Chapter 15 The Ungrateful Childhood Sweetheart
"Why are you still so energetic? We're all exhausted." Jiang Xiaomei glared at him.
Ji Huaizhi raised an eyebrow: "I'll stew a chicken for you tomorrow to nourish you properly."
The next day, Ji Huaizhi really went and bought an old hen, and the chicken soup was stewed until it was exceptionally thick.
Jiang Xiaomei was thoroughly satisfied with her drink.
The two sat around the pot of soup, chatting and drinking. Each had a chicken leg, the electric fan was oscillating towards them, and a palm-leaf fan was placed on the table.
The world is peaceful and serene, with the red sunset outside the window creating a beautiful scene.
The two of them were lying on a straw mat in loose vests talking. A fan had been brought into the small bedroom, and the window above their heads was left open for ventilation. They had been having a very relaxing time.
When Ji Huaizhi said he wanted to go out and play, Jiang Xiaomei was unwilling.
He tentatively suggested, "How about we go back to our hometown? We haven't been back for over a year."
Ji Huaizhi squinted, the cool breeze from the palm-leaf fan quickly dissipating: "Are you crazy? Even if I take you back, I might not be able to bring you out again."
"I'm a little homesick. I wonder how my younger brother and sister are doing?" Jiang Xiaomei stared blankly at the yellow light above her head and said, "And my parents, will they be sad if I disappear?"
Ji Huaizhi tilted his head to look at her, and as he moved the back of his head, the bamboo mat caught his hair, causing his expression to twist slightly.
"I think we've eaten too much."
Jiang Xiaomei looked up: "Why do you say that?"
“Because when we didn’t have enough to eat before, we were thinking about how to eat our fill and how to save up for tuition. Now that we don’t have to worry about tuition and we’re well-fed, you’re trying to give us some challenges to overcome.”
Jiang Xiaomei realized he was being sarcastic and put her hand inside his clothes: "You're saying I'm just being nosy?"
"Hiss~" Ji Huaizhi's face twisted, and he threw the palm-leaf fan on the ground: "It's hot, hot, hot."
"Ah! Take your hand away!"
The two playfully wrestled for a while, with Jiang Xiaomei's laughter ringing out.
In the end, the two did not go out of the province to play, because Jiang Xiaomei was unwilling, feeling that it would be a waste of money, but they still went to visit the surrounding areas.
I went to see the lotus flowers and brought back a lot of lotus seeds.
They went to play in the water nearby, strolled around the parks, and climbed the nearby mountains. Seeing that Jiang Xiaomei was having a lot of fun, Ji Huaizhi didn't say anything.
Since she felt that saving money was preferable to going out and having fun, Ji Huaizhi didn't try to discourage her.
Less than half a month passed, and the two of them stayed at home again, not going anywhere.
Perhaps because she had never had so much free time, Jiang Xiaomei felt that something was wrong with everything.
Suddenly, she sat up and said, "Shall we go find some work?"
Ji Huaizhi collapsed onto the straw mat: "I'm not going."
"Go on, go on. I feel really uneasy after playing for so long." Jiang Xiaomei shoved Ji Huaizhi.
Ji Huaizhi removed the palm-leaf fan from his face: "Jiang Xiaomei, are you being unreasonable? If you feel uneasy, go read books and do practice tests. I'll tutor you during this period."
Jiang Xiaomei rolled over and sat on Ji Huaizhi's stomach, her expression furious: "Who are you yelling at?"
Ji Huaizhi narrowed his eyes and began to move his hand, which was on her breast, upwards.
"Smack!"
Jiang Xiaomei slapped his hand away: "Where are you putting your hands?"
"Ji Huaizhi, you've gone bad!"
"You're not going to call me brother anymore?" Ji Huaizhi's voice was somewhat lazy.
Jiang Xiaomei blushed slightly as she made that same expression again.
After the two fooled around for a while, Ji Huaizhi closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, all he could hear was Jiang Xiaomei's incessant chatter.
Ji Huaizhi turned over and pinched Jiang Xiaomei's mouth: "I only recently discovered how mischievous you are?"
"I'm so bored. I don't want to read. I'm tired of playing Candy Crush too!" Jiang Xiaomei poked his shoulder and grumbled.
He pinched Jiang Xiaomei's mouth and then released it, amusedly teasing her: "Call me brother, and I'll take you to work tomorrow."
"Brother, you know I can't sit still. If you let me read for a little while, I'll go read a novel."
"Brother Huaizhi, I knew you were the best." Jiang Xiaomei pouted and acted cute.
Ji Huaizhi chuckled: "I'll take you to work tomorrow."
The next day, Ji Huaizhi took a fan and told Jiang Xiaomei to put on her hat before going out.
"You're dressed like this to go to work?" Jiang Xiaomei asked, noticing his vest, shorts, and slippers.
“I’ll take you to do market research. What future is there in working for someone else? Even stealing batteries wouldn’t be a good job.” After saying that, Ji Huaizhi picked up a slice of watermelon and started eating it as they walked.
