Increased appointments
"This pen is for you," Li Jin said, pausing before adding, "I hope you get good grades in high school."
After thanking the landlord, Wang Yao was about to go upstairs when Li Jin stopped her.
Looking down, I saw a box being handed to me with the "PARKER" logo printed on it, which looked quite valuable.
Why would you suddenly give yourself a fountain pen? And such an expensive one at that?
Wang Yao put her hands behind her back and shook her head in refusal: "No, I can't accept it. It's too valuable. Thank you, Uncle Li, oh no, thank you, Brother Li."
"It's not expensive, take it."
Wang Yao shook her head again, "No, no, Brother Li, don't worry, I will definitely study hard. I don't need such an expensive pen, you can take it back and use it."
Seeing that Wang Yao was about to leave, Li Jin forcibly placed the gift in Wang Yao's hand, left her with the words "Study hard" and went upstairs first.
Wang Yao looked at Li Jin's somewhat hurried back and scratched her head. Is giving a gift this domineering?
However, since they gave me such an expensive gift, it seems impolite not to reciprocate. But isn't this favor too heavy? How should I repay it?
Wang Yao was very troubled after being forced to give a gift!
After returning home, Wang Yao immediately put the pen in the drawer and added a lock to the outside of the drawer.
Although I don't know the exact price, something this expensive has to be kept safe, right?
In the living room, Old Man Li was praising Liu Xiangmei for cooking today, saying it was very good and an improvement over her previous cooking skills.
While making tea for everyone, Liu Xiangmei said, "My daughter Yaoyao taught me all of these. She said she learned them from books. That child just loves reading strange and unusual books."
Old Li was still savoring the braised pork he had made for lunch. "You can't reach this level just by reading books. It still depends on your skill. Your skills are no worse than the chef at Jinzhou Hotel. Your restaurant business will definitely be good in the future."
Hearing Old Man Li's praise, Liu Xiangmei was overjoyed. "How could I possibly open a restaurant? I'd be lucky if I could even make a living selling boxed lunches."
Wang Yao didn't want her mother to limit her vision to boxed lunches, so she interjected, "We have good skills, why shouldn't we expand our business? Students can have more choices too!"
Liu Xiangmei snorted, "Didn't you say a few days ago that students couldn't tell the difference between good and bad food?"
Wang Yao chuckled, "That's because I was worried you wouldn't have confidence. Let's finish first and then strive for perfection. We can't be complacent. Don't you agree, Grandpa Li?"
Old Li gave Wang Yao a thumbs up.
Liu Xiangmei rolled her eyes at Wang Yao, thinking, "So you let her say whatever she wants!"
Seeing that the sun was almost setting and everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they prepared to leave.
Liu Xiangmei and Wang Yao escorted them downstairs, reminding them to be careful.
Wang Yao quietly asked Li Jin what time his train was tomorrow, saying she wanted to see him off.
Li Jin was very surprised and happy, but still shook her head and refused, saying that she had to leave early the next morning and there was no need to trouble her.
Wang Yao assumed that Li Jin's travel schedule needed to be kept secret, so she didn't ask any further questions.
When Liu Xiangchun's family arrived, they came in a minivan. When they left, they had a tricycle. The mother and her two children sat in the back of the tricycle and waved goodbye to Liu Xiangmei.
Chen Xiu looked at her aunt, who was still wearing an apron around her waist, and suddenly felt very envious.
"Xiang Mei, were those who just left all your relatives?"
“We have relatives and friends here. We’ve moved to the county, so we wanted everyone to come and get acquainted with us.”
"That's good. Now we'll have someone to look after us in the county."
As Liu Xiangmei was talking to the landlord, someone came over and asked, "Can I order your boxed meals now?"
No sooner had this person finished speaking than someone else chimed in, "That's right, my family would like to order a few more portions, your lunch dishes smell so delicious."
"Exactly, exactly. My son started complaining of being hungry at lunchtime because of the aroma of their food. He wouldn't eat the food I made, saying it was awful. It made me so angry. I had to order three portions, so I decided the whole family would just buy their boxed meals instead."
"Oh, you're right. I bought one for each of my two kids at noon and sent it to their tutoring class. As soon as I got back, they asked me if I was having lunch again tonight."
...
Hearing that your family wants two portions and her family wants three portions, Liu Xiangmei was overjoyed. "Why can't we make a reservation? We can do it anytime!"
