Shi Daniu and his colleagues work different hours than those who go to work.
Therefore, breakfast should be eaten before 6 a.m., lunch at 10 a.m., and dinner around 3 p.m.
After dinner, they start working at four o'clock and continue until eight o'clock in the evening. By then they are hungry, so they eat some late-night snacks and then go home to sleep.
Sometimes they would even sleep directly on the construction site, where it was well-ventilated and cool.
Shi Zhen gave Fang Miyan thirty yuan as food expenses for the next day.
Fang Miyan was a hardworking but quiet person with little expression on her face, looking somewhat indifferent. After clarifying the situation, she picked up thirty yuan and left.
Seeing her leave, Shi Duofu was somewhat puzzled: "Ah Zhen, why did you find such a woman to cook? She's so thin and small, can she really work efficiently?"
He felt that if you were to hire someone to cook, you should find a burly, middle-aged woman. That kind of person would be good at the job. As for young people, they might not even be able to get up in the morning and wouldn't have time to make breakfast for them.
Shi Zhen said, "Let's see. If it doesn't work, we can always find someone else."
Shi Zhen originally asked a neighbor to cook for him. The person did a good job at first, but later started to cut corners. Shi Zhen went over and told her that she didn't need to cook anymore, and she was a little unhappy.
However, aside from muttering a few words, there was nothing else she could do.
That night, Shi Daniu and his colleagues slept on the construction site as usual.
The factory building is a two-story bungalow. The main structure is already built. Climbing up to the roof and spreading out a bamboo mat to sleep on is incredibly cool and comfortable, much more so than sleeping in their rented house.
As for the mosquitoes... their rented house was also full of mosquitoes.
However, Shi Zhen went home to live.
No matter how late it is, Guan Baiyu will always go home, and so will he.
The next day, Shi Zhen got up at five o'clock in the morning and went outside to wash up.
Today is Fang Miyan's first time visiting the construction site, and he wants to go and take a look.
"Brother, why are you up so early?" Guan Baiyu looked at Shi Zhen with a puzzled expression.
"We've hired someone to cook at the construction site, including breakfast. I need to go check on it," Shi Zhen said.
"What kind of person is he?" Guan Baiyu also got up to wash up. He had gone to bed early last night, and now that he was awake, he got up too.
“A woman in her early twenties,” Shi Zhen briefly described Fang Miyan’s situation.
He knew some other things about Fang Miyan, but those were things he shouldn't have known, so it was best not to say them now.
Guan Baiyu's heart skipped a beat.
There aren't many people in Shi Daniu's group, so there's no need to hire someone specifically to cook. Why would Shi Zhen suddenly hire someone?
They hired a young woman, not the usual cook.
In fact, it is quite strange for a young woman to be cooking for people on a construction site; most young women would work in factories.
Being a worker, riding a bicycle to and from get off work, is much more appealing than cooking for others while looking dusty and unappealing on a construction site.
"Brother, why don't you eat breakfast at home?" Guan Baiyu asked. Shi Zhen usually ate breakfast at home before leaving.
Shi Zhen said, "Okay, make yourself something to eat, and be careful when you get to the station..."
Recently, for convenience, Guan Baiyu spent thirty yuan to buy a very old second-hand bicycle, which he rides to the station.
It wasn't that he was trying to save money; it was because bicycles were being stolen every day at the bus station, and even if he locked them, it was no use. Older bicycles were much less likely to be stolen.
So after Guan Baiyu bought the bicycle, he didn't even bother to clean it, for fear that if he washed it clean, it would attract thieves.
"Brother, let me go with you to take a look," Guan Baiyu said.
Guan Baiyu was already awake and wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, so there was no harm in him coming along... Shi Zhen said, "Okay."
Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu rode their bicycles one after the other, and in less than ten minutes they arrived at the site where the factory was to be built.
When they arrived, it was 5:30, which was still early, but the sky was already bright and the sun had already risen.
Shi Daniu and the others were already up, and Fang Miyan had arrived long ago as well.
Fang Miyan wore a slightly oversized men's shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and the kind of small floral pants that rural women often wore, made from fabric they cut themselves. She wore a pair of plastic slippers with soles that were almost worn away.
She had no expression on her face. When Shi Zhen arrived, she was tending a large pot, cooking noodles.
She glanced at Shi Zhen, then lowered her eyes again, her expression remarkably calm: "I had noodles this morning."
Shi Zhen glanced at it and saw several large bowls lined up next to him, each containing a bowl of salted vegetable soup with pork cracklings floating in it.
