novelThick Skin
| ← Ch.036 | Ch.038 → |
Qin Mian raised his head from the drawing, put the pencil into his space and opened the door.
Madam Du, Mrs Zhao and Madam Qian were standing at the kitchen door with their heads held high, overbearing. Lei Dabao and Lei Xiaobao hugged Mrs Zhao's leg as they drooled while looking at the wild chicken that had yet to be cooked. Lei Xinxin was there as well, holding Madam Qian's hand and sucking her fingers.
Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang stood awkwardly by the water vat, wiping their hands on their aprons, anger written all over their faces.
Qin Mian understood that the Sister Zhang and Third Sister-in-Law must have been angered to death, so he raised his voice and said, "Mother, Sister Second Brother, Third Sister-in-Law, why have you come?"
Mrs Zhao gave a charming smile, "Eldest Sister-in-Law, didn't you have guests for lunch? We'll cook for you."But I didn't expect you to invite someone else."
Madam Du said with a straight face, "Old master, are you looking down on me and your father?"
"That's right, we're not going to invite relatives or outsiders. Sis, this is ..." Madam Qian intentionally said half of the sentence.
Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang did not make a sound, frowning. Just now, the words of the three Madam Du s were rude, causing the two of them to feel angry. They were invited by Qin Mian and Lei Tia, and had nothing to do with Madam Du and the others.
Qin Mian looked at Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang apologetically. Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang both shook their heads, indicating that there was no problem.
"Mother, Second Brother, Third Sister-in-Law, you misunderstood. I have to pay the wages for inviting Sister Zhang's son and son to cook. I did think about asking you to help with the cooking, but did I pay or not? No, it's too much for me; it's too much for you; it's too much for me, and it hurts the relationship between the two families. Mom, what do you say? After thinking about it, I didn't invite you guys. I didn't expect that Mother, Second Brother and Third Sister-in-Law would misunderstand, I am truly sorry."
Madam Du, Madame Zhao and Madam Qian were speechless for a moment. They had asked around before, that the wages for Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang's help in cooking for the day was the same as the wages for those men. Just a meal would earn them twenty dollars. If Qin Mian asked them to help him cook but did not pay them, they would definitely be unwilling. But how could they say these words directly?
Seeing the change in their expressions, Sister Zhang and the Aunt Wang laughed to themselves as they turned around.
Qin Mian looked at the sky, "Mother, in about another hour or so, it will be time for the meal. Why don't you all sit down for a while to drink some tea and chat? Just leave the work in the kitchen to the Sister Zhang and the Aunt Wang."
Sister Zhang and Aunt Wang looked at each other and smiled, then went back to busy work on the stove.
Madam Du, Mrs Zhao and Madam Qian were secretly angered by Qin Mian's heartlessness, but his words were watertight, and they could not refute it. Moreover, the three of them were looking forward to the lunch, not wanting to bicker with Qin Mian at this time.
The three of them looked at each other, then ignored Qin Mian and started to chat and drink tea at the side of the table.
Qin Mian secretly admired their thick skin, but as long as they didn't cause trouble, it would be enough.
"Sister Zhang, Aunt Wang, I'll be troubling you with the work in the kitchen."
"Don't worry." Sister Zhang heard the meaning behind his words and laughed, looking at Madam Du and the others faintly.
Qin Mian also smiled and calmly locked the door to his room, then went to the construction site to bring tea.
Madam Du, Mrs Zhao and Madam Qian stared at the locked door, their chests were stuffy. They wanted to say something, but they saw that Qin Mian had already walked far away with big strides, his back was extremely relaxed.
At the construction site, the big guys were in full swing. Everyone was picking up firewood. At this moment, the foundation pit was almost dug out. Lei Tia did not stay idle. He took off his shirt and picked up a shovel, shoveling the dirt in the pit one by one as he went up. The firm and compact muscles moved with the movement of his arms, fully displaying his masculine strength.
"Thank you for your hard work everyone, the tea has been served, feel free to drink it." Qin Mian took out a water jar and a tea bowl from the bamboo basket and placed them on the table.
"Alright."
A few people answered and came to drink two bowls of tea and go back to work.
When Wu Di came over, he even smiled at Qin Mian. He was also an experienced man, after drinking the water, he would pick the dirt.
Qin Mian didn't want to go back and face the Madam Du and the others, so there was nothing he could do about it. He moved a few bricks into the shade of the tree and leaned against the tree trunk and sat down.
Lei Tia noticed that Qin Mian did not leave. He put down the shovel, raised his leg, and walked out of the hole easily. He went to the side of the table to drink a bowl of water, then walked in front of Qin Mian and asked casually: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Qin Mian glanced at the construction site, and said with a smile that was not a smile, "I didn't see your father." He thought that Lei Daqiang would at most arrive a little later, but he didn't expect that he would still not have appeared at this time.
"Yes."
Qin Mian raised his eyebrows. Hmm what?
"I'm just curious as to what he's thinking — whether he wants us to invite him three times and four times, or whether he's afraid that no one will know that he has a bad relationship with us." Since the Lei Xiangren brothers were all here, there was no way Lei Daqiang would be the only one who couldn't come due to a problem. Qin Mian had never thought that Lei Tia would be unhappy because of what he said about his father. Perhaps, he had even subconsciously understood that Lei Tia would stand on his side.
The busy workers in the construction site sneakily glanced over from time to time, curious about how the two of them got along.
Lei Tia did not say a word. It was clear from his indifferent expression that he did not care about whether Lei Daqiang would come or not.
Qin Mian didn't want to hear his answer, so he continued, "It's not like we're formally treating him to guests. I feel that if he still doesn't come by lunch, there's no need to invite him." His smile was crafty, and he really disliked Lei Daqiang.
Lei Tia nodded, "I'm going."
"Go." Qin Mian waved his hand.
Qin Mian stayed until the sun was high in the sky, thinking that it was about time for food to start. Seeing that the food had indeed been prepared, he went back to the construction site to call for big guys to eat.
The men stopped their work with a hearty laugh. They leisurely carried their tables and chairs and walked towards the back of the village while talking and laughing.
| ← Ch. 036 | Ch. 038 → |