Chapter 41: Second Update

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Lin Xuexia ate a beef pancake herself, then went upstairs and delivered three freshly made ones to the landlady. Chen Miaorong was doing odd jobs at home. She had no regular employment and made a living entirely from collecting rent and taking on little jobs at home, such as stringing beads and assembling decorative light strings.

There were many factories in the area, so this kind of handicraft work was easy to find. People could take it home, and many women who stayed home to look after their children would do it whenever they had the time. Though it did not pay much, it was better than nothing.

Chen Miaorong watched television while she worked. When Lin Xuexia knocked and delivered the pancakes, she was overjoyed.

“My goodness, they smell wonderful! Xuexia, you’re such a good cook.”

“They’re fresh,” Lin Xuexia said with a smile. “You and the children should try them.”

After glancing around Chen Miaorong’s home, Lin Xuexia went downstairs. Before she had even stepped through her own door, she remembered the beads and light strings she had seen in the landlady’s home. Of course, she knew exactly what kind of handicraft work they were.

Those things took a great deal of time and earned hardly any money—at most, one or two yuan. Chen Miaorong was not short of that amount, so she was probably just doing the work to pass the time while watching television.

Chen Miaorong was timid and disliked crowded places. She did not like speaking with strangers. Only when she met someone familiar would she say more than a few words. In the building, the person who had once talked with her most was Gao Chunyan.

Now that Gao Chunyan spent longer hours at her stall, she had less time to talk with Chen Miaorong.

Just then, an idea suddenly occurred to Lin Xuexia. She could buy the ingredients herself, prepare the spice packets and char siu sauce, and ask Chen Miaorong to keep watch over the fire and do the cooking. Once everything was ready, Lin Xuexia could take it to the stall to sell. Wouldn’t that save her a great deal of trouble?

I’m going to hire my own landlady?

Lin Xuexia fell silent.

She thought she was truly a genius for coming up with such an idea. The only problem was that this could easily become awkward and damage their relationship. Then again, Chen Miaorong was so timid and yielding that Lin Xuexia thought she was already doing her a favor simply by not taking advantage of her.

Chen Miaorong worked with great seriousness. Many people were careless when stringing beads and making light strings, but she inspected every single one repeatedly, making absolutely sure the finished products were perfect. She was terrified that even one of the lights might fail to shine.

Lin Xuexia withdrew the foot she had just placed inside her door. She looked up toward the ceiling and thought, It’s only a question. Why not give it a try? Must I really be so hesitant about everything?

With that, she turned around and went back up to the third floor.

Inside the house, Fu Wei was waiting for her to come in.

What in the world?

Lin Xuexia knocked on Chen Miaorong’s door again. When it opened, she explained everything in detail.

“Sis Chen, you know that Auntie Chunyan and I have been selling braised meat and other braised dishes at our stall. I want to find someone to help me prepare the braised meat. Would you be interested?”

Chen Miaorong froze. Her eyes widened.

For many years, Chen Miaorong had not worked outside the home. Apart from her tenants, her children, and a few vendors at the market, she had almost no contact with the outside world.

Even when she bought vegetables, she would save up her shopping for three or four days, then store everything in the refrigerator and eat it over the course of several days.

She stayed home watching television every day and had memorized many of the advertisements by heart. She found life tedious and lonely, and looked forward to her children coming home at night. Sometimes she would feel anxious, wondering what she would do once her children grew up and left.

From time to time, Chen Miaorong thought about finding a job, but she had never been brave enough. A few days earlier, she had attended her children’s midterm parents’ meeting. Seeing the mothers who had jobs stand up and speak with such poise had stirred her desire to work once more.

But she really did not have any particular skills. Become a cleaner?

“Do you mean I could have a regular job?” Chen Miaorong’s eyes brightened.

Lin Xuexia was speechless.

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She suddenly understood Chen Miaorong’s hopes and desires.

“You could say that. I rented a first-floor shop in the alley over there to use as a kitchen and storeroom. You can go to work like everyone else—start at eight in the morning and finish at five in the afternoon, with a lunch break there at noon.” Char siu pork had to be marinated for a whole day, so Chen Miaorong could help with marinating the meat and watching the fire. It would not be difficult.

“We can all have lunch together a little earlier…”

Chen Miaorong agreed at once. “All right. I’ll do it.”

Lin Xuexia explained everything clearly. They would try it for a few days first to see whether it suited her. She would be paid three yuan for each day worked, and if she was able to continue, her wages would gradually increase.

Chen Miaorong nodded. “Xuexia, you’ll teach me tomorrow, right? Should I leave early and go with you?”

The landlady was remarkably enthusiastic about starting work.

“No, no. You only need to arrive around eight or nine. I’ll go to the market first to buy meat and vegetables.”

The landlady asked tentatively, “Could I go with you?”

Chen Miaorong herself thought she was rather strange. She did not dare go shopping at the market alone, but if someone accompanied her, she greatly enjoyed wandering through the market and buying things.

“Of course.”

After finishing her conversation with Chen Miaorong, Lin Xuexia went downstairs.

When Chen Miaorong learned that she was about to “go to work,” she was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. This was the first step she had taken toward leaving her home. Holding the beef pancake Lin Xuexia had given her, she wandered around the house like a headless fly.

