Chapter 10
"Mmm, delicious, Lele, your cooking is great! Mom likes it, thank you." After a quick wash, Fu Le had just sat down when she handed the food to Qi Hua. Qi Hua smiled and picked up a bite of greens. The sweet and refreshing taste instantly won over her taste buds, and her appetite was whetted.
"Mom, I'll cook for you whenever I have time. Oh, and these are strawberries from my classmate's house. They're a new variety that only ripens in winter. Try them, they taste really good."
Fu Le used a toothpick to pick up a piece and put it in Qi Hua's mouth. The latter took a bite and his eyes lit up. "It's delicious. You should eat more. Two pieces are enough for Mom."
Fu Le: Here we go again. You can't bear to eat anything you think is delicious. You have to save it for her and Lao Fu. Don't you think about how many good things Lao Fu ate when he traveled all over the country in his early years? Why would he care about these things at home?
"These are all for you. There's still a bunch in the fridge. It would be a waste if we couldn't finish them." With that, Fu Le got up, pretending to go to the fridge, but actually took out a plate of strawberries from the space in the shuttle. He then sat down opposite his mother and ate with her.
After the meal, the mother and daughter became even closer.
"Girl, the strawberries at your classmate's house are really delicious. Are they expensive? If not, I'll buy some more later."
“It’s not expensive. We can eat it for a month straight. It’s strawberry season now. Mom, let me tell you, my classmate’s family has imported dairy cows…” Fu Le recounted everything that had happened that day.
"Sold 200? This milk is really profitable." Fu's mother was very envious. She only made 5,000 yuan a year. 200 a day would be tens of thousands a year. Tsk, it looks like making money is as easy as eating and drinking for others. Why is it so difficult for me?
Seeing that his mother was disappointed, Fu Le quickly took out his ten yuan "commission". "Mom, here, this is my five percent commission. And we can drink three bottles of this milk every day. There are three of us in the family, one bottle each."
"What? We can drink that too? That means sixty a day? Girl, let's sell it then, hmm, let's sell mine and your dad's." Considering her daughter's heavy workload in high school and her need for nutritional supplements, Fu's mother decided to keep one bottle.
Fu Le: ...
She knew it would be like this; her mother would never drink it.
"Mom, give me five yuan, I'll go buy some meat, let's have a barbecue tonight. I'll do the grilling, you can try my cooking, what do you think?"
After Fu Le finished speaking, she waited for her mother's response, only to receive a skeptical look from her mother.
At this moment, Fu Ma's heart was pounding. Something was definitely amiss. There was a reason behind the old saying. This girl, who usually didn't lift a finger, was cooking and grilling meat today. What huge thing had she done that required the family's support?
Thinking it over, Qi Hua took a deep breath. "Tell me, what were you doing outside? Mom will talk to your dad about how to handle it." As parents, even if their child makes a huge mistake, they have to find a way to clean up the mess and do their best to make things as easy as possible.
Fu Le was stunned, never expecting her own mother to have such a big 'prejudice' against her. She was both amused and heartbroken. She really hadn't been reliable when she was little, just like her father. "It's nothing else, I just want to have another way to make money for the family. Barbecue is profitable, and we can also sell beer and drinks. My classmate's family does that, and they make a lot of money. The country is now strongly supporting the private economy, and there are many preferential policies. If we don't take advantage of this trend, our family will starve in the future. Besides, Dad is so unreliable, we have to think more about ourselves, right?"
Qi Hua's gaze was fixed on Fu Le's face. Confirming that she was really only thinking about this, he breathed a sigh of relief and gave his daughter a light slap on the bottom. "You're just a child. This isn't your business. Go away." He then got up to clear the table.
“Mom, my university education will cost at least 200,000 yuan, including living expenses and tuition for four years. That's just covering basic expenses. If I want to pursue a master's degree, it will cost another 200,000 yuan, and maybe even more. Dad has no income right now and is still losing money. You're the only one in the family. You work so hard every day, and you only earn a few dollars a year, yet you still have to support the family. Mom, our family needs a change. We can't go on like this!”
