Qian Qi eventually spent 600 yuan to take over the cooked food stall and another 200 yuan to buy some tools from Shi Zhen.
Shi Zhen was always very frugal. For example, he bought cheap plywood and nailed it together himself. It didn't cost much. The cutting board, kitchen knife, and other miscellaneous items were also inexpensive. The total cost was definitely less than two hundred yuan.
However, I don't know these things when it comes to money.
In addition, Shi Zhen had previously paid Qian Qi a salary, which totaled more than 800 yuan. After discussing it with his family, Qian Qi felt that it was worthwhile to spend 800 yuan to take over the business.
Shi Zhen didn't try to fool them. He explained in detail how to make each dish, and then took the money to see Butcher Zhu, to the place where eggs and dried tofu were wholesaled, and even took him to the place where he bought seasonings.
These miscellaneous matters were troublesome, but fortunately, Qian Qi's father also came. The two of them followed Shi Zhen around for a day and roughly figured out the situation, and the business was completely separated.
Shi Zhen received 800 yuan and was in a good mood; the money flowed in and out as well.
After separating from Shi Zhen, Qian Qi decided not to set up his stall so early. He discussed it with his family and decided to buy materials and prepare in the morning, then set up his stall at noon and continue until six or seven o'clock in the evening.
The time spent setting up a stall is shorter, and you'll earn less than before, but it's not as tiring.
And when he finally calculated it out, he found that he could actually earn more than thirty yuan a day, which was more than half of what he earned working for Shi Zhen, so he couldn't help but be overjoyed.
His parents, seeing that he earned a lot, were willing to help him.
As the whole family busied themselves with preparations, they felt even more that spending eight hundred yuan was worthwhile.
Based on the current situation, they can earn back their investment in a month.
Out of gratitude, Qian Qilai's father even gave Shi Zhen an old hen.
In his view, the money was equivalent to spending a few months helping Shi Zhen and then learning a business... How great!
As for the money, he was unaware that Shi Zhen already knew about his previous theft of the collected money. He treated Shi Zhen the same as always, and on the first day he set up his stall, he even gave Shi Zhen a bag of the melon seeds he had bought.
However, the two of them probably won't meet too often in the future.
When Qian finished all the preparations and went to town in the morning, Shi Zhen had already sold all his rice balls. Shi Zhen would only come out in the evening to sell fried skewers, and he would pass by Qian's side. But they would only pass by and not chat for more than a few words.
Guan Baiyu felt nothing for Qian Qilai. He even had some resentment towards Qian Qilai because of Qian Qilai's betrayal of Shi Zhen. Now that Qian Qilai no longer came to his house, he was only happy and didn't care at all.
Shi Xinghuo was a little depressed; he even went to town to find money.
But it only happened once; he was busy very quickly.
Someone Shi Xinghuo met while dredging river mud introduced him to a job.
This job is very simple.
In Anshan Town, the underground water pipes used to be very small. Now, more and more households in the town and countryside are using tap water, so the water flow has become very slow in some places.
The town's waterworks was being expanded, so they decided to refurbish the water pipes.
What Shi Xinghuo had to do was help dig the hole.
Working outside in the sweltering summer heat is bound to be tiring, but the job is very safe, so Shi Zhen agreed on his behalf.
He sold the cooked food stall, and his parents and family came too. Shi Xinghuo is now doing nothing every day, which isn't good.
Shi Xinghuo took office and continued digging mud.
The water pipe renovation project was carried out by people from the waterworks. The food was quite good. Although the wages for the laborers were not high, only twelve yuan a day, the work was not as tiring as dredging river mud, so it was already a good job.
If Shi Xinghuo hadn't done a good job before, and if Shi Zhen hadn't set up a stall in town every day so people could find him, this job might not have ended up being given to Shi Xinghuo.
When Shi Dalin learned about this while having lunch with Shi Zhen the next day, he was quite annoyed: "It's just digging mud, I can do that kind of work too, can I go too?"
