Chapter 117 Chapter 117 I am getting old and confused
Su Shengnan was already very happy to learn skills from his boss, but he didn't expect that the thank-you gift to his boss would actually bring a small business to his family.
When Zhao Ruyue and Zhao Su Shengnan said they wanted to buy pickled radishes from her family, Su Shengnan thought that since the boss and her family liked to eat them, she might as well give them all to her.
I still have quite a lot of them at home. The only thing I spent money on for these pickled radishes was the salt. The radishes are grown in my own fields, and I specially chose small radishes that don’t grow big to pickle. So all in all, it didn’t cost any money at all.
I kept a small jar for myself and gave away the rest without feeling sorry.
But when I heard the boss say that this was not a one-time deal, and that as long as her pickled radishes tasted similar to the ones she was giving away now, I would keep buying from her in the future.
Su Shengnan could no longer say those words that she hadn't said yet, because her family was really short of money.
She felt like she was about to be overwhelmed by the good things that happened one after another.
When she told her grandmother about it at home, she was very happy and started planning to plant more radishes next year.
Their family had several plots of land by the river, but they were not good land, but sandy land, and they used to grow either radishes or watermelons.
Growing watermelons requires more careful management, but growing radishes is much easier.
This time, I planned to plant all radishes, and I heard Su Shengnan say, "My master said that pickled radishes like these are the most delicious."
Her grandmother has been farming all her life, so with a little thought she knew what to do so that her family could grow an extra season and earn more income.
Another year has passed in the blink of an eye. Many people in the town who work outside take a holiday a few days before the Chinese New Year and return to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year.
In big cities that are usually bustling with traffic and crowds of people, the closer it gets to the Chinese New Year, the emptier the city becomes, with many shops closing and people going home to celebrate the New Year.
But the shops in the county and towns do better business as the Chinese New Year approaches.
The few days before the New Year are market days. The towns’ fairs, the county’s shopping malls and markets…are crowded with people buying New Year’s goods.
After going out, of course people will not go home to eat lunch. Some people even go out early and have breakfast in a restaurant outside.
Ning Shaoming's two restaurants are very busy. Fortunately, Ning Danping and several children from Zhao Ruyue's family who are on vacation in the town help out, so Ning Shichun and Sun Jiajia are not so busy that they don't even have time to go to the toilet or drink a sip of water.
In addition to the original waiters in the county, Ning Shiqiu and Ning Shixia, who were also on holiday, went to help. However, there were more customers in the county than in the town, and the town was particularly busy in the morning. It would be better in the afternoon when the market was over.
The store in the county town always had many customers from morning until after nine o'clock in the evening. Ning Shaoming had to hire two temporary workers to help wash dishes, and asked the aunt who originally washed dishes to also serve as a waitress to entertain customers.
In the bakery, Ning Shaoming has doubled the amount of bread and cakes he makes these days, and they are still sold out every day.
Zhao Ruyue's electronics store is doing a booming business. The second batch of MP3 and MP4 she bought doubled the quantity of last time, but they were almost sold out in the few days before the New Year.
Even after some of the more popular styles were sold out, customers still kept asking about them.
But as the Chinese New Year is approaching, the factories are closed for holiday and we can’t make any last-minute purchases, so we can only recommend other styles.
Some people bought MP3 or MP4 and heard that her store had a very fast and complete music downloading speed, so they also downloaded music or videos in her store. The computer in the store was so busy that the chassis was almost smoking.
Fortunately, this computer was not a purchased complete machine, but was assembled by her herself, so it has better performance and did not break down under the heavy pressure.
In this way, Zhao Ruyue had to run back and forth, bringing some of the equipment needed to download music and videos back home, downloading them on her home computer and then sending them to the county town, only then could she barely meet the needs of the customers.
Originally, she would also take on jobs repairing MP3 and MP4 players, but before the New Year, she was already extremely busy just selling things and downloading stuff.
The maintenance work can only be postponed to after the New Year. If anyone cannot wait until after the New Year, they can only ask someone else to repair it.
So there was a lot of money accumulated for maintenance.
I was busy from the beginning of the year until New Year’s Eve.
On the day of New Year's Eve, people were busy as hell in the morning, but after noon, the crowded crowds disappeared very quickly like the tide that rises and then recedes. Everyone returned home to kill chickens and ducks and prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.