He hurriedly urged Wang Yao to go upstairs to get the registration book, and then introduced to everyone how fresh and delicious the food in his family's boxed lunches was.
Everyone was even happier when they heard that Liu Xiangmei planned to go to the countryside to buy local vegetables starting tomorrow.
"Local food is good. If you ask me, our local food is still the best. No matter what kind of food comes from other places, it can't taste as good as our rural food."
"Of course! Our local vegetables are not only fresher, but we also don't use much fertilizer..."
After registering everyone and collecting the deposits, Liu Xiangmei thanked everyone for their support and then took Wang Yao upstairs.
"Quick, quick, show me how many reservations have been made?"
The mother and daughter were shocked when they counted; including the ones they had booked at noon, there were a total of sixty-eight.
"If we prepare another fifty copies for the construction site tomorrow, that will be one hundred and eighteen copies? Is that many?" Liu Xiangmei couldn't believe it.
As she spoke, she lowered her head and counted again; it was still sixty-eight portions.
One serving costs three yuan, so how much would 118 servings cost? It would be 354 yuan.
Liu Xiangmei exclaimed in surprise again.
Liu Xiangqiu, standing to the side, clicked his tongue in admiration, "Little sister, you've earned more than half a month's salary in just one day!"
Although her small shop is quite profitable, since it's located near the station, it doesn't reach this level!
Liu Xiangqiu then laughed and said to Wang Yao, "Yao Yao, with this skill, you don't need to go to school. You and your mother can just open a restaurant and make a fortune, hahaha!"
Liu Xiangmei glared at her and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? What's more important than studying and going to school? Yao Yao, and Xiao Min, don't listen to her nonsense. Study hard and get into a good university. That's the important thing."
Liu Xiangqiu chuckled, "Just kidding, just kidding. Going to school is definitely the most important thing."
Wang Yao and Sun Min secretly agreed with Liu Xiangmei's words; no matter what, they still had to go to school.
Suddenly feeling relieved that she no longer needed to worry about financial difficulties, Liu Xiangmei was in high spirits and invited everyone to go for a walk at the sports field that evening.
The suggestion was supported by everyone, and Wang Yao pulled Sun Min to the bedroom, saying that they wanted to tidy it up properly.
While counting the deposit Wang Yao had given her, Liu Xiangmei spoke to Liu Xiangqiu: "I haven't asked you yet, how did your talk with Xiaomin go last night?"
When Liu Xiangmei and Wang Yao returned home last night, Liu Xiangqiu and Sun Min had already gone to bed.
Liu Xiangqiu rubbed his hands together: "Xiaomin is still blaming me."
"Shouldn't Xiaomin blame you?"
“That’s right. Xiaomin is a good girl. Our family has been like this for so many years, and she hasn’t gone astray. She even said that she hasn’t been considerate of me all these years. When I heard that, my heart melted.”
"That's right. With irresponsible parents like you and that old hag causing trouble at home every day, Xiaomin can still study so well and be so well-behaved. You should thank your God and your ancestors."
Liu Xiangqiu nodded, "I will definitely take good care of Xiaomin from now on. Sigh, I don't know if I will be able to give Xiaomin a complete family again."
"Anyway, you can't give in this time, or you and Xiaomin will suffer in the future. No matter what the outcome, you must nurture Xiaomin well after this. People all hope their sons become dragons and their daughters become phoenixes. Xiaomin is already so outstanding, you can't hold her back."
The Sun family on the other side.
Neither Sun Dong nor his mother, Grandma Sun, stayed at the convenience store; instead, they were at the clinic next door.
Sun Dong slowly woke up on the clinic's hospital bed and heard the familiar cursing.
“You have no idea how pitiful I am. I married a barren daughter-in-law who is also unfaithful and never home. My son has to go out in the scorching sun to look for her. My son and I are so pitiful. That wicked woman has ruined my son like this. She deserves to die a horrible death…”
Sun Dong felt that all eyes were on him and his mother, and he could faintly hear the sounds of discussion around him.
"Sun Dong's wife ran away?"
"She should have run away a long time ago. Old Mrs. Sun torments her every day..."
"I've heard that too. Liu Xiangqiu has a good temper. If it were me, I definitely would..."
"Where has Xiaomin gone too?"
"She probably ran away with her child. There was a woman in the next village who was beaten by her husband every day, so she jumped into a well with her child..."
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