Chapter 135 On My Birthday
Halfway through his bicycle ride, Zhou Xiangyang suddenly realized a serious problem: if he went to the market first, he would have to carry large bags of goods to the black market to buy them, which was neither safe nor convenient.
Because the black market doesn't allow people to ride bicycles in, he could only carry his belongings there. Putting them on a bicycle was even more impossible, as it would make him an easy target for shoplifting.
He felt unsafe not because he was afraid his belongings would be stolen on the black market, but because he worried that law enforcement officers in Beijing would raid the black market, and that he wouldn't be able to run fast with his large bags and packages, making him an easy target for law enforcement.
He had originally planned to buy everything he could at the market, and then buy the rest on the black market to make up for any missing items. But now he realized that this idea wouldn't work, so he went to the black market instead.
Zhou Xiangyang was quite lucky; he managed to buy live chickens, live ducks, and half-dead grass carp on the black market. Since he didn't use meat coupons, the price of meat was twice as high as when he had coupons. He spent about 2 yuan to buy a live chicken.
He put the live chickens and ducks into a burlap sack. He had already cut two holes in each side of the sack. He put two fingers into the holes and pulled the chickens' heads out to let them breathe. He did the same on the other side to pull the ducks' heads out to breathe.
There was nothing he could do about the grass carp. He couldn't bring the bucket from his house, so he could only wrap the grass carp in wet water plants and put it in the vegetable basket, hoping that this method would allow the grass carp to live a little longer.
After browsing the black market and buying what he needed, he rode his bicycle to the vegetable market to continue shopping.
He never expected to run into the plump woman at the entrance of the vegetable market.
Seeing Zhou Xiangyang carrying things in both hands, the plump woman smiled and asked, "Comrade Zhou, it's rare to see you come to buy groceries so early in the morning. Have you already finished shopping?"
Zhou Xiangyang thought for a moment and then told the truth: "I just arrived."
If he were to lie, he would have to turn around and leave the market, which would take a long time. It would be better to tell the truth. The chubby lady herself often goes to the black market to buy things, so the possibility of her reporting him for going to the black market is very low.
The plump woman thought for a moment, then suddenly realized and said, "I remember today is Comrade Lin Yuanshu's birthday. Are you buying so many things to entertain guests? You must be tired carrying all this. Let me help you. Don't be so polite. A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. My relationship with Comrade Lin Yuanshu doesn't need to be so formal."
Before the plump woman could finish speaking, she took the item from Zhou Xiangyang's left side.
Zhou Xiangyang originally wanted to refuse, but the fat woman was too strong, and before he knew it, she had taken the things from him. After thinking for a moment, he decided to accept the fat woman's kindness.
The plump lady was usually very kind to them. When they didn't want to get up early to buy groceries, they relied on her to buy an extra portion of groceries and bring them back for them.
"What dishes are you planning to cook? I'm not bragging, but no one knows this market better than me. I know where to buy the freshest vegetables. I'm not like you busy people. I have nothing to do all day, so I visit the market like it's my own home."
Ever since the chubby woman met Zhou Xiangyang, she has never stopped talking to him.
Zhou Xiangyang ignored most of the fat woman's useless words and only answered the key question, "I've already bought most of the things. Now I just need to buy some pork belly, ribs, eggplant, tomatoes..."
Upon hearing this, the plump woman said enthusiastically, "Okay, I understand. You'll come with me to buy groceries, and I promise you won't be taken advantage of."
Zhou Xiangyang nodded subconsciously.
Half an hour later, the two left the market carrying large and small bags of things and rode their bicycles home.
As soon as Zhou Xiangyang arrived at the apartment building, he ran into Sister-in-law Xue. He asked in surprise, "Sister-in-law, why are you here so early? Have Mom and Dad arrived yet?"
Sister-in-law Xue said confidently, "Mom and Dad are still at home and haven't left yet. I handed Ruyi over to your eldest brother and took the bus here early. I thought that the two of you would be too busy to cook such a big meal, so I came early to help you. I can't let the second wife get tired."
