After Li Chuchu finished her radio broadcast and got off work at noon, she was worried that Grandma Li might still be outside. If they ran into each other, there would surely be another tiresome argument.
She decided to take a sneaky look. If they were still there, she would take a detour.
As soon as she got there,
the guard told her that those old men and women had left around eleven o'clock in the morning. They seemed to be in a hurry. No one knew what had happened.
"They deserve whatever trouble they're in. Such people are lucky if they don't get punished by God," Li Chuchu said.
The guard seemed even more indignant than Li Chuchu herself. It seemed that Comrade Chen Junsheng's publicity work had been quite effective.
Li Chuchu was actually quite surprised. She had originally thought that Grandma Li and the others would at least stand there for a whole day, but unexpectedly they called it quits so early.
Anyway, it was one less hassle.
She thanked the guard.
The guard waved his hand. "Oh, this is nothing. We're here to protect the safety of the factory workers."
As soon as Li Chuchu stepped out of the gate,
she saw Shen Yanshan at the entrance.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The system popped up inappropriately, with a knowing smile on its face: [Oh, look who's here! Those broad shoulders and that narrow waist. You're in for a treat, host.]
Li Chuchu: …
"Did the system update really add something dirty?"
[Stop talking nonsense. Heehee.]
After saying that, the system disappeared again.
In the bustling crowd, Shen Yanshan stood out like a sore thumb. Most of the people around were wearing the blue - brown factory uniforms, while he was sitting on his bicycle in a white shirt, looking like a crane standing among chickens.
He had been angry and ignored her last night. Li Chuchu thought he wouldn't come to pick her up from work today.
Seeing Shen Yanshan's face,
Li Chuchu felt her mood brighten up.
No wonder he was the villain. With such good looks, he could succeed at anything! Even if he were to work in the entertainment industry, he'd be worth at least 50,000 yuan.
Li Chuchu ran over excitedly. "You're here!"
Her beautiful face was beaming with joy, as if just seeing him made her naturally happy.
This kind of happiness was pure.
Even the dark clouds in Shen Yanshan's heart suddenly faded a lot. His mood improved along with hers. "Yes, I'm here to pick you up from work."
Li Chuchu consciously sat on the back of the bicycle, putting both hands on Shen Yanshan's waist and gently resting her head on his broad back. Her eyes squinted slightly because of the bright sun, looking like a lazy cat.
She swayed her legs slightly, feeling unexpectedly happy.
Shen Yanshan glanced back out of the corner of his eye. "Are you happy?"
"Of course."
Shen Yanshan gave a soft laugh. "Why?"
"I solved a big hassle today."
Hearing the slight upward inflection in her voice, Shen Yanshan raised his eyebrows slightly and deliberately asked, "What hassle?"
Li Chuchu hesitated for a moment. If Shen Yanshan knew that the Li family was trying to find her a new marriage partner, she didn't know how angry he would be.
It was better not to tell him.
"Nothing, just a little hassle. By the way, Shen Yanshan. I got my salary today. It's 90 yuan. Let's go to the market and buy some streaky pork. We'll go home and make twice - cooked pork!"
It seemed that she was really happy.
Shen Yanshan didn't say a word, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly as he listened to her chattering about what had happened at work today. The originally trivial and boring things suddenly became interesting when they came out of her mouth. Shen Yanshan would occasionally chime in and ask, "And then?"
The two chatted all the way home.
…
In the end, they didn't manage to buy the streaky pork.
Streaky pork was always the hardest thing to get in the grocery store, without a doubt. And the fatter the meat, the harder it was to get.
The salesperson told Li Chuchu that if she wanted to buy meat next time, she should come early in the morning to queue up. By noon, there would definitely be none left.
Li Chuchu saw that there were only a few unwanted spare ribs left on the shelf.
There wasn't much meat on the spare ribs. Buying them would still take up a meat coupon, and even though they were cheap, not many people were willing to buy them.
Li Chuchu simply bought the two spare ribs.
The salesperson saw what Li Chuchu was holding and secretly shook her head. Spending money and a coupon on two inedible bones was really not worth it.
She also told Li Chuchu to come earlier next time.
Shen Yanshan was waiting at the entrance of the grocery store. When he saw Li Chuchu coming out with the spare ribs, he raised his eyebrows slightly. "Didn't get the meat?"
"No, there was no streaky pork. We'll make sweet - and - sour spare ribs for lunch today."
Each person's meat quota was about two taels to half a jin.
If you wanted more, you had to go to the black market.
Sometimes you couldn't even find it there.
However, Li Chuchu had the sycophant mall. The things in it were not expensive, about the same price as in the supply and marketing cooperative. There was no limit on things like sugar. Li Chuchu would occasionally pour some more into the sugar jar, and Shen Yanshan didn't know.
Meat was bought for one meal at a time, with a fixed quota.
Moreover, now that Shen Yanshan picked her up and dropped her off from work every day, it was even more troublesome to buy meat from the space.
So she had to make do with the meat coupons Shen Yanshan gave her for the time being.
Li Chuchu got on the bicycle, already having an idea about how to cook lunch.
…
When they were carrying the groceries back, they happened to see Aunt Wang tinkering with something in front of the house.
Uncle Wang was also there to help.
Aunt Wang thought Uncle Wang was clumsy and scolded him several times. "Can't you pick up two better bricks? Why do you have to pick up these broken ones? How can we build a wall with them? Don't let there be a big hole later and let the mud inside leak out."
"Do you think good bricks would end up in the scrapyard? The good ones have been picked up by others several times. How could it be my turn as an old man?"
Uncle Wang grumbled and continued to work with his head down, like an old ox.
Aunt Wang was just about to retort when she looked up and saw Li Chuchu coming back. So she greeted her. "Chuchu, you're back?"
"Yes. What are you doing, Aunt Wang?"
Aunt Wang wiped the sweat off her forehead. "I saw that the Li family next door reclaimed a piece of land to grow vegetables, and the vegetables are growing quite well. I thought I'd grow some too."
The space in the city was limited, but hard - working people always found various ways to improve their lives.
Li Chuchu looked around and found that the quadrangle courtyard was not small. There was enough space to set up a bamboo rack against the wall.
"Aunt Wang, what are you going to plant?"
"I'll plant some autumn cucumbers. Leeks are also good. When autumn comes, I'll invite you all to eat the first batch of leek and egg dumplings."
Aunt Wang had a big smile on her face.
She was already planning the first meal of leek dumplings even before the vegetable plot was built.
Li Chuchu replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll be waiting for your leek dumplings, Aunt Wang."
After Li Chuchu went into the house, she heard Aunt Wang's voice from outside. "You old fool, do you still want to eat leek dumplings? Hurry up and get to work!"
Xiaohu outside heard Aunt Wang talking about leek and egg dumplings. His eyes were full of greed. He turned his head and looked at his mother longingly.