She nodded and hurried back.
These old folks may not be very nimble on their feet, but they're experts at pestering people.
You can't reason with them, and you definitely can't fight them. Once you lay a finger on them, they'll lie on the ground and extort you until you're penniless.
...
It wasn't long before Li Chuchu got home when the old lady next door showed up.
This old lady was quite unreasonable. When she came to say hello, she was holding two half-wilted cabbages in her hand. It seemed they'd been damaged by the sun on her way back from the countryside.
She introduced herself enthusiastically, "Oh, you must be the tenant here. I'm your neighbor, Liu Xiaocheng's mom."
What was coming couldn't be avoided. Li Chuchu figured that she probably wouldn't even live to see the plot of the male and female leads unfold. She might just kick the bucket first.
"What can I do for you, ma'am?"
Seeing that Li Chuchu was pretty with a fair complexion, the old lady thought she must be easy to talk to. With a beaming smile on her face, she said, "Young lady, you're so young and already married? You don't have a child yet, do you? You young people are always reluctant to have kids. Actually, it's better to have them early. Look at my second son. He had a son when he was eighteen. Now the kid is in junior high school, and they're still young."
A sense of preaching wafted over.
Li Chuchu had never experienced this kind of pressure to have a baby at home, but now she felt it from a complete stranger.
She suddenly thought: If the old Li lady ever ran into this old lady, she wondered who would outwit the other.
The old lady smiled and offered the cabbages to Li Chuchu. "These are cabbages we grew ourselves in the countryside. They're healthy food! You guys take them and eat."
Li Chuchu didn't reach out to take them for a long time.
She couldn't afford these cabbages. She didn't know what scheme the old lady had up her sleeve.
"No, thanks. You keep the cabbages for yourselves. It's not easy for you to come to the city. Eat something nice."
The old lady seemed not to understand the hidden meaning in Li Chuchu's words and took the opportunity to say, "Yes, my son lives in the city. I came to visit him. Alas, there's not enough room at home with so many people. Do you think my eldest grandson could stay at your place for a few days?"
Li Chuchu gave a half-smile. "How long do you want him to stay?"
Hearing this, the old lady thought Li Chuchu had agreed. "Not long, just about one or two months."
Li Chuchu pretended to be surprised and shook her head. "Oh, I'm afraid that won't work. My husband has a bad temper. When he drinks too much, he'll beat people, especially the elderly and children. You guys would definitely suffer if you stayed here."
The old lady was shocked.
"Really... really?"
Li Chuchu nodded and covered her face, pretending to cry. "Of course. Would I lie to you? He's bad-tempered even when he's sober. When he drinks, he's completely merciless. We have to pay for the damage he causes. My dowry is almost gone."
The old lady's face stiffened.
In their village, it was common for men to beat their wives, and sometimes they beat them badly. Everyone just turned a blind eye and might offer a few words of advice occasionally.
But they'd never heard of a man who got drunk and specifically beat the elderly and children.
Could he be a bully who picked on the weak?
The old lady didn't believe it and wanted to test her. "Well... he wouldn't beat people he doesn't know, would he?"
She just wanted to stay at their place for a few days.
Would he really beat a guest?
"Why not? When he loses his temper, no one can stop him. He even pushed me and caused a miscarriage when I was pregnant. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have been childless for so many years. All our money has been used to compensate others. Where would we get the money to raise a child?"
Shen Yanshan, the so-called "bully," was just locking his car outside the yard. Coincidentally, Li Chuchu pointed behind the old lady. "Look, he's back."
These words were like a horror movie to the old lady. She turned around and saw the tall Shen Yanshan walking towards her.
The man looked unapproachable, and with his tall stature and strong arms, he was exactly as Li Chuchu had described.
Merciless, moody, and a bully.
Thanks to Li Chuchu's foreshadowing, the old lady was so scared that she ran away as if she'd seen a ghost.
Shen Yanshan looked at Li Chuchu, and his eyebrows twitched slightly. Li Chuchu looked at him playfully, looking very proud. Under her gaze, Shen Yanshan raised his eyebrows, his eyes full of helplessness.
"Merciless? Miscarriage?"
Shen Yanshan's eyes moved down to Li Chuchu's flat stomach.
"When were you pregnant?"
Li Chuchu said confidently, "Just now."
"When did you miscarry?"
"Just now."
Shen Yanshan was amused by Li Chuchu's words. He deliberately lowered his voice and motioned for Li Chuchu to come closer.
His deep and magnetic voice rang in Li Chuchu's ear. "Don't be sad, wife. I'll get you pregnant again tonight."
Li Chuchu glared at him and punched him in the chest angrily. Shen Yanshan quickly grabbed her hand and comforted her softly, "Don't be angry. I'll figure out a way about the money. If you get pregnant this time, I'll support you and the baby."
His tone was so gentle that it seemed a bit abnormal.
Li Chuchu almost thought it was an illusion.
Did this trigger some kind of switch in him?
Thinking carefully, in the original book, Shen Yanshan didn't seem to have any children. There were plenty of women around him, but he never seemed to stop for anyone.
In the moment when Li Chuchu was lost in thought, Shen Yanshan had already withdrawn all his expressions.
"Have you had dinner yet? What would you like to eat?"
Li Chuchu shook her head. "Not yet. It's too hot. How about some cold noodles?"
"Cold noodles?"
Shen Yanshan was slightly surprised, then nodded. "Sure. Do you need my help?"
"Yes. Could you cook the noodles for me?"
The ingredients for cold noodles were very simple.
There happened to be some hand-rolled noodles at home. Li Chuchu asked Shen Yanshan to boil the water and put the noodles in the pot to cook. Then she sliced the cucumber into thin shreds.
Now, she needed to make a sauce.
She mixed it with minced millet peppers, sesame seeds, minced garlic, and chili powder.
The sesame seeds and chili powder were hard to find on the market. Li Chuchu had exchanged some from her space before. Now she kept them in an enamel cup and just sprinkled a little when needed.
Others just thought Li Chuchu had obtained them through some other means.
Besides these seasonings, she also needed to add a spoonful of hot oil, a spoonful of light soy sauce, two spoonfuls of vinegar, and a little bit of sugar.
Li Chuchu had tried this recipe countless times at home. It was so delicious that it could make even a shoe sole taste good.
Shen Yanshan watched Li Chuchu cook as if she were playing a game, adding a little of this and a little of that.
The cooked noodles were fished out and put in cold water.
Shen Yanshan felt a bit headache.
How did it seem that this dish wasn't very edible?
Forget it. It was rare for Chuchu to come up with a new dish. Even if it didn't taste good, he'd eat a couple of mouthfuls. He didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm.