Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 322

“This has happened time and time again. Why bother renting a shop at all? Why not just not put up any 'for rent' sign on the shop at the intersection of No. 6 Street in the first place? I think Aunt Zhang doesn’t even want to sublet the shop. She’s just leaving it there to mess with us! We’ve been waiting for so long, from noon until now, several hours. We even came yesterday, but we couldn’t even get in the door. Auntie, I think we should just leave. We can’t stand this.”

Xiangzi said indignantly, still angry at Zhang Da Niang's attitude earlier.

Zhao Da'e shook his head and pressed Xiangzi's hand, telling him to stop talking. "Xiangzi, we're asking for their help this time. If they don't want to serve us, that's their business. We just need to show our attitude. If it doesn't work out after two attempts, we'll try a third or fourth. Eventually, we'll be able to meet and reach an agreement. Once we do, renting this shop will be beneficial for our future development."

Xiangzi couldn't understand Zhao Da'e's decision at all. The only advantages of this shop were that the rent was lower than other shops and the location was better. After thinking about it, there were no other advantages. Moreover, Zhao Da'e was not short of money now. Xiangzi didn't understand why Zhao Da'e had to suffer like this. He had money and still had to endure it for so long. Why didn't he just be more generous and rent another shop?

"Who knows when Aunt Zhang will come out? The weather is so cold now, and there are hardly any people outside. Everyone is staying at home and not coming out."

Xiangzi complained, but Cai Xiaofeng shook her head helplessly. "Alright, Xiangzi, stop talking. The boss must have her reasons for doing this. What we should do is support her. If you find it troublesome to stand here and feel the cold wind, just go back to the car. It's warm there. We won't let you suffer with us."

Cai Xiaofeng was clearly a little angry when she said this. She had been standing there with Zhao Tiesheng for so long without saying anything, but Xiangzi had only been standing there for a while and was already getting impatient. Although she somewhat agreed with what Xiangzi said, they were still standing outside Aunt Zhang's door. If Aunt Zhang heard their conversation, she probably wouldn't even want to see them, and they would have waited for nothing.

Xiangzi blushed at Cai Xiaofeng's words and quickly explained, "Xiaofeng, that's not what I meant. You're still standing here, how could I go back to the car first? If you want to leave, we'll leave together. If you want to stay here, I'll stay here with you."

As he spoke, Xiangzi stood next to Cai Xiaofeng, tugged at her sleeve, and stopped complaining, afraid that Xiaofeng would ignore him if she got angry.

Zhao Da'e smiled helplessly as he watched the interaction between the two. He hadn't expected Xiangzi to be so afraid of making Xiaofeng angry, and to be so clingy to her. No wonder the two of them ended up together. Xiangzi cared so much about Xiaofeng, it was hard for them not to be together.

The three of them continued to wait outside, and almost another hour passed. Zhao Da'e's hands were red and swollen from the cold.

Even though Xiangzi was a grown man, he was shivering from the cold. Seeing how uncomfortable the two of them were, Cai Xiaofeng said, "Boss, Xiangzi, why don't you go back to the car and rest to warm up? I'll wait here for a while. I don't think Aunt Zhang will be out anytime soon, so why don't you two get some rest?"

Zhao Da'e was also freezing cold. Her body was only about seven years old, so she wasn't as resistant to the cold as an adult, and she didn't have much flesh on her body. If we were to say who was the coldest among these people, it would definitely be Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e felt somewhat ashamed. It was her fault for waiting like this, which resulted in Xiangzi and Xiaofeng suffering while waiting for her, especially Xiaofeng, who had waited with her for almost three hours. Moreover, she had come yesterday and was even more exhausted than herself.

Zhao Da'e wanted to wait a little longer, but she still had employees, and she didn't want them to suffer because of her.

“Xiaofeng, Xiangzi, you two get in the car and rest for a bit. I’ll wait here for half an hour. If Aunt Zhang hasn’t come out after half an hour, then I’ll stop waiting and go back to the village. After all, it’ll take more than an hour to get back, and it’ll be getting dark soon. You’ve both suffered with me today, waiting for Aunt Zhang in this cold weather. What if you catch a cold? I’ll give you a red envelope later to make up for it. You can buy yourselves some good food and drink some ginger soup to warm yourselves up.”

