"Put that down! If you eat Yixiang's bun, she's going to throw a tantrum! Who are you going to tell to go without then?" When the meat bun landed in Gu Jinhua's mouth, her mother-in-law's heart ached so much she could barely breathe. She couldn't bring herself to admit that the extra one she bought wasn't for her, but for her grandson to have another. Seeing Gu Jinhua still unsatisfied, she was filled with rage and shrieked at her to stop.
Liu Cong pouted, his eyes glued to the meat bun in his mom's mouth, feeling both regretful and wronged. It was all his fault for not listening to his grandma and telling his mom about the special treat. Now look what happened. His grandma had promised he could have two, but that was out the window now...
Gu Jinhua sheepishly put one back. "Why didn't you buy a few more?"
"A few more?" Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law's expression grew even sterner. "How easy for you to say that! You earn just a few peanuts a month, and you don't even hand it all over—you have to keep fifteen yuan for yourself. Do you think it's easy for me to run this house? Every single thing this family needs to eat and live costs money!"
"Don't I have to pay for a meal at the canteen?" Gu Jinhua said dismissively. "Mom, it's not as hard as you make it out to be. If you really think running the house is so difficult, why don't you just let me do it."
"Don't even think about it. I'm not dead yet. You, run the house? I know exactly how you'd empty this place out to subsidize your own family!"
"How could I do that? If you don't want to, then forget it." Gu Jinhua seethed inwardly, knowing there was no point in continuing this topic. She turned to leave.
"Wait. You're already out, a little longer won't make a difference. Help me carry these vegetables back home first, you're not in that much of a rush to get back to work. This is killing me." Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law stopped her, putting down the cabbage. She decided to carry the basket herself, lest her daughter-in-law peek inside and start coveting its contents.
Today, she had seen a farmer selling cabbage for a cent cheaper than usual and couldn't resist buying a few extra heads. Her arms were incredibly sore from carrying them all this way. It would be foolish not to use the free labor right in front of her.
"No way. I've been out long enough. He Xiulin is covering for me and she must be getting anxious. She has to hurry back to cook for her big family." Gu Jinhua wasn't stupid—that cabbage looked incredibly heavy, and it wasn't like she had strength to spare—
As she spoke, she made her escape, running faster than a rabbit.
"You're lazy enough to drop dead! I've never seen a daughter-in-law like you. And who doesn't know that He Xiulin is cut from the same cloth? She's just as lazy and greedy at home, dumping everything on her own mother-in-law. What meal is *she* in such a hurry to cook?" With her grandson there, Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law held back from being too vulgar, but watching Gu Jinhua run off, her anger still flared and refused to die down.
"Grandma, I told you I'd help you with that, but you wouldn't let me. Here, let me take it." Liu Cong reached out.
"I don't need you to. Just the thought is enough to make Grandma happy. Grandma can manage on her own, really, it's not tiring." Seeing her grandson reach out, Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law quickly snatched up the net bag of cabbage herself, her face full of doting love for him.
Liu Cong casually withdrew his hand. He knew it would be like this; he was used to it.
On the way, Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law kept nagging her grandson as they walked. "You know, when your mom asked, you shouldn't have said anything. Why did you have to open the lunchbox and hand it to her? If you hadn't, you could've had two big meat buns all to yourself! I would've saved one for you when we got home. Then you could have had it this afternoon when you got hungry. Wouldn't that have been much better?"
Liu Cong hung his head, his face filled with regret, and said nothing.
"Don't do that again."
"Mmm."
Seeing her grandson's remorseful look, Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law was satisfied. Her heart softened, and she began to comfort him instead. "Alright, it's not too late as long as you remember today's lesson. In the future, when you have something good to eat, finish it yourself and remember not to show it off. When we get back, I'll still save a meat bun for you. We'll just say there were only four left. Grandma doesn't really like them, so I'll just split one with your sister. Half a bun each is enough for us."
Liu Cong's face lit up with joy, and he looked up at his grandma, his eyes shining brightly. "Really? Grandma, I can still eat two?"
"You could have had three." Gu Jinhua's mother-in-law smiled, shook her head, and gave him a look of exasperated affection. If her hands weren't so full, she would have poked him on the forehead.
"Sigh." Liu Cong rubbed his head, agreeing with his grandmother and feeling secretly annoyed with himself for not listening to her earlier. 'Grandma really is the one who loves me most,' he thought. 'She always saves the best food for me, even if she has to go without.'
'On the other hand, Mom doesn't love me as much as she claims. It's all an act. When there's something good to eat, she only thinks about herself. She even picks the best part and gobbles it down, and after she's finished, she still tries to get more. It's just as Grandma says: she's "the kind of person who only thinks about herself, with no regard for her husband or son."'
Thinking about how his mom had basically snatched the food right out of his mouth today, Liu Cong grew even more resentful.
"That's He Ji's meat buns."
As Zhang Minzhen walked along, holding Gu Nuan Nuan's hand, she suddenly caught an enticing aroma. Looking up, she saw a bun shop just ahead. The plaque above the door read 'He Ji'.
She'd heard her coworkers at the co-op mention He Ji's buns many times. Everyone said they were legendary for their thin wrappers, generous meat filling, and incredible fragrance. Unfortunately, a great reputation also meant a high price. She had been meaning to bring Nuannuan here for a taste someday but had never gotten around to it.
"Nuannuan, are you hungry? Mom will buy you a big meat bun." Happening to pass by today, and with money in her pocket, Zhang Minzhen felt a surge of confidence.
"Okay! Mom, how about we buy a lot and bring two each for Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle and Auntie, and all our cousins?" Gu Nuan Nuan glanced at the "He Ji" sign. 'I remember this place,' she thought. 'It's a legendary meat bun shop. Even decades later, people will still miss this original flavor. It's a pity that its future owners, seeing its fame and the skyrocketing price of pork, will make a foolish decision. They'll start using inferior ingredients to cut costs, completely destroying the brand their ancestors worked so hard to build.'
"That many?" Zhang Minzhen was startled. She did a quick mental calculation. 'My parents, my brother and his family… that's thirteen people. Add the two of us, and that's fifteen. Two buns each… we'd need to buy thirty buns! At thirty cents a bun, that's nine whole yuan!'
She immediately shook her head. "That's too many, how would we even carry them all? Besides, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to show up with so much food today. It's too conspicuous. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of other chances in the future—"