Chapter 669: Chapter 667: Because of Love (Part 5)
The conversation outside the door continued, and the atmosphere had relaxed considerably. Qin Guisheng, who had been initially very agitated, realized that he had no power to change Cao Guixiang’s mind and became powerless, and could only choose to respect Cao Guixiang’s decision like Master Peng and Peng Changping.
Though, inside, he still thought Cao Guixiang’s decision was incredibly stupid, and this thought was clearly written on his face.
“Have you made up your mind?” Qin Guisheng asked.
Cao Guixiang nodded.
“No regrets?” Cao Guixiang shook her head.
...
“Bullshit,” Qin Guisheng snorted coldly, “that’s because you haven’t gone there. Once you do, you’ll know what real suffering is like. It’s hot in the South, and there are lots of mosquitoes. Without mosquito nets and insect repellent, the mosquitoes could bite you to death at night in the summer. And it’s cold in the winter, without even a kang to keep you warm. I’d like to see how you’re going to survive the winter.
“Don’t think working in the fields is easy. Have you ever done farm work? You think it’s like practicing cooking when you were little? I bet you won’t even be able to straighten your back after a day in the fields. And these hands of yours, stop using hand cream and vanishing cream, I’m telling you it’s useless. If you stay in the South for a few years, I bet your hands will be rougher than mine…”
Follow current novels on freewebnσvel.cѳm.
Qin Guisheng rambled on and on, his words all jumbled up as if he had been a ‘sent-down youth’ himself.
“I’m telling you, as a girl, you must protect yourself outside. Don’t let those young hooligans take advantage of you. Those shameless scoundrels… It’s a good thing you’re not pretty. Communication in the countryside is difficult too. If you want to send letters, you have to go all the way to town or ask someone for help. If you suffer any grievances, there’s no one to stand up for you. And if you want to cry alone at night, the people in the same room will complain that you’re disturbing their sleep.”
Cao Guixiang looked at Qin Guisheng and asked, “Second Senior Brother, how many years has Amin been gone?”
“Over two years,” Qin Guisheng mumbled.
“Are you two still in touch?”
“Nonsense, how else would I know so much?” Qin Guisheng looked at her annoyedly, then his anger deflated, “Just during the first year, she sent quite a few letters. This year, I’ve only received three letters in total, each less than two pages long.”
“Are you still waiting for her?” Cao Guixiang asked.
“Of course, I am!” Qin Guisheng raised his voice, “You think you’re the only one with a wedding date set, I was supposed to…”
Mid-sentence, Qin Guisheng suddenly fell silent.
“I don’t know.”
Peng Changping shook his head and left.
“I’m almost thirty, and Big Senior Brother had two sons at my age. In a few more years, Amin will be almost thirty too, I just don’t know.” Qin Guisheng could only shake his head, “Never mind you, do whatever you want.”
“Don’t need me to send you letters?” Cao Guixiang said with a smile.
“You dare!” Qin Guisheng glared, threatening her, “I don’t care about others, but Cao Guixiang, you have to write back every month. If you don’t have time, have Zhang Chu send it. He’s been freeloading off us at Yonghe House for years, it’s only right that you put him to work, and don’t tire yourself out with too much labor.”
“And another thing, I don’t trust your parents. You have to get them to sign an agreement. You’re giving up your job to go to the countryside, and the person who benefits most in the end will be your brother. You must have your parents and your brother compensate you. Things like malted milk, biscuits, candy, brown sugar, and cloth—they need to send these to you every month. Give me the agreement, and if they don’t send you those, I’ll go to the street committee to borrow a loudspeaker and stand outside your house and shout.”
Cao Guixiang couldn’t help laughing out loud, “Second Senior Brother, what are you babbling about? My family doesn’t get that many cloth coupons in a month, let alone malted milk, biscuits, and candy—those are things I can hardly get my hands on now, let alone every month. Stop joking around.”
“How am I joking? Look at the sacrifices you’ve made. How many people at Yonghe House are dying to become a regular worker, breaking their heads trying to get in? All they have to give in exchange are some food and cloth—it’s only right! Now that you’re going to the countryside, why should your brother stay in Beiping enjoying good food and new clothes? He doesn’t deserve it. If he had any conscience, he would have stopped you and gone to the countryside himself instead of hypocritically thanking his sister. In the past few years, you’ve contributed enough salary to buy so much new clothing, biscuits, and candy. You’ve not been eating at home or spending the family’s money, so they should give it to you, with interest, all of it!” Qin Guisheng insisted earnestly.
But Cao Guixiang just smiled and didn’t take Qin Guisheng’s rant to heart, “Zhang Chu is supposed to come to the store today to fix all the broken tables and chairs. It’s almost mealtime, and he’s probably not eaten yet. I’m going to cook him a bowl of egg noodles so he can eat when he arrives.”
“If Manager Zhang comes back, let him know that the eggs are to be deducted from my salary,” Cao Guixiang said as she left.
After Cao Guixiang had gone, Qin Guisheng spat in displeasure and muttered, “Egg noodles, indeed. Heartless wench, I’ve been talking my head off for your sake, and you don’t even pour me a glass of water. And that stinking boy hasn’t even arrived yet, but he’s already got egg noodles waiting for him.”
Having said this, Qin Guisheng took it upon himself to pour water.