Having waited for almost three hours, Zhao Da'e still didn't want to give up. She thought that if Aunt Zhang didn't come out, she would knock on the door. Although this might annoy Aunt Zhang, she thought that she had waited for more than three hours and had shown her sincerity. No matter what, Aunt Zhang would let her in to have a proper talk about the shop.

Hearing Zhao Da'e's words of concern for them, and his promise to give them red envelopes, Cai Xiaofeng had no complaints all afternoon, only gratitude. She felt she had a good boss; her hard work hadn't been in vain, and Zhao Da'e had seen it all and was even thinking of compensating her.

Xiangzi, however, didn't think too much about it. He rubbed his hands together to warm them, as he was already feeling quite cold. "Alright then, little aunt, I'll go sit in the car for a while. I don't think Aunt Zhang will come out in half an hour. Little aunt, don't be so persistent. Giving up is fine too. We can always find another shop. I don't believe we can't find a better shop than this one at the intersection of No. 6 Street."

After saying that, Xiangzi wanted to slip into the car. The car was enclosed and relatively warm. Anyway, he didn't want to stay cold any longer. He had been busy all day and was tired and sleepy. He couldn't stand being outside in the cold for almost an hour.

But before Xiangzi could take more than a few steps, Cai Xiaofeng grabbed him by the neck and said with a smile, "Where are you going?"

Upon hearing these words, Xiangzi broke out in a cold sweat and subconsciously said, "I...I'll go back to the car and rest. Xiaofeng...are you coming with me?"

For some reason, Xiangzi felt something was wrong after saying those words.

Sure enough, an even stronger pain immediately came from beside his ear. Xiangzi turned his head to the side, crying out, "Xiaofeng, be gentle, be gentle, don't pull my ear, it hurts!"

Cai Xiaofeng tugged at Xiangzi's ear and said, "I heard you're going back to the rickshaw to rest, leaving the two of us here waiting, huh?"

Cai Xiaofeng's last sentence carried a threatening tone. If it were Cai Xiaofeng a little over a month ago, she probably wouldn't have spoken to Xiangzi like that. But the two had been together for two months, and Xiangzi had even helped her take care of her elderly mother and worked together. The two were already quite familiar with each other, and Cai Xiaofeng was no longer as polite to Xiangzi as before.

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant. How could I leave two people behind to enjoy myself alone? If we're going to leave, let's leave together. It's only half an hour. I can wait a little longer." Xiangzi quickly explained, afraid that Cai Xiaofeng would really get angry and then ignore him.

Cai Xiaofeng nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this and released her grip on Xiangzi's ear.

Zhao Da'e looked at the two of them with great helplessness, but also felt increasingly guilty, as they were so cold because of him.

Xiangzi was right about one thing: it's so cold outside, and hardly anyone is out now. We won't see anything if we keep waiting, so we might as well go back to the countryside and have a hot bowl of soup.

Thinking of this, Zhao Da'e said, "Why don't you go first? You can warm up in the car. It's freezing outside. Don't worry, I'll come with you in a bit."

Cai Xiaofeng looked worried. "Boss, you let us go first, what about you? Why don't we wait for you here for a while, it's better if we all go together?"

Zhao Da'e nodded in agreement, agreeing with Xiao Feng's point. They should all leave together; if he went alone to knock on the door, Aunt Zhang might think he was playing a prank, which would be difficult to explain. It would be better to have more people. "Okay, you're right. We've waited here for so long; we can't just go back empty-handed. We should at least see Aunt Zhang one more time, whether the outcome is good or bad. I'll accept it, after all, we've done our best. I'll go knock on the door now and ask Aunt Zhang about the shop."

After saying that, Zhao Da'e sneezed several times. She was shivering from the cold, so she tightened her clothes to make them as airtight as possible to keep warm. She also kicked her legs, since standing for a long time would make them numb.

Having done all that, Zhao Da'e was about to knock on the door when suddenly an old man entered his field of vision, causing Zhao Da'e to freeze for a moment.

