Transmigrated into a deeply affectionate male supporting role in a period novel - Chapter 34

The dinner that evening was quite lavish. Ye mother made braised pork that was rich but not greasy, Chen Cuifang prepared a golden, silky, and tender steamed egg custard, and Ye Guidong cooked spicy and delicious twice-cooked pork. They also had a large porcelain bowl of vegetable soup. Ye Guidong took out the pear wine that Zhao Lihui had given her before and poured a bowl for everyone.

“This pear wine is brewed well,” Ye mother said for the second time after taking a sip, unable to help but praise it.

“My mother-in-law has been brewing pear wine since she was a girl. Even if you buy it outside, you can’t find any as delicious as hers,” Chen Cuifang nodded.

“It must be a secret recipe,” Ye mother said confidently.

“Anyway, there’s a knack to it,” Chen Cuifang laughed heartily.

Ye father and Zhao Dagen were also discussing topics of interest to them, while Zhao Lihui sat together with Ye Guidong, eating the dishes she had served him. “Eat more; I feel like you’ve lost weight.”

“When I said that the little one was getting fat just now, you said I’d only been gone for two days and couldn’t gain weight. Now that I’m back, I’ve directly lost weight?” Zhao Lihui couldn’t help but laugh.

Ye Guidong’s ears turned warm. “I just think you’ve lost weight. Is it hotter in the provincial city or here?”

“The provincial city is a bit hotter. I washed my clothes at noon, and they were dry by evening,” Zhao Lihui took a sip of the sweet and delicious pear wine. “There are more tall buildings there; the tube buildings are everywhere. We can still open a little vegetable garden behind our yard, but it’s not allowed in the provincial city anymore. We heard the locals discussing this while eating at the state-run restaurant.”

“Really? You can’t even grow vegetables in your own backyard?” Chen Cuifang interjected, unable to hold back her surprise.

“Yes, it’s our own backyard, surrounded by walls, and we’re not bothering anyone. We still can’t plant the vegetables we want to eat?”

Ye mother felt sympathetic for the people in the provincial city.

Ye father and Zhao Dagen also stopped discussing their own matters and looked over with their bowls and chopsticks.

Zhao Lihui paused his eating. “There’s nothing that can be done. They say it’s because of the strong summer smells, plus many places are being demolished to build dormitory buildings or high-rises.”

“It must be the people from the property management department who are enforcing this,” Zhao Dagen sighed. “Now there are more and more people applying for housing, and since there aren’t enough houses, they can only speed up construction.”

“That’s the way it is,” Ye father nodded. “Just look at that doctor we know; he has been applying for years and still hasn’t been assigned a house. His whole family has been squeezed into two rooms for years, and life has been tough.”

“I know who you’re talking about,” Ye mother thought for a moment. “Did he move here from another place?”

“That’s right. Otherwise, having a home here, we wouldn’t have to squeeze into such a small space.”

Ye father nodded.

“The provincial city will develop even better in the future. Once it develops well, it will be the turn of the surrounding urban areas. I don’t know what our place will develop into later.”

Seeing the atmosphere becoming a bit awkward, Zhao Lihui quickly brought up a new topic.

“So we won’t be able to plant vegetables in the backyard in the future?”

Chen Cuifang said with a pained expression.

“The dormitory buildings are not as good; living in a dormitory is definitely not as comfortable as living in our alley, and there’s no large yard either,” Ye mother also became troubled.

“Yes, yes,” Chen Cuifang agreed wholeheartedly.

Zhao Lihui and Ye Guidong exchanged a glance and decided to speed up their eating, quietly listening to the four elders discussing urban development.

Meanwhile, Sun Baozhu cheerfully arrived at the mechanical factory looking for Chen Wansheng. The gatekeeper activated the factory’s loudspeaker and announced, “Please, Comrade Chen Wansheng from the Technical Department, come to the factory gate. A woman named Sun Baozhu is looking for you.”

Having just arrived at the cafeteria to get lunch, Chen Wansheng heard the announcement and quickly set down his bowl and chopsticks to run toward the factory gate.

“My parents have prepared a meal at home, so I came to find you to go home for dinner,” Sun Baozhu said with a smile.

