Zheng's mother pulled the cart early in the morning and prepared to go out to sell popsicles. Every extra point she earned when she left the stall early was worth every penny.
As soon as I walked out, I met my new neighbor.
"Ouch, aunt is leaving the stall so early."
"Yeah, sell out early and go home early."
The kind-hearted Mother Zheng chuckled. Although she was dressed a little shabbily, she gave people a very easy-going feeling.
After saying hello, I was about to leave when I was stopped again.
"Auntie, can I trouble you for a favor?"
"Child, tell me what's going on."
Mother Zheng did not feel impatient, but stopped and looked at the other party seriously.
"Auntie, my brother and I are newly moved here. Neither of us are very good at cooking. Can you please cook for us so that you don't have to work in vain? If we pay for it, we will treat it as hiring you. What do you think about cooking two meals?"
"Hire me?" Mother Zheng was stunned for a moment: "My child, cooking is nothing, but if you do it every day..."
Zheng's mother hesitated. What she worried about was not that she would be burdened by cooking, but that she would delay her selling popsicles.
The family's conditions are not good. There are three people to eat. The daughter is too beautiful and is afraid of recruiting bad people. The son is blind, so he only makes ends meet by selling popsicles.
The other party seemed to see Zheng's mother's difficulties, so she asked aloud: "Aunt, let's do this. How much money can you make selling popsicles in a day? I'll hire you double."
"Huh? No, no, no, this is not good."
"It's okay, aunt, it's settled. We'll pay for the rice, flour, grain and oil, and you'll be responsible for it."
After saying that, she stuffed more than twenty yuan into Zheng's mother's hand and said, "Aunt, you can use this money to buy groceries. Come back early after selling the popsicles."
Without giving Mother Zheng a chance to regret, she left directly.
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Ye Haoran had just finished sending the telegram. He took a few puffs on a cigarette and put out the butt.
Erdan entered the room and laughed: "Brother Ye, the cooking is done."
"What's done, you learned to cook in one night?"
"How can I? I hired someone to cook for us."
Ye Haoran frowned and asked, "Did you bring the person back?"
Erdan waved his hands quickly: "No, it's our neighbor's aunt. When she's ready, I'll bring it back and won't let her come over."
Ye Haoran thought for a while, nodded and said nothing.
On the other side, Mother Zheng was holding money in her hand, which felt a little hot.
Although she was poor and lived a hard life, Zheng's mother never complained about anything or did anything extraordinary. Even though the two children were not her own, she still regarded them as her own.
But faced with this unexpected fortune, Zheng's mother panicked.
Instead of going to the cinema to sell popsicles as usual, I pulled the cart directly back home.
Zheng Juan, who was doing laundry, saw Zheng's mother coming back and quickly stood up and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
In the past, Zheng Juan followed her when she went out. Today she didn't go because she had a lot of clothes to wash, so she stayed at home.
After asking, she helped Zheng's mother back into the house. Then Zheng's mother said, "The newly moved neighbor wants me to help cook and pay for it."
Zheng Juan heard this and said subconsciously: "There are still people who don't know how to cook? They can't be bad people, right?"
Zheng's mother shook her head: "I thought she looked good, so I gave her money first."
Only then did Zheng Juan see the money in Zheng's mother's hand. She was not surprised and showed the same expression as Zheng's mother.
As the saying goes, mother is the best family tradition.
Mother Zheng, who is emotionally stable and kind, will teach the same kind of children.
"Mom, how about... do it for two days and see?"
"Okay, I'll go sell popsicles, and you can stay at home and cook."
The mother and son split up, one went to sell popsicles as usual, and the other went to buy vegetables.
During the process of buying food, Zheng Juan was quite happy. If it were true that she was paid for cooking, her family would be better off with an extra income.
Busy for a long time.
When Zheng's mother closed the stall and went home, Zheng Juan had already washed the vegetables and prepared them for the pot.
She didn't say what to eat, so she just bought some home-cooked food.
As soon as the pot was served, there was a knock on the door outside the house.
"Mom! Is the food ready? I'm hungry!"
"Come on, come on!"
Mother Zheng pursed her lips and smiled, then opened the door and Erdan walked in.
"Auntie, I forgot to tell you. Once the food is cooked, we can pick it up. There is no need to send it over. My brother is a scholar and is afraid of being disturbed."
Zheng's mother was a little embarrassed when she heard that there was no need to send it away, but after hearing Erdan's excuse, she could only nod in agreement.
Erdan at the door looked up and was shocked when he saw Zheng Juan, but he was just stunned for a moment and then returned to normal.
Instead of disturbing Zheng Juan who was cooking, she started chatting with Zheng's mother.
"Auntie, I love eating meat. Don't be afraid of spending money. Put more meat in it. If you don't have enough money, just tell me."
"Oh, meat is expensive now."