It's twelve yuan a day, so a month would be... how much was it again? Anyway, it would definitely be over three hundred yuan!
Not to mention that meals are provided. He only helps his son with chores every day and can't do much, but he still eats white rice, stir-fried dishes, chicken, and pork. He feels a little guilty about it.
"Dad, that job is too tiring."
"Can it be more tiring than farming in the mountains?" Shi Dalin didn't take it seriously.
Shi Zhen sighed inwardly when he saw the missing teeth in Shi Dalin's mouth.
Shi Dalin lost his teeth so early, most likely because he was overworked and malnourished.
How could he possibly let Shi Dalin do heavy physical labor again?
"Dad, eat more eggs." Shi Zhen didn't want to say much, so he put a fried egg on his father's plate.
Shi Dalin looked at the fried eggs in the bowl and then at Shi Zhen with a disapproving expression: "Zhen, even if you've made some money, you can't eat like this! You've already cooked meat, why do you have to fry a few more eggs?"
Shi Dalin has been having a really tough time these past few days.
His son is so filial and so willing to spend money!
Take today for example. He thought it was already a good thing to have white rice porridge for breakfast, but his son even gave each of them a salted duck egg!
He thought having salted duck eggs was already the best he could do, but good heavens, his son also fried peanuts and stir-fried two kinds of green vegetables!
What about lunchtime today? There was already stir-fried green beans with sliced pork on the table, and his son even fried eggs for them.
Even landlords don't eat like this. How can his son save money if he spends like this?
Shi Zhen met his father's accusing gaze with a sense of helplessness.
He actually never spends money recklessly.
The family's food expenses are quite high, so he only serves cheap meat dishes for his family. For example, yesterday he bought three chicken frames, braised them, and gave them to eat.
This noon, they only cooked one pound of pork in total—there were seven of them in total!
He was worried there wouldn't be enough to eat, so he fried an egg for everyone.
Putting everything else aside, just look at his father. In his previous life, his father developed severe diabetes.
The day before yesterday morning, he specifically asked Guan Baiyu to coax his father to go to the hospital for a blood test on an empty stomach early in the morning.
Perhaps because he didn't eat well before, his father doesn't have high blood sugar or high blood pressure now, but if his father continues to eat rice like this after he can eat his fill, he's probably not far from developing high blood sugar.
Shi Zhen hoped that he could eat more protein and vegetables.
But... Shi Dalin felt that as long as there was enough food, he could finish a bowl of rice with just a chopstick of pickled vegetables.
Eggs and meat? Those are unnecessary!
After all, he doesn't do physical labor anymore.
"Ah Zhen, you can't cook so much food anymore. If you want to eat it, just eat it yourself. You don't need to cook for us," Shi Dalin said again.
Shi Ting was eating when she glanced cautiously at her father and quickly picked up two pieces of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat and put them in her bowl.
Shi Zhen: "..." His sister, who in his memory never touched fatty meat, is now eating it with great relish!
Shi Zhen said to his father, "Dad, stop talking and just eat."
"You're really wasting money, you..." Shi Zhen stared at him with a stern face: "If you don't eat, I'll get upset!"
Shi Dalin ate it anyway, and Shi Zhen said again, "Dad, eat slowly, it's good for your health."
"What kind of logic is this? I've never heard of it before."
"Everyone outside knows."
“You, you’ve come out into the city, you’re different from us now,” Shi Dalin complained, but his eating speed slowed down.
He's always been a good-tempered person, and now that his son is older and has his own ideas, he's willing to listen to him.
When I'm eating, I always feel like this way of eating is too expensive.
Of course, it's delicious.
Shi Zhen also put a fried egg on Zhao Meiyun's plate. Zhao Meiyun looked at the fried egg on top of her rice and whispered, "Zhen, your sister and I can't eat much, so we don't need to eat eggs. You can fry two fewer eggs in the future."
