The story of a cook

Chapter 106 What Mom Wants is to Live
The first day of the first lunar month.

This year's first day is the same as last year, the restaurant has no reservations.

Open the store door, go out and put a whip, then go to the kitchen to make breakfast, Sister Zhang and Yanhua should come over in a while.

After the breakfast was prepared and brought to the front, Sister Zhang and Yanhua entered the store.

Today's sister Zhang is different from every day, and she feels a little amazing.After putting on makeup and changing clothes, she looks very energetic and young. She is no longer a 40-year-old housewife, but a 35-year-old very feminine woman.

I said: "Eldest sister is beautiful today, this is not an elder sister, she is a modern girl."

Miss Zhang smiled embarrassedly.

Yanhua said, "Have you seen it, eldest sister tidied up her clothes, she looks so pretty."

I said, "Yes, it should have been like this long ago."

Sister Zhang said shyly, "Does it look good? I'm a little embarrassed. Yanhua dressed me up for half an hour. I didn't dare to go out when I looked in the mirror."

I said, "Isn't that good? If you don't dare to go out, you will be like this in the future. You are energetic. If you are like this, don't say you are 20, even a guy in his [-]s will be tempted."

Sister Zhang said, "Fuck you, besides, I won't dress up."

After breakfast, first call a few familiar friends to pay New Year's greetings.There are not many, that is, the eldest, the fourth, the second brother, Master Huang, Master Chen, and sister Zhao.

Sister Zhao asked me to go to her house when she heard that I didn't go home for the New Year. I said that there were two employees who didn't go back this year, so I didn't go there.

Finally, I called my eldest sister's family and wished my eldest sister's family New Year's greetings.The eldest sister asked me when I would go back?Did you go to Lin Yan's house?I just said it briefly, and told my eldest sister that I would be home on the fifth day of the lunar new year.At that time, I also figured it out, even if Lin Yan's side is yellow, I have to go home to see my mother on the fifth day of the lunar new year.

When I was on the phone, Sister Zhang was chatting with Yanhua, and Sister Zhang started talking and laughing.

Putting down the phone, Sister Zhang asked me, "Tanzi, are you going home on the fifth day?"

I said, "Well, go back on the fifth day of the lunar new year."

Sister Zhang asked, "What if Lin Yan doesn't come?"

I said, "I'll go back if she doesn't come, and go back by myself."

Sister Zhang looked at me and said nothing.

Yanhua said: "If Lin Yan doesn't come, sister will accompany you back home, but don't let your family think that I am your partner, then it will be over."

I said, "What do you think, when you come home with me at this time, she is still a woman, and she is still so beautiful. If I say she is not my partner, do you believe me?"

Yanhua said, "What the hell, it has to be a partner. If you're not a partner, you can't go to your house."

I said, "I won't tell you. I'm off to work. You can talk to my eldest sister here."

When I arrived in the kitchen, I started to prepare the raw materials for the second grade of junior high school.There are a total of ten tables in the second day of junior high school, so it's easy to prepare.After a while, Sister Zhang and Yanhua also came in to help.Aunt Wang also came, and she prepared her dumplings. After her dumplings were ready, she also came to help me prepare them. They were all ready around two o'clock in the afternoon. Aunt Wang said that the old man at home was still waiting for dinner, so she went back. After cooking a few dishes, we ate with Yanhua and Sister Zhang.

After dinner, Sister Zhang and Yanhua said they wanted to go for a walk, and asked me if I wanted to go, I said no, it was meaningless, so the two of them went out for a walk.I was left alone in the restaurant. I had nothing to do, so I started to change the water in the fish tank.It was nearly five o'clock after changing the water in the three groups of fish tanks, when Sister Zhang and Yanhua came back, each holding a string of candied haws.

I asked: "Is there still selling candied haws today?"

Yanhua said: "Why not, there are many people at the gate of Beiling Park, and there are everything for sale."

I said: "Really, this person is also, this New Year's Eve, why don't you stay at home, what do you do, it's really free."

Sister Zhang said: "It's just that you don't want to move. It's such a good day, and I feel open when I go out for a stroll."