"It's okay, I have money!"
Zheng Juan focused on cooking and never raised her head to look at Erdan.
After working for more than twenty minutes, after the dishes were out of the pot, a bowl of rice was placed in it, and it was thoughtfully covered with a white cloth to keep out dust.
"You keep some for yourself. We only need enough to eat. Any more will be wasted."
Although you have to pay for it, you can use other people's firewood, pots, and seasonings, etc. It's all money, so you should save some after you're done.
"That's all. Auntie is back. I'll bring the rice bowl back to you after you finish eating."
"Okay, don't be busy, just bring it back and we can brush it."
After Erdan left, Zheng Juan took out the remaining vegetables in the pot. There was still quite a bit left, enough for them to have a meal.
After the food was brought home, Ye Haoran and Jianjun both sat down and prepared to eat.
The excited Erdan just put down the food and said with a smile: "Brother, you haven't seen it. There is a big girl in our neighbor's house. She is very pretty."
"What can you do about being handsome? Are you afraid that your wife will know about it?"
Erdan got married after he was promoted. Even though he was as fat as a ball, he had good conditions. In addition, he was Section Chief Ye's loyal younger brother, so there were many people who came to introduce potential partners.
Erdan laughed awkwardly: "Ahem, that's what I said."
Ye Haoran was too lazy to talk to him. He took a sip and nodded with satisfaction: "It's okay. It's quite appetizing."
"Yes, the neighbor's aunt is a real person."
After eating, the rice bowl and vegetable bowl were sent back by Jianjun.
Ye Haoran and Erdan were sitting on chairs smoking cigarettes. When Jianjun came back, Ye Haoran took out some pieces of paper and handed them to Erdan.
He said: "This Director Zhong is the newly transferred director of the grain depot. Let's see what happens to him."
"Brother Ye, is a junior director necessary?"
"Of course it is necessary. You also said that he is a junior director. Why would he give cigarettes and alcohol to the provincial secretary?"
Erdanzi was startled: "Is there such a thing?"
Ye Haoran flicked the ashes of his cigarette: "Well, the summary report was just sent yesterday. Keep an eye on him. If there are no small fish, you can't catch the big fish."
The manpower is limited, and it is impossible for everyone to keep an eye on the target, so you need to find the target and touch it in one line.
The person who was just mentioned was the easiest person to attack because he didn't know how to do things properly, so Ye Haoran chose this person.
Just keep an eye on it for a few days and if it doesn't work, just change the target.
After chatting for a while, Erdan rode his newly bought bicycle to arrange work.
After Ye Haoran told Jianjun to look after the house, he also left the house.
After walking through several small alleys and arriving at Zhou's house, Zhou Rong was washing dishes. After entering the house, she passed by and slapped her in the face.
Zhou Rong was so frightened that she quickly looked into the room.
"You're going to die!"
"What are you afraid of? My wife is not a hooligan, but what about Bingkun'er?"
Zhou Rong put the washed dishes and chopsticks back into the bowl rack, wiped his hands and said, "I went to play with some of his friends. I won't be back until later."
"It can't be with Qiao Chunyan!"
"Who knows."
Zhou Rong took Ye Haoran to say hello to Li Suhua, and then went to Zhou Rong's cabin.
Zhou Rong went shopping today and bought two shirts for Ye Haoran. Ye Haoran happened to come over to try them on.
Neither of them brought much luggage when they came back, and they still had to lick some clothes and the like.
Ye Haoran put the shirt on, and Zhou Rong helped tie it button by button, like a virtuous little daughter-in-law.
"Be honest and don't move."
"Hey, what's going on with Bing Kun'er? Qiao Chunyan likes him, why is he so indifferent?"
It is said that women chase men's veil, but this is not the case.
The timing of appearance is very important. There are two tragedies in love. One is meeting too early, meeting each other at an age when you don't know how to cherish it, and only starting to regret it after you miss it.
One is that they meet too late, and there is already another person beside the other person or themselves, and there is no chance to express this love.
Qiao Chunyan and Zhou Bingkun were neighbors and grew up together, so they met too early.
There is also a problem with Qiao Chunyan's way of expression.
Although she was very free and easy, her way of expressing her feelings would give Zhou Bingkun the illusion that Qiao Chunyan was joking.
Because he was so familiar with her, Zhou Bingkun didn't even think of Qiao Chunyan as a girl at all.
Zhou Rong arranged Ye Haoran's collar, looked it up and down and felt satisfied, then replied to Ye Haoran's words.
"What, you want to help them?"
"It's not impossible. Bingkun'er is not young anymore. It would be good to start a family as soon as possible. Please take care of our mother when you are not here, otherwise our mother will be bored by herself."
After listening to Ye Haoran's words, Zhou Rong really nodded, thought seriously for a while and said, "How do you want to help?"
