The newly made spicy hot pot and spicy hot pot are very popular with the guests. Even Shulin and Gu Jinzhao have fallen in love with the taste. Shulin will now take the initiative to order dishes when he gets home. In the past, Li Hehua would cook anything for him, but now, when she asks Shulin what he wants to eat, the little guy will pull her hand and run to the pile of ingredients, pointing at the prepared hot pot ingredients, and then look at her eagerly, meaning to tell her that he wants to eat this.
Li Hehua felt that this was not like Shulin's style. Shulin should just blink his eyes and hug her and rub her, meaning that he would eat whatever his mother cooked. Now, he even ordered dishes.
She thought this was a bit like the style of that little guy Gu Jinzhao.
However, Li Hehua didn't say much and pretended not to know. She just did whatever the little one asked.
However, as the weather gets hotter, without a refrigerator, the food is easy to spoil. Especially for children with weak stomachs, the food must be kept fresh. Li Hehua was afraid that the food cooked in the morning would spoil by noon, so he thought of cooking it at noon and sending it to the children. It tastes better when it is fresh and does not need to be reheated. And he can have more time to make some nutritious soup for the two children.
After Gu Zhijin knew Li Hehua's plan, he said, "You are too busy at your stall, and it is not convenient for you to deliver it. Why don't you ask my mother-in-law He to go to your place every day to get it, and you can ask her to bring it back directly after you are done."
Li Hehua thought this was a good idea, so she nodded and agreed. So, every day when it was almost time for the children to eat, Grandma He would come to the stall to get food, and Li Hehua would prepare lunch in advance, and just give it to Grandma He when she came.
Last night the little guy ordered a pot of spicy hot pot. Li Hehua made him a pot and also gave him an extra pot of yam and pork ribs soup. Not long after it was ready, Grandma He came.
Li Hehua handed the prepared lunch box to Grandma He, "Grandma, here, this is today's lunch. I prepared a lot, please watch over the two little ones so they don't get too full."
Granny He took it and said, "Don't worry, I'll be watching them every day. If I don't watch them, the two little ones will get too full."
Li Hehua smiled, "Mother-in-law, thank you for your help."
Granny He waved her hand and said, "It's no trouble, it's no trouble. Those two little kids are so cute."
Granny He was afraid that the food would get cold, so she didn't dare to delay. She said a few words and prepared to go back. Li Hehua walked her two steps forward, but at this moment, the sound of porcelain breaking was heard, and everyone on the stall looked towards the source of the sound.
The female stall owner at the next stall was pointing at Da He with her hands on her hips, angrily saying, "Did you come to my house on purpose to cause trouble? You didn't want to go on a good road, but had to walk to my side and deliberately broke my bowl. What do you mean by that?"
Da He was anxious. "I didn't break your bowl on purpose. Your bench was lying across the aisle and I tripped. That's why it hit your table. And why did you put your bowl on the edge? Wouldn't it fall down if it was touched?"
The female stall owner glared, "My bowls are on my table. I can put them wherever I want. What does it have to do with you? You broke my bowls and you blame my stools. My stools were originally placed here. If your stools hadn't taken up so much space, would they have been bumped into?"
When Li Hehua heard this, he looked at the bench that was placed between the two aisles and knew that this was a deliberate attempt to cause trouble.
Since the new dishes were added, the business at the stall has been better. Many people come together to order a spicy hotpot or malatang to eat together. This results in insufficient tables at the stall. Many people who come late have to wait in line at the back and have to wait for others to leave before they can get a seat to eat.
Li Hehua had previously re-ordered two tables and eight chairs. Unfortunately, there was still not enough space after adding them. However, it was impossible to add more tables because there was no space left for her. The current tables and chairs were almost connected to those of the two businesses next door. For this reason, the two neighbors were very unhappy and had cursed her in a veiled manner more than once.
The one next door on the left sells noodles, and the stall owners are a couple; the one next door sells wontons, and the stall owners are also a couple. Li Hehua's stall is doing well, and customers all go to her stall to eat, which results in a sharp drop in the business of the two stalls next door. The two families have long disliked Li Hehua. Every time Li Hehua accidentally sees the eyes of the two stall owners next door looking at her, she feels scary.
That would have been fine, but the female stall owners from the two next door rooms would often speak sourly to her, meaning nothing more than that they disliked her for blocking their business. Li Hehua didn't want to have a conflict with them, so she would pretend not to hear them and ignore them every time.
This time, a new table was added to the stall, which resulted in the expansion of the stall's area and made it much closer to the stall next door. This made the two families next door even more dissatisfied, and they spoke more impolitely. Li Hehua had always ignored them, but the owner of the stall next door was still not satisfied and even made trouble today.
