Chapter 124

"It's different! This is the view of the sea from a beautiful room! It's more beautiful than the view from our tree house."

Xu asked: "..."

Objectively speaking, the sea at Rainbow Island is obviously more beautiful.

Because there is a natural sea view over there, but here the seaside has been damaged a lot due to industrial development.

This hotel is several times more comfortable than their tree house.

Xu asked Dongsheng: "Do you like this hotel?"

"Mm! It's so big! The bed is super soft! The food is delicious too."

Xu asked: "..."

She was silent for a moment, then said earnestly, "Dongsheng, Mommy will take you to a better hotel in the future."

It's not because of vanity, but because I think boys should see more of the world and shouldn't be so "unpromising". How can he be so satisfied with just a three-star hotel? !

Xu Wen is determined to become the boss's stepmother!

"Really?" Simple Dongsheng didn't think so much as Xu Wen. He was just wondering what a better hotel would look like.

"Really!" Xu Wen closed his eyes, "Only if you sleep well."

Dongsheng immediately jumped onto the bed and closed his eyes.

The mother and son slept until about four in the afternoon.

After waking up, Xu Wen took Dongsheng to where Xu Wen and his second uncle lived to make dumplings.

Although Xu Wen's skills in mixing fillings and making dumplings are not as good as Zhu Meizhen and Sang Xiaoqing, he is still more than capable of dealing with non-picky eaters like Xu Wen and his second uncle.

Including kneading the dough, it took her an hour to make six or seven plates of dumplings. She and Dongsheng ate one plate, while Xu Wen and his second uncle finished three plates each.

The second uncle burped, wiped his mouth, and said with emotion: "Since I came here from Weizhuang Commune, this is the most delicious and satisfying meal I have ever eaten."

It’s not that Xu Wen’s dumplings are delicious, it’s mainly because they taste like home.

Be it my Second Uncle or Xu Wen, they were born and raised in Taoyuan Brigade, and the farthest place they had been throughout the year was to the county town to attend temple fairs.

I have barely been to the city in my entire life, let alone running thousands of kilometers away.

It would be a lie to say that you don't miss home.

Xu asked a foreign student who used to love traveling, but now he is used to wandering. He really hasn't thought about this issue carefully. He felt a little guilty and asked them: "Uncle, brother, do you regret it?"

Second Uncle and Xu Wen shook their heads at the same time.

"What are you regretting?"

“No regrets.”

The second uncle had a higher score, and he was a little embarrassed to Xu Wen, "Niece, I am really sorry for you! Otherwise, I would still be laughed at in the team! It is a bit tiring here, and the money I earn in a month can equal the work points of half a year."

My second uncle is not exaggerating, but many construction sites in Pengcheng have begun to implement the policy of "the more you work, the more you get", breaking the old practice of sharing the rewards equally.

Second Uncle and Xu Wen are both very hard-working and have indeed earned a lot.

As the second uncle was talking, he remembered something, touched the back of his head and chuckled twice: "I also saw a foreigner! Although I didn't understand what he said, he gave me a thumbs up!"

Xu asked: "..."

"Second uncle, what did you do to deserve such praise?"

"I didn't do anything. That idiot went to the toilet without any toilet paper. I happened to have some extra, so I shared some with him. After he came out of the toilet, he gave me money but I refused!"

Xu asked: "..."

Xu Wen: “…”

Xu Wen had lived with his second uncle for such a long time that he was familiar with his character. He teased him, "Second uncle, when did you become so enlightened? You don't even want the money the foreigners give you?"

"The money he gave me was like paper! It's their country's money. I don't go abroad, so what do I need it for?"

Xu asked: "..."

I couldn't help but want to remind him what he missed. "Second Uncle, although I don't know the denomination of the US dollar he gave you, I know that even one US dollar is more than your daily salary. In addition, foreign currency can also be exchanged for our country's banknotes at the bank."

"Ah!" The second uncle slapped his thigh, his face full of regret: "It's bad! I lost money!"