Ye Haoran held his chin and thought for a while: "Bingkun'er has nothing to help, and he will definitely not take the initiative. Why don't you come forward and talk to Chunyan?"
"What to talk about?"
"I called you."
"It seems you are very experienced!"
Zhou Rong rolled her eyes, but was hugged by Ye Haoran.
The two of them were just about to do some bad things secretly, but Zhou Bingkun came back.
And it looked like he was drunk.
Li Suhua winked repeatedly, but Zhou Bingkun couldn't see it, and then rushed into the hut, just in time to see Ye Haoran and Zhou Rong hugging each other.
"Well..."
'bang'
Zhou Bingkun turned around a little anxiously and bumped his head against the door frame.
It was too late to apologize, so he covered his head and ran out.
Zhou Rong bent over and laughed loudly from behind.
The arrival of Ye Haoran and Zhou Rong restored the vitality of the Zhou family. Li Suhua no longer complained every day, and Zhou Bingkun no longer had to go home busy every day to serve the elderly.
Bingkun felt a lot more relaxed now that his sister was sharing the burden.
After rubbing his forehead outside for a long time, Zhou Bingkun returned to the house after the pain subsided and took out a letter from his arms.
"Sister, a letter from my brother and my father."
Upon hearing the news, Li Suhua became excited.
"Rong, read it quickly and see what is said."
Zhou Rong opened one of the letters and said comfortingly: "Mom, don't worry, I'll read it right now... My brother said he saw Dongmei and told you to take care of yourself at home. If you have any hard work, don't worry." Let Bingkuner do it."
Zhou Bingkun on the side curled his lips, but did not interrupt.
Then Zhou Rong opened another letter.
"Yeah! My dad can come back in two months, and the vacation has been approved."
"Really? Is your dad really coming back?"
Zhou Rong and Bingkun both became excited, and even Li Suhua secretly wiped away tears.
That night, the Zhou family was so happy that they almost fell asleep.
Ye Haoran stayed with him until very late before going home.
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It was quiet for several days.
Erdan hurriedly returned to Taiping Hutong that day. After closing the door, he approached Ye Haoran and said, "Brother, there is indeed something wrong with Director Zhong. He started reselling food less than a month after taking office."
"Oh? Tell me in detail."
"Director Zhong was not promoted through grain transfer. He used to be from a coal factory. The province pushed him to get transferred to the grain depot. And now the top leader is about to retire. He doesn't care about anything at all. It's all he who has the final say. "
Ye Haoran wrote Director Zhong's name on the paper and then drew a circle.
Erdan continued: "The person who pushed him up has also been transferred. He has hooked up with the person above and can determine the right path."
Under Erdan's narration, Ye Haoran drew a simple relationship diagram, which roughly clarified the context.
Then he asked: "Where is the food going?"
"I approved the note and gave it to a man named Shui Ziliu."
"Wait a minute!"
Ye Haoran raised his hand and fell into deep thought.
"Why does this name sound familiar to me?"
Erdan shook his head: "He is a speculative and second-rate dealer. We don't have any detailed information at the moment."
Ye Haoran didn't remember who it was, so he ordered: "Don't worry about this person, just find out where the food is going. The main thing is to track it upwards."
"Understood. Jianjun and I will go there to have a look. We won't be back today."
"Are you leaving without dinner?"
"No, there are not enough manpower. Jianjun and I will go there early."
There is no way to solve the problem of insufficient manpower. We can only make these people suffer a little.
After Erdan and Jianjun left, Ye Haoran was the only one left at home.
Looking at the relationship diagram in front of him, Ye Haoran fell into deep thought.
After Zheng Juan made her rice bowl, she waited for a long time but no one came to pick it up. Maybe Zheng Juan's mother came back a little late because the goods were not sold out today.
Seeing that the food was about to get cold, Zheng Juan stood up and shouted to her brother beside her: "Guangming, don't go anywhere at home. Sister will send the food to others."
"I know, sister, you go ahead, I'm not going anywhere."
Zheng Juan is more than ten years older than Guangming. She knows that this younger brother was adopted as a child. He has been blind since he was a child and was abandoned by his biological parents.
Later, he met the kind-hearted mother Zheng and saved his life.
This is a tragedy in life, but fortunately Guangming has been sensible since he was a child. He never caused trouble when he was a child. He would either quietly accompany Zheng's mother selling popsicles, or help his sister paste paper boxes.
After telling Guangming, Zheng Juan walked to her neighbor's house with the food in hand.
The door was open. Maybe Erdan and Jianjun left in a hurry and didn't close it properly.
Knocked on the door and shouted softly: "Is anyone home?"
In the room, Ye Haoran was interrupted from contemplation, closed the notebook and put it back in the drawer, then got up and opened the door.
He opened the door casually and looked at Zheng Juan who was coming.
