Finished the work smoothly
The sun was high in the sky, and the whole yard became noisy as the temperature gradually rose. Noodle stalls and mat stalls were set up one by one, and people began to flow in front of several stalls.
Hu Yufeng wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned around to see that her wives were also sweating and working non-stop.
Looking at the four filled cartons on the stool, Hu Yufeng called the three people:
"Take a break and drink some water. How many roots have you checked in these boxes?"
Yang Xiu took a sip of water and counted while filling the bags: "Mom, 320. One more box will make it enough."
Xizi and Li Lanhua stretched their backs, which had been hunched over the whole morning, and were delighted when they heard this:
"We are pretty quick. We are only 80 away."
"Don't take a break, Second Aunt. Let's hurry up and blast these 80 sticks before we take a break." Li Lanhua no longer felt any pain in her waist or back after hearing that.
"What time is it, Xiu'er?" Hu Yufeng asked.
Yang Xiu glanced at the time, "It's nine fifty, we've been working for almost two and a half hours."
Hu Yufeng was also happy to hear this: "Then do as Lanhua said, explode all 80 at once, then have a meal and rest. If you are quick, you can rest for an hour."
"We must be quick, sisters, come on, fry them and then eat..." Xizi took the lead and rushed to the battlefield, and the other two sisters also joined in enthusiastically.
Hu Yufeng repeated the process of frying, flipping and scooping like a ruthless frying machine.
80 strands were rubbed quickly. Liu Yuzhu had already arranged for everyone to go and eat if they were hungry. Seeing this, Hu Yufeng sent the three of them to eat noodles while she slowly fried the noodles.
Yang Xiu was a little worried: "How about I fry it and you go eat it, Mom."
Before Hu Yufeng could say anything, Xizi said with a smile: "Let's go, sister-in-law. Auntie told us to go first. This is the auntie you mentioned, so you can't scold my sister-in-law for eating first."
Yang Xiu: So embarrassing...
Hu Yufeng: ...
Hu Yufeng could only roll her eyes at Xizi: "Go eat, why are you talking so much..."
Xizi laughed and dragged his two wives towards the noodle stall.
Yang Xiu finished eating and came to take over from Hu Yufeng. When the four of them were full, all 80 fried dough twists were ready.
As the weather was getting hotter, Hu Yufeng asked Liu Yuzhu to inspect the goods and hand over the five boxes of fried dough twists.
Liu Yuzhu also sent some watermelons over. Hu Yufeng ate the watermelon under the tree, enjoying the breeze and looking at the crowd not far away.
When the auspicious time arrived, the birthday celebration ceremony officially began with the singing of the guests of honor.
This was the first time that Hu Yufeng had seen such a grand birthday celebration, and Yang Xiu and others squeezed into the crowd early to watch.
The 80-year-old Mr. Liu sat in the middle.
At this moment, the yard was unusually quiet. Only the generations of descendants were kneeling and bowing to wish the birthday to the sounds of "kneel" and "bow". It looked very solemn.
Hu Yufeng's thoughts gradually drifted away.
Ever since the incident with Yang Xiu, the entire family's direction has completely deviated from the dream, and she rarely thinks about that dream again.
I am trying hard to recall it now. I don’t know if it’s because I’m old and my memory is bad, but the dream doesn’t seem to be as clear as before.
But she remembered that she would die at only 68, which meant she still had 16 years to live.
She felt a little lost. The closer a person is to death, the more they wish time could go back, even though she had died once in a dream.
"Aunt, it's a pity that you didn't go to see it. Old Liu's family has so many children and grandchildren, and the scene is so grand..." Xizi chattered excitedly.
Hu Yufeng looked at her in a daze.
Xizi was frightened by her gaze and waved his hand in front of Hu Yufeng's eyes: "What's wrong, aunt? It's so scary that you're staring at me. Are you possessed by something..."
Hu Yufeng: ...
All the sad or not-so-sad moments are gone.
