Chapter 13

Brother Liu’s eyes lit up, and he squeezed through the crowd and said, “Girl, it’s you!”

After eating the cold noodles that day, he kept thinking about it, wondering when he would have the chance to eat it again. He didn’t expect to have the chance today.

Seeing that Brother Liu and Jiang Yiyi knew each other, the man didn’t dare to say anything more. He took out three cents and said, “Give me one.”

With him taking the lead and Brother Liu backing up the team, no one dared to say anything. After tasting the food, they all paid for it. Just like yesterday, it was almost sold out in half an hour.

Jiang Yiyi kept three copies, one for Jiang Jinzhong and two for Brother Liu.

After cutting and mixing, he handed it to Brother Liu, “Thank you Brother Liu for today.”

Brother Liu didn’t want to take advantage of her. A young girl selling cold noodles must be from a poor family. He had a job and could earn some extra money from time to time, so he didn’t mind this little money.

“I will come here to sell again in the future, and I will have to trouble you, Brother Liu. If you give me money, it means you don’t want to help me.”

Brother Liu was also a straightforward person. Upon hearing this, he put back the money he had taken out. “It’s not easy for you either. I can’t take advantage of you. So, I’ll take you to a place.”

Brother Liu took Jiang Yiyi to a state-owned restaurant. The original owner had been there many times to buy Bai Jun’s favorite dishes, and Jiang Yiyi still had memories of it.

Brother Liu asked her to wait outside. After a while, he went in and called out the man, who was in his forties and slightly fat.

“This is my cousin, he’s the manager here, bring the cold noodles back for him to try.”

Jiang Yiyi cut the cold noodles reserved for Jiang Jinzhong, put them in an enamel jar, added cucumber and gluten, and handed the small spoon of chili oil to the man.

The man understood what she meant and added a small spoonful himself. Jiang Yiyi mixed it well and handed a new pair of chopsticks to him. The man took it and tasted it, then was stunned for a moment, and tasted several more times in a row before putting the chopsticks on the enamel pot.

“This portion is 30 cents. If you only want the cold noodles, I’ll give you 20 cents.”

The man glanced at Brother Liu and said, “Leave ten for now.”

“Today’s is sold out. This needs to be made now. Can I send it to you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow morning at ten.”

After saying that, the man glanced at the enamel pot. Brother Liu hurriedly stepped forward and followed him in. Soon he came out with four steaming big buns for Jiang Yiyi.

His brother-in-law was the manager of a state-owned restaurant, but he wanted to take advantage of the girl. He would not let him succeed and went straight to the kitchen to get four buns.

“Thank you, Brother Liu.”

After Brother Liu walked away, Jiang Yiyi went to the county’s No. 1 Middle School, where Jiang Jinzhong was already waiting at the gate.

Jiang Yiyi stopped the tricycle and said, “Today’s cold noodles are sold out. These are the steamed buns from the state-owned restaurant. Come and eat them.”

Hearing that they were buns from the state-owned restaurant, Jiang Jinzhong only took two and left the other two for Jiang Yiyi, “Sister, have some too.”

Jiang Yiyi was indeed hungry, but she only ate one and gave the other three to Jiang Jingzhong. After eating, she watched him go into the school, ride his tricycle to buy a big watermelon, bring it back home and ask Gu Yunchi to put it in the patio.

Seeing that they were all sold out, Gu’s mother and Gu Yunchi were even more excited, but Jiang Yiyi had other plans, “Make 200 copies tomorrow.”

The two were startled.

“Can, can it be sold?”

“After selling out at the factory gate, I’ll go shopping in the streets.”

Retail sales are not her goal. Besides, cold noodles are only popular in summer. After summer, sales will decrease. She wants to take advantage of this opportunity to make more money.

Mother Gu felt sorry for her, “Actually, selling 100 copies a day is good enough, don’t be too tired.”

It was indeed tiring, and she could barely lift her wrists, but she enjoyed it. She liked the feeling of making money, and “after a while, I won’t feel tired anymore.”