Because there were too many customers, Dahe and Xiaoyuan had no place to pass when serving food to the customers, so sometimes they would walk along the path between the two stalls. The path was narrow and not easy to walk on, but the shop next door had placed a bench across the middle of the aisle, so Dahe touched the bench when he walked past and tripped.
The female stall owner next door grabbed Dahe's clothes and refused to let him go, saying, "We have to talk about this today. What's the meaning of your family's behavior?"
Seeing that things were not going well, Li Hehua patted Grandma He's hand and said, "Grandma, it's okay. You go back first. I'll take care of this."
Grandma He was afraid that the children would be delayed from eating, so she left worriedly.
Li Hehua walked over and said to the female stall owner next door, "Big sister, we will pay for the bowl you broke, so let's not argue about this, okay?"
The female stall owner said, "That won't do. We need to talk it out. Your waiter blamed me for putting the bench here. My bench was originally here. If your stall hadn't moved over here, would it have hit my bench? I haven't even said that you're blocking my stall, but you're the first to cause trouble for me!"
Li Hehua frowned and said, "Big sister, this road is originally shared by all. My house has moved a little bit to this side, but it doesn't occupy your space. The aisle has indeed become narrower. Please forgive me for affecting your space. In business, harmony brings wealth. If everyone gives in, business will be easier to do. Don't you agree, big sister?"
Li Hehua spoke very kindly, but the stall owner did not appreciate it. She said, "What kind of kindness do you mean! This aisle is so narrow that it affects my business. You have delayed my business, and you still want me to be kind to you? Now you have broken my bowl. If I don't care, will I break it again in the future? Where did I get so many bowls for you to break!"
Although she knew that the stall owner was just looking for trouble because she was upset, Li Hehua didn't want to make a scene. Not only would it delay her business, but it would also be embarrassing to make such a scene in public. It would be better to solve the problem directly, so she asked, "Sister, what do you want to do?"
The stall owner said, "You will definitely pay me for the bowls, but you have to move your stall back. If you keep doing this, are you going to smash my bowls again? How can I do business if you do this?"
Li Hehua frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed, because she really couldn't retreat. The only way to retreat was to move the tables away, but if she did that, there wouldn't be enough tables.
"Big sister, you can see that we can't move this table, otherwise it won't be enough. How about this? From now on, my waiter won't walk through this aisle. The aisle will be reserved for your family to use, and he will definitely not touch your things. This way, it won't delay your business. Do you think it's okay?"
The stall owner still disagreed with Li Hehua's words and simply refused, "No! You are affecting our business. Your table must be moved back. If you don't, none of us will be able to do business."
Li Hehua can be good-tempered and reason with others, but if she encounters someone who is really unreasonable, she doesn't want to waste her breath and directly said: "Sister, I will talk to you nicely, but if you are like this, there is nothing to talk about. My stall does not occupy your place. You know whether it affects your business or not. Anyway, my stall will not retreat." After that, Li Hehua took out five coins and put them on the table next to her, "This is to compensate for your bowls."
After paying, Li Hehua turned around and went back to do business, but the stall owner next door didn't want to give up. He threw the money Li Hehua gave him on the ground and grabbed Li Hehua's arm to stop him from leaving. "Bah, you think you can get away with five cents? I tell you, don't even think about it! If you don't move the table back today, you can't do business!"
Li Hehua staggered and took two steps back before he could stand firm. He tried to pull his arms back, but the stall owner held on tightly and refused to let go. "Don't even think about leaving! Today - ah -"
Before the female stall owner could finish her words, the hand that was holding Li Hehua was forcibly pinched and thrown away, and her face was distorted with pain.
The female stall owner covered her hands and looked at the man standing in front of her, shocked and angry, "What are you doing!"
Zhang Tieshan had a gloomy face, pulled Li Hehua behind him, and said, "Don't you want to solve the problem? Talk to me."
Zhang Tieshan was a tall and strong man, and his aura was intimidating to begin with. His solemn expression made him even more intimidating. When the female stall owner saw him like this, she became a little scared, took two steps back, and turned to look at her husband.
The stall owner's husband wanted to help his wife when he saw her being bullied, but after seeing Zhang Tieshan's expression, he became scared and only dared to ask, "Why did you do that?"
Zhang Tieshan said in a calm voice: "It was your wife who wanted to solve the problem physically, so I used the same method as you. What's the problem?"
The male stall owner choked, remembering that it was his wife who started it. He had nothing to say, so he said, "It was your family who made this aisle so narrow, affecting my business. Of course we have to argue."
Zhang Tieshan said, "Then tell me, how has it affected your business? I remember that before you put in more tables, not many people came to your house for dinner, right? There are still not many people now, how has it affected your business?"
If it wasn't for the wrong occasion, Li Hehua would have been unable to help laughing. He didn't expect that Zhang Tieshan, with his expressionless face, was so sharp-tongued. He could so easily say that someone's business was bleak. The couple looked unhappy.
