CH 57

Since Miaomiao insisted on carrying her schoolbag, they first returned to their community to leave her bag in the office of the security guard.

The security guard allowed them to keep Miaomiao’s schoolbag in his office out of consideration for them. Mother Hua thanked him, and Miaomiao, who stood next to her, bowed soberly, “Thank you, uncle.”

Her youthful propriety amused the security guard, so he joked with her, “No need to thank me. It’s just one little favor. Uncle promises that no one will take your homework.”

After all, kids don’t like to do homework.

Miaomiao obviously didn’t understand his sarcasm. She nodded, thinking to herself, ‘Uncle is a nice person.’

Mother Hua stifled her laughter and walked to the supermarket while holding Miaomiao’s hand, “What does Miaomiao want to eat for dinner?”

Mother Hua asked her this same, exact question every day, and Miaomiao often replied that she was free to make whatever she desired. But today, she mused about it with great sobriety and replied, “Meatballs…”

The meatballs were delicious, and one could buy them individually. She eyed a shop outside the school that sold such mouth-watering meatballs for 50 cents each.

Miaomiao mused over this for a while before deciding that she and her friends should also make some meatballs and sell them.

Mother Hua was happy that Miaomiao took the initiative to tell her what she desired to eat.

It was a big improvement since Miaomiao began showing more and more of her expressiveness.

Soon, they reached the supermarket. Mother Hua entered the supermarket with Miaomiao. It was only then that Miaomiao realized that she should’ve brought her schoolbag. If she had brought her schoolbag, then they wouldn’t have to buy a grocery bag.

One bag cost 30 cents, which was more than half the price of a meatball.

Miaomiao remained silent in consideration in spite of this since they had already strolled into the supermarket, and it would cause trouble for her mother if they returned back to fetch her schoolbag. She carved a mental note into her mind to remember to bring her schoolbag here next time.

The first thing Mother Hua did after she pulled out a cart was to go to the meat aisle to pick up some meat for Miaomiao since she wanted to eat meatballs.

Pure lean meat could not be used to make meatballs; instead, Mother Hua selected the 70-80% lean meat, which cost 25 yuan per kilo.

Seeing the rows of meat neatly lined up in front of her caused Miaomiao to gulp with delight.

An employee had already weighed the meat and set its price, which was 36 yuan and 50 cents.

This stunned Miaomiao for a moment when she overheard the employee telling her mother the price. As she suddenly raised her head, she saw her mother picking up some meat…

So less…36 yuan and 50 cents…

I need to sell…meatballs to earn that much money.

Miaomiao still hadn’t recovered from the shock of this price when Mother Hua took her to buy green onions, ginger, garlic, chili, and string beans.

3.20, 5.60 yuan, 9.50 yuan…

Miaomiao’s eyes widened as she heard these prices, “Mom…”

Mother Hua placed the string beans, which she had just been charged for, into the shopping cart. Then, she lowered her head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you have to buy so much?” Miaomiao asked.

Mother Hua replied, “We’ll stuff them all into the meatballs.”

Miaomiao couldn’t comprehend this hefty sum of money.

So much money…

After purchasing more vegetables, Mother Hua proceeded to the billing counter.

Mother Hua noticed that Miaomiao looked lost as they approached the counter. The little girl’s head was lowered, which was completely different from when they had entered the supermarket.

“What’s going on?” Mother Hua asked, carrying the bag, “Did walking around shopping tire you out?”

“Mom, I’ll carry it,” Miaomiao said as she shook her head and went to help carry the shopping bag in Mother Hua’s bag.

After watching them, the aunt at the billing counter couldn’t help but smile and said, “Your daughter is filial.”

Miaomiao, who had just been praised, blushed while lowering her head in embarrassment. With a bag of vegetables in hand, Miaomiao walked quickly, as if she had more strength than she had prior.

Mother Hua chased after her, “Let’s carry it together.”

Mother Hua never discouraged her daughter from helping, but she held the other handle so that they could carry the bag together.

Mother Hua sensed that Miaomiao still appeared somewhat dejected, but she had no clue why. She was unaware that this despondency was due to her shattered dreams.