The streets became empty, leaving only garbage everywhere.
Before closing the stores, Zhao Ruyue and Ning Shaoming gathered the employees from the four stores together and distributed the prepared New Year's goods to them, some of which were things that every employee could get.
They were a box of various long-lasting breads in gift boxes, a box of peach cakes made in the store, a barrel of oil, a box of fruit, and a shopping card from the bakery with a face value of one hundred yuan.
The two chefs, Ding Yong and Ning Shichun, received not only the New Year's goods that all employees had, but also one more shopping card than the employees, as well as three packages of dry goods, including a package of dried mushrooms, a package of dried longans, and a package of walnuts.
In addition, each person received an extra month's salary as a holiday bonus.
Ning Shichun and Sun Jiajia were not in the county town, so Zhao Ruyue set aside their gifts in advance and put them together with the New Year's goods she bought for her family, and would bring them back to them when she returned later.
The employees in the store didn't expect that there would be so many things to be distributed during the Chinese New Year.
Ding Yong said happily: "I heard that my father's company has delayed even the salary, not to mention this year's New Year benefits. This time, I may bring back the most things in the family."
"Yes, yes," the auntie who usually washes the dishes also said with a smile, "I heard before that other stores don't give out New Year gifts."
Some stores even just get together to have a meal, and consider it a holiday benefit.
The dishwasher has very strong communication skills and knows almost all the employees of other nearby stores, so if there is any problem at other stores, she will know about it very quickly.
She had seen that other people who had holidays earlier than them didn’t give out anything, so she didn’t have any expectations for holiday benefits. After all, it was a private shop, so she didn’t think it was a big deal if they didn’t give out anything. As long as she could continue doing this job, she would be happy.
But of course it is more exciting to have holiday benefits.
When the boss had someone deliver those holiday benefits yesterday, the people in the store thought that the boss bought the oil and kept it for use in the store, and that he bought so many fruits, dried goods, etc. for his own family to use during the New Year and when visiting relatives.
I didn’t expect that it was sent to them. After being happy, I had another sweet trouble.
"How can I take so many things home?"
Zhao Ruyue said, "It's easy. I've made an agreement with Master Zheng to send you back to town in two batches. We'll also cover the transportation fee."
“The boss is generous!”
“The boss is so nice!”
"I will work harder next year!"
A group of people were talking at once, laughing and saying nice things, which made Zhao Ruyue laugh: "Stop joking, Master Zheng's car is already waiting at the door, you can decide who goes back first."
The employees quickly discussed who would go back first and divided the people into groups. After the first batch was delivered, Zheng Xiu came to pick up the second batch.
Zhao Ruyue and Ning Shaoming checked the water, electricity, doors and windows of the store, locked the door, and got into Zheng Xiu's car with the New Year's goods they had bought when they had some free time at noon. They breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally, we're done."
"Yes, I'm so tired these days that I fall asleep as soon as I get home every day. Sometimes I can't even get a full night's sleep. Many long-distance buses arrive at the service area in the middle of the night. I have to get up again in the middle of my sleep to pick up people after making an appointment with others," Zheng Xiu, who was sitting in the driver's seat, also sighed. "Last year I didn't dare to think that I would get through this year. At this time of year in previous years, I would have killed chickens at home."
Zheng Xiu was also very busy during the days before the Chinese New Year, going back and forth between the county and the town to pick up and drop off passengers. In the past, she had to wait for a while before the car was full.
These days, as soon as the bus stops at the bus station, it takes only a few minutes for the seats on the bus to be filled with overcrowded passengers.
People are transported back and forth in trucks. Except for those who go to service areas or county bus stations in the early morning to pick up migrant workers who take long-distance buses, most of the time there are always empty trucks going back and forth.
After all, some people go back to the town, and some people go to the county town from the town to play. Usually, not so many people go to the county town. Once the New Year comes, many people want to take their children to the county town to stroll around, buy some New Year's goods or buy new clothes for their children.
This is her last car today, and it only carries Zhao Ruyue's family of four and their New Year's goods.
"But it's worth being busy. I earned more during this period before the New Year than I do in the usual one or two months." Thinking of the money she earned during this period, Zheng Xiu no longer felt tired.
When we got home, Ning Shichun and Sun Jiajia were cleaning the store.
People in the town dispersed faster than those in the county, and there were no customers in the store long ago.
