Chapter 123

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Even in Beijing, the preference for sons over daughters is still very common, especially among the lower classes who feel that daughters are like water spilled from a bowl. If a daughter is sent to school, many people feel that she is just a stepping stone to her husband's family, and they would rather the daughter not study at all, but stay at home to help with chores, take care of children and do housework, and then find any job after a few years, or get married and receive a dowry.

This may seem like a small matter, but it's actually quite troublesome to handle.

Chapter 110: The One Hundred and Tenth Chapter of Being Eavesdropped On

When Gu Yousi saw Lin An'an the next day, she felt relieved.

Lin An'an was dressed neatly and had a pretty face. Although her hands had calluses from doing housework, her slightly plump figure suggested that she was doing well at home.

Upon seeing Gu Yousi, Lin An'an felt a little embarrassed for some reason. "Xiao Hua said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes."

Gu Yousi nodded and asked, "I heard that something happened to your family."

Hearing this, Lin An'an's face showed sadness and embarrassment. She clutched her pants, and Song Chaohua quickly said, "Actually, things were fine before, but the factory where her father works refused to pay compensation, insisting that her father broke her hand while drunk."

"That's a lie. My dad doesn't drink at all. We don't have the money for him to drink."

Lin An'an, as if afraid that Gu Yousi would misunderstand, quickly tried to explain. Her eyes were red with anxiety. Clearly, her family had been the subject of much gossip because of this matter.

"I believe you," Gu Yousi said. Their class was PE, and the PE teacher disappeared as soon as the class ended. The playground was full of people jumping rope, playing soccer, and kicking shuttlecocks. There happened to be some steps where people could sit down, so she patted the steps and said, "Sit down, let's talk slowly."

Song Chaohua tugged at Lin An'an and brazenly sat down.

Lin An'an was still a young girl, and she was shy. She always felt embarrassed when others helped her. She sat down hesitantly, not knowing what to say.

Fortunately, she didn't need to think about it; Gu Yousi had her own way of finding out the situation.

From Lin An'an's words, Gu Yousi learned that she was the eldest daughter in her family, with two younger brothers and a younger sister. Her father originally worked in a factory and was the pillar of the family, earning a little over fifty yuan a month, which, although not much, was enough to support the family.

Her father has broken his hand, and the factory refuses to acknowledge the damage and has fired him. To pay for his medical treatment, the family has emptied their savings and borrowed money from relatives and friends.

"My mom said there was really no other way; the family was desperately short of money."

Lin An'an said softly, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Our family is so poor we can only afford coarse grains now, and my younger siblings can't be taken care of. We don't have the money."

This is a perfect example of the saying "poverty-stricken couples face a hundred sorrows."

Lower-class families really don't have much resilience; if even one person in a family has an accident, their previously good situation can quickly deteriorate.

Gu Yousi had seen many such things, but when it happened to someone close to her, she still couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

Lin An'an wiped away her tears and said, "I know I can't come back after dropping out of school, but I can't just abandon my younger siblings."

"But if you drop out of school, your life will be ruined!"

Song Chaohua said with some agitation, "Have you thought about yourself?"

Lin An'an lowered her head, her fingers fiddling with her faded school trousers. "My mom collapsed from exhaustion at home the day before yesterday. I... I can't be so selfish."

Song Chaohua opened her mouth slightly.

She knew that, unlike Lin Lianhua who was indifferent to her, Lin An'an's parents loved her very much; otherwise, they wouldn't have let her continue to the fifth grade.

"You just said your mom is a great cook?"

Gu Yousi asked calmly.

Lin An'an nodded, "Yes, my mother is from Sichuan. She's very good at cooking Sichuan Cuisine, and her chili sauce is delicious!"

"When we get home from school today, could you ask your mom to cook us a few dishes?"

Gu Yousi, "I'll pay for the groceries, and your mother can cook, okay?"

For some reason, even though the girl in front of her was clearly different from everyone else, Lin An'an felt that she was different from everyone else. Perhaps it was because her eyes were so determined that by the time she came to her senses, she had already agreed to it.