"You...you..." The couple was so angry that their faces turned green, but they couldn't say anything to refute, because it was true that there was not much business before Li Hehua expanded his stall, and it has always been like this. They were just jealous of Li Hehua's good business.
Zhang Tieshan added: "Since you said that our family has affected your business, then we can back off. But if we back off and your business doesn't improve, it means that you are deliberately looking for trouble. Don't blame me for being rude then!"
Zhang Tieshan's words made the couple's faces change, and they dared not speak easily anymore, because even if Li Hehua's family backed down, his family's business would not be good. Wouldn't it be obvious that they were deliberately looking for trouble? What if this person turned around and made trouble for them again?
Zhang Tieshan looked at the hesitant couple and snorted coldly. He ignored them and directly pulled Li Hehua back to the stove. "Just focus on cooking. I'll take care of the rest."
If Li Hehua was a woman, the couple would definitely not let it go, but Zhang Tieshan was too scary, so the two dared not say anything. They could only hate them secretly and curse them countless times.
When Li Hehua was led back by Zhang Tieshan, his heart started beating wildly and he quickly pulled his hand back.
Zhang Tieshan pursed his lips, said nothing, and returned to where he was before, without disturbing Li Hehua again.
Seeing Zhang Tieshan like this, Li Hehua felt even worse. He had helped her again. This man always appeared in front of her to help her when she needed him, making her owe him one favor after another.
But she couldn't accept him.
She really didn't know what to do with him. He just stayed there quietly without disturbing her, but he was always under her nose, leaving her no reason to chase him away, but she could always see him, and he always appeared in time when she needed him.
For so many days, she had deliberately ignored him, thinking that he would give up in a few days, but she didn't expect that he would still appear in front of her every day and still refused to give up.
Ignoring him was of no use to him, so Li Hehua had to face him.
After closing the stall, Li Hehua let Zhang Tieshan into the yard.
"Zhang Tieshan, thank you for helping me today."
Zhang Tieshan didn't say anything. Knowing that Li Hehua had more to say, he waited for her to continue.
Li Hehua pursed her lips and said, "Zhang Tieshan, there's really no way that we can be together. Can you please not come here again in the future?" She didn't know what to do if she continued to owe him favors.
Zhang Tieshan looked at her quietly for a long time before he slowly said, "You said you can live well by yourself, but is that true? Do you think you, a woman, can live a stable life in this world? Without a man to protect you, you will have a hard time everywhere. Take what happened today for example. They saw that you were a weak woman supporting a stall alone, so they dared to make trouble with you. If there was a man, they would never dare to make trouble so easily. This is just one time. In the future, as your business gets better and better, it will only attract more and more jealousy. Can you guarantee that you will not be bullied by others? Is this what you mean by living well by yourself?"
Li Hehua's face was stiff. Although she didn't want to admit it, she had to admit in her heart that Zhang Tieshan was right. The world in this century was completely different from that in the 21st century. There were not so many laws to protect you, nor so many morals to protect women. Life was very difficult for women here, especially for women who wanted to do business. If they didn't have the support of power and the protection of men, it would be very dangerous. Just like her, she was repeatedly troubled by others. If it weren't for Zhang Tieshan, even if she used her brain to avoid loss, she would have to suffer some physical pain.
Moreover, not only that, a woman without a man will always be pointed at and criticized by others, and all kinds of malicious speculations will be made. Although she doesn't say it, she knows that her neighbors are talking about her behind her back, making all kinds of speculations, just because she is alone with a child and has no man.
Sister Xie told her to be careful, but how could she be careful? She couldn't just stay at home every day and not go out, could she? She couldn't just get married to avoid gossip, could she?
It's not easy to be a single woman in this world.
However, she didn't want to show weakness in front of Zhang Tieshan. "Zhang Tieshan, you are right. I am a single woman and it is easy to be bullied. But this does not mean that I have to marry you. Will it be fine if I marry you? Will there be no problem if I marry you?"
Zhang Tieshan looked at Li Hehua with an unprecedented seriousness. "I don't know if there will be any problems if you marry someone else, but I can say that if you marry me, I can guarantee that I will do my best to support you, make you worry-free, make you happy, and solve all your problems. As long as you are willing to believe in me, don't reject me."
Li Hehua's heart skipped a beat. Looking into Zhang Tieshan's eyes, the affection in those eyes made her heart beat faster and faster uncontrollably. Her face also became hot. She could only look away in embarrassment and look at the ground.
Li Hehua pinched her palm to calm herself down. She knew that Zhang Tieshan was a stubborn man, and it was difficult for him to change his mind. All the reasons she had given before were not enough to make him give up. If she wanted him to give up, she would have to...
Li Hehua took a deep breath, hardened her heart, gritted her teeth and said, "Zhang Tieshan, I will not marry you because I already have someone I like."
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