Chapter 72

On the first day of opening, Li Mo was afraid that there would be no customers, but it turned out that she was wrong.

She was busy until it got dark before she could say that today’s business needed to be closed. Even if she did two people’s beauty treatments at the same time, there were still a lot of people who hadn’t done it, so she had to ask the rest to come back tomorrow, and there were still several customers who didn’t have time to do their beauty treatments, even the acne treatment for Madame Yun. She didn’t have the time to do it.

Those who didn’t have the chance to try it all expressed their regrets and told Li Mo that they would come back the next day. They told Li Mo that they must be in the queue first, and Li Mo nodded in agreement.

However, she was still very happy today. Because everyone who tried beauty treatments today was like Madame Yue, they were very satisfied. At that time, several people said that they would probably come back in the future.

She couldn’t help but feel relieved to have a good start, even if she was a little tired, Li Mo thought as she stood up and rubbed her back, trying to relieve the soreness and fatigue.

Xiao Bao, who was obediently playing with arithmetic sticks, saw Li Mo rubbing her waist and immediately ran over, stretching out his little fleshy hand and pulling Li Mo to the chair to sit down.

Li Mo did not know what he wanted to do, but she still obediently sat down.

When Xiao Bao saw his mother sitting down, he immediately made a fist with both hands and beat Li Mo’s back.

Li Mo’s heart was warmed by him. Looking at his serious little face, the fatigue she felt from the day instantly disappeared, leaving only the warmth of her heart.

“My little baby is awesome. Mommy’s fatigue went away when I was beaten by you.

Xiao Bao’s big eyes flashed when he heard the words, and he smiled shyly with his lips pressed, but he still didn’t forget to beat Li Mo seriously. While tapping, he said in his milky voice: “Mother is tired of making money. Xiao Bao will pound your back so you won’t be tired.”

Li Mo couldn’t help but pull the little man behind her into her arms and let him sit down, giving him a fierce kiss on his little cheeks. “Okay, mommy has been tapped by the baby, so I’m not tired. My baby is really great!”

Xiao Bao smiled and stayed in Li Mo’s arms, his tender little cheek rubbing against Li Mo’s arms, full of attachment.

Li Mo remembered that she and Song Dashan had a busy day today and only saw Xiao Bao at lunchtime. The rest of the time, he was playing alone in the back.

Rubbing the little baby’s back, Li Mo asked the little man in her arms in a low voice: “Baby, what did you do today?”

Xiao Bao looked up at Li Mo and said, “Today I did arithmetic, recited the poem you taught me, and talked to the big donkey and played with him.”

The big donkey that Xiao Bao talks about was the family’s donkey and the only living creature that can interact with Xiao Bao when they are not around, as the family’s General Xiaojun and the little chicken have not been brought over.

Li Mo’s heart aches a little more when she thinks that Xiao Bao can only play with a non-speaking donkey. This child was really too good, the adults do not have time to play with him, so he played on his own, and will seriously study, the adults don’t even need to supervise, seeing that she was tired, he will also give her back massage, this kind of child, was really so good that it hurts, but also made Li Mo reflect deeply.

Although the store will be very busy in the future, they must not neglect the child. They need to spend more time with him so that he will have a happy childhood. If the child was not well raised, earning more money would be in vain.

Thinking of this, Li Mo decided to bring General Xiaojun over as soon as possible so that Xiao Bao would have more companions. Li Mo looked at the tree in the yard, and she made up her mind to use the big tree and install a small swing under the tree for Xiao Bao to play on. And she needed to go back and ask Uncle Zhang to make her a small wooden horse in the yard so that Xiao Bao could ride a pony.

Similarly, she must make time for her family; she can not devote all of her time to business, and being as busy as she is today is not an option.

Despite the help of Song Dashan and Meizi today, it was still too busy, and they couldn’t greet too many customers. Of course, this was also due to the fact that the store had just opened, and after three days, it is expected that there will not be as many people, but Meizi cannot stay in the store to help in the future because she needs to return to take care of the flower garden, and when she and Song Dashan remains, two people will not be enough.

It seems that I must find someone to help me in the store.

However, she didn’t know the people in the village well, and the only ones she knew well were the two sisters-in-law of the Zhao family, but they had families, small children, and farm work at home, so how could they come here to help her? She hopes to find a female helper who can live in the store for a long time without any delay.

It’s easy to say, but it’s really hard to overcome this condition. In this era, unmarried girls are not tied to their families, but still, it’s not suitable for them to come out and work as a helper, and no older girls were willing to do this. But for married women, were tied to their husbands, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and their children, so it was also not suitable.