The way he walks is no different from those old men.
Jiang Xiaomei was laughing so hard she almost died.
He jumped behind him, hooked his arm around his neck, and pulled him down, shouting, "Old Ji! Old Ji!"
"Are some people looking for a beating?"
The two wandered around outside and each ate a bowl of ice jelly and tofu pudding. When they passed by stinky tofu, Ji Huaizhi also ordered a bowl.
Even Jiang Xiaomei, who was selling iced tofu, couldn't walk away.
I ate and drank so much that I couldn't even eat lunch.
The two sat under a tree to rest in the shade. Jiang Xiaomei looked up at the sky helplessly and said, "Did we come here to make money or to spend money?"
"Is it not tasty?"
"It's delicious~" Jiang Xiaomei's voice was a little coquettish: "But I always feel guilty about spending money. I don't feel at ease if I don't work and earn money."
"Brother Huaizhi, waaaaaah~" Jiang Xiaomei hooked her arms around Ji Huaizhi's neck again.
Ji Huaizhi slapped her hand with his fan: "It's hot, it's hot! Listen to me."
“We didn’t waste our money today. Besides being full, what else did you see?” Ji Huaizhi stared at her.
"What can we tell?" Jiang Xiaomei asked, puzzled.
Ji Huaizhi gently patted her forehead: "The ice jelly, iced tofu pudding, and tofu brain we ate were only two yuan a bowl. It's so hot now, haven't you noticed how popular they are?"
Jiang Xiaomei's eyes lit up: "These things are very inexpensive to make, and I can even make ice jelly."
"We can sell them too!"
Ji Huaizhi nodded: "I know a place that specializes in wholesaling fruit. We can buy a scale to buy fruit wholesale and sell it there. Once we've sold it all, we can go home."
Jiang Xiaomei stared at Ji Huaizhi with wide eyes and said, "Brother, no wonder everyone in the village says you're so clever! You're really smart!"
"Really? I also think I'm very smart!" Ji Huaizhi smiled, then suddenly stopped smiling and exclaimed, "But!"
Jiang Xiaomei blinked: "But what?"
Then Ji Huaizhi said, "But there aren't many people here, and there's already this much business. If we go to sell, the business probably won't be very good."
"It should be pretty good when school starts, since there are more students then and it's mostly students who make the purchases."
“Now is not the time,” Ji Huaizhi said, shaking his head.
Jiang Xiaomei suddenly deflated: "Huh?"
Are you kidding me?
A cool breeze blew up, and Jiang Xiaomei looked up and stood up to look at the workers building the building in front of her.
Ji Huaizhi could tell what she was thinking at a glance from her expression, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Brother Huaizhi~" Jiang Xiaomei said excitedly, "I know what I can do now!"
"I can sell boxed lunches!"
“I used to work at Xinxin Restaurant, and I learned the head chef’s skills. He taught us how to cook, so I could cook at home and bring it over to sell. Once it was sold out, I would take it home!”
As she spoke, she excitedly patted Ji Huaizhi on the shoulder.
"How about it?"
Ji Huaizhi raised an eyebrow: "This child is teachable."
"But selling boxed lunches is quite hard work."
Jiang Xiaomei waved her hand: "Making money is never easy! Let's go! Let's go buy groceries and disposable lunch boxes!"
The two carried a lot of things back home. Jiang Xiaomei finished the preparations, cut the meat, washed the vegetables and put them in the refrigerator, planning to cook them directly the next day, which would save a lot of time.
Jiang Xiaomei is full of energy just thinking about how she can make money by selling the boxed meals tomorrow.
Seeing her bustling around so happily, Ji Huaizhi's gaze fell on the rice cooker for 1-2 people in the kitchen.
I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Xiaomei asked, displeased.
"I was thinking, those workers do heavy work, they must have big appetites, we need to make sure they're well-fed so they have the energy to work, right?"
Jiang Xiaomei nodded: "Yes, yes."
Ji Huaizhi fanned himself as he stepped forward and picked up their small rice cooker: "Even if our pot endures hardship, it still can't cook any more rice."
Jiang Xiaomei was stunned.
The hands that were cutting the meat stopped.
She stared at Ji Huaizhi with wide eyes: "Brother~"
Ji Huaizhi looked at her for a long time: "I'll go buy it, and while I'm at it, I'll buy a suitcase so I can take it over tomorrow."
Jiang Xiaomei made a virtual rocking motion: "I'll pay you back for the rice cooker once I've made some money!"
Ji Huaizhi waved his hand: "Don't cut your hand."
"Xiao Ji, are you buying so many groceries to entertain guests?" the neighbor asked.
"I guess so."
Ji Huaizhi went to check the rice cooker and found it was too small. He figured cooking in two batches would be better. In the end, he went to the grocery store and bought a steamer. Luckily, the landlord had left a relatively large iron pot at home.
This is even cheaper than a rice cooker.
When Jiang Xiaomei returned with the steamer and melons, she had almost finished preparing everything.
His eyes lit up when he saw the steamer that Ji Huaizhi had bought.