Seeing that she hadn’t been sulking for so long after that night, Chen Wansheng felt a little more at ease. “Why so sudden?”

“Not sudden at all,” Sun Baozhu thought he wanted to give her and her family a surprise since he wasn’t mentioning the competition. She covered her mouth and laughed, “We’re practically family now; shouldn’t we visit each other more?”

Hearing this, Chen Wansheng felt warmth in his heart. However, as soon as he arrived at Sun’s house and sat down with his bowl of rice, before he could take a few bites, Sun Jiwen smiled and asked, “What did you gain from the trip to the provincial city?”

“Yes, yes! Tell us what you got!” Hu Erniang looked at him eagerly.

Chen Wansheng always felt that something was off. “There’s nothing much to say; it was just much hotter over there in the provincial city than here.”

Sun Baozhen, being the youngest and unable to hold back her words, directly asked, “Brother Chen, what place did you come in?”

“This child is so straightforward,” Hu Erniang pretended to glare at Sun Baozhen, then turned her hopeful gaze back to Chen Wansheng.

Chen Wansheng: …

Suddenly, he felt a bit unable to swallow his food.

Seeing his expression grow cold, Sun Baozhu felt a pang in her heart. She hurriedly picked up two pieces of fish and placed them on Chen Wansheng’s plate. “What’s there to say? Just eat, have more! My mother’s specialty dish.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Jiwen and Hu Erniang’s expressions also gradually darkened.

“Does that mean you didn’t place?”

Hu Erniang felt like the fish she made had been fed to the dog and recalled the grudge she held against Chen Wansheng for being disrespectful to her a few days ago, which made her expression even worse.

“I’m full, thank you for the hospitality. There’s still business at the factory; sorry, but I’ll be leaving now.”

Chen Wansheng directly put down his bowl and chopsticks, kept his head down as he finished speaking, and then left quickly.

“Wansheng!”

Sun Baozhu stood up in a panic. “Mom, what are you talking about?”

“What did I say? He’s a junior who made me so angry a few days ago that I couldn’t get out of bed. Now, is it wrong to ask him what place he got in the competition?”

Hu Erniang slammed her chopsticks on the table, making a crisp sound. “Look at him! He looks like someone owes him tens of thousands of dollars. I made a whole table of good food to treat him, and that’s how he repays me?”

Sun Jiwen added, “That’s just unacceptable! We are at least his elders!”

Sun Baozhu stomped her foot and dashed out after him.

Sun Baozhen nervously tightened her grip on her chopsticks. “Did I… did I ask the wrong question?”

“You asked perfectly! I thought he might have gotten a medal, but it turns out Zhao Lihui was just worried about hurting his pride, so he made us ask ourselves. What’s the use? He must not have won anything!”

The more Hu Erniang spoke, the angrier she became, her voice rising.

As Zhao Lihui and Ye Guidong were taking a walk outside, they happened to run into Sun Baozhu and Chen Wansheng arguing in a secluded spot.

Ye Guidong looked at Zhao Lihui, who grinned and took her hand, pulling her aside to eavesdrop.

“Do you know they are humiliating me? They think a country bumpkin like me doesn’t deserve a city girl like you! So they are doing everything possible to humiliate me!”

Chen Wansheng’s face turned red with anger.

Sun Baozhu choked up and said, “Wansheng, don’t think like that. If my parents didn’t agree with us being together, they wouldn’t have let you come to propose! Besides, we’re already engaged; we just need to find a date for the wedding. Don’t overthink it, okay?”

“I can’t help but think too much,” Chen Wansheng said, holding his forehead. “I even think what my cousin said before is right, but I…”

But he wanted to distance himself from the shameful cousin, so he chose to follow the path he believed in and be with the person he liked.

Sun Jiwen liked him because of the cousin behind him, and Sun Jiwen looked down on him because he distanced himself from that cousin.

Thinking of this, Chen Wansheng took a deep breath and looked at Sun Baozhu. “Baozhu, let’s postpone the wedding for now. I really can’t give you happiness at this moment; I’m sorry.”

After saying this, Chen Wansheng turned around and left.

Sun Baozhu called out to him several times, but he didn’t turn back and even quickened his pace.

She covered her mouth and squatted down, crying in pain.

