Chapter 9: Buying an Ex-wife as a Housekeeper

  After eating in the cafeteria, I returned to the Bai family's rental house, and it was already pitch black outside, almost eight o'clock.

  In the Bai family's living room, there was an old-fashioned light bulb hanging from a cloth electric wire, probably only 15 watts, with extremely dim lighting.

  Under the dim light, Bai Xiaofeng's slender body sat on a small stool, in front of her was a large winnowing basket, and beside her were piled up mountains of yellow corn cobs.

  Bai Xiaofeng was skillfully rubbing the corn kernels, picked up the corn stalk, and with a twist of the awl, a row of corn kernels fell into the winnower. Then, she quickly rubbed the corn stalk with her small hands, and the golden corn kernels clattered into the winnower. Soon, Bai Xiaofeng was left with only a bare corncob in her hand, which she then threw aside and picked up another new corn stalk from beside her, starting to repeat the same work.

  Lu Zhong stood behind her for a while before she noticed, until Lu Zhong coughed and Bai Xiaoxue turned around in surprise, "Ah", got up lightly: "Zhongzi brother, you're back, have you eaten? I'll cook some porridge for you?"

  Looking at Bai Xiaofeng's small hands, which were red from rubbing corn, Lu Zhong was stunned for a moment. Then, he gently shook his head and said: "Have you eaten? You, have you eaten?"

  "Ah, I've finished eating!" Bai Xiaoxue smiled shyly, her beautiful small face revealing a happy expression: "Today my dad cooked an egg for me."

  Lu Zhong smiled: "You're really easy to satisfy."

  Bai Xiaofeng's beautiful big eyes blinked, obviously, she didn't understand what Lu Zhong was saying.

  Lu Zhong coughed and asked, "Where's your dad?"

  "He Da Cheng and the others have gone to play Pai Gow!" Bai Xiaoxue replied naturally.

  Lu Zhong furrowed his brow, suddenly getting a bit angry. No matter what, this was still his ex-wife, and he had already wronged her to the point of almost becoming a farmer's wife. But this Bai Erqiang was really not a good person! Who would make a little girl under 15 years old do farm work every day while he went out to eat, drink, and gamble?

  Bai Xiaofeng sat down again, thinking of husking corn. Lu Zhong kicked the winnower to one side with one foot: "Stop it! Is this your job?!" For some reason, he felt suppressed and angry in his heart.

  Actually, I'm angry with myself. Why did the person who was wronged by me in my previous life appear before me again in this life and tell me that this time around, you've been wronged even more terribly?

  If there is a master in the dark, then this old heaven, isn't it severely psychologically abnormal?!

  Bai Xiaofeng was startled and let out a cry of "ah", standing up, her beautiful small face turned pale, afraid to retreat several steps back, really not knowing why this fierce brother suddenly lost his temper with her.

  Lu Zhong took out a cigarette, lit it, paced back and forth, took two heavy puffs, and said: "Call your dad back!"

  Bai Xiaofeng originally had this intention, and after hearing Lu Zhong's words, he immediately ran out.

  Watching her petite figure quickly disappear into the night, Lu Zhēn felt a pang in his heart. In their past life, she had never been afraid of him like this before. Instead, she would always argue with him, using logic and reason to make her point, often leaving him impressed despite himself.

  About the time of a cup of tea later, Bai Erqiang's footsteps echoed in the yard, wearing a tattered green military coat with a exposed cotton flower, Bai Erqiang held his hands, that despicable image, is really not much different from the beggars of later generations.

  As soon as he entered the house, Bai Erqiang wiped his face with a smile: "Zhengzi, what's wrong? That dead girl Xiao Feng is not doing her job well, I'll scold her later!" He glared at Bai Xiaofeng who was following behind him: "You useless thing, hurry up and finish collecting the corn! You can't even do this little bit of work all day, you're good for nothing!"

  Looking at the back of his head, Lu Zhong really wanted to slap that tattered Lei Feng cotton hat flying with one palm, but hitting him was unreasonable, after all, Bai Xiaoxue and himself had no relationship whatsoever, a father scolding his daughter was only natural.

  Moreover, the result of taking action against Bai Erqiang can almost be guessed. Bai Erqiang will pretend to be dead and blackmail himself, thinking that he has beaten up his father-in-law, and Bai Xiaoxue might even pounce on him and bite him.

  "Lao Bai, come here, I've got something to tell you." Lu Zhong beckoned to Bai Erqiang with a wave of his hand, and Bai Erqiang hastily put on a flattering smile and stuck close to him.

  Lu Zhong handed a cigarette to Bai Erqiang, and when Bai Erqiang took it, Lu Zhong smiled slightly: "Old Bai, do you know that this cigarette of mine has never been casually handed out, nor can just anyone take it."

  Bai Erqiang didn't understand the meaning of Lu Zhong's words at all, and he didn't know that what Lu Zhong said was not nonsense. He just chuckled and echoed: "That's right, Zhongzi, I knew you were doing a big business and should be quite black, otherwise you wouldn't make a lot of money. If you can smoke your cigarettes, then you must spit out something. But, as a poor and white guy, Zhongzi, I'm not afraid of being bullied by you."

  Lu Zhong smiled: "Old Bai, you're quite a smooth talker, no sand in your eyes."

  Bai Erqiang grinned with a mouthful of yellow teeth.

  Lu Zhong waved his hand, "But, you've got it wrong, I didn't mean that. What I meant was, since we live in adjacent houses, we can consider it a kind of fate. Sometimes, I feel like you're just like my uncle." No matter what, he's still the ex-father-in-law, so calling him "uncle" is acceptable, although it feels a bit stifling.