The only thing you can do is to buy someone from a middleman, but the person you will buy will become her servant, and Li Mo was not really comfortable with finding a servant at home. And for people like her, who think that everyone is equal, it is awkward to buy a servant, and you don’t know what the person’s nature is in the end, and she can’t be sure of what she’ll be doing.

The more she thought about this matter, the more she had a headache. Li Mo unconsciously frowned.

At this moment, Song Dashan entered the room and saw Li Mo frowning at a glance. He hurried forward and gently stroked her forehead. “What’s the matter? Are you unhappy?”

Li Mo recovered from the annoyance and asked: “The front door is closed? Where is Meizi?”

Song Dashan nodded, then replied, “Meizi cleaned up the front. I’ll go make some dinner first. “

Li Mo took Song Dashan’s hand and let him sit down, then told him what was on her mind. “Meizi will go back to the village in a couple of days, and there are only two of us in the store, which is not enough at all. Someone has to cook at noon and at night. Otherwise, we will all go hungry.”

Song Dashan was also busy and tired today. This problem had not been thought of for a while. At this time, listening to Li Mo say so, he also found the importance of finding a helper. He could not help but propose: “Why don’t we go to the Zhao family and ask the two sisters-in-law for help? We will pay a little more for the work. “

Li Mo shook her head, “I thought about it, but it’s not suitable, the two sisters-in-law of the Zhao family have a family to serve, they are busy farming and working in the fields, the family’s children were still small, my side of the staff must stay in the store rain or shine, it’s best if she can live here, the two sisters-in-law of the Zhao family can not do it.”

After hearing Li Mo’s analysis, Song Dashan said, “Yes, I was thinking too simply. The two sisters-in-law of the Zhao family are indeed not suitable.”

Song Dashan also thought about it.

Li Mo said, “Dashan, I’m not familiar with the people in the village. Do you know anyone who can do this? In addition to the requirements I just mentioned, she must be honest and hardworking, and she must not be greedy about small deals.

Li Mo sighed. These conditions can be described as harsh. Where can I find this?

If she can’t, she can only go to a middleman to find someone; at worst, she just needs to pick one and ask for inside information on that person.

Just when Li Mo was thinking of going to a middleman to find someone, Song Dashan suddenly clapped his hands.

“I remember there was really a very suitable person in the village.”

“Hmm? Who is it?”

“The one who lives in the westernmost part of our village, I call her Sister Qin.”

Hearing Song Dashan mention such a person, Li Mo asked, “Is this person suitable? How is she suitable?”

Song Dashan sighed, with a little regret in his tone: “Sister Qin’s husband, Dazhuang, who I grew up with, only had a bad life and passed away a few years ago, leaving only Sister Qin and a son. This Sister Qin also suffered a hard life. She was sold to the village by human traffickers when she was a child, and Dazhuang’s family was very poor. His parents thought of buying him as a child bride, but just one year after they bought Sister Qin and came to the house, Dazhuang’s Dad passed away because of illness. “

Song Dashan said, frowning slightly, “Left with Da Zhuang’s mother and Da Zhuang’s sister, their life was even more bitter, but Da Zhuang had the strength, and in those days, they could barely go on, but who would have thought, after Dazhuang and Sister Qin just married, the aunt also passed away Dazhuang and Sister Qin left.”

Li Mo intuitively felt that things were not over yet, and couldn’t help asking: “And then?” What happened?”

Sure enough, there was a follow-up.

“After Sister Qin gave birth to a son, Da Zhuang accidentally fell off the mountain while going up the mountain to chop wood, and left like this at a young age, leaving Sister Qin and a kid waiting to be fed.”

Hearing this, Li Mo could imagine how difficult it would be for a woman with a child in this feudal society; the average woman could not bear it and would most likely flee, but this Sister Qin did not flee, which was admirable.

Song Dashan continued: “People in the village and other relatives of the Dazhuang family are saying that Sister Qin is person gives out bad luck, especially with the six close relatives^[1]six close relatives-father, mother, older brothers, younger brothers, wife, children.. As long as you have a relationship with her, there is an absolutely bad thing that will happen. Other relatives of Dazhuang’s family bullied this orphaned and widowed mother. They even took back the field from Da Zhuang’s family and prevented her from planting on it. I still remember that Sister Qin, resisted and was beaten to death by those people, but was stopped by the villagers, who couldn’t stand the beatings, but the villagers also disliked her. They treated her as a person who brought bad luck, and they didn’t want to care about her. There were a lot of people who were scolding her behind her back. ” He didn’t believe that she had bad luck, but he could not help Sister Qin at that time.

