Chapter 347 - Chapter 347: Visiting Relatives
Chapter 347: Visiting Relatives
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Okay, Big Sister, I’ll go start the fire.” Li Mei’s second sister ran to the stove happily.
Her third sister and younger brother hurriedly said, “Big Sister, we’ll help you.”
“All right, let’s cook lunch together. We’ll also have chicken stew tonight,” Li Mei said smilingly.
“Big Sister, didn’t you say we should sell the chicken?” Li Mei’s second sister asked.
Although Li Mei had earned a lot of money, the family could not be so wasteful. After all, they could still sell their chicken for money if it did not lay eggs. Then Old Madam Su and Su Fengchen could make grilled chicken and sell it for a lot.
“We need to eat something good occasionally. If we eat well, we’ll have more strength to work,” Li Mei said.
She and her younger siblings were thin, but she could finally nourish them. She dared not think about it in the past, for she feared her younger siblings would starve to death.
Therefore, she kept everything she could to sell for money and was reluctant to cook chicken or eggs. The family only had coarse-grain buns at home.
However, they did not have enough and had to share it for each meal.
Li Mei typically only ate two meals a day. Sometimes, she would get so hungry that she could not sleep at night. She could only get up and drink water constantly.
Now, she was finally willing to eat good food.
Li Mei’s words made her younger siblings happy. They wanted her to eat more meat while they drank the stew. They felt it was good enough just to drink the chicken stew.
Li Mei went to the stove and cut the tofu, preparing to make tofu stew with wild vegetables.
“Big Sister, so this is tofu. It smells so good.”
“It feels so soft too.”
“It must be delicious.”
The three children looked at the tofu and smelled it, almost drooling. They had heard of tofu but had never eaten or seen it. In the past, they did not even dare to think they would be able to eat tofu. Hence, they never expected to try tofu this afternoon.
Li Mei looked at her younger siblings’ curious and envious looks. She smiled, cut three small pieces of tofu, and handed them one piece each. “Let’s have a taste first. I’ll cook it with wild vegetables and add salt. It’ll taste better, and the soup will be good.”
Li Mei had heard that from someone who worked in the tofu factory with her. Some workers had tried tofu before and had heard about how to cook it. They had also heard of how delicious tofu was.
Li Mei had noted everything down. This time, she made tofu stew with wild vegetables.
The trio looked at the tofu their big sister handed them, not daring to eat it.
“You should eat, Big Sister.”
“Y-Yeah, we’re not hungry.”
The three youngsters were drooling as they glued their eyes to the tofu, but they insisted on letting Li Mei eat it. Children were the worst at hiding their thoughts.
Li Mei knew they wanted to eat the tofu when she saw them like this. “It’s fine.
Eat it. There’s more here. We can eat a lot of tofu in the future.”
After hearing Li Mei’s words, the trio carefully took the tofu and started eating. They dared not eat in big mouthfuls and ate the tofu in small bites instead.
“Big Sister, it’s so delicious. It’s so soft and fragrant.”
Li Mei had not yet added anything to the tofu, but the three youngsters already thought it was delicious. The trio broke into big smiles and excitedly told their big sister that the tofu was delicious.
Li Mei discretely gulped her saliva but did not eat the tofu. Instead, she planned to try it only after cooking. However, Li Mei’s second sister insisted on giving her remaining tofu to her big sister after taking a small bite.
Li Mei looked at her second sister’s determined expression and opened her mouth to eat. Li Mei chewed lightly and could feel the fragrance coming from her mouth.
She had a look of enjoyment on her face. “Indeed, it’s delicious.”
Li Mei also revealed a bright smile. “Oh right, I’ll take a day off in a few days and bring you guys to town to buy some things.”
Li Mei had not been to town since her parents passed away, let alone to the market.
“Woo!” The trio was excited. They would be happy to even just walk around town.
“Still, we must be wise with our money. We can take some to town to buy cotton and cloth to make blankets. Then it won’t get so cold during the winter.
Also, I’ll buy clothes and soles for you three.”
The children only wore torn straw sandals. Li Mei had worn a good pair of shoes for work at the tofu factory, but her soles were worn out because she had always worn those shoes.
She talked about what to buy and her plans for the winter. Her younger siblings listened carefully, and their eyes shined brightly.
The youngsters looked forward to lunch but grew more eager because their big sister would cook chicken for dinner, and they were also excited to visit the town in a few days. They also looked forward to winter and the New Year.
Li Mei’s house became lively after she received her salary and bonus. The atmosphere was much lighter.
Everyone was happy after receiving their wages and bonuses. Some also heard the news and hurriedly told their families who were working the night shift.
When everyone heard the news, they could not bother to finish their lunch. They simply took a few mouthfuls of rice and hurried to ask the morning shift workers for more information.
After hearing the news, the night shift workers wanted to go to the factory to work immediately. However, there was a rule at the factory that they could only start work on time and not earlier.
The night shift workers felt like time was passing too slowly. When it was finally time for their shifts, they rushed to the tofu factory.
Although they were working, they looked toward the door from time to time, waiting for Su Binglan and Shen Qiuhua to appear. When the time came, the workers should receive their pay.
As expected, Su Binglan arrived to give the night shift workers their salaries and bonuses. She treated everyone the same, and as usual, Shen Qiuhua gave the workers a pound of tofu and allowed them to leave work early. Everyone went home happy.
In just one day, everyone in Su Teng Village heard the news. Even the surrounding two or three villages heard about these things. Everyone was envious.
“I didn’t expect them to earn so much money working at the tofu factory. Is the news fake?”
“It’s true. Everyone in Su Teng Village knows about it.”
“We can work and have great strength, but the Su family only hires people from their village to work at their factory.”
“Su Teng Village only keeps improving. Everyone is benefiting from the Su family. Even their health consultations are free.”
“I heard that Miss Su’s medical skills are excellent, and she cured many people
in a short time.”
Everyone was discussing this and envied the people of Su Teng Village. They were also constantly inquiring about Su Teng Village. They also thought that they could go there for work if anything good happened in Su Teng Village.
Those who had relatives in Su Teng Village became excited when they heard the news and were ready to visit their relatives. They wanted to build a good relationship with their relatives in Su Teng Village and gather information to benefit from them in the future.
After paying the rest of the workers their wages and bonuses, Su Binglan began preparing for her embroidery shop. She passed the finished blueprints to Su Xueye and paid for the construction fees so that Su Xueye could build the shop without a worry. Then Su Binglan went to talk to Ding Wan about the embroidery shop..