I Really Want to Find Someone to Share a Life With!
In this era, even when parents played favorites, most favored their sons.
Who ever favored a daughter?
It was just that their daughter had been born at a bad time. Living conditions had been poor then, and He Ting had fallen ill, so their youngest daughter had been malnourished and weak from birth.
As a result, she had been thinner than other children from an early age.
Back then, she had nearly died.
They had managed to keep her alive, but conditions had worsened again lately, and the little girl had less to eat.
That was why the couple felt especially sorry for their youngest daughter.
Yesterday, they had sent her to call Xiao Liang over for a meal.
When she came home and told He Ting that Liang Xin had already eaten,
He Ting noticed something fishy about the little girl's hands.
It was mainly because Liang Xin had gone to unnecessary trouble at the end, dipping the little girl's meat in mashed garlic and soy sauce. That was how He Ting had noticed.
He Ting grabbed her little hand, darkened by soy sauce, and sniffed it. At once, she smelled meat.
She secretly asked her what had happened.
And she confessed.
He Ting felt it wasn't right. From her daughter's description, the piece of meat she had held in both little hands must have weighed more than a liang, surely?
Leaving aside how hard it was to buy meat these days, that one-plus liang alone might have been worth a mao.
That was almost enough to buy a jin of rice.
Especially in times like these, how precious meat was!
But her youngest daughter had already eaten it. What could she do?
Her family had no meat to give Liang Xin in return.
She could only remember the favor.
Besides, Liang Xin had repeatedly told her youngest daughter not to tell anyone.
So she would pretend she knew nothing.
She would bring it up when she was able to return the favor someday.
But seeing Liang Xin give her daughter another boiled egg made He Ting feel even worse.
A gift that was too generous could make people feel pressured, too.
She wondered when she could talk to Liang Xin and ask him not to give the child any more food.
"Xinxin, I'll let it go this time, but if your big brother Liang gives you anything again, you mustn't accept it. Do you understand?"
The little girl kept her eyes fixed on the egg and nodded her little head, seemingly just going through the motions. Who knew whether she had even heard what her mother said?
Liang Xin naturally knew nothing about any of this.
He still had no idea the little girl had sold him out.
That evening, he ate until his mouth was slick with oil and felt extraordinarily satisfied.
On top of that, he no longer had to work through the night as he used to, and he had nothing weighing on his mind.
His body was a little tired today, too.
He had nothing to entertain himself with, either.
So he went to bed not long after dark.
He went to sleep at around eight. As the saying went, early to bed and early to rise made for good health.
That night, he slept exceptionally soundly.
He got up early the next morning and had another simple meal of noodles.
This time, though, they were shredded pork noodles.
After cooking three meals over two days, he felt his knife skills had improved by leaps and bounds. He even dared to try cutting pork into shreds. Could you believe it?
They were all right, though the shreds were far from even.
The thick ones were several times thicker than the thin ones.
But they still counted as shredded pork.
There was no way he would stir-fry it; he was afraid he'd burn it to charcoal.
He would just boil it until it was cooked.
And so, a large bowl of shredded pork noodles made with three liang of meat and half a jin of noodles was ready.
Besides the meat and noodles, it contained a little leafy greens left over from yesterday.
He also peeled two of the eggs he had boiled yesterday and put them in.
There was quite a spread, with plenty of different ingredients.
But when it came to eating it, he wasn't quite so satisfied.
It wasn't fragrant enough.
It was the worst-tasting meal he'd had in the past few meals.
Although he ate it all, it still didn't taste quite right, as if something were missing.
It even made him miss the takeout he used to eat at work.
There had been such a rich variety, and the flavors had been so wonderful.
Back then, he had been a veteran corporate slave, bald-tier and terrifyingly capable. An annual income of several hundred thousand yuan was already very high for a wage earner.
He had nearly touched the ceiling for wage earners.
So he never ordered ten- or twenty-yuan takeout.
His takeout orders had all started at fifty yuan, and the taste had been pretty OK.
So if he could completely ignore things like hygiene, he had practically been living in heaven on earth.
My cooking skills really aren't up to scratch. Why don't I think of a way to find someone who cooks well to share meals with? I'll provide the grain, and he can do the cooking?
But wouldn't that be too conspicuous?
Would I be subjected to a struggle session?!
I heard before that being subjected to a struggle session was pretty horrible. A lot of people were left with lifelong scars because of it.
I knew too little about this era before. I don't know whether struggle sessions haven't started yet or are already over.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Liang Xin gazed out the window.
After waiting for quite a while, he finally saw the figure he had been waiting for!
He hurriedly clapped his hands to make a little noise.
He didn't dare call out. If someone else heard him and asked what he was doing, he would have a hard time explaining.
Xinxin came outside to empty her wash water. When she heard the noise, she looked over at Liang Xin and immediately broke into a smile.
It was Big Brother Liang with the tasty food!
When Xinxin saw Liang Xin beckoning to her, she ran over with the basin in her hands.
Liang Xin was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He waved a boiled egg in front of the little girl, then stuffed it into her little pocket.
"Eat it yourself. Don't let anyone else find out!"