NOVPUB
Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Borrowing a Car
It happened to be the time when the students finished their classes, and those queuing to buy bubble tea formed a long line. Si Xiaohui was rushing around serving them. Seeing that Fengying and Yao were still chatting and had no intention of helping out, she was just about to call them over to give her a hand when she saw He Fang approaching. Expecting Fang to come and assist, she was surprised to find Fang walking straight past the stand, not stopping even to say hello, before pushing a cart away.
Watching He Fang get further and further away, Si Xiaohui couldn’t help but yell out, "Hey, Sister Fang, where are you going?"
He Fang stiffened momentarily but continued on her way without responding to Si Xiaohui.
Bemused, Si Xiaohui turned to Tong Yao, who had come to help, and asked, "What were you guys talking about? What’s going on with Sister Fang?"
"Nothing much. Fang won’t be coming to help here anymore. The stuff will be stored at your place in the evening," Tong Yao replied nonchalantly as she continued to serve the bubble tea and collect payment.
She hadn’t actually planned to let go of He Fang, but it had become clear that He Fang was tactless, easily swayed by the words of Aqiang. Keeping such an employee would eventually lead to trouble, so it was better for her to leave.
Regarding He Fang selling bubble tea and becoming her competitor, Tong Yao was not surprised. Bubble tea was easy to make and profitable, so it was an attractive business to anyone. Since He Fang could not get the wages she desired, it was inevitable that she would leave and start her own business. From the looks of it, renting a shop was now an urgent matter.
He Fang was bound to wage a price war once she set up her stall, but Tong Yao had no plans to engage in it; she would pursue other strategies.
To each their own; whatever life He Fang ended up leading in the future was none of her concern.
"What?" Si Xiaohui exclaimed in surprise, "Why didn’t she give any notice?"
How could she quit such a good job? He Fang was being overly willful.
As she poured some fresh milk into the pot, Tong Yao replied in a casual tone, "She wanted a wage increase to a hundred yuan a month, which I didn’t agree to."
"Is she insane!" Si Xiaohui gasped in shock, indignant on Tong Yao’s behalf. "That’s outrageous! A hundred yuan a month? Why doesn’t she just rob a bank instead?"
Factory work barely paid over twenty yuan a month, and He Fang, who enjoyed a 5-2 work schedule and was off work before five every day, had the audacity to ask for a hundred yuan salary. Not even moving a city wall could match her unmitigated audacity.
What a shameless woman! Si Xiaohui wished she had known about He Fang’s outrageous demand so she could have chased after her and given her a piece of her mind. How dare she ask for such a price? It seemed that He Fang, who had appeared so pleasant, had a heart of stone. No wonder she was always being beaten by her husband; Si Xiaohui felt like chasing after her and giving her a beating herself.
Tong Yao smirked at the rare agreement they were sharing. "Funny enough, I had the same thought."
It was fortunate that Si Xiaohui had moved into the rented home. It solved the problem of storage for the merchandise during the night.
"Who does He Fang think she is fooling?" Si Xiaohui fumed as she worked, muttering, "She’s so infuriating. I have never seen someone so shameless before. She didn’t do much, but she has such a high wage demand. Those city folks are so greedy and cunning."
Tong Yao interjected with a soft reminder, "Straying from the topic now, are we? Just talk about Fang. There’s no need to bring all city dwellers into this." After all, she too was a city dweller. A big city one, to be exact.
Si Xiaohui grunted and thought to herself, her expression shifting quickly like the weather in June, she began to flatter, "Sister-in-law, if you’re overwhelmed, why don’t we have mom and my second brother come over to help? They’re not busy at home anyway, and we won’t have to worry about outsiders making outrageous demands if we work as a family."
It was so hard in the country, and it was so comfortable living in the city. Her brother was making money, and it was a good time to bring mom and her second brother over to enjoy the family’s good fortune. Her second brother could even gold plate his vision for the citizens, thus this could improve the marital prospects of the family; maybe he could even find a pretty wife in the city.
The little piece of land they owned back home was toiling with no much money to show for it. There wasn’t much work to do when it wasn’t the farming season anyway; it seemed better for them all to come to the city.
Tong Yao glanced at her, "Stop making silly suggestions."
She may have never done a business before, and might come off as casual and not very savvy, but she wasn’t stupid. She would never think of getting Fengying to help out.
Si Xiaohui and Si Boyi called Tong Yao their sister-in-law. They were obliged to listen to her as their sister-in-law, what more as their boss. Otherwise, she could lay them off at any time.
This was not an attribute Gloria Feng possessed - the relationship between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law is often delicate. At the moment, Fengying was really good to her. But with the generational gap in their thoughts and opinions, disputes would inevitably occur if they spent long periods of time together.
Take consumption habits for example.
Fengying is thrift, whereas she was a big spender. After a while, Fengying would definitely become impatient with her, and their differences would begin to surface.
It is best to not be confronting each other daily for maintaining good in-law relationships. A sporadic visit where they exchanged pleasantries was harmless. But having to tolerate each other daily would eventually lead to an explosion; she would not be silly enough to bring Fengying over.
"Good intentions always go unrewarded," Si Xiaohui grumbled under her breath, deciding not to bring this matter up again.
Without He Fang’s help, dealing with the shortage of water was a necessary issue to address. Tong Yao took advantage of a lull at the stand during class time to speak to the landlord’s aunt, seeking to borrow a cart. The aunt really liked Tong Yao, who was pretty and well-behaved, and pushed a cart out from the yard without a second thought.
"If you don’t mind, you can just call me Aunt Luo in the future. This cart was what my husband used to use to haul coal in the past. We’ve been using a natural gas stove at home now, so the cart’s been lying unused. It’s in the way in the yard. After you use it, just keep it in your yard. That’ll make it easier for you to use next time."
In fact, this cart had been stored in her nephew’s yard, but she had moved it back to her own yard before renting out the place to avoid causing inconvenience to the tenants. Now that Tong Yao needed it, they could conveniently keep it in their yard, freeing up some space in hers.
"Aunt Luo, thank you very much. We might need to use the cart quite often, and it might get damaged over time. So, how about this? I’ll give you an extra two yuan a month as a rental fee."
Aunt Luo was well-off and easygoing. However, borrowing something once or twice wouldn’t be a problem, but it might become one over time. To avoid that, it would have been better for Tong Yao to offer some money up front. This would also show that she was generous.
"No, no need," Aunt Luo said with a smile, waving her hands dismissively. "Use it as much as you want. There’s no need to rent it; it’s just going to rot if it’s left unused."
Although she had not expected the rent, Aunt Luo was quite pleased to see Tong Yao being so considerate. The more she looked at Tong Yao, the more she liked her. She decided to have her nephew meet Tong Yao on his way home from work. Maybe Tong Yao could even become her future niece-in-law.
With her good looks and intelligence and her nephew’s charm and ability, they would make a perfect couple. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Her nephew, being 24 and still single, was notably old to be unmarried. Most kids his age would have already had children. With her brother gone, she, as the aunt, felt the need to worry more about her nephew.
