Cucumber salad
Since the college entrance examination, Song Shixia has returned to his normal life and is finally no longer a national treasure protected by the whole family.
After Ji Yanran graduated, her mother-in-law had time to come over to cook and help take care of the children, so Song Shixia was relieved of her responsibilities.
When people are free, they want to find something to do. Song Shixia wanted to rent a house to store wine, but it was too much of a hassle to keep the wine jar at home.
If I were only brewing for myself, I could just find a place at home to make it. But with so many orders, if I brew wine at home, my home would become a winery.
Song Shixia and her brother went to several places but couldn't find a suitable house, so they simply bought the residential house behind her brother's shop in the alley.
As the saying goes, good wine needs no bush. Song Shixia did not plan to open a store to sell wine, so he did not specifically look for a house with a storefront.
"It's good to be close. I can sometimes help you watch."
Song Shixia had considered this issue, and the shops were close to each other so that they could take care of each other.
This house was not needed, so Song Shixia only mentioned it to Ji Weiqing when he got home and did not tell anyone at home.
It was too much for one person to make wine, so Song Shixia hired Yanran as a temporary worker and found Liu Zhaodi to ask her if she wanted to work as a summer intern.
After the college entrance examination, Liu Zhaodi came to her to thank Song Shixia for providing her with housing and food, which helped her pass the college entrance examination smoothly. The questions in the exam were not difficult, and she was confident that she would be admitted to her ideal university. She wrote Song Shixia an IOU for the rent and food she had paid for the room she had stayed in, as well as the clothes Song Shixia had provided her.
Song Shixia carefully noticed that there was uneasiness and worry in Liu Zhaodi's eyes when she smiled. Being admitted to a university does not mean that you can be enrolled smoothly. Tuition fee is the second hurdle, unless you go to a normal college where tuition fee is completely waived.
Liu Zhaodi did not go home after the college entrance examination. She heard from her relatives that her father went to the school to wait for her before the exam, and started cursing when he didn't find her.
With the help of her relatives, Liu Zhaodi went to work in a noodle restaurant. The salary was very low, but food and accommodation were provided, and the salary was far from enough to pay for her tuition.
When Song Shixia found her, Liu Zhaodi was washing dishes in the back kitchen. She did all the chores in the store by herself and was paid five yuan a month.
Upon learning that Song Shixia came to see her specially, Liu Zhaodi stammered and couldn't utter a complete sentence of thanks.
"Don't worry, that job is not as easy as you think, and it's very boring."
"It doesn't matter. As long as I have a place to eat and live, I don't need a salary."
Song Shixia explained helplessly,
"If you don't want me to work for you, I'd better find someone else."
Liu Zhaodi quickly changed her words, "I want it, please recruit me!" No matter what the reason was for Song Shixia to recruit her, this favor was greater than heaven, and she would never forget it.
Liu Zhaodi was leaving, and the owner of the noodle shop was very reluctant to let her go. It was very difficult to find an employee who was paid only five yuan a month. The owner of the noodle shop only found her after offering five yuan to a friend. It was a pity that she had to leave after working for only two weeks.
Song Shixia watched with her own eyes as the boss settled Liu Zhaodi's salary. In the end, he only gave her three yuan, but he still looked very merciful.
After leaving the store, Song Shixia couldn't help but ask,
"How much do you earn a month?"
Liu Zhaodi lowered her eyes and said, "My relative introduced me to this job. It mainly provides food and accommodation, and pays me five yuan a month."
College tuition is more than ten dollars. Even if I work in this store for two full months, I still can't afford the tuition.
Song Shixia sighed,
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Even if you're afraid of bothering me, I can help you find a high-paying job and provide you with food and lodging."
Liu Zhaodi was afraid of troubling her. The last time she asked for help before the college entrance examination was already a last resort. The college entrance examination was over and she couldn't bother her old classmate again.
Song Shixia said softly, "Next time you look for a job, ask me. I can give you some advice."
The owner of this noodle shop seems okay, but I didn't expect him to hire such a wicked person.
Liu Zhaodi regained her spirits.
"Thank you, Song. I didn't look for you not because I don't trust you, but because I think I shouldn't trouble you too much. I have to be self-reliant and can't develop the habit of relying on others."
Song Shixia smiled at her.
"I understand. So you can ask me for advice as a friend. I am older than you, so I will know more than you."
Only when she arrived at the store did Liu Zhaodi realize how easy her job was. It was at least much easier than working in a noodle shop.
She is not responsible for collecting herbs. She only needs to record the time when the herbs are put into each jar and the time for soaking in wine. She can even be lazy and just remember the date when the herbs are put in. When it is time to move them, she can directly check the time in each jar.
"The work is a bit messy, but it doesn't require any technical skills. It's just very boring. You won't be scared living here alone, right?"
This courtyard of a siheyuan is very large, but it is just an ordinary residential house, different from the siheyuans of officials in ancient times.
Song Shixia raised the wall by one meter, built a light-transmitting roof over most of the yard, and hired someone to dig a basement. The empty wine jars were placed in the yard to be cleaned and dried, and the wine was soaked in the basement.
