Bai Jiu knew what Xiang Gaoli was worried about. She was just afraid of people saying she favored the Gu’s family, but the Bai Family truly didn’t think that way. "Just treat it as a tip for Mrs. Xiang. I’ll have to trouble her to look into the matter of buying a job."
They had worked for a whole day today; she couldn’t afford to be stingy.
"You don’t have to do this, Jiu," Xiang Gaoli said, feeling even more embarrassed to accept it after hearing this. "Even if you want to give her a gift, you should wait until my mother has found some information first." Refusing any further would be somewhat hurtful, so she spoke frankly.
Bai Jiu didn’t try to persuade her any further. "Alright then, let’s just leave it here to air dry a bit longer."
However, she still had her oldest brother take a bag of sponge cakes back. These cakes were bought from the county town, and everyone in the family really liked eating them. Xiang Gaoli had two older brothers above her, both of whom were married with their own families and children. Taking this back was the perfect gift.
It was worth noting that the Xiang Family had three grandchildren. The Xiang Family’s eldest son, Xiang Gaowen, had two sons: one was six years old, and the other was four. Xiang the Second, Xiang Gaowu, also had a two-year-old son named Xiang Qiusheng. Bringing these sponge cakes back for the three children to eat couldn’t be better.
Since Bai Xingguo was carrying them, Xiang Gaoli found it hard to refuse.
After they left, Bai Jiu and Mother Bai went back to preparing things for the New Year.
"Jiu, this really uses up a lot of oil." Looking at the golden, crispy sweet potato balls frying in the wok, it was truly mouthwatering. However, it just used too much oil. Mother Bai’s heart ached as she picked up each cooked ball to drain the oil, terrified of wasting even a single drop.
"As long as it’s delicious, it’s fine. Didn’t I buy three jugs of oil last time? It’s enough for our family to have a bountiful New Year." Bai Jiu was not someone who agonized over consuming supplies. She used as much oil as she pleased.
"Even if we have a lot of oil, you shouldn’t be so wasteful. We shouldn’t eat this anymore," Mother Bai said, her heart aching.
Bai Jiu didn’t agree. "Oh, right, Mother. I asked Xiang Gaoli for two strips of pork leaf fat today. I’ll bring them over tomorrow, so you won’t have to worry about not having enough oil for the entire next year." She also told her about the agreement she made with Xiang Gaoli today.
Mother Bai was so angry she almost died. "Just keep acting up." She realized that her daughter was very headstrong now, and she couldn’t control her anymore. "I’ll have your father deal with you later," she said, glaring at her in exasperation.
Was Bai Jiu afraid? Not at all.
Everyone in the Bai Family was happy about Bai Xinghua’s job.
The next day, Bai Xinghua took a heavily bundled-up Father Bai to his workplace to officially hand over the job.
The colleagues who used to give Father Bai dirty looks now expressed their goodwill and concern toward him one by one. Father Bai had lived to an old age; how could he not see what kind of intentions these people had? However, he didn’t offend them, dealing with each of them politely.
As soon as the job handover was complete, he immediately had his son take him home. It was still more comfortable to stay at home. Having his children and grandchildren gathered around him—that was what he called life. Now that the children had all grown up, he would just take on the responsibility of teaching the grandchildren.
Bai Jiu actually wanted to go to the meatpacking plant to take a look, but there was really no one at home. She couldn’t just leave the two children at home by themselves. Fortunately, she hadn’t tagged along. After all, someone looking for trouble had just arrived.
"Who knows how many good things they’re hoarding? They eat meat dishes all day long. Aren’t they afraid of stuffing themselves to death?"
A head popped over the neighboring courtyard wall, spitting toward the Bai Family. Outside, a light wind was blowing with snow. It was a wonder how the woman could endure the cold.
Bai Jiu happened to come out to add firewood and saw the person spitting at their house. It was absolutely disgusting.
"Who’s there?" Bai Jiu picked up a wooden stick nearby and threw it directly at the head on the wall. Fortunately, the wind threw off her aim. Otherwise, the person would have been severely injured by the hit, if not killed by the fall.
