Chapter 18: Sadness
Ai Meifeng is an ordinary woman in a poor county, but she is not a country woman who doesn't know anything, her basic emotional intelligence is still online, so she naturally won't call Chang Juemin in front of Luo Qun to confirm, and whether she can fight after Luo Qun and them leave is another matter, but she basically believes Luo Qun's words in her heart, because their family is afraid of creditors, but they are the least afraid of liars.
"You're my dad's boss?"
There was no hostility in Xiao Qiang's eyes, only doubts remained.
"Yes, yes, Uncle Chang is now working in my small supermarket as a night shift cashier." Luo Qun hurriedly stretched out his hand and shook Xiao Qiang's hand.
Xiao Qiang scratched his head a little embarrassed, just shook it, and then took his hand back crampedly.
Luo Qun has lived a carefree life of brocade clothes and jade food since he was a child, although there is no meat on his hands, but he is definitely white and slender, which is in stark contrast to Xiao Qiang's dark and rough hands, and there are black oil stains on his nails that are difficult to wash off because of perennial contact with engine oil, which makes Xiao Qiang feel a little embarrassed.
"Yo, boss Chang, let's go into the house quickly, enter the house, it's warmer inside, it's weirdly cold outside."
Ai Meifeng saw that after Luo Qun withdrew his hand, he kept rubbing his hands, so he hurriedly said.
Because there were a lot of people, Ai Meifeng said while opening the door that was closed on the other side, which was regarded as opening the door to welcome distinguished guests, wiping her hands crampedly on her body, and took out two wrinkled 100 yuan from her pocket and handed them to Xiao Qiang:
"The boss hasn't eaten yet, this came too suddenly, we don't have anything to prepare, Xiaoqiang, you hurry up and take the money to the town to buy some good food, find a clean restaurant to buy it, and pack it back directly."
The two hundred yuan should have been on the body for too long, causing the paper to become soft and look a little wrinkled, obviously because they have been put on their bodies but are reluctant to use them, and these two hundred yuan may require Ai Meifeng to pick up several piles of plastic bottles like those in the yard to get them back.
After Chang Juemin got drunk, he intermittently narrated to Luo Qun that Ai Meifeng was a spicy, beautiful, virtuous and strong female image, but the miserable life had already made Ai Meifeng an old and haggard, a cautious old lady with an abominable face, which made Luo Qun feel a little stuffy in his chest and a little sour in his eyes.
"I have money on me, Mom, take it back."
Xiao Qiang replied sullenly, he didn't take the money, but he didn't really go out to buy food.
Because there is only one man like him in the whole family, no matter how Luo Qun and Ding Junshan show kindness, they are also two strangers, and he doesn't want him to leave behind three old and weak women and children to face two strange men.
When Dingjun Mountain saw this situation, he didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly said:
"Okay, I'll just go, the two of us are uninvited guests, come to the door empty-handed, how can you break the bank."
As he spoke, he turned and walked out.
"Alas, how can this be done, this, you are guests, and you have to spend money to entertain guests."
Ai Meifeng was anxious when she saw it, and wanted to catch up, but was stopped by Luo Qun:
"It's okay, let him go, my aunt comes into the house, he is a big money, let him buy a few vegetables, let's have a good meal."
Ai Meifeng couldn't break free, and hurriedly glanced at her son:
"Xiaoqiang goes, Xiaoqiang follows, people don't know the way."
This is to say that Dingjunshan doesn't know the road, now the technology is so advanced, as long as there is a signal, as soon as the mobile phone navigates, it is not easy to find a hotel, but I don't want the two guests to spend money, so Xiao Qiang follows to pay for it.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay, he knows the way."
Luo Qun ran the train with his mouth full, Dingjun Mountain slept all the way from the county seat to the village, and knew the way of a fart, but he was not afraid that Dingjun Mountain would be lost, this was a soldier, even if Luo Qun lost Dingjun Mountain, he couldn't lose it, he pulled Xiao Qiang, and after making sure that Dingjun Mountain had gone far, he said:
"Xiao Qiang, hey, I'll still call you Brother Qiang, Brother Qiang can drink a bar, I asked my friend to bring another bottle of wine, if you can drink it, you can drink some together, I drank with Uncle Chang last time."
"Ouch, what do you say?"
Ai Meifeng patted her thigh, and had no choice but to lead everyone into the house.
The dimness in the house and the bright sunshine outside formed a strong contrast, after Aunt Sun and Feng Cuicui left, Ai Meifeng had turned off the originally not very bright in order to save electricity, only the window by the kang let in some light, but it could only barely illuminate the dining table.
After Luo Qun entered the house, it took him a while to get used to it, and he could barely see what he was looking at, just like the feeling of the courtyard outside, which was messy and crowded.
