Chapter 79: Acquaintances

This year’s Valentine’s Day falls on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month in the lunar calendar.

However, nobody mentions this, as at this moment, people are still unaware of Valentine’s Day.

The common folks are quite enthusiastic about receiving money, so by this evening, Jiang Liyun had already settled all the accounts.

On the twenty-eighth, she went to town with Feng Yi.

Their shop would remain open until the morning of New Year’s Eve, and then everyone would go home to celebrate the New Year, resuming work on the fourth day of the lunar year.

Although the holiday break is short, the employees have no complaints. Feng Qiufeng even asked, “Can I not go home for the New Year?”

Gu Lanlan also said, “New Year’s isn’t that meaningful; it’s just busy day after day.”

For children during this time, the New Year brings joy because they get to eat many delicious foods and wear new clothes.

For men during this time, the New Year allows them to visit relatives and chat with people, making the days comfortable.

However, for the majority of women, the New Year is not easy.

Starting on New Year’s Eve, they have to stew chicken, cook meat, prepare for ancestor worship, and worship the New Year’s Bodhisattva. Following that, they will also host meals for guests.

Once guests arrive, they have to spend half a day preparing a table full of dishes, which is quite troublesome!

In the past, Gu Lanlan didn’t mind doing these things and enjoyed the New Year—tiring, but at least there was meat to eat!

But now, after working at Liyun Dumpling Shop for a month, she no longer cares much for meat.

The chicken and meat cooked at her home for the New Year can only be tasted a little by family members, as the rest is meant for guests. In other words, what she eats during the New Year is similar to what she eats while working at the dumpling shop.

In this case, the New Year doesn’t hold much meaning!

As for working at the dumpling shop during the New Year… Working at the dumpling shop means earning money, which is different from working at home!

As for Feng Qiufeng, it’s even more normal for her not to want to go back.

Life at the dumpling shop is too good for her, and she has no desire to return home and endure beatings!

Moreover, now that it’s winter vacation, her children come to town every day to see her. She used to worry about her children, but now even that isn’t a problem.

Jiang Liyun knows that Gu Lanlan is just complaining. When it’s time to go home for the New Year, she will still go.

Gu Lanlan has a poor relationship with her mother-in-law, but her relationship with her husband is still okay. She has also given birth to a child, and she won’t really neglect her family.

As for Feng Qiufeng, Jiang Liyun said, “Aunt Qiufeng, you have the key to the dumpling shop; you can stay here.”

Feng Qiufeng said, “I was just talking. I still have to go back for the New Year.”

Feng Qiufeng came to the shop before it opened. She had worked for a full month a few days ago, and at that time, Jiang Liyun gave her eighty yuan.

She secretly kept thirty and used the remaining fifty to buy various things for her two children.

Now, Jiang Liyun said again, “By the way, with the New Year approaching, everyone will need more money. So, I’ll settle everyone’s wages right here.”

Gu Lanlan hadn’t worked for a full month yet, and according to the rules, wages would be paid after the New Year. But, surely, there would be expenses for the New Year.

Jiang Liyun calculated Gu Lanlan’s wages and gave them to her. Then she gave Feng Qiufeng and Gu Dafa, who had already received their wages for a month, the wages for these days. She said, “Aunt Qiufeng, Uncle Gu, when there are fewer customers later, you can go out and buy whatever you want.”

These days, the town is bustling! There was everything for sale.

Not to mention chickens and ducks, there were also many stalls selling firecrackers and fireworks. The colourful couplets and characters of “Fu” (fortune) were particularly delightful.

“I don’t know what to buy.” Gu Dafa didn’t understand these things and was a bit at a loss with the money in his hand.

Just then, Jiang Xiaogu, carrying a basket, arrived.

As soon as she arrived, she gave Jiang Liyun a yuan and said, “Liyun, I want a bowl of vermicelli soup, four pan-fried dumplings, and four steamed buns.”

“Little aunt, you’ve come to eat; there’s no need to pay,” Jiang Liyun smiled.

“I have to pay; how can I not?” Jiang Xiaogu smiled. “Lanlan and others work for you here, and you wouldn’t not pay them, right?”

That’s true… Jiang Liyun took the money but gave Jiang Xiaogu five pan-fried dumplings and five steamed buns.

For this, Jiang Xiaogu didn’t refuse, saying, “I came to town to buy things today, so I stopped by to have breakfast here.”

These days, there were many people like Jiang Xiaogu, and business at Jiang Liyun’s dumpling shop had improved a lot!

Many people usually hesitated to spend money on expensive things like dumplings, but during the New Year, they would buy some.

Jiang Liyun chatted with Jiang Xiaogu while she ate, and Jiang Xiaogu handed two pan-fried dumplings and two steamed buns to Gu Dafa and Gu Lanlan.

She couldn’t eat so much.

The meals provided by the dumpling shop for employees were good, but usually they only had congee and tea eggs for breakfast, not dumplings and steamed buns.

The cost of dumplings and steamed buns was too high.

Now, Gu Dafa and Gu Lanlan were quite happy to eat buns and dumplings.

