"No," Wen Qing denied.
Master Zhu was stunned for a moment.
“I didn’t want Uncle Tang’s help,” Wen Qing explained.
Master Zhu asked in confusion, "Then who are you...?"
Tang Quan also looked at Wen Qing.
Wen Qing said earnestly, "I want to make things clear to Uncle Tang that from today onwards, we may be business rivals, but business is business and friends are friends. After all, Uncle Tang's timely appearance saved my cow, and I am very grateful."
He saved his family's cow...
Master Zhu's mouth twitched.
Tang Quan burst into laughter.
Wen Peng, holding a watermelon, looked up at Tang Quan laughing heartily, then turned to look at Wen Qing, whose expression was calm. Feeling that the atmosphere was quite harmonious, he continued to eat the watermelon.
Tang Quan smiled and said, "Okay, Wen Qing, Uncle understands. You can do it with peace of mind. If you need anything from Uncle, Uncle will help you. You call me Uncle Tang, and I won't let you call me that for nothing."
"Thank you, Uncle. I will definitely trouble you if I need anything," Wen Qing said with a smile.
"Little girl, you didn't just come here to tell me this, did you?" Tang Quan asked.
Wen Qing smiled and said, "Uncle Tang is really capable. I was thinking that if I can't keep up with production schedules in the future, I would like to borrow Uncle Tang's workers. I hope Uncle Tang will be willing to cooperate with me then."
Tang Quan and Master Zhu were taken aback again.
Master Zhu thought to himself, "This young girl is really too big for her britches. She doesn't know how hungry she is. You know, Tang Quan's garment factory didn't have any orders for a year. Tang Quan almost sold his big shoes and car to keep the business afloat. Tang Quan has lived abroad and in China. He has seen more of life than this young girl has ever walked the streets. And this Wen Qing actually thinks that business is so easy."
Master Zhu clearly disapproved of Wen Qing's dismissive attitude towards business; high garment-making skills do not equate to a sharp business mind.
Tang Quan's view was completely opposite to Master Zhu's. He felt that Wen Qing's words were quite pragmatic. Doing business is not something you can do alone all the time. Sometimes it is important to rely on external forces.
For example, Wen Qing currently lacks both money and manpower. When the demand exceeds her manpower capacity, and she doesn't have the funds to hire people, she needs a team to help her get through this difficult period, recoup her funds, and then expand her business.
Thinking of this, Tang Quan couldn't help but feel even more admiration for Wen Qing. He clapped his hands and said, "Alright! Don't say I saved your cow, you saved my life! Just come to me if you need anything in the future!"
"Thank you, Uncle Tang," Wen Qing said with a smile.
Wen Peng put down the watermelon and said, "Thank you, Uncle Tang."
Tang Quan glanced at the time: "It's almost lunchtime. Last time you came to help, I wanted to treat you, but I couldn't. Today, we absolutely have to have a meal together."
This time, Wen Qing didn't refuse and agreed with a smile, "Okay."
This time, the group went to Limin Restaurant again and ordered a table full of chicken, fish, meat, and eggs.
When Wen Qing was first reborn, she wasn't particularly picky about food. Having lived in this era for a long time, the noodles she ate weren't thin noodles, and the vegetables rarely contained even a grain of meat. There was hardly any oil in the soup or vegetables, let alone things like duck necks, pickled chicken feet, duck neck bones, biscuits, or nuts—she simply couldn't afford them. Gradually, Wen Qing started to crave food.
So, at the dinner table, she and Wen Peng both satisfied their cravings and ate their fill.
After the meal, Wen Qing insisted on paying the bill, but Tang Quan refused to let her. He handed 100 yuan to Chef Zhu and asked him to pay.
Wen Qing could only say, "I'll treat you next time."
"Okay, little girl, I'll treat you when you've made some money."
"Okay, Uncle Tang, I'll head back now."
"Let me take you there."
