Chapter 8: Reporting Wellbeing
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The village took good care of her and assigned her the job of raising pigs. She just had to take good care of the pigs. Therefore, although there were no men at home, no one dared to look for trouble. In addition, she was a generous person and had always been popular in the village.
When Yu Bing saw the door open, she shouted, “Hello, is anyone home?”
“I’m coming.” A middle-aged woman wearing a dark scarf was limping, but she looked energetic. ...
Auntie Zhao looked at the two young ladies in front of her and knew that they must be the group of young people who had just arrived at the village today. She smiled and said, “What’s the matter?”
Yu Bing smiled and replied, “Hello, Madam. We’re here to build a village. My name is Yu Bing, and her name is Jiang Chun. We want to buy some vegetables, eggs, and seeds from you.”
Auntie Zhao said cheerfully, “Sure, I can’t finish them alone anyway. My surname is Zhao. You can call me Auntie Zhao from now on.”
As she spoke, she led the two of them to the vegetable field in her backyard.
She took a large bunch of each vegetable from the bamboo basket at the side and took some vegetable seeds. “Fortunately, you came quickly. Otherwise, I would have had to pick pig grass later.”
With that, she quickly turned into the house and started picking eggs from the bamboo basket beside the bed. “Young lady, how many eggs do you want?”
Yu Bing hurriedly replied, “Madam, I want six. I’ll come back after finishing them.”
Auntie Zhao chose six of the biggest eggs from the dozen eggs. “No problem. You can come to visit me when you’re free.”
Yu Bing knew from her previous life that many people from the construction village would come here to exchange things. This was because Auntie Zhao was warm and easygoing, and the prices of the items she exchanged were very fair.
However, in her previous life, because she was focused on saving money and sending food home, she couldn’t bear to eat eggs. It was because of a serious illness that she bought two eggs from Auntie Zhao to replenish her nutrition. This was the only time they interacted.
Jiang Chun took the bamboo basket from Auntie Zhao.
Yu Bing replied mischievously, “As long as you don’t find us annoying, Auntie, how much are these veggies and eggs?”
“I don’t mind. Just give me one cent for these veggies. Five cents for one egg. I don’t need money for the vegetable seeds. I’ll give them to you guys.”
Yu Bing and Jiang Chun looked at the smiling Auntie Zhao and then at each other in embarrassment.
If they were to find someone else to exchange this basket of vegetables, they would have had to pay at least two cents. As for the eggs, they could only buy them in the city’s supply company when they had time off work. One egg would cost seven cents, and they had to buy them with stamps.
This was because in this era, each family could only raise two chickens at most. Their own families didn’t even have enough to eat. Due to Auntie Zhao’s special situation, the village had discussed and allowed them to raise two more. In addition, Auntie Zhao usually lived alone and ate little, so she could sell them to who needed eggs.
Yu Bing knew that the old lady wanted people to come and go for the sake of liveliness and didn’t care about this bit of money, so she didn’t refuse anymore. She only made up her mind to come more often in the future and help the old lady do some work.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you!” After paying, Yu Bing carefully transferred the vegetables in the basket into the bag she brought.
After saying goodbye to the woman, Yu Bing and Jiang Chun walked back.
Jiang Chun asked curiously, “Little Bing, how did you know that this woman would exchange veggies with us?” After all, there were a few families nearby, but Yu Bing walked straight to Auntie Zhao’s house.
Yu Bing’s eyes flickered. She pretended to be calm and said, “I chose her randomly. Anyway, I could ask the next family if she didn’t exchange with us.”
Jiang Chun nodded without thinking much about it. Then, she suddenly thought of something and asked, “By the way, why did you say that to Yu Yan on the train?”
Yu Bing calmly said the answer she had long prepared, “I just felt that she was deliberately trying to get close to me. It seemed strange, so I was on guard. I want others to think that my family is constantly paying attention to my safety, so they won’t dare to bully me.”
When Jiang Chun heard this, her eyes widened in agreement. “At that time, I felt that her smile was a little fake, especially when she said those words to you. I knew that my intuition was right!”
The two of them chatted for a while before returning to the location. They placed the vegetables in the kitchen. Yu Bing took her eggs and temporarily placed them in the pocket of her bag.
Yu Yan was writing a letter on the wooden table.
Jiang Chun also took out a pen and paper. “I have to write a letter to report my safety to my parents.”
Yu Bing finally left the Yu family and didn’t want to write to contact the Yu family anymore. However, when she saw Yu Yan, she changed her mind and took out her stationery. “Me too. Otherwise, my parents would be worried.”