Mother Gu didn’t understand why she wasn’t tired after a few days, but she didn’t ask much. Her daughter-in-law was a woman with her own ideas, so she just listened to her.

She cooked the meal herself and asked Gu Yunchi to get some warm water in the bathroom. She asked Jiang Yiyi to take a bath first. After she finished, she personally served the meal to her. “Yiyi, mother asked the villagers to write a letter to Yunze today. Please help mail it tomorrow.”

If Mother Gu hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Yiyi would have almost forgotten about Gu Yunze. She asked, “Why did you suddenly remember to write to him?”

In the original owner’s memory, Gu’s mother hadn’t written to Gu Yunze for almost two years.

“He hasn’t been home for almost two years. It’s time for him to visit his family.”

What Gu’s mother didn’t say was that she wanted Gu Yunze to come back and become a real couple with Jiang Yiyi. She knew that there was no substantial progress between the two on their wedding night, but a military marriage cannot be divorced easily, and Jiang Yiyi asked for so much money. She was not worried that Jiang Yiyi didn’t want to live with her eldest son. The reason why she didn’t dare to write to her eldest son to ask him to come back was that she was afraid that his eldest son would be worried when he saw her appearance and would not be able to stay in the army with peace of mind.

Now Jiang Yiyi is wholeheartedly thinking about her family. She feels that her health is getting better, so she thinks about letting her eldest son come back.

Jiang Yiyi thought that it didn’t matter whether Gu Yunze came back or not. If Gu Yunze didn’t come back, she would be more comfortable and could focus on her career better. If Gu Yunze came back and didn’t agree with her selling cold noodles, it would be so troublesome to get a divorce.

After thinking for a while, he said, “Writing a letter is too troublesome. I will go to the post office and call him some other day to tell his mother that she misses him and ask him to come back to visit.”

It would be faster to call, so Mother Gu naturally agreed.

After dinner, Jiang Yiyi took a short nap. When she woke up, she felt that she could not lift her right arm. She lay there without moving, and slowly moved her right arm until she could lift it up. Then she stood up and stood on the kang, swinging her arm vigorously.

The two little girls were still playing under the shade of the tree, looking towards her room as they played. Seeing that she had gotten up, they held her hand and ran into her room on their short legs. They looked at her with their big eyes twinkling, and called out in a childish voice, “Aunt.”

No longer having to look at people’s faces and being able to eat their fill, the two little girls became much more lively, no longer timid, and looked more energetic.

Jiang Yiyi’s heart was melted by cuteness, and she kissed each of them on the face, “Let’s go eat watermelon.”

The two little girls clapped their hands happily.

Jiang Yiyi moved a small table and placed it under the shade of a tree. The two little girls each carried a small stool. They were small but the stools were big. They staggered behind Jiang Yiyi.

“Mom, big sister, it’s time to eat watermelon.”

Two people who heard the noise came out of the house. Gu Yunchi still had needle and thread in her hand. She had already bought the cucumbers for tomorrow and was mending the kang cover for Gu’s mother. The kang cover had been used for several years and was not strong to begin with. Tiantian and Yueyue slipped off the kang and pulled a hole when they grabbed it.

Jiang Yiyi took the watermelon out of the well. It was icy cold. She cut three quarters of it and left the rest for Gu Yunyang and Gu Yuncan. “Eat it. You can buy more tomorrow after you finish it.”

“Watermelon is so expensive, how can I eat it every day?”

Gu Yunchi said.

“We make money to spend. Why do we make it if we don’t spend it? Besides, the more we spend, the more we have. We will earn more and more, don’t you think?”

Jiang Yiyi took the largest piece and gave it to Mother Gu, who nodded repeatedly, “Your sister-in-law is right, we will earn more and more.”

Several people ate the cut watermelons cleanly without throwing away the watermelon rinds. Gu’s mother washed them and pickled them, and they could be eaten as pickles in a few days.