At noon, after the meal was prepared and served on the table, and the bowls and chopsticks were placed on the table, she called out to the old aunt's room: "Aunt, the meal is ready, come out and eat!"
Seeing that her aunt and uncle were at the table, she served them the food and then prepared to clean the kitchen.
"Shumei, would you like to come to the table and eat with us?"
The old lady looked at the delicious food on the table and thought that one should remember the well digger when drinking water. This was all Shumei's contribution, so why couldn't she enjoy it together? She had asked Shumei to join the table for dinner more than once, but Shumei refused.
"Auntie, this is against the rules. You guys eat. I'm going to the kitchen first."
After Shumei finished speaking, she hurried to the kitchen without waiting for the old aunt to speak again.
This was the rule set by the person who hired her, the old aunt's eldest daughter-in-law. On her first day home, the aunt's eldest daughter-in-law Meng Li called back and specifically told Shumei some rules.
One of the things they didn't do was eat at the table. They probably worried she might be sick and infect the family! She also had to use separate bowls and chopsticks from theirs, waiting until they were finished before she could eat any leftovers. They might be leftovers, but to Shumei, they were truly delicacies. She couldn't bear to waste any leftovers, so she tried to finish them all, often feeling so full she'd vomit.
Seeing that Shumei was still so stubborn, the old aunt stopped chasing her and picked up her chopsticks to invite her husband to eat.
It was broad daylight, and Wencai was tired of watching TV and was just about to take a nap in the room! But Shumei's cooking skills were so good that even Wencai was woken up by the food.
As usual, he got dressed, walked out of the bedroom, sat at the table, picked up his chopsticks and prepared to eat.
Seeing this, the old lady tapped the back of his hand with the chopsticks in her hand to stop him from picking up the food.
"I want to eat, what about living expenses?"
The old uncle, who was unaware of the situation, looked at the old aunt with confusion, not knowing what she was up to.
"Mom, are you serious?" Wencai looked at the old aunt with a suspicious expression.
"If it's not real, could it be cooked? Anyway, I've already shown you the way, and it's up to you to choose."
Wencai wanted to take advantage of the old aunt's inattention and quickly put two pieces of pig intestines into his mouth. Unexpectedly, the old aunt reacted surprisingly quickly. She stretched out her hand and clamped his chopsticks tightly. There was even a smug expression on her face.
"If you push your luck any further, I'll kick you out and not even give you a place to stay. Look at your brother, you're just copying him, so you should learn something! I see you're just like those string beans, you won't tolerate anything..."
Wencai couldn't stand the old lady's chattering in his ear, especially the constant comparison of himself to his successful older brother. He quickly pulled back his chopsticks and slammed them on the table. "If you don't want to eat, then don't eat. What's the big deal? I'm cultivating immortality. I can achieve enlightenment even if I don't eat or drink." He stormed back to his room.
Even with this kind of pressure, Wencai still showed no motivation to make progress, and the old aunt was so angry that she beat her chest and stamped her feet.
Shumei, busy in the kitchen, heard every word of what was happening outside. She lamented, "Alas! How pitiful are the hearts of parents in the world."
Qianqian's barber shop business has always been prosperous, but she really can't handle it alone. Due to staffing issues, she has lost a lot of customers.
The town had a long-standing custom that on odd days, the morning half of the day would be used as a market day. So on this day, people from all over the town would come to the market to buy daily necessities or sell any surplus items for some money.
Therefore, the flow of people was particularly concentrated on this day, and business was relatively better than usual. However, since most people lived far away, they would get up and rush back home before noon, so even if they came to Qianqian for a haircut, it would be difficult for her to keep them.
Because they didn't have the extra time to wait, and Qianqian only had two hands, so if she took over the previous one, she couldn't take over the next one. Qianqian was very worried about this. She racked her brains to think of a solution, and accidentally remembered her adoptive father's practice of taking in apprentices. She thought why not take in one or two apprentices as well, so that they could help her and she wouldn't have to pay them.
So she wrote a sign on a wooden board recruiting apprentices and hung it at the door of the store. After she was done, she patted her dusty hands, stood with her hands on her hips and looked at the results of her labor on the door, hoping that someone would come to learn soon.
In the courtyard, Shumei waited until the old lady finished her meal before she went to clean up the leftovers. She brought the leftovers to the kitchen, poured them into her own bowl, and then took out her own bowl and poured the leftovers into her own bowl. She sat on a small stool against the kitchen cabinet, ready to enjoy this "hearty" lunch.
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