Chapter 44 The Big Fat Sheep: She'll definitely get money from Qin Xiangxiang.
"What about the first floor? Did you hear anything else?" Facing his wife, Li Jianzhi no longer suppressed his true nature and was curious about what gossip might be going on on the first floor.
"Is something wrong with the old lady in the wheelchair on the first floor?"
Qin Xiangxiang looked at him in shock: "How did you know?"
“I saw you look back a few times as you went upstairs.”
Qin Xiangxiang leaned closer to the man and whispered in his ear, "This old lady seems to be faking her lameness to slack off at home and deliberately let her daughter-in-law serve her."
"Pretending?" Li Jianzhi blinked, incredulously saying, "Pretending to be lame? What's the point? Doesn't it get tiring?" You only see characters like this in novels and movies, unbelievable.
He sighed, "How come this corner unit is full of such exquisite items?"
A family member who borrowed money and never paid it back; an old woman who pretended to be lame.
Qin Xiang thought to himself in silence, thinking that the two of them were also top-notch, living in the long side unit, and now they had moved into the nest of the best.
Is the author assigning the female lead to live in the East Building, while keeping all the awful characters in the West Building?
He was only thinking about staying away from the original female lead, but now he's stirred up a den of scumbags. But it doesn't matter, as long as he's shameless and even more scumbag than them, he won't suffer any loss.
At noon, Li Jianzhi bought large yellow croaker and some local pickled vegetables from the island, making a big pot of pickled yellow croaker. In the bathroom and kitchen, there was also a pot of razor clams and a pot of sea snails.
Li Jianzhi: "We'll need to buy two more enamel basins for our family to help shellfish expel sand."
Foods like razor clams, sea snails, and conches that you buy—or even those you pick up from the mudflats—must be kept in water for a while to purge the mud and sand before they can be eaten.
Razor clams and sea snails don't have much meat. They're just a treat, something to enjoy. Families with children often send their kids to collect sea snails. They're everywhere when the tide is out, but it's a tedious process because there's not much meat. Even experienced collectors can only collect three to five pounds at a time.
The sea clams on the island are beautiful, shaped like plum blossom petals, and pink. They are also called plum clams, but ordinary people just call them sea clams. They taste very delicious, but they are also very "rare". Just imagining going to the mudflats and silt to "pick up clams" is enough to make you feel annoyed.
"Dad, these are so pretty!" The chubby boy squatted down and pointed at the clams. The clams soaking in water were indeed beautiful, and they looked even better when stir-fried. Sprinkled with chili and scallions, they were red, pink, and green, reminiscent of jade.
Li Jianzhi: "If you think they're pretty, go pick them up from now on." Ten catties of sea snails don't yield much meat. These things are just like sunflower seeds; you can eat as much as you want, and they're very satisfying.
The bowl of razor clams next to it looked a bit scary; their slimy, snail-like bodies were still spitting out water.
Qin Xiangxiang loves to eat large yellow croaker. Afraid that Li Jianzhi would ruin the fish, she watched him prepare it and then cooked it herself. One pot of salted vegetables and large yellow croaker was enough for the family of three. They added some clams to make it more palatable, and the fish soup could also be used to mix with rice.
Someone knocked on the door. Qin Xiangxiang opened it and saw a petite woman with delicate features. She was probably three or four months pregnant, as her belly was already showing. She was carrying a stack of dried tofu and had brought it to their house.
“I live in the middle next door. My surname is Huang, Huang Qiuli. My husband’s surname is Zhang.”
Li Jianzhi walked over and asked, "This must be Chief of Staff Zhang's wife, right?"
"Hello Comrade Li, we'll be neighbors from now on. We're the middle family, with two mischievous kids and another one in the belly right now. If we disturb your family, please don't be offended."
Qin Xiangxiang had never seen this family member surnamed Huang in her dream. She probably didn't know her, or she might have seen her but couldn't remember. She was a stranger to her family member, and she couldn't figure out her personality.
Sister Huang brought over a stack of local braised tofu, saying, "This doesn't need to be stir-fried; you can eat it directly. It's perfect with alcohol."
"Did your sister-in-law make this herself?"
"No way, I bought it outside."
This braised dried tofu is made by a special dried tofu master on the island. There is a very famous dried tofu on the island that has been braised for 20 hours and then dipped in sesame oil. It is a kind of cold dish sold in restaurants. The price is not expensive, just a few cents a piece. It is cheap and decent as a gift.
This stack of dried tofu probably costs a penny or two. It's a snack that kids like to sneak into the kitchen to eat, and also a side dish for adults to enjoy with drinks.
After closing the door, Li Jianzhi tasted a piece and praised, "This tastes very good; the more you chew, the more flavorful it becomes."
Later packaged dried bean curd was also a popular snack. At this time, the braised dried bean curd did not have as many different flavors as later ones. It was just salty and savory, without any spiciness. When you ate it, you felt a salty and fragrant taste, and the aroma of bean slowly melted on your lips and tongue, which was a bit like eating meat.
"I'll ask the neighbor where she can buy some that tastes better. We'll buy some to have as cold dishes with our family when we cook a warm meal."
