Chapter 24: If He Weren’t So Poor, He Wouldn’t Be Like This

Leng Finlan felt something strange about herself—her daughter was about to get divorced, yet she wasn’t the least bit worried. In fact, she had smiled more over the past two days than when Yunshu first got married. It was as if some unseen force had told her that this was the best possible ending.

“You really dare to dream! You’re bringing the TV back home—do you think Lu Zhixing will just let that happen?” she laughed, shaking her head, thinking Xie Yunshu was just joking. “I’m not a child anymore, what do I need a TV for?”

Xie Yunshu snorted, “He doesn’t watch it anyway. And besides, he owes me money—so isn’t it only fair that I take his stuff?”

She used to love him and was willing to wear the cloak of a virtuous wife. But now that they were getting divorced, money was the most important thing to her!

Leng Finlan only thought she was joking. They hadn’t even divorced yet, and she was already planning to move things back to her parents’ house?

She dumped a basket of potatoes into the basin and said, “Enough. Go get some sleep. You worked all day—aren’t you tired?”

Xie Yunshu folded the potato sack and set it aside, then pulled Leng Finlan up too. “You go sleep too. You’ve got to help me work tomorrow! Oh, and from now on, you’re not allowed to go out washing clothes anymore. You might as well work for your daughter. I’ll pay you a whole dollar a day!”

“You’re spouting nonsense again!” Leng Finlan gave her a playful smack on the butt, just like when she was a kid. “You sly little thing, trying to charge your own mom! I don’t want your money—save it for your dowry!”

With yesterday’s experience, Xie Yunshu worked more efficiently today.

Just after 11:00, she rode her tricycle to the construction site gate. She didn’t start shouting right away. Instead, she sat down, took off her hat and scarf, and poured herself a big glass of hot water to cool. Once she got busy, she wouldn’t even have time to pour water!

She also brought a large ceramic jar today. In addition to chili oil, she’d prepared a huge batch of spicy pickled radish. Whoever wanted some could have a bite—it didn’t cost much anyway.

Everyone on the construction site was used to living frugally. But most were men, and while a few might try to freeload, most wouldn’t. Anyone who wanted her chili oil would at least buy something—even if not meat, at least a steamed bun.

They’d have to spend money to buy it elsewhere, and hers was hot and fresh!

She was just a young woman, and no one really tried to freeload off her every day. And even if someone did, she had to learn to let it go—you can’t make money in business if you fuss over every penny.

Her cup of hot water cooled quickly. She’d only taken a few sips when seven or eight men showed up—all familiar faces.

“Hey girl, what’s on the menu today?”

The man in front looked about forty—he’d brought a big group yesterday too. Seeing Xie Yunshu, he grinned naturally. “None of us brought rice today, so we’re buying both dishes and carbs!”

“Braised pork with potatoes and cellophane noodles, and stir-fried garlic scapes—both full of flavor!” Xie Yunshu flashed a dazzling smile at the group of men, her cheeks rosy and bright with enthusiasm. It made people feel cheerful just looking at her.

She lifted the pot lid, and a rich aroma of meat wafted out. Xie Yunshu quickly took the man’s container. “Big brother, today we’ve also got pickles—free! But just one chopstick’s worth per person. I spent half the day prepping those radish strips!”

She was bold and straightforward—not shy in the slightest.

Leng Shengli laughed heartily. “Don’t worry—we’re not the freeloading type!”

Some of the hungrier ones couldn’t even wait and just squatted by the roadside to eat. The hot meal had the taste of home. Some of the younger workers even teared up. They’d traveled hundreds of miles from home to work here and hadn’t had a hot meal in days. Now with meat and veggies, and at a cheap price—it gave them strength to keep going.

Just as she finished serving that batch, a dozen more customers arrived—mostly yesterday’s regulars, with a few new faces…

While dishing out food and collecting money, Xie Yunshu mentally calculated—judging from this pace, she’d sell out all 40 portions again today! Sure enough, within half an hour, the braised pork was almost gone, and only three or four portions of the stir-fried cabbage remained.

Then a familiar face showed up—it was Qiangzi, the man who freeloaded chili oil yesterday. Today, he actually brought money—but only ten cents.

“Comrade, I—I want two steamed buns…” He looked embarrassed but glanced longingly at the pickle jar. “Is the pickle still free? Can I take two chopsticks’ worth to stuff in my bun?”

What a penny-pincher!

Xie Yunshu sighed helplessly. “I already said, the pickles are free, but the radishes cost money too. One chopstick per person. If everyone grabbed more, what would be left for others?”

