Chapter 56 Wild Vegetables and Steamed Buns: We're broke!
Qin Xiangxiang and his wife went to the department store and bought a Seagull camera for 160 yuan. It could hold 120 film, saving one roll of film so they could take 16 photos. After buying the camera, the couple spent another 3.6 yuan to buy two rolls of film.
It cost a total of 163.6 yuan.
When Qin Xiangxiang returned home, she felt both happy and a little sad. Back in Shanghai, ordinary citizens were used to being frugal. Occasionally, they would splurge on a coffee, have wontons for a late-night snack, or a 1.2 yuan cream cake after working the night shift. These were all expenses that cost a few cents, a few dimes, a yuan, or a couple of yuan.
She would grit her teeth and buy a pair of leather shoes for a dozen yuan, or a winter coat for twenty or thirty yuan. These were huge expenses. Little by little, she spent a lot each month. But the most expensive item she ever bought was probably the "fifty-eight yuan" children's stroller that Li Qingfeng used.
Now that she's spent 163.6 yuan at once, even the little drama queen is panicking. For the foreseeable future, she won't be able to take her son out for fried yellow croaker every now and then.
She would buy only one or two yuan worth of fried yellow croaker when she took her son out, thinking she was being extravagant and eating luxuriously. Now…
"Li Jianzhi, I can't eat fried yellow croaker for the next two weeks."
Li Jianzhi was riding the bike in front, with the whole family on the bicycle. Qin Xiangxiang was sitting behind, and the little fat boy was on the crossbar in front. He had originally wanted to persuade his wife not to be so frugal after hearing her words.
However... it's a good thing not to eat fried yellow croaker; it's better for children to eat less fried food.
Little Fatty came to the island with the couple, and the food seemed to get better and better. Even though fish and meat had no fat, they couldn't resist eating so much of it.
This fat man doesn't seem to have lost weight.
Take this opportunity to help your child lose weight.
Li Jianzhi: "From now on, I'll cook at home. We'll eat steamed or boiled dishes. The weather will be getting hot soon, so it's better to eat light meals."
Qin Xiangxiang: "...I'll do it. You cook the big dishes when you're hosting a dinner party."
Steamed or boiled, this man's words were all threats.
"You were fanning me from the side, and it was you who suggested installing an exhaust fan in the kitchen. Now I can't stand the cooking fumes anymore." I hadn't noticed the problem of cooking fumes before, but once I started paying attention, the kitchen fumes really were unbearable.
"good."
The chubby little boy was happily leaning on the handlebars, enjoying the sea breeze, because his family had bought a camera! Daddy said he'd take his pictures! No more going to a photo studio, Daddy can take his pictures himself! So happy!
The weather was perfect today, with calm seas. The family who bought a camera went to the beach to take pictures. The water near the island is murky when there's a strong wind, but on sunny days with few waves, the seawater is a beautiful blue-green.
"The mother and son smile and look at the camera on the father's side."
"Little Fatty, move aside a bit, let Mom take the picture alone."
Fatty: "???!!"
"Think about it, try a different position."
Standing before the vast sea, the sea breeze tousled her hair. Qin Xiangxiang was being stared at by the father and son, and Li Jianzhi's camera was pointed at her. Even the most poised and confident girl felt a little embarrassed at this moment.
Qin Xiangxiang asked in annoyance, "What pose should I strike?"
"You're resting your chin on your hand like that."
Qin Xiangxiang: "!"
Her face flushed bright red, and at the same time, she was incredibly impressed by the man in front of her who could make such affected gestures with such a blank expression. He was crazy.
"Squat down and play in the seawater."
"Think about it, honey, come a little closer, turn around, and run towards the sea."
...
"You're such a busybody. Do you really think the photos will look good if taken like this?" Qin Xiangxiang raised her hand to wipe the stray hairs from her forehead. She felt that her face was stiff from smiling. In the past, photographers would make her stand still, but he was different. He wanted her to run. He was so unreliable.
However, she still cooperated by standing in the sea breeze for the photos, feeling a strange and inexplicable sense of happiness.
Blue sky, sea, yellow sand, and the sounds of men and children all around.
"Dad, when are you going to take my picture?" The chubby boy hugged his father's trouser leg. "Dad, I want to run to the sea too."
"Okay, okay." Li Jianzhi, who had originally agreed with his wife to only use one roll of film, secretly switched to a new roll.
"Let's go somewhere else."
Li Jianzhi picked up a tree branch and drew a pretty little cake on the sand, then had the mother and son squat down next to it to pose for a photo.
Qin Xiangxiang was shocked: "You can take pictures like this?"
"How about trying to walk barefoot across from here and leave a trail of footprints? I'll take a picture of your back and your footprints."
Qin Xiangxiang was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "I want it!"
She had no idea this man had so many tricks up his sleeve. Before she knew it, she had been coaxed into taking so many photos, far exceeding the sixteen photos they had agreed upon.
When Li Jianzhi said that the two rolls of film were used up, Qin Xiangxiang felt regret, but then suddenly felt as if the sky had fallen and the earth had cracked.
Two rolls of film cost three yuan and sixty cents, and in just a short while, three small cream cakes were made.
This is what burning money means.
Qin Xiangxiang's vision went black: "I feel like I'm going to faint."
Li Jianzhi quickly pecked her cheek: "I feel like I'm about to faint from happiness too."
