(Word Count: 2353)
Shuangji Town, Market Day.
Han Ze’s noodle stall was only open on the market day, and it had been open for several days in a row. Whether it was the people in the town or the people who came to the market, almost everyone had heard that there was a strange noodle stall in the vegetable market, where noodles were more expensive than meat.
Logically, such expensive noodles should not be patronized by anyone, but there was an endless stream of customers eating noodles at the stall, and most of the customers were people of status.
Some of them were businessmen on the street, including vegetable vendors, clothing store owners, fertilizer owners, fruit stall owners, etc. There were also some government workers, clerks in the post office, and even public security personnel in the police station came here to eat noodles.
No matter who they were, Han Ze treated them all the same. These respectable people in front of the country people, when they came to the noodle stall, were like children waiting to be fed, all very docile and surprisingly harmonious.
This made some people who were jealous of the noodle stall’s good business give up their calculations in their hearts. Even the police from the Public Security Bureau behaved themselves and paid for the noodles in a proper manner. It seemed that the noodle stall had a strong backstage and could not be provoked, let alone conspired against.
Han Ze was alone. He had to knead the noodles, roll the noodles, wash the dishes, and collect the money. In the morning, customers crowded together and came to the door, which was very busy. Under such circumstances, he could only sell 60 bowls of noodles every day, otherwise he would definitely not be able to bear it according to his current body. Even so, after a few episodes, he had nearly 2,000 yuan in savings in his pocket.
After a few episodes, the villagers also knew that Han Ze had set up a noodle stall in the town. The noodles he sold were ridiculously expensive, 10 yuan a bowl, and 10 yuan was enough to buy more than two kilograms of meat. How could they bear to eat there? They didn’t even dare to look at it, for fear that Han Ze’s store would have no business and he would rip off his acquaintances and drag them to eat noodles. Would they pay or not?
However, they did not confirm the rumor that the noodle stall was doing well, and they did not know that Han Ze’s noodle stall was not only doing well, but also making money. After a while, he planned to rent a store to save the noodle stall from being exposed to the sun and rain.
After selling another 60 bowls of noodles and filling the pot with chicken soup, Han Ze quickly packed up the stall, bought some eggs, fish, and meat, and rode his bicycle home.
When he got home and saw Wu Hongmei cooking, Han Ze frowned in disapproval, “You should wait for me to come back to cook.”
Wu Hongmei smiled and said, “It already been a month, so I can still cook.”
Rural women are not so squeamish when giving birth. When she gave birth to the first few children, she started washing clothes and cooking before the first month was over. Now the first month is over, but she is still not allowed to do anything. Thinking of this, she was quite emotional.
“Let me do it. You go look after the children.”
Han Ze didn’t say much. Some habits are deeply rooted and can only be changed slowly. Carrying the vegetables he bought, he began to cook.
Wu Hongmei saw that he bought meat and fish again, and frowned, “Why do you buy meat every time?”
How much does it cost? How can you eat like this?
“The children are too thin. Give them some supplements.” Han Ze put the fish into the basin with an expressionless face, and took a pair of scissors to start killing the fish.
“Isn’t it enough to fill them up?” Wu Hongmei didn’t understand how to supplement them. In her opinion, it was good enough for the children to be well fed and clothed. Having meat every meal was something she couldn’t even think of.
Han Ze glanced at her, wiped his hands, took out a stack of money and handed it to her. Wu Hongmei’s eyes suddenly widened and her body trembled a little. How much is this?
Han Ze urged: “Go on.”
“Where did the money come from?” Wu Hongmei didn’t take it, nor did she dare to take it. She didn’t know where her man got so much money. Did he borrow it? With the man’s honesty, she didn’t think he did anything wrong.
“I earned it.” Han Ze said.
“Earned? How did you earn it?” Wu Hongmei didn’t believe it. Could so much money be earned casually?
Being questioned like this, Han Ze was a little dissatisfied. After eating so many meals cooked by him, he still doubted his cooking skills. He said: “I earned it from selling noodles.”
“Earned from selling noodles?”
Wu Hongmei didn’t distrust him. With her limited knowledge, she really couldn’t imagine what her man did to earn so much money in a few days.
Even if he sold noodles, he could only earn a few dozen yuan at most, but that pile was at least thousands of yuan. No matter how hard she tried, she didn’t know how her man earned it.
“I’ve been selling noodles for 10 yuan a bowl for 6 days, from 30 bowls at the beginning to 45 bowls, and now 60 bowls. Can you tell me how much I should get?”
If it were someone else, Han Ze would not explain, but Wu Hongmei was the wife of this body, and it would be unreasonable not to let her understand.
Wu Hongmei stared at him blankly, feeling like she was listening to a foreign language. 10 yuan a bowl of noodles? There are actually people eating it? Is she dreaming?
Regardless of whether she was dreaming or not, the money in her hand, the sense of substance of the banknotes, made her soberly understand that maybe this was true. But thinking about her man’s cooking skills, she felt that it was not impossible, and sighed that people outside were really rich. If she wanted to eat, she would not be willing to spend 10 yuan and only eat a bowl of noodles.
“I can earn money, so the children should eat better, right?” Han Ze asked.
Wu Hongmei thought, since the family has money, the children should eat better, right.
