Chapter 53
Meng Li is good-looking and was the most popular girl in the factory before her marriage. Thanks to Zhou's mother, she became the focus of the factory after her divorce.
Being gossiped about behind your back is not something to be happy about, but what is the saying in later generations? Black and red are also red!
Meng Li is now a celebrity in the factory. People pay attention to what she wears and uses. Although people these days are simple, women's love of beauty has never changed since ancient times, and they are secretly trying to compare their beauty.
After Meng Li wore the shirt to work, many people made fun of her behind her back. Some colleagues were jealous and asked her which chef made the shirt.
Meng Li told the truth.
Her sister-in-law had nothing to do at home, so she made clothes for others to pass the time. Originally, she only made clothes for relatives and never charged them for anything. Later, there were so many people asking for help, so she started to charge a little labor fee as a token of her appreciation.
This is because her sister-in-law is a nice person and is willing to help. It is not capitalism. Besides, with her sister-in-law's skills, she can't charge such a small amount of money if she really wants to do it.
The female colleagues in the factory were equivalent to office white-collar workers in later generations. They received salaries on weekdays, were more fashionable and spendthrift than farmers, and saved some cloth coupons every year to make a few decent clothes.
Respect is very important for working women.
Two female colleagues were very excited. They didn’t have cloth coupons, and when they heard that Sister Meng Li had ready-made clothes, they wanted to buy them directly.
Although the price is a bit high, the design is nice, and women are willing to pay for all nice things.
Some families had cloth in stock but were reluctant to spend a lot of money to buy ready-made clothes, so they wanted Meng Li to take the cloth back to ask her sister-in-law to process it. These people often made clothes and knew their own sizes, so they wrote them down one by one and reported them to Meng Li.
Meng Li brought the fabric back home this time.
"Auntie, the notes are all here. Take some time to check with my sister-in-law and see when you can finish them. I'll come back to get them next time I'm on vacation."
Zhen Zhen handed the note to Jiao Huilan, who looked delighted. In terms of experience, she was not as good as Tailor Feng, and in terms of craftsmanship, she was far inferior to other tailors, but everyone was optimistic about the clothes she made for Meng Li.
She opened the slip and wrote down each customer's measurements.
A total of three pieces were processed into two finished garments, which were sold for five yuan each and the processing fee was two yuan. Although it was not as profitable as selling melon seeds and pork, it was the first time in Jiao Huilan's life that she truly earned money on her own.
Jiao Hui took the cloth and the paper and sat down in front of the sewing machine.
Meng Li was sincerely happy for her. A rural woman like her sister-in-law should have had a life that was not worth mentioning like everyone else, but she was shining because she did what she liked.
She closed the door and did not disturb Jiao Huilan. She turned around and talked to her aunt about weaning the first and second babies.
Zhen Zhen said: "Dabao and Erbao are in good spirits and eat well, which is really worry-free."
After Meng Li came back, she just glanced at the child from a distance and didn't dare to go forward for fear that the child would cry. She was relieved to hear her aunt say this.
"I was worried that the baby would cry at night, but I didn't expect it to be so smooth. I'm glad the baby didn't suffer."
After she became a mother, she learned to love her children, and she is a very good mother.
Meng Li added: "You don't know, I just walked to the entrance of the village and met a few aunts chatting. When they saw me, they asked if I was pregnant and when I would have a second child. They also said it would be better if I gave birth earlier so that I could take care of the baby together. They made it sound like raising a child was easy."
Isn’t it easy to raise a child these days?
Just give them food to eat, and if you have many children, there will always be one child who can live well.
The mainstream idea is that having more children means more blessings, and if one child lives a good life, he or she can support the entire family, so everyone thinks it is better to have more children.
Zhen Zhen comforted them, "You two can just discuss it. There's no need to force someone to give birth to a child. The child won't eat their rice, and they won't have to eat or drink. It's easy for them to say it with their upper lips touching their lower lips."
"That's right." Meng Li resonated with her aunt. Her aunt was different from others. She never urged her to have children. She always thought from her perspective and understood her difficulties. "Jiang Dongping and I don't want to have any more children. It's too tiring to take care of children. We haven't had a good night's sleep since we got pregnant with these two children."