I said: "Then you can go out for a walk more, so as not to be bored all day long, and maybe you will find an old man or something when you go out for a walk."

Sister Zhang said, "Go, it's not serious to talk about it."

Yanhua said: "Actually, my eldest sister is quite good-looking. After two days, the barber shop opens and I go to have my hair baked. The gray hair will no longer be visible, and I will look younger."

Sister Zhang asked: "Baked hair is quite expensive, right?"

Yanhua said: "It's not expensive. If you think it's too expensive, you can buy baking ointment, and I'll bake it for you. It's cheap and the effect is quite good, but no one's barber shop bakes it well."

Sister Zhang said: "That's fine, I don't want to look good, just cover the white hair."

I said: "Sister, it's time for you to dress up, too. It's great to look at you like this. You should also be energetic."

The eldest sister said: "That is to say, you said I did it, otherwise I wouldn't have the heart to fix it."

I said, "Okay, you two are tired from shopping, tell me what you want to eat tonight, it's time to cook."

Sister Zhang said, "Don't bother, just cook some dumplings. Yesterday's dumplings filled with three delicacies were delicious."

I said: "Then you can't just eat dumplings."

Sister Zhang said: "Just eat dumplings. Dumplings are vegetables. Look who eats dumplings and still has whole vegetables."

Yanhua said: "Then you have to cook a dish. Just eat dumplings and you won't get tired of it. Mix it with a cold dish, preferably dried tofu."

During dinner at night, Sister Zhang said: "I don't know how long our restaurant can be open, don't open it and it will turn yellow."

I said, "No one can say for sure. How long it takes is up to the boss, and we don't count."

Sister Zhang said: "If we don't open, we have to find a job again, and then we can't be together."

I said, "Isn't that normal? We may work for the rest of our lives, but the boss cannot run a restaurant for the rest of his life. We have to work together. If we are not together, we are not friends."

Sister Zhang said worriedly: "Then if I go to wash dishes in another restaurant, those people are not as good as you, and I won't like to do it."

I said: "Everyone is here, it will be good after a long time, like where you work, everyone is willing to be with you, you are a nice person."

Yanhua said: "Yes, Eldest Sister is such a nice person, she can go anywhere, if anyone can't get along with Eldest Sister, then there are many different people."

Sister Zhang said, "If our restaurant quits, Tanzi, you have to find me a good place, like ours, where no one will bully me."

I said, "Okay, I'll find it for you."

Yanhua over there said, "You found it for the eldest sister, so what about me."

I said, "Don't worry, even if the restaurant turns yellow, the hanging stove cakes won't turn yellow. That's their base, so you can work hard there, it's fine."

Yanhua said, "Then you're all gone, and I don't have any interest in doing it."

I said, "It's all the same. If you look at someone who has worked in one place for a lifetime, he will have to leave sooner or later. I'm used to it."

I'm really used to it, like Yingzi, Wang Jie, Li Yanhua, now I don't know where they are?There is no news at all, and maybe I will never see it in this life.There is also Li Jianhan from Shengmei Hotel. I don’t know where he is now. He asked me Master Chen a year ago. Master Chen said that he hadn’t seen Li Jianhan for half a year. Where is he?There are also Li Haina and Zhou Lan, maybe there will not be many opportunities to meet in the future, or they will never see each other again.

Some people leave a memory in your heart, and then you can't find it for a lifetime.

After eating and tidying up, Sister Zhang and Yanhua went back to the dormitory, I went to the kitchen to check everything, then closed the shop door and went into the private room to watch TV.At that time, there were no entertainment items. Unlike now, there are mobile phones for chatting, trying to watch TV, or playing games, watching Douyin and so on. At that time, there was nothing, just watching TV to pass the time.

When it was almost eight o'clock, I heard someone knocking on the door. I walked out of the private room and walked to the door. Seeing that it was Yanhua, I opened the door.

Yanhua came in and asked me, "What are you doing?"

I said, "What can I do, watch TV."

Yanhua said, "It's not interesting for my eldest sister and I to go back, so I'll come to your place to have a look."

