country bumpkin

In the summer, Kong Xiujuan changed her business again. Summer was hot, and many people didn't like greasy food. Fried meatballs, fried potatoes, and fried sweet potatoes all failed to sell.

She switched to selling cold dishes, which made the business even more complicated. There were more than ten different kinds of dishes to choose from.

Some need to be boiled, some need to be soaked, some need to be chopped, and some need to be picked; it's a very busy job.

And then there are the ingredients. Quite a variety: sesame seeds, garlic, chili oil, cilantro, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

The sesame seeds need to be roasted first, then crushed and put into a glass jar.

The garlic needs to be peeled and then crushed with a mortar and pestle. If the crushed garlic is too dry, you'll need to add some cooled boiled water.

For the chili peppers, stir-fry the chili powder in oil until cooked, then store it in a large jar. Take out only the amount you need, mix it with cooled boiled water, and it's ready.

The other ingredients are much easier to handle; just pour them into a bottle and leave them as is.

This business requires getting up early to buy goods. Kong Xiujuan gets up at 4:30 every morning to go to the farmers' market to wholesale cold dishes.

I should be back around 5:30. Yunya woke up at 5 and couldn't fall back asleep. Maybe it was because it was too hot, or maybe it was because it got light too early, so she wasn't sleepy anymore.

After she got up, she started peeling and mashing garlic. She also roasted sesame seeds and crushed them.

When her mother came back, Yunya started chopping, picking, and washing vegetables again. Every morning was as busy as a battle.

It feels so good to be needed, Yunya thought, feeling like a useful person. Having someone who needs your help, having your family who needs your support—that's Yunya's value system.

She believed that if a person had no value and was no longer needed by others, then that person was a waste.

Her values ​​may be problematic, but she has no way of knowing whether other people's values ​​are different from hers; she only does what she thinks is right.

Every day is filled with work, eating, and sleeping; Yunya is busy and happy.

A year passed quickly, and Sun Limei failed to get into high school and dropped out.

This means there's another person free in the household. The advantage is that there's another helper for housework.

Yunya never expected that her mother would find a master to teach her sister a craft.

This person is not an outsider; it is my aunt, Kong Xiufang.

Although Yunya didn't want to learn how to make clothes, Kong Xiujuan took care of Sun Limei and helped her learn a skill as soon as she finished school. This differential treatment made Yunya heartbroken.

She's been out of school for over a year, and Kong Xiujuan has never considered letting her learn a trade. She hasn't even mentioned it once.

Yunya was indignant. She questioned Kong Xiujuan, "Mom, why did you immediately plan for my sister to learn a trade as soon as she finished school? I've been out of school for so long, haven't you thought about me at all?"

Kong Xiujuan's answer was reasonable and well-founded.

"There are two reasons. First, you are still young, and it's uncertain what you should learn. I'm afraid you might not want to learn."

Secondly, your impatient personality makes you unsuitable for learning garment making. Even other crafts require a stable personality, and your restless nature makes you unsuitable.

With red, aggrieved eyes, Yunya questioned Kong Xiujuan.

"I have an unstable personality and a bad temper. You didn't even ask me a single question, how am I supposed to know I could learn a skill? I'm only a few years old, do I know all this? You're my mother, you're my parent, aren't these things parents should be concerned about?"

Besides, why do I have a bad temper? It's because others bully me, and I fight back. When have I ever proactively sought out someone's fault?

Kong Xiujuan was speechless. After thinking for a moment, she finally explained, "Alright, tell me what you want to learn, and I'll arrange it for you."

Kong Xiujuan felt that Yunya had been rude and opinionated since she was a child, and that she was always causing trouble at home.

No, let her go out to work! The house should be quiet now.

And you know what, it was quite a coincidence.

Yunya thought about it for a long time, but she didn't know what she wanted to study. She called her third aunt, Kong Xiufen, to ask for her opinion.

In her mind, her third aunt was shrewd, knowledgeable, and worldly-wise, so asking her third aunt was always a safe bet.

Her aunt's answer was to teach her how to make cakes and pastries. She believed this business would be very successful.

More and more people are learning to celebrate birthdays, and the first thing they need is a birthday cake.

Kong Xiufen thought this business had potential. Yun Ya said she would think about it and then hung up the phone.

When Yunya got home, she told Kong Xiujuan about the good idea her third aunt had come up with.

Kong Xiujuan frowned. "How many years does it take to learn this? If you don't have the willpower, can you learn it for a long time? If you give up halfway through, you'll have wasted your money on becoming an apprentice."

Yunya was dissuaded by Kong Xiujuan's words, and she didn't know if she could stay.

Anyway, she likes doing odd jobs and doesn't want to do the same repetitive work all the time.

She thought that this might be what her mother meant by "indecisiveness." She was an indecisive person, someone who couldn't sit still.

In the end, Yunya decided to give up. She was afraid that she would give up halfway through, wasting time and money on tuition. So Yunya gave up.

If Yunya doesn't want to study, she needs to call her third aunt, Kong Xiufen, to tell her the specific reasons.

Reaching the public phone, Yunya dialed her aunt's number.

After finishing the call, Kong Xiufen expressed her regret. She then thought for a moment and suggested that the woman come to her house to help out, offering her 200 yuan a month and buying her clothes.

Yunya was surprised that she could earn money at such a young age, and happily agreed.

After hanging up the phone, Yunya returned home and told her whole family that she had a job and could earn money.

Kong Xiujuan was naturally delighted. She didn't have to spend money to learn a skill and could even earn money to supplement her family's income. She was overjoyed.

Sun Limei didn't think much about it. Her sister's interests were none of her concern, and she didn't care what kind of work her sister did. She just needed to take care of herself.

She said to Yunya, "Yunya, if you want to learn how to make clothes, you can come whenever you have time. Anyway, it's your aunt who will teach me. Your aunt also asked me to ask you if you want to learn. If you do, you can learn with me."

Yunya shook her head. "I don't like making clothes. I find it troublesome. I can't run back and forth, and sitting in front of the sewing machine every day makes my butt hurt."

Sun Limei simply relayed her aunt's words; the rest was up to her.

Yunya was happy to prepare her work clothes after deciding to go to her aunt's house to help.

It's basically just a few old clothes that I don't wear anymore, which I use as work clothes. Killing chickens isn't a clean job, and it would be bad if I didn't wear work clothes and got the other clothes dirty.

The next morning, Yunya rode her bicycle to the farmers' market and found her aunt's stall.

After parking the car, I went into the small room behind the control room, changed into my work clothes, returned to the control room, and started working.

Yunya had never done this before, but she was young and learned quickly. Kong Xiujuan taught her how to kill, scald, and gut chickens. Yunya learned everything after only handling two chickens.

Actually, you can learn it by watching it once, but Yunya wants to practice it herself to ensure that she can learn it completely.

Everything else is fine, but the most important step is scalding the chicken. Yunya needs to control the water temperature.

I had to test the water temperature several times with my hand before I knew what the right water temperature was.

I was busy from morning until 11 o'clock before I had a chance to rest.

During their break, Kong Xiufen went out and bought three breakfasts. When she returned, they started eating.