The first negotiation, as expected, ended in failure.
Zhao Lingcheng refused to listen to his ex-wife’s excuses, threw the bankbook on the table in a fury, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Chen Mianmian felt deeply sorry for ruining his reputation, but she wasn’t discouraged.
After all, in her career, she had never seen a case settled in just one court session.
Conflicts can be resolved, contracts can be negotiated—just take it slow.
She still had confidence in her ex-husband.
As for making money, she didn’t need to start a new business for now.
See, just as she got up in the morning, after cutting up the leftover buckwheat pancakes from last night and stir-frying them with oil from the pickled jar meat to make a bowl of fried pancakes, a new customer showed up.
Xue Fang was already knocking at the window early in the morning: “Xiao Chen, there’s business.”
It was her friend, Xiao Jia, a sales clerk from the Department Store, coming to buy leather.
Xiao Jia sniffed around and said, “That’s odd, I smell something I can’t quite describe. It’s so fragrant.”
Xue Fang chimed in, “I can smell Sichuan peppercorns, probably some sesame too, and a meaty aroma.”
Suddenly, Xiao Zhanzhan poked his head through the window, “We’re making………………”
Sun Bingyu was steaming and didn’t want everyone gathering to gossip, so she quickly covered her son’s mouth.
Chen Mianmian noticed a little girl by Xue Fang’s feet and smiled, “Miaomiao, would you like to try some of Auntie’s cooking?”
Xiao Zhanzhan quietly poked his head from his own house and said, “Aunt Xiāxiā, Miaomiao is a wild child.”
Sun Bingyu pulled her son back, “You little rascal, don’t bully your sister.”
Xue Fang couldn’t have children, and this girl called Miaomiao was a foster daughter she bought from the countryside in Quancheng.
The girl licked her lips and shook her head obediently, “Thank you, Auntie, but I won’t eat.”
Xiao Jia finished picking out the leather and was about to pay, but Chen Mianmian said, “No need for money, just give me Special Supply Coupons.”
At the moment, someone like Zhao Lingcheng received 36 yuan in salary plus 30 yuan in Special Supply Coupons a month.
Ordinary workers got 28 yuan a month plus 25 yuan in Special Supply Food Coupons.
But all kinds of labor protection supplies at the Base were very cheap, so everyone basically couldn’t use up all their coupons, and they always had plenty on hand.
Xiao Jia picked out four pieces of leather and took out ten yuan worth of Special Supply Coupons: “No need for change. I heard you have pickled jar meat—give me a piece.”
A piece of meat for two yuan worth of coupons sounded outrageous, but in the Hexi Corridor, there’s a term called Qinghuang Bujie.
That is, from March to June, even the Base almost never supplied meat.
Chen Mianmian wanted to make the most of that jar of meat, so she asked, “Can I give you a piece of pure fat?”
She didn’t like eating fatty meat, but to others, fat was a real treasure.
Xiao Jia grinned, “That’s perfect, thank you so much.”
After scooping out the meat, Chen Mianmian asked, “I have a question—does our store have baby formula?”
Xiao Jia replied, “My family has plenty. If you want some, we can trade for meat.”
Although Chen Mianmian wanted to raise Niuniu, she didn’t want to breastfeed herself.
First, she had to work and couldn’t manage, and second, she just couldn’t accept the idea of being a milk cow for the child.
If she could trade meat for baby formula, of course she would.
But just then, Xiao Zhanzhan threw a stone out the window, hitting little Miaomiao on the head.
Miaomiao tried to run but lost her balance and—duang—fell to the ground.
The little girl pouted, but didn’t cry loudly, just whimpered softly like a kitten.
Xue Fang picked her up and said, “Xiao Chen, it’s fine if you drink it yourself, but don’t give it to the child. My Miaomiao has been on baby formula since she was little, skinny as a monkey even at four years old, always catching colds, getting shots and taking medicine.”
Xiao Jia said, “Baby formula is just made from soybeans and rice, how can it compare to breast milk?”
She added to Chen Mianmian, “But if you don’t have enough breast milk, a little supplement can still fill up the baby.”
So baby formula wasn’t made from milk at all?
And Miaomiao was so frail because of it?
Chen Mianmian thought, forget it, I’ll be the milk cow.
Niuniu’s a little genius—she can’t risk turning dumb from poor nutrition.
So the idea of buying baby formula ended there.
Now that she had ten yuan worth of coupons, logically Chen Mianmian should stock up on supplies, but she decided to save up more for emergencies, and just trade meat for what she could for now.
She asked Xue Fang, “The powdered noodles your unit gave out last year, you haven’t eaten them, right? And Miaomiao’s quilt is still around?”
Powdered noodles are a northern food, but Xue Fang was from the south and didn’t like them.
You could see her powdered noodles stored on the Yangtai with other odds and ends.
Because Xue Fang kept trying to have her own child, Miaomiao’s little quilts were still there.
But her own hopes were slim, so she didn’t mind giving the quilts away.
She smiled, “Why don’t we trade for meat too?”
She added, “I have five jin of powdered noodles, all yours. You just pick out two of the fattiest pieces of meat for me.”
Trading fatty meat for supplies—wasn’t that a win-win?
Chen Mianmian was about to scoop out the meat when she heard Jiang Xia outside saying, “That’s odd, why did Lingcheng stay at the Reception Guesthouse last night?”
