??Chapter 201: 201. Upstairs mother and child_1
Chapter 201: 201. Upstairs mother and child_1
By eight o’clock, it was pitch-dark outside, and only then did Uncle Carp, like a thief, carry an unimpressive plastic bag and pull out a bunch of green onions from the trunk of his car, before happily returning ho.
His wife was watching TV on the sofa. As he changed his shoes, he asked, “Is there any dinner left?”
As he spoke, he regretted internally: all these years later, why would keeping him for dinner hurt? They wouldn’t refuse to pay.
This boss is really too stubborn!
However, once he finished changing his shoes, he casually stuffed the tea leaves into the fridge, intending to present the green onions as a treat!
It was then he noticed sothing was amiss in the atmosphere.
The mont he turned his head, he saw his wife’s dark eyes fixed on him: “Oh, you rember to co ho, do you? Why didn’t you just enjoy yourself outside, indulging in good food and drink?”
A reflexive nerve in his brain twitched, and he instinctively beca cautious and evasive:
“The food outside… it doesn’t taste right. Hey, look at the farm I visited today. Their vegetables are grown particularly well. Just look at these green onions, you have no idea what they cost?”
“I know you love scrambled eggs with green onions, so I especially bought two pounds to bring ho…”
His wife snorted coldly: “Thank you for rembering , but do you also rember you have a daughter who’s just given birth, waiting for her dear father to bring ho a few more crucian carp?”
He was dood.
Uncle Carp stood there frozen.
Yes, he rembered now.
It seed his wife had just taken care of their daughter and co ho.
But the problem was—
He spluttered, “I didn’t catch any today.”
Admitting to coming back empty-handed was really embarrassing.
And he truly had forgotten; otherwise, he could have bought so fish from the boss who lowered traps into the ground and had heaps of fish. Wouldn’t that have been just right?
But…
“Didn’t I catch a few the day before yesterday?”
His wife snorted again: “So what? You’re a father who personally catches a few fish for his daughter, and we should be grateful?”
“Not to ntion the timing. You run off every day to fish! Fishing, why don’t you go catch yourself? You don’t even think to lend a hand while your daughter is in confinent.”
Uncle Carp’s mind was filled with turmoil.
Lend a hand?
What help could he have provided?
His son-in-law’s family was modest, and the young couple lived in an eighty-square-ter apartnt, with both in-laws crowding over to help with the postpartum care.
It makes sense for the mother to go over and care for her own daughter, but if he were to squeeze in there as well, good heavens, there wouldn’t be any place left to even stand.
So, he looked sheepish but was actually holding in his anger:
“Isn’t it that I’ve provided the money…”
Originally, they arranged for a maternity center for their daughter, costing thirty thousand for a month. But for so reason, the young couple went back and refunded the money…
Uncle Carp found it difficult to admit whether his irritation was directed at his son-in-law or his naive daughter, deliberately avoiding the thought for that very reason.
But a mother’s heart will always ache for her daughter.
The whole family crowded into the house, reluctant to hire a maternity nurse; after attending her daughter for the day, the wife was also holding back her anger. Hearing him mumble, she exploded:
“You tell ! What else is in your head besides fishing, day in and day out? What do you even want with this family? Just go live by the river!”
She glanced at the bunch of green but unremarkable green onions in his plastic bag, and, pointing angrily towards the door, said: “Throw your vegetables out, I don’t want them!”
She was furious, and whatever his wife said, he would do.
Uncle Carp was experienced in dealing with this.
But looking at the bunch of green onions in his hand, he really didn’t want to let go.
Yet, she was still staring at him, fuming…
He hesitated for a mont but still silently opened the door.
As he stepped out, he happened to see a resident from upstairs ready to go up with a plastic bag in hand; he hurriedly called out to her and, with reluctance, handed over the bunch of green onions—
“Xiaofeng, when I went to the countryside, soone gave
two bunches of green onions. My wife doesn’t have ti to cook them, and it would be a sha to throw them away. You take them back and stir-fry them.”
After a mont’s thought, he couldn’t help but add, “These green onions are really quite good.”
The young woman nad Xiaofeng was taken aback, then sheepishly said, “How can I accept this?”
“Just take it, take it.”
Uncle Carp’s face was full of worry as he stuffed the plastic bag into her hand and quickly closed the door again.
Having closed the door, he regretted it but now only dared to mutter softly, “Gave it to Xiaofeng upstairs.”
His wife wasn’t soone to waste food either; she had just been angry at the mont, and who knew that the foolish old man would really give the food away.
Now that she heard the vegetables were given to Xiaofeng, she actually felt relieved.
“Let it be, Xiaofeng doesn’t have it easy. If we can lend a hand, then we should.”
Gradually, she cald down again.
Actually, Uncle Carp did have a bit of savings, and the neighborhood they lived in wasn’t bad. But this building was sowhat old, with seven floors and no elevator, and it even had a small loft.
What did that small loft look like?
A complete triangle.
The highest point was four and a half ters, and the lowest point was only one point two ters; in the entire loft, there wasn’t much space where one could stand up straight.
This apartnt was originally provided as additional space to the sixth floor, but as it was not very practical, many people simply fixed it up and rented it out.
The loft in their building was rented to Xiaofeng—
A single mother with an eight-year-old son.
Xiaofeng didn’t have a high level of education and was shy; she ran a breakfast stall in front of the school every morning, selling stead buns.
There are no secrets in a residential building.
She had moved in less than a week ago, and everyone quickly got to know her basic situation.
If it had been in the past, running a stall could have earned so money, but the problem was that school managent had beco increasingly stringent, and parents rarely dared to let their children eat such food.
Moreover, with her looking after a child on her own, balancing school and family work, her life was genuinely not easy.
Now that the vegetables had been given to her, the couple felt relieved for so reason.
At least they hadn’t gone to waste.
anwhile, outside the door, Xiaofeng held the bundle of crisp green onions in her hand, but her heart was filled only with joy.
Green onions are expensive now!
A small bunch costs five yuan at the market, and she had just co back from the supermarket buying discounted vegetables.
The fillings for her own buns were decent, but the child couldn’t eat them every day. To improve their als, she had to take advantage of the discounts at the supermarket at night.
But now, with these crisp green onions in her possession, she opened the door and saw her son sitting in the living room doing his howork; her heart lted completely.
“Xuanxuan, what would you like for dinner tonight?”
She ran a food business, and when the students got out of school, she was still at her stall; and after the students dispersed, she had to move to another residential area to continue selling. Her son would just casually eat a bun to last him until they could have dinner, which was always quite late.
Xuanxuan turned around, and the first thing he saw was the fresh green onions, so he asked, “Mom, can we have scallion oil rice tonight?”
Xiaofeng paused, “Eating that at night isn’t nutritious.”
However, Xuanxuan looked at her with his lips pursed in anticipation, “I want to eat it, I haven’t had it in a long ti. And, mom, these green onions are so fresh. If we don’t eat them tonight, they won’t be this fresh tomorrow.”
Xiaofeng was about to say that the green onions could be kept for later.
But after thinking it over, she eventually smiled, “Then I’ll add an egg for you.”
“Two, one for each of us.”
Reviews
All reviews (0)