Wu Hongmei was happily counting money at home, while Han Hai’s wife pulled Han Hai to complain, saying that her mother-in-law was too difficult to serve. The porridge was too thick, and she said it was too thick and she would feel thirsty without soup. Since she thought the porridge was too thick, she asked her to cook it thinner for the next meal, but she complained that it was too thin and she was not full. At night, she thought the room was too hot, and she said, “Okay, I’ll give you a fan.” Then she said the bed was too small, and what if she fell down?
In short, the old lady complained about everything during the few days she lived here. She could find fault with everything, and she didn’t know why she had so many weird ideas to find fault with her. She could ignore those things, but with her around, the children at home seemed to have found a backer. When they returned home, they didn’t do housework or homework, let alone doing housework.
She was angry and taught them a lesson, and the old lady was there to protect them, saying that she was vicious and harsh on the children. God knows, as a mother, can’t she teach a disobedient child a lesson? She is really not a stepmother.
He could no longer bear it, so he had to come to the old house. What about the agreement to borrow 300 yuan to let mother-in-law live with them? He was just destroying the bridge after crossing the river. “Brother and sister-in-law, when are you going to bring mother over?” Han Hai’s wife said bluntly. If the old lady stayed, she would lose many years of life.
Han Ze frowned and sighed guiltily: “Mother is tired of taking care of your sister-in-law during her confinement. She wants to have a good rest at your house. What’s wrong? Does mother want to come back to take care of your sister-in-law again?”
“Isn’t your sister-in-law’s full month?” Han Hai’s wife said, thinking that the old lady would be kind enough to come back to take care of her? Don’t be funny.
“Brother, when you borrowed the money, you promised me that you would let mom live with you. Since you want mom to live with us, you should return the money to me. I still need to buy some goods.”
What kind of person is this? He deceived them into lending him the money, but he couldn’t do what he promised. Even brothers should not deal with such people.
“I plan to let your sister-in-law do a double confinement.” Han Ze explained without paying attention to her tone.
Han Hai’s wife pouted. She gave birth to a girl and he treasured it. She also did a double confinement. She gave birth to so many sons, but she didn’t do a double confinement. Why is she so hypocritical?
Han Ze didn’t look at her, but said to Wu Hongmei: “Give three hundred yuan to my sister-in-law.” After thinking for a while, he said: “Give my sister-in-law three more yuan. She even took out the payment for the goods in order to lend me money. The children should really thank their aunt.”
Wu Hongmei didn’t know until then that her husband had borrowed money from the second son’s family. She didn’t say anything. She went back to the house to get three hundred and three yuan and handed it to her sister-in-law.
Han Hai’s wife took the money and her face turned pale and blue. She didn’t come here to ask them to pay back the money, but to ask them to take the old lady back. She couldn’t help but said, “Mom, you won’t take her back?”
Han Ze frowned and said apologetically, “Sister-in-law, mom is still young and can do the work. She has been doing the work for our family for so many years. It’s your family’s turn now. Your sister-in-law and I can’t take all the benefits. People in the village are gossiping that mom is partial to the eldest family and doesn’t care about the other two. It’s your brother who is wrong. He has taken advantage of you for so many years. I’m sorry for you…”
“What?” Han Hai’s wife thought she had heard wrong.
Han Ze continued, “Besides, your family runs a sales agency store. Mom can eat whatever she wants when she goes to your house. She has to work with us and take care of your sister-in-law during her confinement, but she can’t eat anything good… Mom always praises you for being filial, having given birth to three grandchildren for her, she will definitely want to live with you, and seeing the three grandchildren every day will make her mood better. Alas, who made me sad because I don’t have a son. ”
Han Hai’s wife was stunned, “So, you mean that mother will live with us temporarily?”
Han Ze nodded, “No other reason, just because mother likes Junjun and the other boys. With them accompanying mother, mother will definitely be happy.”
Han Hai’s wife looked at her eldest brother. How could she not know when her eldest brother would say this?
Seeing that she was silent, Han Ze said seriously: “Don’t worry, sister-in-law, your sister-in-law will not blame mother for coming to your house to help you. I am already unfilial for not having a son in this life. I can’t monopolize mother to help me work and take advantage of you. Mother should also help you, after all, you have three boys. ”
“Didn’t you say to let mother rest? Since she is resting, can she still help us work?”
“It’s okay to do some light work. It’s too hard to serve people, take care of babies, and wash diapers. Mother is old, let her rest.”
Han Hai’s wife stared at Han Ze again and again, trying to figure out if he was mocking her. After staring for a long time, she confirmed one thing, that is, the eldest brother said so, and he also thought so. Yes, the eldest brother has always been honest, unlike the third brother, who is full of calculations and even schemes against his own brothers. How could he mock her?
Han Hai’s wife secretly guessed that the eldest uncle might feel that he had no son because Wu Hongmei gave birth to daughters one after another, which hurt her mother-in-law’s heart. He felt guilty for letting her mother-in-law help their family with work for so many years.
So he thought about letting her mother-in-law live with them and help them with work. With the addition of Junjun and a few other boys, the mother-in-law would not be too sad about the fact that the eldest uncle could not give birth to a son.
Han Hai’s wife completely understood what her eldest brother meant. She understood it, but she didn’t need her mother-in-law to help with housework. She can do all the housework.
However, although she can ask her eldest brother when he will take her mother-in-law away, she cannot clearly express that she is unwilling to support her mother-in-law. If she dares to say this, not only will the villagers gossip about her, even her own husband will not forgive her. So, she can only continue to let her mother-in-law live with them.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152