Zhen Zhen also felt that she looked a little haggard, so he gave her some ginseng slices and asked her to take them back and soak them in water to replenish her energy.
Meng Li naturally thanked her.
In the afternoon, Meng Li took the twins back home.
She borrowed a basket from somewhere, tied it to the back seat, and stuffed the child inside when he fell asleep. By the time she got home, the child was almost awake.
Once she left, Mrs. Meng could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The peppers that Mrs. Meng planted this year were soaked by rain and the harvest was poor, so she came to Zhen Zhen to pick a bunch of peppers to take back for cooking.
Zhen Zhen felt that she walked much more briskly.
She also picked a bunch of green peppers. The green peppers she grew were not too spicy and tasted good when stir-fried with anything.
Mrs. Meng sighed: "Good-looking people grow good-looking things. Look at the vegetables you grow. The tomatoes are good-looking, the cucumbers are cucumbers, and even the leeks look better than others."
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "It's not that exaggerated. I just like to clean the vegetable garden and keep it cleaner."
That's true. Nowadays, people grow vegetables just to have enough food to eat. Who would take it seriously?
They make compost, till the soil, and make enzymes. They also use red bricks as boundaries in the vegetable garden, so you can clearly see what is planted in which piece of land.
When I have time, I also wash the vegetables in the garden. I really have a lot of free time.
Mrs. Meng felt that her sister-in-law had never experienced the hardship of working in the fields, and had nothing to do at home, so she took growing vegetables as a big deal.
But this is a good deal for her family. The yield of vegetables grown here is high, and they often send the leftover vegetables to them.
Zhen Zhen picked some vegetables and went back to prepare dinner.
Seeing that she was busy, Cheng Su dropped her book and came to help her.
"Auntie Zhen, what do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you." She smiled at Zhen Zhen.
She looked really beautiful when she smiled, much more lively than before. Maybe it was because she ate well, her face had some color, and she didn't look as sickly as before.
She exudes a healthy energy and has the liveliness that is unique to a girl of her age.
She doesn't look like the heroine of a sad novel at all.
Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "It's really a headache to decide what to eat every day. I see that everyone has a poor appetite, so why not make hot pot?"
She had made pork rib hotpot once in early spring, which left a deep impression on Cheng Su. Thinking back on it, it was quite tasty.
"Okay, I'll go prepare the ingredients. Or should we use the pork shank pot base?"
"Sure, just chop some garlic and green onions, add some peanut butter and chili sauce, and mix them together."
There was hot pot base in Zhen Zhen's space, but she didn't dare take it out. Fortunately, Cheng Su made a good hot pot base last time, which was much more fragrant than hot pot base. Now that she has experience, she will definitely make it well.
People need to eat, and pigs cannot go hungry.
There are many pigs at home, and the pig food is consumed quickly. This morning, the pig food was almost eaten, so Zhen Zhen rolled up his sleeves and planned to make something for the pigs.
To be honest, we only have this one pot at home, which is really not enough. I have to go to the county town to buy a big pot one day so that there will be no conflict between cooking pig food and rice.
The inedible yellow vegetable leaves, insect-infested fruits and vegetables, vegetable seedlings, and melon vines in the vegetable garden are all cut into small pieces and poured into the pot.
The large grass pot in the countryside has a large capacity. After a full pot is boiled until the soup comes out, some spoiled rice and steamed buns are added.
As the weather gets hotter, the leftover food is stored in water.
But there is no guarantee. If you don’t finish the rice from the previous day, it will easily go bad the next day.
Zhen Zhen poured all the leftover food in, and then added the white tofu dregs.
Yesterday, Gou Zi's mother made tofu, and she and Cheng Su followed her to learn. They didn't know what went wrong, the tofu was a little overcooked and the taste was average. But the tofu dregs can provide protein for pigs, and pigs love to eat it.
Soon, the aroma wafted into my nose. I lifted the lid of the pot and saw that it was blue and white, and looked like rice.
