Chapter 18: Are you going to abandon me too?

After sending the woman away, she continued to look for her second customer.

Relying on her silver tongue, she sold a lot in the morning.

The afternoon was even hotter, and there were fewer people on the street.

Shen Mingzhi moved the stall to a tree, holding a fan, her eyes scanning everywhere.

When she saw a woman with a child getting out of a car on the opposite road, she quickly chased after her with her bamboo baskets.

“Sister… Sister, wait for me!” Shen Mingzhi chased after the woman.

And in the clothing store next to her, Song Wanyin was choosing a dress. Hearing a familiar voice coming from outside, she looked through the window.

She saw Shen Mingzhi fanning a young mother with a palm fan in one hand, and holding a bottle in the other, talking to the woman.

Shen Mingzhi didn’t notice Song Wanyin in the clothing store. After promoting her medicine to the young mother, she said with a smile, “Sister, your skin is so good, I’m so envious. Is it natural?”

“Is it?” The young mother was thin-skinned and embarrassed by her praise.

“Really, it’s as white and tender as a boiled and peeled egg. But you really have to pay attention to your child, buy a bottle and try it, it doesn’t work, you don’t need to pay!” Shen Mingzhi said.

The mother was taking her child to the health center to see the rashes on her body.

After being said this, she was a little hesitant.

But thinking that she wasn’t short of money, she took out a dime and handed it to Shen Mingzhi, “Then I’ll try it.”

Shen Mingzhi quickly gave her a new bottle and a bag of fever patches, “If it works well, help me promote it. Thank you, sister, you’re beautiful and kind.”

The mother blushed and left with her child.

When it was almost dark, Shen Mingzhi also closed her stall. When she returned home, Aunt Wang hadn’t left yet, and there was a strange young man in the room.

The young man was very tall, but as thin as a bamboo pole, his skin had a pale color due to lack of nutrition, and his eyes were black and deep, like an unfathomable pool. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt that had frayed edges, military green pants, and a pair of very old sneakers.

He also had a black cloth bag slung across his body.

“Sister, drink water.” As soon as he saw her, the young man immediately handed her a cup of moderately hot water.

Shen Mingzhi took the water and asked with a smile, “What are you to Aunt Wang?”

The young man quickly replied, “She’s my stepmother. The factory didn’t have any work today, so she asked me to come help you take care of the children.”

Shen Mingzhi said oh, “What factory do you work at?”

“I work on the assembly line in a daily chemical factory.” After the young man finished answering, he walked to the steps on the side, sat down, and took out a math book from his bag to read.

He was taciturn, and didn’t seem to be someone who liked to talk.

After drinking the hot water, she took out the money that Aunt Wang and she had earned today from her pocket and started to calculate the profit sharing for the two of them.

Aunt Wang sat next to her.

Shen Mingzhi counted while softly asking her, “Has he not finished school yet?”

“Do you also think he’s taciturn and not easy to get along with?” Aunt Wang said with concern, “This child was born to my sister, and he’s the fifth child in the family. They didn’t want him at first, they were going to throw him away. My sister begged me, so he was registered in my family. When his family didn’t want him, he was already several years old and sensible.”

In this era, children who were born in excess of the birth limit in the village couldn’t be registered, and there were too many children who were not wanted.

“After coming to my house, he became a little less talkative. My man looked at him like that, and he didn’t like him no matter how he looked at him. Later, it cost money for the child to go to school, and he always complained, so he became even more silent. He begged me to finish elementary school, and my man resolutely refused to support him, so it was intermittent. I took the money as a nanny and secretly divided some for him to save, and he barely finished junior high school. He’s still in high school, and he’s twenty-one this year. He’s not willing to give up. The college entrance examination is coming up in a while, and I don’t know if he can pass it.”

Hearing this, Shen Mingzhi took an extra four yuan from the ten yuan she had earned these two days and gave it to Aunt Wang, “Let him finish school, in short, get the high school diploma first.”

“You still have two children to raise…” Aunt Wang declined.

Shen Mingzhi’s face became serious, “Of course I’m keeping that for raising the children. Don’t let him work during this time, let him prepare for the exam at home.”

She understood that he didn’t like to talk because his heart was too heavy.

“He usually lives in the factory, there’s no room for him at home, and my man also wants him to take money home…” Aunt Wang said in a low voice.

Shen Mingzhi guessed that Aunt Wang’s life at home wasn’t easy because of him, and if he quit his job at the factory, he wouldn’t have a place to live.

Her room was too small, and besides, it wasn’t safe for her, a woman, to live with an adult man.

“I’ll ask Wang Wu, and share some money with him to see if he can squeeze in with Wang Wu. But it also depends on whether he’s willing.” Shen Mingzhi also cherished talent. He had been studying so hard to get to this point, and the college entrance examination was just one step away. It would be a pity to give up at this time.

In this era, it wasn’t easy to produce a college student.

Shen Mingzhi’s words made Aunt Wang’s eyes moist, and she quickly shouted to the door, “Wang Xinian!”

The young man quickly came in, putting the book in his bag, “Stepmother, are you going home?”

“You’re really lucky, she’s letting you quit your job at the factory and prepare for the college entrance examination.” Aunt Wang walked to his side, grabbed his hand, and said with tears in her eyes.

Shen Mingzhi couldn’t help but say, “So your name is Wang Xinian, it’s a very nice name, a cultured person’s name.”

He wasn’t as happy as she had imagined, but lowered his head and said, “I saved a little myself, I can pass the exam without quitting.”

“I’ll still support you in college, can you study hard and go to a better university? Tsinghua and Peking University, can you get in?” Shen Mingzhi raised her eyes and said gently.

Wang Xinian’s university tuition was not enough, and he had been worried about it, thinking about borrowing money from someone, but he didn’t expect that someone would support him in college for free now.

Shen Mingzhi’s words shocked Aunt Wang, but she just looked at Wang Xinian eagerly.

Wang Xinian tightly clenched his trouser legs, “I’ll listen to Sister’s arrangements.”

“I’ll ask you where you live, there are about two months left until the college entrance examination, you work hard.” Shen Mingzhi stood up, her tone kind.

After she left, Aunt Wang grabbed Wang Xinian’s hand and said, choking, “Stepmother, I’m useless, letting you waste your time until now. Fortunately, Zhizhi is willing to help you… You study hard, and after you finish college, repay her well. Treat her two children as your own younger siblings, you hear me?”

Wang Xinian looked at her, and after a long while, he asked, “Are you going to throw me away too? Is it because I insist on going to school that I’ve made it difficult for you?”

Aunt Wang was stunned for a moment, and then hit him, “What nonsense are you talking about, I don’t know that you’re not having a good time in my house… Zhizhi also has difficulties, but she’s indeed much better than me. Even with two children, she’s willing to support you, it’s just that your stepmother is not capable.”