Zhang Tieshan was such a big guy, Li Hehua estimated that he should have a big appetite, so he made more than 30 dumplings for him. Six or seven were enough for the little guy.
Li Hehua brought a large bowl of dumplings to the table and prepared a bowl of dipping sauce for the father and son. "Eat first. There's more in the pot. I'll serve you more after you finish eating."
After explaining everything to the father and son, Li Hehua didn't have time to say anything else and turned around to continue with his work.
Zhang Tieshan glanced at the pile of dumplings in front of him, and his eyes involuntarily looked at Li Hehua's busy figure, an inexplicable emotion flashed across his eyes.
Feeling a pair of small hands pulling at his clothes, Zhang Tieshan lowered his head, patted his son's little head, picked up a piece of dumpling with chopsticks, put it to his mouth to cool it down, and then handed it to the little guy.
The little guy opened his mouth and took a bite, but unfortunately his mouth was too small, so he only took a third of the dumpling. Zhang Tieshan was not in a hurry, and he held the dumpling steadily and waited for the little guy to eat more. He didn't eat until the little guy finished a dumpling in three bites before he took the time to eat one himself.
Li Hehua couldn't help but curl up her lips when she saw Zhang Tieshan feeding the little guy during a break in her busy schedule. This man looked tall and strong, but he was actually quite delicate inside. His tenderness towards his son always moved people who saw him. He was a very good father.
Another group of people came to the stall. Seeing that the little guy was being taken care of, Li Hehua lowered his head and busied himself with making food. When he took a break again, he remembered Zhang Tieshan and the little guy. He hurried over to look at them and saw Zhang Tieshan holding the little guy in his arms to make room for other customers to sit.
Li Hehua looked into the bowl in front of them and found that the dumplings in it had been eaten long ago.
The little guy must be full, but Zhang Tieshan is not sure. Li Hehua walked over and took the bowls in front of them, put the dumplings that were heated in another pot into them, and then put a big bowl full of dumplings in front of Zhang Tieshan again, "Eat, I haven't finished the dumplings I just made for you."
Zhang Tieshan glanced at the dumplings, said nothing, and simply picked up the chopsticks and continued eating, without feeding the little guy this time.
Li Hehua felt that Zhang Tieshan's personality of not complaining was quite good; at least she didn't have to waste her breath on him.
"Ouch, I'm sorry, are you okay?"
At this time, Dahe's voice came from the table next to him. Li Hehua hurriedly looked over and saw Dahe wiping the table with a rag in a hurry. Master Gu next to him stood up, with a lot of soup stains on his long gown.
Li Hehua hurried over and asked, "What happened?"
Da He's face was full of self-blame. "I'm sorry Aunt Hehua, I was too impatient. When I was clearing the table, I accidentally spilled the soup on this guest's clothes. I really..."
Li Hehua didn't say anything to Dahe. He took out a clean handkerchief and handed it to Master Gu. "Master Gu, I'm so sorry. It's my fault. Please wipe it quickly."
Gu Zhijin shook his head. "It's okay, I'll just wipe it off. The boss and the waiter don't have to blame themselves. The clothes will be clean when we go back and wash them."
Seeing Li Hehua handing over the handkerchief, Gu Zhijin thought about it and took it, but did not wipe his clothes with it. Instead, he picked up a scroll on the table and gently wiped the stains on it with the handkerchief.
Only then did Li Hehua discover that the scroll that Master Gu brought with him was also stained with soup.
Li Hehua was startled and asked hurriedly: "Master Gu, your painting seems to be wet too, please check if it is damaged." He didn't know whether the painting was valuable or not. If it was damaged, he didn't know how much money he would have to pay for it.
Gu Zhijin first wiped off the soup stains on the outside, and then carefully opened the scroll to see what was inside. Li Hehua also stretched his head to look, and saw a picture of mountains and fields before his eyes. The picture was realistic and artistic. The mountains, rivers and streams were all beautiful, and there were large characters "Picture of Leisurely Living in the Mountains and Fields" written on it in an elegant font.