Jiang Feng returned to the storeroom and found that Zhang Chu had somehow silently gotten down from the chair and was standing there, with a pocket of tools, lost in a profound daze. The hammer sticking out of his arms seemed poised to fall on his feet at any moment, which made Jiang Feng very worried that in the next second the hammer would fall and send Zhang Chu straight to the hospital.
Fortunately, tragedy did not occur.
After a while, Zhang Chu seemed to come to a realization. He put the tools down and began to organize the items in the cabinet. Each object was neatly arranged by size, type, and function, and he meticulously sorted for nearly half an hour.
After tidying up everything in the cabinet, Zhang Chu finally left with his tools, just as when he had first arrived, he walked into the main hall.
Cao Guixiang was standing in the main hall, and she seemed to be waiting for Zhang Chu. Seeing him, she quickly approached with a somewhat surprised expression, “When did you get here? I’ve been here the whole time, how did I not see you?”
“I’ve been here for a while, I went to the storage room to look for tools.” Zhang Chu said vaguely.
“Oh,” Cao Guixiang nodded, “You must be hungry, I’ll go make you egg noodles. I’ve been waiting to cook them because I was afraid they’d get mushy if made too early. You rest a bit, eat the noodles, and then fix the table.”
“Guixiang,” Zhang Chu seemed to gather his courage, “I have something to tell you.”
“Oh, right, I also have something to tell you. I submitted my resignation today; next month, I’m going with you to the countryside as an educated youth. Wherever you go, I’ll sign up to go there too,” Cao Guixiang spoke as though she was discussing how many pieces of green onion to add to today’s noodles – an utterly trivial matter.
Zhang Chu moved his lips, struggling to say, “You shouldn’t…”
“It’s not because of what you think; it’s because my younger brother is of age to be sent to the countryside, and if I don’t go, he’ll have to. Actually, it’s not just for my brother; our shop needs to reduce staff, and if I don’t resign, Master Wang’s son will definitely be let go. His son’s health isn’t great, and who knows, if he’s sent away, he might have to join the countryside next year. Master Wang has always been so kind to me; I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
“You…”
Cao Guixiang didn’t give Zhang Chu a chance to speak, she continued, “Actually, deciding to go to the countryside isn’t so bad. We grew up learning trades; it’s not like we can’t endure hardship. You’re a carpenter, I’m a cook; we can find food wherever we are. Plus, I’ve heard that the countryside has plenty of food, and if it’s close to the mountains, you might even catch wild rabbits or boars. And at New Year’s, they always slaughter pigs and share the meat. My parents said that they will send me things every month; here in Beiping, I have to hand over my salary, but if I become an educated youth, not only do I not have to hand over my wages, my parents will also send me things. Isn’t this much better than being in Beiping?”
“You just sit for a while; I’ll go cook the noodles, egg noodles!”
Zhang Chu, who had prepared a whole speech, ended up not saying a single word.
Zhang Chu could only temporarily place the tools on the table and stand waiting in the main hall. A few minutes later, Cao Guixiang came out with a bowl of egg noodles.
A simple bowl of egg noodles, home-rolled, with a generous amount of beaten eggs that seemed particularly abundant, drizzled with soy sauce for color, and nothing else but the eggs and noodles – not even greens or chopped onions.
“Eat up while it’s hot, it tastes better. There’s an egg on the bottom too. I actually wanted to sprinkle some green onion, but Second Senior Brother is so stingy, he wouldn’t let me take any. If he comes out later, you better avoid him; he’s in a bad mood today and looking to pick a fight,” Cao Guixiang said with a smile as she placed the bowl on the table.
Zhang Chu was silent and did not pick up his chopsticks.
“Come on, eat, it’s not too hot,” Cao Guixiang urged.
“Guixiang, you should go to Manager Wang and take back your resignation,” Zhang Chu said, “We…”
Cao Guixiang’s face hardened as she looked at Zhang Chu, “Why take it back? I’ve already discussed this with my parents, and they would be the first to disagree if I wanted to change my mind.”
From the start, she had never left herself a way out.
“You shouldn’t have…”
“I don’t regret it,” Cao Guixiang said, suddenly smiling, “Let’s eat and not talk about this for now. By the way, did you cancel the banquet we booked at Shunhe Building? If it’s inconvenient for you, I can go and talk to the owner. You paid a deposit and they shouldn’t exploit the situation by refusing to refund it.”
Zhang Chu didn’t say a word, picked up his chopsticks, and bowed his head to take a big bite of the noodles.
Jiang Feng clearly saw that as Zhang Chu picked up the noodles, a tear the size of a bean dropped into the bowl, vanishing into the noodle soup in the blink of an eye, as if it had never been there at all.
Zhang Chu took a big bite of noodles, wolfing them down as if he had a vendetta against them.
“Eat slowly, be careful not to choke. Did you not eat today? How is the taste? I was in a hurry when I cooked them so they might not taste very good.”
“A bit salty,” Zhang Chu said in a muffled voice.
The tears were too salty, so salty they made him want to cry.
“Salty? Could it be I added too much soy sauce? That shouldn’t be right…” Cao Guixiang’s voice was full of confusion, and her facial expression must have been puzzled too, but Jiang Feng could no longer see clearly.
The voices gradually faded away, and Jiang Feng began to be shrouded in fog, unable to see the two people, unable to see the noodles.
Jiang Feng left the memory.