A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 63

“Sister Sisi, thank you for thinking of me, but… I’m worried I’ll mess things up!”

Li Wenhui felt an itch of interest in her heart, but her mind was flooded with doubts. Her lack of confidence stemmed from her childhood; her parents had always scolded her, saying she was useless at everything except eating. She wasn’t as nimble as others at farm work, and though she studied hard, she hadn’t even made it into high school.

Later, as soon as she turned eighteen, a matchmaker introduced her to Cheng Yong from the same village. It was a case of love at first sight. They hit it off immediately, she married him as a matter of course, and followed the army to Jiangcheng.

Shen Sisi grew anxious. “How do you know you’ll mess up if you haven’t even tried?”

“I’m just that kind of person. Since I was little, I’ve been bad at everything. I haven’t accomplished a single thing in my life, and I have a particularly greedy mouth!” In her hometown’s dialect, she was the typical “fond of eating but lazy to work” type.

Shen Sisi picked up a perfectly uniform dumpling skin and looked at the cured meats, sausages, dried sweet potatoes, and dried radishes hanging by the door. How is this being bad at everything? This is incredibly skilled!

“Sister Wenhui, why are you telling lies with your eyes wide open? Everything in this courtyard was made by your clever hands. Even a chef at a state-run restaurant wouldn’t have your level of craftsmanship!”

“Really? You’re not lying to me?”

Shen Sisi nodded solemnly. “Of course not…”

The dimness in Li Wenhui’s eyes was instantly replaced by a shimmering light. Aside from her husband, no one had ever praised her like this. Perhaps she really could do it.

Right now, her household was struggling to make ends meet, and money was needed everywhere. If she could find a job with flexible hours, she would do it for 5 yuan a month, let alone 10.

“Alright then, I’ll take you up on that. Thank you…” Li Wenhui’s smile was so wide it almost reached the sky. She visibly became more bright and confident. Since Sister Sisi trusted her, she determined to learn well and harvest the herbs properly.

Shen Sisi was also delighted. They agreed to meet tomorrow morning at the back mountain so she could teach Wenhui how to identify the medicinal herbs.

Shen Sisi still had things to attend to and couldn’t stay to chat. Seeing her in such a rush while carrying a child, Li Wenhui thought it looked quite exhausting. She suggested that Sisi leave the child there so she could boil some meat dumplings for her.

Shen Sisi hesitated for a moment. Seeing Niuniu’s tiny eyes practically glued to the dumpling filling, she asked softly, “Niuniu, would you like to stay at Auntie’s house?”

Niuniu nodded blankly and gave a small hum. “Mm!”

“You little glutton…” Shen Sisi reached out and scratched the little girl’s nose. “The moment there’s good food, you don’t even want your mother anymore.”

“I do want you…” Sensing her mother’s mock disappointment, Niuniu cupped Sisi’s face with both hands and leaned in to give her a sweet-smelling kiss.

Shen Sisi’s heart practically melted. The little thing wasn’t very old, but she certainly knew how to coax people.

Seeing how close the mother and daughter were, a look of envy flickered in Li Wenhui’s eyes. If her own child were still alive, he would be about two or three years old now. He surely would have been as adorable as Niuniu, hugging her neck every day and calling her “Mommy, Mommy…”

“Sister Sisi, don’t worry. I can take good care of Niuniu. I’ll cook the dumplings for her in a bit.”

Shen Sisi’s next stop was the docks, and bringing a child along was indeed inconvenient. “Alright then, I’ll leave her in your care. I’ll try my best to be back before noon.”

“No problem… if you’re busy in the future, just leave Niuniu with me. I’m just idling around alone anyway. Having a child here makes me happy.”

Shen Sisi noticed that the way Wenhui looked at Niuniu was different—it was a genuine, heartfelt affection—so she didn’t refuse further. “Alright, thank you for the trouble.”