However, Zhao Ruyue called back in advance and asked Ning Shichun and Sun Jiajia not to go home yet.
They had been busy for so long that they were not used to having some free time all of a sudden, so they simply helped clean the store and the kitchen inside and out.
A thorough cleaning was required before the New Year, but because the shop in the front still had to entertain guests, Zhao Ruyue and Ning Shaoming only cleaned the living quarters in the back first.
I had been planning to clean the shop again today, but when I came back, they had almost finished cleaning.
Zhao Ruyue got out of the car and looked at Ning Shichun who was loading the garbage and Sun Jiajia who was putting the broom and dustpan away and said, "It's so hard to have no more customers. Why don't you take a rest?"
Ning Shichun smiled naively: "I feel uncomfortable when I am idle, so I just did it when I had some free time."
"Don't pack it up, just come and take the things out of the car and leave them for us to clean up."
After hearing this, the two of them quickly put down their work and went over to help move things.
After moving the things down, Zhao Ruyue divided them between the two of them.
Ning Shichun didn't know in advance that there would be new year benefits, and he was confused when he received it: "Are you asking me to take it back to my grandparents?"
"It's not for them. It's something else. Your uncle will give it to them when the time comes. These are your employee benefits. Jiajia also has some. You can help Jiajia deliver them to her home later."
When Sun Jiajia saw so many things, she thought to herself that it would be great if she had married Ning Shichun, so that their little family could have two benefits. Now that these things were sent to her house, how much of them could she eat?
But she had to take them back. The employees in the county town should also have these things, and her parents would definitely know about it. If she didn't take them back, her father and grandmother would definitely say something nasty to her.
Sun Jiajia had no choice but to accept it and then thank Zhao Ruyue and Ning Shaoming.
But after accepting the gifts, Sun Jiajia privately told Ning Shichun: "My parents don't know that I am a formal employee working in the store and I get paid. These things are your New Year gifts to my family this year. Don't give me anything else. Got it?"
"Is this really okay?"
"Why not? Listen to me! Otherwise, you will have to spend money to buy other things to send. How long will it take to save up for the betrothal gifts? If my family doesn't want so much betrothal gifts, we don't have to do this."
Sun Jiajia didn't tell Ning Shichun that in fact, in the eyes of her family and many people, she was now Ning Shichun's free labor, so she could not get any holiday benefits.
But whether her life is good or not, only she herself knows. As long as she can be sure that Ning Shichun himself does not think so, it will be fine.
Ning Shichun thought about the amount of the bride price and listened to Sun Jiajia and didn't buy anything else.
He has only saved 6,000 yuan this year. If he continues to save at this rate, it will take another four years for them to get married.
After his third uncle handed over the store in the town to him, he raised his salary a little. If he could save all his salary, it would take more than two years to save enough money for the bride price.
However, after working in the store for a year and managing a store of his own for the following months, Ning Shichun thought that he should have the ability to open a store.
He planned to work in his uncle's shop for another half a year next year, and then tell his uncle in advance to hire someone to come to the town to be the chef.
He will be the manager for a few months, and then look for a store while working. He will try to find one in the second half of the year, tidy up the store, and open his own store the year after next.
Ning Shaoming didn't know what he was thinking at the moment. After he divided the things among them, he took the things for his parents, including a chicken, five pounds of pork, a box of fruit, a box of bread, and a box of milk, and went to the old house.
We are not celebrating the festival together this year, so these things have to be sent to my parents. According to their local customs, if we don’t discuss it in advance, my parents will have to celebrate the festival with our elder family this year.
Next year it will be the second son’s house, and the year after will be his house.
Wang Haiyan was at home packing up the holiday gifts that Ning Shichun brought back. Her son brought back so many things during the Chinese New Year in his first year of work. Her face was wrinkled like a chrysanthemum with a smile.
I can't help but enjoy the fact that after my daughter graduates from middle school and starts working, during the New Year at home, won't the entire small room be filled with things?
After she had packed up, she was ready to go out and show off to her neighbors and then continue to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. When she walked to the door, she saw Ning Shaoming and Zhao Ruyue carrying things and walking towards her house.
After approaching, Ning Shaoming said, "Sister-in-law, these are things I bought for my parents for the New Year. Please put them in."
Only then did Wang Haiyan remember that her parents-in-law would be spending the New Year at her home this year.
