People in the alley: A woman dressed as a man shouldn't be foolishly filial, Zhuang Chaoying

Zhuang Chaoying and Lin Wufeng were busy moving around in the kitchen, the sounds of chopping and stir-frying filling the air.

Meanwhile, Song Ying was sitting on the bed chatting enthusiastically with Huang Ling, their conversation ranging from everyday family matters to recent events at the factory.

Suddenly, a voice called from outside the door: "Aunt Song, Aunt Huang, are you home?"

Song Ying was slightly taken aback, then stood up, walked to the door, and pushed it open. "Yiming, we're here."

Yiming appeared at the doorway, holding a book in his hand.

After entering the room, she went straight to the table, gently opened the book, and placed it on the table. "Aunt Song, Aunt Huang, you two take a look at this book first."

The two women leaned forward, their fingers slowly turning the pages of the book to find the exquisite sweater designs.

Song Ying's eyes lit up, and she pointed to one of the styles: "Sister Ling, look at this style, it's so novel!"

Yiming. "At the Shiliupu Wharf, there are several foreign trade companies that regularly buy back finished sweaters from private individuals, charging a labor fee."

Huang Ling looked at Yiming. "Yiming, this pattern looks quite difficult. I've never knitted it before, and I've never even seen it before. Can you do it?"

Yiming stood aside and explained, "Aunt Huang, you and Aunt Song are so skillful, it'll definitely be no problem. My mom is also learning to knit this pattern, and she doesn't think it's difficult."

Song Ying frowned slightly, somewhat worried: "Yiming, will anyone want the sweaters we knit? It would be terrible if no one wanted them by the time your Aunt Huang and I finished knitting them!"

Yiming seemed to have been prepared: "Aunties, I know your concerns, but you can trust me."

As he spoke, he reached into his pants pocket, pulled out fifty yuan, and placed it on the table. "Consider this money my deposit to you. Now you can rest assured."

After saying that, he turned around and strode away.

Huang Ling's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the fifty yuan note. "Song Ying, really?"

As she spoke, she got up and closed the door.

Song Ying picked up the five "big unity" bills, examined them carefully under the light, and a smile gradually spread across her face. "Sister Ling, it's really true!"

Her voice unconsciously lowered. "Sister Ling, since Yiming is thinking of the two of us, let's do it! Look at Wu Jianguo across the street, he's already selling chicken and duck eggs. It's stupid not to make money when you can!"

Huang Ling listened and nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, let's do it! Given the current situation at the factory, we might be put on unpaid leave any day. We need to have a way to make money."

Song Ying gently put the twenty yuan into her pocket. "Sister Ling, give me five yuan back!"

Huang Ling quickly pulled out some money from her pants pocket, rummaged through it, and pulled out a five-yuan note, handing it to Song Ying. "Here!"

They each put their money away, and in the instant their eyes met, they both saw determination in each other's eyes. They said in unison, "Let's do it!"

The two of them gathered back in front of the sweater magazine.

Song Ying gently ran her finger over the pattern of the sweater in the magazine: "It's so pretty, Sister Ling, this one is really pretty."

Song Ying suddenly raised her voice and called out towards the kitchen, "Wu Feng, Wu Feng, come here!"

Lin Wufeng, wearing an apron, hurried over.

He glanced at the sweater design in the magazine: "It's too revealing! It lacks class! It doesn't suit you."

Upon hearing this, Song Ying immediately glared at Lin Wufeng: "You have no taste! Go cook your own meal! What do you think, Sister Ling?"

Huang Ling said somewhat shyly in a low voice, "If you're good-looking, you'll look good in anything!"

Lin Wufeng shook his head and turned back to the kitchen.

At that moment, Zhuang Chaoying was intently frying eggs in front of the stove. "Engineer Lin, what are those two saying that makes them so happy!"

Lin Wufeng picked up the spatula and stirred the vegetables in the pan: "They were discussing knitting sweaters, but I think those styles are too revealing and not suitable for women their age."

Zhuang Chaoying laughed when she heard this: "You don't want Xiao Song to wear it, do you? I'll go over and take a look later."

