Chapter 16
The restaurant hired another waiter to help today, also a woman.
She greeted Song Yugui, “My name is Shen Cui. I’m also from the countryside. Please look after me.”
Song Yugui nodded slightly and they exchanged names. “Song Yugui.”
“Your name is Song Yugui? It sounds so familiar. Are you from the neighboring Songjia Village?”
Her words made Song Yugui think. Her surname was Shen. Could she be from the same village as the villain?
“Mmm.”
Since there were no customers early in the morning, Shen Cui took the opportunity to chat with Song Yugui while cleaning the restaurant. “Hey, by the way, I heard there’s a lesbian in your village who even married Shen Da’s younger sister from my village. Do you know her?”
Song Yugui’s hand, which was wiping the table, paused.
An embarrassed expression unconsciously appeared on her face. Probably, I think, I’m the only lesbian in the village, right? So she must be talking about me.
Song Yugui nodded with difficulty. “I know her.”
“What’s that woman like? I heard she’s not good to the woman from our village, beating and scolding her every day. And Shen Da doesn’t even do anything about it.”
Shen Cui’s face was filled with obvious contempt.
Song Yugui: …
Although it was true, it was all the original owner’s doing. Today, I will clear my name!
She said without hesitation, “That’s not true. She’s very good to her wife. They only bicker occasionally. She never hits her.”
Shen Cui was stunned, clearly hearing this for the first time.
She was still a little skeptical. “She’s… very good to her wife?”
“But isn’t she a hooligan who loves to harass respectable women?”
Song Yugui continued to salvage her reputation with a straight face. “She’s turned over a new leaf. She’s found a job now and is no longer a hooligan.”
“Oh…”
Shen Cui was half-convinced and went to wipe another table with her rag.
After a while, the owner, Lanxiang, came out from the back kitchen. When Song Yugui saw her, her hand, holding the rag, tightened.
She had decided to ask the owner for an advance on her wages. She had no choice; her family was so poor they couldn’t even afford to eat. But she was actually very embarrassed. She had never been short of money in her life. Even when she was an intern just starting out, she had plenty of money. She had never asked her boss for an advance because she thought it was a rather rude request. Who knew if she would even work for a full month? What if she ran off with the money?
But now, she herself was forced by circumstances to make this request.
Her face turned red.
The owner, Lanxiang, had come to check if the main hall was clean, so as not to delay the customers’ meals. However, just as she was walking past the waiter, the waiter called out to her hesitantly.
“Sister Owner.”
Hearing her call her ‘sister’, the owner couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her fan and laugh. “Little girl, I remember your name is Yugui, right? What is it, little sister? Is there a rule you don’t understand?”
The restaurant naturally had its own rules. She just assumed that this new girl was young and didn’t understand them.
Song Yugui tried her best to suppress her nervousness and said with her head bowed in embarrassment, “No, I understand all the rules of the restaurant. It’s just… I have an impertinent request.”
Lanxiang was surprised. She spoke so formally. Had she studied?
If she had studied, why didn’t she write letters for people? That was a much easier job than being a waiter.
She had no idea that Song Yugui was completely illiterate in the ancient script. She looked at her with curiosity in her eyes.
Her voice was also very gentle. “What request? Tell me.”
Song Yugui took a deep breath and looked up, her expression serious. “Sister, can I get an advance on half a month’s salary? My… my family…”
She scratched the back of her head and pressed her lips together. “My family has no money.”
Lanxiang was stunned. “You mean an advance on half a month’s wages?”
“Ah, yes, yes, wages.”
Lanxiang laughed heartily and waved her fan. “I thought it was something serious. It’s just an advance on half a month’s wages. What’s wrong with that?”
Song Yugui was dumbfounded. When she came to her senses, she quickly thanked her.
Lanxiang lifted her chin. “Alright, go on and get busy. Wipe down the private rooms again in a little while.”
The private rooms were for the wealthy, and the requirements were the strictest.
