The Busy Life of Aunt Chen

The first thing Aunt Chen does when she wakes up at home is to blow her nose. She will sneeze several times, and then reach for the toilet paper. Her fingers felt the soft paper scraping across the carton, temporarily resisting the pull like cloth, and then kneaded into balls in her hands, like dumplings, wrapped in the slime she made herself.

Aunt Chen went to the toilet, she was in a haze, she washed her face and brushed her teeth in the sunlight. Putting on contact lenses and putting on lipstick carefully, she was not Aunt Chen at this time.

She moved to the kitchen, her husband and daughter were preparing, moving horizontally expressionlessly, taking this, drinking that, swallowing this, with a patient expression on her face, and then suddenly disappeared at the door with her bag, as if being caught Launched into the outside world.

Aunt Chen moved lightly to her bedroom and changed into black sportswear. She went to the bathroom to wipe off her lipstick again. Xiaobai, the dog at home, followed her, squatting at the door, looking at her, wagging his ears suspiciously.

She faced the mirror and said, Oh, Xiaobai, I will be back soon.

She flushed the red-stained toilet paper down the toilet, walked to the door, put on her hat, put the thermos in her bag, and put on her backpack. She stepped into the sneakers and said, soon. Then the door closed behind her.

When Aunt Chen took the MRT, she really thought she was going to exercise. Her direction is towards the suburbs, opposite to those who are busy. She thought that if her daughter, Mr., accidentally bumped into her, who knows if there will be a day, she would say, that ah Fen, the one who sold jewelry in the past, asked me to go exercise. If she accidentally sees the apron and gloves in the bag, she will say, and then go to Agui’s house to do handicrafts.

She was right. In the past, they really went to Agui’s house to do handicrafts, biscuits, wagashi, and flower dyeing, making their fingernails purple and blue. Feeling bored, I found a teacher to learn Japanese and Taiwanese songs and hold competitions. Take a car to the mountains to see flowers. It’s been done all around. Still boring. Ah, it’s boring, nothing to do.

Then Agui had a friend who was a housekeeper in another family, so he asked Agui, their family was looking for someone to cook, would you like to come?

She heard it at that time, and both she and Agui would die laughing. If Agui cooks edible food, then she can open a restaurant. Who doesn’t know that she is famous for her delicious food.

Then you come, things are very easy, there are only two days a week, 40,000 a month.

In a vague way, she said yes, I’ll go. Ah Gui’s friend came to drive her to try it out. The car rode to the suburbs for a long time. At first it smelled of gasoline and waste, but later it smelled of astringent green grass. The wind was so strong that hair covered her face. She checked in the rear mirror. A-gui’s friend, A-Lian said, it’s all right, let’s go in first.

A-Lian still rang the doorbell first, and then took the key to open the door. It was just the first iron door, and there was another door inside, which was identified with fingerprints, and then she was dizzy.

The young master was waiting by the door, wearing glasses, tall, with a bright smile, and a golden light on his face that made her afraid to look directly at her.

Aunt Chen, he spoke. She froze, she had never been called like this before.

Aunt Chen, this is our home. We like to eat at home and like home cooking, so please come and cook me a meal. If my wife is not here, she will not bother you if she is a vegetarian.

Aunt Chen walked in. On her feet are the slippers that A-Lian put on the ground for her just now. They are made of leather, and the soles of her feet are slippery with sweat. The young master stepped on the ground, the muscles in his legs were tangled. His bare feet made breath-like footprints on the concrete floor.

Aunt Chen tremblingly went with A-Lian, and they walked a long way, passing through the big banquet table, passing through the brightly lit corridor, passing through the storage room, and arrived at a place where the silver lights shone. land. Alian said in a low voice, this is the refrigerator room, there are two refrigerators and two freezers in it, silently. She said where to cook it, Alian said it was here, there are two stoves, a microwave oven, an air fryer, and a water steamer can all be used. Anything in the fridge will work too. Alian opened the refrigerator, and there were bottles and cans of sauces inside, all of which were English trademarks. She picked it up and looked at it. The other is full of vegetables and fruits, which are clustered with flowers when opened. One of the two freezers is sliced ​​meat, which is sealed and packaged. The bags are slippery, clean and tidy, not like meat. In the other freezer, Alian’s voice was lowered, she could only hear the rustling sound. Master, sometimes, I will go with my friends…

to what?

He’s hunting, he has a lot of strange friends, so he brought some he caught…

A-Lian seemed to find it too difficult to explain, so she hurriedly opened the freezer. Aunt Chen’s eyes went dark, and accompanied by white smoke, a huge naked beast lay horizontally in the freezer, frozen stiff.

Yaoshou, Aunt Chen said, what is that?

It is said that it is a mountain Qiang and a deer.

She and A-Lian couldn’t help giggling. Yao Shougu, these people are as weird as they say they are.

Aunt Chen’s job is fixed. She comes here twice a week to cook Chinese food and tidy up the refrigerator and freezer.

What do they eat at other times? she asked Alian.