The chubby boy hugged his face and exclaimed, "Mommy, I'm so happy I could faint!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
Li Jianzhi: "I'll develop these photos and send them to my father-in-law."
"Um."
On the way back, the chubby boy was even happier, and he and Li Jianzhi and his son sang off-key military songs. Qin Xiangxiang really wanted to cover her ears. She had had enough. She should just throw this father and son who pick up dog poop away.
Little Fatty: "Dad, when can we come back to take pictures again?"
Ask your mother.
Qin Xiangxiang sighed softly, "I only have ten yuan left on me. Our family will only have ten yuan for household expenses for the next ten days."
Li Jianzhi and his son, the chubby boy, looked at each other in bewilderment.
"How about I give you back 23.6 yuan?" Today, Li Jianzhi bought a camera and film, spending 163.6 yuan. He asked Qin Xiangxiang to pay 40 yuan in installments, but Qin Xiangxiang gave him 63.6 yuan and said she would give him 50 yuan every month thereafter, so that she could save up the money for the camera in three months.
There are still ten days until Li Jianzhi gets paid. In fact, ten yuan is definitely enough for ten days, provided that you save a little.
One yuan a day for food expenses.
Qin Xiangxiang's face darkened: "No way."
"I won't accept the money even if you give it to me. You'd better keep it safe. I'll be checking your savings every night from now on, so you're not allowed to spend it recklessly."
Qin Xiang thought to himself: This time, I must make those two good-for-nothings know their mistake!
Li Jianzhi: "We still need to save three yuan to develop the photos... Let's develop one roll of film first, and then I'll develop another one after I get paid."
Okay, I only have eight yuan left for ten days' living expenses.
Or, think about it, should we ask for twenty back?
Qin Xiangxiang reached out and pinched the man's waist. "You two spendthrift men!"
The family of three returned to their apartment building with their camera. They went up to the second floor, where Zhou Lu's door was open. Upon seeing them, the family immediately put on a distressed expression. Zhou Lu's apartment had a similar layout to theirs, with a kitchen right outside the door. Zhou Lu simply opened the door to cook, and anyone passing by could see a basket of wild vegetables in her house.
There are purslane and elm seeds.
When the family of three looked over, Zhou Lu became "embarrassed," as if she was trying to hide the wild vegetables, as if she was ashamed to be seen.
Qin Xiangxiang: "Zhou Lu, do you eat wild vegetables at home?"
Zhou Lu lowered her head, suppressing the slight upturn of her lips, and feigned difficulty: "I'm so sorry to have troubled you. Our family has been having a tough time these past few days, we're really struggling financially. We don't have enough money to last until next month. I went to pick some purslane early this morning, planning to eat wild vegetables for the next couple of days to barely make ends meet until my husband gets his paycheck. Sigh, I really didn't expect something like this to happen, something happened at home, otherwise..."
"I'm fine with eating some wild vegetables, but I'm afraid it will be hard on the children." Zhou Lu secretly glanced at the well-dressed family of three in front of her, who were even holding a camera. She thought to herself that the fat sheep family had returned, which was just the right time. She could at least borrow twenty or thirty yuan.
Even if Qin Xiangxiang was unwilling to lend it, there was still Li Jianzhi, a tall man of 1.8 meters. He couldn't just stand by and watch the orphans and widows next door suffer and eat wild vegetables to survive.
Upon hearing her speak, Qin Xiangxiang was suddenly overcome with sorrow: "Where did you pick these wild vegetables? Are there any in our compound?"
Zhou Lu was dumbfounded; this was not what she had expected.
Zhou Lu forced a smile and said, "I got this when they were feeding the pigs in their company. This...this is all for feeding the pigs."
Qin Xiangxiang thought to herself, "Perfect timing! I'll feed the two pigs at home too."
Li Jianzhi touched his nose: "It seems there's a large patch of purslane near the pigsty in our compound, and it's growing just right now."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Okay, when we get home and put our things down, you take Xiaopang to pick some wild vegetables, make sure they're tender."
"Zhou Lu, what are you planning to do with the wild vegetables?"
Zhou Lu gave a strange look: "Wild vegetable steamed buns."
“Then we’ll eat wild vegetables and cornbread too!” After deducting the printing fee, there’s only eight yuan left for living expenses in the next ten days, which isn’t enough to live on cornbread. But Qin Xiangxiang is stubborn right now and wants to teach her family a lesson.
Zhou Lu was dumbfounded: "Huh?!?!"
"Zhou Lu, our family is eating wild vegetables and cornbread with your family because we're broke too. We bought a camera, and now we don't even have money to develop the photos!"
The processing fee for developing the photos was 30 cents, and the printing fee for each photo was 6 cents. I took 32 photos, so I needed to develop at least 50 copies because I needed to send some to my parents in Shanghai. That would cost me 3.3 yuan.
Since you're going to rinse it anyway, just rinse it all out at once, instead of doing it twice.
"Comrade Zhou, I'm so sorry to have made you laugh. My family is also facing difficulties right now."
Overwhelmed with grief, the chubby boy hugged his father's leg and cried out, "We're broke!"
Li Jianzhi: "So you have to work hard to grow vegetables. When the vegetables grow, at least we'll have vegetables from our own garden to eat, and the hens will lay eggs every day so we can have eggs to eat."
"Um!"
Zhou Lu: "..."
This whole performance was for nothing.
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