Making money makes the whole village unhappy
Zhang Qingjie's question did not stump Shen Roujiao, but it surprised the three brothers. Previously, they were only concerned about making money and did not think much about it. Only the eldest brother asked a few questions.
At this moment, Zhang Qingjie asked the question in person, and the brothers became nervous.
Under their gaze, Shen Roujiao seemed unusually calm. She didn't answer in a hurry, but calmly picked up the canned glass bottle, tilted her head back and gulped down a few big mouthfuls. She wiped her mouth happily with her sleeve, her eyes narrowed into slits with a smile, "What? Brother Zhang thinks my cooking is not delicious?"
The beads of sweat on her forehead were shining, and her radiant smile made her look like a small wild flower waving in the wind on the hillside, full of vigorous vitality, which made people feel both distressed and admired.
"No, no, no, on the contrary, it's because it's so delicious, so delicious that the locals can't make it at all. That's why your brother Zhang is curious, curious about where the young boss learned the skills to make so many delicious dishes. I don't mean anything else, I'm just pure curiosity." Zhang Qingjie put his hands behind his neck, trying hard to hide the embarrassment in his expression.
Before the younger sister could speak, the eldest brother Shen Tianhua looked depressed and said with self-blame, "Brother Zhang, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. If the family conditions were not so bad, we wouldn't have made it difficult for the younger sister. She had to go out to help others and earn some living expenses when she was in school. We, as brothers, feel bad and sorry for her."
Sincerity is always the best trump card.
Shen Tianhua's words were sincere and heartwarming, and they also reasonably answered Zhang Qingjie's doubts.
"School is about to start, isn't the boss going to leave? What should we do with this stall?" Zhang Qingjie felt a hole in his heart, and he stared at Shen Roujiao blankly, feeling disappointed.
He had no idea what he was thinking. He was just afraid that the stall would be removed. He had no food to eat and no reason to meet the goddess. He just felt a little spark of love, but it was about to be extinguished. Who wouldn't be anxious?
"Brother Zhang, don't worry, the stall will not be evacuated." Shen Roujiao turned around and pointed at her three brothers, "They are all here. It's not easy to keep the stall going. Please give us more support, Brother Zhang."
Several brothers nodded vigorously at Brother Zhang, like primary school students promising to complete their homework.
"That's good, that's good." The little flame of love was finally saved.
Zhang Qingjie brushed off the dust on his trousers and legs with a relieved look on his face, then stood up and stretched his waist. "You guys have been busy all night, so you should pack up and go back home early!"
The moment he got on the bicycle, he thought of something and waved to Shen Roujiao, signaling the young boss to come forward.
Shen Roujiao followed and listened closely, "Young Boss, the bicycle you wanted has been completed, but it's still missing two wheels."
?
Wheels?
What does it mean? Assemble a bicycle?
She wanted a cheap, second-hand, old bike, sure, but she had never thought about buying one.
Guessing that the young boss would have this expression, Zhang Qingjie pretended to be pompous and deliberately lowered his voice, "What? You don't like the Phoenix brand frame that Brother Zhang bought for you?"
What?
Phoenix brand?
Shen Roujiao remembered that when the village chief got a 28-inch bicycle last year, he was given a red flower and set off firecrackers. Since then, the 60-year-old old man has become the most handsome guy in the village. His bicycle is a Phoenix brand, which costs more than 200 yuan. It is as impressive as buying a BMW car now.
"Is it really Phoenix brand?" Shen Roujiao was a little excited.
In those days, the brand names of Phoenix and Forever were well-known all over the country. When riding a Phoenix bicycle, the wind blowing on your face was like a filter, and others could only envy you.
"Of course. Brother Zhang is always good at what he does, except for his wheels." His face was full of pride and arrogance, with a kind of show-off that was not annoying, which was very real and beautiful.
