With something on her mind, Lu Wanqing had been in low spirits for several days. When Lin Ye spoke to her, she had to pretend to be happy.
To distract herself, she had no choice but to focus all her attention on making cheongsams.
This time, she bought a patterned dark green silk satin, designed in a trendy style suitable for singers to perform on stage.
Turning to the side, she designed another embroidery, which she prepared for Chen Xiangxiu to embroider.
Having learned from her previous experience making a cheongsam, she and Elaine Chao worked together seamlessly and finished the cheongsam in just two days.
She delivered it to Chen Xiangxiu, instructing her not to let Yu Meifeng see it beforehand while she was embroidering, and then accepted five yuan as payment for the embroidery.
"Sister Xiangxiu, I think you should think about what pricing method you should use for embroidery in the future. Embroidery is a delicate craft, and it's a skill you've accumulated over the years. Only in this way can our cooperation last," Lu Wanqing suggested.
Chen Xiangxiu thought for a moment and smiled, “This time, you asked me to embroider this phoenix. It will probably take me two days and I will charge five yuan. That’s two yuan and fifty cents a day, which is more than my family’s Guangming earns.”
Wang Guangming, the brigade leader, was paid a salary by the commune, but it was only a little over thirty yuan a month.
If Chen Xiangxiu had work every day, wouldn't she be able to earn seventy-five yuan a month? She was already quite satisfied with earning that much money.
Many older women, who are always busy with needles and other work, can't earn much money all year round. She, on the other hand, can take care of Yao Yao at the same time. She must be so happy.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiangxiu looked at Lu Wanqing with admiration and gratitude.
Lu Wanqing was grateful to her and quickly said, "This job isn't available every day, but I can guarantee that I'll earn ten or twenty yuan a month."
Why ask for a bicycle? These days, a single ten-thousand-yuan note is a huge sum of money; it's better than having nothing at all.
Chen Xiangxiu noticed that Lu Wanqing seemed a little absent-minded, so she asked her what was on her mind. Lu Wanqing quickly made an excuse to leave.
Was her appearance that obvious? Could Lin Ye have noticed something too?
Logically speaking, she shouldn't have kept it from him, but she was afraid that if Lin Ye found out, he would act impulsively and beat up Wang Tiegang before investigating the matter thoroughly.
But what's the use of beating him up? The real problem is what will become of his marriage with Lin Chunhua.
When she returned, preoccupied with her own thoughts, she found Zhao Xiaolan talking to Lin Chunhua.
"Sister Chunhua, what brings you here?" Lu Wanqing quickly put on a smile and stepped forward to take her hand.
Lin Chunhua said with a smile, "I just came to see Mom and brought over some mushrooms I picked recently."
As she spoke, she pointed to a black cloth bag on the ground, which was bulging with mushrooms, presumably the ones she was referring to.
It's the season when everything grows, and there are many mushrooms on the mountain, so she picks them every day, dries them into dried mushrooms, and asks Lin Ye to sell them.
“It’s hard to make money picking mushrooms now. After everyone found out I made some money, they all went to pick them, especially porcini mushrooms. You can’t find them unless you go deep into the mountains,” Lin Chunhua sighed.
Lu Wanqing had known this would be the outcome. People like to follow trends, and no one can resist being envious when they see others getting rich.
Since Lin Chunhua had come, Lu Wanqing invited her to stay for lunch so she could ask her about Wang Tiegang.
However, this is something you can't ask directly; you can only probe indirectly.
Lu Wanqing asked some questions and confirmed two things: first, Wang Tiegang didn't have much money on hand; second, Lin Chunhua didn't know about his situation outside.
After a whole lunch, I still couldn't get a clear answer from her, so I had no choice but to keep her here and prepare to confront her.
Lin Chunhua said with difficulty, "I'm afraid it won't work. I have to go back and cook. Tiezhu has had a particularly good appetite lately. He always asks me to cook a lot of food at night, and he keeps saying he's hungry and wants to eat something."
After hearing this, Lu Wanqing laughed out loud, but a knot formed in her heart.
Since Lin Chunhua doesn't want to stay, let's remind her. Besides, the behavior of Wang Tiegang that she just mentioned is very suspicious. In this day and age, people are already starving, and going hungry is a common occurrence. They can just sleep through the night and get through it. Who would bother to get up and eat leftovers? Could it be that he took them to Jin Qiao's house?
Lu Wanqing had just asked about Jin Qiao's family situation. Her husband had died of illness, and she had parents-in-law to care for. Her mother-in-law was in poor health and took medication regularly, while her father-in-law was still in good health and could work. They had three children, the oldest being over ten years old and the youngest only four, who were at the age when they were growing up.
Given Jin Qiao's family situation, they must have been lacking in food and clothing on a regular basis.
After seeing Lin Chunhua out of the courtyard, Lu Wanqing thought it over and over again, and finally said to her, "Sister Chunhua, I know a little about traditional Chinese medicine. Eating leftovers at night is not good for your health. You should persuade your brother-in-law not to eat them."
Lin Chunhua was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Okay, I'll go back and tell him."
Lu Wanqing thought that if Wang Tiegang really had ulterior motives, she could use this incident to give him a warning.
When Lin Ye got off work in the evening, Lu Wanqing told him about Lin Chunhua's visit and also mustered up the courage to tell him the rumors she had heard.
Upon hearing this, Lin Ye clenched his fists. "Wife, do you really think my brother-in-law would do something like that? Is he out of his mind, getting involved with a widow with three children?"
"Who can say for sure! I've already hinted to Sister Chunhua, let's see if my brother-in-law can pull back from the brink. Perhaps I misunderstood." Lu Wanqing took his hand.
When Lu Wanqing took his hand, Lin Ye's emotions were immediately soothed. He could only wait and see how things would develop. If Wang Tiegang really did something to wrong Chunhua, he certainly wouldn't let him off easily.
After Lin Chunhua's incident, Lin Ye and Lu Wanqing's relationship seemed to deepen. They lay in bed at night, embracing each other for a long time, pouring out their hearts to one another.
Having lived through her previous life, Lu Wanqing naturally trusted Lin Ye implicitly, and she hoped that Lin Ye would not doubt her because of Qi Wei's appearance.
"Honey, I believe you. Qi Wei is such a bad person, how could you possibly like him? But I still have this feeling of uncertainty." Lin Ye stroked her face and looked at her affectionately.
Lu Wanqing bit her lip and punched his chest with her small fist, "Then what do you want me to do to put my mind at ease!"
Lin Ye smiled, "Of course, it means I'll hold you while I sleep every night."
Lu Wanqing then realized that she had fallen for her trick again, her rosy lips already being held in his mouth.
Aside from exercise, there was no other conversation that night.
The next day, Lin Ye woke up feeling satisfied and got up early to prepare the meal.
Lu Wanqing was still a little sleepy, so he didn't wait for her and ate his meal before going to school.
Today is the school's spring outing day, and he needs to arrive at school early to prepare.
When he arrived at the school, Du Wenbing had already started cooking sweet potatoes. The children's lunch ration outside consisted of one sweet potato per person.
Qi Wei came to work whistling, seemingly in an exceptionally good mood. He saw Lin Ye and Du Wenbing busy in the kitchen and gave a wry smile.
Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Rabbit!
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