The pot of noodles had already boiled, with white bubbles rising to the surface, so she scooped up a ladle of cold water and poured it in along the edge of the pot.
After a while, Fang Miyan said, "The noodles are ready." She used chopsticks to pick out a lot of noodles for each bowl, glanced at Guan Baiyu, and then took out another bowl, scooped out a bowl of salted vegetable soup from the stainless steel basin next to her, and then picked in a large mouthful of noodles.
After dividing the noodles, she took another stainless steel bowl and divided the scrambled eggs inside equally into each bowl, then said, "You can add more salted vegetable soup and noodles, but this is all the eggs we have."
She had already divided up the pot of noodles, but it wouldn't be a problem to cook more noodles.
Shi Duofu immediately said, "Cook some more noodles, this definitely won't be enough."
Without saying a word, Fang Miyan put another bowl of noodles into the pot, then picked up a bowl and started eating.
Shi Zhen had told her that meals would be included.
While Fang Miyan was eating, Shi Daniu and the others had also started eating. Shi Zhen brought a bowl to Guan Baiyu and a bowl to himself, and they ate heartily.
Fang Miyan's cooking skills can't be described as particularly good.
But she definitely added a lot of MSG, and the pickled vegetable soup was cooked with pork cracklings, so it was oily, fragrant, and very flavorful.
It suits the tastes of the people working on their construction site perfectly.
Previously, Shi Zhen didn't ask anyone to make breakfast for him; Shi Daniu and the others made it themselves. They also ate noodles, but it was never as elaborate as Fang Miyan's, with special noodle soup and scrambled eggs.
So everyone was very satisfied: "This noodle is delicious."
"Xiao Fang can do this again in the future."
"This pork crackling smells so good. I was woken up by the aroma of pork crackling this morning."
"Xiao Fang, what are we having for lunch?"
...
Fang Miyan added another spoonful of cold water to the pot and asked, "Braised pork with water bamboo shoots?"
"Sure! As long as there's meat!"
"It's settled then."
"Buy more meat."
...
Fang Miyan nodded.
Shi Zhen asked Guan Baiyu, "How are the noodles? Can you eat them?"
Guan Baiyu's bowl of noodles was very large.
Although Guan Baiyu could eat it, the noodles were a bit oily, and Shi Zhen was worried that Guan Baiyu wouldn't be used to it.
If Guan Baiyu doesn't like it, you can give him the noodles and buy something else for breakfast later.
"I can eat it." Guan Baiyu smiled, eating very seriously, and like everyone else, he drank the soup.
Although his standard of living has risen sharply recently, he is not particularly picky about food.
Guan Baiyu was in a good mood at the moment. Putting everything else aside, just looking at Shi Zhen's attitude towards Fang Miyan, it was all very ordinary, so there was definitely nothing between the two of them.
He felt that Shi Zhen had asked Fang Miyan to stay and cook because he pitied her.
The second batch of noodles was ready, and everyone went to get more, except for Shi Zhen, Guan Baiyu, and Fang Miyan.
They ate a large bowl, which was about enough.
After eating, Shi Daniu and the others drank some water and started working. As for Fang Miyan, she put away the remaining salted vegetable and pork crackling soup, quickly washed the pots and pans, and then said to Shi Zhen, "I'm going to town to buy vegetables."
After saying that, she ran away.
"Brother, why did you think of having her cook?" Guan Baiyu asked.
"Look how pitiful she is," Shi Zhen said with a smile.
Having arrived early, Shi Zhen did some work. Guan Baiyu wanted to help, but he didn't let him.
Guan Baiyu is going to Changxi City later. It would be troublesome if he got his clothes dirty while working with him now.
Shi Zhen wouldn't let him work, so Guan Baiyu just watched him work from the side.
He watched for an hour before riding his bike to the station. Shi Zhen also rode his bike home, then quickly washed up, changed into the new clothes Guan Baiyu had bought for him, and then went out again to check on other construction sites and meet with a few bosses.
He didn't mind working, but he also noticed that when the bosses saw him working, they always thought he was just so-so and didn't think much of him.
He really needs to dress better and put on some presence.
Around 10 a.m., Shi Zhen returned to the factory, where Fang Miyan had already distributed the dishes to everyone.
Lunch consisted of a large bowl of braised pork with water bamboo shoots and a large bowl of braised bean sprouts with pickled vegetables, the latter cooked with leftover pickled vegetable broth from the morning.
In the evening, Fang Miyan made her favorite dish: chicken carcasses. She stewed a large pot of potatoes with the chicken carcasses, stir-fried eggplant, and said to Shi Zhen, "You can have stewed chicken carcasses with potatoes for supper."