Radish might be cheap, but it still cost something. And besides, others at least bought dishes and buns—she was generous because they spent money. This guy just wanted two buns. After cost, she’d only make two cents off him. And he still had the nerve to ask for more pickles?

The men squatting nearby burst into laughter.

“Qiangzi, have you no shame? Trying to freeload off a young girl’s generosity?”

“Don’t bother with him, girl! This guy pinches every penny—don’t spoil him!”

“In this freezing weather, who wants to be out selling food unless they have to? If Qiangzi doesn’t want to spend, then let him go hungry!”

Qiangzi’s dark face turned red. He mumbled and put the bun back in his pocket, forcing an awkward smile. “Then… then I won’t have pickles. These buns are soft—I’ll just eat them plain.”

He turned and slowly walked back to the construction site, unlike the others who ate right there.

Xie Yunshu frowned and shouted, “Wait a sec! I only said take less, not none!”

“No, it’s fine…” Qiangzi clearly felt ashamed and quickly waved her off. “My throat’s a little sore these days, shouldn’t eat anything salty. Just the buns are fine…”

Xie Yunshu huffed, annoyed. “Then why’d you just ask for two chopsticks of pickles? Are you eating them or not? If not, I’m not even selling you buns next time! I’m busy—don’t waste my time!”

The other workers wore decent enough clothes—at least they were warm. Getting sick in winter would mean missing work and needing money for medicine. But Qiangzi’s cotton jacket didn’t even fit and was full of holes.

If he weren’t really poor, he wouldn’t be like this.

Qiangzi awkwardly turned around, blushing, and pulled out his buns. “Just a little… that’s enough…”

“No more than that!” Xie Yunshu snorted, slapped a big chopstickful of radish on his bun, then scooped a spoonful of chili oil on top, grumbling fiercely: “One scoop of each. Don’t even think about freeloading off me!”

This one chopstick’s worth of pickles was more than two chopsticks’ worth from others. Qiangzi paused for a moment, murmured a quiet “thank you,” and turned to leave.

Li Shengli had already finished eating. He stood up and sighed, “Qiangzi has a sick daughter at home. Needs money just to keep her alive, so of course he’s stingy with spending. Don’t take it personally…”

Qiangzi was the most frugal person on the construction site. Even the padded coat on his back was something others had thrown away. He was from the south and hadn’t expected Haicheng’s winters to be this cold. He layered on short jackets and thin outerwear, one on top of another, but still shivered from the cold—and even then, he couldn’t bring himself to buy a proper coat.

Li Shengli couldn’t stand it anymore and deliberately “threw out” one of his own worn-out coats, which gave Qiangzi something to survive the winter in. Life wasn’t easy for anyone working on this site, but someone like Qiangzi was truly rare. Everyone was struggling—how many people could he really help?

Xie Yunshu raised her delicate eyebrows. “Why would I take it personally? He bought his own buns, not like I gave them to him!”

Li Shengli seemed a little surprised by her response. After a moment of silence, he laughed. “What are you cooking tomorrow? Better make more—there are at least fifty or sixty guys on this site who need to eat. What you made today wasn’t enough!”

Xie Yunshu looked at the nearly empty big pot, uncertain. “If I make too much, who’s going to buy the leftovers?”

She was just starting this food business, and hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly. Nor had she realized that so many people worked on just one construction site.

Li Shengli seemed to guess what she was thinking and pointed to the fenced-off construction area. “This place is being developed by a rich boss from the south. Just among us laborers, there are dozens. You’ve got foundation workers, concrete mixers, crane operators, and a bunch of guys with blue and yellow helmets—everyone’s got to eat, right? Trust me, prepare food for fifty people tomorrow, and I guarantee it’ll all sell out!”

Fifty people?

Xie Yunshu widened her eyes slightly. “Brother, don’t be messing with me!”

Li Shengli was exasperated. “Why would I lie to you? We’ve got a dozen guys just tying rebar who’ll definitely eat here every day. Didn’t a bunch of the foundation guys show up today too?”

The food this girl made was tasty and affordable—way better than gnawing on dry buns every day!

Before Xie Yunshu could finish calculating things in her head, four or five more workers came by to eat, and the last of the dishes quickly sold out…

She checked her watch—it was only 11:10. There were probably still some late lunchers on the way. If she thought about it that way, what that big brother said might really be right.

Maybe… she should prepare food for fifty people tomorrow?

