"Did you hear me? Hurry up, I'm closing the shop!" Jiao Li grabbed Su Xue Li's arm and pushed her out of the shop, then closed the door.
Su Xueli smoothed her hair, shrugged, and said: Girl, thank me.
She went to the market and bought a few pounds of melon seeds and a pound of sugar. She took them to the "Youth Hair Salon" to visit her cousin, gave him half of the melon seeds and sugar, and took the rest back to the bathhouse in Shaojiang.
It was almost noon, and fewer people were coming to take a bath. The ticket sellers weren't as busy, and Shao Jiang and Wei Mingshen were sitting behind the ticket window, drinking tea and chatting.
"Sister-in-law is back!" Shao Jiang greeted her warmly when he saw her.
Su Xueli entered the house, placed the candy and melon seeds on the table next to them, and said, "Yes, you're back. You can have some melon seeds and candy."
Wei Mingshen stood up and pulled her aside, asking in a low voice, "Did you return the handkerchief to her?"
Su Xueli tilted her head, "Don't you trust me to handle things?"
"Don't worry, don't worry at all." He nodded with a smile.
Su Xueli chuckled to herself, "She won't dare to make a move on you again."
Wei Mingshen chuckled, "That's good, saves me from having to eat her pan-fried buns and then having them sneak in some other stuff to annoy me."
Su Xueli rolled her eyes. "You still don't know, I've ruined your reputation all by myself."
Shao Jiang looked at the two of them with a smile and teased, "Hey sister-in-law, you and my brother have only been out of bed for less than half a day, and you're already whispering to each other again. Why don't you go to the inner room? There's a big bed there."
Su Xueli's face turned as red as an apple, and she yelled at Shao Jiang, "If you talk nonsense again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Shao Jiang laughed heartily, and Wei Mingshen laughed along, quite heartily.
Su Xueli asked Wei Mingshen with a stern face, "You've finished showering, shouldn't you be going home now?"
Wei Mingshen said, "We can't go home. I'll have to trouble you to cook today. With so many people taking showers, the two of us cleaning have no free time, so there's no one to cook."
Shao Jiang said they hadn't had lunch for days, and since we had nothing to do back home, and it was warm here, we should help them out.
Shao Jiang pleaded, "Sister-in-law, I haven't seen Lao Wei in a long time and I'd like to have a chat. I'll have to trouble you with that. I'll definitely come to thank you when I have my vacation."
Since he'd already said that, how could Su Xueli refuse? She said, "You're too kind, Shao Jiang. Just tell me what you need. You and Ming Shen are comrades-in-arms, closer than brothers. Cooking a meal is no big deal for you."
Shao Jiang smiled and praised, "Sister-in-law, you really know how to talk. It warms my heart. Old Wei, you've married a good wife. I'm so envious! I couldn't attend your wedding because I was in mourning, but I'm sending my blessings now. May you have a baby soon!"
Su Xueli's expression froze. She coughed lightly and asked, "Where's the kitchen?"
Shao Jiang said, "Sister-in-law, it's in the backyard. I'll take you there."
Su Xueli went to check the kitchen. Although it was a bit messy, there was rice, flour, oil, steamed buns, and various seasonings. There were also vegetables such as cabbage, radish, potatoes, vermicelli, and a piece of pork.
There were still some peanuts, kelp, vermicelli, and other dried vegetables in the burlap sack.
She decided to stew a big pot of meat, vermicelli, and cabbage, and steam it with steamed buns. It was so hot and delicious that everyone could eat a big bowl.
Her two comrades would definitely have a drink, so she could fry some peanuts and stir-fry some shredded potatoes for them.
Shao Jiang turned on the stove for her and told her about the bathhouse staff: "My sister is in charge of the women's bathhouse, and my brother-in-law is in charge of the men's bathhouse. My mother used to cook here, and my father did odd jobs, but the day before yesterday, my mother had a dizzy spell, and my father took her to the hospital."
"Why did you have a relapse at this time?" Su Xueli asked.
Shao Jiang gave a wry smile. "It's all because my fiancée broke off our engagement a few days ago, and she's been sick ever since. A few days ago, someone tried to arrange a marriage for me, but as soon as they heard I still had loans, they immediately refused. My mother got so anxious that she fainted again."
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