Li Chuchu read out the content on the paper once.
"Your voice condition is quite good. You're very suitable for broadcasting. It's just that some of your pronunciations aren't standard enough. But your accent doesn't sound like a northern one. It seems to be a southern accent. Are your parents from the south?" Mu Wan asked curiously.
"I used to stay in the south for a while." Li Chuchu lowered her eyes. The original owner was a native of the north, but she herself was from the south.
"No wonder." Mu Wan found a piece of paper marked with pinyin and several tongue - twisters and asked Li Chuchu to take them for practice.
Li Chuchu thought that she had nothing to do when she got home, so she simply stayed in the broadcasting room and planned to go back after listening to today's broadcast.
She looked at the practice phonetic symbols on the manuscript and read them out softly word by word.
...
After the afternoon broadcast ended, Li Chuchu went home with 80 yuan in her pocket and several manuscripts in her backpack.
It was the busiest time of the day. There were many snack stalls at the factory gate, selling all kinds of local specialties.
"Pot stickers! Freshly cooked pot stickers! Two jiao per tael!" Li Chuchu suddenly felt hungry. The leftovers at noon couldn't sustain her mental activities for the whole afternoon.
She stared at the beautifully fried pot stickers in the iron pan. The more she looked, the less she could move. So she sat down at the stall and ordered two taels of pot stickers and a bowl of mung bean soup.
"Coming right up! Mind the heat!" The landlady was very enthusiastic. She came over with a plate and placed a plate of golden - brown pot stickers in front of Li Chuchu.
Li Chuchu took out a pair of chopsticks from the bamboo tube, picked up a pot sticker and put it into her mouth. The pot sticker was filled with pork and corn. There was a crispy net - like crust at the bottom, fried with oil and starch. It made a crunching sound when bitten, leaving a fragrant taste in the mouth.
The mung bean soup was full of mung beans. The boss was very generous with the ingredients. The mung bean soup was sweet and very refreshing.
Most of the people sitting nearby were factory workers. Pot stickers weren't cheap, and three or four taels might not even fill them up. So they could only order one tael of pot stickers and pair them with a bowl of plain noodles as a treat.
But even though supplies were scarce, everyone's face was filled with happy smiles, chatting and laughing while eating.
After Li Chuchu finished eating, she paid the bill and was about to leave.
Suddenly, she remembered that there seemed to be someone at home.
Li Chuchu turned around again. Calculating the money in her hand, she said to the boss, "Boss, one more bowl of mung bean soup and two meat buns, please."
Meat buns were cheap, only four fen each. She didn't feel bad about buying them.
Li Chuchu sighed secretly. Fortunately, she had earned more than 60 yuan from "blackmailing" someone today. Otherwise, she would have worried about dinner.
She paid the money and went back with the packed mung bean soup and buns.
It was almost dark when she got home.
There was a dim light in the alley. Li Chuchu tightly grasped the strap of her backpack in front of her chest and walked forward cautiously.
When she saw the faint light at the courtyard gate, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as she entered the courtyard gate, the other two families were washing vegetables in the yard.
Xiaohu's noise in the morning had annoyed Aunt Wang's family next door. The two families were on bad terms. Now they were washing vegetables far apart from each other, looking at each other with disdain. There was an atmosphere of disharmony in the yard.
The young daughter - in - law of the next - door family had pent - up anger. When she saw Li Chuchu coming back, she started to be sarcastic. "Oh, you're really a busy person! You don't have a proper job but are never at home all day long. Could it be that you've been doing something shady?"
The meanness and hostility in her tone were hard to ignore.
Li Chuchu stopped in her tracks.
Suddenly, she walked towards the daughter - in - law, widening her eyes in feigned surprise. "Oh, how did you know that I've been doing something shady today? Did you see it?"
Li Chuchu, a natural master of sarcasm, officially entered the battle.
She stood on the steps with her arms folded, smiling faintly. "You must call the police then and tell the police all about it. If it's clear, I'll go to jail. If it's not clear, you'll be punished for slander! Do you want me to call the police for you?"
The last two sentences were suddenly raised in tone, scaring the daughter - in - law of the Liu family to take a step back.
People from the opposite courtyard heard the commotion and came over to watch the fun.
"Hey, come and see! The two daughters - in - law are arguing!"
"Such a bad omen!"
"Who keeps talking about going to jail all the time!"
"The daughter - in - law of the Shen family really has no filter in her mouth."
"This is so exciting! It hasn't been this lively in our compound for a long time!"
Aunt Wang was listening intently on one side. She kept pulling at the two vegetable leaves in her hand and didn't even notice that the water in the basin was overflowing.
The daughter - in - law of the Liu family was so scared by Li Chuchu's words that she took a step back instinctively. "You're crazy! I think you've really lost your mind. Who knows which man you've been fooling around with outside?"
Li Chuchu looked even more shocked.
"Really? Which man have I been fooling around with outside? Did you see it with your own eyes? I really have no memory of it. Could it be that I was drugged by a man? I'll call the police. You tell the whole thing clearly in front of the police so that they can arrest the man."
Aunt Wang had stopped washing vegetables and was sitting on the stool seriously watching.
This Li Chuchu was really good at talking!
With just a few words, she dared to say anything.
Aunt Wang was still waiting for them to really call the police for confrontation.
The daughter - in - law of the Liu family blushed with embarrassment and couldn't say a word.
Li Chuchu kept pressing on, looking serious. "If you know but don't report, that's abetting a criminal. You'll also go to jail! Think it over!"
The daughter - in - law of the Liu family didn't have as much courage as Li Chuchu. As soon as she heard that she might go to jail, her legs went weak.
She quickly said, "I don't know. I was just talking nonsense. There's no such thing at all."
"This is a serious matter. You can't talk nonsense. If something happens, you can't just sit back and do nothing! We can't figure it out clearly. Maybe I should still call the police and investigate the matter clearly."
The daughter - in - law of the Liu family was on the verge of a breakdown.
She regretted opening her mouth today. Who would have thought that Li Chuchu would change so much and become so difficult to deal with.
She stammered, "I was really just talking nonsense! I haven't been out all day. Where could I have seen anything!"
Li Chuchu raised her beautiful eyebrows and questioned, "Then why did you talk nonsense?"
The daughter - in - law of the Liu family's voice was filled with sobs. "I saw that you don't have to do anything every day. You're so idle. You can go wherever you want to play and eat whatever you want. I... I was jealous of you, so I talked nonsense."
Li Chuchu curled her lips and stared at her coldly.
Serves her right.
She had been targeting Li Chuchu for so many days.
If you don't show your claws, people will think you're a sick cat!
"Humph, watch your mouth, or next time I'll really call the police!"
The onlookers didn't expect it to end up like a joke. In the quadrangle courtyard, people see each other every day. It's normal to have a little conflict.
But if someone, like the daughter - in - law of the Liu family, makes up malicious rumors about others out of jealousy when they haven't done anything, that's really scary.
Who would dare to deal with her in the future?
Everyone not only became more vigilant towards the daughter - in - law of the Liu family but also admired Li Chuchu's eloquence. She had forced the daughter - in - law of the Liu family to admit what she had done.
After watching the fun, everyone shook their heads and dispersed.
After the daughter - in - law of the Liu family entered the house, she closed the heavy door. She probably wouldn't have the face to see anyone for a few days.
...