Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Eating the melon and eating yourself
On Friday morning, Liu Mianmian had just sat down to eat breakfast when she heard the phone ringing in the main room. A moment later, she saw Aunt Liu trotting past the window cursing. She couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Recently, the military compound has been calling every day without fail. The old man was complaining in the first two days, but on the third day, the person who answered the phone became Aunt Liu, who simply said, "Weizhou went to the research institute and is busy and has no time," and sent the person away.
Aunt Liu was the cousin of Shen Weizhou's grandmother, Ms. Xu Huilan. It was said that her mother, Ms. Xu Huilan's cousin, would have called Shen Zhibang a "reborn Chen Shimei" to his face. Aunt Liu was a bit better, at most she was a bit rude.
It was difficult to disturb the institute casually, so from that day on, the old man's guards called every day, firstly to keep an eye on Shen Weizhou's whereabouts, and secondly to exert invisible pressure. The elders are looking forward to it every day, how can you really not go over?
Aunt Liu always complains about having nothing to do every time she answers the phone.
Liu Mianmian peeked out of the open window of the restaurant and, as expected, heard Aunt Liu's unusually loud voice: "You have nothing to do but call me every day. Do you think calling me doesn't cost money? You don't need money, but the country does! Okay, okay, just take a rest this Sunday and don't call me again tomorrow! You keep urging me, keep urging me. I need to roast dragon meat for them on Sunday!"
Liu Mianmian almost laughed to death.
Aunt Liu is usually a very amiable person, but it seems that she only becomes so sarcastic when she talks about the family in the military compound.
There was no point in keeping postponing the trip. On Sunday, some people from a theater troupe came to work part-time at the western restaurant. It was Liu Mianmian's turn to rest, and Shen Weizhuo also said he was free, so the family discussed it and decided to let the young couple take Shen Weiyun with them.
Well, just waiting to go to the military compound to eat dragon meat.
After breakfast, Liu Mianmian washed the dishes, moved a recliner out of the house, and lay under the pomegranate tree to bask in the sun.
After Qingming Festival, the chill of early spring gradually dissipates, spring deepens, leaves become lush, and the sunlight becomes stronger and stronger. You won’t be able to stay in the sun for long.
As usual, she checked in for work at noon. Business at the Western restaurant was brisk, and after more than ten days, Liu Mianmian had already collected over 60 yuan in song order fees, her "small coffers" growing steadily. So far, she was very satisfied with her job.
Moreover, Liu Mianmian recently discovered that working in a Western restaurant not only has a high income, but sometimes one can also watch the show firsthand, which is a perfect way to make money and have fun at the same time.
For example, today, the couple sitting in front of her were clearly there for a blind date. The woman had her back to her, and her body was half-hidden by a pillar, making it difficult to see clearly. The man, facing her, was ordinary-looking, with thinning hair, and looked quite old.
The man started chattering as soon as he sat down. Since they were close and his voice was loud, Liu Mianmian could hear him clearly.
"Your father is the workshop director, and my mother is a neighborhood cadre. We are what you call a well-matched couple."
This is the first time I've heard of such a match.
"Your conditions are indeed a little worse than mine. I'm a clerk in the neighborhood office, a cadre, and you're a temporary worker in a state-owned factory, not even a regular employee. There's a gap of two levels between us."
It's so funny. He's still two levels short. If you don't know, you might think he's at least a department-level cadre, right?
"Your family is strange. Your father is a workshop director after all. Can't he even make you a regular employee? Well, forget it, I don't despise you. A man marries a wife with his head down, and a woman marries a daughter with his head up. Sometimes you have to be humble and lower your expectations when you're looking for a wife. I understand that. Women don't need to be too ambitious. Supporting your husband and raising your children is what's most important."
This explanation of the saying "bow your head to marry a wife and raise your head to marry a daughter" is really eye-opening.
Liu Mianmian gently pressed the piano keys, and her eyes met with the waitress Tian Miaomiao standing in the aisle. They both showed contemptuous expressions.
The chattering on the other side hadn't finished yet: "I heard you want to quit your job and become a self-employed person. That's definitely not possible. Why would you even think of doing that? What are self-employed people? They're just second-rate people who can't find a job. How could a family like ours do that? I know temporary workers pay low wages and you want to earn more, but you can't let yourself fall into such depravity. And don't overthink it. After we get married, my parents will cover the bulk of the household expenses. We have low expenses, so we won't need much of our salary."
After all this talk, what he meant was that after marriage, the parents-in-law would be in charge of the household, and they would not give their salary to their wife, nor would they allow her to go out and earn money as a self-employed person.
Liu Mianmian was a little impressed by the girl sitting opposite him. She could actually endure listening to his nagging without throwing a glass of water on him or calling him a hypocritical man.
"My mom checked the almanac and says this month is a bit tight. The third of next month is a good date for a wedding. A family like ours isn't suited to a lavish celebration, so we'll keep it simple..."