Li Mo’s heart twitched at the tragic fate of this woman.

Song Dashan went on to say the next thing: “Those clansmen also wanted to take back the house where the two lived, not allowing her to live, and finally, it was the village chief and the patriarch who stepped in to save her house for the sake of the child. Otherwise, she would have had to wander the wilderness.”

Li Mo couldn’t help but say, “But how could she live? She doesn’t even have a field. “

Song Dashan took Li Mo’s hand and rubbed it. “Some people advised Sister Qin to remarry, but she insisted on holding on, not willing to remarry. Those people even thought about selling her to a widower. Later, Sister Qin, took a knife and forced a clan member to kill her. This made these people let go of this idea. Seeing that she was so desperate, they didn’t dare to provoke her anymore. But there’s no field, and there’s a child who is waiting to be fed. Sister Qin can only take the children to dig wild vegetables on the mountain to satisfy their hunger and go begging when there are no wild vegetables. “

Li Mo simply could not say anything. ‘This woman was really miserable.’

Song Dashan talked about the topic: “Sister Qin is very capable and can endure hardships. More importantly, she is not greedy for small bargains. I used to give both of them some little food. It was something she had always remembered. When I came back from the army, Xiao Bao was bullied by other children once. She also helped Xiao Bao and then sent Xiao Bao home. At that time, she had two wild vegetable dumplings on her body and gave them to Xiao Bao. “

Hearing this, Li Mo could see the shining points in this suffering woman: resilience, persistence, kindness, knowing how to repay, but not cowardly.

This is a very suitable candidate; she must be very eager to have an income to raise her child, has no family ties, can live in the store, and so far appears to have a good character.

Another thing is, as a woman, Li Mo wants to help this poor woman.

Sometimes in life, all you need is one person to help you.

Even if you find out later that this woman was not so good, you can recruit someone else when the time comes.

Li Mo said to Song Dashan, “Dashan, then let Sister Qin, come and help me. I think she is quite suitable.”

Li Mo thought of the child and then asked, “How old is your child?”

Song Dashan smiled and thought for a long time before answering, “He should be a little older than Xiaobao, five or six years old.”

Li Mo looked at Xiao Bao in her arms and nodded, “That’s good. If Sister Qin, comes to help in the store, there will be someone to play with our Xiao Bao, and Xiao Bao won’t be so lonely. “

Song Dashan agreed, “Then let’s go to the village to look for Sister Qin?”

Li Mo considered the store’s current situation and realized that, except for the night, they couldn’t find time; oh, the store had just opened and couldn’t close for a day.

But the store was also in desperate need of this person, so how could this be a good thing?

Song Dashan also remembered the busyness of the shop, thought for a while, and said, “Well, I will take the time to find Changbang tomorrow, and let him go back and send me a message, saying that we want to ask Sister Qin for a favor and let her come to our shop. She should agree.”

This is the only way, and Li Mo agreed.

“Oh, right, Dashan, you can talk to Changbang tomorrow. Let him go back and help us bring the family’s General Xiaojun over to keep Xiao Bao company, and by the way, find Uncle Zhang. I want to give Xiao Bao a small swing and a small wooden horse for him to play on; otherwise, he has nothing to play with alone, and he would be too lonely and bored.”

Song Dashan also remembered that Xiao Bao was lonely because he came here without children his own age to play with, and they didn’t have time to play with him either. He needed toys, so Song Dashan replied, “Good, I’ll remember. I’ll talk about those two things with Changbang. “

At this moment, Xiao Bao, who was in Li Mo’s arms, arched his little head.

Li Mo looked down at him. “What’s wrong, baby?”

Xiao Bao looked at Li Mo with bright eyes and a cute smile in the corner of his mouth, “Xiaojun! The swing and the wooden horse!”

Li Mo then understood why the child was like this. It turned out to be that he was happy to hear her say that she would bring him to General Xiaojun and also that he could play with toys.

Li Mo smiled and kissed Xiao Bao on his forehead. “Baby, in a few days, it will be ready for you to play with.”

Xiao Bao nodded his head impatiently.

After dinner, Song Dashan went to boil hot water, the family washed up and went to bed early.

The next day, Song Dashan opened the store and asked Meizi to look after the store while there were not many customers in the morning, while he ran to the place where Zhao Changbang parked his donkey cart and explained these two things to him.

Zhao Changbang readily agreed.

As a result, what was said in the morning, a ragged, thin, bony woman came to the store in the afternoon, holding a child who was also thin to the bone.

It was Sister Qin and her child.