Chapter 2 Marriage
Xia Zhizhi followed the scent and strolled to the state-owned hotel.
Today's supplies were written on the wall: fresh meat dumplings, small wontons, stir-fried meat with green peppers, smashed cucumber, scrambled eggs, stir-fried vegetables, three-fresh soup, fried peanuts, and rice.
It was time for dinner and the tables in the hall were almost full. Looking around, most of the people were men. People kept standing up and walking through the small aisle in the middle to get their meals from the dining table.
She stood aside for a while and listened to other people's orders.
I know the approximate prices of things, but in my entire life, I have rarely touched money, let alone eaten at a restaurant, so I don't know exactly how much it costs to eat in a hotel.
Naturally, she didn't know what the original body didn't know.
Since she was free anyway, she decided to ask around. Although she didn't have a penny right now, girls are all about confidence, and she believed that she would be able to get money soon.
Looking at the sky, she estimated that the meal at home would be ready, so she strolled back home.
Li Dongmei was smashing and hitting the small stove outside the house. She wanted to vent her temper, but she felt sorry for the pots and pans and was afraid that they would be broken, so her movements were always a bit clumsy.
Seeing Xia Zhizhi coming back, Li Dongmei's face became even worse. She glanced at her and was about to say something.
She was not the type of player who would take the blame. She ran over, grabbed Li Dongmei's arm, and said aggrievedly, "Mom, you're back. I don't have the key, so I can't get the rice. I wanted to go to your factory to pick you up after get off work, but I waited for a long time and you didn't come out. Maybe I missed you. You work so hard, and you come back to cook. You're so great!"
Li Dongmei was going to do something big today, so she was generous for once and packed a portion of stir-fried pork from the factory cafeteria, fried four eggs, and mixed a tomato with sugar.
"Let me do it, let me do it. Mom, you take a break." As the eggs came out of the pot, Xia Zhizhi grabbed them and held them herself. When she turned around, she stuffed two pieces into her mouth.
It turns out that eggs are delicious no matter how you fry them.
Nowadays, free-range chickens are fed with grain. Although the eggs they lay are small, they taste very delicious.
Then I saw the meat on the table and ate two more pieces without any seasoning. But because this body lacked the smell of meat, it tasted delicious.
Li Dongmei rinsed the pot, put it on the stove to dry, and then rubbed some oil on it to keep it dry.
Nowadays, iron pots are used for cooking. If there is water, the pots will rust after the next meal.
As soon as the dishes were laid out, her stepfather, elder brother, and two younger sisters smelled the food and rushed out of the house like sows out of the pen.
Xia Ruhai has a typical appearance of this era, with a square face, single eyelids, a nose that is not short but has big nostrils, and a wide and thick mouth. With his square face, he looks a bit honest.
Li Dongmei has a narrow forehead, high cheekbones, a pointed chin, double eyelids, slightly protruding lips, a lot of freckles on her cheekbones, and naturally curly hair.
Xia Zhizhi glanced at the other three siblings at the table. They all had some of the same looks as the two of them. The son looked more like his mother, while the daughter looked more like her father. The whole family had big frames.
Their family has two working parents, and they only have to raise four children. Their parents live in the countryside, and they just need to give them some money every year. Compared with other families, their food and clothing are not particularly bad, so the three siblings look quite strong.
The whole family has dark yellow skin, and judging from the looks of it, they are good at working in the fields.
Today's staple food is sweet potato rice, which is made by chopped sweet potatoes and cooked with rice, with more sweet potatoes and less rice.
It still has a unique flavor if you eat it occasionally.
Li Dongmei gave her half a bowl, thought for a while and added another small spoonful of soup after thinking about other things to do.
Her bowl looked like it contained more rice than sweet potato.
Xia Lanlan looked at the white rice in her bowl, curled her lips, then looked at Li Dongmei's expression, and finally said nothing.
"Thank you, mom. You still love me." Xia Zhizhi took the bowl sweetly and put a few pieces of meat and eggs into the bowl. She stopped only when the meat and eggs were sticking out.