"Smart brother."
Ji Huaizhi rolled his eyes: "If you make money, you have to pay me a salary."
"Absolutely!"
The next morning, Jiang Xiaomei prepared breakfast and called Ji Huaizhi to get up and eat.
She couldn't resist going to the kitchen to help herself right after finishing her meal.
After Ji Huaizhi finished eating, he went inside to take a look. She had done all the preparations; all he needed to do was steam the rice and stir-fry the vegetables.
Seeing that she was already skillfully pouring oil and stir-frying vegetables, Ji Huaizhi went out to prepare the disposable lunch boxes so that they could be packed in a little while.
One of them was cooking in the kitchen, while the other was preparing lunchboxes in the living room. Before long, a sizzling sound of oil came from the kitchen; the food had been cooked and smelled delicious.
The lunchbox is ready, and the first dish inside is also cooked.
Ji Huaizhi got up and packed the food into a lunchbox. The lunchbox was made of foam.
It's not big; one lunchbox contains rice, and the other contains vegetables.
It consisted of one meat dish and one vegetable dish.
"The stir-fried pork with chili peppers is ready, and there's also a hot and sour potato slice." Jiang Xiaomei is a very good cook, and the house is filled with the aroma of stir-fried dishes.
Fortunately, there is a fan in the kitchen that draws out the cooking fumes.
"Both are dishes that go well with rice, so I'll fill the rice bowl more. You don't need to fill the dishes too much." Ji Huaizhi filled the rice bowl first.
After glancing at the portion size of the dish, I steamed another pot in a small rice cooker.
The two of them went back and forth, and in no time they had filled 28 portions.
"Is this enough for them? Should we make some room and pack 25 servings?" Jiang Xiaomei asked.
"That's enough, I've given you plenty of rice." Ji Huaizhi said, picking up another lunchbox: "Usually, these lunchboxes contain both rice and dishes in one container. We've already been very considerate by packing the rice and dishes separately. You'll be able to eat your fill no matter what."
Jiang Xiaomei nodded; she knew that listening to Ji Huaizhi was the right thing to do.
She took off her apron and hung it on a nail behind the kitchen door: "I'm going to change my clothes and get ready to go out. Let's start early on the first day."
Ji Huaizhi: "After washing my face, I was covered in sweat."
Ji Huaizhi could understand her desire to make money.
She felt that her easy job didn't pay much, and the pressure of making money was on his shoulders. In addition, she had always been busy since she was a child, having to take care of her younger siblings in farm work and cooking.
So she was not used to suddenly having free time.
Another reason is that I feel more at ease spending the money I earn.
Ji Huaizhi placed the foam box on the cart, and Jiang Xiaomei came out and her eyes lit up: "Where did you find this cart?"
"The grandma next door lent it to us. Let's go, it's almost lunchtime."
Jiang Xiaomei took two hats and put them on the two of them to shield them from the sun. When they arrived at the location, the workers had not yet finished their shift.
However, there were already people setting up stalls around, including one with a cart. They had a wide variety of boxed meals, which made Jiang Xiaomei feel uncertain.
"The food at the stall next door is all displayed, and there's so much variety. Do people actually come to buy our food?"
28 servings! It would be such a waste if we couldn't finish them all.
"Try calling out to them in a bit. People who eat there every day might want to try something different."
When people came out, everyone headed towards the familiar stalls.
Some people came over for a look, but left without knowing what the dishes were.
Jiang Xiaomei started calling out haltingly, then raised her voice when she saw that no one was coming her way: "Boxed lunch, boxed lunch, 8 yuan a boxed lunch, one meat and one vegetable, stir-fried pork with chili peppers and hot and sour potato slices."
"It's cheap and affordable, and made fresh to order."
Ji Huaizhi picked up two lunchboxes and sat down under the tree to eat. Jiang Xiaomei thought he was hungry, so she kept shouting to the crowd.
Someone saw Ji Huaizhi eating nearby and came over to take a look: "How's the food, bro?"
Ji Huaizhi showed it to him: "It's alright, the rice and dishes are served separately, it goes well with rice."
As you can see, the portion size is quite good, and the pickled peppers in the hot and sour potato slices are definitely flavorful.
The stir-fried pork with chili peppers uses a good balance of lean and fatty meat, which is indeed very appetizing.
It's 8 yuan cheaper than the 11 yuan all-you-can-eat stall next door, and the portion looks like enough. It's a good option for a change of pace.
"Get me one of his to try," the man said to Jiang Xiaomei as he walked over.
Jiang Xiaomei smiled and took out two lunchboxes: "Come again if you like it."
"If it doesn't taste good, I definitely won't come."
As long as there is business, it will attract other people to come over, and everyone who comes over will want to see what's in Ji Huaizhi's bowl.
Jiang Xiaomei suddenly realized that her brother was moving so slowly; he was trying to attract customers for her.
Someone asked the other workers how the food was, and they nodded in agreement. To be honest, home-cooked meals are definitely much tastier than communal meals.
Although communal meals are delicious, you can get tired of them after a while.
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