18 Plans (2/2)
Although she was already in her second year of high school and less than two years away from the College Entrance Test, Wan Chao was very confident that she could take the College Entrance Test and give Bai Zhexi a beautiful College Entrance Examination result to make up for the shortcomings of her previous life.
After some thought, she found a blank piece of paper and carefully wrote down her work and rest plan for the day.
When she finished writing her plan, Bai Zhexi's voice came from the living room.
”Chao'er, mother will go out to set up a stall. You should study hard at home by yourself.”
Wan Chao hurried out of the room. In the living room, Bai Zhexi carried a machine in one hand and a large bag in the other.
”Mom, let's not go to the south side of the city today, it's too far. Let's stay nearby from now on.”
”Huh?” Bai Zhexi was momentarily at a loss for words.
”Don't go to the south of the city.” After Wan Chao said it again, Bai Zhexi finally understood her daughter's meaning. She smiled and said:
”It's okay, it's not far. Mom will be arriving soon by bus.” She was afraid of humiliating her daughter.
”I've changed, Mother. I won't be so vain in the future,” she said.
In the end, under the insistence of Wan Chao, Bai Zhexi agreed to set up a stall in a nearby market.
They had only walked for twenty minutes when they arrived at the nearest market place to the glassworks. As it belonged to the center of the county and there were many people, Wan Chao helped Bai Zhexi to find a blank space. After paying a fee of three dollars, they set up the shoe repair stall.
”Chao'er, hurry up and go back. Eat lunch by yourself, don't worry about mother.” Bai Zhexi stuffed 5 yuan into Wan Chao's pocket and told her to go back.
Wan Chao didn't say anything. She took the money and left the market after seeing that there were no problems with Bai Zhexi.
After leaving the market, she didn't go straight home, instead, she once again wandered around the streets.
Seeing Bai Zhexi sitting in the open air of the market, waiting for people to mend their shoes, she felt uncomfortable. She wanted to study the market in Wutong County and find a suitable job for her family.
Unfortunately, after a whole morning, she still hadn't found anything good. She wasn't discouraged and knew that life wasn't easy.
When she decided to eat out at noon, she chose a clean and formal restaurant with a slightly critical air.
She asked for a bowl of noodles and sat in a corner. There were two middle-aged men sitting on the table, one of them had a black briefcase on his lap with the words' Wutong County Government 'written on it. She guessed that these two were probably working for the government.
Wan Chao quietly waited.
”Old Wu's noodles are really delicious, but the pickled vegetables are really not that delicious. I might be able to eat an extra bowl of noodles if they make some delicious sauces or something like that.” One of the men across from him said to the other.
”That's right, I want to bring some pickled vegetables myself. This Old Wu won't let me. Look at the pickled vegetables provided by them. They're so unpalatable. Can they even be called pickled vegetables?!” The other man also complained.
Wan Chao looked at the dish of free pickles in the middle of the table. The big dish had been chopped into pieces and was mixed with soy sauce. It really didn't look good.
When her noodles were served, Wan Chao picked up a pair of chopsticks and ate them. As expected, the noodles were strong and the flavor of the noodles was strong.
She picked up more pickles and put them in her mouth.
Heh!
She almost vomited, but seeing that there was no trash can or tissue around her, she felt unsanitary and quickly swallowed it down. She then ate two more chopsticks of noodles to quell the salty taste.
The two middle-aged men couldn't help but laugh when they saw her expression.
The salted vegetables had been filled with who knows how much salt. It was a dead man.
Was the salt seller beaten to death?!
Looking at the pickled vegetables, Wan Chao had an idea.