"Is it expensive?" Shen Roujiao's budget was only 50 yuan, which was enough to buy a miscellaneous army at most, but it was already a huge expense for the Shen family.
Zhang Qingjie silently stretched out two fingers and waved them in front of her eyes.
"No way, 20 yuan?" He was so excited that his voice was a little shrill.
"How is it? Isn't it beautiful?" Beautiful, great value, and the ultimate value for money.
Shen Roujiao really wanted to reward him with a little red flower on the spot. Choosing him would save money, which was not a big deal.
The two of them talked in whispers for a long time, and the third brother was still in the dark.
After closing the stall, several people tried to get the younger sister to talk in a roundabout way. Shen Roujiao did not hide anything and said that she wanted to buy a bicycle for her father.
The brothers persuaded the younger sister all the way, but they couldn't shake her determination to buy a bicycle. They were also forced to promise to keep it a secret for her. Whoever leaked the news would cook stinky tofu.
When I got home, it was time to record the accounts every night: tofu pudding 3.44 yuan, chuanchuanxiang 13.52 yuan, stinky tofu 8.5 yuan, pear in syrup 6.6 yuan, a total of 32 yuan and 6 cents.
Once again refreshed the cognition of everyone in the Shen family.
One day's income is equal to the total of one month's income for Shen's father and second brother.
However, when everyone in the Shen family was happy, Shen Roujiao poured a basin of cold water on them, "The daily income of this stall will not exceed 35 yuan at most. Because the stinky tofu has just been launched, the business will be better recently. After a while, the popularity will decrease, and the income will also decrease. Only then will the stable figure be the future income. It is estimated to be 23 or 24 yuan a day."
Even this number greatly reduced Shen's father's doubts about his eldest brother's decision to give up his job.
…
Good news never travels far, but bad news travels far and wide.
The fact that the extremely poor Shen family made money was considered a bad thing by many people in the village. It felt like the money they made came from their own pockets, and they were jealous and looked down on them.
The "bad news" spread in Hedong Village, and became more and more outrageous. Some said they only made a few dollars a day, some said they could make twenty or thirty dollars a day, and the most exaggerated one was that the Shen family made fifty or sixty dollars a day.
Even Shen Shanhe, who usually never cares about gossip, talked to Zhao Ye about the second brother's family.
"My dear, I heard from the villagers that the guys from the second family are making quite a bit of money by setting up stalls at the market."
Shen Shanhe stuffed the mouthpiece of the dry cigarette with homemade tobacco, pressed it with the tip of his thumb, took out a small box of matches from his pocket, pulled out a red-headed match, and drew a line on the brown rectangles on both sides of the box. The flames ignited with a "crackling" sound, and he lit the tobacco. He took a few deep puffs, and thick white smoke came out of his mouth.
Aunt Zhao, who was washing clothes on a washboard, rolled her eyes when she heard Shen Shanhe's question. She unconsciously increased the pressure under her hands and rubbed her frayed collar vigorously, saying unhappily, "He made money and paid back the twenty yuan he owed us in one day."
"What? You went to the second brother's house to ask for money?" Shen Shanhe stood up suddenly, and the bench fell to one side.
Seeing Zhao Ye didn't say anything, Shen Shanhe stamped his feet in anger, pointed his cigarette at her, and shouted, "You woman, why didn't you listen to my advice? Didn't Lao Er say he would return it in ten days? Who told you to go and ask for it the next day?"
"Who, who, who!"
Aunt Zhao threw the wet clothes in her hands into the iron washing basin, splashing water and wetting the floor. "What's wrong with asking for money? It's all for our second daughter. You have time to show off in front of me, why don't you dare to ask the second daughter? He obviously has money in his hands, but he still insists on delaying for ten days or half a month. What's the meaning of that?"
Thinking of the embarrassing scene when he asked for the bill that day, Zhao Ye got angry and shouted an octave higher than Shen Shanhe's, making him lose his voice.