Her eyes were almost smiling into a line, and she quickly took the things and asked, "Are you guys coming over to celebrate the New Year together this year?"
In fact, this matter should have been discussed long ago, but no one took the lead. Since the eldest brother was not around, the second brother should have taken on the responsibility, but the second brother avoided getting involved, even this matter.
Moreover, the second son’s family did not return to their hometown on New Year’s Eve. His father said that they did not even call back to say hello, let alone send New Year gifts.
Ning Shaoming simply assumed that everyone had decided not to discuss the matter and that each family should live their own life according to the old rules.
Hearing Wang Haiyan's words, Ning Shaoming lied with his eyes open and replied: "No, the meal is almost ready at home. We can go back and pray to the gods and eat soon."
He was about to go home after he finished speaking, but as soon as he turned around, he was slapped on the back of his head. When he turned around, he saw a bamboo stick hitting him in the face.
Fortunately, Ning Shaoming and Zhao Ruyue reacted quickly and dodged quickly to avoid being hit.
Ning Shaoming snatched the bamboo stick from Huang Xiuhua's hand and asked with a dark face: "Mom, why did you hit me?"
You came to give New Year gifts but you gave the wrong one?
"You still dare to ask why? We agreed to celebrate the New Year together this year, where are you going now? You didn't bring anything back for me and your dad, but gave it to the neighbors instead. You are such an unfilial son, I think a beating is too light for you!"
Ning Shaoming was dumbfounded: "When did we agree to celebrate the New Year together this year? How come I didn't know? Who did you discuss this with?"
"I just discussed this with you three unfilial sons! The second brother has to work in the county, but you didn't come home after work. Where do you want to go? And your eldest brother has been missing all day, and I don't know who he went to fool around with!"
Zhao Ruyue felt something was wrong, so she ran to find her father-in-law while Huang Xiuhua wasn't noticing her.
Ningda is now collecting chicken feathers in the backyard. After the feathers are dried, someone will come to collect them after the New Year and he can sell them for some money.
"Dad, stop cleaning this up and go out and take a look. Mom is crazy!"
Ning Da was confused: "What's wrong? She went to your store to cause trouble again? Didn't they say that the store would only be open for half a day today? The store should not be open at this time."
Zhao Ruyue repeated to him what Huang Xiuhua had done and said outside just now. Ning Da was also confused when he heard it.
"I didn't make an appointment with anyone to celebrate the New Year together this year..." Ning Da quickly washed his hands and ran to the door.
Huang Xiuhua stood at the door, one hand on her waist and the other pointing at Ning Shaoming and cursing him.
When Ning Da went out, she pulled Ning Da to ask him to discipline his son: "This kid is so young and doesn't learn his lesson. If you don't discipline him today, he might end up in jail in the future!"
Ning Da wanted to cover her mouth: "What nonsense are you talking about! The third child has never been a bad boy since he was a child!"
"Is this the third brother?"
"yes!"
"No, isn't this the boss?"
"Are you stupid, or are you blind? This is the third brother!"
Huang Xiuhua stared at Ning Shaoming for a long time, with a look of sudden enlightenment on her face: "Yes, yes, this is the third brother, how could I have recognized the wrong one..."
"You are getting old and confused!"
Zhao Ruyue walked up to Wang Haiyan and asked her, "Sister-in-law, have you ever noticed this about her?"
Wang Haiyan thought about it carefully: "I am usually busy with farm work alone, and I don't have much free time, so I really didn't notice it. Is she... suffering from Alzheimer's disease?"
"It's hard to say. We are not doctors and don't know how to judge this." Zhao Ruyue thought that her mother-in-law suffered Alzheimer's disease after having a stroke when her daughter Xiaoqiu was in fifth or sixth grade because she had a fever and was not taken to the hospital in time. But it turns out that was not the case?
She had worked outside with Ning Shaoming for several years in her previous life, so she didn't know much about what was happening at home.
Sometimes when I call home, I hear my family say that my mother-in-law talks incoherently, and I thought they were just complaining about her old age and illogical speech.
Later I received news that my mother-in-law could no longer take care of herself after she fell ill with a fever.
Now I suddenly feel that maybe there were signs of everything long ago, but because we are in the countryside, many people, including the elderly themselves, did not think too deeply about these signs and just thought that everything was common sense.
