Chapter 584: 584. Aunt’s Guilt_1 Chapter 584: 584. Aunt’s Guilt_1 Professor Song hung up the phone, and Zhang Yanping received further thanks from the other party, followed by a gift of thirty to fifty catties of spices…
They really planted willows without intending to this morning!
And everyone sent thirty to fifty catties… There must be almost three to five thousand portions, all of a sudden, the cost is even lower, right?
Is there such good luck?
Thinking of this, his expression turned serious, and then he looked at Song Tan, who had come back from the mountain:
“Tantan, look, these are the spices they insisted on giving us. I’ve recorded them all. Once they’re on the shelves, wouldn’t that be at least three to five thousand portions?”
“With such a large quantity, it doesn’t seem right for me, the customer service agent, to take a vacation. How about waiting until they’re sold out before I leave?”
When do spice packs ever sell out?
Song Tan, considering the tea leaves that hadn’t been collected from the mountain, waved her hand with a generous flair:
“No worries, Brother Yanping. You’ve put them up for sale already, right? I can just set the sales volume according to the stock.”
“Once the demand is there, we can just hire a few more people to pack… And as for packaging, don’t we have Brother Xiaozhang?”
After saying this, she seemed a little guilty: “By rights, I should give you four days off every month. You’ve been working for several months now; adding them up, it’s normal to take a month off. Don’t feel too bad about it.”
Really, don’t feel bad about it, truly!
Song Tan even appeared particularly considerate: “Don’t worry, I won’t let you face your aunt alone–I’ll drive you there!”
Plus, I’ll drop off Wu Lei on the way, get Xin Jun onto the train, and deliver some things to my uncle and aunt’s house…
Ah, everyone else is on summer vacation, and she’s still so busy!
Speaking of going home, the one truly laughing and happy all the way is Wu Lei.
He fidgeted with his cell phone as soon as he got in the car, completely ignoring the woeful expressions of Zhang Yanping and Xin Jun in the backseat.
He kept asking, “Tantan, what do you think I should say to apologize to Lili?”
And he worried aloud, “It’s really my fault! I must have scared her by getting too close to that locust last time. I should’ve just shown her the locust on my leg, to show the hardship and be done with it…”
Song Tan glanced at him, wondering how people with blood ties could be so different in their thinking!
Looking at Wu Lei’s skin, now second only to Yanping’s in darkness, she truly pitied Lili– even if Lili had a poor character, there were laws and morals to condemn her, but did it have to come to this!
Truth be told, you can forgive a boyfriend for being poor or silly, but a boyfriend with a problematic brain is something to be afraid of!
Luckily, the uncle’s house wasn’t far; it took less than half an hour to get there by car. With the weather being hot, the aunt hadn’t gone up to the mountain, and she was walking into the yard carrying a bundle of garlic shoots. Seeing Song Tan’s car, she was instantly delighted:
Song Tan got out of the car and grabbed a bunch of garlic shoots: “Auntie, what are you doing with all these garlic shoots?”
“Hey!” The aunt sidestepped, “These are muddy, don’t touch them!”
At the same time, she muttered, “It’s so hot, they spoil quickly. If you don’t pay attention, the scapes will shoot up. I pulled these out because it’s too hot in the field, so I’m cleaning them up here!”
She also called out to Zhang Yanping and Xin Jun, who had also gotten out of the car to greet her: “Oh, Yanping, you look so fit now! Just a bit tan… Go home and take good care of yourself, otherwise it’ll be hard to find a girlfriend.”
Then she looked at Xin Jun’s handsome and fair complexion with eyes full of capital-letter ENVY–how come other people’s sons are so fair and steady?
Looking at her son butt-up, rummaging through the car door for those odds and ends, Auntie just didn’t feel like bothering with him!
“Look at you, Tantan brought you back, and even if your stuff wasn’t properly packed, would it have gone missing if left for two minutes?”
Everyone’s been chatting for a while, and you’re still packing!
“What, are all your belongings scattered one by one?”
Comparing others can drive one to despair, Auntie looked at the cheery Yanping, and then at the polite Xin Jun–oh, the frustration was surging up! She simply ignored him and continued the chat:
“Tantan, why haven’t your grandparents come back yet? I called to arrange a pickup for them, and they weren’t keen at all!”
“You should talk to them later, it’s not convenient staying at your place all the time, they’ve already been there for a couple of months, people might start thinking your Uncle isn’t filial!”
To tell the truth, without having to attend to the elderly, Auntie’s life had been less burdensome, but also more leisurely.
But having lived together for so many years, as time passed, she found the silence and loneliness unbearable. Plus, with the old rural mindset that the parents should stay with the son rather than the daughter, it felt as if they were being mistreated…
As someone who upheld traditional ideas, Auntie now sincerely wanted her in-laws to come back.
They wouldn’t be living together anyway, just sharing a courtyard–without them, the place was really quiet!
Ah, no way Tantan could persuade them!
Instead, she tried to convince Auntie: “Just let my grandparents stay at my place. They’re helping out at my dad’s business, earning quite a bit of money, and they have company to chat with–my grandpa said his legs haven’t hurt at all!”
“There are hardly any people left in the village. Let whoever wants to talk, talk! Besides, Grandma and Grandpa are making money! If anyone asks, just say they’ve gone out to work…”
This made Auntie laugh.
She knew, the old couple had been weaving grass mats, and each could make one a day, selling for 80 each… Oh my, Grandma’s face had rounded out in the video calls, and Grandpa looked energetic, chatting away!
These days, the Song Youde household was buzzing with endless talk and money-making – such a delight!
Wu Lei finally finished packing his luggage–though it wasn’t much, just local specialties. But he wanted to carry it all in one go, to give his mom a big surprise–only to drop everything when getting out of the car, creating mess everywhere.
He tried so hard to collect everything!
Now, holding his bag overflowing with goods, he heard his mom talk about his grandparents, and blurted out without thinking: “Mom, your cooking skills are nowhere near Seventh Uncle’s. Our home meals aren’t tasty, and my grandparents are thriving at Tantan’s place… stop worrying!”
Ouch! Her head was spinning at his words!
Wu Lei, oblivious, continued to show off his haul with enthusiasm:
“Mom! Look at the specialties I bought with the money I earned from working hard on the farm! Haven’t I worked hard these past few months?”
He had bought a lot! Peaches in the front, watermelons in the back, and now pickled vegetables, spicy peppers, seasoning packets–Wu Lan even made him take two long pumpkins when he left!
Indeed, he was loaded!
Auntie forced a smile, her amusement not reaching her eyes: “Yes, my son is quite capable. You’ve been working for two months; you must have spent a few thousand yuan on wages, right?”
Five thousand, safe and sound in Auntie’s hands.
It was embarrassing to admit, but during his three years of internship and work post-graduation, she hadn’t seen a dime, except maybe a red packet on his birthday.
But now, after staying at Tantan’s place for two months, he managed to save 5000! Not to mention the countless treats at home…
With this thought, she looked at Tantan with guilt–Tantan had been supporting the family with both money and goods!