70s Delicate Girl: A Guide to Being a Rich Woman-Chapter 229: Encountering Third Aunt at the Cafeteria

At noon, Xu Mumu and her coworkers in the office could leave work a bit early, so Xu Mumu went to enjoy the shoe factory’s cafeteria.

She went together with Chen Meili, and the cafeteria still had a few people there, those who came for an early lunch usually had some position.

Looking at the variety of dishes in the cafeteria, Xu Mumu was pleasantly surprised.

Xu Mumu had meat coupons, so she got a serving of braised ribs and another of bamboo shoots stir-fried with meat.

"Mumu, you really have money," Chen Meili admired once more, looking at the dishes Xu Mumu got.

"It’s alright, not too expensive." Xu Mumu smiled and glanced at Chen Meili’s dishes, which were two vegetarian ones.

"Doesn’t your family ask you to hand over your salary? My mother-in-law wants me to hand over most of mine," Chen Meili lamented her family situation, thankful she was staying in the dorm and not at home, where she’d likely argue with her mother-in-law often.

"No, I keep my own money, and these meat coupons were given to me by my brother." Xu Mumu smiled, and she and Chen Meili found a seat and started eating. Xu Mumu tasted the ribs and her eyes brightened—delicious! Not as good as Master Yang’s national restaurant, but still quite nice. The bamboo shoots with meat were also good; the meat was tender and flavorful.

"Your family treats you really well, do you have a brother?" Chen Meili asked gossipily.

"Yes, my brother works in the transportation team." Xu Mumu said with pride, pleased that Xu Minghui managed to become permanent within half a year through his efforts.

"The government transportation team?" Chen Meili asked in surprise. Work in the transportation team was a good job, indicating that Xu Mumu’s family was well-off.

"Yes." Xu Mumu nodded, taking another rib; it was really tasty. She didn’t share her lunchbox contents with Chen Meili; they weren’t that familiar, so it wasn’t necessary.

As they were talking, the bell indicating the end of the lunch break rang, and the cafeteria quickly filled with people, transforming from quiet to bustling. Chen Meili stopped talking and started eating quickly.

While eating, Xu Mumu unexpectedly saw her third aunt Lin Juan holding a lunchbox, getting food in the cafeteria.

"Mumu, why are you eating here?" Lin Juan almost thought she was seeing things, but upon walking closer, she realized it really was Xu Mumu.

"Auntie, I forgot to tell you, I’m working at the shoe factory now." Xu Mumu looked up and saw Lin Juan approaching, her expression indifferent.

"You’re working here? How is that possible?" Lin Juan’s voice turned sharp.

"Xu Mumu, is that really your aunt? I didn’t expect your family to have relatives in the shoe factory," Chen Meili was a bit surprised.

Yesterday, she heard Xu He say that Xu Mumu came to the shoe factory again, thinking Xu Mumu was looking for Du Yu, but Du Yu had arranged a job for her. Lin Juan’s eyes flashed with complexity.

"Yes, my third uncle also works at the shoe factory." Xu Mumu smiled at Chen Meili.

"Mumu, you came to work at the shoe factory and didn’t tell us. Which department are you in?" Lin Juan said warmly, as if the earlier unpleasantness hadn’t happened.

"I’m with the women’s committee. Auntie, aren’t you taking the food back? Uncle and the others are probably waiting impatiently." Xu Mumu said blandly.

She didn’t really want to interact with the third branch of the family, especially this aunt, whom she disliked.

"Mumu, come visit us at home when you have time, I’ll head off now." Lin Juan smiled at Xu Mumu and Chen Meili.

Xu Mumu didn’t reply and continued eating her meal.

"Mumu, you don’t get along with your aunt and their family?" Chen Meili was a bit of a gossip.

"Just alright, our family split up previously." Xu Mumu said calmly.

"I feel like I’ve seen your aunt somewhere, but where?" Chen Meili was trying to recall.

"Really? My aunt used to work here, then sold her job." Xu Mumu chuckled.

"Oh, I remember now. Didn’t your aunt’s family try to buy a house last year and thought they’d gotten a good deal but were cheated?" Chen Meili said excitedly.

"Yes, indeed. Is this whole thing known throughout the factory?" Xu Mumu raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Of course, those who were owed money caused a scene at the factory, and the management had to resolve it. Also, last year your uncle’s family made quite a joke; your aunt has a brother who tried to take over his father’s job." Chen Meili recalled previous events; Xu He’s family had caused quite a stir at the shoe factory, becoming rather well-known.

"Yes." Xu Mumu smiled lightly, Lin Juan was altogether thick-skinned.

"Xu Mumu, tell me, what’s the story inside?" With gossip to discuss, Chen Meili felt closer to Xu Mumu.

"There are some things I don’t know." Xu Mumu replied, "Chen, I’m going to wash my lunchbox. Do you want to join?"

"Yes, let’s go." Chen Meili nodded, a bit disappointed not to gain any more information from Xu Mumu, but she thought there would be plenty of time to learn more gradually.

After lunch, Xu Mumu returned to the office.

Others either went home or slept in the dorm. Xu Mumu pulled her books out of her bag—for something to read when bored—these were practice questions she frequently made mistakes on.

Looking at these wrong questions, she didn’t feel bored, and when Chen Meili and the others returned to work, Xu Mumu was still reading.

When the bell rang marking the start of work, Xu Mumu put her book away.

"Xu Mumu, what book were you just reading?" Chen Meili asked curiously.

"My high school textbooks." Xu Mumu took out the ledgers, preparing to study them further.

"Aren’t you graduated? Why are you reading high school books?" Chen Meili was somewhat speechless.

"I am graduated, but I find studying quite interesting," Xu Mumu laughed, not caring about what people thought.

In the afternoon, Qin Jie came and assigned work to Xu Mumu, which was still to organize data. There was quite a lot, and part of it was distributed to others in the office to test their chart-making skills.

Faced with so much work, everyone wore a pained expression; even with Xu Mumu’s chart, organizing this chaotic data was still time-consuming.

Xu Mumu didn’t mind; she noticed that Qin Jie seemed intent on reorganizing the previous logs, as charts provided a more intuitive view and convenience for future reference without hassle.