Just as many people believe, people should get married and have children when they reach a certain age. Old people will become confused when they get older, and not many people think about treating them. What's even worse is that they may even hope that the elderly will die quickly.
At this moment Huang Xiuhua had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened, and asked Ning Shaoming if he wanted to have the New Year's Eve dinner with her.
Ning Shaoming also refused by using excuses to Wang Haiyan, and said that the New Year gifts had been sent to his eldest brother and sister-in-law's home, and that he would bring his wife and children back for dinner when his eldest sister returned to her parents' home on the second day of the New Year.
Huang Xiuhua nodded and didn't say anything else. Ning Shaoming took Zhao Ruyue home.
On the way back, Zhao Ruyue asked him, "Do you want to take your mother to the city hospital?"
Ning Shaoming: "I would like to take her, but I'm afraid she won't want to go. Let's talk about it after the New Year. I'll see if I can trick her into going. If I say I'm taking her to the hospital for a checkup now, she might think it's unlucky during the New Year and scold me for wanting to shorten her life or curse her to die early."
"That's really possible..." Zhao Ruyue thought for a moment and said, "After the New Year, you can say that you took your children to the city to play, and you won a chance to take your parents for a free medical checkup in a lottery. Elderly people love to take advantage of this, so they might be willing to go."
"Well, let my dad try to persuade her when the time comes. If that doesn't work, just say you can get a big color TV as a gift for a physical check-up." His dad likes watching TV, but in order to prevent his mom from messing around in the store, he goes to his place less often.
Ning Shaoming thought that his father had helped him take care of his daughter for several years and did a good job, so he discussed with Zhao Ruyue about getting a TV for his father. Now he could give it to him in this way.
Zhao Ruyue thought of those people who went to the countryside to give speeches and promote health products.
Those people gave free health care product samples and eggs to the elderly men and women who attended the speeches. The elderly men and women were very enthusiastic in attending the speeches: "I think your method is more effective than what I thought. Just think of it as giving your parents a TV."
They earn a lot every month now and can afford to give a TV as a gift.
The money spent on buying a TV is very little compared to the money spent on medical treatment and care for the elderly.
Speaking of TV, Zhao Ruyue also thought of the time when her mother-in-law went to the store and offended customers. She recalled her mother-in-law's previous behavior.
I always feel that she is a little different this year than before. Is this also a sign of illness?
Regardless of whether it is true or not, we should celebrate the New Year as we did before.
Everything had to wait until after the New Year. When the two returned home, the two children had already packed up the New Year's goods they brought back.
The snacks and fruits used to entertain guests during the Chinese New Year are also placed on beautiful plates and on the coffee table in the main room.
The rice is cooked, and the hot water for cooking chickens and ducks is also boiling in a big pot. We are just waiting for our parents to come back, kill the chickens and ducks, worship the gods, and then cook the dishes and eat the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Ning Shaoming killed the chickens and ducks skillfully, scalded their feathers with hot water, and then gave them to Zhao Ruyue for plucking. He first went to prepare the ingredients that needed preprocessing.
The two children ran around, helping their parents, helping to get this and that, and they were very busy.
However, as a family, we work together, and no one reminds us of the rules. No one stipulates that we must eat before a certain time. I feel much more comfortable and happy than last year.
Their family had their New Year’s Eve dinner in the evening, and after the meal, Ning Shaoming took the children to buy firecrackers and fireworks.
After buying fireworks, the two children set them off in front of their house.
Their family bought a lot of fireworks this year, and Ning Shaoming let the two children play with them freely. Soon, a group of children came to play with them.
We played until about seven or eight, and the Spring Festival Gala was about to start. Ningda came over and asked, "Has the Spring Festival Gala started?"
Ning Shixia pulled him into the house: "Grandpa, come quickly, let's get ready! Isn't my grandma here?"
Ning Da: "She didn't want to come. She told me she just wanted to listen on the radio. I don't know what she was doing. She had clearly agreed with you to come and watch the Spring Festival Gala in the evening, but suddenly she got upset."
Ning Shixia asked again: "How about letting my brother go and call her?"
"Don't worry about her, hurry up and sit down, it's about to start!"
Ningda was a little excited. This was the first time he watched the Spring Festival Gala on TV at home!
Although it is my son's home to be precise, he is my biological son and this is also his home.
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