Zhao Lihui and Ye Guidong exchanged glances, and the two quietly left, continuing to stroll forward from another direction.

“Did he get a ranking?”

“No,” Zhao Lihui replied, telling Ye Guidong about how Liu Yaozu kindly brought steamed buns for Chen Wansheng but ended up throwing them on the ground. “He did tell the truth; he really has no money in his pocket and can’t give anything. He said his father has been ill lately, and he’s the only one holding the family together. With so many younger siblings, it really is difficult.”

After hearing this, Ye Guidong sighed softly, recalling what she had heard earlier. “It seems like every time we run into them, they’re always arguing.”

“Yeah,” Zhao Lihui nodded. “Let’s not talk about them anymore. When Brother Liu asked us to visit his home, we should go whenever we have the time.”

“So suddenly?”

“It’s because he said Aunt cooks really well and insisted we try her food. Also, Uncle can eat a pound of noodles in one sitting…”

After their stroll, Zhao Lihui took Ye Guidong home and then returned to his own house with his parents and Diandian.

Seeing the two pieces of cloth on the table and listening to Zhao Lihui’s plans, Chen Cuifang smiled and said, “Didn’t I make clothes for our family during the New Year? There’s no rush to make clothes for us. How about this: I’ll make yours and your father’s clothes to the sizes of Aunt Ye and Uncle Ye. You can make them for us when you have fabric coupons and want to show filial piety next time.”

“That’s right, your mother’s and my clothes can be made anytime. You should focus on that side first,” Zhao Dagen had no objections to this.

Zhao Lihui scratched his head, “Well, okay then.”

He opened the envelope and took out everything inside. “There’s ninety yuan here, along with some subsidy tickets. These are all from the provincial capital and the factory together. You can count and see how much there is.”

“So much?”

“Indeed, it’s impressive how generous the machinery factory is!”

Zhao Dagen couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.

There were nine hundred-yuan bills, and they quickly counted them. The two of them smiled as they began to tally up the tickets for the quantities.

Chen Cuifang said with a beaming smile, “You really did well in getting first place! That’s a total of fifteen jin of grain tickets, seven and a half jin of meat tickets, three jin of sugar tickets, and two jin of oil tickets!”

Zhao Dagen also looked proud. “Not bad.”

“Since you guys don’t need new clothes this time, let’s do it this way,” Zhao Lihui took out two ten-yuan bills and gave each of them one. Then he pushed the oil tickets, sugar tickets, and grain tickets toward them. “The rest is mine.”

Chen Cuifang shook her head and pushed the twenty yuan back. “I don’t want the money; you can keep the rest.”

“Eh, not regretting it?”

Zhao Lihui raised an eyebrow.

“No regrets,” Chen Cuifang chuckled. “I love the oil, sugar, and grain tickets the most.”

“Alright then,” Zhao Lihui took the twenty yuan back and then pushed over five jin of meat tickets. “Here’s another one for you.”

“I don’t mind having more,” Chen Cuifang laughed heartily as she accepted them.

After Zhao Lihui finished washing up and returned to his room, he checked his private stash. He had a total of one hundred and eight yuan and one two-and-a-half jin meat ticket. Not bad.

At that moment, Chen Cuifang was whispering with Zhao Dagen. “This kid must be planning to gather all the meat tickets in his hands and then go to the meat processing factory to buy everything at once. Thankfully, I held onto five jin so he couldn’t finish them all.”

“It’s so hot; he wouldn’t buy that much meat, would he?”

The next morning, Zhao Dagen woke up to see the meat on the table. Chen Cuifang, who came out behind him, wasn’t surprised when she saw it. “I heard him leave before it got light.”

Zhao Lihui, who had gone to the meat processing factory early in the morning to buy two and a half jin of meat, was now cooking porridge. He grinned when he saw Chen Cuifang come in with the meat.

“I knew you couldn’t hold back.”

Chen Cuifang chuckled.

Zhao Lihui just smiled widely.

That evening, Ye Guidong’s family had dinner at Zhao Lihui’s place.

They didn’t have a sewing machine at home, but Aunt Yang Liu had one, so Chen Cuifang borrowed it to make clothes. Zhao Lihui and Zhao Dagen went over to bring it back.