As she cleaned up the pots and pans, Xie Yunshu was practically blooming with joy inside. Feeding fifty people meant a daily profit of nearly seven yuan. The more she sold, the more profit she’d make…

But cooking half again as much as she originally planned would be tricky at home. The small kitchen balcony wasn’t big enough for the big pot, and fetching water was too much of a hassle. Long-term, this definitely wouldn’t work…

But no matter what—she had money in her pocket now!

She pedaled the tricycle fast. Li Fenlan was waiting at the door. As soon as she saw her, she asked, “All sold out?”

“All gone!” Xie Yunshu replied, her gaze deliberately sweeping over a few nosy neighbors. Then she raised her voice on purpose: “Not a bit left! Mom, I just bought some ribs from the market—we’re having pork rib soup tonight!”

Ever since Xie Yunshu got fired from the packaging factory, some people sympathized, but others were waiting to see her fall—especially when word got out that she was divorcing Lu Zhiyan and planned to live on her own. They were all waiting for her to crash and burn.

What kind of job was this, cooking for a bunch of grubby migrant workers? Wasn’t she ashamed? And even if she made a bit of money, what could she really do with it?

Now hearing that she’d only been at it for two days and was already buying ribs, Sister Liu from the 8th floor couldn’t help but chide her, “Yunshu, you’ve only been earning money for two days—can you really afford ribs? You need to be frugal! Unlike us, you don’t have a steady job anymore. Every penny counts, or you’ll regret it later!”

It sounded like concern, but was really a jab—mocking her for losing her job and not having a future.

Xie Yunshu smiled sweetly at her. “Sister Liu, ribs aren’t that expensive! I’m buying beef tomorrow to stew, too! What, don’t tell me you can’t even bear to eat ribs? They’re really cheap!”

Ribs cost about 1.8 yuan per jin. For a family to eat a proper meal, at least two jin were needed. Unless it was a special occasion, most wouldn’t splurge on it often.

Sister Liu knew Xie Yunshu had a sharp tongue but was still fuming. “Go ahead and eat! Hope you get tired of eating meat every day!”

Xie Yunshu ignored her. She handed the ribs she’d bought to Li Fenlan and, as she passed by Grandma Zhang’s door, knocked deliberately. “Granny, I’m making braised ribs tonight—super tender! I’ll bring you a portion!”

Grandma Zhang’s voice came from inside the house. “Then I’ll steam some rice and bring it over!”

After setting things down and taking a couple sips of water, Xie Yunshu got ready to head out again. “Mom, I’m going to pick up the TV—clear off the table at home.”

“TV?” Li Fenlan was stunned. She thought Xie Yunshu was just venting yesterday, but she actually meant it. She quickly tried to stop her: “Don’t! That TV was bought by the Lu family. What are you doing bringing it back to your mother’s house?”

Xie Yunshu swiftly tied her hair into a ponytail and smiled. “So what if Lu Zhiyan owes me money?”

So what if it was bought by the Lu family? Since they had no shame left, why should she hold back? She was just taking a TV—if she could, she’d empty the whole house!

In the courtyard, Chen Xue was hanging clothes. Her eyes drifted toward Lu Zhiyan’s place and she muttered, “The Lu family all came over yesterday… brought Zhou Xinyue and her son…”

Sister Li pretended not to hear. She used to think the Lu family was prestigious and that Lu Zhiyan was an intellectual. But now she just thought they were out of their minds. Who brings another woman and child into the house before the divorce is even finalized?

If Zhou Xinyue’s son weren’t already nearly five, you’d think he was Lu Zhiyan’s illegitimate child.

If Xie Yunshu had any kind of family background, would the Lu family dare act like this? Even if her mother were still alive, they wouldn’t dare bully her like this. If her own daughter were treated this way, she’d storm over and claw someone’s face off.

Bottom line—Xie Yunshu was easy to bully. Single-parent family, a soft-spoken mother without a job, a younger brother still in high school…

Chen Xue wasn’t trying to strike up a conversation. After hanging up the clothes, she was already scheming how to cozy up to Zhou Xinyue. Word was that Zhang Qingshan and Lu Zhiyan had helped her file for a housing spot in the family compound, and the approval was about to come through. Once that happened, would Xie Yunshu really be able to stay at her mother’s house?

With her temper, she’d definitely come back to tear Zhou Xinyue apart. If that happened, Chen Xue figured she’d side with Zhou Xinyue—get in her good graces. Then when the time came, she’d have a strong ally. That way, her husband Qingshan’s position as director would be secure.