Chapter 13: Ma’am, Your Thoughts Are Improper and Need to Change

The female clerk, somewhat impatient, put down her book and sunflower seeds, glanced at the three of them, and lightly clicked her tongue.

“You’re speaking too fast, say it again.”

This arrogant attitude made Bai Ruoqiao frown slightly, having long been used to the thorough customer service of the modern era.

But she said nothing, instead slowing down her speech and listing the items one by one again.

Though the clerk’s attitude was poor, she efficiently gathered all the items.

“Laundry detergent 27 cents, mosquito coils 43 cents, shampoo 54 cents, floral water 25 cents, toothpaste 1.36 yuan, thermos 4.5 yuan, toilet paper 2 rolls 28 cents… total 17.78 yuan, thermos ticket one piece.”

Bai Ruoqiao put the money and the ticket on the counter directly.

Cheng Yueya and Fang Meizi quickly and carefully placed the items into the baskets.

The three then moved next door to buy pillowcases, pillow towels, towels, sewing kits, cloth shoes, quilts, cotton, gloves…

All necessary, lightweight, and easy to carry.

She didn’t buy too many of each item.

After all, she had already stocked up plenty in her space.

Since learning she could travel back in time, she had stored a lot of goods in her space over decades.

Most were specially made for this era.

She even stored a lot of the 92.81 rice brand.

So she only needed to buy some similar items to avoid suspicion.

The snack section had fewer choices, so she only bought some candy and peach crisps to serve guests.

Even so, the two baskets were basically full.

Together they tied the baskets to both sides of the bicycle’s rear rack.

Bai Ruoqiao then went back to buy one more basket and two more smaller baskets.

Afterward, pushing the bicycle, they headed to the snack store.

The snack store had a more complete selection.

They arrived not too late; although there were already many people, there was still meat and vegetables left.

Fang Meizi looked at things outside, while Bai Ruoqiao and Cheng Yueya squeezed inside with their baskets to buy goods.

They split up to shop.

Bai Ruoqiao went to buy condiments.

She didn’t have bottles yet, so buying soy sauce, vinegar, and oil could only be by the bottle — which was more than double the price compared to buying in bulk.

A pound of soy sauce in bulk was only 30 cents, but this bottle was 80 cents.

Anyway, she was only buying this once; later she would fill bottles from her space.

After putting the items away, her gaze wandered over to the neighboring counter.

She bought two cans of sweetened syrup and two cans of malted milk powder.

The syrup cans were to treat the kids to something fresh.

She planned to keep the cans and later smuggle fruits out of the space as canned fruit.

One can of malted milk was to be secretly swapped for milk powder.

Just as she put everything down, she heard Cheng Yueya’s clear voice.

“I say, did you eat too much salt this morning or what? Do I have to report to you whether I can afford something? If you’re not buying anything, don’t just stand here chatting—show off your skills elsewhere. People might think you’re the one deciding all the meat prices.”

The young girl was sharp-tongued, firing rapid words without taking a breath.

Bai Ruoqiao hurried over.

She saw Cheng Yueya standing at the meat stall arguing with a middle-aged woman.

Though small in stature, Cheng Yueya was fierce.

Hands on hips, not intimidated in the least.

The woman was left speechless by her retorts.

“Hey, young lady, how can you be so rude? I just said something and you take it so seriously? Where did your family teach you to be so disrespectful to elders?”

“Hah, you have manners alright—cutting in line, cursing people, acting all high and mighty just because you’re older.”

“You…”

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Bai Ruoqiao asked as she reached the stall.

The young girl seemed to have found a fellow revolutionary and immediately rattled off the whole story.

Actually, it wasn’t a big deal.

It was that the middle-aged woman was originally standing behind Cheng Yueya in line. Seeing now that it was just the two of them left, and the young girl looked small and weak, she tried to cut in line.

But Cheng Yueya pushed her back.

The woman was displeased and insulted her as a poor, snobbish person who couldn’t afford meat but still liked to show off.