The other members of the Xia family looked at her, their expressions varied, but they had all been warned by Li Dongmei in advance, so they didn't say much.
After finishing the meal, Xia Zhizhi threw the dishes and chopsticks on the table, as if she was leaving the business.
Li Dongmei glared at her, gritted her teeth, said nothing more, and cleaned up the dishes herself.
After packing up, he glanced at the other three children of the Xia family and said, "You three go back to the house first."
Xia Zhizhi said calmly, "Mom, let my brother and two sisters listen here. We are all family, so we should know something about family matters."
It would be such a pity if there were no audience. It would be more fun for her to perform well if everyone is here.
Without waiting for Li Dongmei to refuse, she said, "I agree to what you two talked about before."
"What's the matter?" Xia Fangfang asked hurriedly as she had stayed at her grandparents' house for a few days some time ago and missed the first news from home.
Xia Zhizhi explained to her: "My parents arranged a marriage for me. The man works at the Public Security Bureau. I didn't agree to it at first because I thought it was wrong. But then I thought that it was not easy for my parents to work hard for our family. I should reduce the burden on the family."
Li Dongmei and Xia Ruhai didn't expect the surprise to come so suddenly. They hadn't even started working yet, but they nodded. Could there be some other tricks later?
Suspiciously asked, "Do you really agree?"
"Mom, I was ignorant before. I'm about to graduate, and my brother and Lanlan don't even have a job. Our family is not as well-off as other families, and we don't have the money to buy us a job."
Xia Jianguo and Xia Lanlan were not good at studying. They managed to get through junior high school and refused to continue their studies. They would definitely not be able to pass the exam for a job with their mediocre level, and Xia Ruhai and Li Dongmei did not have the ability to help them arrange a job.
Xia Zhizhi held Li Dongmei's hand and said considerately, "I thought, although Director Lu is a little older, he is at the peak of his career. He promised to arrange a job for my brother when I get married. If it were someone else, many people would not be able to hope for such a good thing."
"Don't you mind that he's old, ugly, beats his wife, and has a son?" Li Dongmei still couldn't believe that she agreed so easily. After all, she had been on a life-or-death hunger strike for three days before that.
"As for a man, it's enough for him to make money. What's the important thing about his appearance?" Anyway, she just agreed verbally and she would not really marry him, so it didn't matter even if he turned into a toad spirit.
Xia Zhizhi said nonchalantly, "Besides, it's inevitable for a couple to live together without quarrels. The older one is more mature and stable and will be more caring. His son is in high school now, so I don't have to take care of him after I get married. It's just right for me to have less worries. It's said that parents love their youngest son. I'll have another child later and coax him well. Then I can ask him to use his connections to help promote my dad."
Xia Zhizhi glanced at Xia Ruhai and said, "My father is capable, but he is too down-to-earth and doesn't know how to flatter. What's the point of being down-to-earth and capable? If you don't have connections, the higher-ups won't notice it. All the credit and hard work have been taken away by others. He only gets a second-class salary after working all his life."
When Xia Ruhai heard this, he felt that it touched his heart. He also felt that he was capable, but there was no one above him, so he was never selected for the annual evaluation. After working for so many years, he was still paid a second-level salary.
"Mom, when I get married and stand firm and take control of their family property and finances, I will buy you small leather boots, cashmere coats, and vanishing cream." She looked at Li Dongmei again and reached out to touch the corners of her eyes: "Mom, you have been working hard at home and outside these years, and you have wrinkles on your face."
"I also want some cold cream and some little leather shoes." Xia Lanlan called out.
Xia Fangfang followed up by shouting: "I want new clothes, white sugar cakes, and chocolate!" She is just 12 years old and still in primary school. She has no obsession with vanishing cream. All she thinks about every day is eating. She used to be jealous of her classmates eating chocolate.
"Yes, we have them all!" Xia Zhizhi looked at everyone with a smile: "After I get married and stand firmly on my feet, the things of the Lu family will belong to our family. We will have all of these."