As she spoke, she took the item from Zhou Xiangyang's hand.
Zhou Xiangyang looked at Sister-in-law Xue with considerable surprise and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, I didn't expect you to be so considerate of my wife now. You're completely different from before!"
Sister-in-law Xue cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly, smiled at Zhou Xiangyang, and explained, "I didn't understand your wife's personality before, which is why we argued. That won't happen now. I know your wife is all bark and no bite; she may be sharp-tongued, but she's always kind at heart."
Speaking of the past, she really regretted it. Not that she regretted not being able to control Lin Yuanshu, but that she shouldn't have sided with Zhou Ma from the beginning. She didn't expect Lin Yuanshu to be so tough, not letting Zhou Ma control him, and even turning the tables on Zhou Ma, putting her in a position where she couldn't move.
If she had known things would turn out this way, she should have shown kindness when Lin Yuanshu first entered the room. Perhaps she and Lin Yuanshu would be as close as sisters by now.
Zhou Xiangyang wholeheartedly agreed with Sister-in-law Xue's words; his wife was indeed such a kind person.
Sister-in-law Xue: "..."
Only Zhou Xiangyang would believe her casual ramblings. Lin Yuanshu was no weak little rabbit; he was a man-eating tiger.
Afterwards, Sister-in-law Xue ignored Zhou Xiangyang and instead focused her attention on the plump aunt, who would come to Lin Yuanshu's house every month to help with chores such as cleaning, pickling sauerkraut, and making coal briquettes.
So she was already familiar with the plump woman, and the two quickly started chatting and laughing together.
When Zhou Xiangyang and Sister-in-law Xue returned home, the house was quiet. Sister-in-law Xue lowered her voice and asked, "Is the second wife still sleeping?"
As Zhou Xiangyang put the things into the kitchen, he replied, "Since there's no one in the living room, she must still be sleeping in her room."
Sister-in-law Xue blinked and immediately said to the plump woman walking behind, "Let's be quiet and make sure we don't wake up the second daughter-in-law."
The plump woman nodded quickly and whispered, "No problem."
Lin Yuanshu was eventually woken up, but not by Zhou Xiangyang and the others. Instead, she was awakened by the sounds of chickens and ducks in the kitchen, especially the ducks, which kept quacking.
It's probably because it saw the gruesome death of its brother that it couldn't help but cluck loudly!
Sister-in-law Xue was plucking chicken feathers in the living room when she saw Lin Yuanshu come out of the room and asked, "Did we make too much noise and wake you up?"
Lin Yuanshu denied it, saying, "It wasn't you who woke me up, but rather that I've been sleeping for so long and I'm already quite comfortable."
Hearing this, Sister-in-law Xue breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's good that I didn't wake you up."
Just then, the plump woman who had been helping to pick vegetables put down her hands, walked up to Lin Yuanshu, and said in a serious tone, "Comrade Lin Yuanshu, your kitchen is too small. It's really inconvenient to cook so many dishes. I told Comrade Zhou that we could take some vegetables to my house to cook, but Comrade Zhou said he would follow your arrangements. So I came over to ask if you would like to take some vegetables to my house to cook? What do you think?"
Lin Yuanshu glanced at the not-so-spacious kitchen and said without hesitation, "Auntie, I won't stand on ceremony with you. I'll use your kitchen today. You don't need to go home for dinner; you can just eat at my place."
You can be polite when you should, but there's no need to be overly polite when you shouldn't. Her kitchen is so small, it's really a bit of a stretch to cook so many dishes, both for the kitchen and for Zhou Xiangyang.
The plump woman said with a big smile, "Okay, you can use my kitchen as your own. It looks like I can have a feast today."
Before long, Sister-in-law Xue and Auntie Pang had cleaned the whole chicken and took it next door to cook.
Lin Yuanshu stared at the duck in the kitchen. She had originally planned to kill the duck, but she overestimated herself and couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she reached out her sinful hands to the half-dead grass carp.
Although Zhou Xiangyang and the others said they didn't need her help, she couldn't just sit idly by and watch them busy themselves with her birthday party.
