Chapter 61: The Contest

Wang Honglei returned home to find Yunfeng already asleep. Overwhelmed with excitement, he cried, "Wife! Wife, wake up!" and threw himself onto Yunfeng, hugging and kissing her passionately.

"What on earth are you doing in the middle of the night? Have you lost your mind?"

"Let me tell you, I won over twenty bucks tonight, winning back everything I lost earlier!"

"Really?" Yunfeng sprang up in a flash and asked excitedly.

"Really!"

"How on earth did you get so lucky today?"

Wang Honglei told Yunfeng about biting into the copper coin, and Yunfeng asked, "How many dumplings did she boil in that batch?"

"I asked for four, but Caiyun kept stalling, and since there were five left over, she boiled all of them and gave them to me."

"She definitely saved them just for you."

"No way, right?"

"You really have a pig's brain! Just think about it, why would she boil a separate batch just for you? She wrapped that coin herself, so she must have marked it and saved it exclusively for you."

"Now that you mention it, it really is possible. Usually, she rarely lets me eat her dumplings, but tonight she told me she had researched a brand-new recipe that tasted especially good, and made me try one."

"Do you know what she meant by that?"

"No idea."

"She was flirting with you, trying to get you to go see her." Yunfeng knew full well that Caiyun would never actually fancy Honglei, so she often teased him about it.

"There you go again." Big-headed Langzi knew Yunfeng was in a good mood and just teasing him for fun, so he didn't take it to heart.

"So she boiled a batch just for you, and nobody else noticed?"

"Everyone was too busy gambling; nobody was paying attention to that."

"A two-yuan reward is no small sum. She definitely believed in keeping the sweet water within her own irrigation channels and wouldn't easily let anyone else take it. She saved it specifically for the man she likes."

"Who said she likes me?"

"Your skills in bed are so amazing, how could she not like you?"

"Stop talking nonsense. I've never touched her, and besides, Caiyun isn't that kind of woman."

"You can't fool me about this. Not only does she like you, but you like her too."

"I have more than enough love for my own wife, why would I like her?" Big-headed Langzi felt a warm glow inside, but he had to say this aloud.

"You're speaking insincerely. Normally, if I say a single bad word about Caiyun, you get all worked up and rush to defend her, yet you claim you don't like her."

"I just can't stand it when you regret getting Xiaomei engaged. You always think their family is too poor and worry that Xiaomei will suffer in the future."

"Xiaomei is my daughter, she's flesh of my flesh, of course I have to look out for her."

"I think Caiyun is smart and capable, and Yuqiang is hardworking and educated. I believe their life will get better one day. You could see it from how they sold food at the gambling den this time: Han Xiuxia grew green with envy seeing Caiyun make a profit, so she started selling too and tried to steal Caiyun's business by lowering her prices. But Caiyun didn't lower her prices and won the business right back. Tonight, her dumplings sold exceptionally well, while Han Xiuxia couldn't sell a single one."

"Alright, enough about her. Let's talk about you. Now that you've won your money back, can you stop gambling? Save some money for our son's education."

"Schooling is still ages away, what's the rush!"

"He's already five. If we don't prepare in advance, we'll be completely helpless when the time comes."

"Fine, I won't gamble. Going over just to watch is fine, right?"

"Are your words to be trusted?"

"Of course they are."

"Good then. Hand over all the money you won to me."

"Alright, but you have to reward me first." With that, Big-headed Langzi straddled Yunfeng.

"Get lost! Go let Caiyun reward you instead." With a mighty shove, Yunfeng almost pushed Big-headed Langzi off the bed.

The next evening, Big-headed Langzi rushed to the gambling den early to watch the action. The other gamblers cursed him for being henpecked—having his winnings confiscated by his wife, what a spineless loser!

Caiyun had prepared eighty dumplings again and hidden a copper coin in one, but she canceled the reward. As a result, the person who bit into the coin this time not only failed to win any money, but actually lost. Even so, everyone was still willing to buy her dumplings because they genuinely tasted delicious.

"Honglei, why aren't you playing?" Seeing Big-headed Langzi standing aside and just watching, knowing full well his money had been confiscated, Caiyun teased him deliberately.

Big-headed Langzi said dejectedly, "Yunfeng took all my money and won't let me play."

"Yunfeng did the right thing. In gambling dens, nine out of ten bets are losses. Just come over and watch to satisfy your urge."

"If nobody else is playing, who are you going to sell these things to?"

"If you aren't playing, someone else will. Even if nobody plays, I'm sure I'll find another way. I won't hang myself from a single tree."

"I believe that."

Later, Han Xiuxia found out that Caiyun's dumplings had a spicy kick to them, so she also added some chili peppers to her own dumplings and imitated Caiyun's promotional gimmick. This trick actually managed to win back some business.

However, because she added way too much chili, some customers would only eat the wrappers and leave the filling untouched. From then on, nobody bought her dumplings ever again.

Han Xiuxia was unwilling to quit the gambling den; she wanted to change her tactics and steal the business back.

Taking advantage of the convenience that Wang Hongbing could source pork, she started selling pork dumplings and noodles. Quite a few people actually bought them, diverting a portion of Caiyun's sales.

Although there was very little pork in the dumplings, there was indeed real pork inside, and Caiyun had no idea where Han Xiuxia managed to get it, as she herself had no way of obtaining any.

"Honglei, come here for a second."

One evening, while Big-headed Langzi was watching the gambling, he suddenly heard Caiyun calling him from behind. He turned and asked, "How come you're here so early tonight?"

"Step outside with me, I have something to tell you." Caiyun pulled Big-headed Langzi toward the exit.

"What is it?" Big-headed Langzi asked.

"Yulan and I have divided the shifts. Yulan and Yuqiang will be in charge here during the first half of the night, and I'll come to relieve them in the second half. Yuqiang has a rather fiery temper, and I'm afraid he might stir up trouble, so please keep an eye on things for me."

"No problem, piece of cake." Big-headed Langzi agreed readily.

Caiyun had originally worried that he wouldn't be willing to help, since Yuqiang had once gotten into a physical fight with him, but she hadn't expected him to agree so readily. She figured it was probably because Yuqiang had been showing goodwill toward him ever since his engagement to Xiaomei.

Caiyun told Big-headed Langzi, "From now on, I'll come over with the two of them every evening, prepare the dumpling fillings and wrappers, and then I'll go back to rest. Around two in the morning, I'll come relieve them. Once dawn breaks and the gambling den breaks up, I can head straight to the morning market without missing a beat, so we don't both have to grind away here all night."

"That's right. If you keep doing it the old way, your body won't hold up in the long run."

"I'm heading off then. Please keep an eye on things."

"Don't worry!"

After Caiyun left, Big-headed Langzi pondered to himself: Yuqiang is eighteen, and Yulan is seventeen; they're both adults. Selling some food right outside their own doorstep—why would she need to entrust me with looking after them? It hardly seemed necessary. So what on earth did she really mean?

He turned it over in his mind and felt it was completely superfluous, especially since she had deliberately called him outside to tell him. Could it really be, just as Yunfeng had said, that she was missing him?

Ever since he married Yunfeng, Caiyun had begun to distance herself from him, refusing to be intimate with him ever again, not even letting him touch her.

During this promotional campaign, she had saved the winning chance for him, which showed she still had him in her heart. Now, she had explicitly told him she was going back home—and that she would be all alone—wasn't she trying to get him to come find her? Yes, that had to be what she meant.

Without further ado, he sprang into action and strode toward Caiyun's house.