004, a master at coaxing people
004, a master at coaxing people
When the two aunties nearby finished selling their vegetables and were about to leave, Lu Mingfei took two flower hairpins from their stall and gave them to the two aunties. He also used sweet words to coax the two aunties into accepting his gifts. At the same time, he also received two melons that the aunties forced on him.
Even though it’s leftovers, it doesn’t affect the edible part, right?
Holding the two melons given by the old lady, Lu Mingfei said to his father in a very good mood: "Dad, let's pack up and go back."
"Okay." When his son took his own things to do a favor, Lu Youtian just sat there and watched and laughed, and did not stop his son from doing so.
When you're out and about, it's out of kindness for others to help you, and there's nothing wrong with not helping you. But if you take advantage of others without giving anything in return, it might be okay once or twice, and others won't take it personally. But if it happens too often, and the next time they're late and can't find a good spot to set up their stall, others will turn a blind eye.
Therefore, the best way to interact with others is to have a give-and-take relationship.
However, Lu Youtian did not expect that his son understood these social customs and principles at such a young age.
The father and son packed up their stall together and put the unsold items back into the baskets.
Just when his father picked up the load, Lu Mingfei pulled his father and said, "Dad, I'm hungry. Let's buy something to eat before going back." They went out in the morning and each of them ate half a dry steamed bun. He was already starving, and he believed his father was hungry too!
"Okay, let's go." If he were out alone, Lu Youtian would be reluctant to spend money on food. But today, he was taking his son out with him, and his son helped sell so many things. After making money, he was willing to spend money on his only son.
So the father and son walked along the street and found a pancake shop.
Lu Mingfei dragged his father to the pancake shop and bought two large pancakes for four coins. The father and son spread out their folding stools and sat by the door of the pancake shop, eating the melon that the vegetable vendor had just given them, one bite at a time, and then another bite at a pancake.
You know what, this melon is crisp and delicious, it’s really tasty!
When they realized they had finished drinking all the water in the bamboo tubes they brought, Lu Mingfei took the bamboo tube and went to the proprietress: "Auntie, can you fill some water for us? We've finished all the water we brought."
"Okay, give it to me." The shop owner's wife took the bamboo tube and went back to the yard, filled the bamboo tube with water, and gave it to the young man who came to her for water.
"Thank you, auntie. You are such a kind person." Lu Mingfei took the water and thanked the proprietress with a sweet smile.
Just one sentence made the shop owner's wife laugh with her hands covering her mouth.
Even the owner of the pancake shop laughed out loud and said to the man who turned his head to look at them: "Your young man has a really clever tongue, haha."
"I don't know who this child learned this from, he has been able to coax people since he was young." Lu Youtian couldn't help laughing. He didn't know why his child has been able to coax people with nice words since he could speak.
Lu Mingfei chuckled, not mentioning that it was a survival trick he'd learned in an orphanage in his previous life. A single sesame seed bun was as big as his head, and he couldn't bear to finish his own. He left half wrapped in cloth and placed it in his father's basket, intending to smuggle it out for his mother when he returned home.
When he was about to leave after eating the pancake, he said goodbye to the pancake shop owner and his wife, and left with his father.
Lu Mingfei called out to his father, "Dad, we don't have much cloth left at home. Let's go buy some scraps and make a hairpin for Auntie."
Thinking that they had sold most of the hairpins they brought today and that there was not much scraps of cloth left at home, Lu Youtian brought his son to the cloth shop. Then he watched as his son used his clever words to please the shop owner and bought her a bag of scraps of cloth at a half-price discount.
When passing by the meat stall, Lu Mingfei once again grabbed his father and said, "Dad, let's buy some meat to take back. Grandpa and grandma haven't eaten meat for a long time." After several months of busy farming, his father had become so thin that he looked unrecognizable. He felt a little distressed when he saw him.
And his mother, who had suffered heavy bleeding during childbirth and lacked rest and nutrition after giving birth, had been in poor health for years. If the three of them could separate from the Lu family, he would definitely find a way to earn more money and buy some delicious food for his mother. Maybe it would help to restore her vitality. She wouldn't be like she is now. Her face is always pale, she's out of breath after walking a few steps, she gets sick when she's tired from heavy work, and she's fainted several times.
His mother was in such a state, but his grandmother not only didn't care, but often scolded her because of her poor health. Several aunts and uncles just watched and gossiped. In order to stop his mother from scolding his wife, his father worked hard at home. As soon as the crops were harvested, he went out to sell them without stopping, just to make more money so that other people in the family would be less critical of his wife.