While everyone was chatting, an elderly couple came in from outside.

Seeing them, Feng Qiufeng’s expression stiffened.

Jiang Liyun also recognised these two. They were Jiang Honghai’s parents and Feng Qiufeng’s parents-in-law.

These two rarely came to town and looked very restrained. After entering the shop, they looked around for a while and asked Jiang Liyun in a low voice, “Liyun, can we talk to Xiaofeng for a few words?”

Their shop didn’t have a rule that employees couldn’t talk to people, so Jiang Liyun looked at Feng Qiufeng.

It wasn’t that busy at the moment, and Jiang Liyun was there too, so it was okay to leave for a while. Feng Qiufeng walked over to her parents-in-law.

Both sides were a bit stunned.

Feng Qiufeng’s in-laws were stunned because they hadn’t seen her for more than a month, and Feng Qiufeng had gained a lot of weight.

Working at the dumpling shop provided meat dishes for every meal, and there was plenty of rice. Feng Qiufeng always ate two large bowls of rice each time—quite a lot.

She didn’t want to waste the oil from frying chicken, and she would secretly eat some… In just a month, she had gained five or six pounds, and her complexion had improved a lot, looking several years younger.

Feng Qiufeng’s in-laws were different.

During the time Feng Qiufeng was away from home, they had more work to do. In the past, whenever their son was upset, he would vent his anger on Feng Qiufeng. Now, he started targeting them.

After a month, they looked much older.

They came to find Feng Qiufeng to enquire about when she would return home for the New Year and to discuss her wages.

Life at Jiang Honghai’s house was not easy; it was even poorer than Jiang Lame’s family.

After Jiang Liyun’s siblings started working, their family was not as poor. Jiang Lame and his wife had some savings, but because they wanted to build a house, they were reluctant to spend money.

However, Jiang Honghai’s family was different; they really had no money.

Jiang Honghai did nothing other than drink every day, and they couldn’t even afford the money for the New Year.

Jiang Honghai’s parents supported Feng Qiufeng working at Jiang Liyun’s place, hoping to improve their family’s situation a bit.

Feng Qiufeng said, “I’ve already received the wages for the first month, but I bought some things for Fenlan and Anshu, so there’s not much money left.”

Feng Qiufeng gave the things she bought for Jiang Fenlan and Jiang Anshu, as well as twenty yuan, to her in-laws.

These days, she spent money to make a new set of clothes for each of her two children and bought materials to make two pairs of cotton shoes for them.

The fabric she bought was cheap, and the total cost was less than thirty yuan. With the remaining money, she bought paper and pens.

Jiang Honghai’s in-laws wanted money, but seeing the things Feng Qiufeng bought, they couldn’t find fault with it.

The two children hadn’t had new clothes for a long time and indeed needed clothes and shoes.

They put the clothes and shoes in a basket and hid the money close to them. “Then we’ll go buy things. You come back early tomorrow.” They were originally worried about the money for buying pastries and firecrackers for the New Year, and now they finally had some.

“Okay.” Feng Qiufeng nodded.

Jiang Honghai’s parents took a deep breath, reluctantly leaving the fragrant Liyun Dumpling Shop.

The smell of the food in the shop was too tempting, but they couldn’t bear to spend the money.

While Feng Qiufeng’s in-laws went to shop, someone else entered the shop.

There were quite a few familiar faces today, and Jiang Liyun recognised the women who were close to Xie Zugen’s mother.

These women were all born in the 1930s, rarely visited the town, and were illiterate. After asking Jiang Liyun about the prices of various items in the shop, they spent two yuan to get nine pan-fried dumplings, nine pan-fried buns, and a bowl of vermicelli soup.

There were five of them, so they shared the vermicelli soup and each picked three pan-fried buns and three pan-fried dumplings to eat. Then, they packed the remaining two pan-fried buns and one pan-fried dumpling to take away.

As they left, they were still saying, “This vermicelli soup is really delicious.”

“These North-east pan-fried dumplings are also tasty. I’ve never had them before.”

“Pan-fried buns are also delicious and greasy with oil.”

…

Jiang Liyun remembered that these people always went out together, and Xie Zugen’s mother used to accompany them. She didn’t know why Xie Zugen’s mother wasn’t with them this time. However, she was too lazy to bother about the Xie family’s affairs.

Xie Zugen’s mother, who was reminded by Jiang Liyun, had actually been waiting not far away.

Seeing her old companions come out of the shop, she was a bit unhappy. “Why did you take so long to eat?”

“We didn’t eat for long. By the way, we brought some pan-fried buns and pan-fried dumplings out. Do you want some?” they asked Xie’s mother.

Xie’s mother wanted to refuse, but the aroma was too tempting…

Taking the pan-fried buns and pan-fried dumplings, Xie’s mother took a bite.

They were really delicious!

These people said again, “Later, we want to buy some fried chicken racks to share. Do you want to eat?”

Xie’s mother swallowed saliva and said, “Buns with chicken racks, I’ll give you fifty cents. Go buy it later; I won’t go in.”