Qi Hua sighed, said nothing, and went to clear the dishes.
Fu Le: She has a mountain of gold now, but she can't take it out.
“Didn’t you help your classmate sell milk? The commissions are quite good. Mom will save them all for your tuition and fees.”
Fu Leqi!
"Fu Le, this braised pork is tender and juicy, it's quite delicious. It tastes like pork, but it's not quite like pork either." As he spoke, Qi Hua's hands were busy tidying up the meat.
"It's delicious, isn't it? I'll buy more later. Their meat quality is very good, and their business is booming."
Where did you get the money?
"I haven't spent the five yuan allowance you give me every week; I've saved it all. Have you forgotten?"
Qi Hua said "Oh," confirming that it was true that her daughter loved to save money. Right now, Lele probably had the most money in the family; neither she nor Lao Fu had much.
"Mom, I want to raise two wolfhounds. I saw some at the trade center, and the owner said they eat whatever people eat, so they're super easy to raise." She's got plenty of meat on her bones, so raising dogs would be perfect for her. Most importantly, she's planning to do it secretly!
"You can't even support yourself, let alone keep a dog. Give it a rest."
Fu Le was furious when her request was rejected again! She went upstairs, still seething with anger, and then ran to the second-floor back balcony, craning her neck, and yelled, "Mom, you're not allowed to leave any strawberries for Lao Fu, or I'll ruin them all!"
"You little rascal!" Qi Hua was amused and exasperated, but considering that there would still be a plate of them if they got cold, and that the strawberries were indeed delicious, she decided not to keep them.
Not long after going upstairs, Fu Le came downstairs again. Qi Hua downstairs heard the noise and asked, "Where are you going now?"
"I'm going to the shop to buy some seasonings for making braised pork. I found the recipe in a book and want to try it out to see if I can sell it." It would be such a waste not to sell all this sweet and sour pork, which is as plentiful as a mountain of it.
...
When Lao Fu returned home humming a song with his hands behind his back, he smelled the rich aroma of braised meat wafting from the house before he even stepped through the gate. He paused, took a couple of deep breaths of the fragrance, and thought, "Wow, Lao Qi's cooking skills have improved again."
With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?!
"Old Fu, are you cooking meat again? Did you win some money? You're eating so well!" The neighbor, holding his rice bowl, said to Old Fu with a half-smile, his words carrying a hint of sarcasm.
"That's right, hehe." Old Fu was the kind of person who never offended anyone, so he chuckled and went inside, ignoring the neighbor's prying eyes.
In the kitchen, Qi Hua watched her maid add the seasonings one by one, doing it with great skill, but she was still worried and didn't want to leave the kitchen. These lean meats, weighing almost five or six pounds, cost thirty yuan, and the seasonings also cost more than ten yuan. They were very expensive. If she didn't keep an eye on them and they were wasted, it would hurt more than cutting off her own flesh.
Fu Le watched her mother, busy with other things for a while, then come in to take a look, busy with other things for a while, then come in to take a look again. She couldn't help but laugh. Let her look if she wants. She should learn the recipe well. This was a recipe she learned from a food blogger before. It cost her a little money, and the blogger taught her step by step. The taste is really good. Buy it and steam it. The taste is absolutely amazing.
Qi Hua stared at the food, almost unable to move, "Girl, it smells really good." His eyes were practically glued to the pot.
The stainless steel pot was bubbling, and Fu Le would stir it every now and then to make sure the broth soaked into the meat.
This meat was actually sweet and sour meat that she took out of the shuttle while pretending to buy meat. It was a large piece, about six pounds, and all lean meat. However, it had already been cooked by Yu Zhang's servants. Taking it out now meant that it was being further processed.
When Old Fu came in, he saw the mother and daughter standing around the gas stove and grinned as he approached them.
"You still know how to come back?" Qi Hua said irritably.