I asked, "Where's Eldest Sister, are you in the dormitory?"

Yanhua said, "Well, she's in the dormitory, she's sleeping, she said she was tired from shopping today."

I asked, "Aren't you tired?"

She said, "It's okay, not too tired."

I said, "You are so energetic, I admire you."

She smiled and said, "Actually, I want to drink some wine. I didn't drink it during the meal just now. I'm hungry for wine. I'm here to ask you for a drink."

I looked at her and asked, "Do you really want to drink?"

She said, "I really want to, otherwise, what are you going to do here?"

I said, "Then you wait, I'll get some food."

I didn't cook anything, just mixed dried tofu and stewed sauerkraut, and then the two of them started drinking.

I said, "I can't drink too much today, I'll have a lot of work tomorrow, ten tables."

Yanhua said: "I don't drink much, I just get hungry, drink less, and I'll go back to sleep after drinking."

I said, "That's good, we'll just have this bottle of wine, and we'll throw it down after drinking it."

While drinking, Yanhua asked me, "Do you know why I don't go home for the New Year?"

I said: "I don't know."

She asked, "Do you want to know?"

I said, "That depends on whether you want to let me know. If you want to, tell me without I asking. If you don't want to, it's no use asking."

She said, "That's true. The main thing is whether you want to know or not."

I looked at her and said, "I don't want to inquire about other people's affairs."

She looked at me and said seriously: "Actually, most of my not going home for the New Year has to do with you."

Sister Zhang told me about this last night, but I didn't take it seriously. Now Yanhua felt uncomfortable when she said it, so she asked, "Really, why?"

She said: "No reason, I just think it would be fine if you don't go home to celebrate the New Year here."

I didn't speak, just took a sip of wine.

"If you don't go back, Sister Zhang won't go back, and I won't go back." She took a sip of wine: "Actually, I plan to go home for the New Year, and I just want to go home. My neighbors—the way they look at me— ——My heart trembles——and during Chinese New Year, like today’s first day of the new year, some people came to my house to pay New Year’s greetings to my dad, and they didn’t know what to say when they saw them. —I really don’t want to go back.”

I said, "Then you will not be able to go back sooner or later, and you will never go back for the rest of your life."

She said: "I don't know either—a big girl gets pregnant before she's married, or follows someone who has a family and a business. I will do all the embarrassing things. I have no face to go back."

Looking at her, her tears started streaming down her face.

That's right, she is also very rare. Before finding a husband's family, she was with a man who had a family and a job, and had a child, and then she was kicked out by the rightful owner.Kill the child yourself.This is a shameful thing in the countryside. Not only is she ashamed, but the whole family can't hold their heads up.There is nothing she can do if she does not go home, and she would not want to go home if it were someone else.Seeing her cry makes her feel so pitiful.Who can blame a woman for something like this?Blame yourself for being young and ignorant?Or blame that irresponsible man?

I really don't know how to persuade her. Although I feel that I can speak well, but I was young at that time, I had not experienced some things, and I didn't have so many persuasive words, so I could only watch her cry.

After a while, she wiped away her tears and said to me, "I'm pretty screwed."

I said, "You are amazing."

She said: "Now I don't blame anyone, I only blame myself, who told me that I am stupid and willing to follow others."

I said: "You can't blame yourself. At that time, I guess you also liked him very much. In fact, you are a woman with a lot of personality. You dare to love and hate. If you like it, you will do it. If it is another woman, you will never dare .”

She smiled, with tears on her face, which made people feel distressed.

She said: "Actually, two years have passed, and I almost forgot about it. I just remembered everything during the Chinese New Year. I felt wronged, so I came to find you for a drink."

I said, "That's right. If you have any grievances, don't hold it in your stomach. Just say it. It's okay. I'm your brother. You can use me as a bucket to vent your anger."

She smiled normally this time, no longer so wronged.

She said: "I'm willing to talk to you, if I have anything to say to you, my heart is open."

I said: "It is necessary, I am your strong backing, come, have a sip, I don't know what to say when I saw you cry just now, my heart hurts a little."