"No need, Pengpeng and I ate too much, we need to walk around to digest."
Tang Quan smiled and said, "Alright, be careful on your journey."
"Okay." Wen Qing pulled Wen Peng away.
Master Zhu looked at Wen Qing and Wen Peng's backs and sighed, "They're still too young. They don't know that nothing is easy."
Tang Quan looked at Master Zhu and said, "Not necessarily. We can wait and see. I think Wen Qing is the best candidate."
"You actually think highly of Wen Qing?" Master Zhu looked at Wen Qing in confusion. He still felt that Wen Qing was too young and might not be able to handle the situation.
Under the watchful eyes of Tang Quan and Master Zhu, Wen Qing led Wen Peng around a corner.
"Big sister, the food at Limin Restaurant is amazing!" Wen Peng said with a grin. He was thoroughly enjoying his meal today: "I've never eaten so much delicious meat in my entire life."
Wen Qing laughed and reached out to pat his head: "You're only a few years old, and you're talking about a lifetime? You're silly!"
Wen Pengle laughed, then realized, "Big sister, this isn't the way home."
"It's still early, let's not go home yet," Wen Qing said with a smile.
"Then where do we go?"
"Looking for a place to live."
What kind of house are you looking for?
"The house I live in."
Why do we need to find a place to live?
"Because my older sister doesn't want to live in the school dormitory anymore, she wants to live outside the school," Wen Qing said with a smile.
"Why don't you live in the school dormitory anymore?" Wen Peng asked again.
Wen Peng was filled with questions whenever he was with Wen Qing. Wen Qing hadn't been very close to Wen Peng in his past life, and in this life, he especially wanted to dote on his younger brother. So he explained everything to him one by one.
Wen Qing mentioned to Yao Shiling yesterday that she wanted to live off-campus, but Yao Shiling did not agree, and she gave up on the idea at the time.
However, last night I saw that the hole in the roof of my house was getting bigger, and I thought that I might not be here one day, so I gave up the idea. But it grew wildly again, and now it has to be fixed.
So she took Wenpeng to the vicinity of Nanzhou No.1 Middle School to start looking for a house.
She briefly explained to Wen Peng that she had few classes and little academic work, and usually just slept in her dormitory. So she wanted to move out and make clothes and shoes to earn some pocket money.
After hearing this, Wen Peng nodded like a little adult: "Big sister, then don't work too hard."
Wen Qing laughed and reached out to cup Wen Peng's face: "Little Pengpeng, you've gotten fat. Your face has gotten so big."
Rubbing Wen Peng laughed heartily: "I've eaten so much meat this year, twelve meals in total, of course I'm fatter than last year."
"How about I let you eat meat every day from now on?"
"good."
“Okay!” Wen Qing put her arm around Wen Peng’s shoulder: “Then, let’s go, let’s find a house together.”
“Okay.” Wen Peng reached out and grabbed Wen Qing’s arm.
The siblings used the school as a base and searched in all directions. At that time, rental housing in Nanzhou was not as common as it would become later, and many facilities were not well-developed.
Wen Qing spent two or three hours looking around, but either the residential area lacked security or the surrounding environment was unpleasant. The rent was only around three yuan for the first month, yet none of the options satisfied Wen Qing.
"Big sister, what kind of house are you looking for?" Wen Peng asked, sounding tired.
Wen Qing was also a little tired: "It seems we can't find it today. Let's go back first, and I'll look for it myself after school starts."
"Oh well."
"Hmm." Wen Qing took a step away and passed by a community called Greenland Garden. The community was very simple, with two large iron gates that were half open. Above the iron gates was a wooden signboard with the four green characters "Greenland Garden" clearly visible.
Wen Qing glanced inside and saw rows of bungalows or three-story buildings in the community, all very neat and clean.
“Pengpeng, let’s go inside and take a look. Maybe there are houses for rent here,” Wen Qing said.