She served everyone a bowl of the chicken carcass stew with potatoes, and there was still quite a bit left over.
In the evening, Shi Daniu and his friends could simply heat it up and eat it as a late-night snack.
"Okay." Shi Zhen nodded in agreement and gave Fang Miyan thirty yuan.
As for oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and the like, Shi Daniu and his family already have them here, so Fang Miyan doesn't need to buy them separately. Thirty yuan a day for groceries is enough.
Fang Miyan took the money and left decisively.
After Shi Daniu and the others saw her leave, they said to Shi Zhen, "Zhen, this young lady's cooking is quite good, and the portions are generous."
"Mm." Shi Zhen nodded.
“This chicken is all bones with no meat,” Shi Duofu complained.
Shi Zhen said, "This is a chicken carcass, so there's not much meat in it."
Fang Miyan gave them a lot of meat at noon. If they eat like that again in the evening, the 30 yuan food allowance might not be enough.
As for now... Fang Miyan gave him the account book, and he looked at it. Fang Miyan hadn't even spent all thirty yuan.
After dinner, Shi Zhen went to check on other construction sites.
At the same time, Fang Miyan went to her sister's house.
Fang Miyan was on tenterhooks all day.
No matter what, she is still a girl. Although she told her older sister where she was working, she was still afraid that something might happen.
Fortunately, those people were relatively easy to get along with, and no one said anything inappropriate to her.
When she used to do odd jobs, what she feared most was certain men who would flirt with her and take advantage of her.
Sister Fang is twenty-eight years old this year. She practically raised Fang Miyan. When she saw Fang Miyan, she gave her a long lecture and told Fang Miyan not to do odd jobs anymore: "Working everywhere like this is tiring. It's better to stay at home and take good care of yourself... I know you feel stifled at home, but it will be better when you get married and leave."
Fang Miyan said, "Sister, I want money."
When Sister Fang heard this, she didn't know what to say.
Her younger sister's interest in making money is unparalleled.
Fang Miyan handed a small purse she had sewn herself to her older sister, saying, "Sister, please keep this for me."
This was the money Shi Zhen gave her for grocery shopping. She kept it on her person, as it wouldn't look good if someone saw it when she got home.
Fang Miyan gave the money to Sister Fang before going home.
As soon as she entered the house, she saw her father sitting behind the octagonal table in the main room, drinking baijiu (Chinese liquor).
He drinks bulk liquor, buying it home in whole jars... The liquor isn't expensive, but his dad can drink it from noon until night.
Then I fell asleep and woke up around 10 a.m. the next day to continue drinking.
"Where have you been?" Mr. Fang asked, letting out a burp.
"I went to my older sister's house." Fang Miyan said expressionlessly.
"All he ever does is run around outside," Mr. Fang muttered, then continued drinking.
Fang Miyan ignored her and went through the main room to the back, where she saw her mother making dinner.
She went over and helped cook the dishes.
Hearing what was happening outside, Fang's mother said to Fang Miyan, "You went to your sister's house without having breakfast? Did you eat breakfast and lunch there? It's not good for you to always eat at your sister's house; people will talk about it."
"Mm," Fang Miyan replied casually.
She ate really well at the construction site today, but her family didn't have much to eat. Her mother picked some cowpeas and eggplants, which she stir-fried together and served.
As long as there is wine to drink, Mr. Fang is fine with it. He doesn't care what dishes to eat. If there are no dishes, he can drink two bowls of wine with just a piece of fermented bean curd.
Fang's mother is open to eating anything, but she wasn't in a hurry to eat and planned to wait for her son to come home.
"I've already eaten at my eldest sister's house," Fang Miyan said to her mother.
Fang's mother immediately worried: "You're having dinner at your sister's house every night? That makes things difficult for her in her husband's family..."
"I helped with the work."
"Then it's alright..." Fang's mother shut her mouth and stopped talking.
Mr. Fang muttered, "Why aren't you working at home?"
Fang Miyan said, "I also do the housework."
They raise silkworms here, and they can raise them four times in total: first silkworms, second silkworms, autumn silkworms, and osmanthus silkworms.
While most families raise animals twice, her family raised them four times, all cared for by her and her mother.
She also picked the mulberry leaves needed for silkworm rearing at night.
As for farm work, each household here doesn't have many paddy fields, so they only have to work on things like transplanting and harvesting rice during the busy farming season. It's not as troublesome as raising silkworms.
She felt that this temporary job was perfect, as she could finish work at four o'clock every day without interfering with anything else.