Lu Mingfei knew that his mother's health was most likely due to malnutrition and low blood sugar, which was why she fainted when she was tired and her blood sugar was low. In this case, she could be cured by eating better, but their family did not have such conditions at the moment, and it was impossible for others to eat coarse food while his mother had to eat good food.
In fact, the best way is for the three of them to separate from the Lu family's mansion and live separately. That way, whether they eat meat or drink soup every day will have nothing to do with the people in the Lu family mansion. It's a pity that he hinted several times, but his stupid father didn't seem to understand.
"Dad, I think you want to eat meat." Seeing his son staring at the meat stall and refusing to leave, Lu Youtian had to stop.
At this time, the things at the meat stall are all leftovers. The good meat is gone, and all that is left is some lean meat and meatless bones.
This is because people nowadays eat less meat and salt and prefer to eat fatty meat, so no one buys lean meat.
But compared to eating that kind of greasy lean meat, Lu Mingfei still prefers to eat this kind of lean meat. Standing on tiptoe and looking at the meat at the butcher's stall, he tilted his head and asked the butcher: "Uncle, how much is one pound of meat?"
"If you want, I'll give it to you for ten cents per pound." The butcher still remembered the father and son. The child had followed his parents to the city to sell things since he was two or three years old. He would occasionally come to his stall to buy things and was not afraid of him. Every time he would ask him for two bones.
Sure enough, the child did not bargain with him when buying meat, but just asked him to give him the bones after buying the meat.
"Come here, I'll give them all to you." There happened to be several bones with the meat shaved off left on the side, so the butcher generously gave them all to the father and son.
When his son was bargaining with others, Lu Youtian just stood by and watched, and was responsible for paying after his son bought the things.
After buying the meat and getting a free large bone, Lu Mingfei's face was all beaming. He was in a very good mood and waved to the butcher, saying, "Goodbye, uncle. You should finish selling your things and go home soon."
"Okay." It was rare that a child was not afraid of him, and the butcher also laughed.
After the father and son bought some things, they followed the team out of the city.
On the way back, Lu Youtian was a little worried that their mother and other people at home would have objections to them spending so much money on buying things today.
As if he knew what his father was worried about, Lu Mingfei patted his father's thigh with his little hand and said, "Don't worry, Dad. I'm here."
Lu Youtian couldn't help but smile when he thought about his son's sweet mouth. In fact, he was a little confused. How could his parents not like such a cute grandson? Fortunately, his son was generous and didn't care about the elders.
In reality, Lu Mingfei wasn't above arguing with his elders; he simply didn't think it was necessary. He knew his grandparents favored his eldest cousin and his uncle's son, often giving them the cold shoulder. If he were a four or five-year-old, he would have been scared off by those old, sullen faces. But he wasn't like that. He had the soul of an adult, a formidable resilience, and wasn't afraid to approach his grandparents just because they didn't love him.
When the sun was about to set, the father and son returned to the village entrance with a few villagers.
Their village is called Shihua Village. It has about a hundred households and is not very big. There are many families with the surname Li, as well as some other surnames. These people are refugees who fled to Kyoto in the early years and later settled here.
Therefore, there are not many people with the surname Lu in the village, only a few families, and people with the same surname are basically relatives.
From a distance, he saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance of the village looking out. Lu Mingfei recognized it as his mother at a glance. "Mom!" He trotted towards his mother.
"Hey." Liu hugged her son who rushed towards her, and looked at her husband who was walking back with a load on his shoulder with a smile on her face.
However, after just a glance at her husband, she turned her attention back to her son.
Seeing her son's flushed face, Liu knew that he must be hot and tired after walking such a long way with his father. She touched his back and found that he was sweaty. She quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his face.
"Mom, I can do it myself." Lu Mingfei broke free from his mother's hand a little embarrassedly, snatched the handkerchief from his mother's hand, wiped the sweat off his face casually, and then returned the handkerchief to his mother.
At this time, Lu Youtian also came to his wife and son with his burden on his shoulders. He looked at his wife and called out, "Sanniang."
Sanniang is Liu's name, so she is called Liu Sanniang.
Liu Sanniang wasn't from Shihua Village. She had fled here with her family several years earlier. Her only brother had been separated from them and disappeared; both her parents were gone, leaving her alone. She had collapsed from hunger on the road and was picked up by her current husband, who brought her home. They later married, and she stayed with the Lu family, bearing him children. The villagers called her "Lu Sanniang."
Seeing her husband and son coming back from outside, she finally felt relieved after a day of worrying. After picking up her husband and child, she went home with him and the child.
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