Yeah, why think so much? There is no Xizi in the dream. Isn’t she still here making people angry?
Hu Yufeng clenched her fist: I will try to live long enough to hold a birthday party in this life! ! !
"Oh sister-in-law, look, my aunt is going to hit me!" Xizi jumped behind Yang Xiu.
Hu Yufeng: ...
Yang Xiu: Xizi is also very good. She is not afraid of her mother-in-law anymore after I take care of her...
Hu Yufeng was annoyed: "Hurry up and rub it, the meal will start soon. If you are slow, I will beat you!"
The meal started at one o'clock and it's already half past twelve. The Liu family has eight tables, which means they have to fry 80 sticks for each table, which is a very tight schedule.
Yang Xizi became obedient and continued working with Yang Xiu and others.
The chef opposite was stir-frying over a high fire, the wok was swishing up and down, and the aroma of meat and vegetables, accompanied by the "sizzling" sound, spread throughout the courtyard.
Everyone at the table was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and everyone outside the table swallowed their saliva from time to time.
The young man serving the dishes brought the fried dough twists prepared by Yang Xiu to the table one by one.
The waiter picked up the plates without waiting for them to land on the table. He saw everyone's hands reaching out to grab the air and looking at him in confusion:
"There are a limited number of them. Each person can get one. Don't try to grab them. I'll give them to you..."
Lao Shigeda was particularly happy because he finally didn't have to rob it himself.
The Kuaishou party is not happy: whoever grabs it gets it, what a broken rule...
Regardless of what everyone was thinking, the deacon distributed them one by one.
The person who got it couldn't wait to take a bite: "Hmm... It's delicious. I've been watching them frying it since morning, and now I finally get to eat it..."
There was a sly-looking man who ate while staring at others: "Why don't you eat it? If you don't want to eat it, give it to me. I'll take it back to my mother-in-law. She's 78 years old and has never seen it before."
"You are the only one who has a mother-in-law, so why don't you keep yours?" This guy is not someone to be trifled with either.
The deacon was not surprised. In every village there were a few people who loved to take advantage of others. Not to mention easy-to-carry items like fried dough twists, even soup was something some people wanted to pack up.
Hu Yufeng had no idea that someone almost got into a fight over a piece of fried dough twist. While she was picking up the dough twists, she was also dealing with people who came to ask about the price.
"I'm not selling it today. Thank you for your consideration, big sister. Come back next time and I'll give you a discount."
When they heard it was a bargain, the ladies immediately became excited: "Girl, girl, I'll come next time, give me a discount too."
"Me, me, me...I'm buying it too!"
Hu Yufeng's face almost froze from laughing.
Yang Xiu mustered up the courage to say, "Uncles and aunts, you have tasted our fried dough twist today. It is indeed delicious and the food is generous and dignified. If you have a full-month wedding in your family, you can also come to us."
After saying this, she glanced at her mother-in-law nervously. Seeing Hu Yufeng's encouraging look, Yang Xiu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: She's been getting too cocky and daring to act on her own.
Hu Yufeng continued, "My daughter-in-law is right. If you need anything, you can talk to us, either at the market or at home. Everyone knows my family, right? Don't you know? It's the Qin family in the next door Xiaogou Village. Just say you can talk to Hu Yufeng's family or Qin Wenli's family."
The crowd gradually dispersed, and Hu Yufeng and the other three finally had time to stretch their stiff backs.
The heat is overwhelming and the sun is scorching. The backs of the four were soaked, and beads of sweat rolled down their honey-colored faces. When their eyes met, they all smiled.
Liu Yuzhu saw the guests off and came over to invite them to take their seats. Hu Yufeng quickly refused, but Liu Yuzhu was very persistent.
"You are guests now. You have helped a lot today. Friends and relatives all praised your fried dough twist, and our old man is also happy. I feel ashamed of you for a simple meal. Auntie, please don't refuse..."