Sun Bingyu opened the window, “Xiao Chen, did Zhao Gong not stay home last night? Why?”
Jiang Xia wandered over and said, “Some people always think that except for themselves, everyone else is blind and dumb.”
Sun Bingyu, worried she’d say something nasty, quickly closed the window again.
Jiang Xia tried to chat with Xue Fang, “Xiao Xue, I have Kaohua Mantou, want some?”
Xue Fang was drooling over the meat jar, but when she heard about mantou, she quickly turned back, “Of course I want it!”
Chen Mianmian chimed in, “Xue Jie, I’ll give you another spoonful of oil—give me the mantou.”
She had only gone to the canteen once and never again, because she knew Jiang Xia would definitely make things hard for her with the canteen Dama.
Kaohua Mantou was bigger than a person’s face—one could last several days.
She’d save it and eat it slowly.
Xue Fang took the mantou from Jiang Xia and immediately passed it to Chen Mianmian, “Dig deep with the spoon, get a big scoop.”
It was a perfectly baked, flower-shaped, pure wheat Kaohua Mantou—now it belonged to Chen Mianmian?
Jiang Xia’s face turned dark with anger, almost to the point of cursing outright.
You see, Zhao Lingcheng was still young, but his abilities were clear to all.
Her sister Jiang Yao also studied Military Engineering Major, was capable and beautiful—a perfect match.
Jiang Yao was Zhao Lingcheng’s junior at school.
If it weren’t for Chen Mianmian butting in, the two would have been a match made in heaven.
Not only did Chen Mianmian break off the engagement after falling into the water, she even came back after the divorce—so infuriating.
The more Jiang Xia thought about it, the angrier she got.
She couldn’t help but kick her son, who was eating mantou, “Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eat.”
Xiao Shuai Shuai, after being kicked, turned and kicked little Miaomiao, “Peh! You wild child!”
Miaomiao was so skinny and light, she flew up from the kick and landed hard on the ground.
Xiao Shuai Shuai ran while shouting, “The wild child fell down, haha!”
Chen Mianmian saw it all, helped Miaomiao up, and shouted, “Shuai Shuai, why did you hit Miaomiao?”
Jiang Xia, of course, gave her son a light smack to show he was punished, then glared at Chen Mianmian before strutting home.
Miaomiao was Xue Fang’s daughter—of course Xue Fang was heartbroken to see her get hit.
But she was soft by nature, and having just accepted two mantou from Jiang Xia, she didn’t want to fall out with her, so she carried her daughter upstairs in frustration.
Sun Bingyu poked her head out the window and whispered, “Xiao Chen, what’s really going on with Zhao Gong?”
Chen Mianmian looked toward the next unit and deliberately said loudly, “Lingcheng cares about the baby even more than I do. He snores at night and is afraid to disturb us, so he stayed at the Reception Guesthouse. We’re doing great!”
Jiang Xia responded by slamming her window shut and snorting, “Stubborn as a dead duck, let’s see how long you can keep it up.”
But Sun Bingyu believed her, “Jiang Xia, Zhao Gong’s aunt, is actually a good person, just has a sharp tongue. Don’t take her to heart. As long as you and Zhao Gong live well, that’s all that matters.”
The Jiang Xia family was basically the protagonist group, so logically Chen Mianmian shouldn’t go against them.
But Miaomiao, just because she was bought, was bullied by the other kids.
And if Jiang Xia went around telling everyone Niuniu was a wild child, what if the other kids started calling her a little bastard, a little wild thing?
Because of this, Chen Mianmian had to stand up to her, and she would definitely take Niuniu with her in the future.
After all, if she felt the babysitter couldn’t handle it, she could take Niuniu to work with her, but Zhao Lingcheng couldn’t do that.
She entered the stairwell, but instead of going home, she turned and went up the stairs.
A while later, Xiao Shuai Shuai ran into the stairwell with a big White Steamed Bun in his mouth, ready to pull down his pants.
When he reached her door, he was about to pee on the door handle.
Chen Mianmian stomped her foot on purpose, “See what this is? Scissors! Watch me cut off your little weenie.”
She was pregnant and couldn’t move vigorously, so she just stomped her foot, but Xiao Shuai Shuai was scared stiff.
He turned and ran, tripped over his pants, peed all over himself, and dropped his mantou on the ground.
Miaomiao, coming downstairs with her mother, happened to see Shuai Shuai’s bare butt and couldn’t help but giggle.
Xue Fang, carrying the powdered noodles and quilts, taught Chen Mianmian, “There are five quilts. At night, lay them under the child. When one gets wet, swap it out. During the day, take them all to the laundry, bring them back to dry, and reuse them at night—saves time and effort.”
She added, “The quilts are made of cotton. If they get bugs, just wash and sun them.”
Chen Mianmian took the things and looked at the timid Miaomiao, feeling a sudden urge.
She asked, “Xue Jie, can Miaomiao come play at my house for a day?”
She patted the child’s little butt, “I’ll cook her some meat, really tasty meat.”
With someone to help watch the child, Xue Fang was delighted.
She laughed, “It’s fun now, but when the baby comes, you’ll be the one annoyed.”
Actually, Chen Mianmian didn’t find child care novel—she needed to convince Zhao Lingcheng.
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