Chapter 52: This Is Not a Fool, This Is Madness

After so many days, Xie Yunshu had already become quite skilled at selling meals. Not a single bit was left in the two big pots.

Qiangzi squatted nearby eating. In his bowl were two pieces of pork belly, but he kept them until the very end, unwilling to eat them.

Xie Yunshu glanced at him: “It’ll taste bad once it gets cold, don’t overthink it. I’m just thankful you helped me find business to sell to. I don’t like owing people favors. But remember, no more meat tomorrow — this small business of mine isn’t easy!”

Though she said it wasn’t easy, every day she still only charged him one dime.

Men at the construction site usually ate ravenously; Qiangzi was no exception. But when it came to those two pieces of pork belly, he ate them in small bites. The last time he tasted meat was about a week ago — the duck head Xie Yunshu had saved for him.

Before Xie Yunshu came to sell food at the site, how long had it been since he ate meat? He couldn’t even remember…

Xie Yunshu guessed it was a bit early to collect lunchboxes at the project office, so she just sat on the tricycle chatting with Qiangzi: “Qiangzi, how old is your daughter? Is she your only kid?”

Qiangzi’s hometown was near Shaoxing, not far from Haicheng — about three hours by train. She had heard from Li Shengli that Qiangzi had a daughter who was apparently in poor health, which might explain his frugality with food.

Talking about his daughter, Qiangzi smiled faintly: “Only one child, staying with her grandparents back home.”

Working at the site was hard — from early morning past six till dark, with only about an hour at noon for a break. It was all physical labor, but the pay was good.

They earned six or seven yuan a day, which was considered high wages in the 1980s.

So unless family conditions were really tough, these workers didn’t usually eat as frugally as Qiangzi — not even sparing vegetables. So how poor must his family be?

“Living with grandparents?” Xie Yunshu responded and casually asked, “What about your wife?”

Qiangzi’s face showed the familiar awkwardness again: “I… I don’t have a wife…”

“Huh?” Xie Yunshu’s eyes widened. No wife, but where did the kid come from?

Her gaze became complicated. If something had happened to Qiangzi’s wife, she would say “my wife passed away.” But “no wife” meant Qiangzi was still unmarried?

Qiangzi’s dark face reddened a bit. His lips moved, then he quietly explained: “Tiantian is a kid I picked up. She’s just five years old. When I first saw her, she was no bigger than a kitten. I felt sorry and took her in.”

He originally planned to send her away, but the little girl had difficulty breathing. The hospital diagnosed her with congenital heart disease; she needed careful care and daily medication.

Sending her away would be like sending her to die. He softened and kept her.

That decision completely changed his life. The woman he met through matchmaking refused to continue dating him. Most of his earnings went to the child.

Many advised him to give the child up since she wasn’t his biological daughter — why feel attached? But the longer he kept her, the harder it was to part with her. Although his parents sometimes scolded him, deep down, they sympathized.

Later, a doctor told him congenital heart disease could be operated on, preferably abroad where the technology was better. If successful, she could be a healthy child.

But it required at least 100,000 yuan — a staggering sum. Even if he worked on the site, earning a few yuan a day, no boss would pay that all at once, especially for a found child.

This isn’t foolishness — this is madness…

Xie Yunshu was stunned for a long time before processing this. The reason Qiangzi worked hard and saved so much was this.

She quietly got off the tricycle and changed the subject: “I’m going to the project office to get lunchboxes. You should drink some hot water. If your stomach gets bad, how will you work?”

Qiangzi quickly stood: “I’m going back to work.”

He was always the last to eat and the last to return to the site. Li Shengli glanced at him and shouted loudly: “Brothers, get to work! In two days, we’re going home for the festival! Let’s hustle so the boss can pay us!”

That was motivation — everyone enthusiastically started working again.

Qiangzi carried a bundle of cement steel rods, nearly 200 pounds, almost bending his back. But he was used to it and even felt particularly strong today.

Maybe it was because he had eaten those two big pieces of pork belly…

At the project office, everyone was talking about yesterday’s lunch.

“Yesterday was good, I was stuffed. Manager Tian was generous. That box lunch must’ve cost a fortune.”

“Wonder if we’ll get to eat that again tomorrow. The past few days, what was that food? No taste, barely enough.”

“Just home-cooked stuff, but why does it taste so good? Even better than my wife’s cooking!”

Tian Hao, the logistics manager, couldn’t help bragging. He was almost smiling with his mouth crooked. Food worries had nearly killed him, but with this girl delivering meals, he could finally relax and stop worrying every day.

Xie Yunshu’s lips were smiling too. She successfully collected thirty yuan and quickly signed the agreement. Her little face looked even brighter with happiness: “Manager Tian, happy cooperation!”

Tian Hao’s heart skipped a beat. Wow, this girl was truly captivating…

After Shen Subai finished a meeting and came back, he saw Tian Hao holding a paper, grinning stupidly. He looked over and saw Xie Yunshu’s name at the bottom.

“Agreement signed?”

Tian Hao didn’t answer directly: “Brother Shen, the name sounds so nice! Yunshu, Yunshu — she must be a gentle girl! And cooks so well, a perfect wife and mother…”

Shen Subai gave him a cold look: “She’s here to earn money, not to be a perfect wife and mother.”

Tian Hao shrugged and put the agreement in a drawer: “Why suffer if you marry a rich guy? If my wife looked that good, I’d let her enjoy life at home — just cooking and washing clothes.”

“Is that enjoying life?” Shen Subai took out the agreement and put it in his pocket: “I’ll keep this. The food issue is solved. You go to the site and work with me on the blueprints.”

Tian Hao wailed: “Can’t I take a break?”

The answer was ruthless: “No, unless you want to stay in logistics forever.”

Following divorce procedures, after Xie Yunshu went to the street office for the referral letter, she took it to the People’s Court to file the lawsuit. The court staff were shocked to see the case was a divorce and the husband was the famous Haicheng hospital doctor, Lu Zhixing.

“Miss, once the court grants the divorce, there’s no turning back.”

Like the staff at the street office, the clerk here couldn’t help but warn. The lawsuit would be sent to the husband’s workplace, making the divorce a city-wide scandal.

A jobless wife suing the famous doctor for divorce would ruin the Lu family’s reputation no matter what.