Upon hearing this, Hu Yufeng had no choice but to agree.
The chef hired by Lao Liu's family is really amazing. The food smelled good and tasted even better.
Yang Xiu and Li Lanhua still have some ideological baggage and they want to be elegant and graceful. Xizi was not the kind of person who couldn't save face. He swung his chopsticks quickly and made comments from time to time:
"This dish is spicy and delicious..."
"This pancake is not as delicious as the one made by my sister-in-law..."
"Auntie, hurry up and eat, what are you standing there for..."
Yang Xiu: Why am I a little envious of Xizi?
Yang Xiu also picked up chopsticks and joined in.
After eating and drinking, we paid the bill. Hu Yufeng first asked three people, and not surprisingly, all three were illiterate. She had to pay the bill herself.
"You took 400 as a return gift this morning, which is 100 yuan. There are 36 tables, which means 360 sticks, which is 90 yuan. The total is 190 yuan, nephew, do the math."
Liu Yuzhu thought about it and couldn't help but praise: "That's right, Auntie is very fair. But..."
"What's wrong?" Hu Yufeng was worried, and she was unsure about her arithmetic.
"It's not a matter of account... It's like this, Auntie, how many fried dough twists do you have left? We want to buy them." Liu Yuzhu said hurriedly.
Fearing that there wouldn't be enough food at the table, Yang Xiu specially prepared more noodles yesterday. In addition to the ones given to the Liu family, there were 65 extra fried dough twists.
Liu Yuzhu said, "Then leave them all to us." Seeing Hu Yufeng looking at her, Liu Yuzhu explained, "The fried dough twists are not afraid of spoiling. There is something else that needs to happen at home in a few days, so they can be used."
Hu Yufeng was also very happy to hear this: "That's good. I can't calculate the whole and zero numbers. Can you help me calculate it?"
Liu Yuzhu smiled and quoted the price: "16.25 yuan. Adding the previous 190 yuan, the total is 206.25 yuan."
As he said this, he took out his wallet, counted the money, handed it to Hu Yufeng and said:
"Here's 210 yuan. Auntie, don't refuse. Listen to me. I really trouble you today. It's not easy in this hot weather. Consider this 4 yuan as your nephew buying water from you."
Hu Yufeng refused: "Let's put things in perspective. We agreed before that if I have to thank you, it should be Auntie thanking you. You provided Auntie with such a good opportunity, how can I charge you more money? So, you just need to give Auntie 205."
Seeing that Hu Yufeng refused to accept it, Liu Yuzhu's wife also came to help. Hu Yufeng refused no matter what, so Liu Yuzhu had to give up.
"Because of your craftsmanship and character, I will come to you if there is any problem at home." Liu Yuzhu said with emotion.
"Hey, auntie also likes to do your business. That's it, we'll go back." Seeing Qin Wenzhen and his brother loading things into the car, Hu Yufeng said goodbye to the Liu family.
"Okay, then drive slowly..." Liu Yuzhu and his wife looked away only after they saw the car going away.
"This old woman is really capable. I'm afraid of getting lost when I go out. Look at her running around the village and earning hundreds of dollars a day." Liu Yuzhu's mother sighed.
"They can endure the hardship. Frying twisted dough sticks is full of smoke and fire, especially on a hot day. I saw those wives' arms were shaking when they got to the end..." Liu Yuzhu's wife sighed.
"That's right. It's not easy to make money. Even Yuzhu, who sells livestock, has to get up early and work late. He can't even have a hot meal..." Liu Yuzhu's mother thought of her son and felt a little distressed.
"Let's buy some fried dough twists for Yuzhu in the future. He can have a bite when he's hungry. It's better than just drinking water." Liu Yuzhu's wife suddenly had an idea.
"That's a good idea."
Hu Yufeng had no idea that her family was about to receive another wave of business. The evening breeze gently caressed the faces of the four people in the truck, and the four heads looked like chicks pecking at rice.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