No major changes were made to the rooms in the house. The living room was converted into a reception room, the master bedroom became Song Shixia's private office, the three secondary bedrooms were converted into a storage room and staff lounge, and the kitchen and bathroom remained unchanged.
Because they were not planning to open a store, they only hired Liu Zhaodi as an employee. When the time came to move the goods, they would temporarily transfer people from their brother's store to provide them with additional income.
Liu Zhaodi patted her chest and guaranteed,
"I can! It's just right that I can read and write at ease. I don't find it boring."
"If you're afraid, I'll get a dog. But this is a residential area. You'll feel safer if you build good relationships with your neighbors than if you get a dog."
Liu Zhaodi took her advice to heart.
"I will. I will live here until college starts, and I will definitely build good relationships with the people around me."
"The store in front is my brother's. If you want to save money, you can go to his store every afternoon. Every afternoon, they throw away vegetables that don't look good. There's no other problem except that they don't look good."
This is a bad way to save money. Song Shixia doesn't think this suggestion is shameful. When she was a child, she followed her only relative to the vegetable market to pick up the vegetable leaves that the vendors didn't want, which saved a lot of money.
Sure enough, Liu Zhaodi's eyes lit up when she heard that she could pick vegetables for free.
She asked again uncertainly.
"Can I really pick it up for free? You're not taking special care of me, are you?"
"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with me. Vegetable leaves are also thrown in the market, but if you go too late, they will definitely be stepped on. The vegetables in my brother's store are all thrown in front of the door, and many people nearby go to pick them up. You have to go early to avoid being picked up by others."
Liu Zhaodi had a smile on her face.
"This is really good news. I was thinking about saving three dollars, and now even the food problem is solved."
Song Shixia didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I'm too busy to come. The kitchen has rice, flour, oil, salt and seasonings. You can make whatever you want."
Liu Zhaodi thanked him again sincerely, saying that if it weren't for Song Shixia she might not even be able to take the college entrance examination.
When Song Shixia returned home, her mother-in-law had already prepared the meal and was warming it on the stove. The whole family was waiting for her to come home for dinner.
How can I describe this feeling? My heart is filled with sadness, as if this is the day I envied most in my previous life.
Song Shixia put down her bag, hung up her coat, and quickly went to the bathroom to wash her hands.
Han Rong went upstairs to call people for dinner, and when she came downstairs she ran into her daughter-in-law.
"You're so hot that your forehead is covered in sweat. Why are you still wearing a coat?"
Song Shixia explained: "It's because we have to wear a coat even when it's hot outside, otherwise we will get tanned by the ultraviolet rays."
Ji Yanran sat at the dining table biting her chopsticks.
"Sister-in-law, there is still military training. Military training also requires sunbathing every day. My skin, which has finally become a little whiter, will not become darker again, right?"
Ever since Song Shixia taught Ji Yanran how to take care of her skin, her skin has become visibly whiter. Although it's not yet fair skin, her skin has changed from yellow-dark to yellow and white. If someone hasn't seen Ji Yanran for a long time, they might not be able to recognize her due to this difference.
It took Ji Yanran two days to accept the fact that she had finally turned white, and then she began to worry that she would get darker if she stayed in the sun.
Song Shixia thought about her skin care knowledge.
"Don't be afraid of getting tanned. It's okay for us to bask in the sun when we are young, but we still need to wear sunscreen when we go out. The ultraviolet rays in the sun can make us age."
Han Rong immediately rubbed her face when she heard this.
"Are my wrinkles caused by too much sun?"
Song Shixia explained the principle, saying that her mother-in-law was aging naturally, not affected by ultraviolet rays. Besides, her mother-in-law was very young among her peers.
Han Rong finally felt relieved. She felt as sweet as eating honey when she heard the compliment from her daughter-in-law.
Two little guys ran down from the upstairs.
"Mom, take me and my brother with you next time you go out."
Without waiting for Song Shixia to answer, Han Rong took the lead in rejecting their proposal.
"It's sunny outside. You two kids might get heat stroke if you go out."
Ji Yuan pouted and looked at his mother eagerly.
Song Shixia stretched out his arms to him.
"Grandma doesn't agree. Mom won't be leaving the house today and can't take you with her."
Ji Yang looked up at her.
"What about next time? My brother and I will go next time we go out."
"Mom always goes out alone, so we have to go out and play too."
Han Rong carried them to the dining table.
"Your mother doesn't go out for fun, she has something important to do. Are you two good people if you follow her and play mischief?"
The two little guys felt aggrieved because their mother had been out of the house every day since she finished her exams, and they couldn't find her even when they wanted to spend time with her.
My mother-in-law cooked four dishes and one soup. Since she came to cook and take care of the children, she has two pork dishes, two vegetable dishes and one soup every day.
Today we have cucumber salad and stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and the side dishes are chicken stewed with gourd and braised pork slices.
Song Shixia didn't see Ji Weiqing coming downstairs.
"Where is our teacher Ji?"
Han Rong smiled as she served the children some rice.
"He was called out early in the morning. I think he was told that there was a science academy and he would go there to work, but he would continue to teach. Anyway, it was all a mess and I didn't understand."
Song Shixia thought of this matter that Su Aimin had mentioned a long time ago, and now it has finally come true.