Zhao Qiujuan nodded repeatedly.
Shi Zhen laughed and put another slice of meat on her plate: "Aunt Zhao, I don't need two more eggs."
He didn't want to give it to Zhao Dongjuan, but there was no need to make it look so bad on the surface.
Zhao Meiyun took a bite of the fried egg with great relish.
They used to live in the mountains, where they could eat all sorts of wild game. Shi Zhen raised rabbits, and they would kill and stew them during the busy farming season.
But they didn't have oil to make these things, and they didn't have any seasonings either.
Dry, boiled rabbit meat is nowhere near as delicious as a glistening poached egg. And stir-fried green beans with sliced meat, with a touch of sauce, tastes even better!
She had never eaten anything so delicious before!
After lunch, Shi Zhen took Guan Baiyu back.
He rested for a few days and recovered. After selling rice balls this morning, he didn't rush to sleep. He ate lunch and then went home for a nap.
Seeing that Shi Zhen had left, Zhao Meiyun immediately called her eldest daughter to help her clear the dishes.
She used to ask her youngest daughter for help, but her daughter would always say things like, "Shi Ting doesn't have to do it, why should I?" To avoid trouble, Zhao Meiyun stopped asking her for help.
As for Shi Dalin, he went next door to chat with Teacher Fei.
Teacher Fei had a conflict with his daughter-in-law and came to live in the town by himself, while his wife was still in the city taking care of their grandson... Although he had some friends here, all of his friends had family members, so he didn't want to bother them too much. He was quite lonely, so he was happy to talk to the Shi family next door.
Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu were his favorites, followed by Shi's father and Shi Ting.
He liked Shi Ting because she had a sweet tongue. Although the little girl was a bit greedy, she would be happy for half a day if he gave her a piece of candy, and she would say "Thank you, Grandpa" over and over again... How could he not like her?
As for liking Shi Dalin... Shi Dalin didn't know anything and couldn't even read. When he learned that Teacher Fei was a high school teacher, he was full of admiration for him. No matter what Teacher Fei said, no matter whether he could understand it or not, he listened very attentively.
The middle-aged man from the mountains had a weathered face and looked like a poor old farmer. His face was so simple and honest. Such a simple middle-aged man was sitting next to me listening attentively to what I was saying... No matter what Teacher Fei was talking about, I felt particularly inspired!
Teacher Fei is in his sixties. People of this age like to talk about the past, about how he was when he was a child, how he was in school, and how he was working.
He lived in an era of dramatic change, and he had a lot to say about it.
His son and grandson were tired of hearing these stories and were impatient to listen to him, but Shi Dalin, who had nothing else to do, was willing to listen forever.
After finishing his meal, Teacher Fei waited for Shi Dalin to come over. As soon as Shi Dalin arrived, Teacher Fei immediately brewed him a cup of black tea.
Then the two started chatting.
After a while, Shi Ting also arrived.
Teacher Fei lives alone and spends all his retirement pension on himself. When his son and his family visit him, they bring him rice, flour, cooking oil, etc. He is quite well-off and readily gives out a long-nosed cigarette. After giving the snacks to Shi Ting, he also lets Shi Ting watch TV—his family has a television.
Shi Ting was delighted and went to watch TV while eating.
The clothes the people on TV are wearing are so nice!
Wow, there's even a piano inside!
Hong Kong looks so good!
She also longed for that kind of life!
Shi Dalin wasn't interested in television, mainly because... he couldn't understand it.
Shi Dalin and Shi Ting went next door, and Zhao Dongjuan felt a little angry that the two of them ignored her.
She walked towards the kitchen and overheard Zhao Meiyun talking to her sister: "Qiujuan, life here is so good. You must find a partner here so you won't have to worry about food and clothing in the future. If you can find someone from town, you won't have to do farm work anymore."
Zhao Qiujuan agreed wholeheartedly and nodded immediately.
