After he regained his senses, he smiled and said, “Jia Zhangshi, I’ve told you, Dongxu and I are brothers. Why would I mess with you? It’s all for his good that I took Qin Huairu. ”
Jia Zhangshi was stunned. Could a person be so shameless? Stealing her old Jia family's wife and saying it was for her son's good?
“Well, give me the shoes. I trust your craftsmanship.”
Li Wuwei couldn’t miss this bargain. Moreover, the cloth shoes on his feet were already old. Qin Huairu had been making him shoes, but they were not ready yet.
“You wait.”
Jia Zhangshi turned her head back, her teeth gritted.
Just wait, she, old Jia family, would only have a better life. Li Wuwei, this wicked boy, after he had taken everything from his father-in-law's family, would have to live a hard life.
“Mom, why are you taking out new shoes now? I’ll wear new shoes for my blind date on the weekend.”
Jia Dongxu had already cried and calmed down.
Jia Zhangshi said awkwardly, “These shoes are not for you. Mom is taking them to give to someone.”
“Give to someone? Mom, are you crazy? When did our family ever let anyone take advantage of us?”
Jia Dongxu’s head was spinning. Was this really his mother, Jia Cuifang? Had she become a good person?
Jia Zhangshi thought to herself, yes, because Li Wuwei had snatched his wife.
“Dongxu, don’t worry about it. Mom is doing this for your good.”
Jia Zhangshi didn’t dare say more. To silence Li Wuwei’s mouth, she deliberately chose a pair of the best shoes. After taking them, she quickly lifted the curtain and went to the courtyard.
Jia Dongxu was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening. He hurriedly ran to the window to look out, and was instantly struck like lightning.
What did he see? His mother was actually handing the shoes to Li Wuwei.
Jia Dongxu almost fainted. The world felt full of malice toward him. His blind date broke off the engagement and was suddenly good with the wicked boy.
The workers at the factory ostracized him, pointing fingers at him all day long. Wherever he went, it was as if he was wearing a green hat.
Only his mother was good to him, but now she was sending shoes to his rival.
Oh my god, in this world, would there ever be a day for good people to emerge?
In the courtyard, Li Wuwei took the shoes and examined them inside and out. He also compared the size.
“Not bad. Jia Zhangshi, your craft is indeed excellent. I’ll take these shoes.”
Li Wuwei had a feeling like the sun had risen in the west. These shoes had cost a lot of cloth. They had a good, multi-layered sole and the needlework was also fine.
Jia Zhangshi had spent her entire life focusing on this one thing, a master of cloth shoes.
“Li Wuwei, what about Dongxu’s next blind date?”
Jia Zhangshi swallowed her pride. If Li Wuwei wasn’t so immoral, she wouldn’t have to beg him.
“Don’t worry. This is the new society. One man, one wife. How could I possibly snatch a woman twice?
I’m going for a walk. Keep busy!”
Li Wuwei took the shoes, his hands behind his back, and walked toward the front yard. Wasn’t it great to go out for a walk and get something in return?
“I spit on you! You have no shame!”
After he was gone, Jia Zhangshi muttered, waiting for her son Dongxu to marry a wife and then she’d see how she could get even.
At this time, Jia Dongxu could no longer hold it in and ran out of the house, questioning, “Mom, why did you send shoes to Li Wuwei? Don’t you know it was him who ruined me?”
“Dongxu, Mom is doing this for your good! Li Wuwei said outright last Saturday that he wanted me to send him shoes. He even threatened me, saying that if I didn’t give him shoes, he would ruin your next blind date.
We’re just an orphan and a widow. Li Wuwei doesn’t work and stays in the yard all day. If he keeps an eye on you, will you ever find a wife?”
As Jia Zhangshi spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. There were bad people among the masses, bullying an orphan and a widow.
“Mom! We can’t be bullied like this. I’ll go find First Uncle, go to the neighborhood committee…”
Jia Dongxu didn’t dare to go find Li Wuwei himself. He was no match for him. The last time they had a fight, he hadn’t even swung his fist before Li Wuwei slapped him, leaving him traumatized.
“Dongxu, just bear with it. Your blind date is more important.”
Jia Zhangshi persuaded her son, but she couldn’t help but cry.
…
Li Wuwei went to Beixinqiao, watched someone play a game of chess, and then came back.
The bath water had been heated. Soon, Qin Huairu was scrubbing his back, asking about the shoes.
“Brother, the pair I’m making for you will be finished soon. There’s no need to waste money on buying shoes outside.”
Qin Huairu thought, after everyone was asleep tonight, she would stay up late and sew a little more so she could finish the shoes early.
“Didn’t spend money. The shoes were sent by Jia Zhangshi.”
Li Wuwei turned his head and asked her to rub his neck.
Qin Huairu paused her hand and asked, “She was kind enough to send you shoes? I heard from Second Aunt that Jia Zhangshi is very stingy. She never lets anyone take advantage of her.”
“You need evil to defeat evil, I mean, she’s wishing us a happy marriage.
Let’s not talk about Jia Zhangshi. It gives me the creeps to think about her.”
Li Wuwei considered himself a good man, so why would he be evil?
“Oh, Brother, after you left, Second Aunt came to find me. She said that there will be a supply of first-grade vegetables at the vegetable shop tomorrow, and asked if you were free to go in line and buy some winter storage vegetables.”
Qin Huairu said, reaching out to rub his neck.
“What time tomorrow?”
Li Wuwei thought for a moment, before realizing that saying cabbage was two cents a pound was inaccurate.
Because the large cabbages were graded. The tightly wrapped ones, the ones with a solid heart, were first-grade, two cents a pound, and could be stored through the winter.
The ones with a slightly loose heart were second-grade, one and a half cents a pound. And the ones with no heart, the fluffy large cabbages, were only one cent a pound, third-grade.
People usually scrambled to buy the one-cent ones, but in winter, first-grade was the good stuff. Every time it came in, people would rush to buy it. If you were late, you couldn’t buy it at all.
In the middle of winter, when it was coldest, the vegetable market didn’t have any fresh cabbage. Even if there were some, the price would increase several times. As for the YZGC canteen, they had a special supply of large cabbages. Their warehouses and kitchens were piled high with them.
The cabbage in his cellar was running low, but since he had been given extra from the vegetable market, he hadn’t paid attention to this.
“We leave the yard at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow and need to be in line by 5:00.
Brother, get some rest. I’ll come back after I buy the vegetables, and I still have to go to work. Just, how much cabbage should we buy and store?”
Qin Huairu gave him another rub on his back and quickly dried him off, put on his clothes, and went to bed. He shouldn’t get cold.
Li Wuwei covered himself with the quilt and thought for a moment, then said, “It’s too early. Don’t go tomorrow. I’ll figure out the vegetable thing.”