Leaving Li Wenhui’s home, Shen Sisi hurried to the docks to find Wang Xiaodao.

For over a hundred bottles of medicinal oil, the amount of base oil required was not small. Buying it through official channels would not only be impossible due to a lack of oil coupons, but it would also drive up her costs. Including the two employees she had hired today, her base salary expenses alone were 20 yuan; she had to keep a tight grip on her production costs.

Soon, she spotted Wang Xiaodao. He was just like before, strutting around with his potbelly like a turtle on two legs, shouting orders at his subordinates.

“Brother Dao!” Shen Sisi called out as she stepped forward confidently. Her appearance immediately caused quite a stir among the dockworkers.

“What a beautiful young lady…” “Never seen her before…” “So fair and clean—what’s she doing at our docks looking for Brother Dao?”

The men stopped working and just stood there staring at the beauty. Unfazed by their gazes, Shen Sisi walked straight up to Wang Xiaodao.

She looked stunning when she smiled—ruby lips and pearly teeth, her face like a blossoming peach. It was a sight that made Wang Xiaodao’s heart race. He quickly adjusted his clothes and unconsciously softened his tone. “Big Sister, it’s you…”

Shen Sisi stopped about three or four paces away from him, maintaining a polite social distance. “Brother Dao, that oil from last time was very good. I wanted to ask where that small workshop is located…”

“You’ve used up that much oil already?” Wang Xiaodao asked in surprise.

“I have!” Shen Sisi didn’t intend to waste words. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and handed them to him. “Brother Dao, please do me this favor.”

Wang Xiaodao felt the square cigarette box in his hand. This girl really knows how to play the game, he thought. He weighed the box in his palm, his expression turning difficult. “Well… it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but that little workshop is preparing to transfer ownership. The boss is quitting.”

“What?” Shen Sisi’s heart tightened. “Weren’t they just giving you soybean oil to promote last time? Why are they quitting?”

“An old couple runs that workshop. They have two children who both have official ‘iron rice bowl’ jobs. They don’t want their parents doing this individual private business—they think it’s embarrassing. A few days ago, the old man took a fall and broke his hand. The children took the opportunity to convince them to stop.”

Shen Sisi sighed inwardly. What a shame. A perfectly good workshop, closing just like that.

She then asked Wang Xiaodao about other oil-pressing factories or workshops in Jiangcheng. Having accepted her cigarettes, Wang Xiaodao naturally told her everything he knew.

Shen Sisi followed the addresses he gave her, but found them all unsatisfactory. Either the price was too high, or the quality was poor and didn’t meet her standards. The half-bucket of soybean oil Wang Xiaodao had given her before was still the best.

After thinking it over, she paced back to Wang Xiaodao at the docks. “Brother Dao, just give me the address of that family. I’ll go take a look.”

Seeing her return with a face full of worry, Wang Xiaodao knew she hadn’t liked any of the other places. He took out a pen and wrote down an address: Cotton Lane, No. 16, the Zhang Family.

Shen Sisi immediately treated Wang Xiaodao to a bottle of warm soy milk, opening one for herself as she sat by the docks. After finishing the soy milk, her cold hands and feet finally warmed up. Filled with renewed energy, she headed toward Cotton Lane.

Outside No. 16 Cotton Lane hung a cloth sign that read: Zhang Family Oil Mill. Next to it was a white piece of paper confirming the mill was for transfer.

Shen Sisi’s gaze deepened. She knocked on the wooden door. “Excuse me, is anyone home?”

A weary, aged voice came from the inner room. “The door’s not locked… come in!”

Shen Sisi pushed open the wooden door. As soon as she stepped inside, she could smell the fresh fragrance of oil.

“Young lady, are you here to buy oil? we’re closing down. There’s no oil left. Go ask elsewhere!”

Shen Sisi followed the voice and saw an old man sitting on a reclining chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun. His hand was bound with several bamboo splints.

“Elder, you are…