It is true that a penny can make a hero fall. Li Hehua is now in trouble because of money.
She wanted to set up a snack stand to sell some food, but she had no capital and couldn't realize it for the time being, so before she could make money from the stall, she had to find a way to earn some money to set up the stall.
She didn't have anything valuable on her, so she couldn't exchange it for money. It was unrealistic for her to go to the mountains to pick some herbs, ginseng, or other precious things to exchange for money like in some time-travel novels. If there were such things on the mountain, others would have found them long ago. Why would they wait until she went to pick them? The indigenous people were not fools.
It is unlikely to get money all at once, so you still have to find a way to earn some money with your skills.
However, she couldn't think of a solution for the time being, and seeing that it was getting late, Li Hehua found a steamed bun stall on the street, spent three cents to buy two steamed buns and a steamed bun to take with her, intending to take them back for lunch and dinner. She really didn't want to eat brown rice porridge anymore.
Following the same route, Li Hehua returned home in almost an hour. It was already afternoon when he got home. No one else was at home at this time. It was unknown whether they were taking a nap or going out. Li Hehua didn't want to know this, so he went straight into the woodshed and collapsed on the bed, too tired to get up.
Walking for half a day was very tiring for a normal person, and even more tiring for someone with her current body shape. She felt as if her whole body was about to fall apart, and she wished she would never move again.
However, the hunger in his stomach was stronger than the tiredness, so Li Hehua had to sit up reluctantly, took out the steamed buns and steamed buns he had bought and started eating.
After eating half a steamed bun, Li Hehua felt very thirsty, so he got up and left the woodshed to go to the kitchen to get some water to drink.
There was boiled cold water in the kitchen, and she didn't bother to heat it up. She scooped a bowl and drank it, then scooped another bowl. After drinking two bowls in a row, she felt her thirst was quenched. Just as she put the bowl down and was about to leave, she heard a rustling sound in her ears, but it disappeared after listening carefully. However, she believed that the sound just now was not her illusion.
Li Hehua put down the bowl in his hand, looked around the kitchen, and finally stopped at the fire behind the stove.
When she walked over slowly, she saw a little boy curled up in the pile of firewood. It was the one Zhang Tieshan had brought back.
The little fellow was sitting in the corner of the stove. He was so small that he hugged his knees with his hands. He didn't move or speak. He just sat there quietly. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't find him at all.
Li Hehua didn't know what the relationship between this little guy and the original owner was, but since he was brought back by Zhang Tieshan to be raised, the relationship must be extraordinary. However, yesterday, the little guy acted as if he didn't see her when he saw her, and didn't pay any attention to her at all. She was not sure about their relationship.
Li Hehua took another tentative step closer and called softly, "Little guy? Little baby?"
As a result, the little guy acted as if he didn't hear anything. He didn't move at all and didn't even raise his head.
Li Hehua's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself, could it be that this little guy is deaf? No way, can he be deaf with such a small ear?
Unwilling to believe that such a small child was deaf, she slowly squatted in front of the little guy and tentatively waved her hand in front of him, "Little guy, can you hear me?"
But the child still didn't react, as if he was immersed in his own world and isolated from the world.
Li Hehua pursed her lips, slowly reached out and held the little guy's hand. Just as she was about to pull him, the sculpture-like boy suddenly moved, shook off her hand, and flapped his arms vigorously, silently and frantically resisting her approach.
Li Hehua was frightened by his behavior and the fierceness on his face, and quickly stepped back, "Okay, okay, baby, don't get excited, I won't touch you, you see I didn't touch you, don't be angry."
The little guy fluttered around for a long time before gradually calming down, and then remained motionless again.
Li Hehua's brows gradually frowned.
Did the little guy hear what she said just now or not? Why is his behavior so strange? Why does it feel like something is wrong?
However, the little guy seemed to be very repulsed by her, so she decided not to force herself to communicate with him. It would be bad if she hurt him, so she decided to just leave.
Li Hehua walked back to the woodshed, sat down and ate the remaining steamed buns. After taking two bites, he looked at the meat bun in his hand, then looked at the kitchen. After thinking for a while, he got up and went into the kitchen again. He put the meat bun wrapped in paper in front of the little guy, "Baby, this is a meat bun. Eat it."
Afraid that the little one wouldn't eat, she hurried out, saying, "I'm going to go out, you eat by yourself."
Li Hehua didn't know whether the little guy would eat it, but for some reason, he couldn't calm down when he thought about the little guy's appearance just now.
The little guy was probably only four or five years old, but he was so thin that it made people feel distressed. His clothes were empty, and the sight of him sitting there without saying a word made people feel uncomfortable for some reason. Moreover, she had just seen many scars on his arms, some new and some old, which were obviously caused by long-term beatings. Li Hehua didn't dare to imagine who could do such a cruel thing to such a young child, but she had a vague guess in her heart that she dared not admit, making her unwilling to believe it.
No, no, I can’t think about it anymore. I force myself to clear the guesses from my mind and focus on eating the bun in my hand.
After eating a steamed bun, Li Hehua still felt very hungry, as if the steamed bun he had just eaten had no effect. His mind kept telling him to eat more! He wanted to eat more!
The original owner had a really big appetite. One steamed bun was probably only enough to fill her teeth, but she couldn't indulge her current appetite.
Li Hehua patted his fat belly vigorously, "I can't eat any more! Do you still want to lose weight?"
Putting away the remaining steamed bun to eat in the evening, Li Hehua got up to close the door of the woodshed, then lay down and planned to have a good rest.
To distract herself from her hunger, she started thinking about how to make money.
How can you make money without any capital?
After thinking for a while, she finally came up with an idea: maybe cooking for others would be a way to make money.
