Zhang Tieshan left the restaurant and went straight to the market. Except for the meat that Li Hehua made yesterday, his family had not had meat for a long time. Now that he was back, he wanted to let his family live a good life.
I bought some pork ribs from a stall that has been selling pork for many years, and then after thinking about it, I bought another pound of pork belly. Yesterday, my mother and Qingshan both said that the braised pork belly was delicious, and even Shulin ate several pieces in a row. I have never seen him eat so happily. So I bought some more and let my mother cook for everyone.
After buying the things, Zhang Tieshan was about to go back, but he accidentally saw Li Hehua standing on the street.
There were two baskets in front of her, containing the cakes and pastries that were given to them every day. At this moment, she was handing the cakes and pastries to the guests with a smile on her face, then collecting the money neatly and telling the guests to come again next time. Every guest was very satisfied.
Zhang Tieshan was lost in thought without realizing it.
This woman still looks the same, nothing has changed, and yet she seems to have changed again. She is very different from the way she is remembered and the way her mother and brother described her. Is this her true nature or is she just pretending?
Zhang Tieshan suddenly felt a little confused.
However, thinking of what this woman had done in the past few years, he felt ridiculous for his doubts. Why should he doubt? What this woman had done was never worthy of forgiveness. No matter whether she had changed her ways or pretended to be so, he had already divorced her. She had no relationship with their family anymore. She could only live in this house for a while, and then they would never meet again. This woman would be nothing more than a stranger to them.
This was his last act of kindness to his son's biological mother.
After thinking about it, Zhang Tieshan withdrew his gaze and walked back home.
When Zhang Tieshan got home, the first thing he did was to give the meat he bought to Zhang Linshi, "Mom, please cook some for lunch and provide a good nourishment for everyone in the family."
Zhang Lin scolded her, "Why did you buy so many things? You can't spend money carelessly even if you have money." Although she was scolding, she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes.
During the years when her son was in the army, she and her youngest son had lived a very hard life. They had not eaten meat or a full meal for four years. It was okay for her as an old woman, but her youngest son was still a child, growing up, and not having a full meal every day made her heart bleed as a mother. Fortunately, her eldest son came back, the pillar of the family, and their lives became better again, and there was hope in life again.
Zhang Qingshan was also very happy. He was a growing boy and had a big appetite like a cow. His eyes lit up when he saw meat. How could he not be happy when he saw so much meat at one time?
He couldn't wait to urge Zhang Lin, "Mom, hurry up and cook, I'm so greedy." What he was embarrassed to say was that he had ate the braised pork made by that woman yesterday, and his stomach had been churning all day today. He really wanted to eat it again. As a result, his brother turned out to be his savior. He bought meat today so that he could eat it again.
Zhang Lin nodded Zhang Qingshan's head and said, "You little brat, all you do is eat all day long."
Zhang Qingshan touched his head and chuckled.
Although Zhang Lin complained, she actually loved her two sons and grandson very much in her heart. She immediately got busy, cooked a pot of rice, and then made the same braised pork as yesterday.
Zhang Qingshan's eyes lit up and he pounced on the braised pork like a hungry wolf. However, after chewing it twice, his brows slightly frowned, and he swallowed the meat in his mouth. He was not so enthusiastic about picking up his chopsticks.
Zhang Lin was puzzled, "What's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted to eat braised pork?"
Zhang Qingshan chuckled, but didn't dare to say that the taste of this meat was a world away from yesterday's, fearing that he would upset his mother. If it were in the past, he would have eaten it with great relish, after all, being able to eat meat was already a blessing, but after eating yesterday's meat, eating this meat again, he felt that it was tasteless, which was really strange.
Zhang Qingshan looked at his brother, wanting to see his brother's reaction, but his brother just chewed without any abnormality, and it was unclear whether he was satisfied or not.
Forget it, his brother never has any expression, so he should just look at his eldest nephew.
Just then, Zhang Tieshan picked up a piece of meat and put it to Shulin's mouth, asking him to eat it, but Shulin refused to open his mouth and was unwilling to eat.
Zhang Lin was very nervous, "What's wrong with Shulin? Didn't you eat a lot yesterday? Why didn't you eat today? Are you feeling unwell?"
Zhang Qingshan thought it was because the food could not attract his eldest nephew.
Shulin didn't want to eat because of long-term hunger. The only thing he ate these days seemed to be the food made by that woman. As long as it was made by that woman, Shulin seemed to eat it and eat it very happily. But if it was not made by that woman, Shulin basically didn't eat much.
The more Zhang Qingshan thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case. He was shocked. Could it be that only the food made by that woman could be eaten by Shu Lin? What should he do? Should he keep that woman here?
No, no, this is absolutely not possible. That vicious woman must not be allowed to stay and must be driven out.
Shulin will get better gradually, and he doesn't necessarily have to eat the food that woman cooks.
No one knew what was in Zhang Qingshan's mind. Zhang Lin's whole attention was now on her eldest grandson. She couldn't help but lament, "What should I do? What should I do if Old Shu Lin doesn't want to eat? He is already thin and if he doesn't eat, what will happen..." Zhang Lin couldn't say the rest of the words, but everyone understood.
Zhang Tieshan's brows were furrowed, and his eyes were filled with deep worry. Shulin ate a lot of meat yesterday, and he was very happy. He thought that Shulin's condition was getting better, but it turned out to be not the case at all. Shulin just enjoyed the meat yesterday. The meat yesterday was cooked by that woman...
Zhang Tieshan's eyes became even deeper.
.............................
Not long after they had finished their meal, the Zhang family was about to take a nap when there was a knock on the door of their home. A strange woman's voice sounded, "Is anyone there?"