Miaomiao had this roseate dream that she could simply earn some money by making and selling food, but seeing the price of the meat in the supermarket caused her to succumb to despair…

During dinner, Miaomiao ate the bowl of meatballs slowly to savor their taste. She even drained her soup down to the very last drop. After all, the food was purchased with money.

As soon as Miaomiao finished eating, she video-called Zhou Yuan, Jingjing, and Deng Feng. “We can’t sell food, the meat is too expensive,” she said in frustration.

Zhou Yuan was astonished that Miaomiao still remembered this. Given the child’s forgetfulness, he thought that Miaomiao would’ve forgotten about it by now.

I made the right decision in choosing Little Miaomiao to be my partner. I didn’t make a mistake at first glance.

Zhou Yuan was a person who has studied various money-making methods for a while now, so he comforted her, “Don’t worry. You’re only seven, you’ll think of another way in the future.”

After all, he never knew anyone who became successful at the tender age of seven.

Of course, a reincarnated person wasn’t included in his categorization of what a successful person is.

Although Miaomiao hummed in response, she couldn’t help fret over this matter.

Jingjing then commented, “Pork is expensive. Maybe we should raise pigs. My mother always said that it’s better to raise a pig than me. You could sell pigs during Chinese New Year, but raising me would only force her to spend money.”

Deng Feng asked her, “Raise…raise…where?”

Zhou Yuan: “…” After they had just talked about something more mature and adult-like, they immediately decided to succumb to their childish reveries and caprices again.

Miaomiao froze for a few seconds. In the past, she had seen pigs when she was languishing in the enclosure that the bad people had immured her in. She was afraid of them, but Jingjing’s words inspired her to try and raise pigs. But Miaomiao said, “We can grow vegetables…”

It was impossible to raise pigs, but vegetables could be bought and exchanged for money, and supermarket food was extremely expensive as well.

Miaomiao believed that she could grow the vegetables herself.

Zhou Yuan listened to her. Growing vegetables wasn’t a very convenient method to earn money, but it was still much more reliable than raising pigs.

Father Zhou, who hid behind the corner, couldn’t contain his laughter at this point.

When Zhou Yuan opened his closet door, he found his father sitting on the floor laughing.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

“The stock is going up, so I’m very happy.” Father Zhou explained in an instant.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

Now, Zhou Yuan understood why the majority of successful people started their own businesses. It was because part-time workers were often lied to and exploited.

Since Zhou Yuan didn’t have enough money to open his own account, he was helping his father with trading stocks while collecting commissions.

Father Zhou felt his surroundings turn ice-cold, so he leaned towards the tablet with a calm expression and declared, “Growing vegetables is a marvelous idea. Uncle will buy you the seeds. When you make a lot of money, you have to think of your uncle.”

“I will pay you back, uncle,” Miaomiao responded solemnly.

In fact, she was already thinking about where to acquire the seeds.

In her room, Mother Hua was reviewing the houses that her agency had sent her that met her specifications.

Certainly, Mother Hua wasn’t going to rent a house all the time.

Mother Hua wasn’t very satisfied after viewing a few houses. She realized that there were still no unread messages or missed calls after she left the homepage.

She hasn’t heard from that person for a few days.

Mother Hua sighed.

Mother Hua pressed her temples. She knew that Father Hua’s family hadn’t valued him since he was a child. He hadn’t received enough parental love. When he grew up, he became more and more promising. In fact, she thought that it was the best for their family. She had no problem with him giving his parents so much money. In her heart, she knew that he couldn’t tear himself away from his childhood past. There was also anger involved here, as in, ‘See, you didn’t like me before, but now you have to rely on me.’

She didn’t want to disparage anyone. People only had one life to live. People lived their own lives; no one else could live their life for them.

Mother Hua sighed, and then she realized that there was a problem. All of their deposit money between the two of them belonged to her, and there was only one house between the two of them. Naturally, Father Hua didn’t carry much money on him either.

We still haven’t gone through with the divorce. What does he want to do?

Mother Hua sent him a message after mulling over it for a while, “When will we file for divorce? There are also some problems concerning property, so let’s talk about those.”

Within a few seconds, Father Hua messaged her back, “Wait for a little while.”

Mother Hua assented, then she put down the phone and went back to selecting a house.

From outside, Miaomiao’s voice drifted to her ears, “Mom, can I go out with grandma and great-grandma? I want to go dancing.”