Chen Cuifang was skilled at sewing; her eyes were like measuring tools. After confirming whose clothes she would make, she began cutting the fabric and got to work.

Since it was summer clothing, even if made meticulously, she could finish a set in two days. She first completed the outfits for Ye Guidong’s family of three, and then moved on to Zhao Lihong and her husband.

Zhao Lisheng even wrote a letter asking for his partner’s measurements, and Chen Cuifang and her husband would use their own fabric tickets to make a set for them, but the letter was still on its way.

“I made a set for you too,” Chen Cuifang said with a bright smile to Zhao Lihui, “and since it’s summer clothing, there’s plenty of fabric.”

Zhao Lihui came over to massage her shoulders and legs, being extra attentive. “You’ve worked hard, Mother.”

“Don’t just say polite things. When I’m old and can’t move, you’ll have to serve me tea and water, and I’ll have to say politely, ‘Ah, Third, you’ve worked hard,’” Chen Cuifang said, pretending to be an elderly person, which made Zhao Lihui laugh heartily.

“Not at all, not at all.”

Zhao Lihui immediately served her tea and water, making Chen Cuifang laugh nonstop.

After Liu Yaozu specially came to the technical department to invite Zhao Lihui to dinner, Zhao Lihui and Ye Guidong visited the Liu family with some snacks the next evening.

Uncle Liu was a very humorous person, while Aunt Liu was gentle and a head taller than Uncle Liu. They didn’t seem like a perfect match at first glance, but their relationship was very good.

As Liu Yaozu said, Aunt Liu’s cooking was excellent, and Zhao Lihui and Ye Guidong praised it continuously. Seeing that they enjoyed her cooking, Liu Xiaomei even refilled their bowls several times, making them both quite embarrassed.

Recently, Chen Wansheng had been very quiet. Sometimes when Zhao Lihui went out to work and ran into Sun Baozhu, he could see the dark circles under her eyes, comparable to those of a panda, indicating that the two had not reconciled yet.

As May ended and June began, on the first day back to work, Master Rong took Zhao Lihui to the human resources department to find Section Chief Wang. Master Rong directly handed over the signed document from the head of the technical department to Section Chief Wang. “The apprenticeship has been outstanding, and the department has passed his probation period. Please help him convert to a regular position.”

Section Chief Wang was not surprised that Zhao Lihui became a regular so quickly, especially since he had won first place in the provincial competition.

“Please wait a moment,” Section Chief Wang said, and after a few operations, Zhao Lihui officially became a full-time employee.

After leaving the human resources department, Master Rong happily pulled out a pack of cigarettes and opened it. “Your salary will depend on your technical level certification. Let’s go sign up.”

“The list has already been submitted?”

“You’ve already completed your apprenticeship, so of course, it’s done,” Master Rong rolled his eyes. “Today is a good day. Sign up in the morning and you can take the exam in the afternoon. Hurry up.”

“Got it!” Zhao Lihui eagerly followed Master Rong to register.

Chen Wansheng didn’t see them. After inquiring, he found out that Zhao Lihui had become a regular and was going to take the technical-level certification exam. His emotions became complicated all at once, and his mentor, Master Zhang, walked over to him with his hands behind his back.

“I didn’t pressure you. When Old Rong mentioned it to the boss yesterday, I just brought you up as well. But you came in later than him, and your technical skills still need improvement. The boss’s suggestion is to wait until after June and then reassess.”

“I will work hard!”

Chen Wansheng gritted his teeth.

As Zhao Lihui wished, he passed the Level 2 technical certification exam.

Master Rong was very satisfied with this. “When you get back to the factory, first go to the finance department to settle all your apprentice wages. Starting today until the first of next month, you’ll receive the salary of a Level 2 technician.”

“Got it!”

After arriving at the factory, Zhao Lihui parted ways with Master Rong and went to the finance department, where he met Sister Fang, who wore glasses.

After settling his payment, Sister Fang mentioned the benefits of being a Level 2 worker: “The monthly salary is 42 yuan, plus you’ll receive one ticket for six jin of oil, one ticket for twelve jin of grain from within the province, one ticket for four jin of meat, and one ticket for one jin of sugar.”