Chapter 81 A guest is coming
Hearing that her idea was different from hers, Wang Xiaofeng didn't show much surprise, but asked: "Sister, what do you think?"
Shi Xiaoai smiled and patted Cheng Kai, who was sitting beside her drinking tea obediently, and said kindly, "No one can count on our little one. Our Kaikai needs to study. I won't say anything about you occasionally tricking us into running errands for you, but do you really expect us to be used as a child laborer? That won't do."
Cheng Kai never expected that his sister-in-law would talk about him first, and his mouthful of hot tea almost got stuck in his throat.
He quickly swallowed it and stated, "I'm fine, I can do it!"
He didn't dare to say he wouldn't go to school, so after a long pause he finally said, "When I'm not in school, I'll help you with your work!"
In fact, Cheng Kai does not look particularly similar to the two brothers Cheng Yang and Cheng Lin. Apart from having a pair of almond-shaped eyes, Cheng Kai is not as bright-looking as his two brothers.
He looks a bit chubby.
In addition, his second brother Cheng Lin raised him very well, and the family had no shortage of food and drink. The seven-year-old boy still had baby fat on his face and looked a little silly.
He has the appearance of a boy that is particularly popular with adults.
Seeing him so eager to confess his feelings, Shi Xiaoai smiled and stuffed a stone bun into his mouth, praising him: "Our Kaikai is so well behaved! I'll give you a bun as a reward."
Cheng Kai's face immediately turned red when he was suddenly praised.
He was too embarrassed to say anything else, so he shyly took the steamed bun and started eating it in small bites.
The child didn't understand, but Wang Xiaofeng and Cheng Lin understood what Shi Xiaoai meant, which was that Cheng Kai could not be counted as part of their labor force.
The two nodded together, and Cheng Lin looked at his sister-in-law with more gratitude in his eyes.
Shi Xiaoai continued, "What I mean is that you can't get rich overnight, so it's better for us to take it slow and steady. Although we now have Cheng Lin to help us, Cheng Yang will be going to school soon, so we will only have three people by then."
"My brother-in-law goes to school? What school?" Wang Xiaofeng looked surprised.
Shi Xiaoai then remembered that she had not told her that Cheng Yang was going to study, and explained it again.
In fact, not only Wang Xiaofeng didn't know, but even Cheng Lin and Cheng Kai didn't know.
After all, Cheng Yang himself had just made the decision, and the news had not yet reached the capital so quickly.
Wang Xiaofeng was just amazed when she heard the news, because everyone knew that those who were recommended by their units to go to school were destined to be promoted, and the two children were so happy!
Especially Cheng Lin.
After he knew that he and his younger brother could be kept, what he was most worried about was what would happen if his brother returned to the army?
Hearing that my brother has chosen to study right next to home, is there anything more joyful than this?
After making them excited for a while, Xiao Ai continued, "There's one more thing Xiao Feng hasn't had time to tell you. We're planning to renovate the house and build two more rooms in the yard. So during this time, in addition to being busy with business, we also have to take care of the family."
Wang Xiaofeng looked at Cheng Lin and Cheng Kai and asked without hiding anything, "Give them a place to stay?"
Shi Xiaoai smiled: "Not only that. I also want to renovate the kitchen. The kitchen at home is a bit too small."
Hearing her say this, Wang Xiaofeng agreed: "It is indeed a little small, and it is still inside."
She thought for a moment and suggested, "Sister, how about you convert the room near the door into a kitchen? That way you can open a separate door facing the outside. Then you can give me a key and I can go straight there in the morning without having to go back and forth in the house."
This is actually something that has always been a bit embarrassing for Wang Xiaofeng.
Every day when she went to Shi's house, it was either around five in the morning or after eight in the evening, which was basically the time when normal people were resting.
The Shi family's kitchen is across the yard, opposite the master bedroom door.
It always feels a bit awkward to go in and out of other people's homes during this time, especially when there is a male host at the house.
It's winter now, and Cheng Yang has to help out, so he even gets up earlier and goes to bed later than them every day, so there won't be any embarrassing situations.
But it’s getting hotter and hotter…
It would be more convenient for everyone if the kitchen could be placed at the door.
Wang Xiaofeng's suggestion really brightened Shi Xiaoai's heart.
She had only thought about opening a window before and hadn't thought about opening a door, but now she thought it was a good idea!
"Okay, I'll go back and discuss this with your brother-in-law. It should be possible." She nodded.
After that, she returned to the topic of business: "As for wanting to try opening another stall, that's fine, but we still don't have enough manpower.
I mean, let's not consider the dock for now. After all, it's a bit far and it's not convenient to run back and forth. But you can try the school gate."
"It's certainly possible at the school gate." Cheng Lin interrupted.