"Everyone has problems. We are all brothers. Don't push us so hard." Shen Shanhe lowered his head, took a puff of cigarette, and muttered to himself.
Zhao Ye's chest heaved violently. He put down the washboard, wiped his clothes with his wet hands, stood up and walked out. When he was almost in the yard, he turned back and glared at Shen Shanhe fiercely.
"Erniu, come over here. Dad and Mom have something to ask you."
It was said in the village that the craftsmanship of the Shen family's stall was all from the youngest of the Shen family. The girl was not outstanding before, she was quiet and a little introverted, but after going to school in the county, she changed completely, becoming generous and lively. The key point is that she actually learned some skills to make money and set up a stall in the market on her own.
"Dad, Mom, what's the matter?" Erniu, who was reading in the house, came to the main room. Shen Shanhe, who was smoking, waved at her, meaning don't ask me, ask your mom.
"What courses does your school have? Are there any courses that teach people how to cook various foods?" Yesterday, Aunt Xu ridiculed her second daughter, saying that she only knew how to study and was not as good as the youngest daughter of the Shen family, which made Zhao Ye very angry.
Zhao Ye, who only cared about grades and not studies, suddenly asked about her child's classes, which surprised Erniu. She looked at her mother in confusion, and said hesitantly, "In the morning, there are Chinese, algebra, Russian, physics, and chemistry. In the afternoon, there are various labor classes, such as weeding, picking up cow dung, and planting sweet potatoes... Just like working in the fields at home, learning to work and learn from agricultural school students."
Zhao Ye's frown did not relax. She continued to ponder and asked, "What about after school?"
"I read books and saw some of my classmates knitting gloves and scarves, while others learned how to crochet glass cup holders."
Erniu talked for a long time but didn't get to the heart of Zhao Ye's heart. After a pause, she asked Shen Roujiao directly, "Do you know what the youngest child of the Shen family does after school?"
Although they both have the surname Shen, Erniu and Shen Roujiao are not close because Zhao Ye looks down on the children of the second brother's family. They just smile and seldom talk to each other when they meet in school occasionally.
The most memorable one was the night before the holiday. Erniu was looking at exercise books at the used book stall at the school gate, and Shen Roujiao came out of the corner shop carrying a small bag. She bowed to the people in the shop before turning around and leaving.
When they reached the school gate, Shen Roujiao took the initiative to greet her and asked her when she would be home. Finally, she took out a pancake from her bag and handed it to her.
The cake is very fragrant.
It was then that she found out that Shen Roujiao had been doing odd jobs in the small shop at the doorstep, earning some food and drinks, and using the money saved to buy study materials.
"She seems to be doing odd jobs in a small shop near the school. Why did mother ask about her?" Unless there were special circumstances, such as borrowing money, Zhao Ye would never take the initiative to mention the second brother's family. This time, for some reason, he asked about Shen Roujiao, which was rare.
"She brought a few brothers to set up a stall in the market to sell tofu pudding and other things. I heard that they made a lot of money," Zhao Ye's face was full of dissatisfaction. He thought to himself, if the baby's father hadn't lent money to the second brother's family, the Shen family would never be where it is today.
"Very impressive. The little sister of the Shen family has been working very hard, and her name is often on the school's honor roll." Erniu's words made Zhao Ye, who was already unhappy, even more angry. Her face was as red as a book, and she pointed at Erniu and scolded her, "Why? You want to be like your brother, following the Shen family's ass, being ordered around, and only embarrassing me? What a sin you have committed, it's all because of you, a money-loser, who has brought up the two children badly, and each one is more useless than the other."
The flames of war finally spread to Shen Shanhe. He sighed, knocked the ashes of his cigarette on the ground, tucked it behind his clothes, pushed the door open and walked out, ignoring everything.
Behind him, Zhao Ye’s scolding voice continued: “Big Wa is heartless..., just like you..., you are a traitor...”