Chapter 30 – Did You Make This Especially for Me?

Currently, her warehouse still had 39 Shanghai-brand watches, 50 Hongqi-brand watches, 99 Kaige-brand radios, 20 Beijing-brand black-and-white TVs, and 100 Great Wall-brand electric fans. Not to mention refrigerators, washing machines, color TVs, and other items that she couldn’t put out for now.

So many goods! Did the King of Hell poke a hornet’s nest at the factory?

Manman thought to herself that she would pick out a Shanghai-brand men’s watch based on Lin Shuhe’s reaction.

She selected some fruits and vegetables from the produce section to take to the kitchen and juice for the two little ones.

Then she went to the meat section and took a few pounds of pork belly, an old hen, and a bass fish.

Back in the space kitchen, Chen Manman juiced strawberries and grapefruit, then added yogurt, honey, and a little salt. A large jug of strawberry grapefruit yogurt juice was made and bottled into 10 glass bottles — reused milk bottles the kids drank from before, cleaned and sterilized for reuse.

Strawberry grapefruit yogurt juice is perfect for summer—appetizing and aids digestion, replenishes and enriches the blood, very suitable for children, the elderly, and women.

Leaving the space, Chen Manman gave the freshly made juice to her grandpa, grandma, the two kids, and her sister-in-law.

She kept one bottle for herself and planned to take the rest to the fields for Chen’s father and others.

The two kids happily hugged their bottles and drank with big gulps.
“Mom, this is so delicious!” Dahu licked his lips, clearly wanting more.

Erhu closed his eyes in enjoyment. “Mm, sour and sweet, really tasty!”

Then the two brothers turned and ran back to the radio, as it was time for the afternoon story segment, which they now followed daily.

Chen Manman smiled at the brothers and shouldered her basket, heading out.

On the way, by the riverbank, she saw Chen Xiaoli washing clothes. The pile of dirty laundry beside her was like a small mountain.

Seeing Chen Manman, Chen Xiaoli glared at her fiercely.

If not for Chen Manman, how could Grandpa and Grandma have cut ties with them? Now all the housework fell on Chen Manman—waking up before dawn to cook, cutting grass to feed pigs and chickens, making lunch, taking care of the nephews, washing clothes and fetching water in the afternoon, and cooking again at night!

Only a few days into this, Chen Xiaoli couldn’t stand it anymore. It was all Chen Manman’s fault! Otherwise, Grandpa and Grandma would still be doing it all!

Why didn’t Chen Manman have to wash clothes or serve the family’s needs? Why did she always dress so nicely? Looking down at her own grey, patched clothes, Chen Xiaoli seethed with resentment.

Her new skirt, secretly bought a few days ago in the county, was taken by her sister-in-law. Yet her parents and brother sided with her sister-in-law. Her sister-in-law tearfully claimed she was pregnant and wanted to alter the skirt for the baby. Her mother didn’t hesitate to give the new skirt to her sister-in-law.

Chen Xiaoli hated her guts and resented Chen Manman even more.

Chen Manman didn’t know any of this, but saw the hateful, venomous look in Chen Xiaoli’s eyes and found it inexplicable.

Ignoring her, Chen Manman wanted to quickly deliver the juice to the fields; the sun was still blazing hot!

“Manman!” Chen Xiaoli threw down the laundry and hurried after her.

“Manman, wait! Can you please talk to Grandpa and Grandma and ask them to come back? I’m doing all the chores, cooking, and laundry every day…”

Hearing this, Chen Manman stopped and gave a half-smile, half-smirk.
“What? You want Grandpa and Grandma to come back and do your work? Wash your clothes?” She looked at Chen Xiaoli as if she were crazy.

Chen Xiaoli was a bit embarrassed but said, “Grandpa and Grandma used to do all this!”

Chen Manman: “……”

“Get it straight! Grandpa and Grandma have cut ties with your family now. They’re under no obligation to do these chores. If you don’t want to do them, find your mom! If it really doesn’t work out, just get married and leave!”
Chen Manman was utterly speechless—were there really so many oddballs in this era?

Not wanting to waste any more breath, Chen Manman turned sideways, shouldered her basket, and left without looking back.

Chen Xiaoli stomped her foot where she stood.
“Ugh! Fox spirit!” She just couldn’t stand Chen Manman’s arrogance.

But Chen Manman’s words had sparked an idea in her—she could get married sooner!

The original plan was to marry in November, but she couldn’t take it anymore. Why not…

Her eyes darted around as a plan formed…

That night, someone saw Chen Xiaoli and her boyfriend hiding in the reeds by the river. Since they were courting, no big scene happened. Eventually, the team leader—Chen Manman’s father—stepped in, demanding they go get their marriage certificate the next day. A dilapidated house was allocated for the young couple to live in temporarily, and the matter was settled. But that’s another story!

Meanwhile, Chen Manman handed bottle after bottle of strawberry grapefruit yogurt juice to her father and mother. Lin Shuhe stood nearby, gazing at Chen Manman eagerly.

His deep eyes suddenly filled with expectation, and Chen Manman felt a little shy as she handed him a bottle.
“Here!” She teased, dog man!

The man was tall and graceful; upon hearing her words, his eyes lit up.
“Manman, did you make this especially for me?”

Chen Father looked at him in surprise; usually, he saw his son-in-law as a cold and distant man.

Chen Eldest Brother wore a sly grin, his dark face showing white teeth, teasing the two.

Chen Manman blushed with embarrassment. Thinking of herself as a modern young woman from the 21st century, she couldn’t believe how easily she blushed, truly embarrassing for someone from a time traveler’s generation!

Back home, she took out the “customized” iron pot and gave it to her grandfather. After hearing that his granddaughter successfully sold the schisandra berries that afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma hurriedly began processing the schisandra.

Chen Manman took out the 96.6 yuan she earned today, then found a new notebook to start bookkeeping.

This batch of schisandra processing was done with help from her grandparents and sister-in-law, and she planned to share some money with them.

To avoid future family conflicts—and because her sister-in-law was pregnant and couldn’t go pick schisandra berries outside—they planned that her sister-in-law and grandmother would process the berries at home while her grandfather picked fresh schisandra and Chen Manman sold them.

Grandparents were fine, but she had to be clear about the money for her sister-in-law.

She planned to discuss everything with her parents that evening before deciding on the final distribution.

Not thinking any further, Chen Manman got up to prepare dinner. Today, she wanted to make “Big Plate Chicken” for the family to try.

She chopped the fresh chicken into pieces, put them in a basin, rinsed several times with salted water.

She added an appropriate amount of water into a pot and boiled the chicken pieces in cold water to blanch them, setting them aside afterward.

She heated oil in a pan, stir-fried chili peppers, star anise, scallions, ginger, garlic, and rock sugar until fragrant. Then she added the soul sauce—Pixian Doubanjiang—and stir-fried it until red oil appeared.

She put the chicken pieces into the pan, stir-fried evenly, added light soy sauce for coloring.

After adding beer and water, she simmered it for 15 minutes, then added potatoes, green peppers, and onions, seasoned with salt, and simmered for another 15 minutes before serving.

The recipe was simple. She also stir-fried some vegetable dishes, made dozens of thin pancakes, and finally cooked a pot of cornmeal porridge.