"Hehe, this is my home. If I don't go back, where am I supposed to go? Old Qi, your cooking skills are getting better and better. I'll go get some wine and some braised meat. Wouldn't that be wonderful?" When Old Fu was in a good mood, he liked to use literary phrases that were neither ancient nor modern, which made people laugh.
Fu Le glanced at her father speechlessly. Although Old Fu was still in relatively good health at this time, he was as thin as a skeleton, all because of drinking. Although he didn't drink much each time, at most two ounces, he ate very little because of drinking. He always ate only half a bowl of rice and half a bowl of vegetables in a small bowl.
"Mom, you keep an eye on things and don't pop out. I'm going to get the strawberries." There was still a plate of strawberries left in the refrigerator, all cut into small pieces, without the tips or bottoms. The rest were the same, and of course, the taste was excellent.
Old Fu, the carefree shopkeeper, watched his daughter bring out the strawberries. The aroma of strawberries was so strong that he widened his eyes and exclaimed, "These strawberries are nice, but why were they cut like this?"
"I ate the strawberry tips, cut off the bottoms. My classmate's strawberries are big, they don't taste good if you don't cut them." In reality, the largest strawberries are as big as an adult man's fist, and they are a variety from Northeast China called Quandong strawberry. That's why Fu Le dared to cut the strawberries and bring them to Old Fu's door.
Once the braised pork was ready, Qi Hua fried some peanuts and added a small plate of Fu Le's favorite pan-fried chili peppers. That made it all ready.
"Mom, let's each have half a bottle of this milk, just to try it out." Fu Le poured the milk into a teacup and handed it to Qi Hua, who had just sat down.
"Alright, my daughter is so filial to me, I'll drink it!" Qi Hua, unusually, didn't spoil the mood. He picked up the milk and took a sip. The rich and sweet milk flavor left a lingering fragrance in his mouth. "Tsk tsk... this imported milk is really different, it's so delicious."
"It's delicious. Let's share it every day, half for each of us."
"What about me? Your dad loves to drink too." Old Fu said, feeling jealous.
"My mom told me to sell your share." Fu Le said with a grin. The unreliable old Fu wasn't a rigid father. Apart from being irresponsible, broke, and neglecting his family, he was alright.
“You’re so old, why are you drinking milk? This costs twenty yuan a bottle. If you don’t drink it, our family will have six hundred yuan in income every month.” Aunt Fu said, leaving no room for argument.
"Why should I? I'm drinking it because I like it. My daughter gave it to me, so why can't I drink it?"
"You want a drink? Okay, give me twenty yuan to buy it." Aunt Fu reached out her hand for the money.
"Here you go, one hundred, for five days! Girl, one bottle a day, don't forget!" Old Fu proudly pulled out one hundred and handed it to his mother, looking as arrogant as a child throwing a tantrum.
"Hey, Lao Fu, you've really got some nerve. You've got money now and don't pay any living expenses, eating and drinking my food, you..."
Seeing that a fight between the couple was about to break out before dinner, Fu Le quickly stopped them, "Mom, Dad likes to drink it, so let him drink it. Look at him, so thin and dark, like a dried-up monkey, and he's been coughing a lot lately. This milk is very nourishing, you should drink it too, we should all drink it. Don't sell it. Our family is healthy and doesn't get sick, so spending six hundred is worth it. If someone gets sick or something, going to the hospital once will cost two or three hundred, and the person will suffer. Wouldn't that be a huge loss? Besides, this milk is free. What if my classmate finds out that we didn't drink it and sells it all? I'll lose face! If they get angry, I might lose my commission too. It'll be a loss."
Qi Hua, who was about to explode, was calmed down by Fu Le's words. He snorted, took a sip of milk, and tidied himself up.
When Qi Hua wasn't looking, Lao Fu gave Fu Le a thumbs up and grinned widely.
Old Fu, who was always scolded at mealtimes, had a rare meal where he felt at ease and happily took his teapot to the TV room to watch TV.
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