Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

My salary is not high, only 27.5 per month.

In fact, only 18 yuan actually belonged to me, and the remaining 9.5 yuan was what the union required the factory to pay.

In addition to paying our family funeral expenses, the factory also provided compensation.

As for the compensation, in order to avoid making others jealous, the union said that they would give it to me in monthly installments after I start working, and tell others that it was care for us.

The days passed day by day.

Every time I open my eyes, I have to think about making money.

Banggeng has grown up and is even ready to go to primary school. Our family is not considered poor, but he cannot avoid paying primary school tuition. My mother scolded me for a long time because of this.

It’s not that we are stingy, it’s just that our family is in deficit every month.

The word "deficit" was learned by me and Qin Jingru later.

It sounds very literary, but in reality, our family has always been living off our savings.

Speaking of which, I don't know if the Feng Shui of the Jia family is really problematic. The men of the Jia family always have accidents. I don't want Banggeng to have such an accident, so I can only work hard to make money so that he can go to school.

But after all the calculations, if my salary doesn't increase.

At home, I guess he won’t survive until he reaches adulthood.

But then the problem came. I couldn't listen to the old man. I could only watch how the workers did it and learn from them. I didn't dare to ask questions. The old man was very capable. He was not old, but he was an eighth-level fitter. The money he earned in a month was enough for our family to eat for several months.

Come to think of it, at that time, I was indeed thinking, if I let Banggeng recognize me as a relative, would life be a little better.

Every midnight, I always wonder why I have to go through this, it's so painful.

At that time, I actually didn’t understand why it was so painful.

I was eating commercial grain and working as a worker, but it seemed as if something was strangling my throat. I wanted to speak, but I had no one to express myself.

Later, Cao Wei told me that it was mental pressure.

It’s just that in the past, I didn’t have to consider so many things. I only had to cook, clean, and breastfeed every day. But now, I have to consider keeping my family alive, so the pressure is naturally different.

In this case, there is a new person in the yard.

With the idea that knowing one more person would open up another path, I went over to meet him, just to make myself familiar with him.

The person is quite good-looking.

This is the consensus between Lou Xiao'e and me. We both agree that the first time we were fooled and cheated by him was because he had a good-looking face.

When I heard about his profession, I always felt it was unreal.

He was neatly dressed and had a gentle and easygoing temperament. I thought he would be a scholar like the third uncle, but I didn't expect him to be a cook.

Cook, elegant.

These two words that don't go together make me curious.

In addition, an old man asked us to go to the third canteen to support him, so after a few visits, we were able to talk to each other.

It wouldn't matter if I didn't talk, but as soon as I spoke, he seemed to see that I was in a bad mood.

Originally, I shouldn't have told him about this.

But I just couldn't help it.

In fact, people in the whole yard don’t think highly of me.

They think that I am just like that, and I will just be an apprentice for the rest of my life. I will never achieve anything. If I ask for help when I encounter something I don't understand, they will definitely say that this is how my life will be, so why bother?

I know it very well.

Only the new Cao Wei would not have such an idea.

I can't go home and tell my mom or Banggeng, so Cao Wei is the only one I can talk to.

I didn’t think too much about it at first. I was feeling depressed and just wanted to complain, but I never expected that he would tell me that this was not my problem.

He told me that the uncle was a genius, but I was not.

So I don't understand what the old man said.

I understood what he meant instantly.

I plucked up the courage and told this story.

Sure enough, after changing the master, I could understand it.

To him, this may have been just a casual suggestion, but to me, it was no less than saving my life.

I was under a lot of pressure at that time.

After Jia Dongxu left, my mother put all the things in the house on me. I was the one who ate the best food in the house, and even most of the housework was done by her. The only purpose was to get me promoted to a higher level as soon as possible. But I just couldn't understand. I was so worried that I couldn't sleep all night. Really, the night I understood.

I fell asleep and I slept peacefully.

I don't know how long it has been since I had a good night's sleep.

Later, he said there was an opportunity to help in the kitchen and wanted me to go.

In fact, I know that he wants me.

I could tell that the way he looked at me was the same as that of Shazhu next door, except that Shazhu was hiding his feelings, while he was more bold and naked.

I don't know how I convinced myself, but in the end, I went with him.

Just cooking, nothing happened.

However, because of this cooking, I felt anxious again.

He didn't touch me as I imagined.

He was very gentle and took care of me. He told me that maybe one day, when he got married, he would be able to have a wife like me, who could help him by his side, and they could live happily together. That would be great.

When I heard this, my heart felt like it was being pulled.

I remember that many, many years ago, my fantasy of the future was like this: my husband would be working and I would be able to help him by his side, chatting and laughing while the kids were running around in the yard.

That's... good.

I have to admit that at this moment, I was moved.

But I quickly suppressed it.

I knew it was impossible. I couldn't abandon my child and follow him.

Besides, there is no way he would want me like this.

What's more, my mother is not a pushover, so I can only hide this excitement slowly.

I want to return the sachet he gave me.

But he always made excuses, and after one or two times, I decided to just keep it.

Later, Lou Xiao'e told me that this was all his conspiracy.

At the time, I didn't really care. I thought, he just had some thoughts about me, and I just had to say no.

I thought so.

But my mother eventually found out about the sachet.

Mom is very smart, I know this very well. From the first day I became a widow, she told me that there would be many people who would like me, and asked me to be careful. If I really wanted to go out, she would not let me have an easy time. I know she was telling the truth.

At that moment, my heart was in turmoil. What should I do?

He moved, he stood up, and seemed to want to admit it.