  Bai Erqiang was overjoyed: "Right, Zhuangzi, I also feel particularly compatible with you."

  Lu Zhong nodded: "Lao Bai, I heard that Xiao Feng's grades were always good before? Never ranked second in the class?"

  "Bai Erqiang rolled his eyes and said, 'Zhuangzi, let's make things clear. Even if we're fated to be together again, don't interfere with my family affairs. I'm not in good health, can't do farm work, and Xiaofeng is about to drop out of school. If she doesn't, how will our two old men not starve? The principal and class teacher have both looked for me, and Xiaofeng's grandma has also quarreled with me. You just don't say anything!'"

  Bai Xiaofeng, who had been standing timidly on the side, heard her father's words and her face turned gloomy, her small head drooping down.

  Lu Zhēn really wanted to slap Bai Erqiang so hard that his mouth would foam, but this matter, ultimately can't be solved with violence. If it's about having patience, Lu Zhēn is no worse than anyone else, but facing such a rascal and having to patiently haggle with him, is indeed a test of one's endurance.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said, "Actually, I quite like Xiao Feng. How about this? I'll acknowledge her as my younger sister. From now on, I'll take care of her tuition fees, book fees, and all that. As for your family's farm work, we can hire someone to do it, and I'll pay the wages too. Is that okay?"

  Bai Er stared at Lu Zhen with a puzzled expression, clearly feeling that something was off. Looking at Lu Zhen, he didn't seem like an idiot either, so why would he let someone take such a huge advantage of him for no reason?

  Nothing good ever comes from something that sounds too good to be true.

  Bai Erqiang looked at his own daughter, who was becoming more and more beautiful, and suddenly smiled mysteriously: "Zhengzi, have you taken a liking to our Xiaofeng? It's about time too, in another year or two, she'll be old enough to get married."

  Bai Xiaofeng had been listening to the conversation all along, and upon hearing her father's words, her small face immediately turned bright red. She glanced at Lu Zhong, then hastily lowered her gaze, her beautiful face as if set aflame, not daring to lift her head again.

  Lu Zhong helplessly said: "Lao Bai, what's wrong with you? I have a girlfriend, okay?"

  Do you have a girlfriend? Bai Erqiang's face showed a hint of disappointment, he licked his lips, wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't say it.

  Lu Zhongxin said that it's fortunate that having a second wife or mistress is not popular nowadays, otherwise, Bai Erqiang might have said something even more outrageous.

  Lu Zhuo thought for a moment and said: "I think Xiaofeng is a good kid, it's a pity to spend her whole life in the countryside farming. If you send her to finish school, she'll definitely be able to get into university. Your family will have produced a talented person! Old Bai, you won't have to worry about your later years. If you keep her at home to farm and she gets married in two years, it's like spilled water, you can't take it back. Even if your future son-in-law is capable, he'll still be useless to you!"

  Bai Erqiang rolled his eyes and shook his head: "It's still not going to work. You say nice things, like hiring people to do farm work and paying me wages, or paying for my daughter's school fees, but these are all empty promises. What if I really send my daughter to school and you renege on your promise? Who can I reason with then? If I tell others, they won't believe me either."

  Lu Zhong slowly furrowed his brow, staring at Bai Erqiang, and said slowly: "Then you tell me, what's going on?" He was really getting angry, this former father-in-law of his was really not a good thing, he really wanted to beat him up!

  Bai Erqiang suddenly felt a bit uneasy, not daring to make eye contact with Lu Zhong, but still plucked up the courage to say: "You, if you don't do it this way, I'll just have my daughter be your nanny. You give me some money every month, and you can have her study or do whatever you want, I won't care..."

  Lu Zhong suddenly turned his head to Bai Xiaoxue and said, "Xiaoxue, go back to the house, close the door, and don't listen to our conversation." How could it feel like negotiating a price with Bai Erqiang to buy Bai Xiaoxue? It would be too embarrassing if the child heard it.

  Bai Xiaofeng now hated herself so much that she wanted to cover her own ears. After hearing Lu Zhong's words, she hesitated for a moment before entering the house and gently closing the door.

  "Zhuangzi, you... what are you going to do?" Bai Erqiang was startled and took two steps back.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said: "Speak up, how much money will it take for me to hire you?"

  Bai Erqiang kept a safe distance from Lu Zhong, seeing that he didn't intend to teach him a lesson. After deliberating for a long time, he gritted his teeth and hesitantly spat out an exorbitant price: "Forty... forty!" He wanted to make an outrageous demand, thinking that if he could get thirty, it would be a windfall, and fifteen or twenty would also be acceptable. After all, this was money that came easily with the strong winds in the city and Guangning. In Qinglong, even the highest-paid frontline workers earned only around thirty or forty yuan in wages, even without seniority.

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly: "Alright, I'll give you 50 a month. But let me tell you one thing, if I see you calling Xiao Feng to do farm work again, you'll have to pay me back 100 a month! And I always keep my word, I'll definitely make you spit out the money! You don't believe it? Just try!"

  Bai Erqiang was stunned for a moment, "50?" He suddenly seemed to remember something and said: "I'll tell you one thing, you can't bully Xiao Feng. If you dare to take advantage of her, it won't be this price!"

  "Get out!" Lu Zhong finally spat out the two words he had been holding back for a long time.

  Bai Erqiang didn't mind at all, chuckled and went into the house to talk to his daughter, presumably to discuss with her about taking care of Lu Zhong after he's gone.