Qiqige went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to take a look. There was pork, pork ribs, and beef in the fridge, and the vegetables included potatoes, cilantro, chili peppers, and garlic scapes.
Potatoes stewed with chicken, a plate of stir-fried garlic scapes with pork, a plate of beef with cilantro, and braised pork ribs for the ribs. Four dishes seemed a bit few—they needed at least six.
Qiqige took some money and went to the village shop. The shop had fried hairtail fish and roast chicken, so she bought two pounds of hairtail and one roast chicken. Seeing that there were onions and cucumbers, she bought some of those too. There were wood ear mushrooms and peanuts at home, so she could make a cold salad with them.
Besides the roast chicken, hairtail, cucumbers, and onions, Qiqige also bought two cans of canned fruit and some drinks.
When Qiqige came back from the shop, Narisu had already slaughtered the chicken and was plucking the feathers. “Mom, what did you buy?”
Qiqige said, “Hairtail and roast chicken. Isn’t Yingzi fond of roast chicken?”
Narisu said, “She likes the chicken wings.”
Inside the house, Grandma Liu Hongxia called Song Ying into her room and stuffed two thousand yuan into her hands. “You bought all those things—keep the money for yourself in the future. No need to buy things for us. Your grandpa and I have more clothes than we can ever wear.”
Song Ying tried to refuse. “Grandma, I have money.”
Liu Hongxia said, “Even if you have money, take it.” With that, she went out.
Song Ying took it. This wasn’t the first time—every time she came over, her grandma would stuff money into her hands. Her uncle’s family was quite well-off.
They had over a hundred mu of farmland, around forty head of cattle, and also raised seven or eight horses.
After her older cousin and his wife got married, they split off from the family and lived on their own. The house behind her uncle’s place was the new home of her cousin and his wife. When the family divided, they were given fifteen head of cattle and half the land.
However, the cattle and the land were still tended and worked together.
Of the forty head of cattle, five belonged to her grandma and grandpa. When those five cattle gave birth and the calves were sold, the money went to her grandma and grandpa.
Also, her grandpa used to be an elementary school teacher, which meant he had a monthly pension of three thousand yuan. Though it couldn’t compare to big cities, it was already quite good in a rural area.
So those two old folks were pretty well-off—they had money.
Song Ying took the money, otherwise she wouldn’t have.
“Auntie, why don’t I do the cooking?” Song Ying came into the kitchen.
Qiqige laughed when she heard that. “Sure, let’s taste what a five-star hotel chef can make.”
Song Ying said, “Auntie, it’s all about the same.”
The two of them got busy in the kitchen, and her cousin’s wife, Zhao Min, also came in to chat. She hadn’t met Song Ying many times—only once at her wedding.
“Song Ying, I heard from your cousin that you’re back this time and not leaving again?”
Zhao Min was very pretty—big eyes with double eyelids, a high-bridged nose, an oval face, and at five-foot-seven, she was a proper beauty.
Song Ying said, “That’s right. I’m planning to open a restaurant in our village—the kind of big restaurant that hosts banquets.”
“What? You’re going to open a restaurant in the village?” Auntie Qiqige was surprised.
Song Ying said, “Yes, Auntie. I don’t want to work under other people anymore. It’s too troublesome.”
Qiqige said, “That must cost a lot of money.”
Although rural land wasn’t worth much and they’d only need to pay for building and renovation, that still added up to a lot.
At least a hundred thousand.
Song Ying nodded. “Auntie, I’ve saved up some money over the years. It should be enough for me to open the restaurant.”
Zhao Min asked, “How much have you saved?”
Song Ying held up five fingers. Zhao Min guessed tentatively,
“Fifty thousand?”
Auntie Qiqige said, “Five hundred thousand?”
Song Ying said, “About that—a bit over five hundred thousand.”
Upon hearing this, Qiqige was shocked. “Oh my goodness, where did you get so much money? Is it all from your salary?”
Song Ying said, “Part of it is from my salary, and part is money I earned from writing novels.”
Zhao Min was surprised. “You can write novels too?”