"Are you going to her house?"

Lan Lin supported Gu Yousi's idea, but disagreed with Gu Yousi going alone. He said, "I'll go with you. Besides, you need more people to taste the food, right?"

Gu Yousi it and realized it made sense.

What you like to eat may not be what others like. The more people there are, the more opinions they can offer.

She, Lan Lin, Song Chaohua, and Lin An'an went to Lin An'an's house as soon as school was over. Her house was not far away, but it was very cramped, a back room in Compound Courtyard.

These houses typically face south and north, are cold in winter and hot in summer, and are not very well ventilated, hence the rent is cheap.

As soon as Lin An'an entered the house, she said apologetically, "My house is cluttered and has a lot of stuff, so I haven't had time to tidy up. Please don't mind."

"What's wrong with that? We used to live in houses like this, didn't we, Gu Yousi?"

Song Chaohua instinctively offered Gu Yousi.

Gu Yousi glanced at her, but didn't say anything, just nodded.

Lin's mother was home today. When she saw Lin An'an bring so many classmates, she was taken aback at first, but then quickly put on a big smile, "Are you An'an's classmates? Did you come to play with An'an?"

Several children ran out from the inner room, all wearing patched clothes.

The youngest girl was probably only three years old, with snot hanging from her nose. She ran over, hugged Lin An'an's leg, called out "Sister," and peeked at the strangers from behind Lin An'an.

"Mom, she, they..."

Lin An'an really didn't know how to explain this.

Gu Yousi clutched her backpack strap. "Auntie, it's like this, my dad wants to open a restaurant, but he can't find a chef. Senior An'an said your cooking skills are very good, so we wanted to see how good you are. If it's possible, we'd like to ask you to be the head chef."

She took five yuan out of her pocket. "This is for groceries. If you'd like, you'll have to go buy the vegetables and meat yourself."

Lin's mother was stunned.

She looked at the money in her hand and exclaimed, "You kids aren't playing around, are you? Take this money home quickly, your family will be upset if they find out!"

Lin An'an quickly said, "Mom, they're serious, they're not joking."

"Yes, Auntie, all the parents know about this," Lan Lin said. "We're really short of a good chef here, and Uncle Gu has been looking for one. If you're really good at it, you'll be a huge help to us."

Lan Lin, having been influenced by the Old Master every day, spoke eloquently, making it sound like he was the one helping others, even though he was clearly doing so.

Lin's mother hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, but I'll return the money to you. Auntie wouldn't let you pay for anything. An'an, you take care of your friend. Mom is going out to buy groceries."

"Okay." Lin An'an breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed.

Lin's mother returned the money to Gu Yousi and hurriedly left.

Gu Yousi didn't say it aloud, but she thought to herself that this person had a good character.

Lin's mother really knows how to cook Sichuan Cuisine.

The dishes she cooks aren't fancy; they're just ordinary stir-fried shredded potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and twice-cooked pork, but they taste better than what you get outside.

Song Chaohua ate two bowls of rice with just stir-fried shredded potatoes.

The children nearby were stunned.

She wiped her mouth with a tissue, feeling embarrassed. "Auntie's cooking was so delicious, I couldn't help but eat too much. How can these shredded potatoes be so good?"

"That's right! My mom specifically chooses the chili peppers from our hometown. These chili peppers are both fragrant and spicy. A lot of people wanted the chili sauce my mom made before!"

Lin An'an's face showed a proud expression.

Judging from Gu Yousi's taste, these dishes were indeed quite good; at least she would be willing to eat out if it were a restaurant.

Lin's mother, wiping her apron beside her, smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it, eat more."

Gu Yousi put down her chopsticks and asked, "Auntie, can you make other dishes? Like crispy pork, cold dishes, or spicy chicken?"

"Yes, of course I would. But you seem to know quite a lot, young lady."

Lin's mother was somewhat surprised.

Gu Yousi smiled and said, "In that case, Auntie, please leave your phone number so I can have my dad contact you."