Zhao Meiyun then instructed her: "Go to your younger brother more often. When he sells fried skewers tonight, you should go with him... Do more work so I can ask him to help you out. He's very capable!"
"Mom, I will." Zhao Qiujuan was very happy to agree.
Zhao Dongjuan interjected, "You're still counting on Shi Zhen to make plans for you? He only has Shi Ting in his heart."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Meiyun glared at Zhao Dongjuan: "How dare you talk like that! You're always being sarcastic! You better behave yourself these days and don't offend Shi Zhen."
“I didn’t do anything! Do I have to try to please him?” Zhao Dongjuan said unhappily.
“He’ll be the head of our family in the future, so what’s wrong with trying to please him?” Zhao Meiyun laughed. “Your brother is a good man. I feel like I have someone to rely on for the rest of my life.”
Zhao Meiyun has actually been very happy these past few days.
She has no son of her own, so she has always felt uneasy.
In their area, it's not uncommon for women to marry widowers, become stepmothers, raise other men's sons, and then the sons ultimately ignore their stepmothers' affairs.
Of course, there are also sons who are not filial to their mothers... but in most families, sons treat their mothers well.
When she arrived at the Shi family, Shi Zhen was already grown up. Although he didn't reject her, he never called her "Mom." She was a little worried beforehand, fearing that Shi Zhen wouldn't take care of her in her old age.
Zhao Qiujuan is twenty years old and still unmarried, which is actually related to her desire to marry her daughter off in the village.
She doesn't ask for a dowry when her daughter marries, and her daughter lives nearby. After her daughter gets married, she helps take care of the children and do housework... So when she gets old, her daughter and son-in-law should take care of her.
However, recently, Zhao Meiyun felt that she no longer needed to worry about retirement.
Shi Zhen is a very generous man. After bringing them out, he bought her new clothes and fed her delicious food every day... When she gets old, Shi Zhen will definitely not abandon her.
None of the sons in their village treat their mother this well!
Zhao Meiyun laughed happily, but Zhao Dongjuan was indignant: "Shi Zhen, Shi Zhen, you only care about Shi Zhen and Shi Ting, you don't care about us at all."
Zhao Meiyun glanced outside, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one was around. Then she said irritably, "Anyway, I can't rely on you! I knew that a long time ago!"
Zhao Meiyun felt quite aggrieved when Zhao Dongjuan accused her of neglecting her.
When women get divorced in their area, how many of them take the children with them?
It's easy for her to remarry if she's alone, but it's difficult to raise two children. If she doesn't remarry, how will she support her two daughters?
When she took her daughter back to her parents' home, she was afraid her brothers would look down on her so she worked hard. But her sister-in-law and brother's wife still gave her a hard time.
Her brother went around asking people to arrange a marriage for her.
She knew that the man in front of her had a violent temper and was afraid that he would hurt her two young daughters, so she gritted her teeth and took them with her.
Over the years in the Shi family, she had never mistreated her two daughters, but for some reason, Zhao Dongjuan grew up to be more and more distorted.
“Fine, if you don’t rely on me, go rely on Shi Zhen or Shi Ting. You’re not their biological mother, so see if they’re truly sincere towards you,” Zhao Dongjuan said.
Zhao Meiyun was furious, and Zhao Qiujuan was also angry. They pulled Zhao Dongjuan and walked out.
Zhao Qiujuan pulled Zhao Dongjuan up to the attic: "Dongjuan, how dare you talk to your mother like that?"
“I’m telling the truth,” Zhao Dongjuan said. “Sister, Shi Zhen and Shi Ting can go to school without having to work, but you didn’t even get to go to school. Aren’t you angry?”
“It’s not like they’re stopping me from going to school,” Zhao Qiujuan said. She was actually quite satisfied with her life now. All she wanted to do was maintain a good relationship with Shi Zhen so that she would have her family’s support when she got married in the future.