"good."
After the siblings went inside, they asked around among the passersby and actually found the house.
The apartment is quite nice, with one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. It's bright, tidy, and has electricity. The only downside is the rent, which is expensive at 8.5 yuan a month.
Wen Peng tugged at Wen Qing's sleeve and whispered, "Big sister, the rent is too expensive, too expensive. The places we just looked at only cost three yuan a month."
"You get what you pay for," Wen Qing said with a smile.
Wen Peng: "But, but Mom will definitely nag if she knows it's so expensive."
“It’s okay, I’ll talk to her later,” Wen Qing said.
Wen Qing was very satisfied with the house. The landlord said that it was originally intended to be used as a wedding house for his son and daughter-in-law, but his son went to another city, bought a house there, and did not plan to come back to live there. So the landlord thought of renting it out to earn some pocket money.
Wen Qing walked around the house, pointed out a few flaws, and lowered the rent from eight yuan and fifty cents a month to eight yuan a month.
The landlord agreed. Wen Qing immediately paid a deposit of one month's rent and three months' rent in advance, took out thirty-two yuan and gave it to the landlord, signed the rental contract, and took the keys.
When Wen Qing and Wen Peng came out of the Green Garden, Wen Peng asked incredulously, "Big sister, are you going to live here from now on?"
Wen Qing: "Yes."
Wen Peng pointed behind him and said, "There's still electricity in that room."
"right."
"If we had a TV, could we watch TV?" Wen Peng asked. "When I passed by the store just now, I saw someone moving inside that little square box. Ma'am, was that a TV?"
"Yes, that store used to sell black and white TVs, but now they also have color TVs."
"Big sister, what is a color television?"
"It means that whatever color clothes the people inside are wearing, that's what we see. For example, green is green, red is green, not just black and white as we see them," Wen Qing explained to Wen Peng in detail.
Wen Peng nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
The siblings talked as they walked to the bus stop, and by the time they got off the bus, night had fallen.
Wen Qing went to Aunt Xiao's place again and said a few words to her, telling her not to worry. She had thought of a way to solve the problem of the tailor shop, but she didn't have time to tell her. It was already dark, and her mother would worry if she didn't go back soon.
Aunt Xiao urged her to go back quickly.
Wen Qing then pulled Wen Peng along at a jog. Every household in the county town had lights on, some were kerosene lamps, some were light bulbs, and they were all dim and yellowish.
There were many vendors on the streets carrying bamboo baskets, wooden buckets, or pulling oxcarts, shuttling through the alleys and calling out their wares.
"Fried dough sticks and tofu pudding are here! Fried dough sticks and tofu pudding are for sale!" Fried dough sticks are the same as fried dough sticks.
"Salted mutton that won't fall apart, salted mutton that won't fall apart is a great dish to go with drinks!" Salted mutton that won't fall apart is mutton, sheep's head, and sheep offal that have been boiled until tender. It's then seasoned and the flavor is fully absorbed, making it especially delicious to go with drinks. Uncle Wenqing used to love this dish when he was drinking.
"Twisted dough sticks, crispy and crunchy twisted dough sticks!"
"Fried dough sticks and tofu pudding are here! Fried dough sticks and tofu pudding are for sale!"
"The mutton is so salty it's almost mushy, it's perfect as a snack with drinks!"
"Twisted dough sticks, crispy and crunchy twisted dough sticks!"
"..."
The various shouts and calls were so enticing that they made one's mouth water. Many children, around the same age as Wenpeng, rushed toward the vendors, shouting, "Grandma, I want tofu pudding!"
"Mom, I want to eat fried dough twists."
Some children were rolling on the ground chanting, "Eat mutton, buy mutton, eat mutton."
When Wen Qing looked at Wen Peng, Wen Peng was watching the little boy eating fried dough sticks with envy.
Wen Qing stopped and said, "Pengpeng, let's go buy some too."
