Lu Zhenping was starting to doubt his life, watching Shen Meng through half-closed eyes, he winced and furrowed his brow due to an inadvertent sharp pain.
"What’s going on here?"
"Nothing." Just bit my tongue, that’s all.
After speaking, Shen Meng kept observing Lu Zhenping’s expression. Given her current status as a rural woman with just a primary school education, suddenly saying so much was somewhat out of character. But since she had already started doing what she wanted, she wouldn’t stop her endeavors. As her husband, she couldn’t keep him in the dark.
There are things between husband and wife that can be shared, such as one’s ambitions and desire to forge ahead, but there are also things that can never be spoken of in a lifetime, like the personal space one holds. She didn’t have the confidence to test human nature with it.
After the meal, Lu Zhenping and the four children finally brought up that he’d be away for a few days. As Lu Zhenping went to wash the lunchbox, Shen Meng placed the big bag she brought onto the table.
"Mom won’t be home for a while. I got you some goodies, split them up and hide them in your cabinets. It’s just for a day or two. If there are good things in the Provincial City, Mom will bring some back for you."
"Mom, I don’t want you to go; I wish you didn’t have to."
"I miss Mom too, we hardly see you now because of work, and now you’re going out too, waaa... my heart hurts."
"Mom is going to accomplish great things out there, for the workshop. It’s not like Fourth Aunt, that busybody, who messed it up in just a couple of days. When we go out, we need to keep our mouths shut and not let others find out."
"Ah, understood, little sis. Actually, it’s alright for us to go to school, but Dad will be all alone at home, missing you and feeling sad. Mom, you don’t know, when you don’t come back, Dad just lies on the recliner like he’s gone dumb, staring blankly. Ah, he really looks like an old bachelor who’s lost his wife."
Shen Meng: "....."
What nonsense are you spewing? Is that how you talk about your own dad?
Huh???
No, that statement is quite pointed, seemingly also scolding herself in the process. This stinking kid, what on earth is he pondering all day long!
When Lu Zhenping entered, swinging his hands, he heard Ming Liang’s extremely sarcastic remarks. Narrowing his eyes, he let out a dry cough, frightening Ming Liang into quickly shrinking his neck. But his hands were still busy, pulling his share of goodies and toys into his embrace.
Shen Meng took a razor from the bag and handed it to Lu Zhenping.
"Here you go, I bought this for you. It’s really handy, won’t hurt your handsome face, and comes with two blades. It only costs two yuan—I think it’s great. You should try it tomorrow morning."
"Oh, I’ve got something too, huh?"
Shen Meng chuckled and gently tugged at Lu Zhenping’s sleeve, her eyes brimming with shimmering ripples, silent yet her bashful expression alone was enough to make Lu Zhenping’s head buzz.
"Mingyang, Ming Liang, Ming Fang, there’s hot water in the kitchen for you. Hurry and get water to wash up. After playing so much, finish your homework and then go to sleep. Tonight, Ming Kai will sleep with you all!"
The children: "....."
Dad, do you even hear what you’re saying? It’s only 6:30 now, why go to sleep so early? In most homes, people don’t start heading to bed until around 8:00.
Lu Zhenping doesn’t care. He’s feeling quite unwell and just wants to send the kids off so he can cuddle up with his wife and go to sleep. He has no intention of wasting any time.
The kids look at Shen Meng with such pathetic eyes, but she too is feeling dry-mouthed and thirsty, so she has no choice but to bite the bullet and coax the children into the kitchen.
"Just you wait, tonight I’ll definitely make you... hehehe!"
Shen Meng: "..."
The hell are you ’hehe’-ing for? You’re the one who’s going to get it from me tonight!!!
The two exchanged intense glares for a moment before shifting their eyes away from each other, sparks flying, each afraid that in the next second, they wouldn’t be able to control themselves.
The mess made by a few old ladies in the village with the workshop has everyone fuming, especially those who have been working hard in the workshop. They’ve received three payments of wages already, all based on piecework. The Cooperative Society settles the bill with the commune, and then Director Guo settles with the local women comrades who worked in the village.
The first payment wasn’t much, each person only got seven or eight dimes. The next day was a bit better, three to four yuan. The last time, which was today, everyone got seven or eight yuan. Those doing embroidery work got paid a bit more, like Su Xiaomei, Xie Jinghao, and Xifeng who all got more than nine yuan.
Just when life was looking good, the workshop got shut down, and that’s something no one can stand.
Suddenly, the whole village was cursing left and right. Those who hadn’t gotten a chance to work in the workshop were cursing even louder. Some in the village had gotten their share of the meat, while others hadn’t even gotten a taste of the soup. They had been hoping the workshop would prosper and recruit more workers so they could bribe their way in to make some extra household money. They hadn’t expected much.
But before they could put their plans into action, their chance to make money was stirred into nothingness. Rumor has it that the Secretary almost quit over this but was finally placated after much coaxing by the commune leaders.
One rumor was more infuriating than the next, especially the one about Zhou Jiaojiao fainting and subsequently not minding the workshop anymore, leaving everyone with hard feelings towards her and Lu Jiaxuan.
At this point, Guo Xiuxin arrived at the workshop with the village chief and Secretary from Shenji for a visit. A bunch of idle villagers crowded around curiously, with the bold ones even asking questions.
"Hi, we’re just here to see how you’ve transformed this large canteen. We’re also planning to set up a workshop back home, and we have Lu Family Village folks to thank for it all. Had you not rejected Shen Meng, where would our village get such a good deal?"
Some villagers asked, "What’s up? You seem pretty happy?"
"Hahahaha, what else could it be? Shen Meng has collaborated with a subsidiary food factory for the benefit of our Shenji members, so we’re going to set up a workshop in our village. Soon it’ll be associated with the subsidiary food factory. We’ve never done this before, that’s why we’re here to learn. Hahaha, in the future, if you all want to eat some pastries or something, just come to Shenji to buy, we’ll give you a discount, heh, well, if there’s nothing else, we’ll just take another look around!"
The faces of the folks from Lu Family Village instantly turned ugly upon hearing this. Their workshop had just gone under, and now Shenji had set one up. How could they hold their heads high if word got out?
Some of the older folks went straight to Lu Family to find Lu Zhenping. Shen Meng was after all part of Lu Family Village, and as a head of the household, he had to take some responsibility!
"I can’t manage this affair. The kids’ mom has gone to work and won’t be available to meet with everyone tomorrow. She’s accompanying some comrades from the County Government to the Provincial City. Apparently, there’s interest in our products from the subsidiary food factory in the Provincial City, and she’s helping to make introductions. Oh right, she was originally supposed to introduce floral headdresses, with someone wanting to order tens of thousands of them, but now that’s not possible. The workshop’s gone, so what’s the point?"
Everyone: "..."
Such a curse! Those plague-stricken old women gabbing away have ruined such a money-making business!!!