“From childhood to adulthood, they have never treated everyone equally. Why should they treat everyone the same?” Zhao Dongjuan said again.
It's true that the Shi family doesn't treat everyone equally.
Putting aside other things, let's just talk about their childhood. During the busy farming season, Zhao Meiyun would steam a piece of salted meat, cut off half of it with one slash, put it in a bamboo tube, and have Shi Dalin take it to eat while working on the mountain at noon.
She divided the remaining half into four portions for her four children, with Shi Zhen and Shi Ting receiving the largest portions.
Such incidents were countless during the ten years they had lived together. Zhao Meiyun may have cared for them more, but when it came to dividing things, she always let Shi Zhen and Shi Ting take them first.
Shi Zhen treated them far worse than he treated Shi Ting. Zhao Dongjuan still remembers that when she was a child, she went to school with Shi Zhen. At first, Shi Zhen would take her with him, but later he was no longer willing to walk with her.
What about Shi Ting? Shi Ting wouldn't let Shi Zhen accompany her, and she was still worried.
Also, she was young and didn't understand things back then, so she didn't want to go to school anymore. The adults really wouldn't let her go, and they replaced her with Shi Ting... They coaxed and tricked Shi Ting into going to school.
In short, Zhao Dongjuan felt very wronged.
She didn't realize that when she went to school with Shi Zhen, he was only nine years old. There were other boys in the village around his age at the time... Compared to walking slowly with his stepsister, he would much rather run around with boys his age.
Zhao Qiujuan also did not understand Zhao Dongjuan's grievances.
She felt that this was all just how it should be.
Even if they weren't related by blood, even if they were Shi Dalin's biological daughters... Shi Zhenzhan would take the lion's share of the good food, and she wouldn't have any problem with it.
Shi Zhen is a man, the only boy in his family!
Aren't all villagers like this?
Actually, the most pitiful one is her mother. When her mother distributes meat to them, she never gives herself a single piece.
"Why do they have to treat everyone equally?" Zhao Qiujuan asked.
“Mom isn’t idle at home; she still works in the fields when things get busy. As for us, we do the laundry and cooking. What haven’t we done? You take care of our family’s private plot, and we cut the grass for the sheep. We do far more work than Shi Ting. And what happens? When Dad and Shi Zhen bring back food, they always give it to Shi Ting.”
Zhao Qiujuan thought it was only natural: "Tingting is the youngest!"
You can occasionally find wild fruits and other food on the mountain.
Shi Dalin didn't actually go to collect them much, but Shi Zhen loved tinkering with them.
Generally speaking... if he gets a lot, he'll keep it at home so anyone can eat it; if he gets a little, he'll just give it to Shi Ting.
For example, when a chicken is slaughtered at home, Shi Zhen and Shi Ting each keep one chicken leg.
But... it's not like they don't have meat to eat.
Zhao Qiujuan felt that her younger sister was still young when their mother divorced, so she forgot the hard times she had spent at her biological father's house.
Back then, when chickens were slaughtered for the New Year, their own father wouldn't let them eat any meat!
Zhao Qiujuan and her sister had completely different ideas and parted on bad terms.
Shi Zhen was unaware of the Shi family's affairs.
He had long forgotten those trivial things from his childhood.
Just then, Shi Zhen returned home and tidied up the house with Guan Baiyu. Just as he was about to take a nap, Guan Jinjin ran over and said, "Guan Baiyu, your high school entrance exam results are out. Your teacher wants you to go to school tomorrow to pick up your admission notice!"
The results of the junior high school entrance exams came out yesterday, and the school asked the graduating students to go to school tomorrow for their graduation ceremony.
Most students will go to school tomorrow, get their graduation certificates, and leave. Some students will go to fill out their college application forms to decide which school they will attend. However, Guan Baiyu has already been admitted through the guaranteed admission program, so he doesn't need to fill out any application forms and will receive his admission notice directly.
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