ryethenovel Chapter 42: Someone Has Their Eyes on You
Chapter 42: Someone Has Their Eyes on You
Seeing the mail peddler surnamed Sun leave in a hurry, Ge Changli immediately understood what had happened. He felt a pang of regret, regretting that he hadn't listened to Huang Xiaochuan's advice.
Huang Xiaochuan had told him ten days ago that as the tide rises, so does every boat; with more people, prices are bound to go up. But he was too afraid to get involved back then, and now it's probably too late. With costs going up, he's even less willing to follow suit.
At this time, Ge Changli really wanted to see Huang Xiaochuan and ask him something, but unfortunately he was not there. He would have to wait until the start of the new semester to see him. He wondered how much the price of 80 monkeys would rise by then.
Because Ge Changli knew that since the full liberalization of stamp trading, stamp prices had been rising steadily every year, without any significant fluctuations. Sharp increases were common, but sharp drops were rare.
Unwilling to give up, he wandered around the market for a while longer, asking many stamp dealers. They either said they had no stock, or they quoted eighty yuan a piece, take it or leave it. How could Ge Changli accept such an outrageous price? It was clear that they couldn't reach an agreement.
But Ren Gechangli never expected that this was just the beginning, and that the day this mischievous monkey would do somersaults was still thirty years away! In these thirty years, this monkey jumped up and down and the highest price actually rose to more than ten thousand.
Nan Hui, who was always on the lookout, learned of these unusual developments in the market immediately. While she was glad that she had made the right bet, she couldn't help but think of the handsome young man and began to speculate about his background.
It's worth noting that since the Monkey stamp was first issued in 1980, it took a full ten years for the stamp to rise from an eight-fen face value to thirty yuan, while it only took less than two weeks to rise from thirty yuan to forty-two yuan. Such an astonishing increase suggests that there must be a driving force behind this.
Nan Hui thus made a judgment: since the young man had bought so many 80 monkeys, he must sell them at an appropriate time.
There are only two places in the country that are most suitable for selling large quantities of stamps: Yuetan in the north and Lugong in Shanghai. Moreover, according to the young man himself, his family lives next door to Shanghai, so it is very likely that he will return to Lugong to sell his goods.
If I happen to meet this young man again, I must find a way to get to know him, find out what he's up to, and try to win him over to see if we can team up.
"Ah (ˉ▽￣～) Tch~~ Ah (ˉ▽￣～) Tch~~......"
While Huang Xiaochuan was busy making garlic lobster at Yu Wei's house, he suddenly sneezed seven or eight times. Little did he know that this was because two people hundreds of kilometers away in Shanghai were thinking of him. He thought it was the pungent smell of garlic that was making him sneeze.
"Hey, hey, hey, can you be a little more hygienic? Look at how you're sneezing, you'll blow your snot into the pot later, how disgusting!" Yu Min, who was watching Huang Xiaochuan cook the lobsters, didn't care why Huang Xiaochuan was sneezing, but was worried that he would ruin the lobsters in the pot.
Huang Xiaochuan was furious! He came to your house sweating profusely to cook lobsters, and not only did he not get a good review, but you also complained about the cook.
Then, without any politeness, she told him to get rid of her: "Sister Min, are you afraid I'll steal your oil? Or are you afraid I'll steal your rice? Why don't you go outside and play mahjong with them? Why do you insist on squeezing into the kitchen with me? Are you here just to supervise me?"
Yu Min, whose opinion of Huang Xiaochuan had changed somewhat, was completely ruined by his sarcastic rebuke. She rolled her eyes at him, let out a cold snort, and stormed out of the kitchen.
Huang Xiaochuan, holding a spatula, imitated Yu Min's mannerisms, twisting his waist, placing his hands on his hips, and letting out a "humph!"
Yu Wei, who was waiting outside the kitchen for the lobsters to be cooked, saw this and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Yu Min turned around and saw that Huang Xiaochuan was even imitating her. She was so angry that she almost jumped out of her skin. Since there were guests at home, she couldn't argue with Huang Xiaochuan. She turned around and went back to her room to avoid seeing her younger brother and Huang Xiaochuan and getting even angrier.
Seeing Yu Min storm back to her room, Yu Wei gloated and threatened Huang Xiaochuan: "You're finished now. I don't even dare to mess with her, yet you dared to treat her like this. She'll hold a grudge against you now. My second sister is the most petty of all."
Huang Xiaochuan scoffed, "Tch...!" and said indifferently, "So what if she writes it down? What's wrong with your second sister? It's so hot in the kitchen, I can barely breathe, and she still has to squeeze in and join in the fun."