Li Hehua had seen a treasured ink painting in her grandfather's study before. At that time, she thought the painting was beautiful and the calligraphy was also very beautiful. But now, she felt that neither the painting nor the calligraphy could compare to the one in front of her.
However, such a good painting was stained with soup, and the whole painting was flawed.
Li Hehua couldn't help but frowned, blaming himself, "Master Gu, I'm really sorry that your painting was destroyed, but I will compensate you. Just name a price and I'll pay you."
Gu Zhijin shook his head nonchalantly, "It's okay, boss. This painting is not valuable. I just did it when I had nothing to do. If it's destroyed, I can just paint it again. It's not that serious. Don't blame yourself, boss."
"This..." Li Hehua didn't expect that this painting was Master Gu's own work, but he still felt uneasy.
Gu Zhijin smiled and pointed at the lunch box on the table, saying, "Boss, you don't have to blame yourself. This is really not an important painting. Look, you always lend me a bowl, and this time you also lent me a lunch box, and I never paid you. This is just a small matter, but you want to pay me?"
Seeing that Gu Zhijin was sincere in what he said, Li Hehua knew that he really didn't care, and was very grateful to him in his heart, "Thank you, Master Gu."
Gu Zhijin waved his hand to signal that he was welcome, and slowly rolled up the scroll. After rolling it up, he picked up the lunch box and said, "Then boss, I will leave first. I will return the lunch box and bowl to you tomorrow."
Li Hehua nodded, "Master Gu, take care."
After Gu Zhijin left, Dahe lowered his head with shame on his face, "I'm sorry, Aunt Hehua, I'm so stupid."
Li Hehua patted his shoulder and said, "It's okay. You did a good job on the first day. Just be more careful next time. Don't think too much and get busy."
Dahe nodded, turned around and continued to work.
Li Hehua walked back to Zhang Tieshan's table, but saw that the little guy had his eyes open, looking not far away. He was looking at the figure of Master Gu holding a scroll and a food box.
The little guy never stares at others except those close to him. Li Hehua wondered, "Baby, what are you looking at? Are you looking at the teacher holding the painting just now?"
The little guy still stared at Gu Zhijin's receding figure without blinking.
Li Hehua was puzzled and looked at Zhang Tieshan, wanting to ask him if he knew.
Seeing Li Hehua looking at him inquiringly, Zhang Tieshan said, "He is not looking at people, he is looking at the painting." Just now, when the teacher unfolded the scroll, the little guy stared at it intently, and he did not look away until the man walked away. However, he did not understand why the little guy was staring at the painting.
Li Hehua understood and patted the little guy's head. "Baby, do you like the painting just now? If you like it, I will buy you another one to hang at home when I make money, okay?"
The little guy then retracted his gaze and blinked at her.
Li Hehua pinched his little nose and asked him, "Baby, are you full?"
The little guy naturally couldn't speak, but Zhang Tieshan answered for him: "He is full. I just fed him eight dumplings."
Eight dumplings are really a lot for a child, and the little guy is indeed full.
Li Hehua nodded and took away the bowls and chopsticks they were using.
It was past lunchtime and the stall gradually had fewer customers. There were also fewer people on the street, so Li Hehua made some noodles for lunch. After he and Dahao ate, all the customers at the stall had left.
Li Hehua began to pack up his stall.
First, he loaded the pots, pans, and other items onto the cart, then Daha transported the things back. After a while, he pushed the cart back to continue pulling tables, chairs, and benches.
Zhang Tieshan was still sitting at the table. Li Hehua hesitated whether to ask him to go back. After all, they had already closed the stall and the table was to be taken back home.
Without thinking of what to say, Li Hehua started by moving the empty table onto the cart. However, the table was too heavy, and she stumbled and almost fell. She was so scared that she quickly put it down and was ready to lift it together with Daha. However, as soon as she put it down, the table next to her was moved away by Zhang Tieshan. He rolled up his sleeves, lifted the table up, and put it on the cart easily.
He was helping her move the table.
Li Hehua was surprised, but she was embarrassed to ask him to help her. After all, their current relationship was not even friends, so she quickly pulled his sleeve and said, "Zhang Tieshan, please stop working. We can do it ourselves. Just help me look at the book forest for a while."