There was no other reason than that the old woman in front of him was probably around sixty years old, with a fluffy afro, black hair mixed with white hair, broad shoulders and a thick cotton coat, carrying a carrying pole, with eggs in bamboo baskets at both ends of the pole. The eggs were placed in egg cartons so they wouldn't break easily. Zhao Da'e estimated that there were more than a hundred eggs in the two baskets.

The old woman, carrying a shoulder pole, stopped at Aunt Zhang's house. She noticed Zhao Da'e and the others standing nearby, shivering from the cold. Zhao Da'e's little face and hands were especially red from the cold, and the old woman felt sorry for them. She came over and asked, "Little boy, why are you standing here wearing so little? Look how red you are from the cold. It's so cold today, why don't you go home?"

Looking at the old woman's fluffy, frizzy hair, and then remembering that Aunt Zhang also had a similar hairstyle, Zhao Da'e almost instantly realized something. He looked up and took another deep look at the old woman in front of him. Could this old woman and Aunt Zhang be mother and daughter? They look so alike!

The thought of this possibility made Zhao Da'e realize that her opportunity had arrived.

Zhao Da'e looked disappointed and stretched out her fingers, which were red from the cold, and said, "It's okay, Grandma. I've been waiting here for three hours. I can keep waiting. I can handle this cold."

Xiangzi was taken aback by Zhao Da'e's words. He was a little confused by what Zhao Da'e had said. Why did Zhao Da'e's tone seem different from when she had spoken to him earlier? When she spoke to him, her tone was normal but with a hint of helplessness. But when she spoke to this old woman, Xiangzi always felt a bit awkward...

Whether it was Xiangzi's imagination or not, he always felt that the way the little aunt and the old woman in front of him spoke was indeed a bit awkward!

When the old woman heard Zhao Da'e say this, she was shocked. She said incredulously, "Young man, what did you say? You've been waiting here for three hours? It's so cold outside, how could you wait like that?"

The old woman felt a pang of heartache when she saw Zhao Da'e's hands, which were red from the cold. Zhao Da'e was wearing a cute red cotton coat and had two little pigtails tied around his neck. The elderly woman couldn't help but feel affection for such an adorable child.

Especially when she saw Zhao Da'e's hands, which were red from the cold, Aunt Zhang felt even more sorry for him. Look at this little child, how could such a thin body withstand such cold weather? And now the wind is blowing, and the wind and snow are stinging his face. Even she, a sixty-year-old woman, can't stand it, let alone a child.

Zhao Da'e shook her head with a wry smile, "I'm fine, Grandma. I won't go home until Aunt Zhang comes out. It's not dark yet, I can wait for several more hours."

Hearing this, Xiangzi's eyes widened instantly. He looked at Zhao Da'e in disbelief. His little aunt had said she would go back now, so why did it turn into waiting for several more hours? He didn't want to wait that long. Even if Xiao Feng was angry this time, he wouldn't stay. He would just go to the car to rest.

There was no other reason than that he had spent several hours delivering water buckets and driving for so long, and now he was standing here in the cold wind, which was really unbearable for him. He was so tired that he could doze off, and it was unbearably cold outside.

Hearing Zhao Da'e's reasoning, the old woman asked in confusion, "Little boy, why are you waiting here for Aunt Zhang? You could have just knocked on the door. Why are you standing here in the cold wind for hours?"

As soon as the old woman finished speaking, Cai Xiaofeng couldn't help but complain to her, "Grandma, you don't know, we've been looking for Aunt Zhang so many times, but every time she turns us away. We came here because we saw the shop for rent at the intersection of No. 6 Street. I came yesterday, but I didn't check the time properly and disturbed Aunt Zhang's afternoon nap, so she wouldn't see me. I accept that I was unlucky. But today I came early on purpose, and I disturbed Aunt Zhang's lunch. Aunt Zhang was unhappy and opened the door and scolded us. We accept that we were unlucky, and we'll just keep waiting here."

"Thinking we shouldn't bother Aunt Zhang anymore, we figured we'd wait until she was free and opened the door herself so she could see us. So we waited here for three hours straight. Finally, Aunt Zhang came out on her own, and we thought she must be in a better mood now and would invite us in to talk about the shop."