Sister Hu is efficient. As soon as she put her things down, she looked around the room, rolled up her sleeves, and started tidying up.
"Old Li, there's no time. Go to the cafeteria and get some food to eat here. Xiaoyan and I will tidy up this room together, otherwise she won't have anywhere to stay tonight."
Li Jianguo agreed and quickly went out to the cafeteria to get his meal.
Sister Hu first made the bed, and while she was busy with her hands, she introduced the department store to Xu Ningyan.
"Our department store has a canteen, which is located in the row of bungalows to the right of the dormitory. It's usually for single, unmarried people. Also, people who don't have time to go home to cook lunch will eat at the canteen. In the evening, it's less common. Except for single men who don't know how to cook, we married people all go home and cook for ourselves."
"Only when guests come over and I haven't bought groceries or don't have time to cook will I go to the cafeteria for a quick bite."
"The counter can't be empty for too long. I don't have time to go home and cook, so please bear with me for now. I'll cook your specialty for you tonight!"
It also introduced the departments in the department store and the types of people working there.
He told Xu Ningyan everything without holding back, including who he could associate with, who he couldn't be close to, and who he couldn't offend.
After saying all that, he went on to tell her about the neighbors next door, what kind of people they were, what their character was like, in great detail, treating Xu Ningyan like his own daughter, afraid that he might not have explained anything clearly so that she would suffer a loss.
Xu Ningyan knew the good intentions of Li Jianguo and his wife, so she listened carefully, not daring to miss a single word, and even asked a few questions if she didn't understand something.
The two chatted and laughed, getting along very well.
As they were talking, things outside became lively.
Many people were carrying lunchboxes and heading towards the cafeteria. Xu Ningyan peeked out and saw that there were quite a few people.
Li Jianguo arrived early and was already walking quickly over with two or three lunchboxes in his arms.
Upon entering the dormitory, I saw that in just a short while, the two of them had already put on their bedding and even hung up the mosquito net.
In a little while, all you need to do is cover the windows with newspaper and hang a curtain in the door, and it will be ready to live in.
Li Jianguo placed the steaming hot lunchbox on the five-drawer desk and called to the two of them to eat: "Come and eat, Yan is in luck today. The cafeteria made fish today, come and try it."
Jingshan County is nestled between mountains and water, and is rich in freshwater fish resources, but it's not easy to have a fish meal on a regular basis.
Xu Ningyan glanced at the three lunchboxes lined up on the table. Each lunchbox contained a stir-fried water spinach, a crucian carp with broad bean paste, and a steamed bun made from a mixture of flour and water, about the size of six men's fists.
It smells delicious.
Xu Ningyan and Sister Hu washed their hands at the sink outside and came back in. Li Jianguo had already set out the chopsticks.
There weren't any extra stools in the room, so Li Jianguo ran next door and borrowed two more.
Sitting around the table, Xu Ningyan first tasted the water spinach. It was a bit old and didn't seem to be stir-fried; it was more like boiled. Besides being salty, it had no other flavor.
It was still braised crucian carp with fermented soybean paste, about the size of a palm, braised until fragrant with the aroma of the sauce, the skin fried until golden brown, the fermented soybean paste salty, fragrant and slightly spicy, while the fish meat had a sweet taste, making it very appetizing.
Seeing that Xu Ningyan liked to eat, Sister Hu picked up her chopsticks and was about to give Xu Ningyan the fish from her lunchbox: "This braised crucian carp is our cafeteria chef's specialty. It's a good thing your brother Jianguo went early, otherwise it would have been gone."
Xu Ningyan, carrying her lunchbox, stepped aside: "Sister Hu, you eat it yourself! One is enough for me, this fish has too many bones!"
Sister Hu took the fish back, but still put the belly parts of the fish on both sides of the fish into Xu Ningyan's hands: "There are fewer bones in the belly, eat more!"
Xu Ningyan couldn't refuse, so she had to eat it.
Seeing this, Li Jianguo, while talking to Xu Ningyan about what he needed to do at work in the afternoon, secretly put the belly of the fish from his lunchbox into Sister Hu's bowl without even blinking.
Sister Hu rolled her eyes at Li Jianguo, probably feeling that it wasn't appropriate to act like that in front of Xu Ningyan, but her eyes were still smiling.
Xu Ningyan was unexpectedly fed a bowl of dog food and felt a little full!
After finishing her meal, Xu Ningyan packed up her lunchbox and went to the sink to wash it. Li Jianguo and Sister Hu then busied themselves fixing the curtain and pasting newspapers onto the windows.
“Yan girl, let’s cover the windows with newspaper for now. In a couple of months, when we have more cloth coupons, we can make a curtain and hang it up,” Li Jianguo explained.
To thank Xu Ningyan, Li Jianguo and Sister Hu practically emptied their bank account of tickets and even borrowed a lot from others.
The remaining tickets at home were all used to buy things for Xu Ningyan's dormitory, leaving them a bit strapped for cash.
Of course, more importantly, Li Jianguo didn't mention that although Xu Ningyan was only a temporary worker, she was still coveted by many people, and the job almost fell through.
If the director hadn't received a phone call from somewhere and made the final decision, Xu Ningyan's job situation would probably have been much more complicated.
Moreover, the director gave a separate approval to Xu Ningyan for a single dormitory room, with all the furniture provided later, which must have made many people envious.
It's best to keep a low profile for now.
Since Xu Ningyan was new to the area, she naturally listened to Li Jianguo.
“Uncle, you’re right! I won’t be staying in the dorm for more than a few days, so hanging curtains is such a waste!” He then pulled out tickets and money.
"How much did it cost, and what kind of ration coupons, for the bedding and mosquito net that Uncle just bought for me?"
Li Jianguo was unwilling to accept it. Without even needing to give a signal, Sister Hu stepped forward and stopped Xu Ningyan: "You saved our whole family, what is this little thing? Why are you being so polite?"
Xu Ningyan insisted on giving it, saying that each matter should be addressed separately.
She hadn't refused the thanks from Li Jianguo and the county department store, and that matter was already over.
How could they possibly have the nerve to ask Li Jianguo and his wife for something using this?
Everyone is struggling financially, not to mention that I not only have space, but also a whole bunch of receipts that Li Jianguo brought last time.
After some pushing and shoving, Sister Hu couldn't win against Xu Ningyan and accepted the money and tickets.
She playfully scolded Xu Ningyan for being too formal, but inwardly she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Having owed Xu Ningyan such a great debt of gratitude, she was both happy and worried when she saw him.
They were afraid that Xu Ningyan would take advantage of this favor to manipulate their old Li in the future.
Given Old Li's personality, he would naturally help those he could, and even those he couldn't help with, he would try his best to find a way to help.
Although Xu Ningyan's honesty in returning the lost money proved her good character, Sister Hu was still worried. She was afraid that Xu Ningyan would lose her sense of propriety and think that whatever she and Li Jianguo did was their duty, and that they would be treating each other like royalty.
Seeing that Xu Ningyan was a very sensible person who didn't take advantage of anyone, he finally relaxed.
Her smile became much more genuine: "Then I won't stand on ceremony with you! Come over for dinner tonight! You can't refuse!"
Xu Ningyan readily agreed.
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