Upon hearing Li Song's words, Shi Fengfeng's face turned pale instantly, and she staggered as she chased after Li Song.
For a moment, only Feng Zhiqing, Li Xiangdong, and the waiter who was staring wide-eyed and enjoying the melon-eating scene remained in the room.
"See you at the supply and marketing cooperative entrance at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon!" Li Xiangdong said in a voice that only Feng Zhiqing could hear.
"Why tomorrow? Can't you give it to me now?" Feng Zhiqing didn't want to get involved in this matter at all. It was terrifying just now; she almost got beaten black in the eye.
"Hehe, I have twenty right now, do you want them?"
Feng Zhiqing choked, "Then see you tomorrow. I know you're from Lijiapo, and your dad is the brigade leader."
Knowing that he could even make a small threat, Li Xiangdong was in a good mood and waved his hand, "I won't shortchange you. I keep my word, and what I say is as good as my word."
After the two separated, Li Xiangdong and Li Guoqing reunited.
"Brother, what does a white flour and meat bun taste like?" Li Guoqing blinked at him, swallowing hard, looking just like Pigsy from Journey to the West who wanted to eat ginseng fruit.
"Let's go buy some steamed buns and try them." Li Xiangdong was also craving them. In the few days since he came back, Li Xiangdong had thought that even the most ordinary food in his previous life was a delicacy.
"I want six meat buns!"
"One dollar and twenty cents, plus three ounces of grain coupons." The waiters, having had their fill of melons, were much more attentive to their customers than before.
Li Xiangdong was dumbfounded; he didn't have any food coupons!
Li Xiangdong looked at Li Guoqing, who shook his head. The grain coupons were all held by his mother; he couldn't get a single penny of them.
The two walked out of the state-run restaurant dejectedly. Li Xiangdong put his arm around Guoqing's shoulder and said, "Wait a few more days, when I'm rich, I'll let you eat your fill of meat buns! I'll also buy you malted milk powder, canned oranges, Shanhaiguan soda, honey cake, braised pork, salted pork belly, twice-cooked pork..."
"Brother, stop talking, I'm drooling. Brother, what's 'salty braised pork belly'?"
"Um, salted pork belly is just thinly sliced pork belly steamed with pickled vegetables."
"Then I don't want to eat salted braised pork belly. I feel nauseous just looking at pickled vegetables now. I want to eat braised pork belly!"
"Okay, I'll let you eat your fill then, until you feel nauseous just hearing the words 'braised pork'."
"That would be wonderful!"
When the two brothers returned to Lijiapo Village after enjoying a delicious meal, the production team had finished work. Small groups of people were relaxing under the big locust tree at the brigade headquarters.
As soon as Li Xiangdong stepped into the house, he heard his mother Zhao Sufang and his fourth sister Li Zhen say, "Zhenzhen, take this bowl of pickled vegetables and steamed eggs to your grandma."
Steamed eggs with pickled vegetables are made by chopping pickled vegetables into small cubes, soaking them in water to remove the saltiness, then beating eggs into an egg mixture and mixing it with the pickled vegetable cubes before steaming. The result is a fragrant but not too salty dish with the aroma of eggs, making it one of their family's best dishes.
"Mom, why are you sending vegetables to Grandma again?" Li Xiangdong frowned.
His mother would complain that the meat wasn't tender enough, even if she cut off her own flesh, roasted it, and sent it over, let alone send him pickled vegetables and steamed eggs.
Since you're not going to get any benefit no matter what, why bother trying?
Interpersonal relationships are based on reciprocity; a kind deed is met with a kind reward. One-sided giving will never earn genuine gratitude and respect.
In his previous life, his mother never understood this principle; in this life, he will teach it to her.
“Your uncle is back, and your grandma invited your dad over for dinner and drinks,” Zhao Sufang explained softly to her son.
"My dad brought wine with him?" Li Xiangdong knew Li Song well; he never went out to eat empty-handed.
"I brought a bottle of Lao Bai Gan (a type of Chinese liquor)."
“Since we’re not going empty-handed, let’s not send the food yet. How much can my dad eat? Why are we going to bother sending the food over? Fourth Sister, you eat first, and then rest! I’ll go check on my grandma’s house later.”
Li Xiangdong took the steamed egg with pickled vegetables from his mother and placed it on his own square table.
"Hey, let's eat."
Zhao Sufang suddenly felt that her son's demeanor was different, and she couldn't help but speak to him in the same respectful tone she used when dealing with her husband and mother-in-law.
After finishing his meal and playing with his younger sister for a while, Li Xiangdong went to his grandmother's house right on time.
Looking through the window, Li Song and Li Jin were indeed still drinking. Li Song's face was flushed, and he was reeking of alcohol. He was shouting loudly, "I'm not marrying Shi Fengfeng, this country bumpkin. I'm going to marry the bureau chief's daughter!"
Li Jin's expression remained unchanged, clearly indicating that he already knew what had happened.
Li Wanshi smirked and cursed Shi Fengfeng as a slut, then pressed her son to tell her if he was dating the bureau chief's daughter.
Grandpa, hunched over, sat on the left side of the table, puffing on his pipe. He had just said, "Fengfeng is a good girl," when Li Wanshi glared at him, and he mumbled something for a long time before daring not to speak again.
Li Xiangdong was overjoyed. Regardless of whether his uncle Li Song and the bureau chief's daughter were real, as long as he didn't marry Shi Fengfeng, his fourth sister would be free and wouldn't have to jump into the fire pit of her past life anymore!
All his planning wasn't in vain. Once this is over, he'll have to seriously think about how to make money. It's a long and arduous journey ahead!
After eavesdropping for a while, Li Xiangdong ignored his father and went home to sleep. He was on patrol late into the night and couldn't afford to be careless.
Suddenly relaxing, Li Xiangdong fell into a deep sleep. He didn't know how much time had passed when a mosquito was buzzing in his ear.
With a "smack," Li Xiangdong was jolted awake. "Who the hell is that?!"
"Second Brother, get up quickly! Something terrible has happened! Aunt Chunhua is making a scene!" Li Guoqing said anxiously.
Li Xiangdong put on his clothes and ran outside.
Li Guoqing explained the situation to his ear. It turned out that Li Guoqing had been patrolling with the joint defense team in the first half of the night. Around 10 p.m., they saw a man and a woman enter the village. The joint defense team stopped the two and questioned them.
Li Guoqing, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the woman among the two as Shi Fengfeng. Afraid that she would recognize him, Li Guoqing hid behind militia member Guo Daming to observe the situation.
"I am Shi Longlong, the brother-in-law of Li Song from your village, and this is his wife, Shi Fengfeng," a lame man with a pig-like face and no eyebrows said, bowing and scraping.
"Li Song isn't married, so where did this brother-in-law and wife come from?" Guo Daming lived far from the Li family and hadn't heard that Li Song was married, so he remained highly vigilant about the man and woman who came in the middle of the night.
"I am Li Song's fiancée. My family is from Wulipu. I know that your village's brigade leader is Li Jin, Li Song's older brother," Shi Fengfeng explained to Guo Daming, disregarding her embarrassment.
"Everyone knows our captain's name, that proves nothing. What are you here for?"
"We," Shi Fengfeng was momentarily speechless, embarrassed to tell strangers that she had come to seek peace with Li Song.
The two sides immediately froze.
Shi Longlong looked around and suddenly pointed to a figure in the distance and exclaimed, "Isn't that my brother-in-law?"
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