This made Xu Wen and Xu Wen laugh so hard.

Dongsheng didn't quite understand. His confused eyes moved back and forth between the three adults, not quite understanding what they were laughing at.

After dinner, Xu Wen hurried out to set up the stall without even having time to clear the dishes.

Normally he would have gone there early, but today he went out much later than usual to accompany Xu Wen and his son. He kept nagging and praying all the way that the stall would not be taken by anyone else.

My second uncle is very tired after a day of work, so he usually takes a bath, takes a walk around the neighborhood, and then goes to bed.

Seeing Xu Wen and Dong Sheng being so friendly, he also followed them to the night market.

Night market is what Xu Wen called it. Xu Wen and the others followed the locals and called this place Dongkou Stall.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Dongkou stall, Xu Wen felt a little dazed.

It’s been a few years since I traveled here, and this is the first time I’ve seen a night market that is so prosperous that it’s almost post-modern.

The shops on the street are all colorfully decorated. The house is a bit dilapidated, but the facade is new, and efforts have been made to decorate it in a western style.

It just looks a bit out of place. Even though it is dotted with lights, it still looks very beautiful, prosperous, and extravagant.

The night market is very busy and has everything.

There are snacks, toys, labor protection supplies sold by Xu Wen, clothes, and some more trendy gadgets.

For example, Walkman and cassette tapes.

Some of them are considered prohibited items and their sale is still illegal even in special economic zones.

Xu Wen saw from afar that one of the vendors' eyes were looking back and forth on the street like a searchlight. He was sitting on a bench with only half of his buttocks exposed and his legs bent. He was ready to pack up and leave at the slightest sign of trouble.

Xu Wen is a stranger.

The moment the vendor saw Xu Wen, he had his hand on the corner of his bag, ready to roll it up and leave. Then he looked at the child in her hand. Xu Wen, who was following beside her, breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew his hand, and patted the empty space beside him, "Wenzi, I'm saving your space! Why are you here so late today?"

The accent doesn't sound like a local.

Xu Wen pointed at Xu Wen and said, "My sister just came to see me. We had a meal together and stayed for a while." Then he pointed at the stall owner and said to Xu Wen, "This is Brother Cong. We often set up a stall together and got to know each other well. Sometimes when one of us is absent, we will save a seat for the other. Brother Cong even gave me a few tapes!"

"Hello, Brother Cong!" Xu Wen took the initiative to extend his hand, "Thank you for taking care of my brother."

Congge had just been on guard, but now he let down his guard and looked at Xu Wen. His eyes widened immediately, and he swallowed his saliva. He quickly put his hands behind his back to wipe them, then reached out and held Xu Wen's hand, stammering, "Sister... Hello, sister!"

Xu Wen tried to retract it after just one touch, but was caught by Cong Ge's fingertips.

Xu Wen happened to be bending over to spread his bag on the ground and didn't see it, so Xu Wen frowned.

"Let my mom go!" Dongsheng jumped up and pressed his whole body on the clasped hands of Congge and Xu Wenxiang.

Originally, Xu Wen was only holding his fingertips. Although Dongsheng weighed only about 40 pounds, he was very strong. He broke through the two people's clasped hands and continued to fall face down.

Thanks to his second uncle's quick reaction and helping him.

Under the dim light, you could still see that Cong Ge’s face was red, and he stuttered even more: “I… I’m… sorry, I… I didn’t… didn’t mean it, I…”

Xu Wen turned around in confusion, "Brother Cong, why are you stuttering after not seeing you for a day?"

Brother Cong lowered his head and dared not say a word.

He had never seen a girl as pretty as Xu Wen in his life.

For a moment I didn't know what I was saying or doing.

He took Xu Wen's hand and rubbed it behind his back in annoyance. He was either taking advantage of Xu Wen on purpose, or he forgot to take his hand back in his excitement.

After rubbing it, I regretted it and clenched my hand into a fist, feeling the smooth touch still remaining on my fingertips.

