The original owner's mother, Sheng Lan, was a technical worker at the steel factory. She sacrificed heroically while putting out a fire at the factory. The factory once promised to allocate jobs to the children of heroes.
However, since the original owner was still a minor at that time, this job was always in the hands of her father.
Later, her father remarried.
The original owner had a falling - out with her family.
This job finally seemed to end up in the hands of her step - mother's elder brother.
There was not a single decent person in the step - mother's family. The step - mother and her son squeezed Li Chuchu out of the house. The step - mother's natal family was like leeches, sucking away the things left by the original owner's mother.
No way! The most urgent thing now was to get the job back! Why should the things that belonged to the original owner be taken away by others!
Thinking of this, Li Chuchu was so angry that she couldn't even eat.
She decided to go and get the job back tomorrow!
After dinner, Li Chuchu went to rest. She needed to conserve her strength for the tough battle tomorrow.
...
In the middle of the night, the tightly closed door opened.
The smell of the food was very fragrant. Shen Yanshan could smell it even inside the room.
This fragrance made his annoyance even worse.
He hadn't eaten dinner. Originally, he planned to go out and grab a bite, but now this woman had discovered this batch of goods. He didn't feel at ease leaving the watch at home, and he couldn't carry it with him all the time.
He originally planned to endure for one night and go out early tomorrow morning. But the fragrance made him even hungrier, and he became more aware of the emptiness in his stomach.
He couldn't fall asleep, and he couldn't go out either. Shen Yanshan hadn't felt this kind of frustration for a long time.
So he didn't quietly come out of the room until the woman outside fell asleep.
The woman was curled up like a cat on the small bed by the wall. There was still a little bit of food left on the dinner table. There was a thin layer of white grease congealed on the pieces of meat. He didn't know how she managed to cook the pork so beautifully. It looked so tempting.
But so what.
Shen Yanshan calmly shifted his gaze elsewhere,
but his throat involuntarily rolled.
"Um—"
Li Chuchu let out a soft murmur in her sleep.
An alarm bell went off in Shen Yanshan's mind. He carried the burden in his arms and strode out of the door.
...
When Li Chuchu woke up the next morning, there was no one in the room.
She rummaged through the cabinets in the room. There were only two eggs and a little bit of mixed flour left.
She went to the public kitchen outside and made herself an egg pancake with the flour. From next door came the scolding voice again.
"Which woman is so wasteful? She's making a fuss with eggs and duck eggs again early in the morning. She's not afraid of ruining her family."
"Xiaohu, you mustn't marry a woman like this in the future! Otherwise, I won't allow her to enter our family!"
Most of the families living in this quadrangle courtyard were not well - off. In the morning, they would just eat a sweet potato or a coarse - grain bun to fill their stomachs. If there were a few children in the family, the good things should be reserved for the children. Who would be willing to waste eggs?
Li Chuchu hummed a little tune.
She put the egg pancake on a plate.
After a while, the little boy came running over with his little legs kicking. The flesh on his face trembled. "Humph, my mom said no one would want a woman like you. I won't marry a woman like you in the future."
Li Chuchu looked at his dirty little face and clicked her tongue. "Your mom is lying to you. I'm already taken. But you've got a big snot hanging from your nose, and your clothes are all tattered. I bet the girls in your class don't want to play with you, do they?"
Xiaohu was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he remembered that his deskmate, Xiaohua, always seemed to like playing with the class monitor and didn't want to talk to him recently.
This vicious woman was right!
He burst into tears with a "wa" sound.
The crying was so loud.
Early in the morning, the crying made the neighbor across the way scold angrily.
Li Chuchu hummed a little song and left, leaving the little boy's mother in a hurry to comfort the crying child while arguing with the neighbor across the way.
After breakfast,
Li Chuchu tidied herself up and went out.
It was a rare weekend today. The sun was shining brightly outside, which made people feel great. Without the 007 or 996 work schedules, the streets on the weekend were filled with the prosperous atmosphere of economic growth.
And she,
was going out to collect debts.
When she reached the family building, Li Chuchu remembered that the original owner's family lived on the third floor, on the left - hand side of Unit 2. There was a brand - new 28 - inch bicycle parked under the stairs of Unit 2.
Early in the morning, the old men and women in the yard had been discussing the bicycle for several rounds.
"Is that bike from the Li family?"
"Should be. Lao Li brought it back from the factory last night. I heard it was a reward from the factory."
"Tsk tsk, the Li family's life is really getting better and better."
"Who says it isn't? Other families cry their eyes out when their daughter - in - law dies, but their family has made a fortune out of it."
"Who doesn't know that the bike was given for whose sake? They took it so calmly."
When someone saw Li Chuchu coming, they all closed their mouths in unison. Although this child had a pitiful background, having lost her mother and not being loved by her father, she was also a bit of a troublemaker. It was better to stay away from her.
Unexpectedly, when Li Chuchu walked up to them, she respectfully greeted all the uncles, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers one by one.
Those old men and women were almost flattered.
This child usually acted like a wild chicken. Why was she so polite today?
"Grandma Hu, how's your health recently?"
Grandma Hu was sitting on a small stool. She looked up at Li Chuchu. Her eyesight was not good because of her old age. It took her a while to realize that this was Sheng Lan's daughter. "Good... very good."
When the original owner's mother had just died and there was no one to cook at home, Grandma Hu secretly put a few buns in her schoolbag for her to take to school. Unfortunately, the original owner was not good at studying. In the end, she didn't succeed in her studies and let down the kind - heartedness of the neighbor grandma.
Grandma Hu asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly come back? Did something happen?"
Grandma Hu voiced what everyone was thinking. When Li Chuchu got married back then, she shouted that she would sever ties with her family, and the whole yard knew about it.
Why did she come back now?
Facing the mocking or curious looks of these people, Li Chuchu gave a bitter smile.
"The family can hardly make ends meet. I remembered that the job from my mom's factory is still in my dad's hands..."
She didn't finish the rest of the sentence, but it was enough to make people think a lot.
As long as these neighbors felt sorry for her and stood on her side, Li Chuchu's goal would be achieved.
Grandma Hu nodded repeatedly. "Oh, I see. Your dad should still be at home. Go up quickly."
The talkative aunt shouted at the top of her voice, "Silly girl, you should take what belongs to you. Don't let those insignificant people take your things. If your step - mother doesn't agree, you should make a fuss. With all the contributions your mother made, no one can compete with you."
Although the aunt had a loud voice, she had a kind heart. She used to have a very good relationship with Li Chuchu's mother.
Some of the old people in the yard knew that Li Chuchu's mother was a gentle, kind, and helpful person.
But Li Chuchu's father remarried less than a year after his wife's death, and the new daughter - in - law was not a good person. She even joined hands with her lazy son to squeeze Li Chuchu out.