Wen Peng pulled Wen Qing aside: "Big sister, don't buy it, I won't eat it."
Wen Qing knew that Wen Peng thought it was too expensive, and she really didn't have much money left, so she said, "Sesame twists are four cents each, let's buy one without letting Mom know, and we'll buy fried dough sticks and salted glutinous rice balls when we have more money?"
"good!"
As Wen Qing and Wen Peng were squeezing among the children waiting to buy fried dough twists, they heard two familiar voices behind them—Ji Ningzhi and Ji Yanjun.
Wen Qing immediately fell silent. Luckily, she had stopped to buy fried dough twists; otherwise, running into them would have been a very unpleasant experience. Fortunately, it was dark, and the old man selling fried dough twists only had a flashlight and didn't shine it on her, so Ji Ningzhi and Ji Yanjun couldn't see her either.
"Brother, come with me to the movies." Ji Ningzhi pleaded again.
"I won't go." Ji Yanjun remained unmoved.
"And Fangfang is there too, let's go see her together."
"I'm not going," Ji Yanjun said firmly. "I won't say it a third time."
Wen Qing secretly glanced at the two of them and saw Ji Yanjun walking forward with a tall and straight figure, while Ji Ningzhi kept clinging to him.
"Brother, go, go, let's go together," Ji Ningzhi repeated.
Ji Yanjun remained silent.
Ji Ningzhi was unhappy: "Why did you go with Wen Qing before? Why can't you go with us?"
Wen Qing thought to herself, "What does this have to do with me?"
At this moment, Wen Peng, holding the twisted dough sticks wrapped in oil paper, said, "Big sister, I've bought them, let's go."
"Okay." Wen Qing took Wen Peng's hand, pushed through the crowd onto the main road, and started jogging.
"Why do you go to the movies with Wen Qing but not with us? You accompany her no matter what she wants to do, why can't we?" Ji Ningzhi asked again.
Ji Yanjun stopped at this moment, and just then, Grandpa Mahua's flashlight swept across the road. He seemed to see Wen Qing, and he immediately looked over. However, Grandpa Mahua had already put the flashlight away, and the road was pitch black. All he could see were many children running around on the road.
Ji Yanjun chuckled to himself, thinking, "How could it possibly be Wen Qing?"
"Brother!" Ji Ningzhi urged again.
Ji Yanjun looked at Ji Ningzhi: "Wen Qing is different from you." After saying that, Ji Yanjun turned his head away.
"Brother!" Ji Ningzhi stamped her foot in secret. She had Fang Fang guaranteed that her brother would definitely go to the movies. In the past, whenever Wen Qing dragged her brother to the movies, he would go. She thought her brother loved watching movies.
"Brother!" Ji Ningzhi called out as she chased after him.
Meanwhile, Wen Qing and Wen Peng had already run onto the dirt road. They were running so fast because they were afraid Yao Shiling would worry. Wen Peng didn't even have time to eat the fried dough twist.
"Pengpeng, can you still run?"
"Yeah, I can run. I probably can. When I was collecting monkey shells, I could run through several villages," Wen Peng said, panting.
"Don't talk, run faster, Mom must be very worried."
"Um."
The two ran forward along the dirt road, with tall poplar trees rustling in the wind beside them, a sky full of stars overhead, and twinkling lights ahead.
Originally, Wen Qing was afraid of walking at night, but now, holding Wen Peng's hand, she felt warm and was not afraid at all.
"Big sister, isn't that Mom up ahead?" As the two ran towards Shuiwan Village, they saw a figure carrying a dim lamp walking towards them.
"It seems so," Wen Qing said.
"Mom! Mom!" Wen Peng called out, "Mom's here to pick us up."
The dim light paused for a moment, then called out, "Wen Qing, Wen Peng, is that you?"
"Mom, it's me, it's me and my older sister!" Wen Peng grabbed Wen Qing and ran to Yao Shiling as if he were sprinting.