She asked: "Do you feel sorry for me? If Lin Yan knows about this, I won't be able to pick your skin off."

I laughed and had a sip of wine with her.

Putting down the wine glass, she asked me for a cigarette, lit it up and smoked it, and said to me, "Actually, you are quite a nice person. Those waiters said every day when they went back, Brother Tan is very nice, but it's a bit scary to look at."

I asked: "Didn't you say you want to marry me?"

She just laughed and said, "Say hello and you still climb along the pole. Yes, there are several. You want them all."

I said: "If you want to, you should also be an emperor."

She said: "By the way, did you tell your sister-in-law that you want to be the emperor and that I am your wife?"

I said, "I told you, I was joking with my sister-in-law."

She said, "You're always joking, what if people take it seriously?"

I said: "You can pull it off, no one like me can take it seriously, everyone is looking for handsome and rich people."

She said seriously: "Then you don't make such jokes."

I said: "Okay, listen to you, and I will never make such a joke in the future."

She said: "You are with Lin Yan. If you have no relationship with Lin Yan, what if he takes it seriously?"

I said, "Hey, I'll be fine if I don't say no in the future."

She said, "You——Actually, I just had something in the past, and I can't do it with you, otherwise I really want to marry you."

I looked at her carefully and said, "Let's not joke around."

She said: "You think I'm joking with you, I never joke."

At that time, I could more or less feel that she was interested in me, and she liked me.In other words, she is confessing to me now, but I have Lin Yan in my heart. Although Lin Yan's mother directly said that she disagreed with me and Lin Yan, Lin Yan did not say that she would not get along with me. I can't accept other women, this is my true thought at the time.

I took a sip of my wine and said, "It seems that this joke really can't be taken."

She said leisurely: "Actually, I also know that it is impossible for the two of us. I am far behind Lin Yan. At least she is a little girl. I am-I am not a virgin either, but I look better. Who am I with? If you know that I am not a virgin and have had an abortion, no one will want it, even those who are married twice have to consider—"

I said: "What era is it now, who cares about these things, if the two of you hit it off, you won't care."

She said: "I know, you guys are talking about it, but you really care about it in your heart. If the two of you are playing together, it's okay. If it's true, you want to find a little girl when you live together. No one cares about it." Wish to find me like this."

I said: "That's what you think. I don't know what other people think. I don't think so. I think it's fine as long as the two of you hit it off. If you want to divorce like that, you won't want to get married again in this life. I think married Not too many, and they all had a good time.”

She said: They are all looking for divorce. They are divorced. What am I? Pregnant before marriage, or a third party. It is different. Do you know what that woman scolded me?

I didn't know what to say for a while, looking at her, she had a calm face.

I said, "Don't think about that, let's drink."

After taking a sip of wine, I said, "I don't know what to say, but I always feel that people should live for themselves. It's useless to think too much. As my mother always said, if a person is alive, he still has breath. Those who have hands and feet have to do it, and the rest are useless. No one will say anything when life is good, and everyone will say anything if life is bad. People must have heart and lungs. If they have no heart and lungs, they will not be able to live a life .

"Your mother was right," she said.

I told her: "Earlier, my family was poor, and my father was still sick all the year round. Every year, my family didn't have enough food to eat. When it was almost Chinese New Year, my mother wore a pair of single pants, carried a basket on her shoulders, and faced the big Bei Feng, went from village to house to ask for food, and when he came back, he would cook for us and eat for us——Now that I think about it, I can’t even imagine how many eyes my mother got when she was begging Cynicism --- I remember when I was young, my mother and I went to the processing factory to grind corn, and a man from the village in front of my family asked my mother, "I don't want food now? My mother said, no, life is better. At that time, I thought When I beat that person, my mother refused to let me. When I came back, my mother told me that it is not shameful for my mother to ask for food. What my mother wants is to live——
My mother's words are still ringing in my ears.I took a big sip of wine and said: What mom wants is to be alive, to be alive, to be really alive-my mother raised us six siblings one by one, so compared with my mother, you should well, live--
By the time I finished speaking, tears were streaming down my face, and my mother's face was right in front of me——
(End of this chapter)