Chapter 29: Who Cares Where the Rabbit Spirit Went

Eight thousand yuan was a large sum of money…

Xie Mingcheng’s movements stiffened for a moment, but in the end, he turned his head gloomily. “You were married to him for over a year, how could that not count as a loss?”

Eight thousand was a lot, but it couldn’t make up for all the suffering his sister endured!

If he knew that Lu Zhixing had locked her up in the psychiatric ward, who knew how he’d react?

Xie Yunshu didn’t dare tell him exactly because of this. The college entrance exam was only half a year away—she didn’t want his mood affected by her mess, and she certainly didn’t want him worrying about her at this critical time.

“Mingcheng, didn’t I tell you on the first day I came that this isn’t your problem to worry about?”

Xie Yunshu’s tone grew a bit firmer. She repeated herself: “As long as you get into college, that will make me the happiest. If something happens in the future, the first thing you must do is calm down and think about the consequences of acting on impulse. Just hitting someone doesn’t make you feel better. Have you ever seen wealthy people getting into random fights? When you’re capable, others naturally won’t dare mess with you.”

Xie Mingcheng hung his head in frustration, but clenched his fists behind his back tightly. “Sis, I understand.”

These words stayed etched in his heart—he would become capable one day, capable enough that no one would dare bully his sister again.

—

At dawn, Xie Yunshu got up to prep the food.

With Aunt Zhao and Li Fenlan helping, even cooking for 60 people wasn’t too tiring. Soon, a big pot was set up, ready to stir-fry the dishes. Today they’d need to cook twice since one pot wasn’t big enough to handle everything at once.

In winter, the variety of vegetables was limited—cabbage, potatoes, and large radishes were the main options. The wealthy had more choices, of course, but the poor had to get creative with their cooking.

Xie Yunshu had bought six plucked ducks to stew with green radishes. The ducks were fatty, and after stir-frying them for a bit, a fragrant layer of oil floated to the surface. The scent drifted out the window, and the smell alone woke Lin Cuiping from her sleep.

Three days. It had already been three whole days!

Lin Cuiping had been so angry last night she didn’t sleep until almost dawn. Now she woke up early again, threw a blanket over her head, and cursed Xie Yunshu, “Rabbit spirit, pfft! Deserved to be smashed by the Monkey King’s staff!”

Her younger sister, Lin Cuixiang, murmured from the lower bunk, “Sis, the rabbit spirit didn’t die—she went off with Chang’e.”

Then she quickly covered her mouth—oops! She had promised Yunshu-jie not to tell anyone about the TV show.

“Don’t tell Yunshu-jie I said that, okay? Or she won’t let me watch TV tonight!”

“Shut up! Who cares where the rabbit spirit went!” Lin Cuiping was fuming, her stomach practically hurting with rage. If she could beat up Xie Yunshu, she’d go downstairs and brawl right now!

—

For the second vegetable dish, Xie Yunshu stir-fried mung bean sprouts with strips of tofu skin and added a dash of vinegar to go perfectly with steamed buns. After plating everything, she purposely packed a portion of bean sprouts into a disposable meal box and, after thinking a moment, added half a duck head to it.

It was windy today, so she brought an extra plastic sheet to cover the food and planned to heat it on the stove once she got to the site.

Li Shengli came again, same as yesterday, mug in hand and voice breezy. “Girl, the wind’s strong today, better serve the food quickly. We’ll eat behind the building. You better prepare a big umbrella too—what’ll we do if it rains one day?”

Xie Yunshu smiled at him. “Then I won’t come out if it rains!”

“No way,” Li Shengli got anxious. “If you don’t show up, we’ll all go hungry…”

Once he saw it was duck stew today, he beamed. “Nice meal today! Give me two ladles of duck, and one of chili—spicy food keeps you warm all over!”

Among the people eating, Li Shengli was clearly the most generous. From his accent, he seemed local.

Xie Yunshu asked curiously, “Big brother, are you from Haicheng too?”

“Yeah, from the southern outskirts. Been working at this site for a year now,” he replied, adding a spoonful of chili to his mug with some pride. “See those twenty-something guys over there? I brought them all to work here.”

Now she understood—he was probably the team leader, a contractor of sorts. No wonder he didn’t skimp on food.

A large basin of food was already half gone. Today more unfamiliar faces had come to eat. By 12:30 p.m., the rice and duck stew were completely sold out, and only a few portions of bean sprouts were left.

Xie Yunshu glanced toward the site gate. Not many people were coming out anymore.

Now she had a feel for it—prepping for 60 people was just right. Even if there were leftovers, they wouldn’t be much, and she could take them home.

But… where was Qiangzi today?

After selling the last portion of bean sprouts, she still hadn’t seen Qiangzi. Frowning, she pulled out the disposable meal box she had saved in the warmer, along with two buns. A twinge of regret—should’ve just sold it. That’s two cents per veggie portion!

There was a bit of rice and two buns left. She packed up to head home, planning to stop by the market for some meat.

Just as she was finishing up and had extinguished the stove, a pair of ragged shoes appeared in front of her. “Comrade, are there any buns left?”

Xie Yunshu looked up and smiled. “I thought you weren’t coming today!”

Qiangzi looked a bit embarrassed, pulling out a folded dime. “I want two buns. One ladle of pickles is fine, no need to give too much.”

“Why are you so late? Doesn’t everyone get off work at the same time?” she asked while handing him the buns. Then she packed up the leftover pickles in a bag and handed it over too. “These are too old to save, take them for tonight.”

Qiangzi froze, then quickly accepted. “Thank you, comrade.”

“Don’t call me ‘comrade,’” Xie Yunshu said, feeling awkward. “My name’s Xie Yunshu. Just call me by name, or call me ‘little sis’ like the others.”

Qiangzi didn’t respond to that but glanced at her tricycle. “Everything’s sold out already? If I come at the same time tomorrow, could you save me two buns? I’m fine with or without pickles…”

Sigh. This guy was oddly particular—always showed up when everyone else was gone, when the food was nearly sold out.

Then it clicked—he was deliberately coming late so no one would see him taking free pickles. He was worried about losing face.

Not shameless at all—just someone with pride who had been bowed by life.

She sighed and pulled out the disposable meal box she’d saved under a blanket. “Here’s some leftovers I didn’t sell. Take it home and eat it. Otherwise, it’d just go to waste.”

Then she muttered, half-scolding, “And you didn’t even bring your own container. These disposable boxes cost money, you know—so wasteful.”

Qiangzi stood stunned. He looked down at the box and asked softly, “This… it’s free?”

“Yeah, it’s free,” she nodded. “No one at home likes mung bean sprouts. Can’t sell just a bit like this. Since you’re the last one here, you may as well take it.”