As he spoke, he skillfully scooped the scrambled eggs onto a plate, then carried the plate into the room. "Xiaoting, Tunan, go get the bowls and chopsticks to serve the rice. The rice is ready!"

Xiaoting responded and ran to the kitchen to help. "Okay!"

Zhuang Chaoying placed the eggs on the table, wiped her hands with her apron, and sat down next to A-Ling. "A-Ling, are you going to knit a sweater?"

Huang Ling nodded: "Yiming said that Song Ying and I should knit sweaters together, and he would sell them and give us a fee for our work. I thought about the situation at the factory, so I agreed. Chaoying, do you think this style looks good?"

Zhuang Chaoying carefully examined the magazine and pointed to another style: "This one is alright, the collar isn't as big, it will definitely look good on you. Also, Ah Ling, our family isn't short of money, just think of it as finding something to do, don't overwork yourself, knitting with your head down all the time can easily cause cervical spondylosis!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Ling glared at him angrily. "It's not even knitted yet, ptooey! Chao Ying, don't jinx it! Ptooey, ptooey, Chao Ying!"

Zhuang Chaoying quickly went along with Ah Ling, saying, "Pah, pah, pah, I'll go get the rice."

After dinner, Zhuang Chaoying, as usual, went to the children's desks to check their homework.

He gently patted Tu Nan on the shoulder: "Tu Nan, how did you do in the school rankings this time?"

Tu Nan put down the book "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store" written by Zhuang Chaoying, which he was engrossed in reading, and looked up: "Dad, I ranked in the top ten in my grade this time, and I'll go straight to the No. 1 High School."

Zhuang Chaoying smiled with satisfaction.

Speaking of "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store", I mailed it out after finishing the writing in the middle of last year, and it was successfully published two months later.

As his works have become increasingly popular, his royalties have now risen to seven yuan per thousand words.

This work contains a total of 218,000 words, and the royalties amount to 1,526 yuan.

In addition, his salary also increased to sixty yuan, and he received a subsidy of thirty-six yuan from the Writers Association, so his monthly income was ninety-six yuan.

Ah Ling saved all the money.

Next year, when the authorities allow individuals to hold small amounts of gold, I'll go and hoard some gold with Ah Ling.

"Tu Nan, you need to balance work and rest every day. Don't stay home reading all the time. Go out and play with Dong Zhe. It's already nine o'clock, go to sleep."

Zhuang Tunan nodded, but his eyes remained fixed on the book in his hands. "Dad, this novel you wrote is really good. I'll go to sleep after I finish this chapter."

Zhuang Chaoying looked at Xiaoting on the other side, who was hunched over her small desk, writing incessantly. "Xiaoting, why aren't you sleeping? You'd usually be asleep by now."

Xiaoting answered without looking up, "Dad, I'm helping Lin Dongzhe copy notes."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Chaoying frowned immediately. This brat was ordering his daughter around like that. "Xiaoting, don't help that brat write. Doesn't he have hands?"

Xiaoting looked up, a smug look on her face. "Dad, I've been doing this since I've been free anyway, and he's been treating me to mung bean popsicles every day for the past few days."

Zhuang Chaoying was both amused and exasperated. She slapped her head, thinking, "My goodness, a few popsicles and I've won you over." "Xiaoting, your mom gives you a dime a day for pocket money; you can buy it yourself."

"Dad, just leave it alone. Go to sleep with Mom." After saying that, Xiaoting lowered her head and continued copying.

,,,,,,,,,

Time flies, and Dongzhe and Xiaoting successfully advanced to higher education. They became alumni of Tunan High School, all students of the school.

Lin Dongzhe always entered school at the very bottom of his class, but he's incredibly smart. He just crams before exams and gets better scores than the average kid.

If he studied seriously, he would definitely be a top student.

On the first day of school at No. 1 Middle School, Tu Nan led Xiao Ting and Lin Dongzhe out of the courtyard.

Yiming ran over and stopped the three of them. "Tunan, it's the first day of high school, and Xiaoting and Dongzhe's first day of junior high. Let's take a picture to remember it. Wait a minute!"

After saying that, Yiming turned and ran home quickly. A moment later, he returned, camera in hand. "Look at the lens!"

With a crisp "click" of the shutter, a group photo was born!