Hearing Xu Wen's words, he subconsciously looked up at Xu Wen.

Xu Wen was busy checking whether Dongsheng was hurt from the fall.

Only then did Cong Ge remember that this little boy seemed to call Xu Wen "Mom".

His pupils dilated, with shock and disappointment.

You are so young and already have a child this big?

Doesn't that mean I have no chance?

Cong Ge thought distraughtly that he finally found a girl he liked at first sight, but she was already a mother.

All right! If I'm not the child's mother, I can't seem to keep him company.

Xu Wen and Xu Wen had no idea that Brother Cong, who was full of thoughts, had already put on a show.

Xu Wen was busy placing various labor protection supplies on the cloth bag one by one.

Xu Wen and his second uncle helped him set up the popcorn pot.

"Grandma will make you a pot first!" Second Uncle volunteered to make popcorn for Dongsheng.

Dongsheng is particularly interested in this thing.

My second uncle put the corn kernels and sugar into the cavity of the pot, sealed the lid on one end, and placed it on a low rack made of thin steel bars. Under the rack was a small charcoal basin. After placing the coal in the charcoal basin and lighting it, he held the handle at the other end of the pot and kept shaking it.

There is also a gauge on the crank, which is not a time gauge but a pressure gauge. When shaking the popcorn pot, the speed should not be too fast or too slow to ensure uniform heating.

Seeing that the time was almost up, the second uncle told Xu Wen: "Cover the child's ears!"

Xu Wen knew that this thing would make a popping sound, so he quickly covered Dongsheng's ears. He saw his second uncle carrying the black pot to a bamboo basket with a long tail. The long tail was actually a cloth bag, and the popcorn would soon run into it.

Seeing that his second uncle was about to open the pot, he quickly closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

Bang!

There was a loud noise, like thunder coming out of nowhere.

Xu Wen shuddered, but Dongsheng was fine.

Xu Wen opened his eyes again and saw that the cloth tail of the bamboo basket was already bulging with popcorn.

My second uncle was not very experienced in the business and dropped a lot of items.

Dongsheng shook off Xu Wen's hand, walked happily to the bamboo basket, grabbed a handful of popcorn and put it into his mouth.

While cleaning the popcorn pot, the second uncle asked Dongsheng, "Is it sweet?"

"Sweet! So delicious!"

"Eat slowly. When you're done, Uncle will make you some popcorn!"

"Second Grandma is the best!" The bribed Dongsheng praised her generously.

“…”

Many passers-by were startled by the sound, and some of them gathered around with interest, asking about the price of popcorn.

Second uncle looked at Xu Wen.

"50 cents for a large basket, 20 cents for a small basket."

It wasn't the bamboo basket for popcorn, but some small bamboo strips that he bought in bulk.

"Give me a basket of two-cent ones!"

“I want one too!”

“…”

Xu Wen was in charge of collecting money, Xu Wen was in charge of distributing popcorn, and the second uncle began to prepare popcorn with large grains of rice for Dongsheng.

The pot of popcorn was sold out quickly. Xu Wen handed two yuan to Xu Wen and said, "Brother, where did you get this popcorn pot?"

"A fellow villager on the construction site secretly made this popcorn. I thought it looked good, so I bought it from him."

Xu Wen praised him: "I never thought my brother has such a good business sense!"

Xu Wen took the money from Xu Wen and asked her, "Do you know how much this whole pot costs?"

"50 cents?"

"About 40 cents"

"Wow!" Xu Wen was shocked. "Such huge profits?"

Xu Wen nodded, then added, remembering something, "This pot must be worth more than 40 cents."

This is the popcorn that my second uncle made to please Dongsheng, and he added several spoonfuls of sugar to it.

While the brother and sister were talking, their uncle had prepared another pot of popcorn.

This time Dongsheng didn't need Xu Wen to cover his ears. He covered his ears with both hands and ignored his second uncle's repeated warnings, just standing beside his second uncle and watching eagerly.

