Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 132 - : 132. Aunt’s method of gilding_1
Chapter 132: 132. Aunt’s method of gilding_1
Downtown.
Aunt Song Hongmei hung up the phone, paced around the room twice, and finally, with gritted teeth, grabbed a bag of locust flowers and went to the residential complex across the street.
Seventh Uncle lived here.
When they were relocating back then, the old couple wanted to live with their son, so they specifically asked for a larger apartment.
But plans couldn’t keep up with changes, and the construction of the house kept getting delayed. By the time it was finished, their son had already settled down on the frontier.
Nowadays, cleaning the spacious house they lived in was a daunting task for the two of them every day.
When Song Hongmei knocked on the door, Seventh Uncle was watering plants on the balcony—
There was no helping it. Although the residential complex was quite new, the layout was still the old style. The balcony wasn’t too big, but to make full use of it, Seventh Uncle had installed an extra railing, with a layer of plastic boxes underneath and a layer of hollowed-out plastic pipes on top. Spring onions, garlic sprouts, lettuce, cabbage… he grew them all in there.
The plants did alright in spring and autumn, but not many could survive the winter.
In the summer, however, the enclosed balcony didn’t ventilate well. Even a tomato plant would end up with red spiders. And they were particularly reluctant to use pesticides on the food they consumed.
During summer, buying vegetables became a constant grumbling affair for Seventh Uncle.
The worst part was, the vegetables they grew on their balcony, due to various issues like lighting and ventilation, didn’t even turn out as good as those sold by the vegetable vendors!
After going back and forth like this over the years, Seventh Uncle himself had lost heart.
But he couldn’t just abandon the habit of gardening, so the balcony was still densely covered with a green layer of leaves.
Seventh Grandma opened the door: “Oh, Hongmei, what brings you here so late at night?”
Song Hongmei smiled and then called out loudly, “Uncle, I brought you a bag of locust flowers. Take a sniff; they’re absolutely delicious!”
Did Seventh Uncle not know her?
At that moment, he snorted coldly, “Hongmei, you must have picked these up conveniently on your way back from the countryside, right? You wouldn’t bring me anything if it meant spending an extra dollar.”
Such words he spoke.
Song Hongmei gave a forced laugh: “Uncle, how can you think of me like that? I’m not that kind of person.”
“Yes, you are.”
Seventh Uncle remembered well: “Last time you came to size up my house, the vegetables you brought looked fresh, but I knew they must have been bargained for; they were just well-trimmed, that’s all.”
That was precisely why he would never agree to Song Hongmei’s proposal for them to take care of the elderly.
They simply couldn’t live the same way!
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Such a tightwad!
He also knew about Song Youde’s family; he didn’t understand how they had raised such a girl, sharp as a tack.
Therefore, he didn’t even look at the bag of locust flowers and strolled back to the rocking chair to sit down: “If you’re here to talk about the last time, then let me tell you— it’s not happening. When you’re willing to bring me abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw, we can talk more slowly.”
Abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw?! Aunt wouldn’t even consider such ingredients! Just hearing about them made her heart ache.
She quickly said, “Uncle, I’m not here for myself today, but for my niece.”
Seventh Uncle’s interest was piqued: “Which niece?”
Aunt hurriedly explained: “It’s my brother’s daughter, Tantan, Song Tan—do you remember her?”
“Ah yes, a girl with both a nose and eyes, very filial, and absolutely decent in character!”
“Then it’s settled.” Seventh Uncle immediately refused: “I don’t want a young lady to provide for my elder care.”
“Why not?” Aunt didn’t take kindly to that: “Isn’t that valuing sons over daughters?”
Seventh Uncle wasn’t offended: “What do you mean by valuing sons over daughters? Just look around, including our downtown area, see if there are any daughters providing elder care?”
“I don’t know what kind of a person your niece is, but with your assurance, she’s mostly likely trustworthy. The problem is if she gets married, her husband’s family might not be happy, could she just divorce for me or something?”
Seventh Uncle was old and had seen a lot in his life, including all types of women.
Many girls, no matter how excellent they are before marriage, become like they’ve had a couple of pounds of bone removed after, just doing whatever their in-laws say.
There are certainly some strong-willed ones, but even after marriage, they can’t avoid being wronged. Why should he meddle in that?
So, looking to save trouble, he initially refused.
“Besides, if I pick your niece and someday I break an arm or a leg, can she carry me on her back or call her man to take care of me?”
Those who are after the house would certainly be willing, but who knows what kind of care they would provide.
When you’re old, there are plenty of ways to be tormented.
Seventh Uncle shook his head: “I can’t take that risk.”
He spoke the truth.
Aunt Song Hongmei also had these doubts before, but then she saw her niece’s capabilities when she returned home.
Take digging bamboo shoots, for instance; a basket must weigh over a hundred pounds, right? Her lovely niece, looking so pretty and fair, could carry one in each hand and stride along effortlessly!
Isn’t that stronger than a man?
Even if Seventh Uncle fell, even if he were paralyzed, she could tuck him under her arm and get him to a hospital!
But this kind of talk isn’t nice to say out loud.
Aunt Song Hongmei then swore earnestly: “Rest assured, if she didn’t have the strength, I wouldn’t have come all this way to tell you!”
“As for what happens after she gets married… Uncle, I’ll be honest with you, it’s not just for the house, but mainly for you as a person. Let me first tell you about her family’s situation—”
Her gift of gab was hard for anyone to match, and it was only because Seventh Uncle was calm inside that he listened calmly to her entire spiel, before pondering for a while:
“Do you mean that her family will take care of me, and I’ll work as a head chef in their home, and also take care of her silly brother?”
“Uncle, listen to how you talk, my nephew is smart and well-behaved. Once you meet him, you’ll definitely be fond of him!”
Aunt Song Hongmei said this with indignant confidence.
Oh man, Seventh Uncle was getting indigestion from this huge pie she was painting.
He shook his head: “No, no, this girl has too much on her plate, I can’t approve.”
Aunt Song Hongmei pushed the basket of locust flowers towards him:
“Whether you approve or not, first look at the quality of the vegetables my niece grows! Their Milk Vetch sold for twenty-one yuan per pound this year, have you ever seen such quality vegetables in the market?”
“Uncle, I’ll be frank with you, with this house of yours, once you put the word out, there’ll be plenty offering their filial piety.”
“But judging a person alone is not enough, you have to look at the pigsty too. You know the character of my brother, and you know what my father and the others are like back home. Our Lao Song’s family is no orphan with few relatives, we have many and definitely won’t be bullied; we’re tough as nails.”
“I can put my words down here today, we absolutely can make you spend your old age in peace.”
“Besides, isn’t this about negotiating to have you come home and be the head chef? That’s a paid position, not asking for free labor.”
“Aren’t you complaining every day that you’re bored here, and worried about inconvenience if you fall ill after going back to your hometown?”
“Isn’t this perfect? You’ll have a job, and my niece has a car. Agreeable or not, tomorrow I’ll bring the kid for you to see, first consider the head chef job, eh!”
“To tell you the truth, with the money my niece can make, whether she takes a fancy to your house is still up in the air.”
Of course, despite Aunt Song Hongmei sounding so bullish, in reality, according to her thought: such a big house, worth hundreds of thousands, why wouldn’t it be desirable!
But Seventh Uncle disagreed, didn’t he?
One must add a bit of gloss to the face, after all.
