The pockmarked woman was counting the coins in the money bag left by the gangster.
If her mother-in-law hadn't been seriously ill and she was in urgent need of money now, she, a woman, wouldn't have dared to pretend to be brave enough to stop those rogues.
But even she herself didn't expect that those scoundrels would be so unrestrained today and easily succumb to her own fire sticks.
She didn't have any extravagant hopes that those rogues would pay off all their past debts, but she just thought it would be good to get some back.
At this time, the door became dark, and when I looked up, I saw a guest coming.
The woman quickly stood up and greeted him.
Qi Yuan stepped into the store and looked up.
This small shop is not big, and the decoration is relatively simple, with only a few tables and tables on display.
Amid the woman's greetings, Qi Yuan led He Ling'er to sit down at a table by the window.
Although the straw mats on the floor looked a bit old and even patched, they were cleaned very well.
The woman looked at the two guests, an older one and a younger one, and although she felt a little strange in her heart, there were a lot of strange people in the world, and every year there were some rumors circulating among the people.
Besides, there is nothing special about Qi Yuan except that his white eyebrows are more eye-catching and do not match his young-looking face.
"Shopkeeper, what kind of food do you have here?"
Qi Yuan asked.
Although the woman was not good-looking and illiterate, when facing the guests, she did not show any of the strong posture she had holding a fire stick on the street.
"This small shop mainly uses home-ground tofu for cooking. There are braised tofu, fish stewed tofu, spicy tofu, fried egg tofu, as well as tofu soup and wild vegetable dumplings. What do you want?"
Qi Yuan grinned after hearing this.
This is really a tofu shop worthy of the name, with nothing but tofu.
"Forget it, just have a portion of everything."
The woman was stunned for a moment and asked carefully: "It's so much, can you finish it?"
"Haha, no problem, just do it."
Qi Yuan smiled softly. When this woman was in urgent need of money, she actually worried about the guests ordering too much and not being able to finish it.
However, people during this period did not have the habit of wasting food, and they even wanted to break a grain of grain in half to eat it.
The business of the small shop is not very good. Even if there were a few people eating here originally, when they saw the few rogues just now, they would just eat and leave in a hurry, not daring to stay any longer.
So currently they are the only customers in the store.
The woman was quick with her hands and feet. She first made two dishes of fried egg tofu and spicy tofu for them. Then she served tofu soup and wild vegetable dumplings for them to eat first. After waiting for a while, she cooked the braised tofu and fish.
Stewed tofu was also served.
With Qi Yuan's current cooking skills, there is actually no need to taste it. As long as you serve any dish, observe its color and smell its taste, you can almost know how well it is done.
This woman must have been taught her cooking skills, but the seasonings were not complete and the heat was not adequate, so the taste was just average.
The only dish that is pretty good for ordinary people is the fish stewed with tofu.
That's it, mainly because of the fish, which makes this dish delicious.
Yiyi is close to the Weishui River, and the water is rich in fish and shrimp. It is said that you rely on the mountains to eat, and you rely on the water to eat water. There are actually many people in the city who make a living by fishing.
In fact, the fish in this shop were caught by the woman's father-in-law in the Weishui River in his spare time. They keep them in water tanks on weekdays. If any customers want to eat them, they can be slaughtered at any time. Otherwise, with the current situation of their family,
Due to the current situation, I am afraid that I am reluctant to buy fish for cooking.
Although the taste of these dishes is not very good, the tofu is well made, white and delicate, and has a very good taste.
Qi Yuan took a bite of each dish and put down his chopsticks.
When I looked up, I happened to see the little boy not far away, biting his fingers and staring at the plate of fish stewed with tofu on their table. It was obvious that this child had not eaten meat for a long time.
"Store, checkout."
Qi Yuan reached out and took out a bunch of copper coins and put them on the table.
"Sir, you haven't finished eating yet, and these dishes don't cost so much money."
The woman quickly chased him out.
Qi Yuan waved his hand: "No problem, just keep it for you."