Lin's mother exclaimed "Ah!" Lin An'an was overjoyed, knowing that the matter was likely settled. She quickly wrote down a phone number, "This is the phone number of the convenience store near us. Just say you're looking for our family, and she'll know."

Gu Yousi nodded, indicating that she understood.

She even shamelessly packed up the leftovers and took them home for Gu Jinshui and the others to try.

After eating, Gu Jinshui said, "The taste is alright; opening a shop here wouldn't be a loss."

"Yes, we can consider this doing a good deed," He Chunlian exclaimed. "That factory is outrageous. How can they not only fail to compensate workers when they have accidents there, but also fire them?"

Gu Yinxing ate the twice-cooked pork, "Mom, we've moved out of that Compound Courtyard now, so you don't know a lot of things. The factory isn't like it used to be; it's a mess. Like the other day, I ran into our old neighbors Auntie Sun Grandpa Sun. The old couple said their daughter-in-law and son were doing well, but somehow she was laid off. The factory gave them some money and that was it."

He Chunlian and the others were all taken aback.

He Chunlian said, "That can't be right. That's too inhumane. Besides, they've worked there for so many years. How can the factory just lay them off like that?"

"What can we do?" Gu Yinxing said, "Grandpa Sun's son and his wife are honest people, and they don't know how to get ahead. The leaders don't want to mess with the weak. Now the couple are doing day labor, helping people move things around. They're almost forty years old, and they're still doing this dirty and tiring work."

Liang Ying frowned as she listened, "The situation in these factories is really chaotic right now. Our Textile Factory hasn't had any layoffs yet, but it's like we're having a really tough year—it's getting worse every year. Strangely, we're importing machines from abroad one after another, but orders are getting fewer and fewer."

Seeing that these people were getting more and more out of line, Gu Yousi quickly steered the conversation back on track. "Dad, I actually think it would be great if our family opened a restaurant. Besides, since we have a restaurant, and Uncle Douzi runs a travel agency, we can have him bring people to our restaurant to spend money. We won't lack customers then."

As soon as she finished speaking, the living room fell silent.

Gu Jinshui and the others looked at Gu Yousi in surprise.

Gu Yousi even wondered if there was some rice grain on her face. She touched her face and asked, "W-what's wrong?"

"Wow, my niece is so clever! You even thought of that!"

Gu Yinxing hugged Gu Yousi and, without wiping her mouth, gave Gu Yousi a kiss on the cheek.

Gu Jinshui couldn't help but laugh, "You know, daughters really do resemble their fathers. My daughter just inherited my intelligence."

Liang Ying glanced at Gu Jinshui and kicked him under the table.

Gu Jinshui winced in pain and quickly corrected himself, "She looks like her mother. Oh, it's good that she looks like her mother. My wife is so capable and talented."

He Chunlian ignored the couple's frivolous talk and said happily, "Our Second Girl is so clever! I think this is a great idea. She's skilled, has customers, and this business is sure to be a hit!"

Actually, they didn't need the travel agency's customers. Gu Jinshui had already planned it when he agreed to help, arranging the restaurant's location near the school. They ran a Sichuan Cuisine restaurant, and at lunch and dinner, following Gu Yousi's advice, they mainly sold boxed lunches, three dishes and a soup, for one yuan and fifty cents each.

On the first day of business, Lin's mother was worried that business would be poor.

But when lunchtime came, the pre-prepared dishes were served, their aroma filling the air: braised chicken legs, cold walnut salad, pig's ears, stir-fried shredded potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, crispy fried pork...

Putting everything else aside, the color, aroma, and flavor of these dishes are simply irresistible.

Upon further inquiry, they learned that three dishes and a soup cost only one yuan and fifty cents, which was a great deal. Immediately, many students took out their money to eat.

Lin An'an also came to help at noon and in the evening. Gu Jinshui also hired two middle-aged women to help with chopping vegetables, washing dishes, and greeting customers.

He is paid a commission-based salary each month, with a base salary of thirty yuan.

Lin's mother did business for three days and secretly calculated the results herself. It really was...