Cheng Yueya was not someone to back down and naturally fired back.

The woman looked down on Bai Ruoqiao too, seeing her clothes dirty and patched up.

She thought, what good did looks do? They all looked poor.

Impatiently she shouted, “Seeing you two, I bet you can’t even afford meat. Save your money for steamed corn buns and maybe live a few days longer. Move aside, don’t just stand there taking up space, wasting my time with all your stalling.”

Her words made the butcher frown, showing clear dislike.

Cheng Yueya got even angrier and sneered, “I was wondering why your mouth smelled so bad this early in the morning — turns out you’ve been holding in a belly full of crap with no place to spit it out. If you wanted the restroom, you should’ve said so. I’m a kind person and would’ve shown you the way instead of you wandering around smelling bad and bothering others.”

The butcher twitched at the corner of his mouth.

This little girl was young but her insults were quite… seasoned.

“You!”

“Mom, what’s going on? Who are you arguing with?” A seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl carrying a basket came over.

“Oh, Lan, you’re here! Mom’s been bullied — these two rascals teamed up to pick on me, an old lady. No justice at all. Young people these days don’t know how to respect elders or care for the young.”

The middle-aged woman raised her voice as if she had found backup.

Liu Lan frowned and looked at the two girls.

But when she saw Bai Ruoqiao, she was momentarily stunned.

Cheng Yueya was about to say something, but Bai Ruoqiao gently pulled her away.

“Master, could you please cut the remaining meat into five pieces and tie them up? We’ll take them all.”

Only one piece was left on the table, about 20 jin (~10 kg), half of which was fat.

Normally Bai Ruoqiao wouldn’t buy fatty meat.

People of this era preferred to buy the fatty parts first, but she liked the lean meat.

She had even specially told Cheng Yueya not to buy fat meat before.

But seeing that middle-aged woman’s eyes repeatedly glance at the fatty meat, probably trying to grab it by cutting in line, Bai Ruoqiao just decided to buy it directly.

“What did you say? You open your mouth and just yap? You have so many tickets, acting like a big shot.”

The woman was ready to argue again.

The butcher glanced at Bai Ruoqiao and said, “This meat is nineteen jin.”

Apparently, he doubted whether she could eat that much.

Bai Ruoqiao immediately counted the tickets and money and handed them over.

The butcher didn’t say more, neatly cut the meat and tied it with straw rope.

Cheng Yueya frowned, thinking Bai Ruoqiao bought so much just to stand up for her, feeling a bit guilty.

“Sister Qiao…”

Bai Ruoqiao put the meat in her basket and asked, “Can you carry it?”

“Can, can.”

“Let’s go then, still need to buy vegetables.” Bai Ruoqiao said, ignoring the stunned mother and daughter, pulling Cheng Yueya towards the vegetable counter.

“Wait!” The woman hurried to block them as they tried to leave.

“Who told you to buy everything? If you take it all, what will be left for others? You young people are so selfish.”

“You…” Cheng Yueya was so angry she wanted to retort again, but Bai Ruoqiao stopped her.

Bai Ruoqiao turned around, smiling sweetly at the woman.

“Sorry, I didn’t see anyone say you couldn’t buy all the meat. If you want, I can return a few jin. Master, what do you think?”

The butcher, busy cleaning the table, frowned impatiently.

“Once meat is sold, no returns. We’re closing; everyone leave.”

Bai Ruoqiao looked helplessly at the woman.

“There really is no way then. You can’t force us to engage in speculation or hoarding.

That wouldn’t be right — as members of socialism, we must firmly support the cause, set an example, maintain social stability, and not be the scoundrels who pry at the foundations of socialism.

Auntie, your thoughts are improper and must be corrected. I advise you to change them, so you don’t accidentally drag your whole family down.”

Hearing this, the woman was dumbfounded.

How had she been prying at socialism’s foundation? How was her thinking improper? She hadn’t even got anything yet.