Zhang Tieshan glanced at Li Hehua's hand pulling his sleeve, said nothing, turned around and once again lifted a table and put it on the cart.
Li Hehua: "......" Why is this guy still rushing to do the work? Is there something wrong with his brain?
Da He also stood aside and couldn't help, staring blankly at Zhang Tieshan moving things, his eyes moved to his strong arm muscles, admiring and envious. This big brother is really amazing, he lifted such a heavy table in an instant, as easily as if there was no weight in his hands, even though he was clearly struggling to move it.
In just a moment of distraction, Zhang Tieshan moved all the tables, chairs and benches onto the cart. They were stacked very densely without wasting any space, so they could all be pulled back with one cart.
Li Hehua opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. Should he say thank you?
After moving the tables and chairs, Zhang Tieshan picked up Shu Lin and stuffed him into Li Hehua's arms. Then he pushed the cart towards the alley. He didn't ask anyone to help him push it, and he pushed it easily by himself.
Li Hehua blinked and stood there without moving. Daha didn't know what to do because he had taken his job.
Seeing that neither of them moved, Zhang Tieshan turned his head to look at Li Hehua, frowned slightly, and said two words lightly: "Lead the way."
Li Hehua said "Oh" reflexively, holding Shulin and leading the way. But she felt strange. The two of them were obviously on edge before. Didn't Zhang Tieshan hate her? Why was he willing to help her now?
Zhang Tieshan pushed the cart back to Li Hehua's yard. After glancing around the yard, he patted the little guy's head, said to Li Hehua, "I'm leaving," and then walked out of the yard.
Li Hehua felt that Zhang Tieshan today was really incomprehensible, but it was not a big deal. He just put it out of his mind and went about preparing ingredients for tomorrow.
Zhang Tieshan, who was walking on his way home, was also feeling uneasy.
He was very sure that the current Li Hehua was not the same Li Hehua as before. The two people were completely different.
Today he came to the town to sell his game, and remembering that Shulin was with Li Hehua, he came over to take a look, and then he saw Shulin standing beside her legs, and she was making various dishes, and from time to time she lowered her head and said something to Shulin. She looked really gentle, completely different from the fat, arrogant, unruly and shameless woman in his memory. He couldn't help but stare at her for a long time, and as he looked, he even felt that the two of them seemed to have gradually become different in appearance.
Yes, this woman has lost a lot of weight. She is no longer as obese as before, and her appearance has also changed a lot.
Just as he was looking, he didn't expect that she also saw him, and he didn't expect that she would come over with Shulin in her arms and ask him to sit down and eat. He nodded and agreed without thinking about anything at the time.
The dumplings she made were really delicious. He had never eaten such delicious dumplings before. Such cooking skills were not something the original Li Hehua could possess.
He was originally suspicious, but after hearing the waiter say that the words on the menu were written by her herself, he was completely confirmed.
She is not Li Hehua.
No matter how much a person changes, his personality will not change so much in such a short time, right? He will not learn to write in such a short time, right? There are no books at home, not even a piece of paper, and Li Hehua does not know any scholars, so how could she learn to write?
After figuring this out, all the strange things suddenly made sense. Although he thought this idea was ridiculous, he inexplicably believed that she was really not Li Hehua.
Who is she? Is she possessed by a ghost? Why is she so nice to Shulin?
Zhang Tieshan's eyes darkened and he suddenly wanted to figure it out.
At this time, Li Hehua didn't know that Zhang Tieshan had already guessed her background. She was busy preparing tomorrow's ingredients with Mrs. Xie. After everything was ready, she put the little guy on the table to play, and she counted today's income.
Today's income was placed separately in a wooden box. When it was all poured out, there was a huge pile of copper coins.
Li Hehua counted them slowly one by one, and strung them together with a rope every time he counted out a hundred. It took him nearly a quarter of an hour to finish counting them all. He made a total of 504 coins today. Adding the 412 coins he earned from selling cakes today, minus the cost, his daily income was almost half a tael of silver.
