As she looked around, she said, "Second Aunt, the boxes that have already dried with tung oil are on the right, there are thirty-six boxes in total. The boxes that are drying are on the left, there are twenty-three boxes. And the boxes that are being brushed with oil but not yet oiled are thirty-nine boxes."
As Song Anxin listened, she quickly tallied the numbers in her mind; she was still short 128 boxes.
She asked, "Brother, can you still make 128 boxes tonight?"
Brother Lin said, "That's possible. I'll do it tonight with a torch. But we'll need to apply tung oil, and it might be past midnight by the time the oil dries."
Song Anxin said solemnly, "Then I'll trouble you a lot, brother. I'll raise the price to twenty coins per piece."
Brother Lin waved his hand and said, "No need, sister-in-law, this little bit of trouble is nothing."
After Song Anxin settled things on this side, she went to the back workshop. It was almost time to finish work there. When she went in, several people were placing the washed and dried duck eggs into a large wooden tub.
She said, "Sister-in-law, Granny Han...would you like to come over and do some extra work after you go back and have dinner? It's just the gift boxes for the salted duck eggs. Don't worry, you'll get a processing fee."
Aunt Zhao immediately said, "Why would we need to pay a processing fee? We're here to work."
Sister-in-law Lin and the others also said, "Yes, we don't want any processing fees from this guy..."
Song Anxin firmly stated that she would definitely give them processing fees.
Upon hearing this, the group declined, as Lin Ersaozi's family had been so kind to them. They planned to hurry back home, grab a quick bite to eat, and then come back to help with the work.
After arranging everything, Song Anxin hurried back to have dinner, as she also needed to make the time to come over later.
At the dinner table, Zhang Mei hesitated for a long time before saying, "Mother, I think I'll skip going to the ancestral hall to study today. I'll stay here and help you and my aunt pack the duck egg gift boxes."
“Yes, Mother, let’s skip one day and finish the work first,” Lin Fengnian said.
The other smaller ones expressed the same sentiment.
Song Anbang remained silent; as the teacher, he could not refuse to go.
Song Anxin continued, "Isn't the family working so hard to earn money so that you can study hard and do what you like?"
"Aunt Zhao and the others will handle the chores. You all focus on your studies; we can manage on our own."
The younger children couldn't argue with their mother, so after finishing their meal, they moved all the dried boxes from their uncle's yard to the workshop and went to the ancestral hall to study.
Zhang Mei was still uneasy, so she told Song Anbang that she was leaving early and went home ahead of schedule.
Unexpectedly, I ran into Lin Gangzi again on the way back.
Zhang Mei frowned and said to him, "Lin Gangzi, I am no longer your wife. Please don't come looking for me again. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite."
Lin Gangzi leered and said, "Meizi, Meizi, I really like this side of you now. Sigh, if you were like this when we got married, maybe I wouldn't have divorced you."
"Tsk tsk, how rude can a woman like you be to me?"
Seeing his shameless behavior, Zhang Mei didn't want to argue with him anymore and turned to leave.
She didn't understand before that women should be self-reliant and have their own ideas and temperament. Now she follows her mother-in-law around every day, and her mother-in-law always teaches her this, and also makes her read books. She has learned a lot of principles from her mother-in-law in the books.
She will no longer be as timid and submissive as before.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Lin Gangzi raised his arm to grab her shoulder, but Zhang Mei was prepared and slashed at him with the bamboo strip she was holding in her hand.
She had sharpened this ever since Lin Gangzi came to see her last time, and kept it in her hand at all times. She never expected it to come in handy today.
As soon as Lin Gangzi reached out his hand, a large gash was instantly cut into his palm, and blood flowed out immediately.
Lin Gangzi cried out in pain and cursed, "You filthy bitch! How dare you scratch me! You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences!"
"Do you think I still have feelings for you? You're someone I'm tired of playing with. If I weren't..."
He cursed viciously as he raised his hand to grab Zhang Mei's wrist again.
Just then, a charming female voice came from behind:
"Brother Gangzi, what are you doing here?"
Lin Gangzi stopped abruptly.
Liu Hong'er walked over slowly with her slightly protruding belly. She looked at Zhang Mei and asked, "Brother Gangzi, who is this?"
She climbed onto Lin Gangzi's arm, her tone suddenly turning fierce as she said, "Didn't you say that with me by your side, you would never look for other women?"
After saying that, he pinched Lin Gangzi's inner arm hard.
“Oh! Hong’er, of course your brother wouldn’t look for another woman. Look at this village woman, she’s not even a fraction as pretty as you. We were just passing by and happened to run into each other.”
Lin Gangzi was so tightly gripped that he didn't dare to utter a sound. Liu Hong'er was the one he loved most among his many lovers, and now she was carrying his child. As long as she was around, Lin Gangzi was completely under her thumb.
"I knew Brother Gangzi loved me the most. Parents are calling you to go back quickly, let's go home right away." Liu Hong'er immediately changed to that charming and coquettish manner.
Lin Gangzi quickly ran away, afraid that Liu Hong'er would pinch him again. Although he loved her like this, it still hurt.
Liu Hong'er, however, couldn't keep up with Lin Gangzi's pace. Looking at Zhang Mei, who was tightly clutching the bamboo strip, he smiled and said:
“I know you. You must be Zhang Mei, Lin Gangzi’s ex-wife. This little bamboo stick won’t scare him. I advise you to carry a knife with you next time.”
Zhang Mei was filled with confusion. This was the first time she had seen the mistress her ex-husband, Lin Gangzi, had brought back since she came to Linjia Village. Since the woman knew she was Lin Gangzi's ex-wife and had seen him harassing her, why was she still smiling at her?
She had seen the village women scratch their husbands when they saw them harassing other women.
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't want to steal your husband at all. But even without me, you would have been divorced by Lin Gangzi anyway. But in the end, it's because of me. I apologize to you."
Zhang Mei was a little taken aback, thinking she had misheard; Liu Hong'er was actually apologizing to her.
Actually, she didn't blame Liu Hong'er. She was right; even without her, she would have been divorced soon anyway, because... she couldn't have children...
Moreover, she had long since grown to loathe Lin Gangzi. The moment he returned and divorced her, she felt incredibly relieved. She no longer had to wait day after day for him to not return.
Liu Hong'er didn't stop. She continued, "To express my apology, let me give you some information. Do you know why Lin Gangzi keeps coming to see you?"
Zhang Mei was surprised. So she knew that Lin Gangzi had come to see her before. But what she was more concerned about now was why Lin Gangzi kept coming to see her. Judging from his tone just now, it didn't seem like he had come specifically because he couldn't forget her.
She didn't speak, but listened intently.
Liu Hong'er laughed and said, "Hehe, he still wants to go back to the restaurant owner. He said that as long as he can get the secret recipe for the Rich and Oily Egg, the owner will definitely invite him back respectfully."
"Isn't he ridiculous? He has absolutely no skills, yet he's always dreaming of being superior to others. I've given you this information; you can discuss how to deal with him yourselves. Whether she lives or dies is none of my business."
After saying that, Liu Hong'er turned and left without waiting for Zhang Mei's reaction.
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