Chapter 10: Please Your Wife and Children
Chapter 10: Please Your Wife and Children
Li Xiaohai and Li Xiaozhou came back after washing their hands. The food was already served. When they saw the white rice on the table, the younger one cheered, "I like white rice."
Li Changle carried his youngest son to the bench and said, "If you like it, tell mom not to add shredded sweet potatoes in the next cooking."
"You can't be picky about food. Grandma said that the food at home will not be enough without shredded sweet potatoes." Li Xiaohai on the side looked at him with disapproval.
Looking at the sensible eldest brother, Li Changle said guiltily: "Dad will go to the sea to buy rice to eat in the future."
"Humph! You're bragging again!" Li Xiaohai turned his head and shouted to the kitchen, "Mom, it's time to eat."
"Mother, come over when the seaweed soup is ready."
Zhou Ruonan tore the seaweed into pieces and put it in the soup bowl, scooped a little lard with a spoon, pinched a pinch of shrimp lice and put it in, then scooped half a ladle of boiling water into the soup bowl.
The clumped seaweed is stretched out and sprinkled with chopped green onions, and a bowl of delicious seaweed soup is ready.
Li Xiaozhou saw her coming out and pointed at the mantis shrimp, "Mother, I want to eat mantis shrimp."
Li Changle saw that his youngest son had to wait for his mother to come out before asking for shrimp. Thinking that the two children had a deep prejudice against him, he hurriedly tried to express himself, "Brother, let mother eat, and daddy will peel it for you!"
"Oh!"
To eat mantis shrimp, you only need one chopstick. First, break off the tentacles on both sides of the shrimp tail, then fold the shrimp tail downward, and use the chopsticks to insert from the gap of the tail along the shrimp shell to near the head.
Fold the shell open with your left hand, press the chopsticks with your right hand, and apply force in opposite directions with both hands at the same time, and the entire shell on the back will be opened.
Li Changle put the peeled mantis shrimp in his youngest son's bowl, and immediately peeled one for Zhou Ruonan and one for Li Xiaohai. The child looked at him, picked up one and ate it.
Zhou Ruonan saw that the man who always ate by himself and left after wiping his mouth was peeling shrimp for himself and the child today, and also picked up a piece of fish for him, "Aren't you hungry? You eat yours, and I'll peel them for them."
"I..." Li Changle wanted to stop, but suddenly remembered that his two sons disliked him for being mean to them, so he picked up another mantis shrimp and started peeling it quickly, "You like to eat it, so what does it matter if I'm hungry for a while!"
Zhou Ruonan looked at him thoughtfully, and picked up a shrimp to help peel it. Li Xiaohai looked up at him, then looked away and also picked up a shrimp to peel it.
"Dad, eat!" Li Xiaozhou picked up the shrimps in his bowl, reached out his hand and fed them into his mouth. Li Xiaohai put the peeled shrimps into Zhou Ruonan's bowl.
"Delicious! So fresh that it makes your tongue drop!" Li Changle opened his mouth to catch it, and felt that nothing could be more delicious than this.
Li Xiaozhou giggled with joy.
The family was eating happily. Then there was a sound of footsteps in the yard. Then Wang Mazi and a tall man who was as thin as a bamboo pole stood at the door.
Zhou Ruonan's heart sank to the bottom. Thinking of the money he had just given her, she felt that she might not be able to keep it again.
Li Xiaohai glanced at Li Changle and said, "You said you would change it, don't lie to us again."
"Little guy, stop worrying about nothing!" Li Changle also saw the two of them. He planned to be a good person and work hard to make money in this life. It would be better to cut off contact with "good brothers" like Wang Mazi as soon as possible.
The guy who is as thin as a bamboo pole and has squinty eyes is called Lin Changrong. He is not a bad person, just a little silly, just like himself before, sloppy and not like a good person.
He vaguely remembered that this guy seemed to go to a big city with his uncle to set up a stall to sell glasses in the early spring of the next year. He got into trouble and ran away after only half a year. The other two who went with him later made a lot of money.
Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered that setting up a stall in a big city to sell glasses was a good way to make money these days. It was a pity that he didn't know anything, otherwise he would have given it a try.
Lin Changrong looked at Li Changle with a smile, "I heard that your luck has changed. You've earned two or three hundred dollars this morning. Hurry up, let's set up the mahjong table, call Ah Biao and start playing."
Wang Mazi looked at him with a smile, as if the fish-selling incident in the morning had never happened. "Ah Le, I have always treated you as my best friend. When I find good fish, I always sell it to A Dong's family instead of my family. Do you have any misunderstandings about me?"
"Yes! A Le, we are all good friends. I think it's a bit unkind of you not to sell good stuff to your own people!" Lin Erhuo said foolishly.
Good friend, he thought that after what happened in the morning, Wang Mazi would not come to find him again. Now that he has come to him, wouldn’t it be a shame to his past life if he didn’t vent his anger?
Li Changle looked at him with his eyes rolling, and said with a bitter face: "My father was bitten by a five-step snake and was hospitalized. Adong's family collected the cash from Yu. I asked you to give me the money first, but you didn't agree. I'm waiting to use the money, so I can only give it to him."
"A Le, was your father really bitten by a five-step snake?" Lin Changrong asked in surprise.
Li Changle's face darkened. "Is this something you can joke about? The doctor said that it was fortunate that he was sent there in time, but my father still needs to stay in the hospital for a while.
The 200 yuan I earned from selling fish is still not enough. I was thinking of borrowing some money from you after dinner to pay for the hospital bills!"
Lin Changrong said awkwardly, "I only have three dollars in my pocket." Then he teased Wang Mazi, "Awang, lend some to Ale if it's convenient for you!"
"Ah, black eggs!" Wang Mazi, who was secretly happy to hear him support him just now, cursed inwardly and spread his hands, "A Le, if you had told me earlier, I would have definitely lent you the money. Now my family is really short of money. The fish shop just collected several thousand kilograms of good fish this morning, and I still owe a lot to others!"
Two-faced, shameless villain! Thousands of kilograms of good goods, do you think the fishmongers are all idiots?
Li Changle wanted to disgust him, and smiled with sarcasm in his eyes, "Don't cry about being poor! Your family is one of the top three rich families in our village, and I don't ask you how much you want to borrow!
Given our relationship, is it okay for you to lend me two hundred to pay for my hospital bill? Don't worry, I'll buy some big stuff at noon and I'll pay you back as soon as I sell it."
Zhou Ruonan looked at him in surprise, and thinking of the money he got back, she thought to herself: Has he really made up his mind to change?
"Where can I lend you the money? I forgot that there's something urgent at home. I'm leaving first!" Wang Mazi felt so regretful at this moment. He felt that he shouldn't have tried to trick him into talking by using the mahjong game as an excuse.
And I shouldn't have come with that idiot Lin Changrong.
It is impossible to borrow money from a family who is so poor that they don’t even take care of mice.
You are not satisfied with your bad luck once, and you want it twice? You go to ask for a big cargo at noon? Do you think the sea is your fish pond?
"Fuck! You just said you treated me as your best friend?" Li Changle pointed at Wang Mazi and said, "When you begged me to sell the fish to your family, you swore that if I had any problems in the future, I would just tell you.
I treat you as my best friend, and I even swallowed the money you collected from my family at the fish pit without saying a word. Now I ask you to borrow money for an emergency, but you refuse to do so..."
"You're shaking after selling two dead fish and rotten shrimps. When did I ever collect money from your family for the fish pit? Stop talking nonsense!" Wang Mazi's face turned completely black, and when he saw the neighbors gathering around him, he interrupted him and turned away.
(End of this chapter)