He said, "Actually, I can cook. This morning I saw Sister Xiao Feng making steamed buns, and I think I can do it too. If you don't believe me, I'll make it for you tonight."
If we set up a stall in front of the school, I will let Sister Xiaofeng go there every day during the construction period, and I will stay at home to keep an eye on the project.
"Let Kaikai run back and forth to report the news. If you need more steamed buns, I'll make them. "We'll discuss the next steps after the house is built. Is that okay with you?" he said, looking at the two of them.
"Okay." Wang Xiaofeng immediately agreed.
Xiao Ai approved of Cheng Lin's craftsmanship, so she naturally had no objections.
As they were talking, the food they had prepared for the day was almost sold out, with only two stone buns and a tea egg left. Shi Xiaoai simply shared it with them and then closed the stall early.
Because she got home early and had a long time today, Shi Xiaoai prepared to make something delicious.
She washed and steamed the rice first, then went to look in the cupboard.
Now Cheng Yang buys groceries every day, and the vegetables eaten at home are all brought back by him, so Shi Xiaoai has developed the habit of going to the cupboard before cooking and cooking whatever is inside.
She pulled out the vegetable basket from the bottom shelf of the cabinet and unexpectedly found a few onions in it.
Onions are a common commodity in later generations and can be seen in all seasons, but at this time they are still off-season vegetables and a scarce commodity.
She knew that these must have been bought from a restaurant. They probably just happened to have some fresh vegetables, so Cheng Yang caught up with them and got a few.
With onions, Shi Xiaoai became more interested in cooking.
She used her key to open the door of the warehouse, took out a can of luncheon meat, then called Cheng Lin out and stuffed five yuan into his pocket: "You know the vegetable store next to the hospital, right? Run over there quickly and see if they have any tofu for sale. If they do, buy them for fifty cents and return them. With the rest of the money, see if they have spare ribs, meat, or anything like that. Buy whatever you can find. Hurry!"
Cheng Lin was stunned by her urging. He took the money and agreed to run. After running two steps, he stopped and turned around to ask, "Sister-in-law, are there any guests coming to our house tonight?"
"No, we'll eat by ourselves."
Cheng Lin was not happy: "Why do we need to go out and buy meat when we can just eat whatever we have?"
Shi Xiaoai glared at him and said, "I can't control you, right?"
"No!" Cheng Lin quickly retorted, then chuckled and said, "Why spend this spare money?"
Shi Xiaoai was afraid the store would close, and seeing that he still hadn't moved, she kicked him anxiously: "Hurry up! They'll close if you're any later!"
Cheng Lin cried out and dodged quickly, then agreed and ran out like a monkey.
When Shi Xiaoai called Cheng Lin, the people in the room also came out.
Seeing the two of them making such a fuss, the kids who came out to watch the fun burst out laughing.
Mingrui and Mingxi pushed each other and had fun together.
Mingxi was having so much fun that she even bent over with an exaggerated smile.
Shi Xiaoai turned her head and saw this scene, and her heart suddenly began to skip a beat.
Thinking of her daughter's back, she ran over without saying a word and picked up the two kids by the back of their collars.
Then he said fiercely: "What are you laughing at? If you keep looking up, I will beat both of your little butts into pieces!"
Mingxi and Mingrui knew that their mother was just a paper tiger. She said she would beat them a hundred times a day, but in fact she would never touch them, so they were not afraid at all.
Even when being dragged around, they would just pretend to be good cats. The brother and sister would still make faces at each other when their mother couldn't see them.
But Cheng Kai has never seen anything like this!
Seeing my sister-in-law looking so majestic, my eyes became full of admiration.
At this moment, the sound of a motorized tricycle suddenly came from outside the yard, followed by Cheng Lin's voice: "Sister-in-law, open the door! Sister-in-law, there are guests at home!"
Are there guests at home?
Who will come now?
Shi Xiaoai quickly put the two cubs on the ground and went out to greet them.
When Xiao Ai opened the door and saw Cheng Lin's empty hands, her eyebrows jumped.
Seeing her like this, Cheng Lin instantly became alert, took a step back, and immediately explained, "Don't blame me, sister-in-law. I ran into my brother and his friends before I even reached the alley entrance. They said there was no need to buy anything because they already had it in the car, so I followed them back."
The two were talking when they heard someone shouting, "Xiao Ai, Xiao Ai, go in and get a basin. The basin in the car is leaking a little. Don't let the dirty water get into the house!"
Shi Xiaoai looked in the direction of the sound, and saw that the person sitting in the driver's seat of the tricycle next to her was her old classmate Guo An, who was also Li Qiaoyun's husband.
She quickly walked over and asked, "Guo An? Why are you here at this time?"
At this time, Cheng Lin also responded loudly: "Okay, I'll get it."
"I came here with your Cheng Yang." Guo An explained with a smile.