Qin Xiangxiang nodded. The chubby boy didn't care about the adults next to him at all and buried his head in his rice bowl, eating heartily. The lunch consisted of fresh yellow croaker, clams, and braised tofu, all of which were delicious.
He discovered that after moving, the standard of his meals improved, and the food was delicious!
The only thing that puzzled the chubby boy was why he felt like he had eaten a lot of delicious food, but he was still not full.
There's still a feeling of hunger, like some unfulfilled desire.
Because there isn't much oil in it.
Li Jianzhi pinched his chubby little face, thinking that if he continued to eat like this, he would naturally lose weight. It's hard to gain weight from eating fish, so stay away from fried foods, like those fried dough balls that his grandfather bought—carb bombs.
"Little Fatty, it's delicious, isn't it? The shrimp and crab will taste even better in the future."
"The large yellow croaker is the best!"
The mother and son waited anxiously for the refrigerator to be powered on, and after it was powered on, they waited anxiously until evening, guarding the refrigerator in the living room, just like a newborn father anxiously waiting at the entrance of the maternity ward.
Li Jianzhi went to the hospital and got a few medicine bottles. He washed and disinfected them, filled them with tap water and froze them. "When the weather gets hot in the summer, I'll put a bottle of ice in front of the electric fan before going to bed at night. That will be a natural air conditioner."
Qin Xiangxiang nodded excitedly, "Li Jianzhi, you're so generous!"
She thought the deadbeat man was quite smart. Not only was he smart, but he was also very generous. So, sometimes a "face-saving phoenix man" isn't so bad; he knows how to enjoy life.
Unlike some people who are reluctant to use this or that in order to save electricity.
Qin Xiangxiang is very afraid of the heat. Summer in Shanghai is unbearable. The island is cooler than Shanghai, but summer is unbearable in both places. You sweat easily even if you do nothing. It's hot, humid, and uncomfortable. You also have to protect yourself from mosquitoes at night.
"We've bought everything, so let's use it freely. But when summer comes, you and your son should be careful not to get prickly heat."
It's so common for kids to get prickly heat in the summer these days. It's not like we'll all have air conditioning in the future. Almost every kid has experienced prickly heat. It covers a lot of skin on their forehead, buttocks, and back. It's painful and uncomfortable when they sweat.
The health center also conducts special campaigns to prevent prickly heat.
The chubby boy and his mother praised together, "Dad is so generous!"
Li Jianzhi couldn't help but smile. Receiving praise from his wife and children filled him with happiness. Even in such a difficult environment, he actually felt that life wasn't so bad.
"We have two metal molds for making popsicles. Let's try filling this one with boiled water first. Tomorrow we'll see if we have any fresh milk, and we'll use milk powder and mung bean soup to make popsicles."
"good!"
While Qin Xiangxiang and her family were planning to make popsicles and ice cream, Zhou Lu was coaxing her daughter. She couldn't help but feel a little unhappy. Yesterday she thought the family across the street had moved in a big fat sheep, but today she found that the fat sheep was quite hard to eat.
"Mom, I want to eat chocolate beans." Zhou Lu has a five-year-old son who is fair-skinned and chubby, but he is a picky eater. He doesn't like to eat vegetables, but he loves to eat meat and snacks. Zhou Lu often exchanges money with others for sugar coupons, oil coupons, and meat.
Each household had a fixed amount of sugar and oil coupons. For example, only families with children would receive an additional share of sugar coupons. There were also special children's sugar coupons for holidays such as Children's Day and New Year's Day.
Some poor families, having many children, would use their children's candy coupons to exchange for money.
"We're out of chocolate beans at home. Mom will try to buy some more in a few days." Zhou Lu thought she couldn't show any stinginess in front of the fat sheep, so she took out a bag of chocolate beans. As a result, the fat sheep took the whole bag without any politeness.
Moreover, the "little lamb" raised by this big fat sheep is really fat, so fat, much fatter than her son. Sure enough, she comes from a big city like Shanghai, and her family must be very well-off.
"Eat something else first."
The child stomped his foot and ran to the cupboard at home to get some treats. Zhou Lu always kept some loose candy at home, so he could only make do with regular candy.
But none of these candies taste as good as chocolate chips.
Zhou Lu picked up her daughter and comforted her, quickly calming down. The daughter in her arms was her daughter, born last year, who was well-cared for, fair-skinned, and very beautiful and well-mannered. Having two children like this made a man feel very proud when he went out.
Don't be angry, don't be angry... She thought to herself, the greedier the person, the better. The more greedy they are, the more money they can get from her. Especially someone as pretty as Qin Xiangxiang, she must care about her image, be easily influenced, and like to hear nice things said to her.
However, the man in the big fat sheep's family was hard to fathom. Even though he had seen his wife's behavior today, he didn't say a word. Zhou Lu knew that some male officers from rural backgrounds were more concerned about their image the poorer their families were. After they gained status, they were most afraid of their wives losing face in front of others. They would rather suffer a loss themselves than take advantage of others, and they were worried about showing their poverty.
I ate a bag of her chocolate beans, so I'll make her pay back tenfold.
She will definitely get money from Qin Xiangxiang.
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