CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 398: AGREEMENT

Peiying walked over to open the door and found Shuang Mei outside, which rendered her silent for a moment.

Shuang Mei, as usual, held her younger brother and greeted Peiying with a warm smile.

"Yingzi, are you out of it? Let me in quickly, it’s baking hot out here!" Shuang Mei said as she fanned her face with one hand.

Peiying lowered her head slightly, her lips quivered for a moment before she finally said, "My nephew Lele is sleeping, we can’t disturb him."

Shuang Mei paused, then smiled, "It’s okay, we can talk quietly."

"No, it’s my sister’s mother-in-law too."

Thinking that Peiying’s sister’s mother-in-law was there, Shuang Mei felt it inappropriate to ask to come in to watch TV. She sighed softly and whispered to Peiying, "Can’t your sister handle this? I remember that TV was clearly bought by your sister. How come when her in-laws are here, you can’t watch it?"

Peiying shook her head, not knowing how to argue with her.

"Yingzi, have you ever talked to your sister about this?"

"Yingzi, who are you talking to?"

Chen Guizhi’s voice came from inside the house, and Peiying instantly breathed a sigh of relief. She hurriedly said to Shuang Mei, "Shuang Mei, it seems like my aunt is calling me, I’ll go check." After saying that, she closed the courtyard door in front of Shuang Mei.

Outside, Shuang Mei remained dazed for a long time. What was wrong with Yingzi today? Why did she seem so weird? Could it be because of her sister’s mother-in-law’s presence, scaring her to the point of barely breathing? Her sister’s mother-in-law must be quite formidable, and she wondered how her sister, fragile as she was, could handle her. Thinking about this intrigued her, but remembering Aunt Qu’s task, it seemed it wouldn’t be completed today. After messing up the last task, she hadn’t received her half of the money and endured a two-hour scolding from her mother, which was utterly disheartening.

Peiying ran back inside, her heart thudding, yet she felt a subtle sense of relief. She went into Chen Guizhi’s room and asked, "Aunt, did you need something?"

Chen Guizhi was changing her grandson’s diaper, "Nothing. Just now, when I went out for Lele’s hot water, I vaguely heard you talking, so I just asked out of curiosity."

Peiying nodded and moved to help, passing the new diaper to her, "It was the neighbor next door."

Chen Guizhi did not inquire further.

Pei Min sighed a relief again; she wouldn’t know how to respond if her aunt kept asking. From now on, she decided it would be best to avoid talking to Shuang Mei.

In the evening when Pei Min returned, she had already helped Ying write a charter for her business, even deciding on the dishes.

Yixiang asked her how she had managed to do it so quickly.

Pei Min shrugged her shoulders, "When you have a foodie as your desk partner, you always end up doing everything related to food."

Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, shredded pork with garlic sauce, braised string beans with fermented black beans—three dishes along with white rice in a fast-food style.

She talked about buying a cart, fixing it with a stove below and pots on top, warming the food with water. The egg dish would be priced at seventy cents per serving and the other two at fifty cents each, rice included.

As for the portions, she suggested buying several uniform large spoons, serving one spoonful per dish, about half a bowl for each, with two spoonfuls of rice.

"I have laid out a basic framework, but it’s crucial for everyone, especially you, Yingzi, to give your thoughts. If you have your own ideas, make sure to speak up on what’s convenient for you."

Yang Peiying shook her head, "Sister, I don’t understand any of this, you make the decision for me."

However, Shen Yiguang also returned home and joined in the discussion of the details.

Although he was surprised that Yang Peiying was going to sell food, after listening to his wife’s analysis, he nodded and seemed to have no objections. He advised them to be careful and also offered a few suggestions; then, he decided to try making the stove area of the cart himself, as he was very interested in the style his wife had described.

Yang Peimin naturally followed the model of those street vendor carts from later generations.

If Shen Yiguang could make it, she also planned to have him try making a few small toys; if he could make those too, then her son’s toys would be settled.

"When my brother was young, he loved tinkering with these things. I remember he once made a small scooter. You could stand on it and scoot along with one foot, and when going fast, you could place the other foot on it too and glide along. So many kids were jealous back then and nagged their dads to make one too... My brother was really amazing. If he hadn’t joined the army, he definitely would have been a carpenter," said Shen Yixiang.

Yang Peimin glanced at Shen Yiguang with some interest and raised an eyebrow, "Wow, still thinking about making toys for your son, huh? Since you have this skill, we can save quite a bit of money."

Shen Yiguang laughed and looked at her with some pride, yet he said, "That was so many years ago; my hands are out of practice now. I was actually planning to make some toys for our son as well."

Originally, they were discussing Yang Peiying’s business, but the conversation eventually drifted off topic.

The basic details were pretty much decided. After a few more words, everyone headed back to their rooms to rest.

After Zhang Minghua left, Shen Yiguang could finally return to his room to sleep, feeling very excited.

But his mother, who was a bit of a killjoy, also imitated Zhang Minghua’s style, wanting to stay with her daughter-in-law to take care of her grandson but being too embarrassed to say it directly to her daughter-in-law. She could only find her son and secretly pulled him to one side, "I’m really not sure if your wife can handle it alone. How about I sleep with her?"

"Don’t you still have your son?"

Chen Guizhi glared at him, "You have to work tomorrow, and it wouldn’t do to disturb you."

"Mom, it’s okay, Minmin will feel uncomfortable if you sleep with her. You should go to bed early."

Helpless, Chen Guizhi walked away.

Shen Yiguang finally heaved a sigh of relief.

He then hurried back to his own room.

Yang Peimin was lifting her shirt to breastfeed Lele.

Shen Yiguang quickly approached and openly watched beside her.

Yang Peimin looked up at him, her face slightly red, "What are you looking at? Hurry up and make the bed."

Shen Yiguang’s Adam’s apple moved. He sat down beside Yang Peimin, draped his arm over her shoulder, and his voice was hoarse, "Why is your son eating for so long? Isn’t he just playing around now?"

"Playing around your head, move over."

Shen Yiguang watched as his son finished eating from one side, and Yang Peimin switched him to the other; but the little guy refused to eat. It turned out he was already full from just one side.