country bumpkin

Chapter 303 The Process of a Day's Work

What is the boss doing at this time? The boss is taking a lunch break; she has already fallen asleep.

The owner's husband was busy cooking sea cucumbers in a large steel pot, which was filled with them.

Below is a three-burner honeycomb briquette stove, and the sea cucumbers in the pot are bubbling and steaming.

By the time the pot was cooked, Yunya had also finished washing her clothes.

Most items are hand-washed, except for very thick coats which are machine-washed. Other close-fitting thermal underwear and undershirts are all hand-washed.

This was something the boss had instructed her to do in advance, so Yunya had no choice but to comply.

Thankfully, there were no underwear belonging to the boss or her husband, otherwise Yunya would have been disgusted.

The boss's husband was a short and thin man, whom Li Mei secretly called "Matchstick Man".

Yunya didn't know his name either, but she also called him "Stickman" from behind. She thought the name was very fitting.

You can only call her "boss" in person, and the same goes for female bosses.

The "matchstick figure" poured the cooked sea cucumbers into a large iron basin, which he then filled with water. He went back to cook a second batch.

After putting the pot on the stove, he came back and called Yunya, teaching her how to prepare squid and sea cucumber.

Although Yunya had already learned how to do it from Li Mei yesterday, the "stick figure" still taught her again.

We usually need to prepare two trays of squid every day. Sometimes we don't sell them all in the morning and there are a lot of leftovers, so we switch to preparing only one tray of squid.

They peeled them off one by one, removed their internal organs, washed them, and then soaked the cleaned squid in a large pool with added chemicals.

After finishing the squid, "Matchstick Man" taught Yunya how to prepare sea cucumbers.

A basin the size of a laundry tub was filled with sea cucumbers. One by one, they were picked up, their bellies cut open, and their intestines and sand removed.

Then they are all put into a red plastic bucket. Once the bucket is full, the "stick figure" is washed twice and then poured into a pool to soak.

There were so many sea cucumbers to process that Yunya couldn't finish it all by herself in a day. So when the boss woke up, he also helped out.

When the boss woke up at 2:30, he took Niu Niu to kindergarten, and Diandian went to school by herself.

The boss brought the students back, and the "stick figure" came over to work with them.

Yunya and the female boss sat opposite each other, with the "stick figure" next to the female boss, talking and working at the same time.

They were from the northernmost part of the country, and the female boss and her husband spoke in their hometown dialect.

If the speaker spoke slowly, Yunya could understand a sentence or two. But when the speaker spoke faster, Yunya couldn't understand anymore and was completely confused.

Yunya kept her head down and silently continued with her work, not knowing what important matter the couple was discussing.

Time passed by, minute by minute, until finally the last sea cucumber was processed. Yunya stood up and stretched her numb and stiff back.

It was almost 5:30. The three of them hadn't rested and had worked for a full three hours to finish the work.

If one person were to do it, it would probably take until 10 p.m. to finish.

The "stick figure" soaked all the processed sea cucumbers in the large pool inside the house.

Yunya didn't know how often to change the water; such secretive tasks were classified and only the boss's family knew about them.

The shopkeeper checked the time; his second daughter should be getting out of school soon. He told Yunya to go and pick up Niuniu, and Yunya happily ran off.

It took me 10 minutes, a combination of walking and running, to get to the kindergarten gate.

Yunya stepped forward and rang the doorbell. A very young female kindergarten teacher came out of the courtyard.

Looking not much older than Yunya, Yunya imitated Li Mei's tone and said, "Teacher, I've come to pick up Niu Niu."

This teacher has never seen Yunya before, so he definitely won't let the student out.

She asked, "Who are you? I've never seen you before?"

Yunya replied, "Oh, I'm a new worker at her house, and this is my first time picking Niu Niu up from school."

The teacher was still suspicious, so she said, "Wait a minute, I'll call Niu Niu over now and ask her if she's seen you before?"

After speaking, the teacher returned to the courtyard, where the gate remained tightly closed.

She went back inside, called Niu Niu to her side, and asked, "Niu Niu, has a new worker come to your house?"

Niu Niu nodded. The teacher then led Niu Niu to the main gate.

The teacher pointed at Yunya and asked Niu Niu, "Niu Niu, do you know this girl? Is she your family's new helper?"

Niu Niu looked up at Yun Ya, but shook her head and replied, "Teacher, I don't know her."

The teacher was very careful, and that was the right thing to do, but Yunya still felt uncomfortable.

She had seen Niu Niu several times the day before yesterday and yesterday. When Li Mei picked her up, she even introduced Yun Ya to her. How could she not know her?

Niu Niu glared at Yun Ya at the time. Today, she said she didn't know her, which made Yun Ya look bad.

Yunya could only stand there, staring at Niu Niu in disbelief.

The teacher didn't let her go, saying, "You should go home first and let her mother pick her up. The child says she doesn't know you, so we don't dare to hand her over to you."

Helpless, Yunya had no choice but to return home and tell her boss the truth.

On the way, Yunya felt a mix of emotions, feeling extremely wronged and humiliated.

This little girl clearly knows her; they even had dinner together. How could she not recognize her? She's doing this on purpose.

Yunya grew angrier the more she thought about it, and her eyes reddened, tears streaming down her face.

She feels extremely inferior now, always feeling like she's working for a private family, like a nanny, taking care of their whole family.

Yunya was heartbroken to be bullied and looked down upon by a four-year-old child.

Back at her doorstep, Yun Ya wiped away her tears; she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of outsiders.

Upon entering the courtyard, the female owner was making sea cucumber soup. Yunya said, "Niu Niu says she doesn't recognize me, and the teacher won't let her go."

The female boss smiled and didn't take it seriously, saying, "Hehe! This child is really naughty! Okay, okay, I'll go pick him up in a bit. Yunya, go to the kitchen and wash the vegetables, and then rinse the rice and steam it."

Yunya went to wash the vegetables after being instructed, while the female boss brought down the pot of soup she had just cooked and went to pick up Niu Niu.

There was a pile of green vegetables in the kitchen that needed washing, and Yunya didn't know why so many vegetables were prepared today.

After a while, the female boss's sister and her family arrived, and Yunya realized that this was a dinner gathering between the two families! No wonder they prepared so many vegetables.

The female boss's sister has only one son, who is also in the third grade of elementary school. This little boy is particularly mischievous.

He basically never did his homework and was the kind of kid who gave teachers a headache at school.

When he came to his aunt's house for dinner this time, he also asked his mother to buy a lot of snacks.

Yunya was helping with cooking in the kitchen, the female boss was in charge of the cooking, and the children were chasing and playing in the living room.

The "stick figure" chatted and watched TV with his brother-in-law. The female boss's sister was lounging on the sofa in the living room, listening to her brother-in-law and husband talk.