After drinking a bowl of brown sugar water and warming himself by the fire, Wei Mingshen went to the yard and brought back a bundle of thatch without waiting for Su Xueli's instructions. He sat down and started trimming it with scissors.
Su Xueli praised her without reservation: "Where can you find such a good assistant?"
Wei Mingshen continued, "When you're working for a boss, you have to be a bit observant, don't you?"
Su Xueli giggled.
The room was warm and comfortable, and with a capable assistant by her side, Su Xueli made more than twenty more dishes by dinnertime.
Wei Mingshen did the math and said, "I've got 18 yuan."
Su Xueli got up and stretched her limbs, saying, "Not bad, not bad. We'll work overtime after dinner."
Wei Mingshen agreed, "I'll do as the boss says."
Su Xueli blinked, "I'll treat you to an extra meal tonight."
His eyes lit up: "What kind of extra meal?"
"Keep it a secret for now."
Wei Mingshen smiled and picked up a broom to sweep up the thatch debris.
After dinner, without waiting for Su Xueli to speak, he brought a small bundle of thatch from the yard into the house and lit a fire.
Cao Maizi looked over and asked with a smile, "Xueli, are you working overtime tonight?"
Su Xueli said, "Winter nights are long and I can't sleep, so I'll just do what I can."
"That's true, that's true." Cao Maizi couldn't stop smiling.
Back in the house, he kept praising his wife to the old man, "Dad, our ancestors' graves are really blessed! We've married such a wonderful wife, so virtuous and capable."
Wei Tiezhu looked worried and asked, "Do you think our son will get better?"
Cao Maizi's heart sank to the bottom. She said quietly, "I'll go brew the medicine."
In the kitchen, Cao Maizi poured the medicine into a medicine pot, added water, placed it on a makeshift stove supported by two bricks, and lit a fire to slowly simmer it.
As she added firewood, she fervently chanted, "Ancestors of the Wei family, all the gods, please bless my son's recovery. If my daughter-in-law becomes pregnant, I will offer you the finest sacrifices and burn incense and kowtow to you every day..."
"Hello, Auntie!" A fragrant aroma wafted into the kitchen along with a sweet, coquettish voice.
Then Wei Mingyue pulled the person into the kitchen, "Mom, Sister Meizhi was visiting relatives, and her car chain fell off when she passed through our village. There was nowhere to fix it, so I brought her to our house so my brother could help fix it."
Lin Meizhi smiled ingratiatingly and said in a sweet voice, "I'm so sorry to have troubled your family."
Cao Maizi was horrified when she saw her. Didn't she know what this person was up to? This daughter of the Party Secretary was just using this as an excuse to come home and see her son.
But guests are guests, and her own daughter brought them, so what could she say? She could only force a smile and say, "It's alright, it's alright. Yue'er, take the guests to your room to rest for a while. Your brother is busy. I'll ask your father to fix the car."
She wanted to get up and go inside to talk to the old man, but she couldn't leave while brewing the medicine, so she could only shout loudly outside, "Dad, come out for a second!"
Lin Meizhi said insincerely, "Oh dear, it's so late at night and so cold. I don't dare trouble you, sir. Let's ask Brother Mingshen to help fix it."
Wei Mingyue quickly chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Mother, you go ahead with your work, I'll take Sister Meizhi to my brother's room."
"Hey!" Cao Maizi stood up and stopped him.
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