December was almost here—the time of year Chen Miaorong hated most. She would once again have to tell her tenants that the rent would rise the following year, and it would certainly go up after the New Year. As for Lin Xuexia, she decided not to mention it. Lin Xuexia had only rented the place recently. Would it be too much to collect both her rent and her wages?

But then Chen Miaorong remembered that the rent for the shop on the first floor was due to increase next year.

While eating her beef pancake, she went downstairs and began discussing the coming rent increase with the married couple who ran the grocery store. As they talked, she smiled and said, “The beef pancakes Xuexia makes on the second floor are delicious, aren’t they? They smell wonderful too.”

With that, Chen Miaorong went upstairs.

After she left, the fragrance of beef pancakes seemed to linger in the air. The grocery store owner’s wife was filled with regret. Ever since that incident, Lin Xuexia had never brought them anything to eat again.

She had rather liked the cold dishes Lin Xuexia made. What a pity. Now there was no more free food.

If only she had known, she would have continued renting the freezer to Lin Xuexia. Now she could not even earn that one and a half yuan in rent, nor enjoy any of her cooking, and the shop’s rent was about to increase as well.

* * *

Early the next morning, although Lin Xuexia had clearly told Chen Miaorong that she did not need to arrive so early, Chen Miaorong still got up at dawn. With dark circles beneath her eyes, she came to the second floor before the sky had even brightened. When she heard movement downstairs, she quickly opened the door and pretended that they had happened to meet.

“I woke up early today and couldn’t get back to sleep. Xuexia, I’ll go with you.”

Lin Xuexia was at a loss for words.

Perhaps Chen Miaorong had once sincerely envied Gao Chunyan. Gao Chunyan hated getting up before dawn and working until late at night, while Chen Miaorong envied her for doing exactly that—for setting up a stall early each morning and having a proper job.

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And so the three adults and one child went together.

When Gao Chunyan learned that Lin Xuexia had hired the landlady—and for only three yuan—her eyes filled with disbelief. Her thoughts spun in a daze, repeating the same question over and over.

This is possible too? She could actually do this?

If she had known that three yuan was enough to hire a landlady, she would have asked Chen Miaorong to join her long ago.

Chen Miaorong was extremely shy. “Chunyan, I’ve always wanted to try setting up a stall with you.”

Although Chen Miaorong owned an entire building that she rented out, she was actually quite insecure. She felt she had no other abilities, while Gao Chunyan could at least support herself by running a rice-noodle stall alone. Chen Miaorong greatly admired her for it.

On the way there, it was not only Gao Chunyan who felt bewildered. Her own daughter, Liu Yanqun, was just as confused.

Her mother, Gao Chunyan, had once envied Chen Miaorong every day for staying home, collecting rent, and doing nothing at all. Yet Chen Miaorong was now eager to go set up a stall with her mother.

Liu Yanqun looked anxiously at Lin Xuexia. Now that there was one more person, would Sister Xuexia still want her?

She felt that earning one yuan a day was already an incredible bargain.

By then, her longing for the pair of shoes had faded considerably. She no longer felt that her mother’s running a stall was embarrassing, but she was reluctant to give up that one yuan.

Even if she really managed to save thirty yuan one day, she probably would not bear to spend it all at once. She would buy a pair of shoes costing only a few yuan and save the rest.

After helping out, Liu Yanqun went to school. Zhao Huiru was delighted to learn that she now had someone to keep her company, and she enthusiastically chatted with Chen Miaorong. When she found out that Chen Miaorong earned only three yuan a day, she was even happier. Clearly, she was now the senior worker.

Chen Miaorong especially liked lively people who took the initiative to talk, and the two of them worked together perfectly. Lin Xuexia made the pancakes on the spot, Zhao Huiru cooked them and wrapped sticky-rice meals for customers, while Chen Miaorong collected the money and handled various odd jobs.

She took the money with great care, recording every sale and balancing every account. The task gave Chen Miaorong an extraordinary sense of accomplishment.

Lin Xuexia was speechless.

The two of them were so absorbed in selling their goods that they forgot the time. Lin Xuexia had originally thought Chen Miaorong would stay indoors, unwilling to come out, but she had never expected this.

Still, it was not bad. With another person helping, everything suddenly became much easier.

* * *

Liu Yanqun took her beef pancake to school. When she pulled it from her schoolbag, it was still warm, and it tasted especially delicious. She ate it slowly, savoring every bite, reluctant to finish it all at once. Beside it was a bottle of milk.

The Xuexia who lived next door had subscribed to a milk delivery service. After hearing from Lin Xuexia that drinking milk helped children grow taller, Gao Chunyan had ordered milk for both Liu Yanqun and her younger brother.

Liu Yanqun took a bite of the pancake and lowered her head to look at her feet. She was wearing a pair of six-yuan white cloth shoes, scrubbed so clean that they gleamed. Suddenly, she felt that things were actually quite good as they were.

Her deskmate, Jiang Jingqing, wore a pair of brown leather shoes fit for a little princess, along with snow-white lace-trimmed socks.

Even if Liu Yanqun put on shoes like those, they probably would not suit her.

She was looking at Jiang Jingqing’s shoes, while Jiang Jingqing stared unblinkingly at the hot beef-and-sauce pancake in her hands.