Chapter 8

The next morning, before dawn, Liu Yu heard the sound of clothes being put on coming from her parents’ room next door.

Liu Yu knew that her parents, along with her younger brother, were getting ready to go work.

Hearing the noise, Liu Yu quickly dressed and went to her parents’ room. “Mom and Dad, take me with you! I want to go too!”

Liu Ye was sitting on the bed, putting on a pair of cloth shoes with a hole in them. “Sis, go back and rest.”

Liu Jianjia was wrapping himself in his coat. “Your brother’s right, go rest. We don’t need you.”

Liu Yu shook her head vigorously. “No, I’m going! I’m seventeen, I’m an adult now. Surely I can earn at least five cents a day!”

Nie Xiaocui, using a plastic comb with some water, was fixing her braids. “Yu, your body isn’t fully recovered yet. What work are you going to do? Your dad and I can handle things, and even your brother can help. Go back to sleep, alright?”

Liu Yu wasn’t happy.

Though the original person would have preferred sitting instead of standing, and lying down instead of sitting, with a strong inclination toward laziness and food, that wasn’t who Liu Yu was!

The food from the production team barely lasted the family for the year. To be full, they had to work hard and earn labor points to trade for food.

An able-bodied man could earn ten points a day, equivalent to one RMB. A woman earned five points, or 50 cents, while children and the elderly earned three points. Some families had everyone working, young and old, and by the end of the year, they could get quite a lot of food.

In Liu Yu’s case, if she worked, she could earn 50 cents a day, and she figured the exercise could help her lose weight! It was a win-win.

“I don’t care, I’m going!” Liu Yu clung to her mother, Nie Xiaocui, and acted spoiled. “If you’re worried I’ll get too tired, you can ask Dad to assign me some easier tasks.”

Nie Xiaocui, unable to refuse her daughter, sighed. “Fine, fine. You can go. But there’s one thing I need you to do. Do you remember Wang Changping? The one who saved you from Duobao River?”

Liu Yu thought for a moment but didn’t remember much. Still, she nodded and said, “Yes, I remember.”

Liu Jianjia, now fully dressed, spoke up. “Last night, your mother and I discussed it. You can’t forget kindness. Take our Luohua chicken and give it to him as a thank-you gift. It’s the least we can do to repay him for saving your life.”

Nie Xiaocui nodded. “Even though the chicken is worth less, it’s still not something to be given to outsiders, especially not to your grandmother!”

Liu Yu raised an eyebrow. Her mom was bold, even talking like that in front of her dad. But Liu Jianjia, hearing this, acted like he hadn’t heard it at all and seemed unconcerned.

“Alright, I’ll deliver the gift to him and then head over to the production team to find you,” Liu Yu said.

Satisfied with the answer, Liu Yu left. She went to her own room and was about to wash her face with some water, but when she looked into the basin, she remembered the small potatoes Nie Xiaocui had given her last night.

Liu Yu had no choice but to take the potatoes out. However, when she did, something felt off. She vaguely remembered there being about a dozen potatoes last night, but now it seemed like there were twice as many, filling the entire basin.

Not thinking too much about it, Liu Yu filled the basin with water and washed her face. Then, like many girls in Baohe Village, she braided her hair into a thick, long braid. It had to be said that although the original person’s body was a little chubby, she had thick hair, and there was no worry of balding.

She wore a plain, dull gray cloth dress. The Liu family hadn’t split yet, and in those days, making clothes required not only money but also cloth tickets. The family’s money, food, and various tickets were managed by Chen Shi, so Liu Yu didn’t have the means to dress up. Even if she did, her figure wasn’t the kind that could make clothes look fashionable.

Before leaving, Liu Yu tossed the small potatoes back into the basin. Since they were already washed, it didn’t matter to add them to the water in the basin.