The work wasn't tiring; it was just cooking for eight people, including her, and only two dishes per meal.
Fang Miyan didn't neglect her chores at home, so her father didn't say anything. However, he was worried about his son: "Where's Xiaoliang? Why hasn't he come back yet?"
Fang Miyan's younger brother is named Fang Miliang. He is eighteen years old this year. He usually goes home around mealtimes and usually rides his bicycle with his group of friends, wandering around everywhere.
He also wanted a motorcycle... Fang Miyan's parents are saving up money to buy one for their son.
As they were talking, Fang Miliang returned.
"Mom, what's for dinner? I'm starving!" Fang Miliang entered the room and immediately noticed the stir-fried green beans and eggplant on the table. His expression changed instantly: "Why are we having this again?"
It's been so hot lately that many vegetables in the fields simply can't survive. If we don't eat this, what are we going to eat? Fang Miyan rolled her eyes.
But Fang Miliang had already turned hostile and went back to his room upstairs.
"Xiao Liang!" Fang's mother called out anxiously.
Mr. Fang frowned and said to her, "Look at you, doing this every day, doing this every day... can't you even buy some meat?"
Then why don't you give me money for groceries? Fang Miyan rolled her eyes again.
"What do we do now?" Fang's mother asked anxiously. "We can't just not eat..."
Mr. Fang said, "Go and fry a few eggs."
"Xiao Liang doesn't like scrambled eggs," said Fang's mother.
Mr. Fang took out fifty cents and gave it to Mrs. Fang: "Go buy a sausage and fry some eggs for him."
Fang Miliang won't eat plain scrambled eggs, but if you stir-fry them with ham, he'll eat them.
Fang's mother asked Fang Miyan to buy ham sausages. After the ham sausages arrived, she added two eggs and stir-fried them, then brought them upstairs with rice. She knocked on her son's bedroom door and coaxed him gently, "Xiaoliang, Mom made you some ham sausages and eggs. Open the door, dinner's ready..."
Upon hearing this, Fang Miyan secretly rolled her eyes again, then slung her basket over her shoulder and went out.
She's going to pick mulberry leaves.
They have a large population but little farmland and many factories, so there are many people who work during the day and do farm work in the evenings.
Fang Miyan went to work and overheard someone using her as an example to educate her daughter: "Look at Fang Miyan, how diligent she is!"
Fang Miyan rolled down her shirt sleeves, put on gloves, and then went into the mulberry grove to pick mulberry leaves.
If you don't protect yourself, you're likely to get bitten by insects when picking mulberry leaves.
After Shi Zhen asked Fang Miyan to cook for them, he treated her like an ordinary person.
At first, Fang Miyan would only appear when it was time to cook, and then leave immediately after she finished.
Later on, I would stay with them a little longer and wouldn't avoid them. I would even make them some extra mung bean soup.
Shi Zhen felt that her attitude towards them was better than in his previous life.
This is not surprising. Of the six people he trained in his life, while they may not be without flaws, they were generally good people, not the kind who liked to cause trouble or flirt with women.
Of those four who were already married, even those like Shi Duofu who were more self-centered, they had all lived well with their wives and children in their previous lives.
As for the two unmarried ones...
Shi Xingxing's future husband is Liang Weiguo. He and Shi Xingxing have always had a good relationship, and there have been some signs between them for a while. Before, when it rained and they didn't have to work, he specially went to town to buy a lot of egg pancakes to eat, and even gave one to each of them.
What he bought was the egg pancake that Shi Xingxing sold in town.
As for the other unmarried man, he also has the surname Liang and is related to Liang Weiguo. His name is Liang Dawen. He is the eldest son in his family. In his previous life, he worked with Shi Zhen and sent all the money back to his hometown to support his younger siblings.
His parents are quite unusual in their area. Since he started working and earning money, the couple stopped working and just stayed home sunbathing every day, with the whole family relying on him for support.
In his previous life, Liang Dawen raised his younger brother and sister for nine years. Both of his younger brothers were able to get married thanks to him. But when he finally saved up enough money to go back to his hometown to get married, his two younger brothers actually made him live in the woodshed of the house that he had built with his money!
They kept saying that their house wasn't big enough and they didn't want him to get married and have children at home.
He was furious, so he turned around and found a family in Changxi City who wanted to marry into his daughter's family, and became their son-in-law.
He is capable, his wife is good, and his parents-in-law help out. The family lives a pretty good life.
Right now, he's nineteen, and his wife is a year younger than Shi Ting; she should still be in junior high school.
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