"What are you doing?!" Liu Zhaodi, who was perched on the wall, got a huge fright. "Are you trying to kill someone?!" Her voice was incredibly shrill.
"Oh, I wondered who it was. It’s you. What, do you want to pick another fight with me?" Because the snow was somewhat heavy, Bai Jiu hadn’t seen the person clearly at first, but hearing the shrill voice, she knew exactly who it was. "Are you done falsely accusing others and moving on to home invasion and robbery now?" She intensely disliked people like the Wang family. If she could, she really wanted to send this whole family to prison.
"Bullshit! When did I invade your home?" Hearing Bai Jiu pin another crime on her, Liu Zhaodi’s heart involuntarily twitched twice in pain. She hadn’t forgotten the lesson from last time. If it weren’t for the person in front of her, how could she have been beaten by her husband? Although he usually beat her, he hadn’t struck her as ruthlessly as this time. If it weren’t for the fact that she had two sons, she feared that...
"When did I rob you? Don’t spout nonsense, or I’ll sue you," Liu Zhaodi said tremblingly.
She was really applying what she had just learned.
"Then tell me, what are you doing climbing my wall? If you’re not planning to steal something, then what are you doing? Coming to smell the air in my house?" This person really had no fear of death. "If you want to sue others, you’d better make sure your own ass is clean. Don’t think that just because you’ve been shouting and cursing at home these past two days, no one can hear you. It’s just that I don’t want to bother arguing with a rat like you. Otherwise, I’d send you off to serve your mother-in-law."
At this moment, a very deep voice sounded from behind Liu Zhaodi. "You damn bitch, haven’t you caused enough trouble for this family? Get the hell down from there!"
Bai Jiu had seen everyone in the neighboring family before. Upon hearing this voice, she knew it was the son of the Wang family. Hah, her oldest brother had mentioned that this man had been causing him quite a bit of trouble lately. Fortunately, her oldest brother was an honest man with nothing to hide, so this man had never succeeded. However, one could be a thief for a thousand days, but one couldn’t guard against a thief for a thousand days. People like him needed to be dealt with to save everyone the disgust.
Wang Jian Country was the warehouse management team leader at the yarn factory, while Bai Xingguo was in charge of distributing goods in the back warehouse. All incoming and outgoing goods had to pass through his hands, as well as the warehouse management side. This gave Wang Jian Country the opportunity to oppress Bai Xingguo. But Bai Xingguo wasn’t easy to bully either. Especially after the Bai Family cleared their name, he went directly to his superiors, bypassing Wang Jian Country. Because of this, Wang Jian Country received criticism from his director.
Having operated in his position for so long, this incident naturally didn’t affect Wang Jian Country’s job. It was truly like a toad sticking to one’s foot—it didn’t hurt anyone, but it was disgusting.
Liu Zhaodi didn’t dare to disobey her husband. After spitting one last glob of phlegm while glaring at Bai Jiu, she climbed down from the wall. Bai Jiu was thoroughly disgusted.
"You damn bitch! Are you trying to get me killed? You’ve stirred up so much trouble, watch me beat you to death today!"
Soon, cries and screams drifted over from next door. Bai Jiu had no interest in getting involved; she would be more than happy if the woman was beaten to death. (Author’s Note: Because this character in the story is too asking for a beating, the female protagonist ignores her. If you encounter this situation in reality, you must call the police immediately. Sisters, stay away from domestic abusers!)
There were not only Liu Zhaodi’s cries but also the children’s. Listening to it made Bai Jiu extremely irritable.
"Xiuxiu, Zhengyang, how about Mom makes some puffed rice treats for you today?" With the New Year and the upcoming wedding, these puffed rice treats had to be prepared. Otherwise, with so many things to do later on, they might not have enough time. Since she had nothing to do at home, she might as well finish the work she could.
"Okay, Mom, I’ll help you!" Xiuxiu loved eating them. She had only eaten puffed rice treats once in her entire life. Even though it was just a few grains of puffed rice, the taste was unforgettable.