Even though it’s a big pot, it’s not enough to feed six pigs. Although raising pigs makes money, the cost of pig feed is also not small.
The chickens at home came over and pecked at the food on the ground and ate it.
Zhen Zhen served the pig food to cool it down. Just as he picked up the spoon, Meng Zhaodi came over to help.
Zhen Zhen felt relieved to have someone to help him.
In the evening, Cheng Su prepared hot pot, and Zhen Zhen specially cut lamb slices and beef slices for shabu-shabu meat. Combined with pork ribs and vegetables, it was a very good meal.
Before we knew it, it was summer harvest again. Although summer harvest is not as hard as autumn harvest, it is still very tiring.
The temperature is high in the summer, and sweat often flows into the eyes when working. There are often insects and snakes in the fields, and the food is not enough. The suffering is not something that ordinary people can endure.
After the summer harvest, everyone in the village, except Zhen Zhen, probably lost a few pounds.
Old Mrs. Meng and her father have been looking forward to the summer harvest. After the harvest, their beloved grandson will come home. Who wouldn't be excited to see a college student in their Meng family?
Old Mrs. Meng picked up a bag of peach cakes and a handful of candies and put them in the cupboard, planning to wait for her grandson to come back and eat them.
The sun was scorching the people working in the fields. After the summer harvest, everyone was so tired that they could not straighten their backs, but no one complained.
Everybody wanted to put out the fire as soon as possible, hand in the public grain, and put their minds at ease.
Meng Hua came back just after the summer harvest. Just like last year, he sent a fax in advance, and Meng Daguo rode his bike to the train station to pick him up.
Meng Hua had been hungry for several days and couldn't take a shower on the train. One can imagine how crowded it was. He even tidied up his clothes before getting off the train, but he still looked like a refugee.
After returning home, he specifically asked for noodles. Fortunately, Jiao Huilan had already prepared his favorite pork intestine noodles.
The pig intestines made by Jiao Huilan have no strange smell and are very soft and delicious. The noodles are chewy and smooth and taste very delicious.
Meng Hua was very hungry, so he picked up the chopsticks and started slurping.
Although he is not particularly fond of noodles, he still feels comfortable when he has to eat them every time he goes home.
He noticed something was wrong while eating a bowl of noodles.
"Why is Cheng Su here?" Meng Hua asked.
Zhen Zhen told him about the collapse of the educated youth dormitory in the village.
It’s not that the village doesn’t want to rebuild the dormitories, but rebuilding them costs money. The people in Batou Village can’t even afford to eat, so why would they spend such money?
Although Meng Hua liked Cheng Su, he could see that Cheng Su had never liked him. In his mother's words, he was already a worldly-wise Meng Hua with his own ambitions. How could he be distracted by a woman?
He nodded at Cheng Su, and Cheng Su smiled at him.
"Brother Meng Hua." Cheng Su said.
Meng Hua nodded. "My mother told me that you have made great progress in your studies. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
Cheng Su also had the same idea, so she readily agreed.
Zhen Zhen was very satisfied with Meng Hua's decent performance.
She doesn't like love-brain, men and women are the same, love-brain makes people's brains hurt. Fortunately, Meng Hua is a smart person and did not fall deeper and deeper.
Meng Hua has changed a lot since he came back this time. Zhen Zhen thinks he must have secretly made a lot of money in school, otherwise he wouldn't be so calm.
Meng Hua also brought gifts to his family this time. Scarves were given to his two sisters-in-law, men's shirts were given to his brothers, and a Hetian jade Buddha pendant was given to his mother.
The quality of Hetian jade is the most comfortable. Even though Zhen Zhen is not professional, he can see that the jade is extremely good. Although jade is worthless these days, it must have taken a lot of thought to receive such a good piece of jade and ask a master with excellent craftsmanship to carve it into a Buddha statue.
Tao Aihong curled her lips. She originally thought the scarf was nice, but when she glanced at her mother-in-law's jade Buddha, she felt that her gift was really nothing.
This brother-in-law is very filial. He gave my mother a watch last year and a jade Buddha this year. I have never seen a son so filial to his mother after he grew up.
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