Zhao Meiya glanced at him and thought he was talking nonsense. "Of course our Dongbao is capable, but don't you see who taught her? Okay, I'll go get some water. I can't count on you."
As she said that, she quickly stood up and ran to find the thermos. The amplitude of her movements showed how strong her body was.
After rinsing the teacup with boiling water, she took out three enamel pots and filled them one by one.
Feeling the temperature of the cup wall, she said, "This is scalding hot water. Dongbao can't even drink it when he's thirsty. And Lu Lanren, pregnant with a child is like an old hen sitting on eggs. She is the most precious one, but she doesn't need to do the laundry or cooking at home. How can she not even do this little thing?"
He Dagen sat on a chair and advised, "Okay, stop talking. I just saw her knitting in the house. It's not like she's not working. She's not in good health. Didn't the doctor say she needs to take good care of herself?"
"You can't just lie there and do nothing. Sooner or later, you'll become useless... I just asked her to go out for a walk, but she probably thought I was going to hurt her. She just shook her head and went back inside."
Zhao Meiya glanced sarcastically in the direction of the bedroom. "Useless thing! Her family was in such a mess at the time, and she was afraid of being criticized if she went out, so she simply hid at home. Others would only think she was easy to bully, and the joke would be even worse.
Sometimes, people have to be thick-skinned. No matter what others say, how could our He family marry such a loser? It makes me angry!"
"It's not easy for her to have such a family. If it really doesn't work out, take her out for a walk tomorrow. With you around, those people won't dare to say anything."
He Ruixue smiled secretly. Was her mother being used as a deterrent weapon?
"I owe her? If you ask me, I should have taken people to the Lu family and brought back everything she deserved. If they didn't give it to me, I should have snatched it away. It's only natural to take back my dowry. No one can say I'm wrong."
It's a pity that Lu Lan was not ambitious enough. She swallowed her anger and didn't want to make things too awkward with her family. She said that it was just a way to repay her family for raising her.
If she had asked for it, would they not have sought justice for her?
Turning her gaze back to He Ruixue, Zhao Meiya's expression quickly changed, and she said with a kind look, "Let's not talk about her. Dongbao, I brought eggs from the countryside, as well as some cured duck that I just made this year. I remember that Dongbao likes steamed cured duck legs the most. I'll make them for you later, and you can eat both legs."
As she spoke, she placed the backpack in the corner on the table and took out things as if she were presenting treasures. There were a few bundles of green vegetables on the top, a layer of straw at the bottom, and a bag of eggs wrapped inside.
Judging from the amount, there are more than 30 eggs. There are four chickens at home, one of which is an old hen that doesn’t lay many eggs. The two old people must have saved them for a month.
Except for her third brother's 7-year-old son He Xiaohua who could eat one every other day, the rest were all sent to her.
Two cured ducks were pressed under the straw, and at the bottom was a large bag of soybeans. She put the things she took out into the kitchen cabinet. "There's not much to eat in winter. I was thinking of getting some bean sprouts for Dongbao. At worst, I could ask someone to make some tofu jelly. It will last for many days."
"Mom, I have everything I need. I even had a big bone in the cafeteria today. If you have anything good, you two can eat it at home."
The wrinkles at the corners of the old lady's eyes deepened, and she felt relieved. "It's different with a job. Dongbao is about to become an adult, and he looks so sensible. Don't worry, don't you know who your father and I are? We will never be short of money."
He Dagen nodded repeatedly, "Your mother is tired of eating eggs. She loves eating canned fruit. I saw her get up in the middle of the night to eat it secretly. She's not afraid of damaging her teeth."
"You still have the nerve to criticize me, Dongbao. Your father was greedy when he was young. While others were studying, he was so good. He would go up the mountain to pick fruit and down the river to catch shrimp. He would throw his books in the wild and come back with a bag of wild twigs. No matter how many times your grandmother beat him, it didn't work..."
It snowed a few days ago, and your dad insisted on taking me up the mountain to catch pheasants with a dustpan. We didn't catch any chickens, but we caught a few sparrows. We roasted them and ate them without any oil or salt, but he still said they were delicious."
"You don't eat less either."
"It's meat after all, how can I give it all to you for free?"
He Ruixue was delighted to hear this. She didn't expect that her parents, despite their age, were still living a happy life in the village.
No wonder people say that old children become more open-minded as they get older.
"Mom, we have meat in the cafeteria tomorrow. I'd like to see if I can get an extra portion and bring it back for you to try."
"Okay, Mom will take advantage of my daughter's influence and see what people in the department store eat."
He Dagen asked, "My dear, do you have white steamed buns in the cafeteria? Can I buy them with money?"
"We don't have white flour, but we have two-pound flour. It's quite soft. The meal ticket is half a pound. If it's not enough, you can buy more. But each person can only buy two at most, and each one is two cents."
Although it was only her first day at work, she had already inquired about the cafeteria's situation, considering that she would have to bring her own lunch.
"This is a good price. What kind of buns are they? Are they big?"
"It's neither too big nor too small, enough for the two of us to eat. There's also rice mixed with sorghum and corn grits, with half being refined rice. A lunch box contains four ounces of rice, and extra is five cents."
The meals in the cafeteria are usually plentiful, so employees with big appetites can get an extra portion if it’s not enough. Of course, many single employees are too lazy to cook when they get home, so they will pack a portion to take home.
In principle, you can't order too much food, but there will be leftovers. The people working in the kitchen will decorate them themselves. If there are any leftovers, they can buy them. Meat dishes cost 10 to 20 cents, and vegetarian dishes cost 2 to 5 cents.
Of course, it is cheaper to buy your own food and cook it at home, but you don’t need a ticket to buy food in the cafeteria.
"How is the cooking skill of your cafeteria chef?"
"It's pretty good. I heard they hired a serious level 6 chef, and his apprentices are also level 7 or 8. I've finished all the food for lunch."
The old lady nodded repeatedly after hearing this. "That's great! Your company is very capable and the chefs they hired are all real talents. I don't know where those people in your eldest brother's company cafeteria were hired from. The food they make is expensive and tastes bad. It's not even as good as your eldest sister-in-law's cooking. They've complained several times but it's all in vain. Such good food is wasted."
He Ruixue nodded. The work intensity in the textile factory was not as high as that in the steel factory, and they could only eat meat once a week.
But the people in the cafeteria were really irresponsible. She had eaten the meals brought back by her sister-in-law a few times. The potatoes were cooked without peeling, the steamed cornbread was half-cooked, the beans were too tough to chew, and the taste was sometimes salty and sometimes bland...
She ate it once and never touched her chopsticks again. Her eldest brother also said that if the lunch was not free, they would rather go home and cook.
The workers complained, but the superiors complained that it was difficult to recruit chefs because all the chefs were snatched away by restaurants and several large factories. They couldn't negotiate the supply from the slaughterhouse either, so they were always given some scraps, and the dishes they made all tasted the same.
But at least their leader had a conscience. Since the taste was irreversible, he simply put more effort into the portion size to ensure that every worker could eat their fill, and even had enough for two children. Only then did the employees calm down.
Compared with taste, people nowadays care more about practicality. During the famine in the past few years, people were so hungry that they ate a lot of flour made from tree bark and chlorella. The taste makes my throat hurt just thinking about it.
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