On the day she had arranged to meet Miss Shen, she packed up her stall, said goodbye to Tian Da, and they headed to Tongfu Restaurant together.
"Brother, wait here for me. We'll go look at the shop together later."
"Okay, go ahead and do it. I'll keep an eye on things here."
Upon entering the restaurant, the manager was the first to greet us.
"Miss Tian, are you here to deliver goods today?"
Tian Sangui smiled and said, "The goods haven't arrived yet. I have an appointment with a friend today, so there's no need to tell your manager. I'll be leaving soon!"
"Oh, very well. I'll have the waiter bring you some fine tea later, Miss Tian."
"Thank you!" After exchanging pleasantries with the steward, she quickly went upstairs and headed straight for the last private room.
Pushing open the door, Shen Lili, dressed in an orange-red cotton dress with white trim, sat reclining on a round cushion, her tea already half-finished, indicating that she had been waiting for her for a long time.
"Sister Chen!"
"Oh, Sister Sangui, I'm so glad to see you. I thought you had forgotten our promise."
Shen Lili got up, took her arm, led her to sit opposite her, and poured her a cup of flower tea.
"How could I forget? I had to finish my morning stall before I could come over, so I kept you waiting, sister."
Here, the younger sister apologizes to the older sister!
"Get up quickly, why are you saying this? I'm just sitting here anyway, waiting a little longer won't hurt. Let's not be so distant with each other. I genuinely consider you my younger sister, you can't treat me like an outsider!"
Shen Lili was immediately displeased when she saw her like this.
"Good sister, I know I was wrong. I will treat you like my own sister and will never be polite again, okay?"
"This is it. Let me show you the shop!"
"good!"
Tian Sangui held Shen Lili's arm intimately, just like before, and it seemed that Shen Lili liked Tian Sangui's closeness to her.
A horse-drawn carriage and a donkey cart both arrived at the shop.
There was a school right across the street, where the children of wealthy families in town studied.
A wide blue brick road separates them.
Next to the shops, the road splits into two forks, with the shops clustered along the roadside, forming a large triangle of five or six shops.
"Come on!" Shen Lili pulled her along, gesturing for Tian Da to follow.
The group stood in front of the corner shop, which was much larger than the other shops.
Shen Lili took the key and opened the door. The moment the door opened, a cloud of dust was kicked up, choking Shen Lili and her, who had to cover their mouths and noses repeatedly before they could recover from the coughing.
"It hasn't been cleaned in a long time. If you like it, you'll be busy from now on."
"It's okay, I don't have anything else, but I have inexhaustible strength, hahaha!"
Tian Sangui was pulled by her to the back door, where Shen Lili used a different key to open it.
"Wow, it's a small courtyard!"
The courtyard is also triangular in shape. Measuring it, it is about ten steps long and about twenty steps wide, which is quite spacious.
"You can use this yard to store miscellaneous items, or build a small hut to make it a place to rest."
"So, are you satisfied?"
Seeing the joy in her eyes, Shen Lili echoed her sentiments.
"I'm so satisfied! It's exactly the dream shop I've always longed for!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Lili burst out laughing; this girl's words were hilarious.
After chatting for a while, Shen Lili handed her the key and asked her for a jar of spicy cabbage. She had tasted a small dish at the restaurant yesterday and found the flavor to her liking. After asking several times, she finally learned from the manager that it was made by her.
Tian Sangui readily agreed and politely saw Shen Lili off. She and her elder brother borrowed a broom from a neighbor and gave the shop a quick cleaning.
Back home, Zhang worked quickly and efficiently, pickling all the cabbages in earthenware jars, saving her a lot of time and effort.
Time is tight and the task is heavy.
"Mom and Dad, after we finish eating, we'll head to the shop in the afternoon to clean it up, and then we'll start buying things. We'll put the morning stall on hold for the next couple of days, and we'll work together to get the shop up and running."
Upon hearing this, the whole family reached an agreement. Zhang packed up all the brooms, feather dusters, and scraps of fabric she could find, and after lunch, the family hopped on a donkey cart and hurried off to town.
From the grass, a dark-skinned child, covered in dirt, crawled out. After getting up, he stared in the direction where Tian Sangui's family had gone until they were out of sight. Then he stretched out his dark sleeve and wiped his yellowish snot under his nose.
"Doggy, did you see clearly? They really went to town and even opened a shop?"
The surprised voice belonged to Madam Yun. She widened her eyes and earnestly confirmed with her grandson, Gou Dan.
"Grandma, I heard it clearly. They rode in a donkey cart, and the whole family has already left."
So, Zhang didn't commit adultery, but instead made a fortune?
"Gouwa, tell your mother, what else did they say, or is there anything different about their family?"
Wang was thinking about other things; if she made a fortune, her house would surely be full of good things.
"That's all I wanted to say. They ate so much meat and white rice for lunch. I smelled it from the bushes and I was practically drooling. Mom, I want chicken! I want to satisfy my craving!"
Dog Egg was unwilling to accept this. Seeing his cousins eating meat so heartily, he wanted to eat too.
Seeing that her son was upset, Wang glanced around a few times before whispering something in Gou Dan's ear.
Dog Egg's face went from dark to black, his frown gradually relaxed, and he turned to excitement.
"Okay, Mom, Grandma, wait for my news!" After saying that, Gou Dan ran off again and disappeared from sight.
"What did you say to him?" Yun asked, even more curious.
Wang, who was watching her son's figure, was interrupted by Yun's question. She turned around and smiled, helping Yun to sit down in a chair.
"Mother, would you like to eat something good?"
"Of course I want to think about it, why...why are you asking this?"
Looking at her mysterious demeanor, Yun wondered what kind of wicked scheme Wang was plotting this time.
"Mother, didn't you hear what Gou Dan said just now? The fourth son's family suddenly became rich, but instead of thinking about taking care of Father and Dad first, he's enjoying a life of luxury while you and Dad are eating coarse rice and wild vegetables in the old house?"
After Wang's explanation, Yun thought about it for a moment and began to feel indignant as well.
Wang then added more fuel to the fire.
“Since they won’t give it to us, we’ll go to their door and get it. If Fourth Brother and Zhang Shi dare to come back and complain, that’s unfilial. We can also go to the village head to file a complaint against them. From now on, Fourth Brother will have to bring you meat every day, right?”
Wang was overjoyed as she thought about it. She never imagined that her fourth son's family would have such good luck, actually meeting a benefactor and starting a business together.
As the saying goes, "When you drink water, you should not forget the well-digger." Yun was his birth mother, and they should be filial to her!
Won't they be eating meat every day from now on? We'll have to make sure to nourish her dog's body properly. He's getting so thin from eating so little oily food every day.
“This unfilial fourth son must have been instigated by Zhang Shi, otherwise the fourth son wouldn’t be so heartless.”
"Mom, calm down. Gou Dan will send word tomorrow, and we'll go to Lao Si's house. You can take whatever you want to eat."
"Hmph, take everything away. Doesn't she have money? Let her buy more. I'm going to ask the fourth brother for alimony!"
Wang watched Yun with a smile, her heart pounding with excitement at the thought of having meat to eat tomorrow.
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