The Zhang family members were puzzled. Why did the voice not sound like that of someone from the village?
Zhang Qingshan was the first to stand up and walk out of the main room. He saw a middle-aged woman standing at his door. She was not from their village.
"Who are you looking for?" Zhang Qingshan asked.
The middle-aged woman said, "I'm looking for someone named Li Hehua. Does she live here?"
Li Hehua? Isn't that the woman? Why is this person looking for that woman?
Although he didn't want to get involved in that woman's affairs, Zhang Qingshan still spoke reluctantly, "Yes, she lives here."
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman seemed relieved and smiled a little, "Then I didn't make the wrong choice. I have something to talk to her about. Can I go in and talk to her?"
Zhang Qingshan replied: "She is not at home, she went out." The woman went out before dawn every day and came back in the afternoon. No one knew where she went.
Hearing that Li Hehua was not at home, the woman was a little disappointed, but she had come all the way here, she couldn't just leave like that. She wanted to ask her when she would be back, then Zhang Linshi and Zhang Tieshan came out of the room.
Zhang Lin asked what was going on, and Zhang Qingshan gave her a brief explanation. Zhang Lin was about to say that she didn't know when Li Hehua would be back, but Zhang Tieshan spoke first, "Come in first, she'll be back soon."
When Zhang Qingshan and Zhang Linshi heard Zhang Tieshan say this, they didn't say anything and let the middle-aged woman in.
This middle-aged woman was none other than the older sister whom Li Hehua had asked about when he first went out to look for a banquet job, known as Cao Simei.
Zhang Lin pulled a chair for Cao Simei to sit down, and out of curiosity, she took the initiative to ask, "I wonder what you want to talk to Li Hehua about?"
Fourth Sister Cao said, "You are Li Hehua's mother-in-law, right? It's like this, my nephew is getting married, and I want your daughter-in-law to prepare a feast for him."
When these words came out, everyone present was shocked. Zhang Lin even thought she had heard wrongly, "Preparing for the banquet?"
Those who can prepare banquets are all great chefs. Without decades of experience and a few tricks, how could people invite you to prepare banquets? Banquets are the face of the family. How could Li Hehua prepare banquets?
Fourth Sister Cao thought Zhang Lin was just asking a simple question, and said, "Yes, elder sister, you are so lucky. Your daughter-in-law's cooking skills are amazing. Last time she came to our village, she made a dish called pickled fish for Old Man Wang's family in our village. It was so delicious that it aroused the appetite of the whole village. The Wang family ate so much that there was not even any soup left."
Zhang Lin felt that his brain was not enough. What old man Wang? What pickled fish?
Seeing the faces of the Zhang family, Cao Simei realized that they didn't know yet. She knew she had said something wrong and wondered if she had ruined the eldest sister's good fortune. Could it be that the eldest sister wanted to secretly make some private money without telling her family? But now that she had said it, she couldn't make up her mind. She could only say good things to Li Hehua, "Old sister, you are so lucky. Your daughter-in-law's cooking skills are really great. Old man Wang in our village wants to invite her to prepare a banquet. I came here today because of your daughter-in-law's good cooking skills. My nephew's wedding is coming up, and I think the banquet can't be bad. So I thought of your daughter-in-law, so I wanted to ask her to prepare a banquet for my brother's family."
The Zhang family understood everything now, but they were even more surprised. They didn't understand when Li Hehua had grown up to be able to host a banquet herself? And she could even have someone come to invite her in person. How could this be so unbelievable?
Zhang Lin looked at her eldest son, not knowing what to do next.
Zhang Tieshan was also a little surprised, but he quickly recovered his composure and said to Cao Simei, "Li Hehua is not at home. She will be back soon. Please wait for a moment and discuss it with her when she comes back."
Cao Simei smiled and nodded.
In just the time it took to drink a bowl of tea, Li Hehua returned from the town with two empty baskets in his hands.
Seeing Cao Simei sitting in the room, she was also surprised and hurried into the room, "Sister, why are you here?"
When Cao Simei saw Li Hehua now, her attitude was different. She patted her hands affectionately and said, "Sister, I came here to have a feast with you today."
"Prepare for a banquet?" Li Hehua asked.
Fourth sister Cao continued, "My eldest nephew from my mother's family is getting married, and my brother originally planned to ask Zhou Laogen to do it, but I think your cooking is much more delicious than Zhou Laogen's, so I wanted to ask you to do it."
This was a complete surprise to Li Hehua now. It was a business that came right to her door. How could she not be surprised and happy? So she immediately said, "Okay, thank you for trusting me so much, big sister."
Fourth Sister Cao smiled, "You have to be good at cooking. You showed off your skills that day. It was so delicious. Although I didn't get to eat it, I know it must be delicious. With your cooking skills, who else can I choose if not you?" After saying this, she talked about the banquet, "Big sister, there are many more people in my family than in Old Man Wang's family. We have to prepare 20 tables for the banquet, and we have to be busy for two consecutive days. Can you handle it?"
When she heard about the 20 tables, Li Hehua was happy, but the workload was quite heavy. She could only cook by herself, and she didn't have time to do tasks like washing and cutting vegetables. She needed someone to help her. But she didn't know if the host would help, so she immediately asked, "Sister, I can only cook. Is there anyone to wash and cut the vegetables?"
Cao Simei nodded, "We know that. My sister-in-law and I will help you. You just need to cook." There are also those who outsource all the kitchen work to the people who prepare the banquets, but the price is more than five cents per table. Of course, most people can't afford it, so they ask the women in the family to go into the kitchen to help.
Only then did Li Hehua feel relieved.
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