Yu Wei sat leisurely in his chair, swaying back and forth, and said, "She's fine except for being petty. I guess she just wants to see how you cook lobster."
"If you want to learn, just say so. I'll write down the recipe, and you can make it yourself. It's not complicated." After saying that, Huang Xiaochuan turned to look at the lobsters in the pot to check the cooking time.
Yu Wei had already smelled the aroma of minced garlic and was getting impatient: "I've seen you busy for ages, are the lobsters ready yet?"
Huang Xiaochuan scooped some broth from the pot, tasted it, and replied, "What's the rush! Haven't you heard the saying 'Haste makes waste'?"
"The lobsters have been in the pot for about ten minutes, they should be cooked by now, right?" Yu Wei got up and craned his neck to look into the pot from a distance, but he just wouldn't go into the kitchen because he thought it was too hot.
"What do you mean 'well'? Who told you to buy so many lobsters? If I hadn't stopped you today, you would have bought up all the lobsters in the market." Huang Xiaochuan was furious at the mention of this, perhaps because he had been in the sweltering kitchen for too long and his temper had flared up considerably.
Yu Wei, on the contrary, argued: "You can make more if you buy more, what's there to be afraid of? I'm more worried about not having enough to eat."
If Huang Xiaochuan hadn't been tied up with the pot, he would have rushed out of the kitchen and given Yu Wei a good beating with the spatula in his hand.
Yu Wei, being a foodie, wasn't afraid of tiring Huang Xiaochuan out, and insisted on buying more than 20 kilograms of lobsters.
What's even more tragic is that Huang Xiaochuan had already boasted that he could just wait to eat without doing anything, but he ended up being tricked by Yu Wei, that glutton.
Shouldn't this lobster be washed and scrubbed clean? Yu Min just stood by and watched the spectacle without offering any help.
As a result, Huang Xiaochuan spent two hours cooking lobsters, and he was so tired that he couldn't even lift his hands.
Yu Wei was a cunning fellow. He said he would be responsible for peeling the garlic, but he actually made a deal with the vegetable vendor to peel the garlic for him. He then paid a little extra to buy the garlic cloves from the vendor. Perhaps the clean vegetables of later generations originated from this.
Yu Wei's task was complete once he bought the garlic. He picked up a cucumber and started eating, watching the miserable Huang Xiaochuan struggle with the lobster with a shoe brush, without offering to help. If it weren't for his sister's sake, Huang Xiaochuan would have given up long ago.
The parents from both families happened to have a mahjong table together. It was rare for someone to have booked both families' kitchens today, so the four of them had time to play mahjong for a while.
Yu Wei's mother, Zheng Aiying, praised Huang Xiaochuan: "Lijuan, you're so lucky! Not only is your Xiaochuan sensible, but he's even learned to cook. My Yu Wei has been staying at your house lately and doesn't want to come back. He says Xiaochuan's cooking is better than mine."
Zeng Lijuan picked up a card, glanced at it, and threw it back on the table: "Eight of Wan, don't praise him too much. What's the use of being able to cook? How many times can I eat it? In the future, it will just benefit my daughter-in-law."
"Pong!" Zheng Aiying took back the eight of Wan that Zeng Lijuan had played, pushed down her own pair of eight of Wan, put the three cards together, and then played a card.
"Er Tong, Li Juan, your Xiao Chuan doesn't even have a girlfriend yet, and you're already jealous of your daughter-in-law?"
"Why are you jealous? I'm just telling the truth."
"You mothers are just worrying for nothing. No wonder the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law has been difficult since ancient times. You're already being sarcastic before you even have a daughter-in-law. How will you live your life after you actually have one?" Old Huang couldn't help but complain.
Old Yu laughed and said, "That's how it is. My husband is the same way. If we raise a son, we're afraid he'll be snatched away by his wife. If we raise a daughter, we're afraid her in-laws will treat her badly after she gets married. Parents are all like that, they can never stop worrying about their children."
Old Yu's words resonated with Old Huang, who nodded and exclaimed, "That's so true. I now realize I'm a bit of a scoundrel myself."
Zeng Lijuan retorted sarcastically, "Hey, hey, hey, we won't stop you two fathers from being shameless, but Aiying and I are not shameless."
Zheng Aiying peeked through the door towards the kitchen again, and said with some concern, "Will Xiaochuan be able to handle it? Should I go help him?"
Old Huang stopped her, saying, "No need, no need. Comrade Zheng, just focus on your card game. We'll just wait to eat."
"Xiao Chuan has been cooking for our family these days. He's busy enough that we don't need to help him," Zeng Lijuan chimed in.
If Huang Xiaochuan heard this, he would definitely kneel down and ask his mother, "Am I your biological son?"