Yao Shiling breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Why did it take you two so long to get back?"
“We’ve gone to Nanzhou City,” Wen Pengxian said.
Wen Qing, panting, replied, "I went to Uncle Tang's place."
Seeing that the siblings were panting heavily, Yao Shiling said no more: "Let's go home first." Yao Shiling reached out and touched Wen Peng's head: "Look at you, you're covered in sweat."
"My older sister and I ran back."
"Don't run next time."
"good."
"Have you got a meal yet?"
"No."
"I just finished making noodles, and Wen Liang is cooking them. We can eat them as soon as we get home."
"Yay! I love noodles!" Wen Peng cheered.
When the family reached the east end of the village, Aunt Wang came out to see them: "Wenqing, Wenpeng is finally back! Your mother was so worried, she ran to this intersection more than ten times."
Wen Qing and Wen Peng called her "Aunt Wang".
After exchanging a few words with Aunt Wang, Yao Shiling went home.
After taking a bath, Wen Qing and Wen Peng sat down in the courtyard and ate noodles around a square wooden table by the light of a kerosene lamp.
Wen Peng took out a twisted dough stick, divided it into four pieces, one for Yao Shiling, one for Wen Qing, one for Wen Liang, and one for himself.
“You bought it again.” Yao Shiling looked at Wen Qing.
Wen Qing smiled.
"Is it because you love food that you want to eat it?" Yao Shiling asked Wen Peng.
Wen Peng also laughed.
Yao Shiling, Wen Qing, and Wen Liang returned the twisted dough sticks to Wen Peng, who then stuffed them into the three of their hands, saying, "None of us have tried them before, let's all have a taste." After finishing a quarter of his twisted dough stick, he picked up the bowl and started eating noodles.
Wen Qing patted Wen Peng's head and said, "Mom, eat up, have a taste."
Yao Shiling and Wen Liang did not refuse.
Looking at her family, Wen Qing realized that she hadn't experienced much family affection in her previous life, but she had tasted it in this one, and it felt so wonderful. Although they were poor, their spiritual world was full of love and warmth.
Holding the bowl, Wen Qing looked greedily at her mother and younger brother, and couldn't help but wish that the illness would come later in this life, so that she could spend more time with her family.
"Big sister, hurry up and eat!" Wen Peng urged. "I've almost finished my big bowl, and you still haven't eaten."
Wen Qing smiled and began to eat her noodles.
After the meal, Wen Qing washed the dishes and went to the cowshed.
Yao Shiling is washing the cow's legs and brushing its hair with a broom. The weather is still quite hot, and flies and horseflies are biting the cow. Giving it a bath and brushing its hair will make it much more comfortable and improve its appetite.
"Mom," Wen Qing called out as she stepped forward.
Yao Shiling asked, "Are the dishes washed?"
"Hmm." Wen Qing hesitated for a moment and said, "Mom, I won't be staying at school this time. I'll be living in a house next to the school. The rent is eight yuan a month."
Yao Shiling paused, not out of anger, but out of surprise, and asked, "Why are you renting a place? It's so expensive?"
"I can't make clothes at school, and it's a bit expensive, but I feel safe leaving my sewing machine at home while I'm in class. If I live in a cheaper place, I'm afraid it will get stolen."
"You're bringing a sewing machine to school?" Yao Shiling was even more surprised: "Then how will you study?"
Seeing that Yao Shiling's tone wasn't one of opposition but rather one of confusion, Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, I have excellent grades. I'll get first place in the whole school in the final exams and show you."
"You're so glib," Yao Shiling said. "Is it because a tailor shop opened across the street from Aunt Xiao's that you wanted to do this?"
Wen Qing nodded: "Yes, I want to make clothes myself and sell them."
Yao Shiling asked worriedly, "Can we sell it?"
Wen Qing said confidently, "Yes!"
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