Song Ying scratched her head. “I just wrote a few short stories and happened to make some money from them.”
“Sis, you’re amazing!” Zhao Min said with a look of admiration.
Song Ying felt quite guilty, but fortunately Zhao Min didn’t ask where she could read her novels. Song Ying thought to herself that after she got back, she’d need to think about this novel thing and see if she could actually write one.
Actually, Song Ying was very familiar with novels. Why were her grades so poor? First, she didn’t like studying. Second, she was purely addicted to reading novels during her school years, which held her back.
She loved reading them. She’d been reading since elementary school, and by now it had been over ten years.
The money she’d spent on book coins—even if it wasn’t a hundred thousand, it was at least twenty or thirty thousand.
She was familiar with most novels.
Qiqige said, “Yingzi, you’re really something! You write novels in your spare time on top of working, and the best part is you’re making money from it. You’re awesome.”
“You’re way better than your cousin.”
Her daughter spent money lavishly. When she was in college, other people’s living expenses were one to two thousand a month, but her daughter couldn’t even manage with three thousand a month, and she’d still ask her grandparents and older brother and sister-in-law for more.
All told, she spent five thousand a month.
Song Ying said, “Auntie, Saihan is still young. Once she graduates, she’ll know how hard it is to earn money.”
That was the truth. Before graduating, a three-thousand-a-month job—what kind of job was that? You’d need a job paying at least eight to ten thousand a month. But after graduating, you couldn’t even find a job paying three thousand a month.
Song Ying thought to herself that with her terrible grades, if she hadn’t studied cooking and had gone to university instead, after graduating she’d probably only be able to find a job paying three thousand a month.
Or she could try the civil service exam like Wang Yanqing, the village secretary’s son, but she might not even pass it.
Speaking of Wang Yanqing, that guy did have some real skill.
The civil service exam was so hard to pass, yet he’d managed to get in.
As for her, she was only interested in cooking and only wanted to be a chef, so she’d gone to study culinary arts and after graduating, she’d become a chef as she’d wished.
And she was a chef at a five-star hotel.
Although she was very modest when others praised her, compared to her peers in the industry, she did have a little bit of pride inside.
“Yingzi, why didn’t you tell your cousin you were coming? He could have picked you up.”
Uncle Wang Lei had come back from herding the cattle.
Song Ying said, “Oh, that would be too much trouble for my brother—picking me up and seeing me off and all.”
Wang Lei said, “What trouble? It’s no trouble at all.”
“You’re not leaving this time, right? You’re staying in your hometown?”
Song Ying said, “Right, Uncle. I’m planning to open a restaurant in our village.”
“Open a restaurant?”
“Honey, you have no idea how amazing Yingzi is. She’s already saved over five hundred thousand yuan over the years!” Auntie Qiqige quickly chimed in.
Upon hearing this, Wang Lei was shocked. “Over five hundred thousand? Really?”
“Really, Uncle.”
After that, Song Ying repeated what she’d told her cousin’s wife and auntie to her uncle as well.
Wang Lei laughed. “Oh wow, our Yingzi is a great writer!”
That was too much praise for her, and besides, she wasn’t even an author!
Song Ying said, “No, no, Uncle. I haven’t written much at all. I just got lucky.”
Wang Lei waved his hand. “Don’t say that. You must have inherited it from your mother. When your mother was in school, she could write essays like nobody’s business and was always praised by her teachers.”
Speaking of her mother, Wang Lei sighed. “Girl, your uncle is telling you, from now on when you drive, you must be extra careful. Drive slower, don’t be in such a hurry.”
“That’s when accidents happen.”
His younger sister and brother-in-law had passed away in a car accident.
Song Ying said, “I know, Uncle.”
“By the way, Uncle, I’m planning to go into town tomorrow or the day after to buy a car. Why don’t you come with my cousin? I don’t know how to pick one out on my own.”
She needed to buy a car—without one, getting around was too inconvenient.
“Yingzi, you’re buying a car?” her cousin Narisu walked in from outside.
Song Ying replied, “Yeah, I’m planning to get one. Otherwise, it’s too inconvenient to get around.”