Zhou Xiangyang quickly stopped Lin Yuanshu's actions and said softly, "We'll kill the fish later. Go peel some garlic. I'm going to make your favorite garlic chicken wings for lunch."
He felt it was better for him to do the fish-killing himself; he could finish the job in no time. If it were his wife, the fish would suffer more before it could leave.
However, it's not fair to blame Lin Yuanshu for not knowing how to kill fish. After all, in her previous life, when she went to the market to buy fish, the vendors would always kill and slice them for her.
Upon hearing the words "garlic chicken wings," Lin Yuanshu's eyes lit up, and he excitedly said, "Okay, I'll go peel the garlic right now."
It's true that you should eat what you like on your birthday.
She didn't ask Zhou Xiangyang why he didn't wake her up in the morning. It was obvious that Zhou Xiangyang did it for her own good and wanted her to sleep a little longer.
The lively scene on Lin Yuanshu's side caught the attention of Sister Xia and Sister Yao.
Sister Yao knew that the fat woman wouldn't tell them the truth, so they didn't ask the fat woman, but instead asked Sister Xue what had happened!
Sister-in-law Xue didn't think much of it and chose to tell the truth.
After hearing this, Sister Yao quickly said, "I can come and help right now. My kitchen is very spacious. Next time something like this happens, you can just come and knock on the door and ask me for help. I'm always happy to help others..."
Sister Xia nodded in agreement with Sister Yao's words.
The plump woman hadn't expected that Sister Xue would be entangled by Sister Yao and Sister Xia without her noticing. She immediately went over and loudly refused, "We don't need anyone to help us here. Two kitchens are enough. If you really want to help, stay away from us and don't waste our time."
Sister Yao's smile froze instantly. She was really annoyed by the fat auntie, this rural woman who loved to meddle in other people's business. What right did the fat auntie have to comment on what happened between her and Lin Yuanshu?
"Hey, Auntie, we didn't ask you anything. You don't need to rush to answer. You're treating Comrade Lin Yuanshu's family affairs like your own." Sister Yao said with a forced smile.
Sister-in-law Xue was unaware of the conflict between Aunt Fat and Sister Yao. She thought that if Aunt Fat came to help, Lin Yuanshu would invite her to eat. If these two came to help, wouldn't Lin Yuanshu also invite them to eat?
Although the food wasn't from her family's farm, she couldn't bear to see Lin Yuanshu engage in such wasteful behavior.
"Just like the plump lady said, we don't lack manpower here. Thank you for your kindness, but if there's another opportunity like this, I'll definitely call you all," Sister Xue politely declined.
Sister Yao didn't take Sister Xue's words to heart. She tiptoed and glanced behind Sister Xue, trying to see where Lin Yuanshu was, since Lin Yuanshu was the one who could make the decisions.
The plump woman saw through Sister Yao's thoughts. She walked over with a smile and blocked Sister Yao's view, saying confidently, "You don't need to look anymore. Even if Comrade Lin Yuanshu comes, he will still say the same thing. There will be no change."
Sister Yao felt very uncomfortable. She thought the fat aunt was abusing her power and was disgusting.
She glared at the plump woman, then pulled Sister Xia away with a displeased expression.
Sister-in-law Xue then realized that the fat woman and the two men did not get along. She couldn't help but frown because she didn't know whether Lin Yuanshu had a good relationship with the two men and was worried that she might have said the wrong thing.
The plump woman explained with a smile, "Comrade Lin Yuanshu's relationship with these two is just so-so."
Sister-in-law Xue gave an awkward laugh, stubbornly insisting, "Why are you saying things like that to me? I'm not worried about such things."
The plump woman smiled and did not refute Sister-in-law Xue's words. Some things are better left unsaid and can be left unsaid to avoid hurting someone's self-esteem.
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Author's Note: Something funny just popped into my head. The female lead is either working on her career or on her way to work on it, while the male lead is either cooking or on his way to cook. He cooks not only at home but also at work! Hahahaha!
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