However, she didn't really want to be a chef in a restaurant, because firstly, she might not be able to find a restaurant that hired chefs, and secondly, there were only restaurants in towns. If she worked as a restaurant cook, she would have to go to work early and leave late every day, and it would probably be dawn before she got back to the village. The last point was that as a cook, she couldn't get paid immediately, and it would take at least a month to get some money, which was too slow for her who was in urgent need of money.
So if you don’t consider becoming a chef, you can just cook for private families and charge them on a per-cook basis.
It seems that ancient people held banquets at home for weddings and deaths, especially for villagers. They would hire a chef to prepare the banquet. The chef did not need to prepare anything, he just had to go there and cook the dishes.
Li Hehua's eyes lit up, she felt that this method was very suitable for her now. There was no problem with her cooking skills. As long as someone was willing to invite her to cook for a banquet, she believed that she would be able to satisfy the host.
So the question now is, where can she find a family that needs a banquet?
It definitely wouldn't work in this village. Even if someone really wanted to hire a chef to prepare a banquet, they wouldn't be willing to use her. She might even be kicked out. So she had to go to another village, preferably one where no one knew her.
Then she can go around the surrounding villages and ask around tomorrow. If anyone is planning to have a wedding, she can recommend herself.
Thinking of a way out, Li Hehua suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, and his hope for life became a little higher. The corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily, and he slowly fell asleep.
While she was sleeping, Zhang Tieshan and Zhang Qingshan came back from the fields. Seeing that the house was quiet, Zhang Qingshan said to his brother, "I guess Mom is taking Shulin to sleep. Mom has the habit of taking a nap."
Zhang Tieshan put down the hoe in his hand, slowly walked to the door of the east wing, gently pushed the door open and looked inside, but found only his mother's shadow, no sign of Shulin.
Where is Shulin?
Zhang Tieshan walked in and found that there was indeed no trace of Shulin on the bed. He hurried out of the kitchen and went to his own room to check, but still couldn't find him. He went to Qingshan's room again, but still couldn't find the little guy.
Zhang Tieshan then became anxious.
Zhang Qingshan immediately said, "Brother, let's go to the kitchen and take a look. Shulin likes to hide in places where no one goes."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tieshan strode towards the kitchen, and indeed saw Zhang Shulin sitting quietly in the corner of the kitchen.
Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Qingshan hurriedly called out, "Shulin, look, Dad and Second Uncle are back."
Unfortunately, the little guy ignored him.
Zhang Qingshan was not angry either. He was used to Shu Lin's behavior.
"Hey, brother, look, why is there a bun in front of Shulin? Where did it come from?" Zhang Qingshan said, pointing at the bun in front of Shulin.
Zhang Tieshan also saw it, and was silent for a moment. He didn't answer, but went forward to pick up the little guy and gently patted his back, "Shulin, daddy is back, come out with daddy, okay?"
Shu Lin didn't say anything, but he didn't reject Zhang Tieshan either.
Zhang Tieshan carried Shulin out of the kitchen. Zhang Qingshan picked up the meat bun and followed him out. "Brother, these meat buns are still fresh. Heat them up for Shulin." Meat buns are not cheap. I don't know who gave them to Shulin, but he was willing to give them to him.
Zhang Tieshan glanced at the closed door of the woodshed and said, "Throw it away."
"Ah?" Zhang Qingshan opened his eyes wide. "Brother, this meat bun is not cheap. Shulin has probably never eaten it in his life. It would be a pity to throw it away. Let him eat it. Besides, it would be a waste of food to throw it away."
Zhang Tieshan paused, glanced at his frail son in his arms, and after a long pause, he uttered a "hmm" from his nose.
Zhang Qingshan grinned, turned around and went back to the kitchen to heat up the meat buns, then returned to the main room and handed the meat buns to his brother.
Zhang Tieshan was holding Shulin in his arms. He reached out to take the meat bun and first put a piece into his mouth. After a while, he tore off a small piece and handed it to Shulin's mouth, "Shulin, eat the bun."
The little guy in his arms blinked, and after a while he obediently opened his mouth and ate the bun beside him, then chewed it slowly, and after chewing for a long time, he swallowed it.
Zhang Tieshan was not in a hurry. He watched Shulin swallow it before he grabbed another piece and fed him.
Zhang Qingshan's eyes became sore as he watched from the side. He waved his sleeves and wiped his eyes as if to cover up his feelings.
"Brother, I'm sorry. It's my fault that I didn't take good care of Shulin, which is why he became like this." Zhang Tieshan blamed himself very much. If he had been more careful, if he had fought that woman, Shulin wouldn't have become like this.
Zhang Tieshan didn't say anything, just shook his head, "It's none of your business, you're still young." His younger brother was only thirteen years old, still a child, how could he protect Shu Lin? He and his mother had suffered a lot.
Zhang Qingshan turned his head and blinked desperately. It took him a long while to speak again: "Brother, now that you are back, we are not afraid anymore."
Zhang Tieshan said "hmm".
Zhang Qingshan looked towards the firewood room, with a hint of disgust and hatred in his eyes, "Brother, why do you still want to keep this woman? She is so bad, why do you still want to keep her?"
Zhang Tieshan continued to feed Shulin buns, "I have divorced her, but considering that she gave birth to Shulin, I will let her stay for a while."
Zhang Qingshan was furious. "Brother, you've already divorced her, why are you still so kind to take her in? Let her go back to her parents' home!"
Zhang Tieshan's eyes flashed with a sharpness, and his voice was inexplicably dangerous. "Don't worry, I haven't settled the accounts with that family yet. I'll talk about it after I settle the accounts."
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