Chapter 368: Uncovering Xia Shuangshan’s Secret

Xia Juanjuan sighed and did not blame Lin Yuru anymore.

After all, she was just being too strict. Lin Yuru felt that there was no money at home and she had no way to make money. What else could she do except save?

She started the stove again and put the kettle on to boil water. When the water was almost boiled, she poured it into the basin and washed clothes with Lin Yuru.

While washing, she asked, "Mom, where is my dad?"

Lin Yuru's hands paused while washing clothes, and then she said unnaturally, "Your father...went out for a walk, and will be back in time for dinner."

Xia Juanjuan glanced at her and didn't say anything more. She changed the subject and asked, "Mom, I have my first class at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll get up and cook in the morning. I'll eat in the cafeteria at noon. I have two classes in the afternoon, so I should be able to come back early."

Lin Yuru agreed.

The clothes were washed. They hung them out in the yard and started to prepare dinner.

It was getting dark when Xia Shuangshan went to pick up Xiaowen, Xiaowu and Beibei and went into the yard.

"Mom! We're back from school!" Xiao Wu shouted.

The triplets saw it and immediately rushed over: "Big brother, second brother, sister! Have you published a new book? I want to see the little ones!"

There are printed illustrations of little people in the textbooks. Every time the triplets see them, they are so excited that they pester Xiaowen and the others to tell them the stories in the illustrations.

Xia Juanjuan poked her head out and asked with a smile, "How are your classmates on your first day of school? Are there any bullies?"

The three of them are still auditors. Although the teacher didn't tell the class, there are always people who are well-informed. Therefore, the classmates still have some reaction. Most of them are simply curious and friendly, but there are still a few who look at them with arrogance and think they are country bumpkins.

On the way, Xiaowen had already warned Xiaowu and Beibei not to tell their mother about this, and to talk about it later if the noise became too serious and they couldn't beat them.

Therefore, the three of them only reported good news and not worries, saying, "My classmates are all doing well! Mom, don't worry about it. Is the meal ready? I'll help light the fire!"

Xia Juanjuan looked up and saw Xia Shuangshan holding a bag in his hand, trying to hide from others and quickly return to the house, so she asked, "Dad, what are you holding in your hand?"

Xia Shuangshan was startled and forced a smile, "Oh, nothing. Just some dirty clothes. I'll put them in the house first and let your mother help wash them tomorrow."

Xia Juanjuan did not ask any more questions and said, "Oh. Dad, wash your hands. We will have dinner soon."

Xia Shuangshan responded and went into the house.

Dinner consisted of mixed-grain steamed buns, sweet potato and millet porridge, stir-fried Chinese cabbage, a dish of dried beans and bacon, and a plate of scrambled eggs.

Now that Xiaowen and Xiaowu have grown up and their appetites have increased, each of them can eat one and a half steamed buns. Xia Shuangshan eats two, Xia Juanjuan and Lin Yuru each eat one, and Beibei eats most of it. The triplets can also share one.

All in all, one meal would require eight or nine steamed buns, plus a lot of porridge and vegetables, too.

Lin Yuru watched as the flour and rice jars in the house were quickly empty. She was actually very anxious and felt that money was being spent like water.

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Dad, I see the rice and flour jars are empty. I'll go to the grocery store tomorrow to get some more. In the afternoon, you can get a bicycle and come back to help with the food."

Xia Shuangshan heard this and agreed, "Okay."

Under normal circumstances, Xia Juanjuan would secretly fill the rice jar and flour jar, but occasionally she would still go to the grocery store to get them, otherwise it would be too strange.

Is there anyone who can eat all the noodles in the bowl?

The next day, Xia Juanjuan got up early in the morning to cook. She boiled eggs, steamed buns, and sweet potato and millet porridge.

After she and Xiaowen and Xiaowu finished drinking, they went to class separately.

Xia Juanjuan saw that Chen Lu was still wearing the thin cotton jacket from yesterday, so she walked over and asked, "Why didn't you buy thicker clothes yesterday?"

Chen Lu hugged his shoulders, shivering with cold, and said, "I went to ask. The department store asked me for cloth coupons and cotton coupons, but I have a lot of them, and they don't recognize them here..."

Xia Juanjuan was also amused and said with a smile: "Just bear with it for a while. I'll go with you in the afternoon and use my ticket to buy it first. You can return it to me when the school-subsidized ticket comes."

Chen Lu said gratefully: "You are so nice, Juanjuan."

After class, Xia Juanjuan took Chen Lu to the department store to buy things.

After buying the blanket and the cotton-padded jacket, Chen Lu quickly put on the cotton-padded jacket and walked towards the school dormitory with the thick quilt in his arms. As he walked, he asked, "Juanjuan, I saw that you were not in the dormitory last night. Did you rent a house outside?"

Xia Juanjuan smiled vaguely and said, "Yeah. I'm married now, and my children are all in Beijing. Their father is out of town, so my mother and father are taking care of them. We rented a house. When I have too many classes to catch up, I live in the dormitory. I'll go back if I can."

Chen Lu nodded and said with a smile: "So that's what happened."

The two were walking and discussing the content of today's class when suddenly a familiar voice came from an alley on the side of the road.

"Sister, I'm sorry. I pulled enough coal briquettes as you asked, but you suddenly wanted to add another truckload. It takes me two hours to pull it from the coal station to here and back. I have to pull food for my daughter in the afternoon. How about... I come to pull it for you tomorrow morning, okay?"

Xia Juanjuan stopped and looked into the alley. Who else could it be if not Xia Shuangshan?

Xia Juanjuan pretended not to see it, and after walking a few steps, she said to Chen Lu: "I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do. You go back to the dormitory. I will go home tonight, and see you in class tomorrow!"

After hearing this, Chen Lu said goodbye to Xia Juanjuan, turned the corner and left.

Xia Juanjuan watched her leave, then walked back and listened at the entrance of the alley.

The girl who was called "Big Sister" was obviously not easy to deal with. She said arrogantly, "We were just at the gate of the coal station, and that's not what we said! If you bring me the number of coal briquettes I want, I'll give you fifty cents. Now you haven't brought enough, so I asked you to bring another load. Why do you ask for another load? It's because you didn't bring enough first!"

Xia Shuangshan blushed when he heard this: "How can you not keep your word! You said you wanted 200 briquettes, and I loaded them for you. You even wanted to get on the car and let me pull it. Then you complained that I was too slow to pull you up, and you reduced the number of briquettes to 100. Now you say I didn't pull enough! I'm just earning money by selling my labor, and you can't bully me like this!"

When the middle-aged woman heard this, she put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows: "Who are you talking about? I saw that you came from the countryside, so I specially gave you business, and now you turn the tables on me! I tell you, although I am a woman, I am not someone who can be bullied! How about this, I asked for 200 yuan, and you gave me 100 yuan, so I will give you 25 cents!"