Seeing that the conversation was heading straight towards marriage, the girl opposite finally couldn't help but say: "You are quite funny."
The voice sounded familiar. Liu Mianmian recalled for a few seconds and remembered that it was Jiang Hongmei, who lived next door to the Liu family in the military industrial compound. Her father was the workshop director of the second workshop of the Nancheng Military Factory.
It's really a changing world. This person was enjoying watching her asking for the bride price that day, but it's been less than half a month now and it's her turn to be watched.
The conversation over there is still going on.
The man was obviously dissatisfied with Jiang Hongmei's attitude: "What do you mean? You are too frivolous to talk like that. You must change these bad habits after getting married..."
Jiang Hongmei interrupted him: "What you said, taking care of the husband and children without being self-employed, I can't do it, we are not suitable." After saying that, she stood up.
She felt that she had made everything clear and was about to leave when the man suddenly stood up: "Your parents have agreed to our marriage, you..." He reached out to grab Jiang Hongmei. The anger that Jiang Hongmei had been suppressing finally broke out and she slapped him in the face.
"Take your hands off me!" Jiang Hongmei said coldly. "You don't understand what I'm saying, right? Then I'll be frank. If you don't have a mirror at home, just take a piss in the morning and look at yourself. You're such a jerk, and you have the nerve to look down on others? You're just too ugly to think highly of others. My parents agree to the marriage, so go marry my parents!"
"That's so vulgar, you're so vulgar!"
The man's face turned red with anger and he reached out to hit back, but two young men from the restaurant rushed over and grabbed the man.
Jiang Hongmei didn't add fuel to the fire and just turned and left.
"What are you doing? Is this how you treat guests?" The man wanted to chase after them, but the two young men were quite strong. He changed the subject and began to criticize the restaurant. "Don't you claim that customers are God in your restaurant? What a joke! How can God be beaten in your place? You have an unshirkable responsibility!"
"Since you think so, why don't we all go to the police station and ask the public security officers to help us decide who is responsible," Liu Mianmian asked. "Do you think this is okay, comrades from the neighborhood office?"
When he heard the words "police station" and "sub-district office", the man was like a duck with its throat strangled, and he fell silent.
He stared at the beautiful woman standing in front of the piano, his mouth opening and closing, and finally said in a cowardly manner, "Forget it, I won't bother with you guys," and hurried out.
When the cashier called him to pay the bill at the door, he grumbled again, "It's so expensive," but didn't dare say anything else and just left.
Liu Mianmian could imagine his inner monologue: Forget it, forget it, a family like ours can’t afford to lose face.
Jiang Hongmei is right, it's quite funny.
After the incident, the restaurant quickly returned to silence.
"How terrifying! How could such a person exist? Just like you said last time, it's like there's a throne to inherit in the family." Tian Miaomiao brought over a tray and quietly complained before saying, "Sister Liu, table number three has ordered a song."
Waltz No. 2, a work by Soviet composer Shostakovich.
Table number three is a regular at the restaurant. They come every now and then and occasionally order a song, all of which are Soviet songs.
After playing this song, it was time to get off work. Liu Mianmian collected the song fee for today, said "see you at dinner" to everyone else in the restaurant, and strolled out.
As soon as I went out, I saw Jiang Hongmei leaning against the wall next to the restaurant sign. When he saw her come out, he waved to her as a greeting.
Liu Mianmian didn't expect her to still be there: "You haven't left yet?"
Jiang Hongmei: "The sooner you go back, the sooner you'll get scolded. It's better to go back later."
Liu Mianmian thought this person was quite interesting: "I was very curious just now, how could you tolerate him for so long?" She had seen it when they met last time, that Jiang Hongmei was not the kind of person who would keep silent and allow others to bully her.
"His uncle works at the National Defense Industry Office, his immediate superior at the military factory. Before he left, my dad repeatedly warned him to make a good impression." Jiang Hongmei said helplessly, "What a shame. I endured it all for nothing. I should have just spanked him from the start."
"Forget it, let's not talk about these unfortunate things." Jiang Hongmei said, "Thank you for today!"
She saw Liu Mianmian making gestures to several waiters. If the waiters hadn't taken sides, she would not have been able to escape so easily today.
Liu Mianmian shook her head: "It's a small matter. The restaurant also has to maintain order."
Jiang Hongmei nodded, was silent for a while, and said: "I don't owe you anything. If you help me once, I will tell you something."
Liu Mianmian raised her eyebrows.
Jiang Hongmei said, "I happened to see Liu Jinshi go to Zhu Yongqi that day. From what I heard from her, it seemed that she wanted to provoke Zhu Yongqi and go to your in-laws' house to throw dirty water on you. I don't know the details of what happened, so you should be careful."
Liu Mianmian: “…”
She ended up eating the melon herself.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
