slapping her thigh and preaching became increasingly blurred in front of Zhao Xiaojing's eyes. Zhao Xiaojing, who was sitting beside her, closed her eyes gently and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
"Why are you crying? I'm doing this for your own good. You're a girl, why are you being so picky? In a few years, you'll be left alone by someone else! I think Zhang Guodong is a good guy. You should marry him right away. Don't be so selfish and think about yourself all the time. Think about your dead mother. She would be so worried if she saw you not getting married now!"
Zhao Xiaojing stood up suddenly, looking at her most feared Third Aunt Dong Mei with a complicated expression, and asked the question she had wanted to ask in her previous life but couldn't: "Third Aunt, do you regret marrying Third Uncle?"
Dong Mei was stunned for a moment before continuing to lecture loudly: "It's not like everyone is like your third uncle! There are always good ones! I think Zhang Guodong is very good. He has perfect conditions in all aspects. You should get married as soon as possible..."
Zhao Xiaojing understood. Third Aunt was probably also well aware that she wasn't having a good time.
My third uncle, Zhou Jianye, was a small-time supervisor at a construction site. He was well-off and sent money home every month, but he was often away on business, rarely being home for a few days. From the children's schooling to their college graduations and marriages, to the elderly's illness and bed rest, to the daily maintenance of the household's water, electricity, food, and clothing, all matters, big and small, were handled by my third aunt alone.
Furthermore, the income at the construction site was not transparent. Although my third uncle sent money every month, it was actually not much. My third aunt did not know much about the construction site. She had always been suspicious of the high salary she heard, but she could never find out the specific salary of my third uncle. In recent years, there have been rumors that my third uncle had an illegitimate son in the city where the construction site was located. My third aunt took great pains to investigate, but could not find out.
Furthermore, on the few days that my third uncle was home, he acted like a superior, bossing her around while doing nothing himself. My third aunt herself had a respectable job, was competent, and well-paid. She'd even won awards for excellence from her unit and been honored with the Women's Day Red Banner. Yet, she gradually wore herself out in these decades of widowhood, becoming increasingly sullen and resentful.
Even so, Third Aunt never gave up forcing her to get married.
"Third Aunt!" Zhao Xiaojing interrupted Dong Mei's continuous output and turned around stiffly. "I owe your family 80,000 yuan. I will work hard to earn money to pay it back. Don't mention marriage anymore."
"What do you mean by that?! I'm forcing you to marry for money? I think you're not in your right mind! It's good enough that she likes you, why wouldn't you agree? And you're trying to stop me with that! Give it back to me, what are you going to give me? Your lost job, or the fried dough sticks and sweet potatoes in your pot? Sigh~"
"I'm telling you, don't be ungrateful, or you'll regret it in the future! Women always have to rely on men, so think carefully and marry Zhang Guodong honestly!" After saying that, Dong Mei slammed the door and left.
Zhao Xiaojing let out a long sigh and looked at the shabby little rental house with a complicated look.
In her previous life, on this day, right here, she, who had been submissive since her mother's death, was successfully brainwashed by Dong Mei and married to Zhang Guodong.
After successfully repaying the 80,000 yuan her mother owed Dong Mei when she was ill, she then became a full-time nanny for Zhang Guodong's family. Zhang Guodong then cheated on her, and she, half-heartedly forgave him and, half-heartedly, gave birth to a child. During her pregnancy and childbirth, Zhang Guodong secretly contacted his mistress again. This time, the mistress was also pregnant and came to his house aggressively, demanding to take over. Zhang Guodong, unable to cope, turned around and forced her to divorce him, having just given birth.
Shortly after the divorce, she remarried with her child. This time, Dong Mei also played a role in the marriage, and she was just as unreasonable, dictatorial and strong.
She also said that there is always good in it, and that this time the man was honest and had no ulterior motives.
Her second husband was an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler, but she still bore him two children. A year or two later, he died of alcoholism. After a protracted custody battle with her in-laws, she finally compromised and moved in with them, taking her three children. She had thought a little compromise was fine, as long as she could raise her children well. But the children inherited their bad father's genes, and, encouraged by their in-laws, became foolish and mean, looking down on her. Forget raising them, even talking properly was a struggle.
On the last day of her previous life, she was irritated by her three children, crying, and wandered the streets in a daze. She spent the entire day pondering why her life had become so chaotic, why she never seemed to have made any active choices. Just as she was about to give up everything, relinquish custody of her children, abandon the moral coercion she had endured out of gratitude to her relatives, and begin anew on her own, a speeding truck struck her hard, running her over...
When she woke up again, she was back here, back to this afternoon when she was hesitant and didn't dare to refuse.
Zhao Xiaojing was extremely grateful to be reborn at this point. Although she had just lost her job and had not found a new one yet, and was living in poverty, all the real suffering had not yet begun.
She must rely on herself in this life. No matter how hard or poor she is, she will never endure the kind of life she had in her previous life, a life where she was arbitrarily controlled by others!
The 80,000 yuan mentioned just now was not only used to shut Dong Mei up, but also the psychological shackles that she sincerely wanted to pay back quickly and was eager to get rid of.
Zhao Xiaojing looked at the induction cooker propped up on stools in the corner of her rental apartment, and suddenly an idea struck her. What had Dong Mei just said? Paying back the money by frying sweet potatoes and cooking the steamed buns in the pot? That seemed possible.
In her previous life, she had been a housewife for more than ten years. What she was best at was doing housework and cooking various kinds of food. Every Chinese New Year, she would cook a large table of dishes by herself to entertain relatives.
Although her in-laws were very picky about her cooking at first, after a few years, Zhao Xiaojing's cooking skills got better and better, and even they could no longer find fault with her.
Of course, her cooking skills were nowhere near those of a restaurant chef, but it was enough to run a small stall after work. If she lived a tighter life, she could probably save some money, right?
When the business picks up, I’ll expand the stall, save enough money to pay back the debt first, and then think about what to do...
Zhao Xiaojing was painting a pie in the sky for herself over and over again when suddenly a faint white light struck her mind.
[Ding~ Congratulations on activating the Super Chef Training System. The novice luxury gift pack has been sent to the backend. Please go to the backpack page to claim it later.]
[According to the system evaluation, the current cook's level is: 8 (low level, incompetent rookie, the maximum level is 100)]
[Task mode is on. You will receive system rewards after completing the task. Please choose whether to accept it.]
【whether】
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