This is what they, brother and sister, earned through tireless toil from dawn till dusk; it won’t be used to support Qin Guohua’s wife Hu Li and their two kids.
With New Year’s just a few days away, Qin Xiangyang and his sister took the time to give the shop a thorough cleaning. So early in the morning, they went to the shop, first lighting two stoves to prepare some hot water for use. The siblings’ lunch would also be settled here. Once the shop was closed, they began their New Year preparations.
"Brother, what would you like to eat?" Qin Xiangnuan asked Qin Xiangyang. There were still a lot of ingredients left in the shop, some of which they would take home; otherwise, if left for too long, they’d spoil.
"Just the porridge you make, and make a few scallion pancakes," Qin Xiangyang really had no grand aspirations. What their family sold, he would eat.
Qin Xiangnuan kneaded the dough and then added water to the pot—god knows how many times she had repeated these actions. Not to mention her, even Qin Xiangyang could now make a delicious pot of century egg and lean pork porridge. After New Year’s, Qin Xiangnuan planned to buy two more stoves and also make pumpkin porridge and Eight Treasures porridge, offering more options with a variety of porridges.
As the porridge simmered in the pot for a while, the fragrance began to waft out.
She didn’t make scallion pancakes, feeling a bit tired of them, so she made egg-stuffed pancakes instead.
"Brother, I’ll go take out the trash. Keep an eye on the pot, okay?" She had made a few pancakes already; now it was time to let the porridge steep for a while. This kind of porridge becomes tastier the longer it’s left to steep; that is why they could add glutinous rice to it.
Qin Xiangnuan, carrying the garbage can, went to the nearby waste collection area to dispose of the garbage. After dropping it off, she clapped her hands. Yep, time to go back and wash hands, then eat.
She was about to head back when she noticed a young woman sitting in the corner with a rather unhealthy complexion, and her belly was prominently large—she was pregnant.
Qin Xiangnuan wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs, and she didn’t have the ability to intervene either. But after her rebirth, her heart had changed. If possible, she would help, just as some people had helped her in her previous life. Of course, she wouldn’t act like a ’holy mother or delicate flower’; at the very least, she wouldn’t forgive those who had once hurt her, like Qin Guohua and his family.
"Ma’am, are you alright?" She approached the woman, and the closer she got, the worse the woman’s pallor seemed. At this hour, people should be heading to catch trains; why was she sitting here, with no one to look after her?
She felt some reproach for the woman’s family; how could they leave a pregnant woman here all alone? Didn’t they know it could be very dangerous?
The woman opened her eyes, her lips, once rosy, now pale.
"I..." The woman licked her lips, forcing a pained smile, "Young lady, don’t worry, I’m okay, just hungry. My family went to get me some food, but there isn’t anyone selling food around here."
Hungry? Qin Xiangnuan felt a pang of pity. In her last life, she hadn’t had children; she envied women who could bear children, nurture their offspring, and felt sympathy for the hardships they faced during ten months of pregnancy.
"Ma’am, my family runs a shop near the train station. As it happens, we cleaned today and made some food. Let me help you over there."
The woman was too hungry, and perhaps it was a moment of impulsiveness prompted by hunger, but she let Qin Xiangnuan help her up.