Chu Yu pushed her bicycle back to the courtyard house. Just as she reached the gate, she saw Aunt Cao's son, Cao Gang, come out. When he saw Chu Yu, he immediately lowered his head and stood to the side.
Chu Yu looked at his arm; Cao Gang's right hand was tucked into the wide sleeve of his cotton coat.
Chu Yu smiled, feigning ignorance, "Brother Cao, what happened to your hand?"
Cao Gang's eyelids twitched, but he smiled and said, "My hand is fine. Just now, when we were stewing mutton at home, I didn't notice and burned myself on the hot coals. Luckily, it's not summer, otherwise, it would be hard to recover."
Cao Gang is a scoundrel. He's quite old, his wife died under mysterious circumstances, and he has a son and a daughter, neither of whom have a proper job.
The son was always cheating on other men's wives, and the other men were chasing him all over the streets with a machete.
Cao Gang's daughter liked to be a mistress of a wealthy man. The wealthy man's first wife often came to Cao's house to make trouble, hurling extremely vulgar insults that could be heard by all the neighbors. Cao Gang didn't feel ashamed at all.
He also thought his daughter was capable, able to earn money to buy him alcohol.
Shameless people naturally have no moral compass or bottom line.
Chu Yu said with a half-smile:
"Then you must take good care of yourself, otherwise you might get burned by the charcoal fire again and ruin your other hand, which would be terrible."
After she finished speaking, she left with a cold face.
Cao Gang stared at her retreating figure, spat, and said viciously, "You little hag, once I've slept with your mother, you won't be able to escape my grasp either. Then, see how I deal with you!"
Cao Gang stared at Shu Hui's courtyard house, his eyes shining. He thought to himself, "This young widow is really lucky. Even after her husband died, she can still live in such a nice house."
Aunt Cao found out that Shu Hui had opened a fried chicken shop near the front gate. The fried chicken shop was very popular, with people queuing up every day. It had even been in the newspapers. Cao Gang had gambled away all his family's wealth, and his old mother was muddle-headed, investing all the family's money in that damned mutual aid society.
Now that the Cao family is so poor they're practically bankrupt, Cao Gang has set his sights on Shu Hui. If he can win her over, all the money she earns will be his, and he'll live a life of luxury without a care in the world.
Yorkham's business is good, thanks to Chu Yu's effective management. There are dedicated staff members responsible for all tasks in the store, so Shu Hui only needs to liaise with the management.
No matter how busy the shop is, she doesn't need to worry about anything.
The weather has been cold lately. Shu Hui finished settling accounts around 8 o'clock and prepared to go home. The store was not originally a 24-hour operation, but a while ago, during the winter vacation, many students had nowhere to stay and stayed overnight in Yorkham to study.
Shu Hui felt sorry for them. It wasn't their fault that they were so young and had no money. She wanted to help them. After discussing it with Chu Yu, she decided to open the business 24 hours a day and take in some students who had no place to stay overnight.
Beijing has good public security, and the night shift doesn't change shifts until dawn, which is much better than changing shifts in the middle of the night.
At least the staff are not in any danger when they go home after get off work.
Shu Hui pays high wages, so there are quite a few people willing to work the night shift.
"Close the doors and windows, and keep an eye on the water pipes tonight. If they freeze, deal with it immediately." Just as Shu Hui finished speaking, she heard Wang Lan call out from the doorway, "Sister Hui, someone is waiting for you outside."
Shu Hui thought it was Chu Yu who had arrived, but when she opened the door, her smile froze on her face.
"Comrade Cao Gang, what brings you here?"
Cao Gang flashed a self-satisfied and charming smile at Shu Hui and said:
“Huihui, I heard you get off work late at night. I was worried about your safety as a woman, so I decided to come and pick you up.”
Shu Hui was dumbfounded. Cao Gang came to pick her up? She couldn't understand what Cao Gang was saying. She and Cao Gang were not related. Why would he come to pick her up?
Oh right, what did he call her just now? Huihui?
Shu Hui almost vomited from the meal she ate before the Lunar New Year.
Shu Hui was somewhat resistant to this person. "I always go home by myself after get off work. I don't need anyone to pick me up."
Cao Gang gave a disapproving look. "Huihui, what kind of talk is that? It's not a good thing for you women to be out in public. Coming off a night shift late at night, dressed up so beautifully, wearing tight pants and leather shoes, with your hair permed. I'm not trying to be mean, but with your outfit, it's normal for men to have some thoughts when they see you."
Shu Hui frowned deeply. She was dressed conservatively enough; this outfit was something she and Deng Fangping had bought at the wholesale market.
What trendy and revealing clothes can you buy at wholesale markets?
How am I dressed?
Cao Gang disagreed again, "Look, look, why are you getting so worked up? I only said a few words to you, and you react like this. I'm not trying to criticize you, but you have a bad temper. You need to change this bad temper as soon as possible, otherwise no one in your husband's family will like you."
Shu Hui felt she hadn't checked the almanac before going out today, and had somehow gotten herself into trouble with this kind of person. Not to mention the current Shu Hui, even the old Shu Hui, who had no job, no money, no education, and nowhere to go with her three daughters, would have looked down on a man like Cao Gang.
Shu Hui took a breath, her face stern as she unlocked the bicycle. "Comrade Cao Gang, I have nothing to do with you. Whether I have a good temper or not, whether my husband's family likes me or not, is none of your business. Please stay away from me; I don't want others to misunderstand our relationship."
"Misunderstanding? What's wrong with misunderstandings?"
Cao Gang gave a tolerant smile, as if he were indulging Shu Hui, this ignorant woman.
“Huihui, you’re wrong. You come to Beijing without any connections and have three daughters with you. With your circumstances, it’s really hard to find a partner in Beijing. No normal man would want you. Our relationship is fate. Neither of us will look down on the other. As long as you change your temper, I’ll reluctantly accept you and make you a daughter-in-law of the Cao family.”
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