Chapter 6 Eggs

Li Dongmei heard the voice and thought she was alone, so she cursed, "You beggar, you still remember to come back, do you want to eat tonight?"

She cooked dinner yesterday and she cooked it again today. Li Dongmei got angry just thinking about it.

"Mom, it's okay if I don't eat. Just give me a bowl, no, half a bowl of rice soup. Don't be angry."

Xia Zhizhi nervously held Director Zhou's hand, acting like a timid little day lily that was being bullied and abused.

"You still want to drink rice soup!" Li Dongmei turned around and was about to curse, but when she saw Director Zhou's face, she bit her own saliva.

He coughed twice: "Zhou, Director Zhou!?"

"Mom, I felt a little uncomfortable today. Fortunately, Director Zhou and Lingling sent me home." Xia Zhizhi explained without waiting for Director Zhou to speak.

Director Zhou and Li Ling helped her into the house. Li Ling asked, "Zhizhi, which room do you sleep in? I'll help you lie down on the bed."

Xia Zhizhi glanced at the wooden bed in the corridor, a trace of embarrassment flashed across her face, but she didn't say anything.

Li Ling looked at the tattered quilt on the wooden board and spoke up for her: "You are already a grown-up girl, how can we let you sleep in the corridor? It's so inconvenient for people coming and going!"

Because it was dinner time and everyone was at home, Xia Ruhai felt embarrassed in front of outsiders and said, "Xia Zhizhi is sleeping in that small room, she lives alone, and the one outside is his eldest brother sleeping."

After that, he winked at Xia Jianguo, who said, "Oh, yes, I sleep here."

Li Ling looked at the set of clothes that Xia Zhizhi had specially placed on the bed, which she often wore, and an expression of "are you kidding me" appeared on her face.

Just as she was about to say something else, Director Zhou pulled her and stopped her.

Director Zhou looked at Xia Jianguo and Li Dongmei and began to perform his duties and do ideological work for them: "Comrade Xia and Comrade Li, you must not favor boys over girls these days. Although Xia Zhizhi is a girl, she has good grades and is pretty. Even if you don't show favoritism, you should at least treat her equally."

Xia Jianguo and Li Dongmei were about to retort, but Director Zhou stopped them: "The treatment in our machinery factory has always been good. We can support three or four children at home. How can we let children faint from hunger? This is what happened to me. If comrades from other streets encounter this and spread it outside, will the people in our street still have face? How will the neighbors look at you? How will the leaders in the factory look at you!?"

Li Dongmei wanted to say that it was not her who made Xia Zhizhi faint from hunger, but she was just angry. If she had nodded earlier, she would have been given the meal.

But thinking that this matter could not be told to others, he had to endure it and sent Director Zhou away in a gentle tone.

Because she had just been criticized, when it was time to eat, Li Dongmei's nose was not a nose and her eyes were not eyes. When the rice was served, the master thought for a moment and scooped an extra spoonful for her and threw it into her bowl.

Xia Zhizhi didn't care about this. Today's dish was stir-fried tofu, a salty dish, and a vegetable. She ate happily while holding the bowl.

Li Dongmei watched him put his chopsticks into the tofu bowl several times and said sarcastically, "Eat, eat, eat. You eat more than anyone else."

Thinking of the eight eggs in the morning, I felt sad.

Xia Zhizhi ate half of the egg before the dish was served.

Li Dongmei thought she had only fried three or four eggs. When she saw Xia Zhizhi came to the table and didn't touch any of the eggs with her chopsticks, she didn't say anything to her. But when she came back in the evening, she found that all the eggs were gone and there was much less oil. She felt heartbroken.

Li Dongmei had just finished eating. She put down her chopsticks and pointed at Xia Zhizhi and cursed, "You black-hearted bastard, you stole four of my eggs this morning and even dared to pretend to be unconscious outside. Did I give you food or drink? Why are you trying to smear me like this?"

Xia Zhizhi scooped the last mouthful of rice into her mouth, chewed it, swallowed it, pouted her lips, and said aggrievedly: "Mom, how dare I eat secretly? Did you remember it wrongly? There were only four eggs in the morning. If you don't believe me, go and look at the egg shells in the trash can, or ask my dad."

"I clearly remember that there were eight left." Li Dongmei looked at Xia Zhizhi's confident eyes and began to doubt her own memory.

She glanced at Xia Ruhai uncertainly.

But the one who cooked was either Xia Zhizhi or Li Dongmei. Xia Ruhai never cooked, so he knew nothing.

Yesterday's garbage was thrown away last night. Li Dongmei walked to the garbage basket and took a look. Sure enough, there were only four egg shells.

"Could it be that I really remembered it wrong?" Li Dongmei was a little uncertain. Xia Zhizhi probably didn't have the courage to lie to herself...

Xia Zhizhi hurried over to coax her: "Mom, you just have a lot on your mind recently and have a lot to do. It's not that you're old and your back and legs are sore and your memory is declining. Don't worry. When I marry into the Lu family, I'll buy you some milk powder. Drink one cup a day. It's specifically for your health."

"Alright, alright." After hearing what she said, Li Dongmei really felt dizzy and pushed her aside: "Don't think that you can bully me just because you are engaged to the Lu family. You still have to do the housework as before. Go wash the dishes, sweep the floor, and then take the clothes your father changed yesterday to the bathroom to wash them."

Today, she and Xia Rushang and the Lu family agreed that after Xia Zhizhi graduated from high school, she would change her age to 18 and then marry her off. During this period, both families would keep it a secret.

After all, a 37-year-old marrying a 16-year-old is not a good thing for the neighbors to say.

It's okay for their family, but Director Lu has to save face.

"Mom, is it really like what they said?" Xia Zhizhi held her chest with both hands and took a step back in disbelief.

"What did they say?" Li Dongmei was puzzled.

"Wuwuwu, they said I'm not your biological child, that you don't like me or love me at all, and that you raised me just to get a dowry." Xia Zhizhi opened her mouth and howled without any result.

Li Dongmei was just about to say, "It's good that you know."

Xia Zhizhi wiped her eyes and said, "In that case, I will go to Director Lu's house now and tell him that I will marry him immediately and never come back to this house to bother you again. If he disagrees, I will set up a shop in front of his house. If that doesn't work, I will go out to beg for food or become a vagrant. I will never come back to make you unhappy!"

After saying this, Xia Zhizhi rushed towards the door of her home.

Even if Li Dongmei agrees, no one else will agree. If things really get so awkward, who knows whether Lu Weiguang will still arrange a job for Xia Jianguo.

If such a young lady goes to marry someone on her own and the other party refuses to give a dowry, there is nothing they can do. Wouldn't that be a waste of time and effort?

Xia Zhizhi also promised to give her job to her sister after she had a child. Xia Zhizhi did not say it explicitly, but Xia Lanlan thought it was prepared for her.

Xia Zhizhi is a high school student and is going to marry the director. Even if she is arranged a job, it is impossible for her to work on the production line. She will definitely work in an office.

Xia Lanlan had already thought it through. She would find a partner who would work in an office. Wouldn't her life be very comfortable then? But if she really ran away, wouldn't the job she had got be gone?