Xu Wen covered his ears and closed his eyes, like an ostrich, pretending that he would not see the sound.

But the next moment, there was another familiar sound: bang!

This time, it was oval-shaped popcorn the size of a bean, white and plump, and very cute.

Dongsheng stuffed handfuls of rice into his mouth and said incoherently, "Rice popcorn tastes better than popcorn."

"Then why don't you stay here to accompany grandma?" Uncle Er teased Dongsheng, "When we leave, you can stay here and let your mother go back by herself, okay?"

Dongsheng shook his head without even thinking.

Xu Wen was also curious: "Why not?"

"Dad said that Mom is a woman and I am a man. When I go out, I can't leave Mom's side. I have to protect Mom! If there are bad guys who want to get close to Mom, I have to beat them away!"

When Dongsheng said this, he did not forget to look in the direction of Congge.

The Cong brother who had been paying attention to them, or more precisely, to Xu Wen: "..."

He coughed lightly and lowered his head guiltily.

Even though I didn't do anything, I still feel like I'm the bad guy.

Xu Wen praised Dongsheng with a sigh, "Dongsheng is so brave!" He looked up at Xu and asked, "Why do I feel that he is worried about you and arranged a little 'supervisory officer'?"

Xu Wen rolled his eyes, "You think too much!"

The mother and daughter ran away secretly this time. They didn't even know where to go after the long journey. How could they find the "military supervisor"?

Dongsheng was talking about what Lu Yuanzheng taught him when the family of three was chatting at home. It was the literal meaning.

More and more people come to Xu Wen's stall to buy things.

Most men buy things like thread gloves and rubber shoes, while most women buy things like sleeves.

As Xu Wen had written to her before, labor protection supplies are indeed a necessity here, and both men and women will buy some.

Most uneducated men are willing to do hard labor and work on construction sites, while those with some education and seeking an easier job will join joint ventures or foreign-funded factories.

Xu Wen didn't know if there was an electronics factory there now. He just noticed that the girls who came to the stall to buy things were dressed very neatly.

But it could also be that he changed into these clothes after get off work.

As they passed by the stall, Xu Wen took a special look at their hands and faces. The light was dim and he couldn't see clearly, so they were probably not hard laborers like his second uncle.

Second Uncle's business was also good, with one pot after another of popcorn. Dongsheng was more interested in the popcorn pot and offered to help.

Actually, I just wanted to try shaking the popcorn pot.

After finishing a short period of work, Xu Wen smacked his lips in amazement: "Although I came late today, why do I feel that business is much better than usual? Does coming late mean that business is better?"

Xu Wen was a little confused.

Cong Ge interrupted: "No, didn't you see that there are a lot more young people buying things at your stall today?"

He gave Xu Wen a meaningful look.

Xu Wen looked at Xu Wen and then suddenly realized, "Hey! Wen Wen! Is your face still useful? Come on, help me cheer!"

Xu asked: "..."

Let me ask you, what is this strange name?

"Maybe in a while?" Xu Wen refused. "I just got here and want to take a walk."

Xu Wen said, "That's fine!"

Xu Wen asked Dongsheng to leave.

It’s not that Xu Wen was stingy and didn’t want to help her brother. She just suddenly had an idea and wanted to take a walk to see how likely her idea was to come true.

This street is quite wide and crowded. It is even bigger than the temple fair Xu Wen attended in the county town before, and everything is sold there.

The age range of people who come here is also very wide.

There are children, old people, middle-aged people and young people.

There are locals, outsiders and foreigners.

Xu Wen walked around for a while, and then he and Dong Sheng took some snacks in their hands and walked back while eating.

Dongsheng held Eggboy in one hand and a furry toy in the other.

Xu Wen was holding a box of fruit pickles.

It's not the kind of fruit pickle made with yogurt or cream in my memory.

It is actually mixed fruits. Various fruits are cut into pieces and placed on the small carriage of the pedal tricycle, and you are given a small bowl to choose from.