As he was speaking, Cheng Yang was already chasing after him on his tricycle.
Xiao Ai was even more surprised when he heard this.
In fact, she had only met Guo An once, when Li Qiaoyun and her husband came to visit her home just after she came back.
She was very sure that Cheng Yang had never met this person, so -
"How did you two know each other?" she asked in surprise.
Before Cheng Yang could say anything, Guo An laughed first: "Why, without your introduction, we can't get to know each other?"
As he spoke, he leaned over and placed his hand on Cheng Yang's shoulder affectionately, jokingly saying, "Cheng Yang and I aren't the same, but at least we're half-brothers-in-law, right? Shouldn't we know each other?"
Shi Xiaoai's mouth twitched.
What the hell...
And half a brother-in-law.
No wonder Li Qiaoyun has always complained that her Guo An can't speak. Now she has finally learned her lesson.
I have said this for several sentences, but not a single one of them got to the point.
In the end, it was Cheng Yang who cleared up her confusion.
Cheng Yang didn't avoid Guo An's hand. He just stood there and smiled at his wife: "I went to the restaurant again this afternoon. I wanted to take advantage of this trip to buy more things. Guo An happened to be there, and Uncle Liu introduced us and we met."
Guo An finally remembered the important matter at this time: "Qiao Yun probably hasn't had time to tell you, but I was transferred to the purchasing department last week. If you need anything in the future and Master Liu is not around, you can come to me."
As he spoke, he jumped off the car and took the basin that Cheng Lin brought first. He ran to the back of the tricycle and poured all the big fish in it into it.
Shi Xiaoai and the other three also followed.
Even though she knew she had bought a lot of things today, she was still shocked when she saw the back was full.
Xiao Ai didn't know what to say as neighbors kept passing by outside. They could only work together to move all the things in the car into the yard.
After delivering the things, Guo An didn't stay long. He just said that he had something to do at work and left in a hurry.
When Xiao Ai locked the gate, she quietly complained to Cheng Yang, "Why did you buy so many things?"
In addition to the normal goods for a tea stall, there is also a large piece of pork ribs, a chicken, two black fish, two sea bass, a bag of frozen shrimp, a bag of dried shrimp, a bag of tofu puffs, and a bag of bean curd sheets.
These are all good things that are hard to find nowadays.
But how much do these cost?
Even someone like Shi Xiaoai, who is not stingy when it comes to food, felt a pang in his heart when he saw this.
Cheng Yang's expression was also helpless.
He rubbed his brows, then pointed to the things on the ground and said, "Except for the ribs and chicken, which I bought, the rest were given by Uncle Liu and Guo An. I tried to push them away, but they just loaded them into the car and I couldn't push them away."
"Why would they give us these?" Shi Xiaoai was stunned.
"I originally wanted to ask Chen Min if he knew any construction teams, but he said he had only just switched jobs a few years ago and didn't have many resources in this area. He could only ask for me and would give me an answer tomorrow.
Since I was there, it would be bad to just walk away if I couldn't find out the answer. Thinking about how much I had troubled him before, I said I would go over and treat him to a meal tomorrow.
As a result, the guy insisted on coming to your house for dinner, saying that he had met you before but they didn’t talk much, and he also said that he wanted to come to your house to see Mingxi, Mingrui and the others.
I couldn't say no to him, so I had to agree.
Then I thought that since I was treating guests, I had to buy some food, so I went to Chef Liu's place.
He asked me why I bought these, and I casually mentioned building a house.
Guo An immediately said that he knew the construction team and that his brother worked in a timber factory, and that he could find suitable furniture for us at a cheaper price.
I thought that inviting one is an invitation, whether it is a few or not, and Master Liu has helped us a lot, so I invited them to come together tomorrow.
result……"
"So they just prepared all the dishes for tomorrow for us, right?" Shi Xiaoai said unhappily.
Cheng Yang rubbed his nose and didn't dare to respond.
Shi Xiaoai was not angry that he agreed to have someone visit her home without her consent. After all, this time was different from her previous life.
In the previous life, people believed that home was a private place, a cozy little nest, and it was best to socialize outside.
Unless it is someone very close, they are rarely brought home, and they will not be invited to dinner at home unless they are the one you value most.
But now there are few restaurants outside and they are very expensive, so most people can't afford to eat out.
Most social interactions are done at home. It is normal to go to other people's homes for dinner or to entertain guests at your own home.
If the adults in your family don't have any activities in this area, it only means that you are not very popular, or you are an outsider and have too few relatives and friends in the local area.
Cheng Yang is a local, so of course he has this awareness. When inviting friends to dinner, his first reaction is definitely to take the meal home.
What Shi Xiaoai is worried about now is that these things are not cheap, and the debt she owes to Uncle Liu is getting bigger and bigger.
Okay, now let’s take Li Qiaoyun and her family with us.
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