There is also a real chef, Master Liu, you don’t have to worry about it.

She felt a little sour. Master Liu cooked real dishes. She had seen the main kitchen where he entered the house. It was gleaming white, with several stoves in it, steaming with smoke, and there were two helpers. She was in the small kitchen attached to the refrigerator, and the owner was also surprised, just eating some healthy meals, a piece of salmon, two chicken legs, a cup of kale, and a cup of roasted nuts, like feeding animals. After she finished it, she sent it out, and the owner was sitting in front of the counter, watching something on the phone while waiting, and sometimes he ordered delivery again, and he got things like large intestine noodle thread from outside. eat.

The wife will also come back in the middle. Busily went out again. I can’t tell how old I am, it can be from twenty to thirty-five. He has a slim figure and straight black hair. Always tight sweatpants. Sometimes suddenly dress banquet bag. Auntie, just chuckle when you see them, and then disappear. Aunt Chen thought why she wasn’t with her husband, with her children, what was she busy with. Ah Gui said that she is very busy anyway, she is not busy. Kids are busy too. Ah Gui said.

I have to be busy to attend birthday parties, go to friends’ houses, and learn English Go, gymnastics, drawing and board games.

Aunt Chen had seen the child. He was thin and pale, and his hands and feet must have been icy.

My daughter was also thin when she was a child, her hair was tied up a little, she was pitiful, and she and her husband were also busy at that time. Busy. The daughter is sent to her mother-in-law’s house. See you every two weeks. One day she wanted to put her daughter back, but the daughter cried and refused, and she was also annoyed, so she just wanted to beat her. Suddenly, I saw that the shorts were too wide, the exposed legs were so thin, and the back was full of mosquito bags. Dirty heels. She took her daughter home.

Do something else, she thought. Just take it with you and do what you can do. Anything goes. Later, the family gradually got better.

The young master asked her to pour out the large intestine noodles and serve him. The master is probably all right, standing behind her head and watching. Aunt Chen was so nervous that her head was buzzing, and she opened all the closets above her head, all of which were porcelain, glass, transparent, various colors or flowers. When she looked up, it was all white and dizzy. After finally getting a big green bowl, when I poured it into it, I felt that it was not enough, it was not enough.

Aunt Chen squatted down along the cupboard, and the owner came over to take a closer look. She was full of fear, but felt relieved. It was as if she jumped out of those bowls, the detergent, and got into the owner’s eyes.

Aunt Chen, are you okay? Is it uncomfortable? Shall I take you to the hospital? The master’s voice was still magnetic and steady, A-Lian also came over, she said that it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll take her, I’ll take her.

While waiting for the driver’s car to come back in the basement, Aunt Chen felt her head was heavy and she was sweating profusely on her nose. But I still held back my dizziness and took several photos of the cars on my mobile phone. The blue ones, the green ones, the red ones, the yellow ones, the tall ones, the flat ones, all brand new and shiny, all still and full of movement, Aunt Chen kept taking pictures. , the mobile phone is the reflection of those cars. Like seeing that beast in the freezer. He was running and screaming, but now he is dead. stare at her. Aunt Chen was out of breath.

Aunt Chen returned home and lay down on the sofa for a long time. There is a smell of rice milk in the house. She was uncomfortable and still smelled it, and sat up and opened the window after a while. It was evening, and there was a sound in the distance, like a bell.

She got up as if her heart had fallen to the ground, and opened her refrigerator. There were water spinach, ground meat, and mushrooms in it. She set up an oil pan, and when there was too much oil, the fire was turned up a bit, and she felt the heat and light on her face. Aunt Chen felt the melting of her hands and feet. The chill that had made her stiff began to melt. As soon as her hands and feet are flexible, she can have more tricks. Open the refrigerator again to find the pickled melon at the bottom, soak it in water and slice it, and fry it with ground meat, soy sauce and brown sugar until it becomes dry. This is delicious with porridge.

She scooped up two or three more eggs, and fried them into meringues with large oil and low heat. This is delicious, and Aunt Chen became very excited, sweating on her forehead. Put the meringue into the minced meat just now and fry. The oil is so fragrant, keep it for fried rice. Another pot was set up to boil water, and rice was poured into it, and then it would become porridge, thick and sticky.

My daughter asked her how to cook porridge, did she keep stirring? There is no time. My daughter looks at her mobile phone for everything, and there are always some recipes in it, including an iron spoon. Add a pinch of salt. There are always ways to save time.

Porridge just takes time, everything takes time. She was not in a hurry, nor did she open the lid. She is very experienced in cooking, knowing that the tightly closed pot is very busy, the rice is blooming, and the water is tightening and thickening. She stepped away a little, pretending she wasn’t waiting, and that was all that mattered. Before you know it, the porridge will be ready.

Daughter and husband come back. Talk about why the house is so hot and there are so many dishes. She said yes, eat quickly, after thinking about it, she said, take your time, there is no rush.

She was thinking that she would not be Aunt Chen tomorrow, there must always be someone who is not busy in a family.