Song Yugui nodded and immediately threw herself back into her busy work.
It wasn’t until the sky had darkened a little that she left the restaurant with the one hundred and fifty wen she had received as an advance.
The girl from the neighboring village, Shen Cui, was with her.
She insisted that they were going the same way and wanted to go back with her.
Song Yugui couldn’t refuse, so she just let her.
“Hey, where are you going? The way back to the village is this way!”
“Mmm, I know. I’m going to buy something. If you can’t wait, you can go back first.”
Song Yugui said without turning her head.
“Aiya, don’t! I’m a little scared to go home alone. Let’s go back together.”
Shen Cui trotted to catch up and saw Song Yugui stop in front of a pastry shop. She pointed at the pastries.
“Mmm, I’ll have this water chestnut cake. Two pieces, and some cloud-flake cake.”
“Alright, that’ll be eighteen wen. Here you go, miss.”
Shen Cui’s mouth dropped open in surprise. After Song Yugui took the pastries, she quickly went up to her and asked, “How can it be eighteen wen? That’s too expensive, it’s robbery! You’re willing to buy this?”
As she spoke, she stared at the pastries in Song Yugui’s hand and swallowed.
Pastries were a delicacy, something only wealthy families would buy. She had never had them before.
“If you run out of money, you can just earn more. What’s there to be reluctant about?”
She still had an angry villain at home. If she didn’t hurry up and coax her, there might be a funeral at her house tomorrow.
Song Yugui took a deep breath, not daring to bet on the villain’s kindness.
Shen Cui had never heard such a carefree reply, one that treated money like dirt. She was even more shocked, her eyes wide. “You… you don’t have to give your earnings to your parents?”
Her eyes were filled with even more envy. For families like hers, all their earnings had to be given to their parents, who would then decide how much each person could use. How could they spend it so freely?
Song Yugui looked up in surprise. “Why would I give my money to my parents?”
“Uh…”
Shen Cui found it hard to imagine anyone asking such a question. The corners of her mouth twitched helplessly, and she looked crestfallen. “Because your parents gave birth to you and raised you. You owe them.”
“Ah, that’s true. Then it’s fine for you to give it to them. My parents have never asked me for money.”
Her family was well-off, all thanks to her father’s successful butchering business. She had never had to worry about food or clothing. After she grew up, her family even gave her money. She had tried to give back to them, but they had always refused, saying that young people worked hard and should eat well.
“But you don’t have to give them everything, do you? If you give them everything, what will you use?”
Song Yugui frowned.
Shen Cui’s heart was like dead ashes. To think that another person from the countryside could live so comfortably!
“My parents give me some every month.”
“How much?”
“Thirty wen.”
Song Yugui: …
She almost couldn’t hold back a “you’re crazy.”
“Hehe, as long as you’re happy.”
Earning three hundred wen and only getting thirty? If she had to live like that, she would jump into a river immediately.
But it was someone else’s life; she didn’t want to interfere too much.
Shen Cui looked at her resentfully.
She had accepted this kind of life before, if she hadn’t known about Song Yugui’s.
It was getting late. Smoke was rising from the chimneys all over the village. She was hungry after a long day of work. After parting with Shen Cui at the village entrance, she hurried home.
In the courtyard on the small earthen slope, Shen Xizhi was sitting, a piece of clothing on her lap, her head bowed as she mended it, looking quiet and serene.
Song Yugui was a little nervous when she saw her, not knowing if she was still angry after a whole day.
But she hadn’t been wrong. Was she really expected to admit fault?
What had she done wrong? It wasn’t wrong to want the villain to stay away from the male lead.
Just as she was worrying about how to coax her, Shen Xizhi spotted her.
Her eyes instantly lit up. She… she had been waiting for her wife to come back.
She had misunderstood her wife in the morning and had made her unhappy. She needed to apologize properly.
Therefore, before Song Yugui had even stepped into her own courtyard, she heard a soft, alluring voice. “Wife, you’re back.”
Song Yugui: Shocked!