In this era when one tael of silver was enough for a farmer's family to live for several months, earning half a tael of silver a day was actually a lot. However, for someone like Li Hehua who wanted to buy a house and open a shop, it was still far from enough. I hope the business of the stall will be better in the future.
Li Hehua put the money into the box and locked it. Then she said to the little one who was playing on the table, "Baby, mother has finished counting the money. We can go to bed now."
The little guy ignored him and continued to doodle with his pen.
Li Hehua had just taken out the paper and pen for keeping accounts. Seeing the little guy watching her, she gave him a piece of paper and a pen and let him doodle freely. It seemed that children really liked the game of doodling on paper.
The little guy took the pen, dipped it in ink, and started drawing on the paper, imitating Li Hehua's example. Li Hehua saw that he was rarely willing to play, so she let him go. If he got ink on his clothes, she would help him wash it.
"Baby, are you having fun playing? But we have to go to bed. Mommy will let you play again tomorrow, okay?" Li Hehua walked behind the little guy and was about to put away his paper and pen, but the moment she lowered her head, her heart skipped a beat.
The paper in front of the little girl was not the random doodles she thought it was, but a painting. Although the lines were messy and some places were stained with large areas of ink, it was still easy to tell that it was a landscape painting. Moreover, this landscape painting was the same one that Master Gu unfolded during the day. The similarity was as high as 70%.
Li Hehua's hands trembled, and he looked down at the little guy holding the pen. He suddenly felt that something serious had happened.
What should she do if her son doesn’t seem to be an ordinary child?
Li Hehua sat down, holding the edge of the table and watching the little guy continue to paint, feeling a little panicked.
She had heard in modern times that children with autism usually have some special talents, and these children often have abilities beyond ordinary people in certain fields. She didn't expect it to be true. The little guy actually has a special talent, and this talent seems to be painting.
How could an ordinary child draw such a landscape painting? Moreover, this was his first time holding a brush and seeing a landscape painting. If this wasn't genius, what else could it be?
Before, she thought that since she had taken over the original owner's body, she had to be responsible for the child. She also felt sorry for the little guy, so she wanted him to eat well, sleep well, and be happy every day. But now, she felt that she couldn't just let the little guy eat and drink. The little guy was a genius. Could she delay him? He had to be nurtured.
But how to cultivate it? She had never raised a child, let alone a genius child. How could she not bury the little guy's talent?
Li Hehua didn't know what to do. After thinking it over, he felt that he should discuss it with Zhang Tieshan. After all, he is the child's biological father. In order to raise the child, the biological father must support him.
That night, Li Hehua couldn't fall asleep for a long time holding the child in her arms. She got up at dawn the next day, carefully put away the painting the little guy had drawn last night and put it on the cart, intending to wait for Zhang Tieshan to come and tell him.
Zhang Tieshan should come today, because the little guy has been staying at her place for three days, and it was agreed before that he could only stay at her place for three days, so he will come to pick up the little guy today.
Sure enough, at about the same time as yesterday, Li Hehua saw Zhang Tieshan standing in the same place as yesterday.
Li Hehua quickly waved to him and motioned him to come over.
Zhang Tieshan hesitated for a moment, but still walked over.
Li Hehua said to him while busy with his work: "Zhang Tieshan, please sit on the table for a while. I have something to talk to you about when I'm done."
Zhang Tieshan nodded silently, picked up the little guy and held him in his arms, then found an empty seat and sat down.
Li Hehua took the time to make a large portion of beef fried rice for him and the little guy and passed it to him. "You and the little guy eat first. I still have to be busy here for a while. I'll talk to you when I'm done."
Zhang Tieshan nodded and lowered his head to feed the little guy.
Li Hehua was busy for another half an hour before the number of customers decreased a little.
There are more customers today than yesterday. Yesterday was the first day of business, and most of them were old customers, with few new customers. Perhaps the food yesterday satisfied the diners, so today not only old customers came, but also many new faces, many of whom came from the dock to rest and eat, so she is busier today than yesterday.
When the guests gradually left, Li Hehua took the painting of the little guy yesterday and sat next to Zhang Tieshan without having time to eat.
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