Jiang Hong had become closest with Sister-in-law Song during her time here, and chuckled upon hearing her, “Why did Mrs. Qin come to Mr. Bai to gossip about you?”
“You don’t know about Mrs. Qin’s cooking skills, truly on par with the State-Owned Restaurant. Last time she came over and gave me some pointers on cooking two dishes. She just stood there and moved her lips, and the dishes I made—I couldn’t believe I cooked them myself! Since then, she’s often nagged me, telling me to learn from Mrs. Qin. Normally, Mrs. Qin isn’t around here, so where am I supposed to learn from? Yesterday Mrs. Qin came over, and my husband got all excited, nagging me until my ears almost developed calluses.”
Jiang Hong was also surprised to see Lin Chuxia looking clean and tidy, like a wealthy young lady, not like someone who could cook and with unexpectedly good skills.
“I know, right. They say comparisons can kill and products can be thrown away. Someone looks great and also has great skills. But she’s here to visit relatives, so I don’t have the heart to keep her busy learning cooking skills. I’ll just buy a few meat buns on the way home to satisfy their cravings, so they won’t keep thinking about others’ skills.”
As they were talking, Sister-in-law Feng dragged Feng Jingjing along and squeezed in, pointing at the doorway in surprise, “Isn’t that Mrs. Qin? What is she doing here?”
Sister-in-law Song and Jiang Hong were distracted by the firecrackers and the shop’s entrance advertisements and hadn’t noticed her, but then they realized it indeed was Lin Chuxia.
“Mrs. Qin seems quite familiar with those two men. She rarely comes here, right? How would she know people from around here? I’ve never heard that Mr. Qin has any relatives in this area,” Sister-in-law Feng commented in one breath and then tugged at Sister-in-law Song next to her, “You and Mrs. Qin are familiar, do you know them?”
Although Sister-in-law Song and the others didn’t know either, they didn’t have the same curiosity as Sister-in-law Feng.
“Whether she has relatives or not, nobody would go around announcing it.”
Sister-in-law Feng pouted and looked towards Lin Chuxia again.
Yesterday when she saw Lin Chuxia, she was wearing a red dress.
Such a dress, she had only seen on TV, the ones worn by people on television. Even the Department Store in the city didn’t have that style?
A dress without sleeves, showing off her entire arms, tightly cinched at the waist, making her walk with a swaying bottom.
And her chest, held up so high, and the neckline revealing quite a bit.
Although dressed so securely, in the bathroom when taking off the clothes, Sister-in-law Feng saw those marks on her body with her own eyes.
Everyone knows how such marks are made, don’t they?
Yet Lin Chuxia acted as if nothing was wrong, and undressed openly in front of others.
She remembered that Lin Chuxia had only arrived yesterday noon, with so many marks on her body, she wonders if Mr. Qin knew about it.
And now she had changed into another outfit, another style unseen around here.
Lin Chuxia and Mr. Qin lived apart, she wondered who she was dressing up for buying so many new clothes.
She really should let Mr. Qin come and see in person, his wife laughing and looking as cheerful as a flower with other men.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
The Bun Shop was officially opening, and the meat buns had just come out of the steamer; the aromatic meat scent wafted through the air, tempting everyone’s cravings.
Feng Jingjing had been dragged out by her mom early this morning without breakfast, and now the smell of the meat buns made her stomach growl.
Sister-in-law Feng glanced at her daughter but ignored her.
Just then, Lin Chuxia also spotted Sister-in-law Song and Jiang Hong in the crowd.
The two of them walked over and greeted, Lin Chuxia noticed their big and small bags full of stuff, their haul was quite impressive.
She knew they came to buy some meat buns, so she invited them into the house.
“This dumpling shop is owned by my friend. Sisters, come in and try the taste, to support my friend and give some feedback. I’ll treat you all.”
The opening day of the bun shop was very important for its popularity.
Seeing that Lin Chuxia was familiar with the bun shop owner and hearing what she said, they were still a bit surprised.
Sister-in-law Song praised, “Your friend is really impressive. Okay, but no need for you to treat. It’s rare for you to come to the Northwest, so I’ll treat today.”
While saying this, Sister-in-law Song pulled Jiang Hong inside.
Jiang Hong also said, “Let me treat, Sister-in-law Song has taken such good care of me during my time in the Northwest.”
The three of them hadn’t walked a few steps when Sister-in-law Feng, towing her child, squeezed through.
“Why don’t you treat some other time? Didn’t you hear Mrs. Qin say this is her friend’s shop? When we eat at her friend’s place, do we need to spend money? The bun shop just opened and needs popularity. So many of us supporting it is already a big help, we should be thanked instead, ah, there’s an empty table over there.”
Saying this, she pulled Feng Jingjing and headed straight to an empty table.
Sister-in-law Song initially did not plan to dine with Sister-in-law Feng, and now seeing her act so presumptuously, she almost blew her top and wanted to argue with her.
Lin Chuxia held her back and shook her head, “Let it go, just let her be.”
“Did you hear what she said? And besides, who wanted to treat her to buns anyway? Earlier, when Jiang Hong and I were at the Department Store, she followed us relentlessly,” now taking the chance to latch on to a little advantage.
However, Lin Chuxia didn’t want to fuss over it. Today was Jia Yuanliang’s bun shop opening, under no circumstances could she let Sister-in-law Song and Sister-in-law Feng start arguing here.
Moreover, they knew what kind of person Sister-in-law Feng was, to outsiders they appeared as together.
Just a few pork buns was not a big deal to resolve.
After Lin Chuxia’s business prospered, she had seen more disgusting affairs. Living in this society, it’s not possible to only encounter good people and good things. If something can be resolved with money, she never wastes energy on it.
This isn’t being saintly or cowardly, but a different perspective.
From her point of view, money was the easiest thing to obtain. She used the lowest costs to save her time and effort.
Just like now, having Sister-in-law Feng and her daughter sit here could be settled with at most two dollars. If Sister-in-law Song argued with them, it would not only affect Jia Yuanliang’s bun shop business but also her image in the Jia Family, a loss outweighing any gain.
Perhaps Sister-in-law Song also realized Lin Chuxia’s concerns, and did not continue arguing with Sister-in-law Feng, instead she sat down at the table with Jiang Hong, albeit with a sour expression.
Two large plates of pork buns, plus two cold dishes and three bowls of porridge, they all ate satisfyingly and even had three buns left over.
Sister-in-law Song and Jiang Hong wanted to buy some buns to take away, and it didn’t seem right to have Lin Chuxia treat again, so taking advantage of when Lin Chuxia wasn’t paying attention, they secretly found the waiter, bought and packed it.
By the time the two came back, they saw Sister-in-law Feng stuffing the three leftover pork buns into her bag.
Caught red-handed, she grinned at them, “Kids get hungry fast. I’m taking these for her to eat on the road, since you all couldn’t finish them anyway.”