Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Two happy families
It was almost seven o'clock before they reached town, and it was already dark. Mei Yili had a hard time finding a tricycle that was willing to carry passengers, and it was almost eight o'clock when they finally delivered Feng Yiping directly to school.
The classrooms on both sides were brightly lit, but only the third grade classroom had a teacher lecturing. The other classes seemed to be studying on their own and were very quiet.
Feng Yiping didn't want to disturb this peace by driving the tricycle 'toot-toot' into the school, so he jumped off at the school gate.
'Do you want me to go in with you?' asked Mei Yiliang.
'No, I'll go and ask the teacher myself.'
'Then be nice, I just realised today that you can be quite short-tempered,' he said.
Am I short-tempered? Feng Yiping thought as he walked along. That woman really went too far today, bullying people even though she was in the wrong. It was only normal for him to have a small explosion later.
However, that woman was so unreasonable, and was he not a little hot-headed himself? Had he not been living a charmed life since he was born, and did he not look down on himself a little in his heart, so he could not stand being provoked even more?
However, there is an old saying, 'The quality of the car, boat, shop, foot, and tooth is so bad that they should be killed even if they are not guilty.' Nowadays, no matter if it is such a bus or a taxi, the quality of some people is really average. I have seen more outrageous things before. In order to charge a few dollars less, a ticket seller kept on talking to an elderly man for the whole journey. It is really not worth getting angry with these people in the industry.
No matter if you are an ordinary person or an extraordinary person, everyone has the experience of being treated rudely for no reason. If you always get angry about such things, then those extraordinary people will become ordinary people, because they simply won't have time to get on with their real work.
It seems that, in any case, there is still room for improvement in one's own tolerance.
And at the moment, Feng Yiping really doesn't have the conditions to be arrogant.
This should be considered a little characteristic of Feng Yiping's personality: he always looks for the reason in himself when something happens, and if there is a problem, he will try to improve it; if there isn't, he will try harder.
This is what ordinary people can do. When we can't change the environment, we must first go along with it and adapt to it, and when conditions permit, we can then think about changing it.
Of course, it is very likely that the next time he encounters something like this, he will still have to get angry!
After some self-reflection, Feng Yiping accepted Wang Yumin's criticism with an open mind. Fortunately, Ms Wang didn't say much and just told him to go back and study hard. She had thought that Feng Yiping wouldn't be back tonight, but he arrived before the first session of evening study was over. It's better to be late than not to come at all.
Having been a class teacher for a year or two, Wang Yumin had gained some insights. For good students like Feng Yiping, if they were late for class, they would feel bad about themselves. If you were too harsh on them, it might have the opposite effect.
Mei Yiliang had returned without warning. Upon hearing a knock on the door, Mei Jianzhong got up in his dressing gown to open the door. He was a little surprised to see it was him, and hurriedly let him in. 'It's the middle of the night, you come back without a word of warning, what's wrong, what happened?'
'Nothing, Dad, I just came back to recruit someone.'
'Really?' Mei Jianzhong was still a little suspicious. Mei Yiliang had a history of coming home in the middle of the night, defeated, after fighting with someone.
'Really, I've been with Yiping the past two days. What could possibly have happened? I'm hungry, is there any leftover food?'
Oh, it just occurred to him when he said this that he had been so preoccupied with hurrying along that he had forgotten that Yiping had also not had dinner. With his appetite, he was probably starving by now.
Mei Jianzhong was relieved to hear that he had been with Feng Yiping. His grandson could do anything, but he definitely wouldn't get into a fight.
He never would have imagined that Feng Yiping and the others almost got into a fight today.
Zhang Zuodong worked with a group of apprentices until dusk in the evening and arrived home in the dark. Hearing the clanking of bicycles outside, his family knew that he had returned home. As soon as he entered the door, his slightly overweight daughter and slightly thin son, one carrying a basin of hot water and the other holding a towel, came running up to him, 'Don't run, you might fall.'
He took the water and towel, but his children were in no hurry to go, especially his son, who had just started second grade, who looked at him with longing eyes.
'Haha,' he laughed and took down a black plastic bag from the handlebar, "look what's in here?'
His son snatched it and immediately ran into the kitchen, "Mom, Dad bought apples today.'
Zhang Yan chased after him, 'You can't eat them now, or you won't eat later.'
This is also a traditional programme that has been preserved in his family. Whenever he goes out to do errands, Zhang Zuodong never returns empty-handed, either with fruit or snacks like biscuits.
Zhang Zuodong followed behind with a towel and walked into the kitchen, saying to his wife, who was stir-frying on the stove, 'Someone who runs a renovation company in the provincial capital came to see me today and asked me to go to the province to help him.'
'Who is it? Do I know him?'
'No, a Mr Mei from the next county.'
'If you don't know him, can you trust him?'
'There's nothing to be untrustworthy about. He can't take advantage of me. I've got some skills and I've got so many apprentices. If I go, I can help him set up a renovation team straight away. Anyway, I want to go to the province first. He said he'd pay for the round trip. What do you think?'
'It's fine to go and have a look. It's not like the last two years. They're both in school now, so they don't need looking after during the day, and you can go too. It's good to go and try your luck in the city. Zhang Yan is going to junior high school next year, and school fees and so on are getting more and more expensive every year. Besides, you're still a long way short of the money you need to build a new house by the road, aren't you?'
'That's what I was thinking. Once I've finished building the house in the county, I'll go and have a look in the city.'
Zhang Cheng bit into an apple and exclaimed, 'I want to go to the city too!'
Zhang Yan was also a little excited when she heard this. At this time, she didn't have a direct impression of the provincial capital either, and she just felt that it must be a big city.
What she didn't know was that there was another driving force behind all this.
Since Mei Yiliang had come home, of course he couldn't just leave the next day. The house that Mei Guohua was using as a warehouse was under construction, so he had to help out for a day. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Early the next morning, he followed his father and eldest brother Wang Sang to the oil mill. Mei Guosheng asked him, 'How's their business?'
'Not bad. Early next month, the second store will open. The location is pretty good, so I don't expect business to be bad.'
The walls of the warehouse were already half built. Unlike ordinary houses, there was a lot of space left on all sides for windows, and the room would be relatively high. So, unlike ordinary houses, it was built using a cement frame structure.
One after the other, many people from the village came to work. When they came, they would greet them, 'Fourth son is back. I heard you opened a company in the provincial capital? Uncle Jianzhong, you are truly blessed!'
Mei Jianzhong was of course happy to hear this. He was most happy that his children had made a success of themselves. At his age, he was more than happy to hear praise for his children than for himself.
Mei Yiliang also smiled, calling his uncle and brother, and gave them cigarettes one by one.
The three daughters-in-law were gathered around a large basin over at the oil mill, preparing to knead the dough. There was also a firepot next to them. Seeing the excitement over here, the third daughter-in-law, with her arms folded, called over there, 'Fourth Brother, come over and knead the dough.'
'You go, there are enough small workers here,' Mei Jianzhong said.
But Mei Yiliang really didn't want to go. Kneading the dough was hard work, not to mention that in this weather, the dough mixed with water and oil was so cold that the three sisters-in-law had put a fire next to it.