He doesn't have much worldly money, and these are all left over from before. They are of no use anyway, so just give him some more.
He Linger pulled his sleeve and followed him out.
She was still young and had Qi Yuanyang in her mouth, so she had no interest in these ordinary foods. Anyway, with her cultivation, she wouldn't be hungry even if she didn't eat for several years.
The woman held the bunch of copper coins and sent Qi Yuan and the others out with a lot of thanks. She watched them enter the guest house and then went back happily.
…………
As the night grew darker, Qi Yuan sat cross-legged on the wooden couch, meditating and regulating his breath.
Although Xiyi is not a big place, it is always a crowded place. It is not a good place for spiritual practice because it is not full of spiritual energy and has mixed spiritual energy.
However, he himself progressed too quickly because he took the elixir of good fortune. In recent years, he has been polishing his foundation to prevent his foundation from being unstable in the future, which would be detrimental to his practice.
So he didn't care much about whether the spiritual energy here was strong or not.
At this moment, he heard a slight sobbing sound coming from not far away.
His senses are now much better than ordinary people, and it is normal for him to be able to hear people talking nearby.
He didn't pay attention at first, but even though the voice was low, he could still tell that it was the woman from the daytime.
Qi Yuan was slightly startled, and suddenly burst into tears.
The reason why the woman cried was because she was under too much pressure.
Last year, her husband was drafted into the army, but a few months later, news came back that he had been killed in action.
This news was no less than a bolt from the blue for her and the family.
The mother-in-law couldn't bear the pain of losing her son, and due to overwork, she suddenly fainted.
Even after being diagnosed and treated by a doctor, he woke up, but he still couldn't afford to be ill. He could only lie in bed and rely on others to take care of him every day. Even after spending all his family's savings, he still didn't get better.
My father-in-law is old and barely managing the few acres of farmland at home, but he is also becoming increasingly exhausted.
The child is still young and can't help much. Most of the time, she has to rely on her alone to support her at home and outside.
Fortunately, the man in her family heard about a sage teaching skills in Xiqi and went there to learn the skills. This left her with several skills so that she could support her family with her cooking skills.
Otherwise, this family would have collapsed long ago.
Recently, her mother-in-law's condition had worsened. Taking advantage of the fact that the shop made some money today, she closed the shop in the evening and invited the doctor over to give her mother-in-law a good diagnosis and treatment.
Finally, the doctor told her that her condition was getting worse and she would need a lot of expensive medicinal materials if she wanted to relieve her condition.
But with their family's current situation, how can they still have so much money to buy medicine?
In fact, even her father-in-law has not been in good health in the past few years. He just doesn't want to burden the family anymore, so he has never seen a doctor or taken any medicine.
Even at such an old age, after finishing the farm work in the fields, he would go fishing in the Weishui River to supplement the family income.
Although there are many fish and shrimps in the Wei River, monsters in the water also breed in the deep water. Every year, some people die underwater.
Her father-in-law is old and his legs and feet are not very agile. If he encounters a monster, it will be difficult to escape.
Although she had tried to persuade her several times, her father-in-law also knew the current situation at home, so he persisted.
Now my mother-in-law's condition has worsened again.
The heavy pressure of life suddenly knocked down the strength she had managed to maintain after losing her husband.
It's just that the woman didn't dare to make too much noise even when she was crying, for fear of alarming the in-laws next door and worrying the old man.
However, the child sleeping next to her was still startled by her.
The little boy rubbed his eyes sleepily and sat up, asking strangely: "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
The woman quickly wiped her tears and comforted her in a hoarse voice: "Mom is fine, I just had a nightmare. Bao'er, go to bed quickly. There are still things to do tomorrow."
"oh."
Even though the seven or eight-year-old child was so easy to coax, he didn't notice anything unusual. After being coaxed by his mother for a few words, he quickly fell asleep.
In the darkness, the woman gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
No matter how hard life is, you still have to live it, even for the sake of your children.