The layout of the house is very simple, there are only two rooms inside and outside, plus a small space separated by a simple board, there is a small door, it should be a bathroom, there is no peculiar smell, so Luo Qun is not very sure, the outer room is a living room, utility room, dining room and bedroom in one, except for a fire kang, a kang table, a wardrobe and a few chairs, there is no decent furniture, the rest of the space is all occupied by some inexplicable sundries, even if there is no peculiar smell, the air inside is not how good it smells, In particular, there is also a briquette stove for heating, which is supposed to be a good briquette, and there is no smoke, but the smell is still a little pungent.
The dim light was turned on again, and a kang naturally couldn't sit so many people, Luo Qun was let to the window where Xiao Qiang was sitting before, and no one sat on the rest, obviously vacant for the given military mountain, Feng Cuicui was arranged opposite Luo Qun, and Xiao Qiang was pushed by Ai Meifeng and Aunt Sun to sit next to Feng Cuicui, so that Xiao Qiang's hands and feet didn't know where to put it, but Feng Cuicui didn't have any obvious abnormalities.
As for Ai Meifeng and Aunt Sun, they moved two chairs to sit on the side of the kang, the chairs are a little short, and it is obviously not very convenient to eat next to the kang, but at the moment it can only be like this, as the enthusiasm of the host's family, Luo Qun, the guest, really can't refuse.
"Come, Boss Luo, eat this, this is our dried apricots here, home-grown and home-dried, but it's sweet, you taste it, you can eat Cuicui too, our family is poor, and there is nothing good to entertain you."
As soon as everyone sat down, Ai Meifeng pushed the plate of dried apricots to Luo Qun and Feng Cuicui, and then began to clean up the leftover dishes and chopsticks that Xiao Qiang and her had eaten, planning to put on a few new pairs.
"Auntie, don't call me Boss Luo, just call me Luo Qun or Xiaoqun."
Luo Qun couldn't bear to refuse the kindness, so he picked up a piece of dried apricots and chewed it, but his eyes lit up, but he didn't expect this dried apricots to look not very good, but they tasted very soft and sweet, and a slight trace of sourness would not bring any discomfort, but could eat some umami.
"This dried apricots are good, it's delicious, auntie, your craftsmanship is really good."
Luo Qun finished eating the dried apricots in two bites, and immediately picked a piece to eat.
Xiao Qiang thought that Feng Cuicui also wanted to eat dried apricots but was embarrassed to say, so he moved the dried apricots to Feng Cuicui's side, and said angrily:
"Cuicui, you eat too."
Apricots are a specialty here, as long as you grow apricots at home, you will dry some dried apricots at some cost, and the craftsmanship is very similar, Feng Cuicui has not eaten dried apricots, but this time she didn't refuse, and she also picked a piece to eat, but Xiao Qiang glanced at Xiao Qiang from the corner of his eyes, and said with a smile:
"You're finally willing to talk to me?"
Xiao Qiang blushed and snorted for a long time, unable to say a word.
Luo Qun can also see it, these two people obviously have a little bit of interest in each other, but I don't know for what reason, most of them have some twists and turns in the middle, but Luo Qun can roughly understand what the reason is without thinking about it, it is nothing more than the poverty of the Changjue family.
Ai Meifeng brought new dishes and chopsticks, and when she saw Feng Cuicui's interaction with her son, she was a little happy in her heart, and she divided the dishes and chopsticks for everyone, and asked Luo Qun:
"Since you call me an aunt, then the aunt will be cheeky today, I'll call you a small group, small group, my family is okay now, how is your body?"
Hearing Ai Meifeng's words, Luo Qun was stunned, and saw that Ai Meifeng and Xiao Qiang were both looking at him with concern, thinking that he was negligent, this Chang Juemin ran all the way to the north, running all the way, don't look at the appearance and can't see it, all in one breath, there must be some problems inside, and immediately thought about waiting for himself to go back, so he arranged for Chang Juemin to check his body, if not, he organized a physical examination for all employees, and it was regarded as employee welfare.
Thinking about it again, Chang Juemin's family doesn't even know how Chang Juemin is doing now, and they don't know how long Chang Juemin hasn't been able to return home.
But at the moment, Luo Qun could only pick something nice, so he swallowed the dried apricots in his mouth, and said with a smile:
"Auntie, don't worry, Uncle Chang is very good with me, and his complexion is also good, and he can still drink a pound when he drinks with me a few days ago."
"Yo, why do you drink so much?"
Ai Meifeng was startled when she heard this, but when she thought that Luo Qun was her husband's boss, and the boss could afford you when he drank with you, he said again:
"Xiaoqun, drinking too much wine can hurt your body, you are young, don't drink too much."
"I can't drink much, I can't drink much, and we don't drink every day, so let's drink happily."
Luo Qun was not dissatisfied with Ai Meifeng's slightly blaming tone, he had to accept the concern from the elders.
A few people chatted casually, and didn't talk about anything else, more of them were asking about the ancient city of Luo Qun, for a few of them who have never been able to get out of Tianzhen County in their lives, the ancient city is already a big city, Luo Qun also talked about the customs of the ancient city vividly, even Feng Cuicui listened to it, and couldn't help but have a little yearning for the ancient city, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.